Yuletide Recs

I am supremely, supremely late to the game, but here we go!

I was incredibly spoiled this year by five (!!!) full-length fics in the main collection. Each and every single one of them was tailored to my letter, and so I am just a bundle of much exclamation and throwing up of hands in the air in glee.

Going chronologically:

Machineries of Empire - Mirror, Mirror
E, 10K, Kujen/Istradez, incest, mpreg, and a few more warnings that you should read if you click through
10,000 WORDS OF KUJEN FUCKING UP ISTRADEZ TO MAKE MIKODEZ CRAZY. I'm not sure I need to say more, yes? Kujen, in possession of a sick and twisted mind, goes forth and does what he does best. This one is a little hard to pick up if you don't know the Machineries canon, but that just makes picking up the Machineries canon a good idea, eh?

Rush (2013) - What Still Remains
E, 4K, James Hunt/Niki Lauda
Besides the fact that I've hit the porn lottery this year (including, in this fic, some incredibly lap sitting by someone who gives not a single fuck that he's never sat on anyone's lap before), this fic brings Niki Lauda so wonderfully to life in all his high-competent, super-prickly, but baseline-emotional glory. Then throws James Hunt at him. If you like reading about F1 drivers who will fight through anything, including catastrophic accidents and wayward rivals, this is for you.

The Left Hand of Darkness - Mirage and Memory
M, 1K, Ashe/Therem
This was my year for tragic incest, emphasis on the "tragic" for the two marvellous Left Hand fics I received. This is one canon where fix-it never quite worked for me: part of Estraven's draw as a character is that he is fatally doomed, and that works on a lot of levels - not the least of which his personal life. This fic demonstrates the terrible and icy slide down the road of good intentions: good people in pain, and in love, can make bad choices.

Machineries of Empire - Hell of a Spread
M, 3K, Istradez/Mikodez
Holy hell, this fic. The language is smoking. The worldbuild is a rollercoaster ride down the tunnels of galactic sci-fi. Even if you don't know the fandom, I'd recommend reading it just for the lushness of the prose and the sharpness of the character voices. Then add on the chocolate sprinkles of a hyper-competent Istradez chasing after a hyper-competent Mikodez who can never reciprocate and... This is so good. So, so good.

The Left Hand of Darkness - A Profound Hurt
T, 2K, Ashe/Therem
And now the flip side of the coin: this Left Hand fic delves into the other rippled side-effects that Therem had on the lives of the others around him. His relationship with Ashe is still strained, but - as the author quotes - this is a profound hurt arising from a profound love. A sympathetic and Gethen-embedded look into the Osborthe clan and the family Therem leaves behind.

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( Recs for other fic )

If you read something you think I should read, comment! Or just glee with me. SO MUCH GLEE.

NYR 2018

So, backreading my DW has enlightened me to the fact that I have barely written anything coherent in months. It's funny - when I was younger, making sure that my written voice was consistently written was a major thing in my head: capitalise the letters, keep the sentences legible, that sort of thing. I don't know whether it's working I-haven't-the-fucks-to-give adulthood or the fact that I'm barely able to write anything for public consumption these days that isn't Yuletide that's driven me to typing like I have 5 different authorial voices, but...

Anyhow, NYRs for the year:

• Ship back a box of things I do not use or wear via Give Back Box for every box of anything I order (which gives you unlimited shipping labels to ship off things you want to donate, especially good because you can schedule a USPS front door pickup and therefore waste nothing but tape and some printer paper).
• Actually start a Patreon for writing. What I want to write or what people would ever pay me to read is not quite yet formulated, but I'd love to just force myself to Get Started. I'm a logistics person, a supply-line provider - give me a structure to prop up and something will happen, one way or another. Maybe words around worldbuilding? Maybe just shameless original fic? Who knows. 
• Gym at least twice a week, and finally get a personal trainer
• Learn to shut my mouth at work, and then also to be kind and give guidance and be measured
• Read at least 12 authors, with no cheatsingingsesses by going through an author's backlog
• Write more letters
• Write at least 2 non-yuletide fics

In other life news: I have acquired a PS4, with which I am shamelessly replaying FFXII and also now Witcher 3. Any recommendations?

Anyway, what is everyone else up to?