The Yuletide Recs Post
Jan. 5th, 2010 12:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snorkackcatcherOK, I confess -- I've never really paid much attention to Yuletide before, but ended up looking at it this time since it got so heavily ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
metafandom-ed by moving to AO3. (Which is one of those things in fandom that seem to split opinion into entrenched battle lines, but really -- it's just another so-so archive at present, even if the OTW people's grandiose plans seem overblown.)
Anyway, a few things that caught my eye, in no particular order:
Back Online by Omorka (Doonesbury; Boopsie, Ron Headrest). I have a great fondness for this cartoon (subtle humo(u)r with Garry Trudeau managing to hit the marks with great regularity) and this is a pleasantly fun little piece which (literally) revives an old character.
Breaking Points by CrimsonQuills (I, Robot [the Isaac Asimov stories, not the movie!]; Mike Donovan/Greg Powell). Clicked on with interest but some foreboding as to whether the Mike/Greg would just be tacked on, but that was underestimating the author -- it worked nicely into the solution of the robot problem, and the problem itself with its Three Laws-interplay was spot on and had a very Asimovian feel.
Hoops and Bumps by paranoidangel (Press Gang; Lynda/Spike, Kenny/Sam). A typical day at the Junior Gazette -- i.e. Lynda chasing a story, having a blazing row with Spike as a result, and being her usual wildly self-centred but strangely likeable self, plus bonus Kenny, and another of Colin's wacky schemes.
Entire Complacency and Satisfaction by Carlanime (Mina de Malfois; Mina/Arc). Our heroines finally get together fr reals after Mina finishes grad school when Arc makes things clear in a manner only Arc could. Bonus Xena mentions. The author manages to get the characters perfectly! :)
Strange Language by Brigdh (A Song of Ice and Fire; Missandei, Daenerys). Backstory for Missandei (the slave girl who translates for Dany when she buys the Unsullied and becomes part of her court). Nicely done with a neat twist at the end.
Eh By Gum! by BluWacky (Wallace and Gromit; Wallace, Gromit, others). Wallace goes into the confectionery business and Gromit extricates him from the ensuing calamities. Bonus Wendolene and Feathers McGraw.
Tape Madness by jmtorres (Sector General [James White]; Conway/Prilicla, Conway/Murchison). Pure nostalgia -- years ago I picked up a number of the old New Writings in SF paperbacks secondhand, which contained the early stories in this James White series. This is set in the era of the later books, but it was interesting to encounter it. (Now if next year somebody wants to do Fritz van Noon and the Unorthodox Engineers by Colin Kapp ... er, I'm just sayin'.)
Out of Bounds by fawatson (Stalky and Co [Kipling]; Stalky and, um, Co). OK, I've not actually read the source since I was about (?)8-10 and it actually wasn't a favourite then (too young, probably) -- but this seems to get the Edwardian tone right with added slashiness (albeit not involving the main characters -- but hey, it's set in a public school, Kipling might not have written about it but it would hardly have been unknown).
We Don't Talk About Love by cgb (This Life; Warren/Ferdy). One of the great 90s series, Y/Y? Fills in some of the gap between the end of season 2 and the recent special, Ferdy's generally drifting and frequently stoned POV.
Somewhat Akin to a Limpet by Skew (Blackadder II; Edmund, Percy). Set at university, how Edmund and Percy came to be friends. Or more precisely, how Percy came to be Edmund's loyal pet, despite everything Edmund could do to get rid of him.
A Real Grown-Up Name by fairy_tale_echo (Dirty Dancing; Frances/Johnny). Oh shut up. I'm probably not supposed to like this film, but for some reason I do. Carrying on the story of the relationship and Baby's idealism for a good few years afterwards. A bit preachily awkward from time to time, but, you know, awww.
