raspberryhunter

Yuletide recs

2025-12-30T01:30:26Z

Every year I'm like, how is it there are so many good fics??
Three of these were my awesome gifts. Additionally, partial disclosure: I betaed two of these fics, but which ones are left as an exercise for the reader until reveals :)

( Recs in 18th CE RPF/Sieben Jahre, Chronicles of Chrestomanci, The Incandescent, Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (anthology) x 3 (!), Der Ring des Nibelungen, Some Desperate Glory. )

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Yuletide recs part 2

2025-01-01T01:22:20Z

Just under the wire, three more:

( Wind Will Rove (Pinsker) [don't need to know canon except that it concerns a generational ship], Arrival/Story of Your Life [don't need to know both canons, do need to know one], Scholomance [do need to know canon] )

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Yuletide recs

2024-12-29T20:56:30Z

I haven't gone through nearly all the fics I want to read, but here is what I have got so far. Folding my wonderful gifts in because they are so wonderful I would naturally put them in a post of my favorites :D

( Recs in 18th Century CE RPF, Cahokia Jazz, Derkholm Series - Diana Wynne Jones, Kairos Series - Madeleine L'Engle, Kyle Murchison Booth Stories, Imperial Radsch Series - Ann Leckie, Nethack x 2, Simon Boccanegra - Verdi, Some Desperate Glory, A Tangled Web - L.M. Montgomery. )

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Yuletide recs!

2023-12-30T02:22:40Z

( 3rd CE RPF (Madness), 18th CE RPF, Debrief, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Earthsea, Pseudo-Edo SciFi Art - Yamaguchi Akira, Some Desperate Glory, Toscax2, Turandot, The Waste Land )

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Yuletide recs

2022-12-30T05:34:19Z

Recs for 18th CE RPF, Instrumentality of Mankind, Nirvana in Fire, Arm Joe, Earthsea, Dark Lord of Derkholm/Howl Series, Where Are You Going Where Have You Been, Scholomance, Tlön Uqbar Orbis Tertius, 3rd CE RPF - Tetrarchy - with two crossovers to physics/math fandom, so to speak (one is tagged Mathematics, the other is a stealth crossover) ( Cut. )

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Yuletide recs!

2021-12-30T06:13:43Z

( 16th C Hapsburg RPF (x2), 18th C Frederician RPF (1+Madness), Tillerman Cycle (Madness), Traveller in Black - Brunner, Archy and Mehitabel (x2), Scholomance - Novik (x2), Rake's Progress - Stravinsky, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith, Fudge Series - Judy Blume, This Is Spinal Tap (1984) -- many don't need to know canon or short canon )

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raspberryhunter @ 2020-12-29T21:28:00

2020-12-30T05:31:45Z

So I somehow got three Yuletide gifts and three Madness gifts and I love them so much!! Thank you authors!! Here I will talk about my gifts and more recs:

( Recs in Main and Madness: The Tillerman Cycle - Cynthia Voigt x 2, Евгений Онегин | Eugene Onegin - Tchaikovsky, 18th Century CE RPF x 3, Deeplight - Frances Hardinge, Emily of New Moon, Possession - A. S. Byatt, Pelléas et Mélisande - Debussy/Maeterlinck )

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Yuletide 2019 recs!

2019-12-31T17:18:59Z

I am folding my gifts in because they were SO GOOD, all of them were basically in my Favorites of Yuletide if not My Absolute Favorites :D Trying to get this done in between Family Stuff, so apologies for any inadvertent errors. Have made notes as to whether canon knowledge is needed or not.

( Recs in 18th Century CE RPF x2, In This House of Brede - Rumer Godden, The Instrumentality of Mankind - Cordwainer Smith x2, A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine x2, The Ravens' Tower - Ann Leckie x2, Slings & Arrows x2, Star Trek: Rihannsu - Diane Duane, Tanakh x2 )

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Yuletide!

2018-12-29T03:43:55Z

I got some lovely Yuletide fic!

