Yuletide reveals and recs

[dolorosa_12]

I know it's part of Yuletide culture to post recs while the collection is still anonymous, but I vastly prefer doing so after reveals, because it's important to me to be able to credit the authors.

This year had a fantastic crop of fic, and I'm really happy with both my own gift, and the reception of the four fics I wrote. I also went about commenting and keeping track of what I wanted to rec in a much more deliberate way, with spreads in my bullet journal noting down fic titles, whether I'd commented, and whether I planned to recommend the fic in question.

I received an absolutely wonderful Spinning Silver fic. One of my favourite scenes in canon was the moment when the Staryk lord joined Miryem to dance at her cousin's wedding, and I had made a prompt suggestion for another moment where either he joined her for another family celebration or Jewish festival. My author took that prompt and ran with it, and the result was a fic that took place during Purim celebrations!

True Masks (2144 words) by ariadnes_string
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Miryem Mandelstam/The Staryk Lord
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Purim, Canon Jewish Character, Jewish Holidays
Summary:

Miryem and her husband celebrate Purim

I wrote four fics — my assignment, which was in The Dark Is Rising fandom, and three treats (another in The Dark Is Rising, one in The Queens of Innis Lear, and another in the Winternight trilogy fandoms). The broad theme of all these fics seems to have ended up being 'people go out into extreme weather and wild landscapes and have extreme emotions', one fic had a title taken from an electropop song, and one drew from several medieval Irish texts, all of which, I feel, are my fic 'tells'.



My assignment was for spiderfire, who requested fic about the Black Rider, and Merriman.

Winter Branches (2401 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Merriman Lyon, The Black Rider
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon
Summary:

Before they were Merriman and the Black Rider, they were two young men, called to the Light at the same moment. The choices each made in the face of their lonely existence as an Old One set them on conflicting paths for the remainder of their long history.

This fic is set many centuries before canon.

And these were my three treats:

After Exaltation (3503 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Merriman Lyon, The Black Rider
Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

The struggle of the Light and Dark is ceaseless, and comes at great cost to those on both sides of the divide. None are more aware of this than Merriman and the Black Rider.

Drink the Earth (1228 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Queens of Innis Lear - Tessa Gratton
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Elia Lear/Ban the Fox
Characters: Elia Lear, Ban the Fox
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Summary:

Ban returns to Innis Lear, but the cost of that return is his transformation into a forest spirit, part of the fabric of the land. The trees — and Elia — welcome him home.

What the Sky Looks Like from Your View (2112 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Winternight Series - Katherine Arden
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Vasilisa Petrovna/Morozko
Characters: Vasilisa Petrovna, Morozko - Character
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Vasya and Morozko transform each other.

I aimed to comment substantially on at least fifty works in the main Yuletide collection, and at least twenty in Madness. I succeeded in the former aim, but in the latter I was thwarted by lack of familiarity with enough of the canons to hit my twenty-comment goal. The following group of recs represent those of the sixty-plus fics I read and commented on that I most enjoyed reading.



next spring and her jubilant shout (2417 words) by betony
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Irina/Mirnatius (Spinning Silver)
Characters: Mirnatius (Spinning Silver), Irina (Spinning Silver)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, POV First Person
Summary:

Mirnatius, after.

Laden with Happiness (and Tears) (1183 words) by donutsweeper
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Miryem Mandelstam/The Staryk Lord
Characters: Miryem Mandelstam, The Staryk Lord (Spinning Silver)
Additional Tags: Religious Observations, Shabbat | Sabbath | Sabt, Judaism, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Miryem’s celebration of her first Shabbat in the Staryk lands after being married was a little different than her previous ones.

Savor (1781 words) by Phlyarologist
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Irina/Mirnatius (Spinning Silver)
Characters: Irina (Spinning Silver), Mirnatius (Spinning Silver)
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Irina makes Mirnatius face the future.

and if you don’t love me now (1486 words) by middlecyclone
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Irina/Mirnatius (Spinning Silver)
Characters: Irina (Spinning Silver), Mirnatius (Spinning Silver)
Summary:

The problem wasn’t that someone had tried to kill him; the problem was that the someone who had noticed hadn’t been me.

