i come bearing yuletide gifts! i had an extremely amazing yuletide, with gorgeous gifts and generous feedback, and so i return over sixty recs for glorious fics in amazing fandoms. enjoy!
first of all, MY LOVELY GIFTS:
playing cards on a marriage bed
the fire's stone - tanya huff
words: 1,280
darvish, chandra and aaron on the wedding night. careful, gentle, loving exploration, with some beautiful details thrown in - like darvish and chandra playing cards for flower petals, and the petals in aaron color being the most valuable.
(especially adorable: chandra's prowess at cards).
aaron is skittish but learning to trust, chandra is practical and kind, and darvish can't stop himself from giving poetry; and i'm so happy.
pink iris (important to me)
赤髪の白雪姫 | akagami no shirayukihime
words: 4,883
the last words anyone expected to hear coming out of shirayuki’s mouth were, “zen’s been kidnapped!” but that was what had happened, and now it was up to shirayuki, obi, kiki, and mitsuhide to get him back.
if only they would let shirayuki help!
an excellent action/adventure story that reads straight like a missing episode from canon. shenanigans in the woods! crafty bandits! zen lying his head off for shirayuki, obi trying to be do things all by himself and needing help, kiki and matsuhide bailing everybody out with quite competence and shirayuki ruling the day with her secret herbalist badassery. so awesome.
the change: family
the changes series - rachel manija brown & sherwood smith
words: 17,150
mia lee has to check a pipe leak, and rather than have the horror patrol of the century along with her, asks ross and jennie to act as her support team. kerry, at loose ends, invites herself along on what they all anticipate will be a pleasant outing.
what could possibly go wrong?
well, starting with kerry's dysfunctional family. . .
i absolutely don't know what i did to deserve it, but this is an amazing fic. it's practically a sequel to hostage, slotting into place surely and steadily, and it has everything i love about these books - steadiness, friendship, love, negotiating complicating relationships, aiming for love and cooperation rather than strife and conflict. and all the character beats were perfect - kerry not regretting her princess life but missing it (and gloating in the end over the death of her enemies, and knowing not to show it; i loved it so much), felicite angry, ross self-sacrificial but willing to learn other way, mia bashful but valiant, jenny longing but learning to be different. and the action sequence was hair-rising, and the conclusion extremely satisfying. go read it, if you didn't; it'll tide us over until the third book is out.
and the other recs (note that they're not sorted by fandom):
( the fire's stone - tanya huff, 赤髪の白雪姫 | akagami no shirayukihime, killjoys (tv), te goblin emperor - katherine addison, the hero from otherwhere - jay williams, jeeves & wooster, jeeves - p. g. wodehouse, dark tower - stephen king, vorkosigan saga - lois mcmaster bujold, earthsea - ursula k. le guin, steerswoman series - rosemary kirstein, chalion saga - lois mcmaster bujold, monument valley (video game), behind you (webcomic), wynonna earp (tv), the tiffany aching series - terry pratchett, discworld - terry pratchett, rivers of london - ben aaronovitch, the librarians (tv 2014), 琅琊榜 | nirvana in fire (tv), live free or die hard (2007), the queen's thief - megan whalen turner, emelan - tamora pierce, old kingdom - garth nix, gentlemen of the road - michael chabon, natsume yuujinchou | natsume's book of friends, the martian - andy weir, riddle-master trilogy - patricia a. mckillip, 아가씨 | the handmaiden (2016), uprooted - naomi novik, piszkos fred | dirty fred series - rejtő jenő, jenő rejtő - works, master and commander: the far side of the world (2003), chronicles of amber - roger zelazny, benjamin january mysteries - barbara hambly, dirty dancing (1987), inda series - sherwood smith, scrapped princess, psmith - p. g. wodehouse, kushiel's legacy - jacqueline carey, tortall - tamora pierce, books of the raksura - martha wells, 田中くんはいつもけだるげ | tanaka-kun wa itsumo kedaruge | tanaka is always listless )
first of all, MY LOVELY GIFTS:
playing cards on a marriage bed
the fire's stone - tanya huff
words: 1,280
darvish, chandra and aaron on the wedding night. careful, gentle, loving exploration, with some beautiful details thrown in - like darvish and chandra playing cards for flower petals, and the petals in aaron color being the most valuable.
(especially adorable: chandra's prowess at cards).
aaron is skittish but learning to trust, chandra is practical and kind, and darvish can't stop himself from giving poetry; and i'm so happy.
pink iris (important to me)
赤髪の白雪姫 | akagami no shirayukihime
words: 4,883
the last words anyone expected to hear coming out of shirayuki’s mouth were, “zen’s been kidnapped!” but that was what had happened, and now it was up to shirayuki, obi, kiki, and mitsuhide to get him back.
if only they would let shirayuki help!
an excellent action/adventure story that reads straight like a missing episode from canon. shenanigans in the woods! crafty bandits! zen lying his head off for shirayuki, obi trying to be do things all by himself and needing help, kiki and matsuhide bailing everybody out with quite competence and shirayuki ruling the day with her secret herbalist badassery. so awesome.
the change: family
the changes series - rachel manija brown & sherwood smith
words: 17,150
mia lee has to check a pipe leak, and rather than have the horror patrol of the century along with her, asks ross and jennie to act as her support team. kerry, at loose ends, invites herself along on what they all anticipate will be a pleasant outing.
what could possibly go wrong?
well, starting with kerry's dysfunctional family. . .
i absolutely don't know what i did to deserve it, but this is an amazing fic. it's practically a sequel to hostage, slotting into place surely and steadily, and it has everything i love about these books - steadiness, friendship, love, negotiating complicating relationships, aiming for love and cooperation rather than strife and conflict. and all the character beats were perfect - kerry not regretting her princess life but missing it (and gloating in the end over the death of her enemies, and knowing not to show it; i loved it so much), felicite angry, ross self-sacrificial but willing to learn other way, mia bashful but valiant, jenny longing but learning to be different. and the action sequence was hair-rising, and the conclusion extremely satisfying. go read it, if you didn't; it'll tide us over until the third book is out.
and the other recs (note that they're not sorted by fandom):
( the fire's stone - tanya huff, 赤髪の白雪姫 | akagami no shirayukihime, killjoys (tv), te goblin emperor - katherine addison, the hero from otherwhere - jay williams, jeeves & wooster, jeeves - p. g. wodehouse, dark tower - stephen king, vorkosigan saga - lois mcmaster bujold, earthsea - ursula k. le guin, steerswoman series - rosemary kirstein, chalion saga - lois mcmaster bujold, monument valley (video game), behind you (webcomic), wynonna earp (tv), the tiffany aching series - terry pratchett, discworld - terry pratchett, rivers of london - ben aaronovitch, the librarians (tv 2014), 琅琊榜 | nirvana in fire (tv), live free or die hard (2007), the queen's thief - megan whalen turner, emelan - tamora pierce, old kingdom - garth nix, gentlemen of the road - michael chabon, natsume yuujinchou | natsume's book of friends, the martian - andy weir, riddle-master trilogy - patricia a. mckillip, 아가씨 | the handmaiden (2016), uprooted - naomi novik, piszkos fred | dirty fred series - rejtő jenő, jenő rejtő - works, master and commander: the far side of the world (2003), chronicles of amber - roger zelazny, benjamin january mysteries - barbara hambly, dirty dancing (1987), inda series - sherwood smith, scrapped princess, psmith - p. g. wodehouse, kushiel's legacy - jacqueline carey, tortall - tamora pierce, books of the raksura - martha wells, 田中くんはいつもけだるげ | tanaka-kun wa itsumo kedaruge | tanaka is always listless )