You guys, Yuletide is the best because you can go around and prompt things like "Please write me fic where Duncan is part of the Alien Invasion" and I got not one but TWO Alien Macbeth fics, YAY, very different in feel, and I love them both!

Favor for Ruin (8062 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Macbeth - Shakespeare
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Macbeth/Lady Macbeth
Characters: Three Witches (Macbeth), Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Banquo (Macbeth), Hecate (Macbeth)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Aliens, Historical Science Fiction, Tragedy, Canon-Typical Violence
Summary:

To reclaim humanity's sovereign hold on the Earth, the Three Witches enlist Macbeth to kill Duncan, the alien king of Scotland.

No share button for the other. I don't know if that means the author doesn't want it shared? Please let me know if so; until then I will drop a link: So Green and Pale

And Schiller Don Carlos fic about my favorite in that play, Elisabeth, using all the wit and political knowledge and compassion she displayed in canon to play a desperate gambit to survive post-canon -- and winning. I love this so much!

Queen‘s Gambit (4382 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Don Carlos - Friedrich Schiller, 16th Century CE RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Élisabeth de Valois & Princess Eboli, Élisabeth de Valois/Philip II of Spain, La princesse Eboli | La Principessa Eboli/Felipe II de España | Philip II of Spain, Phillippe II of Spain/Ridrigue (Don Carlos), Carlos/Élisabeth de Valois, Élisabeth de Valois/Rodrigo
Characters: Élisabeth de Valois | Elisabetta di Valois, La princesse Eboli | La Principessa Eboli, Felipe II de España | Philip II of Spain
Additional Tags: POV Female Character, Character Study, Complicated Relationships, Post-Canon, Unrequited Love, Survival, Yuletide, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

How Elisabeth de Valois escapes her doom, with some help from the Princess Eboli.

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Trick or Treat

2018-11-05T04:32:13Z

I did Trick or Treat for the first time this year and I got three presents, eeee! :D

The assignment gift:
Day of the Ice Queen (383 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Summary:

A gift for the Trick or Treat Exchange 2018

Just a quick fluff story of Olivier Armstrong, some time after the events of canon take place. Very minor spoilers for FMA:B, but nothing life-changing.

Basically, I will read anything about Olivier Armstrong, particularly when she's interacting with her family :D Cute fluff, yay!

And two treats!

The Sorrows of the Earth (2080 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Don Carlos | Don Carlo - Verdi/du Locle/Méry
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Carlos/Rodrigue, Philip II & Rodrigo, Philip II/Elisabeth de Valois, Carlos/Elisabeth de Valois (unconsummated)
Characters: Rodrigue | Rodrigo, Carlos | Carlo, Élisabeth de Valois | Elisabetta di Valois, Philippe II | Filippo II, The Grand Inquisitor
Additional Tags: Trick or Treat: Trick, Canonical Character Death, Angst, Pining, Betrayal, Ghosts, Loyalty
Summary:

It was not the voice of the Emperor.

:D I wrote the prompt "What if Rodrigo were the ghost that shows up at the end, rather than Charles V?" and it got written for meeeeee!! I really appreciate how it takes all the relationships Rodrigo's formed into account -- Carlo, of course! and the Rodrigo-Philip strained bond, and the Rodrigo-Elisabeth bond that in the opera exists more in reference than in on-screen time, but is brought out here as well -- and how it makes some things different, and changes the meaning of others, while keeping others the same. (Also. This fic's ghost!Rodrigo is sooooo much more effective than useless Carlo V in every way possible. THANK YOU AUTHOR.)

iberiandoctor and I have been having loads of fun writing increasingly less anonymous Don Carlo fic for each other (...I probably win the prize on this, but), so, er, yes. Thank you iberiandoctor!!

