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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.
---
For fic I didn't receive:
Fune wo Amu - penfriend
G, 5K, Majime & Nishioka platonic soulbond
Fune wo Amu is a tiny fandom, possibly because the canon revolves around an ensemble cast attempting to compile a new Japanese dictionary. It is a relatively slow and insular canon, but even if you don't know it (or want to pick it up in manga, anime, book, or movie form(s), because that's how much traction it has in spite of subject matter), read this. A wise and wonderful fic that uses platonic soulbonds not only as an enjoyable and well-executed trope, but also a lens on how other non-destined relationships - like our everyday ones - live and grow and change a person. A++++++.
John Wick - A Proper Suit
T, 4K, Winston & John, with plenty of suit (and mentorship) porn.
I have a thing about age gaps. I have a thing about competency. I have a thing about men in suits. I have a thing about assassins in suits. And then this fic rolled up, with Winston the wise old man happily and unabashedly herding John the new-kid-with-the-skills-to-pay-the-bills-on-the-block through a suit fitting. Throw on some in-world winks and nods to a class of better professional and I'll just be here. Drooling over a non-explicit rated fic.
Vorkosigan Saga - Three's Company
G, 2.5K, Piotr, Simon, and young Miles
Look at that cast list. Now click the link to get Simon and Piotr facing off on what should've been a nice little jaunt on a bunch of horses up some rocks into Vorkosigan nowhere land with a tiny Miles whose bones still break really easily. Did I mention that you should click this link? Because you should, for old worldviews and new guard dogs and Miles at his not-so-irritating best.
Mongolian History RPF - By Bright Moonlight
G, 1K, Khutulun and 10,000 horses
Readable even without canon, this little gem of lyrical, mythologising prose is just a wonder to read as you go with Khutulun as she wrestles her way past suitors to stay true to herself. Somewhere along the line, she also gets 10,000 horses.
James Tiptree Jr. - The Locust
M, 2K, Jesuits and xeno IN SPACE
Readable without canon as well. I mean. Jesuits. And xeno. In space. This should sell itself even in spite of its excellent, dense style and wonderful characterisation and amazing worldbuild all wrapped up in delicious, very Jesuit-y epistolary prose.
If you read something you think I should read, comment! Or just glee with me. SO MUCH GLEE.
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.
---
For fic I didn't receive:
Fune wo Amu - penfriend
G, 5K, Majime & Nishioka platonic soulbond
Fune wo Amu is a tiny fandom, possibly because the canon revolves around an ensemble cast attempting to compile a new Japanese dictionary. It is a relatively slow and insular canon, but even if you don't know it (or want to pick it up in manga, anime, book, or movie form(s), because that's how much traction it has in spite of subject matter), read this. A wise and wonderful fic that uses platonic soulbonds not only as an enjoyable and well-executed trope, but also a lens on how other non-destined relationships - like our everyday ones - live and grow and change a person. A++++++.
John Wick - A Proper Suit
T, 4K, Winston & John, with plenty of suit (and mentorship) porn.
I have a thing about age gaps. I have a thing about competency. I have a thing about men in suits. I have a thing about assassins in suits. And then this fic rolled up, with Winston the wise old man happily and unabashedly herding John the new-kid-with-the-skills-to-pay-the-bills-on-the-block through a suit fitting. Throw on some in-world winks and nods to a class of better professional and I'll just be here. Drooling over a non-explicit rated fic.
Vorkosigan Saga - Three's Company
G, 2.5K, Piotr, Simon, and young Miles
Look at that cast list. Now click the link to get Simon and Piotr facing off on what should've been a nice little jaunt on a bunch of horses up some rocks into Vorkosigan nowhere land with a tiny Miles whose bones still break really easily. Did I mention that you should click this link? Because you should, for old worldviews and new guard dogs and Miles at his not-so-irritating best.
Mongolian History RPF - By Bright Moonlight
G, 1K, Khutulun and 10,000 horses
Readable even without canon, this little gem of lyrical, mythologising prose is just a wonder to read as you go with Khutulun as she wrestles her way past suitors to stay true to herself. Somewhere along the line, she also gets 10,000 horses.
James Tiptree Jr. - The Locust
M, 2K, Jesuits and xeno IN SPACE
Readable without canon as well. I mean. Jesuits. And xeno. In space. This should sell itself even in spite of its excellent, dense style and wonderful characterisation and amazing worldbuild all wrapped up in delicious, very Jesuit-y epistolary prose.
If you read something you think I should read, comment! Or just glee with me. SO MUCH GLEE.