Yuletide 2021 reveals and recs

[dolorosa_12]

Now that author reveals have happened, I can post my recs for this year's collection. Of course, I first want to highlight the wonderful gift I received — a Lions of Al-Rassan fic that showed off the competence and mutual admiration of my favourite OT4.

All Roads Lead to Ragosa (1818 words) by Elizabeth Culmer
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lions of Al-Rassan - Guy Gavriel Kay
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Miranda Belmonte/Rodrigo Belmonte, Jehane bet Ishak & Ammar ibn Khairan & Rodrigo Belmonte
Characters: Miranda Belmonte, Jehane bet Ishak, Ammar ibn Khairan, Rodrigo Belmonte
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Reunions
Summary:

Word of the ambush at Emir ha'Nazar gets out. Miranda moves the Belmonte household to Ragosa.

I only wrote my one assignment fic this year, which is something of a departure for me (for comparison, the last two Yuletides I wrote four treats in addition to my assignment). It's a The Dark is Rising fic — my recipient had requested something that explored Merriman's past.

The Water Key (3610 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Merriman Lyon, Original Characters
Summary:

In those days, the war between Dark and Light was ever present, pressing in from all corners. Neither side was in a position to claim anything like a victory, and instead things progressed with an agonising sense of attrition — one human heart turned from the Dark here, one ancient song leading the way to a magical object there. All that could be hoped for was a breath, a pause — a temporary respite.

I've got recs for a bunch of stuff — mainly book fandoms — from both the main collection and Madness. They're listed in the order in which I read and bookmarked them.

The fandoms are: Spinning Silver (Naomi Novik), The Old Kingdom (Garth Nix), the Odyssey, Yudah Cohen series (Rebecca Fraimow), The Nutcracker, the Dark is Rising sequence, Tam Lin, the Mabinogion, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Susanna Clarke), The Demon's Lexicon (Sarah Rees Brennan), Beowulf/The Legend of Good Women crossover, 10 Things I Hate About You, and Lupin (TV series).


Accounting for the Keys (1779 words) by UrsulaKohl
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Miryem Mandelstam/Wanda Vitkus
Characters: Miryem Mandelstam, Wanda Vitkus, Rakhel Mandelstam, Stepon Vitkus, Sergey Vitkus, Original Female Character(s), Panov Mandelstam
Additional Tags: Wanda's brothers are growing up and having babies, there is no greater magic than words in a book, background Miryem/Staryk, no vows were violated in the creation of this plot, Snow
Summary:

I decided to start with a simple kind of magic, a kind I understood. I counted the years.

there was a fire around us (3071 words) by Merit
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Old Kingdom - Garth Nix
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Lirael (Old Kingdom), Nicholas Sayre
Summary:

Lirael and Nick cross the Wall into Ancelstierre to investigate a mysterious sighting at Wyverley College.

Unwoven (1032 words) by Pingoodle
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Odyssey - Homer, Ancient Greek Religion & Lore
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Athena/Penelope (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), implied Athena/Odysseus/Penelope (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore) - Relationship
Characters: Athena (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Penelope (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)
Additional Tags: past/on hold because of The Odyssey Events Odysseus/Penelope, Weaving
Summary:

Penelope, and her nights undoing her weaving.

Athena has a special interest in clever Odysseus, but weaving is her domain just as much war is.

Shaina Rubin Outwits a Demon (3218 words) by partypaprika
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Yudah Cohen Series - Rebecca Fraimow, Undisclosed Fandom
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Yudah Cohen, Bluma Cohen, Shaina Rubin, Gitl Schneiderman, Mirele Schneiderman
Summary:

Now I know that people have been heard to say that I am prone to a little exaggeration, but can I help it if the things that I have seen are so miraculous that a few people may be so small-minded as to not believe me?

