It would appear I'm ever so slightly derelict in my snowflaking duties, but I decided to do today's challenge:
Talk about a piece of original canon and explain why you love it so much.
This is like the MOON and the STARS! So I'll try to make this brief, to the point, and vaguely entertaining.
Everyone knows about my deeply abiding love for the Book of Book (i.e. The Three Musketeers), but what we don't often talk about is my even more deeply abiding love for the Book of Better Book (i.e. Twenty Years After). When I first read the Book of Better Book, I was too young to realize what it was that made it such a fascinating read, and quite frankly, I missed a lot of critical plot points, such as that whole impregnation of that vapid hussy, the duchess de Longueville. But I think what I did NOT fail to notice was, "Wow! These two men are arguing LIKE MY PARENTS." Except with less yelling and more terms of sniped endearment. I have no idea why Dumas decided to write Athos and Aramis AS A MARRIED COUPLE, but he clearly did it intentionally, and nowhere is it more blatant than in the Book of Better Book.
That's not the only reason why I love that book, but I do wholly blame it for my shipping preferences/decisions.
It's actually just a better, more cohesive, more mature work, with better character development and more interconnected and flowing story arcs. That's right, I said it. I used the "mature" word. Good job, Alex. You ruined my life. (I still love you.)