Yuletide reveals and recs; Snowflake Challenge begins

[dolorosa_12]

Happy New Year to everyone! Matthias and I saw out 2023 in our usual way — with canapes, champagne, and films at home, and it was cheerful and relaxing and cosy. I wasn't quite intending to wake up at 7am, but in the end it was nice to be up and about in the very first sliver of the morning, drinking tea, eating a cooked breakfast, and chatting about which books with which we planned to start our 2024 reading. We then went out for a looping, 5km walk along the river and through the sleepy suburban streets, and back — via the coffee rig in the market square — past the cathedral, drenched in silvery sunlight, watching the canal boats and swans drift by. Here's a little photoset of the transition from one year to the next.

It being 1st January means two things: Yuletide reveals, and the start of snowflake_challenge. I'm planning to participate in a low key way in the challenge this year: I'll do all the prompts, but I'm not going to link them in the comm. I know this goes somewhat against the spirit of the thing, but I found dealing with the increased replies overwhelming at times last year, and this feels like a compromise that will keep things manageable. But more on Snowflake later: let's get to the Yuletide recs!

I only make rec posts for the exchange once authors have been revealed, because it feels unfair to share all these things I've enjoyed without the authors getting credit, hence why I always wait until 1st January. I'm pleased to see that several of my favourite fics that I'm reccing from this year's collection are written by friends!


These are listed in the order in which I read them.

Perhaps the Starbucks (1170 words) by MiraMira
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Terra Ignota - Ada Palmer
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: 9A | The Ninth Anonymous (Terra Ignota), Jung Su-Hyeon Ancelet Kosala, Mycroft Canner
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Coffee Shops, Epistolary, Hives (Terra Ignota)
Summary:

You may think, dear Reader, in an age of anti-sleeps and kitchen trees, coffee shops would be an antiquated curiosity. Not so! Each Hive maintains its own customs, and each has some vital lesson to convey regarding that Hive’s history and character.

(A missing excerpt from Mycroft's account.)

under our skins (1190 words) by Wildcard
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sunshine - Robin McKinley
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Mel (Sunshine)
Additional Tags: POV Outsider, Worldbuilding, Prequel, Magical Tattoos
Summary:

Mel during the Wars, told through the eyes of a tattoo artist.

Soul Clap Its Hands And Sing (1881 words) by ambyr
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sarantine Mosaic - Guy Gavriel Kay
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Shirin (Sarantine Mosaic), Danis (Sarantine Mosaic)
Additional Tags: Theatre, Backstory, Post-Canon
Summary:

No one in the retreat had told Shirin that the theatre had fallen with Rhodias.

An Occasion On Which Yudah Cohen Was, Shockingly, Not Required To Meddle (1618 words) by whetherwoman
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Yudah Cohen Series - Rebecca Fraimow
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bluma Cohen/Yudah Cohen
Characters: Yudah Cohen, Bluma Cohen
Additional Tags: Jewish folktales, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

On the road from Vilna to Lodz, Yudah and Bluma find shelter for a night.

The White Ladies of the Ring (7901 words) by Luzula
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Penthe/Tenar (Earthsea)
Characters: Penthe (Earthsea), Tenar (Earthsea), Ged (Earthsea), Ogion (Earthsea)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Canon
Summary:

There was a sorcerer imprisoned in the Labyrinth, and Arha had told Kossil that she would kill him—but she did not want to. Perhaps she needed to ask someone for help...

The Place of Birds (2378 words) by Vaznetti
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin, Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Penthe (Earthsea), The House (Piranesi)
Additional Tags: also a lot of birds, Magic, Metamorphosis, Learning to Fly, Crossover, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

In the wreckage of the Tombs, Penthe finds her way to the House, and to her own power.

Nightfall (1683 words) by Ori_Cat
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Tenar (Earthsea), Penthe (Earthsea)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fictional Religion & Theology
Summary:

She wept, the tears which had begun when she had wrenched her hand out of Ged’s and drawn back into the tunnel, back away from the daylight. She wept in the knowledge that everything had been changed, and by her hands as well. She wept that she did not know now what was right to do, or even what she wished to do. And most of all she wept from shame, as the gods did not even deign to destroy her for all her transgressions against them.

 

In the end, Arha cannot turn her back on the gods who once chose her as their instrument, and remains in the shelter of the Dark. But the gods have a purpose still, for the greatest of their servants, who was offered the light and nonetheless kept faith and rejected it.

