It's kind of embarrassing how little I post here unless it's Yuletide...

But! Nominations!

I really shouldn't do this this year because of finals, but I do not care.

I am thinking of nominating:
- Capital Scandal
- Angel Sanctuary (I was so sad no one nominated it last year!)
- Grand Guignol Orchestra (not out in the US yet, but one can always hope...)
- Chinese mythology
- Cantarella

Is anyone going to nominate any of these? Any ideas for the sixth spot?

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Spoilers: For the soulmate pair in Daughters of Darkness
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Summary: The Trials and Tribulations of Ash Redfern: one. Ash: zero. The road to redemption is lined with potholes.
Notes: Written for Ziho for Yuletide 2008

Read How to Save the Day (sort of)

Series information

Night World is a yet unfinished (argh!) series of young adult Gothic fantasy crack by LJ Smith; I devoured them when I was a teenager and pleasantly discovered that they are cracktastically rereadable recently. The premise is that there's a Night World populated by witches, vampires, werewolves, and other such creatures, and the world soon evolves to encompass soulmates and the good Night Worlders who don't despise humans and/or toy with them and/or eat them. Daughters of Darkness is the second book in the series and the best: it has a lovely sense of humor about the many tropes Smith uses, along with one incredibly self-absorbed, fatuous, and mostly evil vampire and one human girl who loves astronomy and kicking people. Unsurprisingly, they're soulmates, but more surprisingly, neither of them falls swooningly in love.

( Some commentary )

Spoilers: For the entire song
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Summary: Hell's queen is its ruler and its most enslaved soul.
Notes: Written for Avendya for Yuletide 2008.

Read Cruel Hope and Gray Despair

Series information

"The Queen and the Soldier" is a song by Suzanne Vega (lyrics), but my favorite version is the cover by Kate Rusby and Kathryn Roberts. coffeeandink introduced me to it, and I love it to pieces and keep almost requesting it for Yuletide and then not. The fandom as far as I know has one other story, edonohana's lovely The Queen Knew She'd Seen His Face Some Place Before.

( Some commentary )

Spoilers: For the entire series
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Summary: Every morning, Eva pours herself a glass of Scotch, sniffs and lets the alcohol vapors tempt her, then upends the contents in the kitchen sink.
Notes: Written for Influxes for Yuletide 2008.

Read The Mathematics of Worth

Series information

Monster is an 18-volume manga series by Urasawa Naoki (also an anime series, though I've never seen it) which is nominally a thriller, but really about the line between what makes us human and what makes us monsters. I suspect all my stories this year could be summarized in that manner. My fic stars Eva Heinemann, who's the rich, often rude, often unkind socialite engaged to Dr. Kenzo Tenma in the very beginning of the series. When I first read it, I hated her and the whole trope of the bitter spurned woman, but as the series went on, she developed interesting depths while never losing the bite that made her Eva.

The fic is spoilery for the fates of characters post-series and briefly mentions some events of the series, though it doesn't really ruin any of the main revelations of the series.

( Some commentary )

Spoilers: Through Claymore chapter 80 or so
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Summary: Ugly manners, her mother would say, pretty is as pretty does, but she never told her pretty girl that monsters ate pretty and ugly girls alike.
Notes: Written for woodburner for Yuletide 2008. Many thanks to magicnoire for the quick beta!

Read Pretty Monsters

Series information

Claymore is a shounen manga series by Yagi Norihiro about half-human half-yoma women called Claymores who go around killing yoma with giant swords. There is a lot of blood, which I do not like so much, and a whole lot of stoic icy warriors, interesting backstory, worldbuilding, and awesome relationships among the many warriors, which I like A LOT. The story is pretty spoilery for the series, and I have no idea how well it stands alone.

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Please note that my guesses are usually hilariously wrong.

Play "guess who wrote what" with me in the comments, though don't confirm or deny anything, of course!

My guesses:
vee_fic wrote Cinderella, Made of Steel
etothey wrote the City of Diamond fic I haven't read yet because I don't remember who all the characters are
magicnoire wrote The Work of Chemists
deepad wrote One Thousand and One and Counting (and I'm guessing with shewhohashope as a beta)

I have been in Shanghai basically since the Yuletide archive went live, and while I was able to sneak away to an internet cafe to frantically download stories every day, I forgot about the Great Firewall of China and how it keeps out LJ! In other news, I think this made me skip over a ton of stories I would have otherwise liked, because the feeling of your mother waiting for you to finish your email ("How can you take so long every day checking email?" and I was not about to explain Yuletide to her) is not conducive to fic appreciation!

