don we now our gay apparel (yuletide recs, set 1)

Except for one (Travel Documents), all of these previously appeared in my LJ.

Recs from yuletide:

The Simpsons
The Ballad of Lenny and Carl by Kyra Cullinan
It's Lenny/Carl and it's sweet and poignant and funny and the character voices are dead on.

Peanuts
Every Good Girl Does Fine by kissmeagain
Perfectly Peppermint Patty. And Marcie, too.

Lucifer
Come What May by Catrinella
Excellent look at how Mazikeen can never really escape the tension between love and duty, her loyalty to Lucifer v. her loyalty to the Lilim, even when she's meant to be having a tender interlude with Lucifer rather than a conference of war.

Winnie the Pooh
In Which A New Child Comes To The Forest by loligo
Lovely - Christopher Robin is grown and brings his son to the Hundred Acre Wood.

Fables
Rewrites and Revisions by Sophia Prester
I love how this, much like the source text itself, plays with the narrative conventions of fairytales and stories, and I really like this characterization of Snow.

Calvin & Hobbes
Transmogrification by hyperfocused
While I'm not sold on the epilogue, the rest of this fic is pure brilliance - Calvin (and Hobbes) as he grows up, bored and attitudinal, and then brilliant and freaky. Very cool

***

yuletide-05 recs set 2

The Iliad
what we can never say by postingwhore
The structure works brilliantly to evoke the long, endless sameness of the days of the Trojan War, and how young and immature Achilles is when it begins (and how immature he stays, really, through the ten long years), the writing is spare and muscular, the emotions palpable. It lost me in the middle a bit with all the licking of the blood, but the ending is a punch to the gut.

Greek Mythology
Aoidos by figbt
Dionysus has a thing or two to teach Apollo. I really liked the characterization of both gods, and tension between them in this, as well as the use of the myths, but describing music in prose is an almost impossible task, so the climax of this story didn’t quite work for me.

The Persian Boy
Hamartia by Tosca
Hephaistion, in the aftermath of falling out with Alexander over the Eumenes incident - raw and angry and hurt, and then cold and simmering with resentment. And Alexander, who's willing to admit he maybe shouldn't have said what he said in public, waits patiently for Hephaistion to come around. *flails* I love this so much, and it was written for me. FOR ME! *twirls* "I just want you to be my Patroklos." *loves*

Norse Mythology
Trickster's Game by alchemine
Loki's stirring up trouble and Odin wants it stopped. Sharp and funny, with some nice characterization of Odin, Loki, Thor and Freyr.


~*~

L'Engleverse (yuletide recs set 3)

L’Engleverse
From Mathematics Further Off by Amy
Utterly wonderful look at Meg as she grows up - warm and tender and sharp and poignant and so very in character.

Heredity by Sanj
Calvin! *hearts* I always wondered about Calvin's response to the events of A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and this really fits in my head with how he'd be. I love seeing him with both the Murrys and the O'Keefes. Wonderful.

On Black Holes, Miracles, Singularities, and Nothingness. by another_juxtaposition
I always wished we got to see Charles Wallace as an adult, and in this story, we do, and he's wonderful - steady, calm, faithful, resolute, even when he has his own worries and doubts. And I love his relationship with Meg so much. Wonderful.

~*~

yuletide-05 recs set 4

I Capture the Castle
Travel Documents by lynnmonster
This is a lovely look at Cassandra a few years down the road.

The Sound of Music
Innocent as a Rose by Anabella Wrights
Liesl, trying to feel her way through a new life in America, with the old life in Austria still casting a long shadow. Stunning.

The Secret Garden
In the Depth of Winter by tenar
Colin needs to see the world, and Dickon goes with him, while Mary waits and hopes. Tender and delicate as the frost.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Christmastime in the City by krabapple
A lovely look at Tibby, via the photographs she takes.

***

yuletide-05 recs set 5

Indiana Jones
Theseus and Ariadne Try Again by Vanzetti
Spot on voices for Marion and Indy, a fun and engaging plot, plus snakes, Nazis and magical artifacts. What more could you want from an Indiana Jones story?

Nero Wolfe
Make Me an Offer by Stewardess
This story nicely captures both Archie's voice and the dynamic between him and Wolfe, as well as showing us one potential beginning for them. Really well done.

Ocean’s 11
The Deal by Rusalka
Fantastic story in which Tess leaves Danny and Danny goes back to Rusty, or he would, if Rusty would stay in one place long enough for Danny to get there. Funny, hot, smart, and cool, just like Danny and Rusty.

