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Yuletide Madness Recs
Since the beginning of my Yuletide reading was so long delayed this year, I decided that I'd begin by working my way through the shorter Yuletide Madness stories before the reveal. That meant I got through lots of fic in lots of different fandoms despite my late start. Anyway, there were many brilliant stories under a thousand words in this year's challenge.
Before I get to those, though, I must thank the author who wrote my awesome Yuletide gift, an Order of the Stick story in the form of a letter Vaarsuvius writes to hir children. The characterisation is spot-on and the author does a great job of getting both the painful, serious aspects of the story and the silly stuff that comes of living in a world governed by a D&D ruleset.
Now, onwards to the Madness recs! Since they are so short, you have time to read them all ...
A Maying (Arthurian Legend)
Ten knights go Maying with the queen, but she only has eyes for one. Great take on both Guinevere and the knight in question.
Valen's Name (Babylon 5)
Delenn and her faith, though light and darkness.
In the Midnight Dreams of the Emperor (Babylon 5)
At night, Emperor Cotto I wanders the palace. His servants speculate as to the reasons, but Vir tells no-one ...
In Pompeium (Cambridge Latin Course/Doctor Who)
*hysterical laughter*
Summer Meeting (The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper)
On a summer afternoon, Stephen Stanton and his baby brother meet an archeologist. I have loved Merriman Lyon since I was old enough to have Over Sea, Under Stone and the rest read to me, and I want to give this story a big hug.
The Queen (Dragon Age: Origins)
Anora is her father's daughter. I spent much of my first play-through wanting to shake Anora (she and my PC ... did not hit it off) but this is a great look at her perspective on things.
Beauty in the Mirror (Fairy Tales)
In the future, it's sometimes difficult to tell the beauties from the beasts.
No Frog, No Princess (Fairy Tales)
In which a tale is retold with neither a frog nor a princess, and things still manage to reach a happy ending.
That Was Most Beautiful (Fairy Tales)
A darker alternate take on Snow White.
Clenliness and Hard Work (Fringe)
I'm a big fan of Astrid and wish we got to see more of her - this is a great character portrait set during Snakehead.
Not One Whit Explosive (Fringe)
Walter finds a new friend. Absolutely charming and very, very Walter.
Sparrow (Greek Mythology)
A great insight into how Zeus and Hera's marriage really got off on the wrong foot.
Skybound (His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman)
A bear and a witch encounter each other one more time. Beautiful, lyrical and sad.
Jamie Hamilton's Rotten Luck (The Homeward Bounders - Dianna Wynne Jones)
This is exactly the kind of thing Jamie has to put up with.
Respectfully Decline (Indiana Jones)
Indy declines and invitation. With snark that can be seen from space.
From the Lowly Roof (Leverage)
Hardison gets himself into a spot of trouble. It's just as well Eliot is only a phone call away.
(I spent much of the week before Christmas with a horrible head cold, but on the bright side this meant that I lay on the couch and mainlined the entire first season of Leverage in four days. Now the archive is open with all the lovely fic, I am very glad I did. And to nobody's surprise, I am in love with Hardison. And Parker. And Eliot/Parker/Hardison in any combination or order.)
The Con Job (Leverage)
This time, the con is running on Hardinson's turf. Now if only he could teach Eliot and Parker the appropriate lingo ...
Data Quality Management (Leverage)
Sometimes Hardison has problems with hacking that have nothing to do with good security and everything to do with poor data keeping. I love this story because I have SO BEEN THERE. (Er, not with the hacking, but definitely with the "WTF is wrong with these databases?!" situation.)
The Symbology of Orange Juice (Leverage)
Sometimes, juice is just juice. Then again, sometimes it isn't.
Solitary (M*A*S*H)
Winchester has been at the 4077th a week when he realises something important. A painfully sharp portrait.
Ordinary (Matilda)
When she gets the letter from Hogwarts, Matilda just wants desperately to be an ordinary girl. Genius crossover.
The Elaine Song (Monkey Island)
Guybrush Threepwood tires to woo his love with song. Made of win and truly, horribly no-good very bad poetry. With gopher repellent in it.
It's A Fine Life (Oliver!)
After many years, Oliver encounters the artist formally known as the Artful Dodger.
Background Characters' Guide to Survival (Order of the Stick)
Daigo passes on what he's learned to other NPCs. You may get more out of this if you understand the Japanese cultural in-jokes, but they are explained at the end. (And are very funny, I might add.)
Rhymes With "Can O' Data" (Order of the Stick)
Sometimes Elan needs help with his songs. Hilarious and perfect for the universe - I'm surprised that he never tried this in canon!
