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Fandom Snowflake! It's not too late to join!

Day 3: In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you did not create.

I recommend a lot of fanfiction (I have a whole tag for it!), so I figured for this post I'd do something different. Here are three of my favorite fanmixes:

Three Wishes by

opheliahyde. Game of Thrones, Robb Stark/Jon Snow/Jeyne Westerling.
Musical genre: Indie-est of the indie. I'm not even ashamed.
Despite it being a fanmix for an AU that doesn't actually exist and for a pairing I don't particularly ship, I love this fanmix SO MUCH. I listen to it an embarrassing amount of the time. The music is just so delicate and lovely and angst-y and beautiful that I never tire of it.

The Red Mix by

petronia. (The mix was originally posted here, but that post is locked to members of

fst.) Swordspoint, Alec/Richard.
Musical genre: Electrohouse, dance pop.
As the creator put it, "For several years I've been making a (still-ongoing) series of character mix CDs I call "DJ mixes". Rather than straight-up "I think the lyrics of this song are about X" they're impressionistic sketches, or genre exercises - what the character might play on the radio in an alternate universe, perhaps." I love the idea of Alec as an AU DJ. And I love this fanmix. It is absolutely the music to listen to if you ever need to dance 'til dawn due to a combination of drugs and angst.

Heartbeat Radio by

suchaprince. Zombies, Run!, Jack/Eugene.
Musical genre: Mostly Brit-pop.
Apparently Zombies, Run! is an exercise app? I don't even know. But this mix is delightful and makes me so happy. I could listen to it endlessly.

suchaprince is a wonderful mix-maker in general, and everyone should check out her other mixes as well.

Whoo! I have just barely made it through the Archive, with less than 24 hours to spare. Here are my recs for fandoms N to Z.

Fandoms include: Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon, Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen, Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, Romeo and Juliet, Sleepy Hollow, Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner, Tombstone, Twelfth Night, Untamed - Anna Cowan.

Northanger Abbey of Marin: Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen, T rated, 8.7k. No one who saw Catherine Moreland as a little girl could have supposed she was to be a heroine.
Fortunately, she'd discovered the wonder that was teen romances. Fortunately, she'd read Twilight.
It's Northanger Abbey retold as a college AU! I love this idea, and it works so well- funny and sweet and just perfect.

The Purple Jug: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, Peter/Nightingale, E rated, 5.8k. Nightingale and Peter on a case at a gay bar.
This is such the perfect fandom for these tropes- undercover as a couple, sex pollen- and it combines with a very nicely-done case-fic. This story is hilarious and wonderful and in just the tone of the series.

when my ways are not happening: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, Beverly Brook, T rated, 1.2k. Beverley has never been alone because she's always had her river. She just wishes that Peter would call.
Really well-done take on Beverly. I love the voice and the backstory this story gives her. I didn't know I wanted more about Beverly, but this story is exactly the answer to that need.

Folly to Be Wise: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, T rated, 6.7k. Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.
Excellently done case-fic, with scary ghosts, great characterization, and hints of what exactly happened at Ettersberg. I could very much see this being part of the canon.

Nothing But One of Your Nine Lives: Romeo and Juliet, Tybalt, T rated, 1.8k. Tybalt has a secret.
What if Tybalt- Prince of Cats- actually had nine lives? Fantastic exploration of the idea and the character, and an ending that I just adore.

poetry that has not been written yet: Romeo and Juliet, Rosaline/Juliet, T rated, 1.2k. When Rosaline is a little girl, she likes flowers and pretty things. She likes old books, with cracked leather binding, with pages filled with fairy tales or intrigues or household accounts. She likes the curve of her cousin’s smile. She likes the sound of her laugh. She likes the sound of her name. She sounds it out. Juliet. Juli-et. It rhymes with well-met, regret.
It rhymes with poetry that has not been written yet.
I never would have thought of this pairing, but now I am totally shipping it. I love the characterization given to Rosaline here, and I love how these two interact.

some consequence yet hanging in the stars: Rómeó és Júlia (Színház), Mercutio, M rated, 2.8k. Five people Mercutio fucked and one he didn't: a character study of Verona.
Ah, this story is fantastic! Beautifully written, painful and bittersweet and so so good.