Coaching the Princess: A Zombie Epilogue in Verse (4844 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Евгений Онегин | Eugene Onegin - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tatyana Larina/Eugene Onegin, Gremin/Tatyana Larina
Characters: Tatyana Larina, Gremin (Eugene Onegin), One Zombie Pumpkin, Ensemble
Additional Tags: Trick or Treat: Treat, Humor, Fluff, Moving On, Halloween, Magic
Summary:

Original prompt: Tatyana's cute zombie pumpkin pal helps her get over Onegin and fall properly in love with Gremin! Or something.:)

Now this one. This one. Is the one where someone wrote me almost 5k of Pushkin sonnets. I can't even believe someone did that at all (like, I might... be able to write... one? a it would take me a while), let alone for me! Pushkin sonnets where, indeed, an incredibly cute zombie pumpkin helps Tatyana get over Onegin and fall in love with Gremin, with bonus ghost!Lensky and two ghost letters, and it's also this profound story about what love means and how we love. And also extremely funny! It's just everything I adore about both the verse-novel and the opera, and just so brilliantly done.

I could not imagine who was super amazing enough to do something like this until I got to what may or may not have been a hint tucked in the middle, at which point I immediately realized that selden is indeed super amazing enough to do something like this. ...I don't know this for sure, but it's my guess :D

Other works of note (in the small fraction of the fic I've actually read). Full disclosure that I have betaed for two of the works listed below :)

In the Cards (753 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Alliance-Union - C. J. Cherryh
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Ben Pollard, Jurgen Graff, Meg Kady, Signy Mallory
Summary:

Well, someone has to keep them alive.

Perfect Ben voice, snarky and elliptic and calculating all at the same time. Quite well done.

Catching the Lark (2786 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Les Contes d'Hoffman - Offenbach/Barbier
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Giulietta (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Dapertutto (Les Contes d'Hoffmann)
Additional Tags: Shadows and Reflections
Summary:

Giulietta makes a bargain with a mysterious stranger.

Can be read without knowing canon. A lovely, beautifully-written, creepy story.

For some reason there isn't a share button on this fic so I can't share it the way I do the others, but I will just drop a link: What Gets You Through, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood/Manga, is a brilliantly Ed-voice huddling-for-warmth/Canadian-shack Ed/Mustang fic.

απολογία | apología (4572 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Greek and Roman Mythology
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ἁδης | Hades/Περσεφόνη | Persephone (Hellenistic Religion & Lore)
Characters: Περσεφόνη | Persephone (Hellenistic Religion & Lore), Ἁδης | Hades (Hellenistic Religion & Lore), Charon
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Travelogue, complicated family relationships, Rituals, Love in difficult situations, Wooing, Gift Giving
Summary:

It is not a right and natural place, the underworld, and Hades tries and tries and tries to make her realm's majesty measure up to the up above and never quite makes it right. But he keeps on trying, and she keeps making the journey.

A gorgeously-written story about Persephone, and Hades, and the god-sized compromises that have to be made in a marriage of gods.

Turning Point (1720 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Real Penguin Fiction
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Happy Feet
Additional Tags: First Person, Penguin POV, Creepypasta
Summary:

I knew there was something wrong a long time before I got back to land.

Oh man, this is a creepy story about what happens to a penguin. It has an unambiguously happy ending, but I'm not sure I will ever look at the local zoo's penguins again in quite the same way.

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look at this remix!!

2018-09-18T13:31:50Z

My Don Carlo fics got remixed! Yes, plural! This is ALSO a crossover and alternate universe/dream and it is brilliant and I love it so so much!!

The World His Words Left Unrevealed (the Heart of Flame Remix) (2616 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Don Carlos | Don Carlo - Verdi/du Locle/Méry
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Philip II & Rodrigo, Philip II/Rodrigo, Philip II/Elisabeth de Valois
Characters: Rodrigue | Rodrigo, Philippe II | Filippo II, Élisabeth de Valois | Elisabetta di Valois
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Alternate Ending, Fix-It, Loyalty, Loyalty Kink, Posthumous letter, Strange Dreams, Strange Dreams of an Alternate Universe, Grief/Mourning, Canonical Character Death, Restored Marital Relations, What-If
Summary:

Rodrigo writes a letter — to fulfill his responsibilities to the King, to protect the Queen, to protect his Carlos — which he has Thibault send to the King.