Spencer Tunick and the Giant Ul Qoman Protuberance (2739 words) by Fontainebleau
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The City & the City - China Mieville
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Worldbuilding (The City & the City)
Summary:

The citizens of Beszel and Ul Qoma are skilled in unseeing what goes on in their neighbour city. But some things are more difficult to unsee than others...

and in the daylight, you're crossing all your wires (10230 words) by millepertuis
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: John Connor/Cameron Phillips, John Connor & Derek Reese & Kyle Reese, John Connor & Sarah Connor, John Connor & the Specter of His Future Self
Characters: John Connor (Terminator), Cameron Phillips, Derek Reese, Kyle Reese (Terminator), Allison Young (Terminator)
Additional Tags: Post-Season/Series 02, Post-Canonical Apocalypse, Timeline Shenanigans, Resistance, Man vs. Machine, Robot/Human Relationships, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Summary:

No one’s ever died for him, here.

I wrote four fics this year — my main assignment, two treats in the main collection, and one treat in the Madness collection, which seem to have been well received, so from my perspective, this has been a good Yuletide all around: a great gift, a good reception for my own writing, and a collection with some fantastic pieces of work.


I matched on my main assignment for Monica Furlong's Wise Child books, and wrote the following:

Hymn of the Big Wheel (6434 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Wise Child Series - Monica Furlong
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Juniper (Wise Child series), Wise Child (Wise Child series), Angharad of the West (Wise Child series), Euny (Wise Child series), Trewyn (Wise Child series), Finbar (Wise Child series)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon
Summary:

After being forced to flee from the island, Juniper and Wise Child go on a journey, and seek a new home.

My recipient had such great prompts for this fandom that I ended up writing two more treats for them:

The Last Light of the Sun (1799 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Wise Child Series - Monica Furlong
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Wise Child (Wise Child series), Juniper (Wise Child series), Angharad of the West (Wise Child series), Trewyn (Wise Child series), Euny (Wise Child series), Original Characters
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, Post-Canon
Summary:

On the shortest night of the year, Wise Child and Juniper welcome old friends and new, celebrating the turn of the seasons, the return of light and warmth, and the promise of spring to come.

Turning the earth (1353 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Wise Child Series - Monica Furlong
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Wise Child (Wise Child series), Juniper (Wise Child series), Original Characters
Additional Tags: Post-Canon
Summary:

Wise Child and Juniper pause on their journey towards a new home, and spend some time helping an old friend of Juniper's to grow a garden.

I can never resist writing something for Robin McKinley's Sunshine, and luckily there was a requester who wanted something involving baking. The result was the following:

Chocolate Chips at Midnight (1449 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sunshine - Robin McKinley
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Rae "Sunshine" Seddon, Constantine (Sunshine)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

In the depths of night, unable to sleep, Rae bakes brownies with the help of an unlikely kitchen assistant.

Today's prompt is:

In your own space, update your fandom information.

My intro post remains up to date, which is pleasing. Something which I had been intending to do for last year's challenge, but which never happened, was writing a template post for fanwork exchange letters, with prompts for all the fandoms I'm likely to request. The idea was that this would save me time and avoid the need to go trawling back through multiple previous letters. I can obviously update it with new fandoms if I decide to request them. I'm really happy that the template letter post is all set up — it should save me a huge amount of time in the future.

And that's snowflake_challenge Day 1 completed!

Comments

[luzula]

Thanks for the rec! : D In fact, if the first person I asked to beta read had been too busy, I was thinking I might have asked you--I'm happy to see I was right that it was something you wanted to read, at least...

[dolorosa_12]

You're very welcome! It was a great fic, and definitely the sort of thing I'd want to read!

[vriddy]

Four fics written!! Super cool, congratulations and yay for a successful Yuletide :D

[dolorosa_12]

Thank you!

[peaked]

Happy 2024! It sounds like you had a nice start to 2024—a walk sounds lovely! (The pictures of look so cozy!)

And, hey, participating in Snowflake however you like is totally fine! I feel you on feeling overwhelmed by the sudden influx of comments. I think I'm going to try a low-key approach this time around so I can juggle that and some other things I'd like to do. I look forward to seeing what you share/post!

[dolorosa_12]

It definitely was a relaxing and cosy start to the year, and I'm glad you liked the pictures.

A low-key approach to Snowflake definitely feels like the right one this year. I look forward to seeing your posts too.

[svgurl]

Happy New Year! Sounds like a nice way to ring it in and a strong start to the new one. :D

[dolorosa_12]

Thank you, and happy new year to you too! It definitely felt like the right way to move from one year to another.

[chestnut_pod]

Thank you for the recs! What a cornucopia!

[dolorosa_12]

You're very welcome! There were some particularly good book fandom fics this year, which definitely made me happy.

[scintilla10]

Happy New Year! This sounds like a lovely beginning.

And thank you for sharing so many Yuletide recs! There is so much interesting stuff in the collection that I haven't got to yet. :D

[dolorosa_12]

Happy new year to you too!

And thank you for sharing so many Yuletide recs!

You're very welcome!