In Ice 'Til We Again Beheld The Dawn: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, T rated, 2.3k. Dante wrote that the ninth circle of hell was a lake of ice. So it was appropriate that Famine came to Sleepy Hollow in June of the fifth year, not with a drought but with a freak cold snap.
Crane, Abbie and Jenny, all alone in a post-apocalyptic world. I love the writing of this story; it really conveys the sense of horror and chill and desolation of the story.

Going On: Sleepy Hollow, Abbie and Jenny, G rated, 4.7k. Five moments in a Mills sisters Christmas. (The half has never been told.)
AH THIS STORY IS FANTASTIC. It is the Abbie and Jenny bonding story I have been waiting for! I love the mix of humor and adventure with more serious emotions, I love how deep and real and complicated the relationship between the sisters is, and I really, really love the fairytale Jenny reads to Abbie.

Matched Set: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, G rated, 4.3k. Sisters do not always make the best roommates, and witnesses to the end of days do not always make the best shopping buddies. Abbie's got to deal with both.
Abbie, Jenny, and Crane go to Ikea: chaos ensues. This story also has a wonderful mix of sweetness and sadness, and again I love how the relationships here are portrayed.

subtle power: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, T rated, 2.8k. Scenes from a Superhero AU.
In which Abbie and Crane are mistaken for superheroes rather than Witnesses, Jenny has her own secrets, and Macey is a hero. This is delightful and charming and I would read SO MUCH MORE of it.

Go Wash Your Heart in the River: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, T rated, 12.7k. The crow seems to be looking straight at Jenny, although that could just be her imagination. She doesn't think it is, though.
Really, really well-done case-fic from Jenny's POV. I love Jenny's characterization here, how she struggles to adjust to her new life, and the mix of real-world and supernatural horror in the case in perfect.

Elinor and Marianne: Sleepy Hollow, Gen, G rated, 4k. “Here’s what I figure,” Abbie said. “You need to catch up to modern culture. But you should catch up in stages. By degrees. Even Mark Twain was a little too far ahead for you, so let’s take it back a step. We’ll start you off with what’s closest to your time period, and move forward a few decades at a time until you’re back in the groove.”
So she starts Ichabod with a novel Corbin gave her long ago: Sense & Sensibility.
Man, this fandom is so good at mixing funny with seriousness, but here's another story that does it well. The charming, silly delight Crane takes in Austen is perfectly balanced by Abbie and Jenny's struggle to understand one another. Excellent story.

On Love, In Truth: Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner, Alec/Richard, T rated, 1k. Languishing in the harsh, brilliant light of an endless summer afternoon, Alec watches Richard practice against the wall of their sweltering room and wants.
Beautifully written story, vivid in its imagery and details. Richard and Alec and desire.

Musical Chairs: Tombstone, Morgan/Doc Holliday, M rated, 2.4k. There are men who want peace and all kinds of complicated things. Doc Holliday's never been one of them.
Fantastic story, with pitch-perfect dialogue. I love how charming and bitter Doc Holliday is her.

so full of shapes is fancy: Twelfth Night, T rated, 2k. In which Feste sits less like Patience on a monument smiling at grief, and more like Falstaff on a bar stool, laughing his ass off at contentment.
How can you not love a fic which is tagged with "everyone is poly because Shakespeare"? In which a masquerade ball turns into an orgy, and it is exactly the perfect sequel to the play. Oh, and it's also really, really funny.

The daughters of d'Artagnan: Untamed - Anna Cowan, G rated, 1.8k. And this is how we come together.
Okay, I know almost no one has read this book, but if by chance you have, you really really need to read this story! It perfectly captures the characters and their relationships, and it's just so charming and lovely.

