Flutterings

Crossworks reveals were yesterday! I received this marvelous Green Men x Dark Is Rising:

And There Was a Great Calm (1925 words) by harborshore
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Green Men Series - K. J. Charles, Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Randolph Glyde/Saul Lazenby, Saul Lazenby & Theresa Glyde
Characters: Saul Lazenby, Will Stanton (Dark is Rising), Randolph Glyde, Theresa Glyde
Summary:

Saul Lazenby meets Will Stanton and ends a war.

And in turn received lovely comments on my Jo's Boys x Sherlock Holmes crossover:

But for the Grace of God (1979 words) by ribbons
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Little Women Series - Louisa May Alcott, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Theodore "Teddy" Bhaer, Sherlock Holmes
Additional Tags: Crossover
Summary:

On his first trip to Europe, Teddy Bhaer meets a fortune teller. He does get a glimpse of his future, but it's not from divination.

Elsewhere, a few drabbles:

( vampire/tailor, Psmith/Blaize, the unfortunate Arke, and Nan/Bess from Jo's Boys )

In progress:

Drabbles for the No True Pair challenge (England World, Psmith, David Blaize, Green Men)

"Amenability" (England World fic, eventually E-rated, sparked by comments from minebyrights)

something 500 words-ish for the KJC Discord exchange

something 10,000 words-ish for the FFFX exchange

Superstition Hockey sorority rush AU, possibly as a Yuletide NYR

plus the ever-floating raft of WiPs and podfic plans

I have 24 physical books and 6 ebooks out from two libraries in aid of this mischief.

I did have enough self-preservation not to sign up for Fic in a Box, but I was decidedly entertained by the list of mediums.

==Yuletide==

Because if one can't be a little bit extra in the midst of death (*) and despair, then when? (**)

More important, the recipients plus others (including writers whose work I've admired from afar) seemed to like them. Pieces at both the ends of the length spectrum (i.e., at least two of the drabbles and the longest story) got rec'ed. The drabbles were a way to relax; I ended up racing the countdown clocks for both the main and Madness collections to get revisions and coding in place in time.

Total: 1 pinch-hit, 2 full-length treats, 30 drabbles (and umpteen outlines/sketches for future NYR or exchange fics)

Fandoms: England Series (KJ Charles), Will Darling Adventures (KJ Charles), The Dark Is Rising Sequence (Susan Cooper), Le nozze di Figaro, Henry IV Part 1, Hot Goth Lady and Himbo Witch and Fair Maiden, Florida Man Catches Alligator in Trash Bin, Duolingo Welsh Course, Yudah Cohen (Rebecca Fraimow), Simon Feximal/Green Men (KJ Charles), Lord Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers), Sotherans


The pinch-hit

Lie Still, Ye Thief (8015 words) for Ferritin4
Fandoms: England Series - K. J. Charles, Henry IV Part 1 - Shakespeare
Rating: Mature
Summary: Theatre manager Frank Benson favours a certain type of actor. Archie and Daniel are added to his Henry IV anyway.

The recipient provided perfect prompts for this -- guiding without confining. I am indebted to rymenhild for pushing me to make this twice as good as the drafts sent to her on super-short notice.


The full-size treats

Sharpening (7789 words) for leiascully
Fandom: Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Rating: Explicit
Summary: Jane looks back and moves forward. Will and Bran share what they can.

What the recipient asked for: "I'm an inveterate Will/Bran shipper, but I also love Will/Bran/Jane. I'd even be interested in Will gently pushing Bran/Jane together because he's an Old One and will have to leave them at some point. I love stories where Bran still has a little magic, or sort of remembers, or sometimes his heritage shines through in some other way. I like Will trying to live a relatively normal life. I like Jane coming into her own."

Beta'd by the beauteous aunty_marion, who also answered ninth-hour queries about onions and pence for the other treat I pulled together . . .

Put to Their Books (6 chapters + notes) for azurewaxwing
Fandoms: Sotherans (Twitter), England Series - K. J. Charles, The Will Darling Adventures - K.J. Charles, Undisclosed Fandom
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Dramatis personae: Oliver, Chris, Rebekah, and Rosie (Sotherans); Daniel da Silva, Archie Curtis, Fenella Carruth, and Patricia Merton (England); Kim Secretan and Phoebe Stephens-Prince (WDA)
Summary: Beleaguered booksellers. Reincarnated operatives. Things get social.