That said, I got not just one, but TWO Sancia/Alfonso Cantarella stories! AWESOMESAUCE! I made squealing squeeing noises and flapped my hands about in glee just because two people (or possibly one?) wrote my favorite characters from one of my favorite crack gothic shoujo series!

The first is If I Could Move Time, and it has Alfonso yearning and Sancia being guarded and wary and bonus reincarnation (whoo!). I love that it captures how constrained by politics and their own fears and desires they are, but mostly, Alfonso/Sancia yaaaay!

She does not dream at night, or imagine a place where it is possible to be loved and be more than a pawn. Where it is possible to have a love that does not need to be broken or looked down upon, where politics and birth do not determine their fate, where it is possible to be happy and free.

The second is Under Light, which has twelve-year-old Alfonso and fourteen-year-old Sancia and sex and is disturbingly creepy in a good way. My favorite thing about it is that it follows with the series and doesn't punish or look down on Sancia for having sex, and I love that wee!Alfonso thinks she's amazing no matter what.

But nothing he's heard helps, because right now, even in this dimly lit old servant's corridor, Sancia is breathtaking.

Her head is tilted back and she's smirking up at the man, so much confidence it makes his heart ache.

The Work of Chemists (Skip Beat!) - I gave up on the series a while ago, but I think I will have to pick it up again now. OMG. So this fic? Is hilarious. I would have been on the floor, howling, had I not been reading around one in the morning and trying not to wake up my entire family. It so amazingly perfectly captures Kyoko's narrative voice, and I love love love the over-the-top shounen "I must try harder to devote all I can to acting" and her plummeting from the heights of joy to the depths of despair to her cluelessness and just everything! And it has Moko-Kyoko too! I am just pulling out a single quote, but I honestly want to quote the entire fic.

Kyoko's heart was racing happily. She had been invited to visit Moko at home! Their friendship was growing stronger and deeper before Kyoko's very eyes! Would they braid one another's hair? Perhaps she and Moko could give one another a makeover? Or! Or Moko might open her heart to Kyoko, and shyly share her secret thoughts!

Azumanga Daioh's Romeo and Juliet (Azumanga Daioh) - This manages to perfectly capture the four-panel pacing of the original, with the addition of a delicate, understated romance (at least, as delicate as Tomo ever gets...). It's got great lines for all the characters, and I particularly love the Tomo. And the Osaka. And Ms. Yukari. And and... all of them, really!

"I tried to get into the movies once," Osaka replied. "It didn't work."

"You?!?" Yomi said with her mouth hanging open. "Did your parents try and get you in a commercial when you were a kid? Is your uncle a movie producer?"

"No, I just walked right up to the screen. But it turns out it's just a big piece o' cloth..."

and if they are not dead (Monster) - This is a lovely post-series fic full of tension and fear and ultimately the same forgiveness and humanity that the series shows, and just like the series, it's about what makes us monsters, but more importantly, what makes us human.

She takes the postcard upstairs to her flat, then searches for the other two while the kettle heats up. She fills a French press and, while the coffee is brewing, pins all three postcards to the board above her desk, isolated a little apart from the clippings of Dieter's team and the take-out menus. And then, gazing at the three sketches, she unwraps the last of the bread from Paris, pours a cup of coffee, and tips five spoonfuls of sugar into her cup.

The sugar is sweet. The bread is good.

Cinderella, Made of Steel (Sarah Connor Chronicles) - My favorite of the SCC stories this year. This gets Cameron-voice absolutely perfect, and just like Cameron, the fic is heart-warming, funny, sad, and terrifying, often at the same time. And while it's mostly about Cameron, it's also about Sarah and what she's lost, with Derek and John as lovely grace notes.

"Be quiet as you go up," says Cameron. "Sarah has not been sleeping well."

"Thanks," says Reese. "I don't want to be shot."

Cameron does not want him to be shot either. He would require medical attention. That would be bad. He might die. That would be worse. Cameron has not allotted time in her schedule for disposing of a body. She does not say this.

the sandwich story (Calvin and Hobbes) - Waaaah! This made me cry. When I was a kid, I named every single one of my stuffed animals and loved them and made them houses out of blankets and my sister and I would never buy just one (stuffed animals must be bought in pairs, so they will be each others' best friend). Now I'm back home, and I've forgotten the names of the newest, the ones bought closest to teenagerhood, and they all sit in the closet, gathering dust. This fic is about that.

