Beyond Selidor

Author reveals went live late last night, so I can finally post about the great gift I received in this exchange, and the fic I wrote. (I always wait until after reveals to post about fic exchanges, as I think it's important to be able to credit the authors.)

I received an absolutely wonderful Vasya/Morozko fic for the Winternight trilogy fandom. What I didn't know until reveals last night was the story behind how this came to be my gift. I knew I hadn't matched with anyone when sign-ups closed, and I was resigned to being a lingering pinch hit yet again. (I should say that this doesn't really stress me out, as I've received great gifts over the years despite rarely matching initially during the signing up period.) But even more incredibly, the author who picked up my request hadn't read the series before they chose to write for me — they had been so inspired by my request that they read an entire trilogy, just so they could write for me! Luckily, they seemed to enjoy the books as much as I did, and the resulting fic is wonderful.

I have to admit I've been going through a really rough time at the moment, and to know that whole backstory to how my Night on Fic Mountain gift was written was a real bright spot that has done a lot to lift my spirits. It's one of those stories of fandom bringing out the best in people — the sharing, generosity, and enthusiasm that drew me to this community in the first place.

And so, the fic!

The Witch and her House (3927 words) by Jay Tryfanstone
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Winternight Series - Katherine Arden
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Morozko/Vasilisa Petrovna
Characters: Vasilisa Petrovna, Morozko (Winternight Series), Medved | The Bear
Additional Tags: Slavic mythology, Russia, 1300s, Night On Fic Mountain 2019, Night on Fic Mountain Pinch Hit
Summary:

"Have I ever told you the tale," Morozko said, "Of the frost-demon, the Winter King? Long, long ago, before ever there were Rus, with their long swords and their iron axes, there was still winter. Winter was-"

"Is," said Vasya, and curled closer. Solovey nosed an apple nearer the oven, ears cocked.

"Is, then," said Morozko, "A death-god, puissant and stern, merciful to his subjects, indifferently true to his nature. Beloved, so that every midwinter the maidens would walk willingly to the forest, hoping for his embrace."

"Handsome, I'm sure," said Vasya.

"You know me too well," said Morozko.

My assignment was in the Grisha trilogy fandom, which took me somewhat out of my comfort zone (I had written fic before about Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows characters, but not those in her other series). This assignment also gave me the opportunity to try out some tropes that I'd never written before: fake marriage, undercover as a married couple, and the associated problems that ensued from this scenario.

Hands of Silver, Hands of Gold (3760 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Nikolai Lantsov/Alina Starkov
Characters: Nikolai Lantsov, Alina Starkov
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Canon, Fake Marriage, Undercover as Married
Summary:

Nikolai and Alina go undercover as a married couple in Ketterdam.

This fic takes place after the events of the Grisha Trilogy, but diverges slightly from canon. Alina still has her Grisha powers.

I know I'm extremely behind on responding to comments here on Dreamwidth, and I shall endeavour to catch up with everything this weekend.

Night on Fic Mountain is one of my favourite exchanges, and this year's iteration was definitely pretty great. I always wait until after author reveals to post my gift and link to my own assignment, as I like to be able to credit authors by name so that people can look up their other work more easily.

My gift this year was in the 'Seasons of Glass and Iron' fandom. I'm glad that I seem with my own fic in this fandom last Yuletide to have started something of a trend in this microfandom: stories where Tabitha and Amira find themselves operating halfway houses for the girls and women fleeing the brutality and misogyny of the fairytales in which they find themselves trapped. The gift for me took a similar approach, but in new and interesting directions, and I'm going to have to look up some of the fairytales alluded to:

A Home Built on Stillness (A Home Built on Movement) (1571 words) by ChocoChipBiscuit
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Seasons of Glass and Iron - Amal El-Mohtar
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Amira/Tabitha (Seasons of Glass and Iron)
Characters: Amira (Seasons of Glass and Iron), Tabitha (Seasons of Glass and Iron)
Additional Tags: Found Family, Fairy Tale Retellings
Summary:

They walk miles and roads in patterns of ones and threes and sevens, east of the sun and west of the moon, through lands unseen and stories untold, until they find a cottage in the woods.