This is the letter which he did not send.

Um. It looks like I forgot to actually mention one of the fics that's getting remixed here :D His noble words revealed to my soul a new world is of course the main one, but I also wrote these stories as a pinch hit for iberiandoctor for Rare Male Slash Exchange, and the first one is also getting remixed:

Ce Cœur de Flamme (1308 words) by raspberryhunter
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Don Carlos | Don Carlo - Verdi/du Locle/Méry
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Carlos/Rodrigue, Philip II/Rodrigo (Don Carlos)
Characters: Philippe II | Filippo II, Rodrigue | Rodrigo
Additional Tags: Dubious Consent, Power Imbalance
Summary:

Philip sees many things. Philip sees the Marquis of Posa, and wants him.

Many thanks to sprocket and zdenka for beta <3

And there is a sequel, which did not get remixed. This time. :D So while zdenka was betaing "Flame," she happened to mention, "What if Carlo guessed?" and... then I went and wrote another fic about it. zdenka also did a lightning-fast beta of this one, thank you!

A mes yeux l'univers n'est plus rien (1020 words) by raspberryhunter
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Don Carlos | Don Carlo - Verdi/du Locle/Méry
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Carlos/Rodrigue, Philip II/Rodrigo (Don Carlos)
Characters: Carlos | Carlo, Rodrigue | Rodrigo
Additional Tags: Friendship/Love, Complicated Relationships, Uncomplicated Relationships
Summary:

There is no good way, after all, to ask one's beloved if he is also the paramour of one's father.

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Snowflake challenge, days 1, 3

2018-01-10T05:45:31Z

*dusts off this journal*

frayadjacent has convinced me to give snowflake_challenge a chance! We'll see how much of these I actually end up doing :)

Day 1

In your own space, talk about why you're participating in Snowflake and, if you’ve participated in the past, how the challenge has affected you. What drew you to it? What did you take away from it? What do you hope to accomplish this year?

I like reccing, and also the only time I've actually done the challenge it inspired me to go talk to philomytha, which I might never have done otherwise — and my life would have been immeasurably poorer for that, because she is awesome. So. Let's try it out. (…and skip day 2, right off the bat :) )

Day 3

In your own space, post recs for at least three fanworks that you did not create.

The Piper (14736 words) by Stultiloquentia
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tam Lin - Pamela Dean
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Janet Carter/Thomas Lane
Characters: Lily Carter, Andrew Carter, Robin Armin
Additional Tags: Coming Out, Hapless Undergraduates, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Family
Summary:

Seven years after Janet and Thomas' ordeal, Lily and Andrew Carter are both students at Blackstock. The ol' impregnation-and-running-tackle trick isn't going to cut it this time.

Holy cow, I somehow missed this at the time — pitch-perfect Tam Lim voice, old and new friends, a wonderful plot, POETRY, quotations — this is amazing.

A Further Sally, or The Miracles of Amentia (3420 words) by CenozoicSynapsid
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Cyberiad - Stanislaw Lem
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Trurl, Klapaucius
Additional Tags: Mathematics, Humor
Summary:

In which Trurl and Klapaucius, the far-famed constructors, visit a planet whose inhabitants hold ridiculous misconceptions about religion. Can their problems be solved with the aid of the Higher Mathematics?

Perfect Cyberiad adventure. I might have lost it when they define the ring, not to mention the Banach-Tarski theorem. BRILLIANT.

Fimbulwinter (3856 words) by Elsane
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Der Ring des Nibelungen | The Ring of the Nibelung - Wagner
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sieglinde/Siegmund
Characters: Sieglinde, Freyja (Norse Religion & Lore), Hel | Hela, Siegmund
Additional Tags: mad appropriation of mythology, canon twincest
Summary:

Things to do on Yggdrasil when you're dead; or, Sieglinde, too, has a chance to choose her afterlife.