And last but not least, my own gifts, which are wonderful and beautiful and deserve more attention:
The Robber Bridegroom, Swordspoint, Richard, G rated, 2k. He hoped his mother never found out. She'd sent him to the city to become a swordsman, not a highway robber.
Richard backstory! Richard as a highwayman! I love it!

Waning Season, Swordspoint, Richard/Alec, M rated, 2.3k. Someone is looking for St Vier and a dangerous secret. Unfortunately for him, Alec Campion finds him first. (Well, almost.)
Oh, this is sharp and violent and so lovely, and Alec is absolutely dangerous. I love it!!

On Lightning, Which Occasionally Strikes Twice, Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon, M rated, 7.7k. Our heroes take a journey by sea, which they have cause to regret, and come to the tent of the feathered man, where they learn their fortunes and more.
Long plotty adventure story! H/C! Tenderness! I love it!

I got three- three!- magnificent stories and they are all beautiful and perfect and I want to clutch them to me forever.

The Robber Bridegroom. Swordspoint, Richard gen backstory, 2k. IS IT A "RICHARD IS A HIGHWAYMAN" STORY? YES, YES IT IS. I will never tire of this genre, and this is a delightful example of it, filling in a piece of canon backstory at the same time. Sweet and charming.

Waning Season. Swordspoint, Richard/Alec, 2.3k. THIS STORY IS BEAUTIFUL AND SHARP AND VIOLENT AND HARSH AND I WANT TO HAVE ITS BABIES. Alec protects Richard, and he is just as terrifying and thorough as you would expect.

On Lightning, Which Occasionally Strikes Twice. The Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon, Amram/Zelikman, 7.7k. OMG IT IS A LONG PLOTTY ADVENTURE STORY AND IT IS ALL FOR ME. Shipwrecks and druggings and attempted sacrifice-to-gods and people stitching each other up and wonderfully funny writing just as complex as the canon, with plenty of tenderness.

I also want to rec the stories I beta'd, because they deserve lots of readers:
Born Wanderer. Greek mythology, 2.7k. Artemis and Athena search for Persephone.
Stuck on You. Murdoch Mysteries, George Crabtree/Henry Higgins, 9k. Henry leaned forward, his chin tucked into his hand, as he took in his cousin to try and judge if he was serious. The alcohol may have muddled his thought processes, a benefit to his cousin who would get a confession out of him. That thought made Henry realize he did in fact have something to admit. He let his head fall forward and hit the table; he had definitely consumed too much beer tonight.
feather moon scarlet sky. Coldfire Trilogy - C. S. Friedman, Hesseth sa-Restrath, 1.2k. The great heart of the world beats achingly slow, and Hesseth Sa’Restrath stumbles and trips and runs, trying to follow along.
A Map of the World Without Darkness. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle Mendoza/Dante Quintana, 2.4k. "The thing is, Ari had always been shitty at being a gay man." In which Ari gets a clue.

Finally, as always, let's play the guessing game! If you can guess what story I wrote, I'll write you a drabble.

To Say Any Way But Lightly by snow. Swordspoint, Alec/Richard. Alec dresses as a woman. Okay, but wait! This story is so much more amazing than that summary makes it sound; it is subtle and sharp and just absolutely, perfectly right. READ READ IT NOW.

Triptych by

just_ann_now. Swordspoint, Richard, Alec, Michael. This is lovely and sweet and very well done. And it was written in response to a poem I posted! That makes it special.

Carte Blanche by paraphilia. Snow White, Evil Queen/Snow White. This was written for me in Yuletide years and years ago, such that I had completely forgotten it existed. But it was recently uploaded to AO3 where I rediscovered it and fell again in love. It is dark and creepy and twisted and so, so good. (Warnings for incest.)

Current Music: "Friday I'm in Love" Marmaduke Duke

laura47 asked "Top 5 fanfic authors".