Drawing Water (6371 words) by Scribe
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Rebekah bat Flek (Spinning Silver), Flek (Spinning Silver), Miryem Mandelstam
Summary:

A Staryk girl with a Jewish name

Suite Infanta (1077 words) by emily_in_the_glass
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Seraphina - Rachel Hartman
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Seraphina Dombegh/Princess Glisselda/Lucian Kiggs
Characters: Seraphina Dombegh, Orma (Seraphina)
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat
Summary:

A short scene following the events of Shadow Scale, showing Seraphina and Glisselda's discovery of an important moment in history. Shadow Scale spoilers, minor Tess of the Road spoilers.

the gift of ordinary magic (4753 words) by mystarsandmyocean
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa, Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck (Mentioned), Nina Zenik/Matthias Helvar (Mentioned)
Characters: Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Van Eck, Karl Dryden, Naten Boreg
Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Relationship Discussions, Past Sexual Abuse, The Gang is All Back Together, Heist, Inspired by The Gift of the Magi - O. Henry, Yuletide 2018
Summary:

He’s not leaving pigeons at her bedside, but this comes pretty damn close.

or: a courtship by Kaz Brekker.

Fighting the Tide (1682 words) by thawrecka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa
Characters: Inej Ghafa, Nina Zenik, Kaz Brekker
Additional Tags: Human Trafficking, Post-Crooked Kingdom
Summary:

A slice of Inej's new life as a sea captain.

The beauty of living well (1203 words) by greenet
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Jeevan Chaudhary, Kirsten Raymonde
Additional Tags: midwinter celebration
Summary:

Jeevan and Kirsten meet again.

The Work of Feeding Humans (2093 words) by Miss_M
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sunshine - Robin McKinley
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Constantine/Rae "Sunshine" Seddon
Characters: Rae "Sunshine" Seddon, Constantine (Sunshine)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Baking, POV First Person, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

A vampiric baker’s assistant. Yeah. Sure. Fine. Why the spartan hell not?

The value of touch (1464 words) by down
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Agnieszka & Kasia (Uprooted)
Characters: Kasia (Uprooted), Agnieszka (Uprooted)
Additional Tags: Mid-Canon, Sarkan as a background presence
Summary:

Touch changed, after the Wood.

Change Bitter Gall and Blighted Leaves (9977 words) by Colourofsaying
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Agnieszka/Kasia (Uprooted)
Characters: Agnieszka (Uprooted), Kasia (Uprooted), Princess Malgorzhata (Uprooted), The Dragon | Sarkan, The Willow (Uprooted)
Additional Tags: Suicidal Thoughts, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, only in passing and never dwelt on, and she does get much better as the story progresses, we end in a good place, Angst with a Happy Ending, Happy Ending, Eventual Happy Ending, Misses Clause Challenge, Femslash Yuletide, Femslash
Summary:

For many trees, there is no death; there is growing, and there is what comes after growing. A tree that falls in the forest sprouts new life from its body as it lies, crumbling into leaf and mould. A tree that falls to corruption may send forth shoots year after year, decade after decade, waiting until there is one shoot that is strong enough, wise enough, to resist that corruption and grow tall. Unless they fall to axe and saw, a tree may live forever. So Wood-Queens and their people do not die. They sleep, and they forget. They are patient. All things come to fruitfulness in time, and what is time, to a tree?

Kasia suffers intensely throughout Uprooted; this is her path back to herself.

Post Scriptum (3146 words) by Tiarn
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Agnieszka/The Dragon | Sarkan, Agnieszka & Kasia (Uprooted)
Characters: The Dragon | Sarkan, Agnieszka (Uprooted), Kasia (Uprooted)
Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Canon Continuation, Fluff and Smut
Summary:

An extended epilogue after Sarkan returns to the valley.

Behind the Shadows (3461 words) by pugglemuggle
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Outsider OCs - Character, Viago (What We Do in the Shadows), Vladislav (What We Do in the Shadows), Nick (What We Do In the Shadows), Deacon (What We Do In the Shadows), Josephine (What We Do in the Shadows)
Additional Tags: POV Outsider, mentions of cannibalism, Mentions of Death, they're vampires so, Dark Comedy, Forum Posts
Summary:

What's really going on in Wellington? True crime forums, bouncers, neighbors, hotel managers, and Uber drivers alike all weigh in.

catch my disease (2514 words) by Rhovanel
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Vladislav (What We Do in the Shadows), Nick (What We Do In the Shadows), Viago (What We Do in the Shadows), Deacon (What We Do In the Shadows), Stu (What We Do in the Shadows), Katherine (What We Do in the Shadows), Pauline Ivanovich | The Beast
Additional Tags: Humor, Terrible internet humour, Friendship, Memes
Summary:

Vladislav goes viral. The Beast is not impressed.