Killing Elvis by David Hines (hradzka) (Alien series; OFCs, OMCs). Epistolary -- well, more emailolary -- story about what happens when the Weyland-Yutani researchers have to kill and mount a captured Alien for the Chair to have a trophy. Which poses some problems, of course, said Alien being 'aggressive, stupid, vicious, aggressive, impossible to train, and did I mention aggressive ... newsflash, THEIR BLOOD IS ACID'.
metafandom-ed by moving to AO3. (Which is one of those things in fandom that seem to split opinion into entrenched battle lines, but really -- it's just another so-so archive at present, even if the OTW people's grandiose plans seem overblown.)Anyway, a few things that caught my eye, in no particular order:
Back Online by Omorka (Doonesbury; Boopsie, Ron Headrest). I have a great fondness for this cartoon (subtle humo(u)r with Garry Trudeau managing to hit the marks with great regularity) and this is a pleasantly fun little piece which (literally) revives an old character.
Breaking Points by CrimsonQuills (I, Robot [the Isaac Asimov stories, not the movie!]; Mike Donovan/Greg Powell). Clicked on with interest but some foreboding as to whether the Mike/Greg would just be tacked on, but that was underestimating the author -- it worked nicely into the solution of the robot problem, and the problem itself with its Three Laws-interplay was spot on and had a very Asimovian feel.
Hoops and Bumps by paranoidangel (Press Gang; Lynda/Spike, Kenny/Sam). A typical day at the Junior Gazette -- i.e. Lynda chasing a story, having a blazing row with Spike as a result, and being her usual wildly self-centred but strangely likeable self, plus bonus Kenny, and another of Colin's wacky schemes.
Entire Complacency and Satisfaction by Carlanime (Mina de Malfois; Mina/Arc). Our heroines finally get together fr reals after Mina finishes grad school when Arc makes things clear in a manner only Arc could. Bonus Xena mentions. The author manages to get the characters perfectly! :)
Strange Language by Brigdh (A Song of Ice and Fire; Missandei, Daenerys). Backstory for Missandei (the slave girl who translates for Dany when she buys the Unsullied and becomes part of her court). Nicely done with a neat twist at the end.
Eh By Gum! by BluWacky (Wallace and Gromit; Wallace, Gromit, others). Wallace goes into the confectionery business and Gromit extricates him from the ensuing calamities. Bonus Wendolene and Feathers McGraw.
Tape Madness by jmtorres (Sector General [James White]; Conway/Prilicla, Conway/Murchison). Pure nostalgia -- years ago I picked up a number of the old New Writings in SF paperbacks secondhand, which contained the early stories in this James White series. This is set in the era of the later books, but it was interesting to encounter it. (Now if next year somebody wants to do Fritz van Noon and the Unorthodox Engineers by Colin Kapp ... er, I'm just sayin'.)
Out of Bounds by fawatson (Stalky and Co [Kipling]; Stalky and, um, Co). OK, I've not actually read the source since I was about (?)8-10 and it actually wasn't a favourite then (too young, probably) -- but this seems to get the Edwardian tone right with added slashiness (albeit not involving the main characters -- but hey, it's set in a public school, Kipling might not have written about it but it would hardly have been unknown).
We Don't Talk About Love by cgb (This Life; Warren/Ferdy). One of the great 90s series, Y/Y? Fills in some of the gap between the end of season 2 and the recent special, Ferdy's generally drifting and frequently stoned POV.
Somewhat Akin to a Limpet by Skew (Blackadder II; Edmund, Percy). Set at university, how Edmund and Percy came to be friends. Or more precisely, how Percy came to be Edmund's loyal pet, despite everything Edmund could do to get rid of him.
A Real Grown-Up Name by fairy_tale_echo (Dirty Dancing; Frances/Johnny). Oh shut up. I'm probably not supposed to like this film, but for some reason I do. Carrying on the story of the relationship and Baby's idealism for a good few years afterwards. A bit preachily awkward from time to time, but, you know, awww.
Killing Elvis by David Hines (hradzka) (Alien series; OFCs, OMCs). Epistolary -- well, more emailolary -- story about what happens when the Weyland-Yutani researchers have to kill and mount a captured Alien for the Chair to have a trophy. Which poses some problems, of course, said Alien being 'aggressive, stupid, vicious, aggressive, impossible to train, and did I mention aggressive ... newsflash, THEIR BLOOD IS ACID'.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-05 11:30 am (UTC)