Yuletide 2022 recs!
Dec. 31st, 2022 03:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladybird97Just under the wire before authors are revealed: this year's Yuletide recs!
First, of course, I must rec the gift I received! She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, pro hac vice. Matt Murdock needs Jen Walters's help on a special immigration case. There is excellent flirty banter, hilarious fourth-wall-breaking in the best spirit of the show, fabulous legal teamwork from Jen and Nikki, some AWESOME cameos from elsewhere in the MCU, and wonderfully sincere emotion.
The rest, arranged first by media type and then alphabetically within each type, are under the cut:
TV and Movies
Amadeus, Appogiatura. An insightful and appropriately lyrical depiction of hate so intense that it goes all the way around again to love, or maybe the other way around.
Clueless, Clueless in College. Sweet cotton-candy fluff! Cher may have learned a little self-awareness, but about some things - like how she really feels about Tai - she is still, of course, clueless.
The Good Place, doing it together. During one of the many long Bearimys of the finale, Eleanor and Janet have a gossip session. They're both utterly themselves throughout, but you can also clearly see how their experiences have changed them, and there's a lovely shift from humor to poignancy at the end, just like the best moments of the show.
There are SO MANY good A League of Their Own stories! Here are a couple of my favorites:
- There's No Place Like Home. How Jess and Lupe found the bar in Rockford. Lovely subtle Jess POV, and a wonderful evocation of the feeling of finding your place.
- no gentlemen left. Why Beverly took the job that she did, a character study full of heartbreak and hope and solidarity. "Looking at these girls, Beverly knows they’re not safe. Not yet. Not yet."
Ms. Marvel, Three Times Kamala Thought About Revealing Her Identity, and One Time She Didn't. Sweet and funny all the way through, especially the scenes with Kamala's parents - and, in the best spirit of the show, there's a genuinely moving turn into deeper themes at the end.
She-Hulk, Attorney at Law, Baggage that Goes With Mine. Jen visits Matt in New York, and they start to figure out how they really fit into each other's lives. It does a great job of showing the delicate emotional dynamics of that stage in a relationship, skillfully easing them into deeper conversations - and even more skillfully balancing that seriousness with the fourth-wall-breaking humor of the show.
Wheel of Time, Once and Future. A future in which Malkier is reclaimed, and Lan returns to rule…which means that Nynaeve is almost a queen. A beautiful story of the hard work of rebuilding a kingdom, both logistically and emotionally; and even though the effects of the battle against the darkness still resonate within everyone, Nynaeve, Lan, and Moiraine are all still wonderfully themselves, with courage and humor and strength intact.
Books and Plays
Anne of Green Gables, Tilling the Roots. What if Anne's parents had lived, and she came to Prince Edward Island in a different way? Every bit of happiness and love that Anne experiences in this brief story went straight to my heart - a painful reminder of what might have been. This story is still haunting me days after I first read it.
Cadfael Chronicles, Christmas Rose. A cozy gentle story by the fire, in which Cadfael recalls a past case to Hugh that brings to mind thoughts of fathers and sons and families.
A Christmas Carol, The Price of Salvation. Marley keeps haunting Scrooge over the years, and as Scrooge comes to realize that atonement isn't something you can achieve in a single night, he starts to pass his lessons back to his old friend.
London Calling, Our Own Devising. Immediately after the end of 'Husband Material', Luc and Oliver pick up the pieces. This story depicts Oliver's vulnerability with beautiful skill, and gets to the poignant heart of all of the relationships without sacrificing any of the humor of Luc's voice.
Fiddler on the Roof, Firebrands. What if Hodel joined the revolutionaries before meeting Perchik? They still fall in love, just by a different path, and their fire and sweetness and intelligence still match each other perfectly. And in today's world, a story about building a resistance movement in Kyiv feels even more powerful.
Into the Woods, careful the tale you tell (that is the spell) How Rapunzel's story might have continued after the end of the play, and how she could climb back up out of her trauma: with the help of Cinderella's friendship, her brother's love, and her own strength that she discovers along the way.
Jeeves and Wooster Jeeves and the Gentleman Detective. There's a tiny bit of Bertie/Jeeves, but it's mostly note-perfect quips and shenanigans as Bertie goes to a party in Gussie's place, and the usual hilarity ensues as complications pile up on top of each other.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, The Lost Works of the Dry-Craefticen of Wherwell: A New Approach. An academic article about recent excavations at Wherwell Abbey, expanding the story of magic in Britain before the Raven King. Perfect academic tone, and excellent use of real history.
A Lady for a Duke, We Still Prove Much In Our Vows. Viola and Gracewood navigate the logistics of their wedding. Sweet and funny in the best spirit of the original, with some hilarious side characters.
Miss Marple, Thorns and Briers. An excellent little mystery with perfect Christie-esque tone, especially in the character descriptions and Miss Marple's voice. Great attention to fair play, too. And best of all, a sweet romantic happy ending!
Sense and Sensibility, Righteousness and Respectability. Brilliant reimagining of Sense and Sensibility with the Dashwoods as mixed race. There is Austen-esque subtly incisive commentary about race and justice all the way through.
Teixcalaan, the casting-forward of desire. 25 years later, another Lsel ambassador arrives in the Empire. A wonderful vision of where all the characters might have gone after the end of the series, and an excellent exploration of how it feels to have the legacy of all of those past ambassadors in your mind.
Two from This is How You Lose the Time War
- warp to weft. A brief glimpse of the world post-canon, but the real beauty is in the letters, lyrical and dense with allusion
- You Are Meant to Read This. Brilliantly, breathtakingly original; full of hidden messages that could have been written by Red and Blue themselves
Crossovers
Memoirs of Lady Trent / Chronicles of Narnia / The Hobbit, Artemisia dranunculus (a sage small dragon) Jill Pole brings a curious specimen to seek Lady Trent's expert opinion. Equal parts silly and sweet and clever; and Isabella's voice is perfect.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell / Gardeners' World, Thistledown. The monumental otherworldly power of the Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair meets its most fearsome foe yet….the folksy banter of the hosts of a gardening show.
Piranesi / Untitled Goose Game The Cunning of the Goose is Immeasurable; Its Mischief Infinite. "It Is A Lovely Day in the House and There is a Horrible Goose." Oh. My. Gosh. This wins my Ineffable Spirit of Yuletide award for the year: the crossover that is so ridiculous and sublime that it could only be conceived of at Yuletide. The elliptical lyricism of Piranesi crossed with the UTTER CHAOS of Untitled Goose Game
First, of course, I must rec the gift I received! She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, pro hac vice. Matt Murdock needs Jen Walters's help on a special immigration case. There is excellent flirty banter, hilarious fourth-wall-breaking in the best spirit of the show, fabulous legal teamwork from Jen and Nikki, some AWESOME cameos from elsewhere in the MCU, and wonderfully sincere emotion.
The rest, arranged first by media type and then alphabetically within each type, are under the cut:
TV and Movies
Amadeus, Appogiatura. An insightful and appropriately lyrical depiction of hate so intense that it goes all the way around again to love, or maybe the other way around.
Clueless, Clueless in College. Sweet cotton-candy fluff! Cher may have learned a little self-awareness, but about some things - like how she really feels about Tai - she is still, of course, clueless.
The Good Place, doing it together. During one of the many long Bearimys of the finale, Eleanor and Janet have a gossip session. They're both utterly themselves throughout, but you can also clearly see how their experiences have changed them, and there's a lovely shift from humor to poignancy at the end, just like the best moments of the show.
There are SO MANY good A League of Their Own stories! Here are a couple of my favorites:
- There's No Place Like Home. How Jess and Lupe found the bar in Rockford. Lovely subtle Jess POV, and a wonderful evocation of the feeling of finding your place.
- no gentlemen left. Why Beverly took the job that she did, a character study full of heartbreak and hope and solidarity. "Looking at these girls, Beverly knows they’re not safe. Not yet. Not yet."
Ms. Marvel, Three Times Kamala Thought About Revealing Her Identity, and One Time She Didn't. Sweet and funny all the way through, especially the scenes with Kamala's parents - and, in the best spirit of the show, there's a genuinely moving turn into deeper themes at the end.
She-Hulk, Attorney at Law, Baggage that Goes With Mine. Jen visits Matt in New York, and they start to figure out how they really fit into each other's lives. It does a great job of showing the delicate emotional dynamics of that stage in a relationship, skillfully easing them into deeper conversations - and even more skillfully balancing that seriousness with the fourth-wall-breaking humor of the show.
Wheel of Time, Once and Future. A future in which Malkier is reclaimed, and Lan returns to rule…which means that Nynaeve is almost a queen. A beautiful story of the hard work of rebuilding a kingdom, both logistically and emotionally; and even though the effects of the battle against the darkness still resonate within everyone, Nynaeve, Lan, and Moiraine are all still wonderfully themselves, with courage and humor and strength intact.
