Snowflake Challenge: Day 5

[lebateleur]

Day 5

Leave feedback for a fanwork. Or multiple fanworks. It can be as simple as I liked this to a detailed list of all the things you loved about the fanwork. The key is to leave some sort of feedback.

If you've already left feedback in the course of a previous challenge, it totally counts. But you're free to leave more feedback.

Afterwards, leave a comment in this post with the equivalent of "I did it!" If you feel so inclined, leave a link to the fanwork you left feedback for so others can check it out.


So I thought about this for a little bit and said, Hey! There was a ridiculous amount of excellent Yuletide fic this year, and since today is Twelfth Night, why not pick a fic for each of the Twelve Days of Yuletide for Day 5 of this challenge? So I did.

The fics come from the following fandoms: Baldur's Gate, Fake, The Graveyard Book, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Mabinogion, The Queen's Thief, Samurai Flamenco, Song of Achilles, The Squire's Tales, Uprooted, and The Watchmaker of Filigree Street.

Baldur's Gate: Investiture by quantumvelvet
Lawful good is by far the hardest alignment for me to relate to, but I love Mazzy Fentan and from now on I will be using this fic to explain why. The prose here is beautiful and atmospheric, and Mazzy's virtue and integrity shine through.

Baldur's Gate: Smatter With Your Gossips by Blueinkedfrost
A scorcher of a fic set in Ust Natha that perfectly captures all the weirdness and brutality of the Underdark while exploring the back story of two of the game's most intriguing NPCs. Read it and be wowed.

Fake: That Time With the Handcuffs by Nonesuch
It's been 14 years since I read the manga, but this fic brings it right back. The author neatly captures Dee's cockiness and underlying tentativeness and Ryo's calm sweetness and the edge it hides. And it's hot to boot. Go read.

The Graveyard Book: Intentions by spiderfire
A woman finds a grieving man in a graveyard and eases his pain, kicking off this delicious piece of worldbuilding. I really love the main character's POV here, how it reflects Gaiman's canon from an entirely different angle. It's the second in a series (the first was my 2014 gift!) with the promise of more to come.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: And in Trying, Become by neveralarch
This author packs so much into this short fic about Jonathan and Arabella, and how what they were before made them into the people they are in the novel.

Mabinogion: all that's best of dark and bright by betony
A gut-punch of a fic in which Arianrhod addresses her son about some of what's passed between them. The author does a brilliant job illuminating motivations and events and what-may-have-beens that shed light on the dark corners of the Fourth Branch.

The Queen's Thief: you ｇot ｍe begging, begging, i'm on my knees by plalligator
Oh, this is so, so hot. And I'm just talking here about the author's characterizations of Costis, Attolia, and the Queen, which don't miss a beat. Then comes the bedroom portion of the program, which left me as limp and speechless by the end as it did Costis.

Samurai Flamenco: The Samurai Learns Flamenco by Jougetsu
I've always been jealous of authors who can handle ensemble casts, and Jougetsu does that adroitly here. In particular, she nails Mari's voice, capturing her high-tension nuttiness without falling into caricature. There are some laugh-out-loud zingers here too, and sweetness from Goto and Hazama.

Song of Achilles: A Truth So Loud You Can't Ignore by Babbity
Achilles and Patroclus go hunting on Pelion, while they're still young enough to believe the entire world is theirs. Some lovely, evocative language here that really creates a sense of melancholy about what awaits these two down the road.

Uprooted: if the boughs are a'rockin' by novembersmith
Just excellent characterizations of Agnieszka and the Dragon here: her calm acceptance of his prickliness, and his verbal jabs and all the affection hiding beneath. I dare you not to laugh at the opening paragraphs, or catch your breath on the ending ones.

The Squire's Tales: Fair Words and Fine Melodies by Cinaed
I deeply love this series, and here the author brings everything wonderful about the novels into this fic, including some truly sweet scenes between two of my favorite characters. I will be mentally inserting this fic into the novels during future rereads.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street: The Watchmaker's Apprentice by Jain
Caveat lector: you absolutely need to read the book first in this fandom, which is no hardship because it is excellent. As is this fic, and I squeed at length about why here.



これで以上です。