I was assigned to write for shopfront, and matched on the Obernewtyn Chronicles, an absolutely formative childhood/YA series (an opinion shared by many Australians, particularly Australian women, of my generation), and I thouroughly enjoyed writing my assignment.

Mirrored Flame (2192 words) by Dolorosa
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Obernewtyn Chronicles - Isobelle Carmody
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Elspeth Gordie, Dragon (Obernewtyn Chronicles)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon
Summary:

Three years after the events of The Red Queen, Elspeth Gordie returns to Redport.

I unfortunately don't know many of the other fandoms in this year's Night on Fic Mountain, but please feel free to rec anything from the collection if it stood out to you!

Now that the authors/artists of nightonficmountain have finally been revealed, I'm able to share my own contribution to the exchange, and also a few recommendations. For those of you who don't know, nightonficmountain is a fun, multifandom exchange for fanworks in small fandoms (on similar lines as Yuletide, but on a much smaller scale).

This year, I wrote one gift fic:

Sugar Water by Dolorosa
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Word Count: 3066
Fandom: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Characters: Inej Ghafa, Matthias Helvar, Nina Zenik
Relationship(s): Inej Ghafa/Matthias Helvar/Nina Zenik
Summary: Matthias wants to give Nina a gift. Inej has the perfect idea.

Three exiles in Ketterdam come to the realisation that they have found a home in each other.

Post-Crooked Kingdom. (A canon-divergent AU.)

My gift was a lovely Briseis/Chryseis Iliad fic:

In the Ruins by LadyBrooke
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Word Count: 1168
Fandom: The Iliad - Homer
Characters: Chryseis, Briseis, Chryseis' Son
Relationship(s): Briseis/Chryseis
Summary: Briseis escaped from the camp before the army had left the ruins of Troy, and ran towards it.

Chryseis lived through the ruin of the city and remains within it.

I didn't know many of the fandoms in the exchange, but there were a couple of fics I really liked, so I'll rec them here.

A Meeting of Curious Minds by notkingyet
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Word Count: 1370
Fandom: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (TV)
Characters: John Childermass, Arabella Strange, Lady Pole
Summary: 2 July, 1817

Mr Childermass,

I require your assistance in a matter of urgency and grave importance. Please come to no. 9 Harley-street at your earliest convenience. Mr Vinculus need not attend.

Your obedient servant,

Lady Pole

Smoulder by Merit
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Word Count: 4081
Fandom: Old Kingdom - Garth Nix
Characters: Lirael, Sameth
Summary: Smoke tears through the sky.

I hope everyone else who participated in nightonficmountain enjoyed it as much as I did! If you have any recs, feel free to post them in the comments!

I've been cycling through despair, fury and anxiety since the EU referendum results last week, but let's put that aside to talk about happier things.

I was lucky enough to spend the weekend at a srafcon in London with bethankyou, M and S. We spent most of the time wandering around, hanging out in cafes and pubs, and browsing through the books at Forbidden Planet, but our visit also coincided with London Pride, and we managed to catch a bit of the parade.

I've also just finished up a couple of fic exchanges, My Old Fandom and Night on Fic Mountain, both of which were tremendous fun. Now that reveals have happened for both of them, I can share the fic I wrote and received as gifts.

For My Old Fandom, I wrote 'The Many's Gathered Choices', The Dark Is Rising gen featuring Simon Drew, Jane Drew, Barney Drew, Will Stanton and Bran Davies.

For Night on Fic Mountain I wrote 'In the Wings', a Ballet Shoes-Code Name Verity crossover, featuring Petrova Fossil, Julie Beaufort-Stuart and Maddie Brodatt.

By a strange quirk of fate, Morbane wrote both my gifts for the two exchanges.

I received 'rebound' (Sunshine; Sunshine/Constantine) for My Old Fandom, and 'Find Someone Who's Turning' (Galax Arena; Presh/Allyman) for Night on Fic Mountain.

I enjoyed both fics immensely, and had a great time participating in both exchanges, even if my assignments took me somewhat out of my comfort zone. There were lots of other great works that I found through the two exchanges, and I strongly encourage everyone to have a look through both collections and see if they find anything they like.