When the Winds Begin to Sing (2407 words) by regshoe
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: John Uskglass | The Raven King
Additional Tags: Magic, Nature, Fairy Tale Elements, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

‘We do not know why in 1202 he quarrelled with Winter and banished it from his kingdom, so that for four years Northern England enjoyed continual Summer.’—Jonathan Strange in The Edinburgh Review, 1815.

These events are remembered in rather more detail, however, in Northern England itself.

The King's Hunt: The Wild Hunt In Northern England, 1110-1434; 1817-2018 (2024 words) by Lanna Michaels
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: John Uskglass | The Raven King
Additional Tags: Yuletide 2018, Wild Hunt, Future Fic, Interviews
Summary:

The night she left to follow the King, it wasn't raining or anything like that.

the leaning grasses and two lights above the sea (3647 words) by Toft
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ged/Tenar (Earthsea), Seserakh & Tenar (Earthsea), Seserakh/Lebannen (Earthsea)
Characters: Tenar (Earthsea), Seserakh (Earthsea), Ged (Earthsea)
Summary:

One year after the wedding, a procession comes up the mountain from Gont Harbor.

Johnny Jaqobis and the Idol-o-Many-Hands (4048 words) by nic
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Killjoys (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Dutch | Yalena Yardeen & Johnny Jaqobis
Characters: Dutch | Yalena Yardeen, Johnny Jaqobis, D'avin Jaqobis, Lucy (Killjoys)
Additional Tags: Hijinks & Shenanigans, Space Pirates
Summary:

A warrant. An idol. And a chance to go undercover...as a space pirate! What could go wrong?

La Bella Donna (10657 words) by enchantedsleeper
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Jonathan Creek (TV), Cadfael (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jonathan Creek & Adam Klaus
Characters: Adam Klaus, Jonathan Creek, Brother Cadfael, Hugh Beringar
Additional Tags: Time Travel, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, hand-wavey time travel, mediaeval crime-solving
Summary:

After a time machine magic trick gone wrong (or gone right?), Adam and Jonathan find themselves transported to 12th century England. Jonathan is just concerned with getting back to the modern day before Adam causes a scandal - but finds himself caught up in unravelling the sudden, mysterious death of a wealthy nobleman. Perhaps a former soldier turned monk can help...

Ivy, Unlimited (13867 words) by psocoptera
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: Jane Unlimited - Kristin Cashore
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jane (Jane Unlimited)/Ivy Yellan
Additional Tags: background Kiran/Patrick, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, First Time, medical drama, Western, Vaguely Sports-ish Rom-Com
Summary:

If Jane's choices are like the ribs of an umbrella all branching from one point, Ivy's are more like a Scrabble board, where you can lay a new word down across any word already there.

Tell Me All Your Names (4727 words) by jibrailis
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Harlots (TV)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Nancy Birch/Margaret Wells
Summary:

Nancy and Margaret, in ten stories.

light those stars in your eyes (like fireworks in the sky) (1718 words) by misura
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Daevabad Trilogy - S. A. Chakraborty
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Darayavahoush e-Afshin/Nahri
Characters: Nahri (Daevabad), Darayavahoush e-Afshin, Manizheh (Daevabad)
Summary:

Manizheh crashes Nahri's wedding.

Or Dye Trying (1224 words) by misura
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Daevabad Trilogy - S. A. Chakraborty
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Alizayd al Qahtani, Darayavahoush e-Afshin
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Invisibility, Ali decided, was not at all as convenient as the stories made it out to be.