Ah, this is such a difficult question! It depends so much on what I'm in the mood for, and what I've been reading too much of, and a million other factors. Plus, I'd inevitably forget someone, and I hate to leave people off such a list. Instead, here is "top 5 fanfics I've read recently" (in the order I read them):

1. Thistledown by Violette_Royale. 90k Merlin genderswap AU, Merlin/Arthur in non-magical 1140s Europe. Merlin is a nun and Arthur is a knight who seduces her. God, that sounds awful. But this story is amazing and epic, and the writing is so beautiful, and the sex is so hot, and I love it to little pieces.
2. Sing When They Burn by Bagheera. Vikings, Ragnar/Floki, Ragnar/Lagertha/Floki. By the way, did I mention I briefly got into Vikings fandom? Because I did. This story is excellent, and the writing is poetic, and it mixes myth and history into the show in the best of ways.
3. Dans le Défit de la Coutume by Elspethdixon. Benjamin January mysteries, Ben/Shaw, with mentions of Ben/Rose and Ben/Hannibal. Did you guys know there are only four pieces of Benjamin January fanfiction in existence? A fact which I must now concede to be true, having spent days attempting to google up more. Anyway, this story would be great even if it were competing with a larger pool. It is sweet and the character voices are perfect.
4. A Lonely Fire by Eva. Django Unchained, gen, focusing on King post-movie. The writing here is so beautiful, and this story actually made me retroactively appreciate the canon and characters more. This is that rare gem of fanfiction that's better than the original source. (Granted, I wasn't especially enthralled by the original source.)
5. when we lay down our weary guns by GroteskBurlesque. Post-movie fix-it epic (almost 40k), which ends up in a Django/King/Broomhilda threesome. I have to admit that I've spent a lot of time reading Django Unchained OT3 fic due to the lack of fic for certain other OT3s set in the mid-19th century America, but this story is genuinely awesome, happy and touching and so well-written and well-characterized. I did not know I needed this after the movie, but I really, really did.

tsarina asked "Tell me your favorite animes. (I need to watch something new)".

Hahaha, I haven't seen a new anime in ages. You might well be more up-to-date than I am. Still:

1. Yami no Matsuei. My all-time favorite. Incredibly slashy shinigami angst about their abusive childhoods in between avoiding/being attracted to a magical serial killer. That is a terrible description of what is actually an amazing show.
2. Revolutionary Girl Utena. I'm currently in the middle of watching the anime, though I've seen the movie and read the manga years ago. Reworking of fairy tale archetypes to make a point about growing up and gender. The movie is gorgeous, despite lacking a great deal of coherence.
3. Ouran High School Host Club. Incredibly cracky series about a super-rich, super-elite high school, in which the most popular boys form a host club. Starring a poor girl disguised as a boy. The set-up makes no sense, but allows for the self-aware, mocking use of shounen-ai tropes to great comedic effect.
4. Fullmetal Alchemist. The original! I haven't seen the new anime, though I should. Set in vaguely pre-WWII Europe, this starts off as a fairly standard "I will become stronger!" boy's adventure, but quickly becomes about the cost of war, and ends up so much more heart-breaking than you would ever have guessed from the first few episodes.
5. Samurai Champloo. Silly but touching, two samurai and a young girl go on a road trip across a deliberately anachronistic medieval Japan to find the girl's father. The soundtrack consists mostly of hip-hop, and the series uses a great deal of similar cultural markers (graffiti, record scratching, etc), which you would think would be a bizarre combination, but it somehow works so well.

silverflight asked "Top 5 characters you like!"

