kate_nepveu: sleeping cat carved in brown wood (Default)
[personal profile] kate_nepveu

I have recommendations from 2009's Yuletide rare-fandom fanfic exchange, only six months late!

These are all stories that I think are (a) very good and (b) able to be enjoyed people who don't usually read fanfic. (Note that there were a bunch of stories that are probably just as good but I didn't know or remember the canon well enough to be sure, so if something's left out, it's not necessarily a slight on it.) I'm arranging them in order of my guess at the number of people who will be familiar with the source. (The links are partly auto-generated and follow the format of story name, author, and then fandom.)

First, my favorites:

  • Killing Elvis - David Hines (hradzka) - Alien series (1979 1986 1992) :: Absolutely hilarious epistolary fic involving research scientists, office politics, and alien taxidermy. Set in the Alien-movies verse but requires no knowledge of canon whatsoever. Very highly recommended. Mature (curse words, off-screen violence), 7200 words.
  • The October Incident - neko_chelle (fivefootnothing) - National Public Radio RPF :: "It's This American Life, I'm Ira Glass. Each week on our program of course, we choose a theme and bring you a variety of different stories on that theme. Today's show: In the Land of the Living, stories of the October Incident, the zombie apocalypse and what happened afterwards. We've reached Act Three of our program: A Place at the Table. Moravia is a tiny town in Idaho, population two-hundred and eighteen. And that's pre-apocalypse numbers. But over the course of eighteen months, right from the very beginning of the apocalypse, Moravia's living citizens have received a few unorthodox gifts. Producer Sarah Koenig filed this report." --Sweet and spot-on. General audiences, 1135 words.

    (Honorable mention to "Wait Wait Don't Eat Me", written to the same prompt, which was actually linked by Wait Wait Don't Tell Me itself; it's just a show I don't listen to.)

The rest follow behind cuts, because there are many:

Computers (2): Oregon Trail game; Lovelace and Babbage web comic

Mythology and fairy tales (6)

Movies and music (3): Grosse Pointe Blank, Wallace and Gromit, "Thunder Road"

  • Complete Blank - rivkat - Grosse Pointe Blank :: Summary: "Martin is going to have a perfect wedding if it kills ... well, everyone but Debi. And Marcella and Bart." Absolutely spot-on. Teen and up, 4159 words.
  • Eh By Gum! - BluWacky - Wallace and Gromit :: It's a Wallace & Gromit short film, except in words and from Gromit's POV. Summary: "In Which a Man and a Dog become Master Confectioners; Copious Tea Is Drunk; The Nature Of Evil Is Elaborated Upon; and Someone's Goolies Nearly Get Burnt Right Off." General audiences, 5337 words.
  • Chances - zeldadestry - Thunder Road (Song) :: I love "Thunder Road," but this drabble is the only story of the several this year that made me sit up. Not rated; suitable for general audiences.

TV (4): White Collar, Leverage, The Middleman

Books (15)

Date: 2010-07-13 02:43 am (UTC)
ext_423291: (Default)
From: [identity profile] arachnejericho.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)
Ooo! Thank you for the recs! *bookmarks*

Date: 2010-07-13 03:38 am (UTC)
larryhammer: floral print origami penguin, facing left (Default)
From: [personal profile] larryhammer
"Tsubame ni Naru Toki" is indeed brill with brilliantine sauce slicking down its hair.

---L.

Date: 2010-07-13 07:36 pm (UTC)
larryhammer: floral print origami penguin, facing left (greek poetry is sexy)
From: [personal profile] larryhammer
My Ovid prompt apparently struck a chord, as I got three gifts based on it.

---L.

Date: 2010-07-13 04:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rachelmanija.livejournal.com
"Killing Elvis" is so great.

Thanks for the recs! I haven't read most of these yet, and will enjoy.

Date: 2010-07-13 03:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] adrian-turtle.livejournal.com
Thank you so much for recommending "Good Fellowship." I don't usually read Sayers fic, but this really works for me (perhaps because it doesn't try to include Peter or Harriet.) I kept wanting it to cross over to CP Snow's "The Masters," though...despite not having read it through in nearly 30 years, and despite that book becoming increasingly irritating in my memory.

Date: 2010-07-13 03:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kassrachel.livejournal.com
Ooh, thank you for the NPR recs, which I had not seen; both stories are fabulous.

Date: 2010-07-13 04:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ankaret.livejournal.com
Hey, thanks for reccing The Tale Of Ragnell - I'm delighted it's still finding readers six months after Yuletide. :)

Date: 2010-07-13 04:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] regan-v.livejournal.com
Why, thank you so much! And given the lovely crop of Sayers stories this last year, I am very flattered.

And now, I'll need to go read some of your other recs, because you found some I'd missed.

Date: 2010-07-13 06:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hangingfire.livejournal.com
Thanks for the rec—and, again, for the excellent beta! And I see several items in your list that I missed on my first pass and need to check out. (Lovelace and Babbage, forsooth. How did I miss that?)

Date: 2010-07-13 07:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] leighdb.livejournal.com
The Aliens one was hilarious, and I really enjoyed the Grosse Point Blank one too.

By the way, if you haven't read this Secret Garden fic (http://archiveofourown.org/works/32790), I highly recommend it. Beautifully written, and more than a little heart-wrenching.

Date: 2010-07-13 08:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] leighdb.livejournal.com
Well, it has more resonance, definitely, if you've read the source material.

In fact, I would be curious to see what you think of The Secret Garden reading it for the first time as an adult, frankly. I read it as a child (I think I was ten or eleven or thereabouts) and loved it to itty bitty bits. I think it would probably take like a few hours to read, tops.

Date: 2010-07-13 08:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] leighdb.livejournal.com
And hey, it's in the public domain, apparently. (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17396)

Date: 2010-07-13 08:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] leighdb.livejournal.com
Sweet! I look forward to your reaction.

Date: 2010-07-13 08:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] penguineggs.livejournal.com
I should also like to commend [livejournal.com profile] ankaret's I Capture The Castle fic, The Account Book (http://archiveofourown.org/works/30290). It captures the original voice perfectly, with a completely plausible shift in how the story is conveyed.

Date: 2010-07-13 08:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hradzka.livejournal.com
Thanks very much for the rec! "Killing Elvis" was my favorite story that I wrote for Yuletide 2009, so I'm really pleased that it's still getting love.

(And thanks for the other recs, too; there are some that I missed in here.)

Date: 2010-07-13 09:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nineveh-uk.livejournal.com
Thank you very much for the rec.

I love that Yuletide consistently brings up good Sayersfic. It's a great fandom boost.

Date: 2010-07-14 01:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scintilla10.livejournal.com
Aw, thank you so much for the lovely rec! (And also for the beta!)

And now I've been reminded of all the delicious Yuletide fic that I haven't had the chance to read yet. Luckily you've given me a good place to start! :D

Date: 2010-07-26 07:13 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] innocentsmith.livejournal.com
Hey, thanks for the rec! I'm honored to have my story in the company of some of these.

(Also, you were the other beta for [livejournal.com profile] hangingfire's Culture story? Ha, what are the odds? :D I'm glad you recced it - it really is seriously awesome.)

January 2025

S M T W T F S
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 

Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags