Yuletide Reveal!

Oops, I was too slack to do recs again this year, but look! I got and gave stuff!

I received two totally adorable pieces in Yuletide this year.

Would You Like Some Lightning With Your Soup? (7440 words) by alyoraShadow
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Circle of Magic - Tamora Pierce
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Daja Kisubo, Trisana Chandler, Briar Moss, Sandrilene fa Toren
Summary:

Dinner at 6 Cheeseman Street is a rather unpredictable affair.

This is a really terrific fic about Daja and the whole circle, which is fantastic since I LOVE Daja and the whole circle and I really love 6 Cheeseman Street fic. There's a really great grasp on the Circle's voices and it really stresses Tris and Daja's relationship, which is something I particularly asked for and am thrilled to read about.

Phone a Friend (1657 words) by Reading Redhead
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Dairine Callahan, Carmela Rodriguez
Summary:

In which Carmela gets herself into a bit of a situation, and Dairine is the right person to call.

In this story Carmela gets thrown into alien prison for chocolate smuggling and Dairine has to come and rescue her, so obviously I ADORE it. It's funny and smart about their characters, and has a fantastic ultimate solution which really draws on Carmela's strengths without letting her get away with anything. I also love where C and D *are* in their life at this point, it really meshes up with my headcanon.

I also wrote a thing!

Don't be afraid to lend a hand (5407 words) by labellementeuse
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Rating: Not Rated
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Nita Callahan/Kit Rodriguez
Characters: Nita Callahan, Kit Rodriguez, Carmela Rodriguez
Summary:

"Let's go into the city," said Nita.

This is about Nita and Kit on an everyday errantry, and while I had a lovely prompt from a very nice recipient I still struggled mightily with it. On the whole I'm pleased with it - it's very long by my standards, the second-longest piece of fic I've ever written, and technically competent - but, I don't know. I don't think it adds anything new or contributes in any meaningful way to the Nita/Kit body of work, basically, and I'm starting to realise that in Young Wizards I really need to feel like I'm adding something or I can't get into it. I think the problem may have been that I didn't do a canon review this year and was just like, oh I know this fandom back to front, which of course just trapped me into writing something I thought was repetitive. So next year I think I'll try to take a few more risks. (Someone remind me of this?)

I did have a wonderful suite of betas who dropped everything at the eleventh hour to help me out. sushiflop, as usual, was very good to me for the entire month. archiesfrog read it in person and was extremely kind and encouraging, as was owlbeer. arysteia gave me a tremendous unfamiliar-with-the-canon beta which kicked me in a few places I needed to be kicked (but I ignored her about the ellipses because I'm a rebel, sorry V). And both chattycheese and shihadchick gave really thoughtful canon betas.

I beta'd some things as well! The beta process, which happens when my fic is usually posted, is often my favourite part of Yuletide because I enjoy the collaborative group-huggy feeling of it all.

A Week in the Life (3282 words) by archiesfrog - this is Kel fic! With Neal and Tobe!

Trust and Timing (2449 words) by aworldinside - This is fic for a rather cute and silly movie about young women who run relay at the thinly-disguised Olympics. I watched it in order to do this beta and I'm extremely glad I did because it's delightful! The fic itself is, of course, ALSO delightful, being the pairing I really craved in the film the whole time - funny and hot.

I have a funny feeling I've forgotten something but I can't remember what at this stage, remind me if it was you!

I did have a great Yuletide this year, much improved on last year's general emotional malaise. Thanks for making it fun with me, gang!