1. Benjamin January. Honestly, I could just talk about five characters from the Benjamin January mysteries, but I will refrain and only discuss Ben. He is described at one point as a "knight-errant" and that is so true; he's angry at the injustices of the world, he desperately wants to protect those he loves, his sense of right and wrong determines a lot of his actions. But he is also lonely and awkward, a complete and total romantic (in both the capital-R and lower case-r senses of the word), and has a relatively silly sense of humor. He is a bit more earnest and serious than most of his family and close friends, but also very kind. I adore him.
2. Alec. (From Ellen Kushner's Riverside series) Oh, Alec. You are crazy and self-destructive and full of repressed passion and I LOVE YOU SO MUCH DON'T KILL YOURSELF, OKAY.
3. Hisoka. (From Yami no Matsuei) Hisoka, Hisoka, Hisoka. I just want to read about him forever; I want him to have a happy ending at the same time that I kind of want him to break the heavens. He is stubbornness personified, the incarnation of the refusal to submit. I love that about him.
4. Sanzo. (From Saiyuki) He is a priest who thinks (who does?) he knows better than the gods. HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THAT? He is fierce and angry and cynical and in complete denial of his own idealism and loyalty, but is all the more awesome for that. Speaking of, I need to catch up with the manga and Saiyuki Gaiden; I still haven't read the last handful of chapters of either. I got spoiled with the Tokyopop editions, and then they went out of business.
5. Peter Grant. (From Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series) Not really one of my fannish favorites, but it's nice to talk about something different. He is not a very good policeman (despite that being his job), but is funny and geeky and sweet and clever, and has one of my favorite first-person narrative voices in a long while.

I'll get around to answering the other questions soon, though the original meme is here, if you'd still like to ask something!

Current Music: "Our Time Now" Plain White T's

Title: False Speaking
Author: Brigdh
Ratings/Warnings: PG-13, I suppose, for sexual tension
Notes: Written for the

31_days's prompt, "the curves of your lips rewrite history". 500 words exactly. Also available on AO3.
Disclaimer: All characters and places belong to Ellen Kushner.

( False Speaking )

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: "The Million You Never Made" Ani Difranco

I found two new, excellent Swordspoint stories, and everyone should read them!

Who'll Give You Time by wishlark. The summary on AO3 is "Five Times Alec Didn't Cry", but this story is so much deeper and more complicated and better than that. It's about Alec, and his history, and Richard/Alec, and the good and bad of that, and how people change, and ugh, it's just so good, go read it right now, seriously.

A Room, also by wishlark. "Marcus meets the Duke." Another story with perfect dialogue and characterizations, if happier than the first. A quote:
“Marcus,” he repeated. “Can you read?”

The duke was notoriously unpredictable, and the question seemed innocent. But Marcus feared it was a test of some sort, a double-edged question which he had to consider carefully. He opened his mouth, but didn't know what the duke wanted him to say. “I -”

“It is not,” the duke began, “A difficult question.” Each of his words filled up the space of ten of anyone else's.

Both of these stories are fantastic, and if you know the fandom at all, I highly recommend them.

Also, I'm heading to Rajasthan tonight, whooo! (I think I forgot to mention it here on LJ, but I've been in India since January. However, unlike my usual travels, I've had continuous access to the internet this trip, and so it doesn't make much of a difference. Except for the time zones. No one ever posts when I'm awake.)

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: "Human" The Cinematics

Traditionally one posts Yuletide recs before the reveal. Or at least before it's almost February. Better late than never, I guess.

First off, the stories written for me. Because these are always the best, of course:
The Long Way 'Round by pathstotread. Pitch Perfect, Beca/Chloe, PG-13. Funny and sweet and just the perfect coda to the movie.
Where We're At Is an Act by Snow. Swordspoint, Alec/OMC, PG-13. Bitter and sharp and OMG I LOVE IT.

And now for something different:
No such thing by Vnutrenni. Conan the Barbarian, gen, PG. God, this is a beautiful story. If you think of Conan the Barbarian as the canon of Arnold Schwarzenegger and women in fur bikinis, you need to read this.
Of all the places he had gone in his life, he loved the sea best. As a child of those dark evergreen forests and rolling hills in the hard north, this felt like a small betrayal of his heritage; but violence was his joy, and he shared it with the sea. When storms came, it opened its black throat with howling and threw the beasts that rode its back. Such passions and tumults were Conan's own. Currents were cunning. Waves were hungry tongues lapping the blood from pirates' swords. He could think of no creature more beautiful or ruthless in all the world.

Escapades Out on the D Train by spoilers. Babysitters Club, Claudia/Ashley, PG-13. This is hilarious and nostalgic and perfect and so, so good. There are descriptions of Claudia's outfits! There are absolutely correct NYC details! How can you not love this story?