SIEGLINDE. GETS TO CHOOSE. YES. YES.

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Yuletide recs

2017-12-30T16:50:49Z

A focus on fics that I don't think have got a lot of attention (with one exception because it's my fandom!) and that can be read with no or minimal (Wikipedia-level) canon knowledge — I've been shocked by how few comments some of these have; they're so good! PLEASE comment if you like them, even if only one line! :)

( Recs in And I Awoke and Found Me Here, Flatland, Possession, In Other Lands, Keltiad, Llyfr Taliesin, Mysterious Mr. Quin, Le Nozze di Figaro, Smith of Wootton Major )

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Yuletide 2016 recs

2016-12-31T21:50:51Z

I got some wonderful fics this year and read other wonderful ones :) I also have a gift-squee post here, but I thought I'd add a couple more to make this a proper rec post :)

My gifts:
( Der Ring des Nibelungen, Her Smoke Rose Up Forever (anthology) - James Tiptree, Jr. )

Other recs:
( Other recs in Expert Judgment on Markers to Deter Inadvertent Human Intrusion / 1850s London Cholera Epidemic RPF, Dalemark Quartet, Vorkosigan Saga, Alliance-Union, Dead Authors Podcast, Tam Lin - Pamela Dean, Once and Future King, )

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Yuletide 2014 recs, part 2

2014-12-31T18:21:06Z

I haven't read half the Yuletide fandoms half as completely as I would like (I've still got some queued up), but here are some more I did get to and loved. (Rec post 1, including my awesome gifts, is here.)

( Recs in Oryx and Crake, Picture of Dorian Gray, Riddle-Master trilogy, Star Trek - Rihannsu, Tam Lin )

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Yuletide recs, Part I

2014-12-27T18:53:40Z

So, a first crack at Yuletide recs! Mostly shorter ones, because I haven't had time to read longer pieces yet. Four from Madness, the rest from the main archive. I'm folding my (five!!) gifts in because I would absolutely rec all of them even if they weren't my gifts! (My gift-squee post is here.) Also, a little heavier on the poetry recs. (I promised elsewhere to read all the poetry-based fics in the archive, and really I thought all of them were good, so even if I don't specifically rec it here, I recommend it!)

( Recs in Blue Castle - L. M. Montgomery, Church Going - Philip Larkin, A Few Figs from Thistles - Edna St. Vincent Millay, Gunnerkrigg Court, The Instrumentality of Mankind - Cordwainer Smith, The Listeners - Walter de la Mare, Norse Myth/Frozen, Preiddeu Annwn | The Spoils of Annwn, Sweeney Todd )

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Recs Part II

2013-12-31T23:07:51Z

Again, I have not read a lot of fics I want to, especially the longer ones, sorry mystery authors! I will probably have another rec post sometime. I hope.

I am also a bad person who totally neglected in my last post to talk about my lovely drabble! My lovely spot-on TILLERMAN drabble, thank you so much, and if you happen to read this, I apologize SO MUCH for the brain blip!

Conversation (100 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Tillerman Cycle - Cynthia Voigt
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: James Tillerman, Sammy Tillerman, Maybeth Tillerman
Additional Tags: Drabble, yumadrin, Missing Scene
Summary:

Sometimes you just have to talk about new friends.

I also absolutely adore this Hainish story:

Praise then Darkness (3724 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Arek Harth rem ir Estraven/Therem Harth rem ir Estraven
Characters: Arek Harth rem ir Estraven, Therem Harth rem ir Estraven
Additional Tags: Yuletide, Gift Fic
Summary:

"My advice, Therem, is only this: will you let the story shape you, brother? Or will you shape a new tale?"

Therem's luck turns, and turns again.

A lovely story of Therem, with stories inside of it.

And I think everyone is reccing this Cotillion story, but I will too, because it really is pitch-perfect and excellent. (And also has Lord Legerwood, who is my favorite!)

