Yuletide 2018 Recs
Yuletide recs!
I received a really wonderful fic this year: smiling, smiling, The Bone Key. Claudia takes the lead in a spooky yet hopeful casefic, and deepens her friendship with Kyle. Full of well-researched history, and with a great representation of Claudia's courage.
Here are some other stories I loved this year!
TV and Movies
These Roads Will Take You Into Your Own Country, American Gods (TV) Scenes from the road trip. Sweeney and Laura’s banter is excellently sharp and vulgar. The descriptions of landscape and bodies have the same vivid visual surreality of the show, and the lyrical wistfulness of Gaiman’s original too: “I had cut my country out of my body, and tried to fit America in its place.”
Parts Unknown: Bajor. Anthony Bourdain visits Deep Space Nine and Bajor. He eats the hottest Bajoran tubers, bonds with the Sisko family over diaspora food and The Prophets, and turns his incisive eye on the injustices of conquest and war. And finds humanity, honesty, and love everywhere, as he always does. A wonderful bookend to No Reservations: Narnia. I’d like to think that Anthony Bourdain would have loved this one too.
The First Annual Defenders Secret Santa, The Defenders. Utterly fluffy, and yet utterly true to the spirit of all the characters. They all really love each other, deep down.
Want What You Wish For, The Good Place. It hits every beat of an excellent episode: Eleanor’s little twinges of conscience struggling against her layers of defenses, Tahani’s name-dropping, the slight perfection-askew-ness of every iteration of the Good Place, Chidi’s philosophy lessons, and Eleanor striving to become a better person. (Even better, Eleanor striving to become a better person because she loves Tahani! “Plato thought it was okay to love people even if they kinda sucked?’ I will ship Eleanor/Tahani forever.) Also, there is a goofy dog.
Bakes to Die For, Great British Bake Off. “It’s a new day in the Bake Off tent. Well, maybe. It’s hard to say when time has no meaning.” A nice ordinary British woman challenges Death to a bake-off for her soul. Death finds it very hard to roll a Buche de Noel with skeletal hands. Mary, Paul, Sue, and Mel all have note-perfect voices (oh, the puns!), and it’s ridiculous and glorious.
Until the Light, Lost in Space 2018. Penny and Judy have a middle-of-the-night adventure on Alpha Centauri. A gorgeous depiction of their sisterly bond: nobody can get on your nerves the way a sibling can - but nobody can understand you the way a sibling can, either.
So many great Ocean’s 8 fics! Here are a few favorites:
- Road Trips Without Maps. Lou/Debbie, full of fabulous clothes and intense sensory language
- Get Into My Head. Constance, Amita, and Nine Ball adjust to their new lives; and Constance and Amita discover that they’re in love. I love the friendship in this one - everyone just casually helps each other, especially by giving each other food.
- The Simple Life. The crew is bored, so they do a heist on someone who, as the tags say, is “definitely not based on any real pharmabros nope.” The ensemble banter is great.
Books and Literature
dreaming on the verge of strife, Anne of Green Gables. The summary is “Walter Blythe, through the war.” It beautifully captures Walter’s slight otherworldliness, the depth of love, and the horrors of war.
When the Winds Begin to Sing, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It takes a brief line from the original and turns it into a folk tale of the Raven King and Winter. The language has a delicate simplicity, full of beautiful nature imagery.
The Heresy of One Age, Machineries of Empire. Role reversal: Cheris is a heretic condemned to the black cradle, and Jedao uses his thinking-around-corners puzzle-solving to come up with the idea of reviving her. Wonderfully subtle explorations of power dynamics, very much in the spirit of the original.
Traces through Time, Lord Peter Wimsey. Peter and Harriet reimagined as a 14th-century noble couple, seen through the documents they leave behind. AMAZING accuracy in its rendering of medieval documents.
Sprezzatura, Much Ado About Nothing. This is BRILLIANT! A soliloquy by Beatrice in iambic pentameter that untangles her complicated feelings about Benedick. It reminds me of Angelica’s songs in Hamilton - it’s got that rapid-fire pace that shows how intelligent she is. Intricate wordplay in three languages and multiple styles, lines from other Shakespeare plays, puns piling on alliteration piling on rhythmic play.
Crossovers and Other Media
Still Bleeding, The Bright Sessions. Adam sorts out his feelings about his growing awareness of the conspiracy and his family’s role in it. Best of all is the Adam/Caleb sweetness, though. They are ADORABLE.
The Confectionery Job. Leverage/Nailed it. Parker/Hardison/Eliot OT3, in which Parker is conned into thinking that her appearance on Nailed It is a con. The glorious-haired Wes is the glorious-haired Eliot’s brother, and everything is weird and fun.
Spider-Man: Junior Prom. Queer Eye / Spider-Man Homecoming crossover! The Fab Five give Peter Parker a makeover for the junior prom. All the voices are rendered perfectly, and everyone is just thoroughly genuinely kind. It will make you feel happy in exactly the same way that a good episode of the show does.
Good Morning, Ruby Crowns. Wayward Children / Narnia crossover, with bits of Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, and Labyrinth. Susan finds Eleanor’s school, and finds others like herself. It has the lyrical melancholy that I love about Susan stories and about the Wayward Children series.
The Pelerins Progress, or a Long Wei to a Smalle Angri Islet.
The kind of weird and wonderful combination that could only happen at Yuletide. Chaucer Doth Tweet, and here, he doth discourse in Middle English about his reading of A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.