Rabbi Shaina Cohen Shows Great Patience And Fortitude (2235 words) by imperfectcircle
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Yudah Cohen Series - Rebecca Fraimow
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Yudah Cohen, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Yuletide 2021, Epistolary, Family, Siblings, if you thought Yudah was annoying when he was alive...
Summary:

R' Shaina Cohen (she/they)
radradrabbi

Hate to poop the party, but there is no evidence that Judah/Yudah/Yehuda Coen/Cohen/Cohn existed

He's an archetype of Jewish folklore, like Shlemiel (the fool) or Hershele (the prankster)

1/2

4:10 PM · Oct 15, 2017· Twitter Web App

To a Far Land in Winter Snow (6035 words) by Zdenka
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Nußknacker und Mausekönig | Nutcracker and the Mouse King - E. T. A. Hoffmann
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Marie Stahlbaum & the Nutcracker (Nutcracker and the Mouse King)
Characters: Marie Stahlbaum, Nussknacker | Nutcracker, Droßelmeier | Drosselmeyer (The Nutcracker), Drosselmeyer's Nephew (The Nutcracker), Original Mouse Characters
Additional Tags: fairy tale AU, Mice, Winter
Summary:

After the Nutcracker is captured by the sister of the slain Mouse King, Marie goes on a quest to rescue him. ("East of the Sun, West of the Moon" AU.)

Towards the Light Is Striving (100 words) by ribbons
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Dark Is Rising Sequence - Susan Cooper
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Merriman Lyon
Additional Tags: Yuletide Madness Drabble Invitational
Summary:

The old tunes do not belong to a single day or time, and neither does Merriman.

as fast as love can go (584 words) by TheBigCat
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tam Lin (Traditional Ballad)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Janet/Tam Lin
Characters: Janet (Tam Lin), Tam Lin
Additional Tags: Yuletide 2021, Yuletide Treat, Post-Canon
Summary:

When she wakes on that windswept autumn morning, the cradle is empty and Maggie is missing.

Flower, Flower, Promise (3932 words) by Selden
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Mabinogion (Myth)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Branwen, Blodeuwedd
Additional Tags: Future Fic, Post-Apocalypse, Dubious mythological accuracy, Temporary Character Death, Resurrection, not entirely optimistic, Severed Head, Mention of spousal abuse
Summary:

This is the story of the three broken promises of Branwen, daughter of Llŷr. And an owl made of flowers. Also of the end of humanity, but who's counting.

The Top 9 Trends To Bring Back In 2022! (1115 words) by Lanna Michaels
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Yuletide 2021, Clickbait, Worldbuilding, Future Fic
Summary:

The last one won't shock you!

i’ll see what tomorrow brings (4455 words) by LuckyDiceKirby
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Demon's Lexicon - Sarah Rees Brennan
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Nicholas "Nick" Ryves | Hnikarr, Alan Ryves
Additional Tags: Cooking
Summary:

With all of the world under his power, what Nick had wanted most was to eat cereal on the couch with his brother. The cupboards were empty, though.

New perspectives on Chaucer’s Aldris: Editor’s introduction (2082 words) by CenozoicSynapsid
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Legend of Good Women - Geoffrey Chaucer, Beowulf (Poem)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Characters: Grendel's Mother (Beowulf)
Additional Tags: Pseudo-scholarship, AU: Chaucer Lives Till 1404, Heroic Grendel's Mother, Etymology, Crack Treated Seriously, Implied/Referenced Suicide
Summary:

Feminist readings of Aldris are, of course, some of the most prominent. While some early voices see Aldris as simply assuming a masculine role, Carol Clover’s 1993 “Flyting as gender performance” examines Aldris’s reproach of Earl Roger and his knights...

AU: Chaucer lives four more years and writes a tale about Grendel's mother in his Legend of Good Women. Hundreds of years later, academics are still arguing over the details, because of course they are.

(next year it’ll be clear) this was only leading me to that (5131 words) by alasse
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Kat Stratford/Patrick Verona
Characters: Kat Stratford, Patrick Verona, Bianca Stratford
Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Post-Relationship, Pre-Relationship, Getting Back Together
Summary:

“Who the hell is this? D’you know what fucking time it is?”

“Hi, Patrick. And yeah, sorry about the time. It’s just—I kinda need you to bail me out? Well. Me and like seven other girls.”

“...Kat? Kat Stratford?”

Or, five times Kat calls Patrick, and one time Patrick calls Kat. Post-movie.

Free Man in Paris (2830 words) by primeideal
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Lupin (TV 2021)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Assane Diop/Youssef Guedira
Characters: Youssef Guedira, Assane Diop
Additional Tags: Post-Season 1 Part 2
Summary:

Once Guédira starts seeing patterns and puzzles from Diop everywhere, things aren't just going to return to normal.

I'm so pleased to see that after reveals so many of the things I'd bookmarked to rec were written by Dreamwidth friends! What did you write? What did you enjoy from the collection?

Comments

[zdenka]

Thanks for the rec!

[dolorosa_12]

You're welcome — it was a great fic!