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I was lucky enough to receive two gifts from Yuletide this year, and they're both brilliant, so they absolutely make this list.
The Blood Moon and the Sun
Fandom: Baraou no Suretsu | Requiem of the Rose King
Pairing: Henry VI/Richard III
For those of you unfamiliar with the canon, it's an au of the Wars of the Roses featuring an intersex Richard III who is haunted by the ghost-witch of Jeanne d'Arc. He has a vaguely romantic relationship with a shepherd called Henry - secretly Henry VI, who keeps slipping away in an attempt to escape the duties he hates so much. There are other, more complicated plotlines, but that's the jist of it. It's unapologetically weird, grim-dark, and quite fun.
This fic is very much along the same lines. The narrative is vague - we don't know how much is real and how much is a hallucination. The pairing is handled with the same air of inevitable tragedy as in canon, and Jeanne's appearance is gloriously in character.
the second interesting thing about angels
Fandom: Cthulhu Mythos - H.P. Lovecraft
Pairing: Nyarlathotep/Randolph Carter
Okay, so this is the best fic for this pairing that I've ever read. Ever. Nyarlathotep is perfectly written - he's unapologetically inhuman and, for all his professed fondness for Carter, he approaches their liaison (relationship?) with much the same attitude as a cat approaches a spider. Carter is going to be eaten alive; Nyarlathotep is going to make sure that he enjoys the process (mostly). There's some extremely well-written, dimension-shattering and weird sex in here - super hot and uncompromising in its interspecies nature.
Still Life with Flowers
Fandom: Agatha Christie's Poirot
Pairing: Arthur Hastings/Hercule Poirot
A careful, sweet romance that takes these two from best friends to something more. It's period appropriate in its approach to same-sex relationships, but without any outright homophobia - something that works very well for me. This is a really adorable fic, handled so well, and makes me deeply nostalgic for the show itself.
standing sentinel
Fandom: Alien V Predator
Pairing: Scar/Alexa
I guess now is a good time to admit that AvP is one of my guilty pleasures and possibly my favourite Predator movie? Aaaand that I read fic for it on a semi-regular basis? Yes? Good. Okay. Because there's nothing really new about this fic. The subject matter has been written about before, repeatedly, and the pairing is the biggest for this fandom. With that said, this fic gives a brilliant take on familiar ground by covering the immediate aftermath of the film and Scar's recovery while Alexa begins to settle into a new environment and culture. It fortunately eradicates the events of AvP 2 (a good thing - a very good thing) within the first two scenes, and instead focuses on Alexa: her grief, her fear, and her determination. Her relationship with Scar (more pre-relationship than anything established) is handled really well, and there's a distinct sense that there's the potential for something wonderful between them. So, while this fic is nothing new, it's getting a recommendation for its sheer skill in its approach.
Hinky Dinky Parlay Voo?
Fandom: Blackadder
Pairing: Kevin Darling/Edmund Blackadder
Blackadder Goes Forth broke my heart a very long time ago and so this, with its post-war setting, was already on to a winner because it has the characters living past that final episode. Well, some of them. Their survivals, however, are realistic and not without scars. The period-typical approach to disability is both heartbreaking and appropriate, as is the approach to same-sex relationships. For all of that, however, there is a lovely hopeful ending to look forward to.
All the host of shadowy things
Fandom: Cthulhu Mythos - H.P. Lovecraft
Pairing: Nyarlathotep/Randolph Carter
Anyone who can believably pull off slow-build in less than 3000 words deserves a medal. It's hard. It's also done here very well, with Carter's acceptance of Nyarlathotep's advances conflated with an appropriate application of Lovecraftian madness.
get into my head
Fandom: Ocean's 8
Pairing: Constance/Amita
This is a lovely post-movie slice-of-life centring around Constance and her relationships with NineBall and Amita. It's a nice insight into how life-changing the amount of money in their cuts would be, especially for someone like Constance, and how - despite that - some things remain the same. The femslash is slow build and very well done, but more than that, the friendships and characterisation in this are just glorious.
something that seeks its level
Fandom: Ocean's 8
Pairing: None
This is a gorgeous Amita-centric genfic. Starting out with the beginning of her life of crime, it rapidly becomes a study of her relationships with the rest of the Ocean's 8 gang. There's no plot, as such, but it's a wonderful story about shared experience and the love that develops between friends.
in the pleasure of your company
Fandom: The Terror
Pairing: Francis Crozier/James Fitzjames
I'm not usually one for modern au's, but this worked for me. Mostly because the modernity was secondary to the plot - one of moving on and making mistakes, and then making up for them. The prose is lovely, as is the characterisation.
Mile 704
Fandom: The Terror
Pairing: Francis Crozier/James Fitzjames
A gorgeous little story about falling in love in impossible circumstances. This is a partial fix-it, in that some characters live who otherwise didn't and there's a vague hope of an escape from the Arctic. There's also a degree of period appropriate attitudes towards same-sex relationships, but it's treated in much the same way as the cannibalism: it's there, it exists, it ultimately doesn't matter here.
And that's it! If you're interested, check them out! And, of course, check out the Yuletide archive as a whole for a wide-range of excellent fics in over a thousand small fandoms.