The Measure of a Love (Othello - William Shakespeare)
Emilia and Desdemona have differing views on ideal love. Horribly painful when you know what's coming for both of them.
Speak, for my heart is full (Othello - William Shakespeare)
Emilia attones. (This seems to be a good year for Emilia/Desdemona. I guess it was on the last minute pinch hitting list? In any case, I can only approve given how their husbands turn out.)
The Pigeon Writes For Yuletide and Makes a New Friend (The Pigeon series)
Don't let the pigeon sign up for the ficathon! A delight for pigeon fans young and old.
The Road We Came By (The Silmarillion - JRR Tolkein)
This year's Yuletide prize for 'author I want to marry despite not knowing their location, age, marital status or gender' goes to this anonymous writer. It's fic about Alatar! And Pallando! If you haven't read that bit of The Silmarillion as many times as I have, you may not recall that there were two Blue Wizards who came to Middle Earth with Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast. They appear for about two lines before they wander off to the East never to be heard from again. For fifteen years now I've been wondering what the hell happened to them - and I very much like this explanation.
Dreamed You First (Singin' in the Rain)
The woman in the green dress has her own take on things.
Two Weeks on Skullcrusher Mountain (Skullcrusher Mountain)
Romance for supervillains just isn't as easy as it looks.
all these half floors (Spooks)
Afterwards, Ruth dreams in circles.
The Funk of Forty Thousand Years (Thriller)
All of this has happened before, all of this will happen again. Delightfully creepy.
The Good Poet (V for Vendetta)
Backstory for Ruth and Valerie. This part of the film always makes me sad and angry, as does the story. But it's beautiful, too.
Soul-Hurting Magic (The Windrose Chronicles - Barbara Hambly)
Antryg considers a history that never happened. A lovely slice of time and reflection.
The Westside Way (The Wire)
Carver is not impressed with the fuckhead he's been assigned as a partner. The unlikely beginning of a beautiful friendship.
The good part about starting late is that I still have SO MUCH TO READ. I seem to have somehow bookmarked three hundred and fifty Yuletide stories.
I do really wish there was a way of sorting those bookmarks - I'm guessing it's planned for a future update, since the archive is not yet fully functional. I have fallen firmly in love with the AO3 during the challenge, though. At least when something about the way it's set up annoys me, I know that it may be fixed in the future. (And I can go make suggestions for improvement! I think I will wait a few days until the poor archivists have recovered a bit, though.)
Before I get to those, though, I must thank the author who wrote my awesome Yuletide gift, an Order of the Stick story in the form of a letter Vaarsuvius writes to hir children. The characterisation is spot-on and the author does a great job of getting both the painful, serious aspects of the story and the silly stuff that comes of living in a world governed by a D&D ruleset.
Now, onwards to the Madness recs! Since they are so short, you have time to read them all ...
A Maying (Arthurian Legend)
Ten knights go Maying with the queen, but she only has eyes for one. Great take on both Guinevere and the knight in question.
Valen's Name (Babylon 5)
Delenn and her faith, though light and darkness.
In the Midnight Dreams of the Emperor (Babylon 5)
At night, Emperor Cotto I wanders the palace. His servants speculate as to the reasons, but Vir tells no-one ...
In Pompeium (Cambridge Latin Course/Doctor Who)
*hysterical laughter*
Summer Meeting (The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper)
On a summer afternoon, Stephen Stanton and his baby brother meet an archeologist. I have loved Merriman Lyon since I was old enough to have Over Sea, Under Stone and the rest read to me, and I want to give this story a big hug.
The Queen (Dragon Age: Origins)
Anora is her father's daughter. I spent much of my first play-through wanting to shake Anora (she and my PC ... did not hit it off) but this is a great look at her perspective on things.
Beauty in the Mirror (Fairy Tales)
In the future, it's sometimes difficult to tell the beauties from the beasts.
No Frog, No Princess (Fairy Tales)
In which a tale is retold with neither a frog nor a princess, and things still manage to reach a happy ending.
That Was Most Beautiful (Fairy Tales)
A darker alternate take on Snow White.
Clenliness and Hard Work (Fringe)
I'm a big fan of Astrid and wish we got to see more of her - this is a great character portrait set during Snakehead.
Not One Whit Explosive (Fringe)
Walter finds a new friend. Absolutely charming and very, very Walter.
Sparrow (Greek Mythology)
A great insight into how Zeus and Hera's marriage really got off on the wrong foot.
Skybound (His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman)
A bear and a witch encounter each other one more time. Beautiful, lyrical and sad.