Alan Grant and Indiana Jones Walk Into a Bar by longwhitecoats. Jurassic Park/Indiana Jones crossover, gen, G. This is so funny and so right and also is exactly like being at an archaeology conference.

Years Gone By by Themistoklis. Candle Cove, gen, R. All of the Candle Cove stories this year were creepy and perfect. But it seems redundant to rec all of them, so I'll choose this one, for being as terrifying as the original and yet taking the idea in a compelling new direction. (By the way, if you like horror at all and do not know about Candle Cove, you can read the original in its entirety here. It's only about 500 words long and yet is absolutely one of the scariest stories I know.)

Le Rouge et le Blanc et le Noir by Quillori. This is not a fairytale, but god, it feels like it should be. The language and the strangeness and amorality of it make it seem exactly like something you should find in an old copy of Grimms' stories.

Run Red by dizzy_fire. I do love fairytale retellings. Little Red Riding Hood + Baba Yaga + horror = amazingness.

Harriet the Spy Has Nothing on Me by psychomachia. Suri's Burn Book, gen, G. The narrative voice here is spot on to the original, with all its snarkiness and allusions and bizarre erudite-ness. Plus crazy plot. What more could you want?
There is a knack to looking nonchalant in New York. A tourist cranes her neck, looking to see what street she's on, a businessman walks briskly, making no eye contract whatsoever, but a person out for a lovely stroll in Manhattan must vacillate between gazing at the wondrous Christmas displays in the window in some sort of drugged awe and dodging the well-meaning passers-by who keep asking her where her mother is. Honestly, if anyone needed someone looking out for their well-being, it was Katie Holmes.

Shipmates by zlot. Hark! A Vagrant, gen, G. This is as hilarious and bizarre and, sadly, hard to explain as the original canon. Which, if you are not familiar with, you should read immediately. It's two comic strips! It won't take you long.

Five Times Tommie Lied to Margo (And One Time She Told the Truth) by oulfis. Apartment 3-G, Tommie/Lu Ann, G. I imagine the venn diagram of people who read Apartment 3-G, people who read fanfiction, and people who read The Comics Curmudgeon is a small one. But, if you find yourself in that intersection, you should not miss this story.

Title: A Very Necessary Thing
Author: Brigdh
Rating/Warnings: R.
Summary: Richard and Alec take a trip to the countryside; chaos, inevitably, ensues.
Notes: Written for Yuletide 2012, for

anno_hreog. As always, this could have been better if I didn't leave things to the last minute, but I'm rather pleased with it nonetheless. Thanks to

p_zeitgeist for looking over it when I was anxious. You can also read this on AO3, if you prefer.
Word count: 6,296

( A Very Necessary Thing )

Current Mood: busy

I got a Yuletide Madness story! And, um, somehow did not notice until today. But that is not a reflection on the quality of the story!

Where We're At Is an Act - Swordspoint, Alec/OMC, R. It is Alec in University, with another student, and it is so, so good. the voice is perfect. Go! Read!

I got four Yuletide stories! (There are advantages to going out on the pinch-hit list, especially if it's early.) And they are all wonderful, and you should read every one.

Matsyanyaya. Mahabharata. This is a view on Satyavati, the fisherman's daughter who becomes queen of Hastinapura. I really love the parallels this story sets up with Bheeshma, and the take on court intrigues, and the personality and voice of Satyavati. Really, really well-written.

Getting Cocky. Slender Man mythos. This is super-fun and slashy! Which I did not expect for Slender Man fandom. You can read this without knowing the fandom, and you should.

Ton Egoisme M'Inquiete. Swordspoint, Richard/Jessamyn. I HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR A RICHARD-AS-HIGHWAYMAN STORY FOR YEARS, AND SOMEONE FINALLY WROTE ME ONE. And it is so good! I love this view of Richard and Jessamyn's relationship, and Richard as a younger man. Also: highway robbery. Yes.