The Blood Moon and the Sun
Fandom: Baraou no Suretsu | Requiem of the Rose King
Pairing: Henry VI/Richard III
For those of you unfamiliar with the canon, it's an au of the Wars of the Roses featuring an intersex Richard III who is haunted by the ghost-witch of Jeanne d'Arc. He has a vaguely romantic relationship with a shepherd called Henry - secretly Henry VI, who keeps slipping away in an attempt to escape the duties he hates so much. There are other, more complicated plotlines, but that's the jist of it. It's unapologetically weird, grim-dark, and quite fun.
This fic is very much along the same lines. The narrative is vague - we don't know how much is real and how much is a hallucination. The pairing is handled with the same air of inevitable tragedy as in canon, and Jeanne's appearance is gloriously in character.
the second interesting thing about angels
Fandom: Cthulhu Mythos - H.P. Lovecraft
Pairing: Nyarlathotep/Randolph Carter
Okay, so this is the best fic for this pairing that I've ever read. Ever. Nyarlathotep is perfectly written - he's unapologetically inhuman and, for all his professed fondness for Carter, he approaches their liaison (relationship?) with much the same attitude as a cat approaches a spider. Carter is going to be eaten alive; Nyarlathotep is going to make sure that he enjoys the process (mostly). There's some extremely well-written, dimension-shattering and weird sex in here - super hot and uncompromising in its interspecies nature.
Still Life with Flowers
Fandom: Agatha Christie's Poirot
Pairing: Arthur Hastings/Hercule Poirot
A careful, sweet romance that takes these two from best friends to something more. It's period appropriate in its approach to same-sex relationships, but without any outright homophobia - something that works very well for me. This is a really adorable fic, handled so well, and makes me deeply nostalgic for the show itself.
standing sentinel
Fandom: Alien V Predator
Pairing: Scar/Alexa
I guess now is a good time to admit that AvP is one of my guilty pleasures and possibly my favourite Predator movie? Aaaand that I read fic for it on a semi-regular basis? Yes? Good. Okay. Because there's nothing really new about this fic. The subject matter has been written about before, repeatedly, and the pairing is the biggest for this fandom. With that said, this fic gives a brilliant take on familiar ground by covering the immediate aftermath of the film and Scar's recovery while Alexa begins to settle into a new environment and culture. It fortunately eradicates the events of AvP 2 (a good thing - a very good thing) within the first two scenes, and instead focuses on Alexa: her grief, her fear, and her determination. Her relationship with Scar (more pre-relationship than anything established) is handled really well, and there's a distinct sense that there's the potential for something wonderful between them. So, while this fic is nothing new, it's getting a recommendation for its sheer skill in its approach.
Hinky Dinky Parlay Voo?
Fandom: Blackadder
Pairing: Kevin Darling/Edmund Blackadder
Blackadder Goes Forth broke my heart a very long time ago and so this, with its post-war setting, was already on to a winner because it has the characters living past that final episode. Well, some of them. Their survivals, however, are realistic and not without scars. The period-typical approach to disability is both heartbreaking and appropriate, as is the approach to same-sex relationships. For all of that, however, there is a lovely hopeful ending to look forward to.
All the host of shadowy things
Fandom: Cthulhu Mythos - H.P. Lovecraft
Pairing: Nyarlathotep/Randolph Carter
Anyone who can believably pull off slow-build in less than 3000 words deserves a medal. It's hard. It's also done here very well, with Carter's acceptance of Nyarlathotep's advances conflated with an appropriate application of Lovecraftian madness.
get into my head
Fandom: Ocean's 8
Pairing: Constance/Amita
This is a lovely post-movie slice-of-life centring around Constance and her relationships with NineBall and Amita. It's a nice insight into how life-changing the amount of money in their cuts would be, especially for someone like Constance, and how - despite that - some things remain the same. The femslash is slow build and very well done, but more than that, the friendships and characterisation in this are just glorious.
something that seeks its level
Fandom: Ocean's 8
Pairing: None
This is a gorgeous Amita-centric genfic. Starting out with the beginning of her life of crime, it rapidly becomes a study of her relationships with the rest of the Ocean's 8 gang. There's no plot, as such, but it's a wonderful story about shared experience and the love that develops between friends.
in the pleasure of your company
Fandom: The Terror
Pairing: Francis Crozier/James Fitzjames
I'm not usually one for modern au's, but this worked for me. Mostly because the modernity was secondary to the plot - one of moving on and making mistakes, and then making up for them. The prose is lovely, as is the characterisation.
Mile 704
Fandom: The Terror
Pairing: Francis Crozier/James Fitzjames
A gorgeous little story about falling in love in impossible circumstances. This is a partial fix-it, in that some characters live who otherwise didn't and there's a vague hope of an escape from the Arctic. There's also a degree of period appropriate attitudes towards same-sex relationships, but it's treated in much the same way as the cannibalism: it's there, it exists, it ultimately doesn't matter here.
And that's it! If you're interested, check them out! And, of course, check out the Yuletide archive as a whole for a wide-range of excellent fics in over a thousand small fandoms.
no subject
Date: 2019-02-21 01:29 am (UTC)From: