From the forest to the sea

I've just got home from a fabulous long weekend in Sweden. Today (Monday) is a public holiday in the UK, the second of two long weekends in May, and Matthias and I normally try to spend one of them visiting various friends who are scattered about the UK and the rest of Europe. This weekend naye and doctorskuld were kind enough to let us come and visit them — the first time we'd seen them both since they moved to Sweden. They were fabulous hosts, and it was great to be shown around such a beautiful part of the world.

We arrived quite late on Friday night, and after getting back to their flat spent an hour or so chatting and getting reacquainted with their curious, inquisitive cats, before staggering into bed for very welcome sleep. Due to our late arrival time, we got up pretty late on Saturday and had a very leisurely breakfast, after which we had a walk in the beautiful forest near their house, and a look around the town in which they now live. After lunch we returned to their flat and then just chilled out for a bit, reading, writing fic, listening to podcasts, or playing with the cats according to our respective inclinations.

And on the Sunday, they drove us to the sea. If you follow naye on here you'll have seen some photos of the wonderful day we spent on a tiny, windswept, beautiful island, as she's posted what amounts to a photo essay of how we spent our time. We brought a picnic lunch, and walked around a track that took us along the perimeter of the island, with occasional detours inland into the dappled light of the forested path. On the edge the sun sparkled on the clear water, and the wind smashed the waves against the rocks, and it was perfect. I miss the sea so much. I miss the smell and the sound and the colour of the water. Being back by the ocean is good for my soul.

Today — the day Matthias and I were to return to Cambridge — was drizzly and cold, but we still spent a very enjoyable morning being shown around Gothenburg, including sharing a cinnamon bun bigger than my head between the four of us. After a detour into an SFF bookstore (in which Matthias introduced the others to his love of terrible, cheesy pseudomedieval fantasy films), it was time to go, and they drove us to the airport.

It was a wonderful, wonderful holiday: my first time in Sweden, spent with just the right mix of going out and doing things and recharging with tea and good company in the warmth. And naye and doctorskuld were such great hosts, generous and open hearted, and so enthusiastic about showing us their lovely corner of the world.

Wayback Exchange reveals

This year I participated in Wayback Exchange, an exchange for fanworks in fandoms whose canons ended at least ten years ago. The exchange went live last weekend, and today it was time for reveals. I was amused to see that I ended up writing for the same person who wrote for me, even though it was in completely different fandoms.

My gift was a gorgeous, lyrical Sunshine/Constantine fic in the Sunshine fandom. My favourite thing about this pairing is the way the two of them transform each other, Con making Sunshine a little bit more monstrous, and Sunshine bringing him just a little bit into the daylight, and this fic captured that perfectly.

Last (First) Light (1069 words) by Meilan_Firaga
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sunshine - Robin McKinley
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Constantine/Rae "Sunshine" Seddon
Characters: Constantine (Sunshine), Rae "Sunshine" Seddon
Additional Tags: Canon Continuation, Slice of Life, Fluff
Summary:

Dawn became my sunset.

Life has changed for Sunshine in so very many ways. What's one more?

My assignment was Hades/Persephone from Greek mythology, and I had a lot of fun writing it.

Six Crossings (2116 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Greek and Roman Mythology
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ἁδης | Hades/Περσεφόνη | Persephone (Hellenistic Religion & Lore)
Characters: Ἁδης | Hades (Hellenistic Religion & Lore), Περσεφόνη | Persephone (Hellenistic Religion & Lore)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon
Summary:

Five times Persephone was transformed by the seasons, and one time she transformed the season instead.

Did anyone else participate in this exchange? Or did you write or receive fic (or indeed other types of fanworks) in another exchange that revealed authors recently? Feel free to share or gush about it here!