"Hobbes," Calvin says thoughtfully, perched on the sharply slanted roof outside his bedroom window. "Have you always been around?"

Hobbes looks very wise and takes a large bite of his tuna sandwich. His reply is muffled and incomprehensible around the food.

Calvin takes this to mean that Hobbes doesn't know, either.

5 Things Olive Snook Never Thought and One Thing She Did (Pushing Daisies) - A lovely little treat with Olive, Ned, and Chuck, and no quote for this, since it's so short.

Wearing the Sod Gown (Castle in the Sky) - I love Yuletide for giving me stories in fandoms I never would have thought of! It's been years since I've seen the movie, but all the same, this fic is wonderful. Like many of the other pieces I'm enjoying most this year, this is a wonderful coda to the series, and I really want this to be canon.

"People who can be free shouldn't, and the ones that should are chained to the earth until it's too late," he said.

Whole New World (Aladdin) - The genie, post-series, and the people who keep shaping your life and make-shift families (my favorite kind).

He wonders, sometimes, what freedom is worth, if he always returns to the same place; but Agrabah isn't just a place. For the brief and golden time that it exists (and relatively, for Genie, it is brief), it's home.

One Thousand and One and Counting (One Thousand and One Arabian Nights) - I am not entirely sure this fic makes sense without the request ("A woman tells stories to a man at night - stories that keep her alive. Let it matter that much."), but I love the interpretation of the prompt and the anger in the story along with the celebration of so many cultures.

"Yes, you are here to help," she agrees amiably. Keep him engaged, throw any tall tale at the monster to pacify him. "My sister," second cousin on her mother's side, actually, but English does not have a specific word for that, "says that as well. She wishes..."

Red Sky by Morning (Mythology - Chinese) - I wish I remember the Matsu (Mazu) legend more so I knew what this story was doing with it, but I love just seeing this in the archive and remembering hearing stories of her in history class back in grade school.

Until the world narrows to this, this point, this moment where she's standing by the harbor rocks, watching for ships at sea, blood-red clothes like a shout against the gray of sea and sky.

Fools and Their Money (Antique Bakery) - Bwahaha! Chikage being Chikage.

Chikage had picked an agricultural chemicals company that traded on the Nisei because according to him, it looked lonely. Tachibana set up a computerized trading account and bought him four shares, and that should have been that.

One Minute, Counting (Pushing Daisies) - Emerson! The coroner! A premise that is absolutely awesome.

And then he really was done. He swallowed. Goodbye uncomfortable metal slab, he thought. Goodbye Knit-Wit magazine and the sweet smell of yarn and the soft click-click-click that needles made when you got into a rhythm. Goodbye fresh crisp checks in the mail.

The Queen's Wedding Night (Attolia series) - Someone wrote sex in the Attolia universe and it worked! Giant spoilers for the second book, and I love that this fic has so much unsaid and so much hurt. No quotes for spoiler reasons.

And because I am UTTERLY INSANE, stories 1981 and 1984 have just been posted! Whee!

Also, dear Yuletide Santa, I am pretty sure I will be able to glom onto my story within the next day or so, but I may also take a few days, as I am not entirely sure about the status of my internet. (Still! They will have to pry my laptop from my cold dead hands!)

406

stories posted in Yuletide 2008 so far!

Most Recent Story From

!!!! Oyce !!!!

... now we hope I can finish my pinch hit in time!

717 words, THANK GOD!

Of course, I have no idea how good they are, but it is still much better than the zero I had yesterday!

Alas, I am insane and took a pinch hit while in the midst of finals, and that one is still at zero, as I am still reviewing the source. Gaaaaaah what was I thinking?!

Sadly, being a basic account does not let me create polls, so I ask everyone how they are doing with their Yuletide stories instead.

Please only read if you think more details will help and not hinder!

( More stuff )

In conclusion: I hope you have lots of fun writing the story and lots of fun doing Yuletide, and thank you!

Whoo! I have nominations!

Bride of the Water God
Cantarella (manga)
Lust Caution (movie)
Megan Lindholm - Ki and Vandien series
Mythology - Chinese
Vampire Knight

ranalore, were there any specific characters you wanted for Bride? I think I got all the ones I like (including woman with tattoo), but I may have missed people.