Maleficent. Swordspoint, Richard/Alec. Yes! Two Swordspoint stories for me this year! And another story I've been dying to read for years: Richard and Alec go to a noble party and make a mess of everything. I love this story so much. The dialogue is so perfectly in-character, the title is genius, it is all just sharp and funny and wicked and fantastic.

Go! Read!

ETA: WAIT I GOT FIVE STORIES! One didn't show up in my gift list, for some reason, but luckily I found it by looking through the Yuletide fandoms.
Amongst the Black-Haired People. Sumerian RPF. THIS STORY IS SO GOOD. Pu-abi is my favorite historical personage ever (I dressed up as her for Halloween two years ago), and this story is such a perfect recreation of her world. I love all the details of Mesopotamian life and politics and religion, I love the court intrigue, and I love the absolutely perfect solution to the problem. There is even a sort of fem-slashy relationship between Pu-abi and her servant. HOW CAN THERE BE SO MUCH WONDER IN ONE STORY.

Current Mood: happy

I got two amazing, wonderful, beautiful, fantastic stories for Yuletide, and you should all go read them and leave comments immediately, because I love the author and want her to get lots of feedback. They are both Swordspoint stories which, to be honest, was totally the fandom I was hoping to get matched on.

The Death of Jarbon the Dancer: A story set very early in Richard and Alec's relationship, with snow and swordfights and betting (or not) and bloodplay and oh my god, it is so good. The writing is lovely, the dialogue perfect, and it's full of lines like this: “I do,” Richard agreed easily, and though the fight had not excited him, he felt hot now, too big for his skin, barely able to keep from moving. Alec smiled as if drunk when he saw Richard's fingers twitch restlessly against the hilt of his sword. It was really hard to pick one line to quote; this story just has such beautiful language, and it all builds up on itself and flows together and is so perfectly understated. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

Call An Amnesty On All Our Pride: High School AU! I adore high school AUs so much, and someone wrote one for me! And it is so good! Richard is a football player and Alec is his math tutor and then there is making out against a wall! Which is another of my favorite things ever! This story just makes me so very happy.

Best Yuletide ever, you guys!

Current Mood: happy

Title: Marks
Author: Brigdh
Ratings/Warnings: PG-13; non-explicit sex and references to violence
Summary: Alec tries to teach Richard to read; things get complicated.
Notes: Set shortly after the end of Swordspoint. This was written for

just_ann_now, who made a very generous donation to

help_pakistan, and requested a story about "Alec trying to teach Richard to read (where Alec is all patient, and Richard is the angry, frustrated one, for a change)". Many thanks to my betas,

weirdquark and

ladyofthelog.
Disclaimer: All characters and places belong to Ellen Kushner.

( Marks )

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: "22 Hours of Darkness" The Ike Reilly Assassination

1. I have been traveling a lot the last few days, and so have not been checking my work/school email (which is a separate account from my fandom/friends email). Also, I have not been checking it because, you know, avoidance. But now I have finally done so and there are two hundred emails to read and deal with, ARGH.

2. Yuletide assignments! Yay! Mine is good; it will be easy to come up with something, at least, though I think I might have trouble coming up with something particularly inspired. I'm still waiting for my assignment to post a Dear Santa letter, though, so maybe I will have more thoughts after I read that.

3. National Geographic Photography Contest 2010. Some of these pictures are amazing; I particularly like the one of lightening striking the Statue of Liberty.

4. This blog, which collects images from Google Maps Street View, is completely fascinating. There's everything from cars accidents to crimes in progress to people posing.

5. What the Bible Got Wrong: awesome infographic of contradictions in the Bible.

6. Did you know Swordspoint fandom now has a high school AU story? I LOVE CHEESY HIGH SCHOOL AUS. Riverside High by Snow. LOOOOOVE.

Current Mood: busy

Title: Not with a Bang
Author: Brigdh
Ratings/Warnings: PG-13. Drug use, vague references to self-violence.
Notes: Written for the

31_days' prompt, "The earth seemed unearthly". Title from T.S. Eliot's 'The Hollow Men'. 500 words exactly. Set during Swordspoint, immediately after Alec returns from the whole Lord Horn kidnapping thing. I'm not convinced this has a point, but look: I wrote something!
Disclaimer: All characters and places belong to Ellen Kushner.

