Yuletide!

[bronze_ribbons]

SQUEE! FAKE fic for me! "you, me and none of the others." I have reread it several times already and will continue to revisit it, because it is so good - it's seven vignettes from Ryo's point of view, and I especially love #4, because the interactions amongst the guys at the 27th as well as Ryo's internal thoughts - pitch-perfect. *glee*

And someone else was kind enough to give me an extra treat in the form of "Shrapnel," a FAKE ficlet. Lyrical, vivid, jaggedly sad, and yet ultimately hopeful.

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Some notes and recs, with a couple of caveats: (1) I haven't been reading at all methodically or thoroughly, and long fics are going to have to wait until after the reveal because I'm running away from the BYM for a week to go dance with swords, act in a mummers' play, and ignore Real Life long enough to finish an overdue sonnet and a soon-due villanelle (hi marginaliana!). (Mus, no rush, but I'm giving myself six months after I receive your prompts...) (2) There are tons of well-written fics in Yuletide 2008 -- something to everyone's taste. If a fic's not here, doesn't mean I hated it -- what I'm listing here are the pieces that happened to grab me the most during yesterday's gobbling-around, and the regulars among you know that I'm idiosyncratic.

So, with that in mind:

10 x 100 (Dorothy L. Sayers - Lord Peter Wimsey series). Insightful glimpses into Peter and Charles's friendship.

Herr Doktor SilberneKlinge und Der Herr der Ringe (Elizabeth Peters - Vicky Bliss mysteries). Schmidt takes issue with an ageist LOTR fan. Hee!

Invicta (Mythology - Greek and Roman). A portrayal of Aphrodite over the years, especially in relation to Helen of Troy. NWS, femslash, and a fabulous opening:

"She is exceedingly pretty." Aphrodite looks down upon the child.

"She was born from an egg," Athena says, gesturing for the cup bearer.

"Yes, well," Aphrodite says, reclining back on the couch. "I don't think either of us can really judge people based on the manner of their birth."

Irrational Acts (Tennant/Barrowman RPF) The portrayal of Scott is especially terrific.

One Goes Alone (Susan Cooper - Dark Is Rising series) Takes a good, close look at what it really means when all the Old Ones save Will disappear from the lives they'd been leading.

Sense and Notion (Susan Cooper - Dark Is Rising series) Bran persists in staying in touch with Will:

At some point, he stops asking and starts giving Will reasons to come. He never says he misses seeing him and talking to him and listening to him attempt Welsh. He forgets all of the reasons he sends, but years later Will tells him that nine had something or other to do with sheep and seventeen were in Welsh.

Ten Sephirot, Nine and a Half Fingers, Eight Nights, 44 Presidents (Rahm Emanuel/Barack Obama RPF). NWS. In all honesty, the pairing squicks me, but man, the writing is brilliant and full of insightful gems, and I love love love this paragraph in particular:

Rahm is very much in the Loop, literally, so he is among the first to know of Daley's plan. One million people, gathered in Grant Park. Daley's just a mayor, so he doesn't have to hide his grandiosity. (Once, long ago, the idea of Daley running for President was floated; he shot it down with a snarl, insulted at being asked to take a step down. He already runs Chicago, which is the jewel in the crown; why have to pretend to care about, say, Oklahoma?)

Ten Times Schroeder Played the Piano (and One Time He Didn't) (Peanuts). Molto dolce.

The Frivolous Fable of a Spinster's Suspicions (Dorothy L Sayers - Lord Peter Wimsey series) I have a very strong suspicion as to who wrote this. Pitch-perfect voice and characterization, sly humor (Mrs Climpson!), and Harriet and Peter not quite in harmony on one of their pre-Gaudy dates.

Roger Rafa Dubai Mallorca (RPF- Tennis). Federer/Nadal. NWS. Splendid descriptions. westernredcedar, I am so thinking of you...