Books and Plays
Anne of Green Gables, Tilling the Roots. What if Anne's parents had lived, and she came to Prince Edward Island in a different way? Every bit of happiness and love that Anne experiences in this brief story went straight to my heart - a painful reminder of what might have been. This story is still haunting me days after I first read it.
Cadfael Chronicles, Christmas Rose. A cozy gentle story by the fire, in which Cadfael recalls a past case to Hugh that brings to mind thoughts of fathers and sons and families.
A Christmas Carol, The Price of Salvation. Marley keeps haunting Scrooge over the years, and as Scrooge comes to realize that atonement isn't something you can achieve in a single night, he starts to pass his lessons back to his old friend.
London Calling, Our Own Devising. Immediately after the end of 'Husband Material', Luc and Oliver pick up the pieces. This story depicts Oliver's vulnerability with beautiful skill, and gets to the poignant heart of all of the relationships without sacrificing any of the humor of Luc's voice.
Fiddler on the Roof, Firebrands. What if Hodel joined the revolutionaries before meeting Perchik? They still fall in love, just by a different path, and their fire and sweetness and intelligence still match each other perfectly. And in today's world, a story about building a resistance movement in Kyiv feels even more powerful.
Into the Woods, careful the tale you tell (that is the spell) How Rapunzel's story might have continued after the end of the play, and how she could climb back up out of her trauma: with the help of Cinderella's friendship, her brother's love, and her own strength that she discovers along the way.
Jeeves and Wooster Jeeves and the Gentleman Detective. There's a tiny bit of Bertie/Jeeves, but it's mostly note-perfect quips and shenanigans as Bertie goes to a party in Gussie's place, and the usual hilarity ensues as complications pile up on top of each other.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, The Lost Works of the Dry-Craefticen of Wherwell: A New Approach. An academic article about recent excavations at Wherwell Abbey, expanding the story of magic in Britain before the Raven King. Perfect academic tone, and excellent use of real history.
A Lady for a Duke, We Still Prove Much In Our Vows. Viola and Gracewood navigate the logistics of their wedding. Sweet and funny in the best spirit of the original, with some hilarious side characters.
Miss Marple, Thorns and Briers. An excellent little mystery with perfect Christie-esque tone, especially in the character descriptions and Miss Marple's voice. Great attention to fair play, too. And best of all, a sweet romantic happy ending!
Sense and Sensibility, Righteousness and Respectability. Brilliant reimagining of Sense and Sensibility with the Dashwoods as mixed race. There is Austen-esque subtly incisive commentary about race and justice all the way through.
Teixcalaan, the casting-forward of desire. 25 years later, another Lsel ambassador arrives in the Empire. A wonderful vision of where all the characters might have gone after the end of the series, and an excellent exploration of how it feels to have the legacy of all of those past ambassadors in your mind.
Two from This is How You Lose the Time War
- warp to weft. A brief glimpse of the world post-canon, but the real beauty is in the letters, lyrical and dense with allusion
- You Are Meant to Read This. Brilliantly, breathtakingly original; full of hidden messages that could have been written by Red and Blue themselves
Crossovers
Memoirs of Lady Trent / Chronicles of Narnia / The Hobbit, Artemisia dranunculus (a sage small dragon) Jill Pole brings a curious specimen to seek Lady Trent's expert opinion. Equal parts silly and sweet and clever; and Isabella's voice is perfect.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell / Gardeners' World, Thistledown. The monumental otherworldly power of the Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair meets its most fearsome foe yet….the folksy banter of the hosts of a gardening show.
Piranesi / Untitled Goose Game The Cunning of the Goose is Immeasurable; Its Mischief Infinite. "It Is A Lovely Day in the House and There is a Horrible Goose." Oh. My. Gosh. This wins my Ineffable Spirit of Yuletide award for the year: the crossover that is so ridiculous and sublime that it could only be conceived of at Yuletide. The elliptical lyricism of Piranesi crossed with the UTTER CHAOS of Untitled Goose Game
no subject
Date: 2023-01-05 05:19 am (UTC)Are you active on any social media besides Twitter these days?
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Date: 2023-01-05 05:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-01-05 05:58 pm (UTC)Wanna video chat sometime? I think the last time I saw you was in the virtual Alea Iacta game in 2021...