I received a really wonderful fic this year: smiling, smiling, The Bone Key. Claudia takes the lead in a spooky yet hopeful casefic, and deepens her friendship with Kyle. Full of well-researched history, and with a great representation of Claudia's courage.
Here are some other stories I loved this year!
TV and Movies
These Roads Will Take You Into Your Own Country, American Gods (TV) Scenes from the road trip. Sweeney and Laura’s banter is excellently sharp and vulgar. The descriptions of landscape and bodies have the same vivid visual surreality of the show, and the lyrical wistfulness of Gaiman’s original too: “I had cut my country out of my body, and tried to fit America in its place.”
Parts Unknown: Bajor. Anthony Bourdain visits Deep Space Nine and Bajor. He eats the hottest Bajoran tubers, bonds with the Sisko family over diaspora food and The Prophets, and turns his incisive eye on the injustices of conquest and war. And finds humanity, honesty, and love everywhere, as he always does. A wonderful bookend to No Reservations: Narnia. I’d like to think that Anthony Bourdain would have loved this one too.
The First Annual Defenders Secret Santa, The Defenders. Utterly fluffy, and yet utterly true to the spirit of all the characters. They all really love each other, deep down.
Want What You Wish For, The Good Place. It hits every beat of an excellent episode: Eleanor’s little twinges of conscience struggling against her layers of defenses, Tahani’s name-dropping, the slight perfection-askew-ness of every iteration of the Good Place, Chidi’s philosophy lessons, and Eleanor striving to become a better person. (Even better, Eleanor striving to become a better person because she loves Tahani! “Plato thought it was okay to love people even if they kinda sucked?’ I will ship Eleanor/Tahani forever.) Also, there is a goofy dog.
Bakes to Die For, Great British Bake Off. “It’s a new day in the Bake Off tent. Well, maybe. It’s hard to say when time has no meaning.” A nice ordinary British woman challenges Death to a bake-off for her soul. Death finds it very hard to roll a Buche de Noel with skeletal hands. Mary, Paul, Sue, and Mel all have note-perfect voices (oh, the puns!), and it’s ridiculous and glorious.
Until the Light, Lost in Space 2018. Penny and Judy have a middle-of-the-night adventure on Alpha Centauri. A gorgeous depiction of their sisterly bond: nobody can get on your nerves the way a sibling can - but nobody can understand you the way a sibling can, either.
So many great Ocean’s 8 fics! Here are a few favorites:
- Road Trips Without Maps. Lou/Debbie, full of fabulous clothes and intense sensory language
- Get Into My Head. Constance, Amita, and Nine Ball adjust to their new lives; and Constance and Amita discover that they’re in love. I love the friendship in this one - everyone just casually helps each other, especially by giving each other food.
- The Simple Life. The crew is bored, so they do a heist on someone who, as the tags say, is “definitely not based on any real pharmabros nope.” The ensemble banter is great.
Books and Literature
dreaming on the verge of strife, Anne of Green Gables. The summary is “Walter Blythe, through the war.” It beautifully captures Walter’s slight otherworldliness, the depth of love, and the horrors of war.
When the Winds Begin to Sing, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It takes a brief line from the original and turns it into a folk tale of the Raven King and Winter. The language has a delicate simplicity, full of beautiful nature imagery.
The Heresy of One Age, Machineries of Empire. Role reversal: Cheris is a heretic condemned to the black cradle, and Jedao uses his thinking-around-corners puzzle-solving to come up with the idea of reviving her. Wonderfully subtle explorations of power dynamics, very much in the spirit of the original.
Traces through Time, Lord Peter Wimsey. Peter and Harriet reimagined as a 14th-century noble couple, seen through the documents they leave behind. AMAZING accuracy in its rendering of medieval documents.
Sprezzatura, Much Ado About Nothing. This is BRILLIANT! A soliloquy by Beatrice in iambic pentameter that untangles her complicated feelings about Benedick. It reminds me of Angelica’s songs in Hamilton - it’s got that rapid-fire pace that shows how intelligent she is. Intricate wordplay in three languages and multiple styles, lines from other Shakespeare plays, puns piling on alliteration piling on rhythmic play.
Crossovers and Other Media
Still Bleeding, The Bright Sessions. Adam sorts out his feelings about his growing awareness of the conspiracy and his family’s role in it. Best of all is the Adam/Caleb sweetness, though. They are ADORABLE.
The Confectionery Job. Leverage/Nailed it. Parker/Hardison/Eliot OT3, in which Parker is conned into thinking that her appearance on Nailed It is a con. The glorious-haired Wes is the glorious-haired Eliot’s brother, and everything is weird and fun.
Spider-Man: Junior Prom. Queer Eye / Spider-Man Homecoming crossover! The Fab Five give Peter Parker a makeover for the junior prom. All the voices are rendered perfectly, and everyone is just thoroughly genuinely kind. It will make you feel happy in exactly the same way that a good episode of the show does.
Good Morning, Ruby Crowns. Wayward Children / Narnia crossover, with bits of Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, and Labyrinth. Susan finds Eleanor’s school, and finds others like herself. It has the lyrical melancholy that I love about Susan stories and about the Wayward Children series.
The Pelerins Progress, or a Long Wei to a Smalle Angri Islet.
The kind of weird and wonderful combination that could only happen at Yuletide. Chaucer Doth Tweet, and here, he doth discourse in Middle English about his reading of A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.