The Birds and the Bees (4280 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Cotillion - Georgette Heyer
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Kitty Charing/Freddy Standen
Characters: Kitty Charing, Freddy Standen, Lord Legerwood, Lady Legerwood
Additional Tags: Humor, Regency Romance
Summary:

In which Lord Legerwood has a conversation with his son, with predictable results, and Kitty provides Freddy with enlightenment.

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Yuletide recs

2013-12-28T23:59:23Z

I haven't had time to read that much in the archive, but the ones I have read have been lovely! Here is my present:

To everything there is a season... (11619 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The People - Zenna Henderson
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

This is a lovely story about the power of family/community for redemption, plus which we get to see what happened to Bethie-too, and as an extra bonus that one of the People who was present at the bombing of Hiroshima, which was something I would have asked for if I had had any hope of getting it, and there are so many wonderful details that are so Zenna Henderson. And it is full of life and light and joy and love, just as a People story ought to be. It is probably readable without knowing canon.

( Recs in Arm Joe, Earthsea, Gunnerkrigg Court, and The Lady of Shalott )

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My rarewomen fics

2013-05-09T14:05:33Z

Muuuuuch beta credit to sprocket and elementals_ao3 and seekingferret, because they are awesome and wonderful and these fics would not be nearly so good if not for them. (And special awesomeness credit to sprocket, who probably wrote at least the number of words I did in her betas, and was very gracious when I said things like, “So I need this done tonight, is that okay?”)

My assignment was Norse Myth, Who Gathers All Things Mortal (1504 words), which drove me completely bonkers to write — despite it being the shortest of the three, I spent way, way more time in canon review and in writing/edit than probably both of the others combined -- but which I think turned out well, mostly because my betas showed me how to beat it into shape when I was despairing of how to fix it properly. The prompt was Hel and Angrboda. I really liked the prompt; I don’t think there’s enough on mothers and daughters in media in general.

My pinch hit was SGU - Camile Wray, Enhancing Organizational Productivity (2245 words). The thing about Camile is that, with the exception of maybe one or two episodes, she gets completely wasted on SGU. As sprocket kept reminding me, she has this HR background which ought to be really really useful on the Destiny for all kinds of things, but it never actually is. Probably partially as a result of this, I haven’t ever read any SGU fic where she gets a chance to win. And she’s awesome! So, yeah. Camile gets to use her skills to win, yay! (But not win everything, because this is SGU.)

And then there was The Family Business, the 5100-word near-future SF-VR-corporate Greek Myth AU that I gifted to ollipop, who asked for 1000-5000, mentioned catholic tastes in her letter, and also mentioned not liking dubious SF tropes in another venue. (Uh, I still want to have that conversation!) I allllllmost didn’t post it, but I sneakily asked her about AU’s, and she said it was okay for general things like myth, and then the big theme turned out to be Families and How They Mess with Your Mind, which coincidentally turned out to be the big theme of ollipop’s awesome fic (Lotus Durona! Jackson’s Whole!), so I risked it after all. She seems to have liked it! :)

It did lead to this hilarious beta exchange:

Me: So Beta B told me the theme was X, and it’s really not.
Beta A: Yeah, the theme is obviously Y.
Me: No, the theme is Z!

(All three of us were right, but Beta A was more right.)

Someday I will have recs (besides my awesome Aeneid presents I squee about here; you need not know the Aeneid to read it; all that you need to know about Dido is here and here), when I get around to reading the whole rarewomen archive, but there are lots of goodies in it! Go read!

ETA: links fixed, I think. If not, let me know.

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rarewomen reveal (my gifts!)

2013-05-05T21:24:48Z

YOU GUYS YOU GUYS I GOT THE MOST AWESOME STORIES!

I got TWO stories for rarewomen, first time I've ever gotten more than one, both Dido-focused Aeneid stories, and they are completely different and I love them both so much and I am so, so glad I asked for Didofic because YAY. Go read and comment!

