Yuletide 2009: Thank yous (and maybe recs)

Have been madly busy with family Christmas and writing projects (of course the non-Yuletide project's plot bunnies chose to jump in front of the Yuletide ones), but am now more or less caught up...just in time to go on vacation -- and most likely Internet-free -- for a week.  [There will be a potentially borrow-able computer where I'm going, but I'm not at all sure of the 'Net access.]

However, some thanks are overdue already.

The Writer's Block Sleeps Tonight (Castle, Alexis-centric) was written for me in Yuletide proper, and is a wise and clever and funny story with a great many subtle in-jokes, bonus Martha/theater material, and much sensible writing advice.  I'm very pleased with and grateful for it, and look forward to thanking my writer properly when I get back next year. :-)

A Facade of Stone (Gargoyles, Xanatos & Owen (and Puck)) was my Yuletide Madness treat -- it's a post-episode tag to "The Price", in which Xanatos had acquired a magical cauldron and needed Owen to test it for him.  I can hear Jonathan Frakes and Jeff Burnett (and Brent Spiner) delivering the dialogue for this one...and would not be surprised if something like this turned up on an outtake reel somewhere.  Highly amusing, and a welcome treat indeed.

Castle in general did very well out of Yuletide this year; I'll give a blanket "thumbs up" to all 30 stories in the fandom.  There's also a handful of other very worthwhile Gargoyles fic in the archive, with a particular nod toward Checksum (Anastasia/Halcyon) -- sometimes you only need 100 words to draw a relationship.

I will also jump on a couple of bandwagons.  I hope to do more recs after I get back, and especially to do more obscure ones, but time considerations have had me mostly following others' trails of breadcrumbs in the early stages of Yuletide reading.

The Cable & Deadpool Yuletide Special (Marvelverse) bids fair to jump right into the top tier of legendary epic crackfics -- Carrot Juice, Earl Grey. Hot (aka Bugs Bunny vs. the Borg) still ranks highest on my all-time scale (and wonder of wonders, is now actually up on the 'Net), but this is easily in the top three both for utter wackiness and actual artistic depth.

And But Rather Darkness Visible ("Young Wizards"/Duane; Doctor Who) is way over on the opposite end of the scale, a quiet yet daring crossover that's admirably compact, strongly characterized, and completely believable as near-canon (right up to the use of Dairine as dispenser-of-wisdom, which is not a position that canon usually assigns her).

Not quite as widely noted is Another Rainbow in Another Sky (My Little Pony), a thoughtfully executed...I'd term it a "reawakening" rather than a reboot or re-imagining of the franchise that starts with Megan just arrived at college and ends on a moment that satisfies...and holds the promise of much more.  This is a story I'd like to see its author carry forward, and as good as Yuletide fic usually is, one doesn't see a lot of work with that kind of potential.

More later -- I hope!

Yuletide 2009: Thank yous (and maybe recs)

Have been madly busy with family Christmas and writing projects (of course the non-Yuletide project's plot bunnies chose to jump in front of the Yuletide ones), but am now more or less caught up...just in time to go on vacation -- and most likely Internet-free -- for a week.  [There will be a potentially borrow-able computer where I'm going, but I'm not at all sure of the 'Net access.]

However, some thanks are overdue already.

The Writer's Block Sleeps Tonight (Castle, Alexis-centric) was written for me in Yuletide proper, and is a wise and clever and funny story with a great many subtle in-jokes, bonus Martha/theater material, and much sensible writing advice.  I'm very pleased with and grateful for it, and look forward to thanking my writer properly when I get back next year. :-)

A Facade of Stone (Gargoyles, Xanatos & Owen (and Puck)) was my Yuletide Madness treat -- it's a post-episode tag to "The Price", in which Xanatos had acquired a magical cauldron and needed Owen to test it for him.  I can hear Jonathan Frakes and Jeff Burnett (and Brent Spiner) delivering the dialogue for this one...and would not be surprised if something like this turned up on an outtake reel somewhere.  Highly amusing, and a welcome treat indeed.

Castle in general did very well out of Yuletide this year; I'll give a blanket "thumbs up" to all 30 stories in the fandom.  There's also a handful of other very worthwhile Gargoyles fic in the archive, with a particular nod toward Checksum (Anastasia/Halcyon) -- sometimes you only need 100 words to draw a relationship.

I will also jump on a couple of bandwagons.  I hope to do more recs after I get back, and especially to do more obscure ones, but time considerations have had me mostly following others' trails of breadcrumbs in the early stages of Yuletide reading.

The Cable & Deadpool Yuletide Special (Marvelverse) bids fair to jump right into the top tier of legendary epic crackfics -- Carrot Juice, Earl Grey. Hot (aka Bugs Bunny vs. the Borg) still ranks highest on my all-time scale (and wonder of wonders, is now actually up on the 'Net), but this is easily in the top three both for utter wackiness and actual artistic depth.

And But Rather Darkness Visible ("Young Wizards"/Duane; Doctor Who) is way over on the opposite end of the scale, a quiet yet daring crossover that's admirably compact, strongly characterized, and completely believable as near-canon (right up to the use of Dairine as dispenser-of-wisdom, which is not a position that canon usually assigns her).

Not quite as widely noted is Another Rainbow in Another Sky (My Little Pony), a thoughtfully executed...I'd term it a "reawakening" rather than a reboot or re-imagining of the franchise that starts with Megan just arrived at college and ends on a moment that satisfies...and holds the promise of much more.  This is a story I'd like to see its author carry forward, and as good as Yuletide fic usually is, one doesn't see a lot of work with that kind of potential.

More later -- I hope!