( Not with a Bang )

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: "Oceanographer's Choice" Mountain Goats

Okay, okay, I am still working on the drabble meme. Promise! But here are three I already wrote:

For

medize, who wanted "Ooh! Can we do Swordspoint? It's hard to decide what to request - maybe something with Alec and Richard and either of their families, or Richard and Jessica, or Alec/Richard before Richard retires to the countryside or, you know, anything really. :D"

( Medize's drabble )

For

veleda_k, who wanted "Hisoka: Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

( Veleda's drabble )

For

parallactic, who wanted "Hisoka and the Necronomicon."

( Parallactic's drabble )

Current Mood: cheerful

Title: Compass and Knife
Author: Brigdh
Ratings/Warnings: PG; vague death-by-sword
Summary: After The Privilege of the Sword, Kyros is not as different as Richard might have expected.
Notes: Written as a Stocking Stuffer for Thornsmoke in Yuletide 2007. Kyros is based liberally on my memories of Cyprus. Title from John Gorka's The Gypsy Life.

( Compass and Knife )

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: "The Devil's Workday" Modest Mouse

I got terribly lucky this year, and got three (three!) lovely Swordspoint stories. Which all of you should read:

If Man Were the Sky and Could See the Earth Clearly. This is my Yuletide story, and it is good and long and all about Alec just before Swordspoint and I am so pleased.

Baubles. This is a Yuletide treat, and is also excellent and sweet and funny. Alec and Richard, just after Alec becomes the Duke.

Love is Blindness. And another treat for me! Best Christmas ever! Set just before TPotS (with spoilers for it), and it's sad, but oh, I love the ending.

So read them all! Because they rock! And I adore the writers.

And now, the traditional Yuletide game: guess which story I wrote! I wrote two this year, actually, a Yuletide and a treat, but they're both full-length. So you have twice the chance to be right.

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: James Bond on TV

Title: Like Crumbs
Author: Brigdh
Ratings/Warnings: PG-13
Notes: Written for the "five ways to die trying" prompt over at

31_days. 250 words exactly. Crossposted also to

_riverside. Title from the poem 'The Dark Garden' by Traci Burns. OMG I'M SUPPOSED TO BE WRITING A PAPER RIGHT NOW.
Disclaimer: All characters and places belong to Ellen Kushner.

( Like Crumbs )

Current Mood: busy

Yuletide sign-ups are open! Best ficathon of the year. You have until the 18th, so be sure to join in and play with everyone else.

CUTEST BABY MONKEY EVER.

Lol Secretz: Lol_catz and Post Secret, two great tastes that taste great together.

World Cat Libraries.org This is my new favorite website. It searches through all nearby libraries for whatever book you put in. So much easier than trying to go to ten or so seperate library websites in an effort to track down some obscure volume I need for research.

Turning All Manhattan Into a Broadway Stage. A really interesting NY Times article and video.

Someone other than me wrote some Swordspoint stories! Always a cause for celebration.

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Sweeney Todd - God, That's Good!

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brigdh

September 2022

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Entries tagged with swordspoint

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Fandom Snowflake: Day Three

Yuuuuuuletide Recs, Part Two!

Yuletide!!

Fic what I have read recently that you should read too

(Partial) Meme Answers

Fic: False Speaking (Swordspoint, PG-13)

Story Recs

Yuletide Recs

Fic: A Very Necessary Thing (Swordspoint, Richard/Alec)

Yuletide, Part Two!

Yuletide!

Yuletide!

Fic: Marks (Swordspoint, PG-13)

Things

Fic: Not with a Bang (Swordspoint, PG-13)

Drabble meme

Fic: Compass and Knife (Swordspoint, Alec/Richard

Yuletide! Eee, Yuletide!

Fic: Like Crumbs (Swordspoint, PG-13)

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September 2022

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