Me troubleshooting CSS tags at 2 a.m. on Boxing Day = people dealing with "some assembly required" overnight on behalf of Santa. Totally worth it. :)


The drabbles (non-explicit unless otherwise indicated)

Le nozze di Figaro | The Marriage of Figaro - Mozart/Da Ponte
Di dolcezza e di piacer (Contessa/Cherubino) for foxtwin

Hot Goth Lady and Himbo Witch and Fair Maiden (Tumblr Post)
Love Is Not a Cinch for epicycles

Florida Man Catches Alligator in Trash Bin
Running Scales (Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia pledge and alligator) for FandomisOhana

Duolingo Welsh Course
Noson hir yn y glwb nos (Owen and too many parsnips) for sabinelagrande

Yudah Cohen Series - Rebecca Fraimow
Und mir haltn zikh in eynem (descendants) for imperfectcircle
Un mir zaynen freylekh munter (ghost klezmer band) for partypaprika

Simon Feximal Series - K. J. Charles/Green Men Series - K. J. Charles
Light on the Blue (Jo/Sam) for torakowalski

The Will Darling Adventures - K.J. Charles
Letting Rip (Teddy, Maisie, Phoebe, Kim, Will) for Luna
E dico ben, se 'l voler no me muta (Will/Kim) for dkwilliams
Conveyance (Maisie/Phoebe) for Sixthlight
Fashioning Channels (Maisie/Phoebe, Kim/Will) for brutti_ma_buoni
Daimlers Are a Girl's Best Friend (Kim/Will, Maisie/Phoebe) for azurewaxwing

The Will Darling Adventures - K.J. Charles x Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers
Outside the Primrose League (Will, about Lord Peter) for pressdbtwnpages

The Will Darling Adventures - K.J. Charles x England Series - K. J. Charles
Improper Intelligence (Kim, about Jimmy Yoxall) for Jenett
And Beautiful (Will and Daniel) for FairestCat
Foresight (Kim/Will) for celli
Prideful (Archie/Daniel) for Sixthlight
It Tutors Nature (Maisie, Laura, Phoebe, Fen) for scintilla10
Standing (Kim, about Daniel and Will) for Roga


England Series - K. J. Charles
Sounding: Daniel and Sounding: Archie (Archie/Daniel; explicit) for goseaward
I will unclasp a secret book (Archie/Daniel) for Ferritin4
Skill Born of Long Practice (Archie/Daniel) for Jenett


Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
The Lady brought home a west wind (Will/Jane/Bran) for leiascully
The Path Taken (Will/Jane/Bran) for coralysendria
Usefully Jolly (Merriman & Ellen Drew) for magelette
Towards the Light Is Striving (Merriman) for sageness
A New Verse (Will/Bran) for Rimedio
Not Any Man's (Gwen Stanton, Will/Bran, Robin Stanton) for sultrybutdamaged
Slicing Ginger (Black Rider/Will; explicit) for blueteak


(* Got a "Call me" message yesterday afternoon, about someone I had danced and taught with. The silver lining was a chance to catch up with the messenger, a friend I hadn't talked to in months.)
(** I'm mostly kidding. IRL I'm highly allergic to drama and maddeningly matter-of-fact. But I really did have a fine time crafting this lot.)

==The rest of the year==

The Dark Is Rising (drabbles)
"Impact Factor" (Will and Bran)
"Fearful Parallel" (Jane/Will)

England Series
"Competence" (15824 words) for whetherwoman
"Matter of Fact" (404 words)

From 2012:

Light from the Lost Land (1536 words) by raspberryhunter
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper, Welsh Mythology
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Gwyddno Garanhir, Gwion (Dark Is Rising), Arianrhod, Elffin ap Gwyddno, Lleu Llaw Gyffes
Additional Tags: Consentfest
Summary:

King Gwyddno Garanhir asks whether he should make the crystal sword.

The king talks to the makers, and the makers are fierce about defying those who would not want a thing made. Oh very yes.

---

In "A Donne Deal," one of the songs I quote is Purcell's "Come All Ye Songsters." I re-encountered Nora Fischer and Marnix Dorrestein's charmingly quirky take on it just now:



And here's the Kathleen Battle rendition that introduced me to the song, thrilling me from head to toe upon first listen:

In 2015, Amanda Elanor Tribble created a number of Dark Is Rising illustrations for her art school portfolio, posting them to her under-stone tumblr account. It's worth paging through her whole tumblr, which isn't huge; my favorite is her train scene from Silver on the Tree. Click on the image to enlarge it, and then marvel at the composition and the exquisite level of detail and the sheer energy and emotion captured by it. (I'm tempted to make it the wallpaper on one of my monitors . . .)