Jamie Hamilton's Rotten Luck (The Homeward Bounders - Dianna Wynne Jones)
This is exactly the kind of thing Jamie has to put up with.
Respectfully Decline (Indiana Jones)
Indy declines and invitation. With snark that can be seen from space.
From the Lowly Roof (Leverage)
Hardison gets himself into a spot of trouble. It's just as well Eliot is only a phone call away.
(I spent much of the week before Christmas with a horrible head cold, but on the bright side this meant that I lay on the couch and mainlined the entire first season of Leverage in four days. Now the archive is open with all the lovely fic, I am very glad I did. And to nobody's surprise, I am in love with Hardison. And Parker. And Eliot/Parker/Hardison in any combination or order.)
The Con Job (Leverage)
This time, the con is running on Hardinson's turf. Now if only he could teach Eliot and Parker the appropriate lingo ...
Data Quality Management (Leverage)
Sometimes Hardison has problems with hacking that have nothing to do with good security and everything to do with poor data keeping. I love this story because I have SO BEEN THERE. (Er, not with the hacking, but definitely with the "WTF is wrong with these databases?!" situation.)
The Symbology of Orange Juice (Leverage)
Sometimes, juice is just juice. Then again, sometimes it isn't.
Solitary (M*A*S*H)
Winchester has been at the 4077th a week when he realises something important. A painfully sharp portrait.
Ordinary (Matilda)
When she gets the letter from Hogwarts, Matilda just wants desperately to be an ordinary girl. Genius crossover.
The Elaine Song (Monkey Island)
Guybrush Threepwood tires to woo his love with song. Made of win and truly, horribly no-good very bad poetry. With gopher repellent in it.
It's A Fine Life (Oliver!)
After many years, Oliver encounters the artist formally known as the Artful Dodger.
Background Characters' Guide to Survival (Order of the Stick)
Daigo passes on what he's learned to other NPCs. You may get more out of this if you understand the Japanese cultural in-jokes, but they are explained at the end. (And are very funny, I might add.)
Rhymes With "Can O' Data" (Order of the Stick)
Sometimes Elan needs help with his songs. Hilarious and perfect for the universe - I'm surprised that he never tried this in canon!
The Measure of a Love (Othello - William Shakespeare)
Emilia and Desdemona have differing views on ideal love. Horribly painful when you know what's coming for both of them.
Speak, for my heart is full (Othello - William Shakespeare)
Emilia attones. (This seems to be a good year for Emilia/Desdemona. I guess it was on the last minute pinch hitting list? In any case, I can only approve given how their husbands turn out.)
The Pigeon Writes For Yuletide and Makes a New Friend (The Pigeon series)
Don't let the pigeon sign up for the ficathon! A delight for pigeon fans young and old.
The Road We Came By (The Silmarillion - JRR Tolkein)
This year's Yuletide prize for 'author I want to marry despite not knowing their location, age, marital status or gender' goes to this anonymous writer. It's fic about Alatar! And Pallando! If you haven't read that bit of The Silmarillion as many times as I have, you may not recall that there were two Blue Wizards who came to Middle Earth with Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast. They appear for about two lines before they wander off to the East never to be heard from again. For fifteen years now I've been wondering what the hell happened to them - and I very much like this explanation.
Dreamed You First (Singin' in the Rain)
The woman in the green dress has her own take on things.
Two Weeks on Skullcrusher Mountain (Skullcrusher Mountain)
Romance for supervillains just isn't as easy as it looks.
all these half floors (Spooks)
Afterwards, Ruth dreams in circles.
The Funk of Forty Thousand Years (Thriller)
All of this has happened before, all of this will happen again. Delightfully creepy.
The Good Poet (V for Vendetta)
Backstory for Ruth and Valerie. This part of the film always makes me sad and angry, as does the story. But it's beautiful, too.
Soul-Hurting Magic (The Windrose Chronicles - Barbara Hambly)
Antryg considers a history that never happened. A lovely slice of time and reflection.
The Westside Way (The Wire)
Carver is not impressed with the fuckhead he's been assigned as a partner. The unlikely beginning of a beautiful friendship.
The good part about starting late is that I still have SO MUCH TO READ. I seem to have somehow bookmarked three hundred and fifty Yuletide stories.
I do really wish there was a way of sorting those bookmarks - I'm guessing it's planned for a future update, since the archive is not yet fully functional. I have fallen firmly in love with the AO3 during the challenge, though. At least when something about the way it's set up annoys me, I know that it may be fixed in the future. (And I can go make suggestions for improvement! I think I will wait a few days until the poor archivists have recovered a bit, though.)
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