Northern Exposure
Merry Christmas, Dr. Fleischman by Isis
Warm and wonderful fic that reads just like an episode. It's Christmastime in Cicely, and Fleischman is grumpy. The townsfolk set out to find out why, and maybe make it better. Lovely!

Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Mr. and Mrs. Smith Go to New Hampshire by thefourthvine
Hot and funny and smart and in character and did I meantion hot?

Vicky Bliss
Marginalia by miskatonic
Hilarious and smart. Everyone has comments on Vicky's manuscript. I especially love how very John his comments are.

brokeback mountain (yuletide recs set 6)

Brokeback Mountain
Diastole by oddcellist
Ennis lies awake and thinks about why he still goes back to Jack when it's nothing but pain every time - sad and lovely, and a wonderful Ennis voice.

Thinking to Do by florahart
A really nice look inside Jack's head during that first summer on Brokeback, and how he knows he'll only get one chance to talk about it with Ennis. Hot and heartbreaking.

~*~

yuletide-05 recs set 7

Swordspoint
All Unheard Of by petronelle
Intriguing backstory of how Richard and Alec met. In character and hot like a hot thing.

als Selbstzweck by Todesengel
Sharp and bitter and a perfect Alec characterization here - makes me almost feel bad for him, how broken he is.

*

yuletide-05 recs set 8

Ladyhawke
Falling Towards Grace by Isabeau
I really like the backstory this proposes, and the playful as well as passionate nature of the love between Isabeau and Navarre, which rings true to the tone of the movie to me.

Brought to Light by ranalore
Wistful and achy and hopeful at the end, just like the movie. Isabeau misses being a hawk, just a little, and she wonders if Etienne misses being a wolf, as well.

*

Narnia (yuletide-05 recs set 9)

Chronicles of Narnia
And Indeed There Will Be Time by Signe
Lucy, in the real Narnia. Lovely and poignant. And deals well with the problem of Susan.

Too Young, Too Old vongroovy
Oh, Edmund. His sense of dislocation and longing and his melancholy are palpable in this. Sharp and lovely.

***

saturnalia, er, yuletide-05 recs set 10

Rome
semper hic erro by Bastet
Beautifully in character Vorenus/Pullo - the banter, the exasperation, the edges of pain, and most of all, the love! SO MUCH LOVE for them, and they have so much love for each other, and this story is all about that.

can nature change the seasons of the years by smartlikejustin
Delicate, evocative, poignant look at Octavian's relationship with Octavia over the years.

***

hail the new, ye lads and lasses (shackinup_sesa recs)

Recs from shackinup_sesa (an all Remus/Sirius holiday fic exchange):

Our Private Universe by busaikko
In order to find out if Remus is the spy, Sirius spends Christmas with him and his father. Wonderfully realized backstory for Remus, heartbreaking and hot slow build to romance for him and Sirius. And the possibility of a happier ending? AU.

Oscar Wilde Would Not Approve by librae
Sweet and funny and clever and sad, this story is excellent. Sirius notices things have begun disappearing from Remus's flat, and with Lily's help, he sets out to do something about it.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves by kaydeefalls
*flails*

I love this story like fratboys love beer. I want to marry this story and have its babies. Remus! The Map! The twins! MWPP! Jabberwocky! I can't even be coherent, but this is a stellar 'passing the torch' story, and the fact that it's set post-OotP gives it a wistful achy edge, but it's still loving and somehow hopeful for the future.

Ruse by phineasjones
This story, as with most stories phineas writes, is like a direct shock to all my bulletproof buttons. Sirius convinces Remus they have to pretend to be dating to fool some girl about something. Remus pines stoically, miserably happy at what he's been forced into, and then the ending! Whee! Sirius, you daft bastard!

all these places by gloverly
Chokingly evocative, it sort of tumbles almost randomly from one thing to the next and then it all comes together like a kick in the gut. And the gloves! The gloves break my fucking heart.

And This Is Our Life Aquatic by angelgazing
Beautifully written and exquisitely painful - Sirius and Remus and their attempts (and failures) to connect during the first war.

The Shortest Distance Between Two People by riko
Absolutely stunning fic covering Sirius Black's seven years at Hogwarts, from his horror at being sorted into Gryffindor to his realization, finally, of where he belongs. Spectacular.

Les Mois by addicted2ewan
Sharp, evocative AU showing us Remus and Sirius's 1981 month by month. The writing is tight and the tension well maintained. Lovely.

~*~

Read, love, send feedback. Make the New Year happy!

~victoria