Looking at the artist's Twitter account (yunmin) had a bonus -- it's nice to see that Ponderosa121 is still active. Their Snape/various illos were constantly rec'd, with reason, back when I was active in HP (2005-2008), and I'm looking forward to looking at their MCU work on A03 after I prevail over the thumpier plotbunnies in my head.

Also, they retweeted some caps of a Reddit what's-that-book thread that has me laughing my head off.

Altogether Your World (9554 words) by Slantedlight
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Bran Davies/Will Stanton
Characters: Bran Davies, Will Stanton (Dark is Rising), Jane Drew
Summary:

Will Stanton has been watching for years, and now it seems there's something to see.

What I keep coming back to in this Yuletide 2020 story is the happy Will/Bran dynamic, where they're cheerfully sassing each other, as they did from their very first meeting. For instance, when Will hosts Bran at the place he's house-sitting . . .

"Speaking of kettles – tea or coffee?”

“Have you got the kind that percs in the kitchen, or do you make all the noises yourself?”

“Nothing but Nescafe’s best for you…”

“Tea it is, then,” Bran said easily, following him down the short hallway to the living room, and dropping his rucksack onto the floor.

And:

Bran struck a pose, lifting a foot onto the sofa, one hand on his hip, and the other flourished in the air, then held Will’s gaze and declaimed.

“Mi gerddaf gyda thi drwy weddill f'oes,
Pan fydd yr haul ar fryn neu'r dyddiau'n groes;
A phan ddaw'r alwad draw, pwy wyr pa awr,
Mi gerddaf gyda thi i’r freuddwyd fawr. ”*

He should have looked ridiculous, and he’d started with a mocking twist on his lips that suggested he’d meant to, but the light from the fire caught him so that his hair shone white-gold, and his eyes flashed with age and history, and for that minute he was the Pendragon again. There was a pause when he’d finished, until he tossed his head in dismissal and plonked himself back down on the couch beside Jane.

“Well I never,” Will said at last. “And do you speak Welsh?”

And they were off then – Bran launching himself across the table to Jane’s surprised shout, tussling and giggling until they were breathless.

---

Die ich retten kann is incapability87's German translation of "Those I Can Save," which I wrote for Snupin Santa 2007. That fic also sparked three delightful illustrations by Dido, featuring Hooch, Snape, Lupin, two kids, and a cow.

Dido's Assorted HP Gift Fanart by Didodikali
Chapter 3: Illos for Those I Can Save for Bronze Ribbons

---

I keep humming "Lo, How a Rose Is Blooming." It's used so well in When Harry Met Santa (the Norwegian postal service m/m romance par excellence), and last night I was caught up in a rendition by Sting and friends in a Durham Cathedral concert (about 18 minutes in).

The recs:

[series]
Four Cups of Wine and related stories by borealowl

Fandom: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings for Part 1: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens), some OCs - Character
Additional Tags: Pesach | Passover, I Don't Even Know, Pining, Shavuot, Crowley Has PTSD (Good Omens), Jewish Character, Lesbians, Rosh HaShana | Jewish New Year, Yom Kippur | Atonement Day, Sukkot | Tabernacles, Hanukkah, Purim, Jewish Good Omens (Good Omens), Found Family


Summary of Part 1:

Crowley is terrified of losing Aziraphale again, but unable to confess his feelings. He follows Aziraphale on an errand to America, where they end up invited to a seder and spend the next year being invited to other holidays and gatherings on both sides of the Atlantic. Is Crowley's pining painfully obvious to everyone but Aziraphale? (Yes.) Are the rabbi and her wife going to try and get them together? (Yes.) How many Jewish holidays will these two ineffable idiots be invited to before they finally admit their feelings to each other? (Read it and see!)

Note from Ribbons: chapter 7 of the first story takes place during Chanukah, and includes scolded azaleas, starry socks, gossiping in Yiddish, and kids with dreidls:

Crowley decides to see what the children are doing.

The kids are playing a game with a four-sided top and a pile of chocolate coins of various sizes. Two of them recognize him from the seder and invite him to join. It’s a very simple game, but the kids are having fun making up increasingly arcane house rules (and also eating the chocolate). Crowley starts to participate in the impromptu game design session, a surprisingly involved process. He doesn’t notice Aziraphale approaching until her hears an indignant “Crowley!”

He stands up. “What?”

“Are you teaching children a gambling game?”

“No, angel, the children are teaching me.”

Later in the series . . .