Also, am somewhat annoyed that there is absolutely no Asian mythology in there and was briefly considering nominating "Mythology - Asian," until I had many qualms as to trying to populate the character list for that!

Did anyone nominate Nana, Honey and Clover, or 20th Century Boys? Or any Yuki Kaori?

Or, in which I actually return to my long-neglected journal.

And I just realized that Friday is the last day for nominations, and I haven't thought about what to ask for!

Current ideas:
Vampire Knight OMG want. Um. Unless it doesn't count for Yuletide anymore?
Cantarella for sure.

I am fairly certain I want Megan Lindholm's Ki and Vandien series and Chinese mythology and LJ Smith's Night World.

And then, I am drawing a blank... I figure I got a Nana fic last year, and there's been a small, yet steadily growing list of Angel Sanctuary. I'm considering re-nominating "The Queen and the Soldier" and Lust, Caution from last year. And I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to nominate dramas that aren't Coffee Prince, since I'd love to see something for Dal Ja's Spring and maybe Damo.

What has everyone else nominated?

Hi! I could use cheering up, and I am sure other people could as well. Or even if they don't, I seriously doubt anyone ever minds being complimented on their writing. So I am going to tell you which fandom writers I wish I wrote like (feel free to substitute different types of writers or vidders or whatever floats your boat), and not in a "Wow, I suck" way, but in a "These people are really awesome, and I admire them a lot" way. Please tell me about people you admire! Or, better yet, post this in your own LJ and hopefully make someone's day.

I love untrue_accounts' gorgeous prose and ability to slide in and out of unreliable narrators. I also love that even though she writes jeweled Gothic stories with sharp edges, she can also write delicate and oh-so-wistfully bittersweet and adorable as well.

I love etothey's prose as well, the way there are so many things left unsaid and hinted at, the glimpses of the intricate clockwork of plot. I love the way things look in her world, everything just slightly off, slightly different from this one, and infinitely more interesting and marvelous.

I love how edonohana writes, sharp and snappy and funny and vivid. I love how she captures the absurdity and humor in situations and thoughts, and then makes a sharp turn into heart-wrenching emotion so you're laughing and wincing at the same time.

I love how rilina_fic gets into characters and finds pieces of them that you never really thought about, the way all the details in her writing accumulate and give things a weight and significance.

I love how minnow1212's work just sneaks up on you and then worms its way into your heart, how her characters are so human and complicated, each containing worlds.

First, someone wrote me a remix of one of my first pieces! Go read Chancing Happiness (The Red, Red Wine Remix), which is a Hakkai/Gojyo story that nicely explores Gojyo's side of things and has the two broken people that I love.

I wrote:

Spoilers: Through volume 3 of the manga and episode 12 of the anime
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Summary: "We, amnesiacs all, condemned to live in an eternally fleeting present, have created the most elaborate of human constructions, memory, to buffer ourselves against the intolerable knowledge of the irreversible passage of time and the irretrieveability of its moments and events." - Geoffrey Sonnabend
Notes: Thanks to etothey for the beta and xsmoonshine for writing in this tiny fandom!

Read Obliscence and the Plane of Experience (the Rememory Remix)

( Some commentary, same spoilers as for the fic )

I give in!

Favorite fic by me meme.

Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Summary: Listen, and I will tell you how Monkey comes to America.
Notes: Written for st_aurafina for Yuletide 2007. Rachel, Yoon, Vom Marlowe, and Mely all guessed me correctly! (I felt so obvious writing this!)

Read The Journey West

Fandom information

American Gods is a book by Neil Gaiman about old myths and gods coming to America. There is also other stuff, but really, all you need to know is that Gaiman posits that gods come to America with their believers.

( Factual notes )

( Some commentary )

Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Not mine!
Summary: tink (v.i.) 1. attempt to repair or improve something in a casual or desultory way, often to no useful effect 2. (vocational) knit backwards
Notes: Written for firstgold for Yuletide 2007

Read Tink

Series information

Pushing Daisies is a TV show about a pie-maker who can bring people back to life by touching them. If he touches them again, they die forever. If they stay alive for longer than a minute, someone else will die.

None of this is really important; all you really need to know is that Emerson Cod is a private investigator who knits.

( Some commentary )