Saving You, Saving Me (9138 words) by lorata
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Cleverman (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Latani/Alinta West, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Characters: Latani, Alinta West, Nerida West, Background & Cameo Characters, Boondee, Araluen, Waruu West, Koen West
Additional Tags: Friendship, Friendship/Love, Female Friendship, Family Dynamics, Canon-Typical Violence, Mentions of Racism, During Canon, Post-Canon, Misses Clause Challenge
Summary:

How can we dance when our earth is turning


How do we sleep while our beds are burning

It's part not giving in
And part trusting your friends
You do it all again
But you don't stop trying

---

“You don’t even know me,” Latani says. It comes out much less sharp and a lot more helpless than she meant it to.


“Yeah, but.” Alinta turns to her, dark eyes glowing in the moonlight. “Sometimes you just know, right?”

Latani and Alinta, behind the scenes and beyond.

A Quickstart Guide to Voynich RPG (1248 words) by yhlee
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Voynich Manuscript (Book)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Additional Tags: Horror, Humor, Role-Playing Game
Summary:

Actually, it's an RPG manual. A very special RPG manual.

Thanks to Isis and UrsulaKohl for the beta, and to Sonya Taaffe for the beta and Latin help.

And these are the Madness recs:

Water over the Bridge (1046 words) by misura
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Daevabad Trilogy - S. A. Chakraborty
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Nahri (Daevabad), Alizayd al Qahtani, Darayavahoush e-Afshin
Summary:

Ali and Nahri try to teach Dara how to swim.

say my name (1742 words) by taywen
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Miryem Mandelstam/The Staryk Lord
Characters: The Staryk Lord (Spinning Silver), Miryem Mandelstam
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Names, Kink Negotiation, kind of, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Miryem suggests the Staryk say her name once in a while. He has a number of feelings on the matter.

Glistering Within the Grey (592 words) by donutsweeper
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Flek
Additional Tags: Observations, alternative POV
Summary:

Being one of the two servants assigned to serve the Queen was meant as a slight; it turned out to be anything but.

What did you enjoy in the collection? How did the writing go for you? I hope that Yuletide was great for everyone who participated.

Comments

[merriman]

Ah-HA! I suspected you had perhaps written my treat! I loved it so much! Thank you!

[dolorosa_12]

The medieval Irish literature and 'people having extreme emotions in extreme environments' tend to be my giveaways...

I loved writing for you the last time I wrote you a treat, so I was so happy to be able to do so again this time around — so thank you for your excellent prompt! I'm glad you enjoyed the treat.

[merriman]

It was the literature links that made me wonder!

I'll have to write something for you, one of these days!

[dolorosa_12]

Yeah, I can't resist the temptation to throw in medieval Irish literature at any opportunity...

[gingerschnapps]

'Twas you who wrote my beautiful Winternight fic!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!

[dolorosa_12]

Yes, it was me, and you're so very welcome! I love the canon, and Vasya and Morozko's relationship, so it was wonderful to be able to write a treat for you. To be honest, if I'd had time I would have written you a Six of Crows treat as well, but four fics seems to be the maximum I can manage between assignments being sent out and the collection closing...

[gingerschnapps]

I'm very grateful. I love it a lot. It hasn't been the best holiday season (family stuff...nothing horrible, just stressful) and having someone write a special treat for me really just meant the world. So thank you. <3

I can't believe Winter of the Witch will be a out in just a week!!

[dolorosa_12]

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that you've had a difficult time over the past holiday period, and am glad that I was able, in whatever small way, to alleviate that somewhat.

Your comment just prompted me to preorder Winter of the Witch, so thanks for that! The ebook should now download as soon as the book is published! Looking forward to discussing it with you.

[luzula]

It seems we had basically the same Yuletide assignment! Although to different people, and I didn't manage to finish mine. But I did think a lot about it, so it was interesting to see the different takes on Merriman and the Black Rider in Yuletide this year. Hopefully I'll still write my version someday.

[dolorosa_12]

Yes, I think there were at least two people who requested Black Rider and Merriman fic — I'm not sure if you got the other person who requested it (in which case I actually ended up writing them a Black Rider and Merriman treat, i.e. I wrote two fics about those characters, one for my assigned person, and another as a treat for merriman above), or some third person whose prompt I didn't see.

I had to bite my tongue when I saw you posting about this, because obviously I'd been assigned a fairly similar prompt. Your idea sounded fascinating, though, so I hope you do write it someday.

[luzula]

My assigned recipient was merriman.