Menorah Conspiracies and Other Distractions (7075 words) by borealowl
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens), same OCs as the rest of the series
Additional Tags: Menorah, Vatican, not quite as light as I was intending but still very silly, author has spent too much time on Jwitter
Series: Part 8 of Four Cups of Wine and related stories
Summary:

“Wait,” says Crowley. “You’re talking about a giant seven-branched candelabra? About this big?” He spreads his arms to gesture at the rough size.
“That’s what the descriptions say, anyway,” says Lori. “Why? Have you seen it?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Crowley says. “I would never set foot in the Vatican.”

Crowley loves a good conspiracy theory, and when he learns about the persistent rumor that the Temple menorah is hidden in the Vatican, well, what demon could resist?

[Makes note to self to dive into the Good Omens is Jewish and so are we collection sometime after Tu B'shevat . . .]

[TDiR/GO crossover]
Familiar Faces (1842 words) by Ghostinthehouse
Fandom: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (TV), Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Merriman Lyon, Crowley (Good Omens), Will Stanton (Dark is Rising), Adam Young (Good Omens), Bran Davies
Additional Tags: Mistaken Identity, Aziraphale's Bookshop (Good Omens)
Series: Part 3 of Stand Alone Omens
Summary:

Aziraphale paused on the town bridge, listening to the music that spilled from the entertainer's lyre. The song ended, and a deep voice requested an old, old tune.

I especially enjoyed Chapter 3, where a grown-up Bran Davies stops by Aziraphale's shop to chat with Adam Young: ""Will Stanton sent me, as I was in the area anyway. He said that this rising was more my thing than his, and I'd be needed here."


A look back:
A Face of Faith (11518 words) by ribbons
Chapters: 4/4
Fandom: Harry Potter - Rowling
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Severus Snape
Additional Tags: Holiday, Hanukkah, Pesach, Rosh Hashanah, tashlich, Romance, Hurt/Comfort
Summary:

"In the months that followed Albus's death and Severus's disappearance, Remus Lupin resumed reciting the prayers of his childhood, even though he hadn't stepped inside a synagogue in years..." Written for Ellid for the 2005 Snupin Santa fest (pre-Book 7).

I've been self-medicating with a fair amount of Dark Is Rising lately -- reading fics and meta that I'd missed or forgotten, borrowing Alex Jennings's audio renditions from the library, getting my own archive in order (or at least less uncollected), and scribbling a couple of new drabbles in the process.

It belatedly dawned on me two Sundays ago that my subconscious miiiiiight be seeking memory fix-its right now because we're dealing with dementia in the family (I spent part of today helping ma belle-mère with paperwork) and among friends as well. *grimaces* The November-December holidays (hello, early Hanukkah!) also have a way of dredging up buried feelings about lapsed friendships, which this year will be amplified by the dance around those faltering from pandemic fatigue, my change of employer, and the usual erosion of connections by time and distance. Which all feels ridiculous with all the active relationships to tend to, and a handsome Hanukkah bundle from friends in Charlotte (chocolate gelt, dreidls, and embroidered towels -- I do feel loved), but I am a greedy soul, and you all know that, so. ;)

Anyway, in the course of picking my way through assorted/broken links from past lists (RIP Skyehawke), the urge to bring some still-around favorites to this year's celebration made itself known. So, to start things off:

For a Season, by significantowl (2003)
Jane/Will, R

Excerpt:

I begin exploring his body with my mouth, taking my time, enjoying the feel of his chest and stomach against my lips. When it’s clear where I’m going, he shivers - then he stops me. He puts a hand to my face and stops me. I think: Will Stanton, you are an idiot. And possibly not human.

This is one of the first TDiR fics I read, and I revisit it every Christmas. It has mistletoe.

I also recorded it (with owl's permission) back in 2006: Part 1 and Part 2

---

Because I do figuratively live under a rock for unseemly stretches of time, I did not know about "Good King Wenceslas" being performed by Michael Stipe, Mandy Patinkin, and Stephen Colbert until two weeks ago, and now I cannot stop listening to it. Especially Mandy. Oh my God. It's not the mostest or the bestest Wenceslas rendition ever (although it did win an advent carol madness bracket in 2016, which is how I finally found an extant clip), but the sheer beauty of Mandy's voice when he comes in makes me wriggle my shoulders and toes and want to go make trunkfuls of hats.

"Brinksmanship," by gramarye1971. From the author's summary: "A missing scene, set during Silver on the Tree."

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.

---

Some notes and recs, ( featuring Lord Peter Wimsey (with major Mrs Climpson), Vicky Bliss (with major Schmidt), Aphrodite/various, Tennant/Barrowman, Will/Bran, Emanuel/Obama, Schroeder (Peanuts), and Federer/Nadal )