The Wanderer (1298 words) by Adlanth
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Aeneid - Virgil
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Dido of Carthage, Anna (Greek and Roman Mythology)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, IN SPACE!, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And also not AU

Those alt-universe tags, incuding the "And also not AU" one? Yup. Gorgeous story, gorgeous prose, playing with time and alternate Didos and mythology.

Trouble Any Which Way (1033 words) by misura
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Aeneid - Virgil
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Dido of Carthage, Aeneas (Greek and Roman Mythology), Iris (Greek and Roman Mythology)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Space

Dido in SPAAAACE! Dido gets to kick butt and just be awesome! YAY!

(I also wrote three stories, which I'll talk about in another post someday...)

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cleanwhiteroom

2013-04-10T17:17:21Z

Hey, so, for those of you I hooked on Force Over Distance (and by the way, it's now posted on AO3 YAY), cleanwhiteroom now has a livejournal and a dreamwidth where she is posting all kinds of awesome meta about it. Or, at least, so far, she has one awesome meta post up about Faust as a central theme of FoD, which kind of changed a bunch of my thoughts about it, and is promising more.

Seriously, if you liked the fic (and in general if you just like writing meta, honestly) it's worth checking out.

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Snowflake challenge, day 13

2013-01-16T03:02:20Z

In your own space, ask for recs. Something as simple as "I like XYZ (where XYZ is a kink, a pairing, a trope, etc) - please rec me some."

I am going to wholesale steal< shewhostaples's idea because I think it is so very awesome (uh, I hope you don't mind?):

What I really like, in book fandoms, is fics where the author has managed to pull off a pastiche - where the style is comparable to the original - where you remember a bit of the plot a few months later and wonder for a moment if that was actually canon... Any book fandoms: even if I don't know it, if it's a reasonable synthesised approximation to canon, I shall be able to use it as a guide to see whether I want to investigate said fandom.

(In the comments to el_staplador's post, I recced these book pastiche fics:
The End and the Way, LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness
The Lord of Joiry, C.L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry
The Derelict, C.L. Moore's Northwest Smith stories
Queen of Berries, Tolkien's Smith of Wootton Major
Ears to Hear (Tillerman Saga - Voigt)
In the Dark Hours of the Morning - Code Name Verity, but if you haven't actually read CNV pleeeeeeease don't read this first BECAUSE SPOILERS

..and of course Vorkosigan fic has a lot of these; some of my favorites:
Aral Vorkosigan's Dog -- this is told from the POV of a different character so the voice isn't completely spot on, but it's pretty close... actually pretty much everything Philomytha writes is gold
Twenty-Year Man
Money Always Costs Too Much)

More, please? Any fandom?

(I will probably get to 10-12, someday, but because I've just got a little tiny bit of time and I'm thinking about this right now...)

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Force Over Distance, now coming in podfic form!

2013-01-08T21:06:36Z

I know many of you have read and loved CleanWhiteRoom's super-epic Stargate:Universe fic, Force Over Distance (now being revamped and put on AO3! The finished original is on ff.net). I recommended it enthusiastically here. It's possible to read it with minimal knowledge of SGU, even.

elementals_ao3 has taken it to another level by using her amazing podficcing skills on it. Seriously, if you liked FoD, you have to hear her do Eli. And Volker-and-Brody comedy team. And Young-and-Rush-and-AI aaaaaaaaah.

Let me put it this way: I generally don't listen to podfics; I'm not much of an aural person, I can't deal with audiobooks most of the time, for instance. But this podfic is so awesome that I am totally hooked. elementals' reading and CWR's prose/dialogue work together so well.

It's a work in progress, but it's updating regularly (the AO3 says once a week, but it's way more frequently than that right now).

[Podfic] Force over Distance (681 words) by elementals
Chapters: 7/?
Fandom: SGU, Stargate Universe, Stargate - All Series
Rating: Mature
Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Nicholas Rush/Everett Young, Eli Wallace/Ginn
Characters: Adam Brody (SGU), Nicholas Rush, Everett Young, Tamara Johansen, Eli Wallace, Chloe Armstrong, Ronald Greer, Camile Wray, Dale Volker, Rodney McKay
Summary: This is cleanwhiteroom's epic-length conclusion for the cancelled series Stargate: Universe....in which they fix what they can.

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Snowflake challenge, day 2

2013-01-03T02:34:56Z

Oh, what the heck, I have more time than I thought, so have some spam from me :) Snowflake challenge day 2: In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you did not create. Drop a link to your post in the comments. See if you can rec fanworks that are less likely to be praised: tiny fandoms, rare pairings, fanworks other than stories, lesser known kinks or tropes. Find fanworks that have few to no comments, or creators new to a particular fandom and maybe aren't well known or appreciated. Appreciate them.

RECS! I love recs! Do leave a comment with the creator if you liked any of these!

The first one has to be elementals_ao3's lovely, lovely podfics. Here I'm going to rec her Vorkosigan podfic of "Money Often Costs Too Much" which I love, love, love like anything. (The pronounciation of Vorkosigan isn't standard as of today, but she'll change that probably in the next day or two.) But they are all awesome!

The second is seekingferret's 18 Chalakim of Life, which is the story of Elisha (2 Kings) IF ELISHA HAD THE POWER OF NED FROM PUSHING DAISIES WHAT IS THIS. (You need not know anything about Pushing Daisies except the premise; I think it might help slightly to know the premise to make sense of the story.) I cannot describe my love for this crazy crossover, which happens to be bittersweet and poignant and, and.

And there's ifreet's wonderful Slings and Arrows fic starring Anna, ANNA, have I mentioned to you lately how much I adore Anna, and Darren. No, wait, don't run away! It's very sweet, and all very in character, and makes (as the summary says) Season 2 make more sense rather than less. (And if you haven't watched Slings and Arrows -- go watch it right now! Then read this fic.)

I'm also going to cheat by saying, here are my AO3 bookmarks. Mostly these are well-known ones, but there are a couple of lesser-known gems that snuck in there.

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Snowflake challenge, day 1

2013-01-03T02:01:17Z

Oh, I want to play snowflake_challenge! Only starting a day late :)

The first challenge is this: In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator.

Neat, I have three that fill at least two out of three of the requirements!

For in the Wilderness Shall Waters Break Forth (3089 words, gen)
Fandom: Moses und Aron - Schoenberg, Tanakh, Christian Bible (Old Testament)

I just wrote this for Yuletide 2012, and I'm really very pleased with it, as I feel in some ways I've been studying to write this story for years. I'm sad that basically everything about it, from its form (experimental first chapter, more straightforward second chapter) to its fandom (Schoenberg opera), is set up so that no one will ever read it even though I think it's quite accessible to anyone who's somewhat familiar with the Biblical story.

I may have done this fic a disservice in terms of readers who were not its recipient by splitting it into two chapters, even though I felt I had to do it. If you don't like the first chapter, try the second, which is very different in style and form and is, I think, much more readable than the first. (The fic has this form because of intentionally inverting the opera structure, but this is, of course, not going to mean anything to anyone except my recipient seekingferret.)

The Queen of Air and Darkness (2309 words, T for themes)
Fandom: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: The Next Generation (Movies), Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Ok, not exactly no-one-ever-saw, as this has a lot of hits, comparatively (...I think it was mentioned on one of the anon memes? that's the only thing I can think of) -- but I just feel a little protective of this one, because I had a great time thinking about aliens and nonhuman experiences and love/desire in that context, and I would like it to have more love :)

Interactive Complexity as Indigenous to Human Systems (3045 words, gen, T for language only)
Fandom: Moses und Aron - Schoenberg, Tanakh, Christian Bible (Old Testament)

Moses is the Chief Scientist, Aaron is his sales guy, and the CEO is God. Don't need to know canon. ...This fic, in addition to being total crack, apparently says a number of deep and disturbing things about me and my life philosophy as regarding religion and science. Hmm.

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