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brightknightie) wrote2022-12-29 06:33 pm
brightknightie) wrote2022-12-29 06:33 pm
Entry tags:
Yuletide recommendations '22
I think that I've read all the Yuletide '22 stories that I'll read on my own; from here on, I'll be following others' recs. Share 'em if you've got 'em!
Here are mine:
Both "Fellow Passengers (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, ~3.4K words, G) and "The Price of Salvation" (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, ~5.7K words, G), while written for different recipients, are sequels exploring Scrooge's post-redemption feelings about what Marley did for him in setting his feet on this path and his hopes that it is not too late to somehow return the favor. Victorian England in general would not have approved the theology of such hopes -- Catholicism! Universalism! Eeeeek! -- never mind its execution, but that modest historical cultural note aside, both of these stories brought me, personally, to happy tears. Friendship, redemption, striving, merit, second chances, remembering the departed... all those story things I like!
Both are worth the read! But my favorite of the two is "Fellow Passengers," the shorter one. Slightly more Dickensian, more canonical, asks more of the characters and the reader.
A personal darling of the fest is the highly canonical "Waiting Close the Approach of Morning" (Dracula by Bram Stoker, ~2.5K words, G). This is the one tagged "Crew of Light Doing Crew of Light Things," which so grabbed my attention. It delivers a set of character-specific vignettes that together compose this interlude, pause, quiet glimpse into our heroes between action sequences, that -- under the shadow of what we know comes next -- thrums with good guys being good, the power of friendship, and greater love hath no one than this. It's narrative, not canon's epistolary, which lets it poke just a little further into things our team doesn't tend to bring up aloud or in print, like Seward's boxing and Van Helsing's wife.
(For those who best love AU, you might instead prefer "When The Going Gets Tough" (Dracula by Bram Stoker, ~1.7K words, T). Mina takes action and heads the novel off at the pass. With two tweaks to canon -- one Mina's decision and the other underlying lore -- Lucy is saved and the Count is destroyed and a third of the novel never happens. (I don't like the adjustment to underlying lore; it feels unnecessary and therefore careless. But I enjoyed the "Action!Mina" piece up to that twist.))
Over in the new Quantum Leap (2022) (which, again, is a respectful sequel, not a reboot), I must recommend all three Yuletide gifts, all of which felt sparkly and vibrant to me. Excellent work, newborn/legacy fandom!
Honorable mentions:
Here are mine:
Both "Fellow Passengers (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, ~3.4K words, G) and "The Price of Salvation" (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, ~5.7K words, G), while written for different recipients, are sequels exploring Scrooge's post-redemption feelings about what Marley did for him in setting his feet on this path and his hopes that it is not too late to somehow return the favor. Victorian England in general would not have approved the theology of such hopes -- Catholicism! Universalism! Eeeeek! -- never mind its execution, but that modest historical cultural note aside, both of these stories brought me, personally, to happy tears. Friendship, redemption, striving, merit, second chances, remembering the departed... all those story things I like!
Both are worth the read! But my favorite of the two is "Fellow Passengers," the shorter one. Slightly more Dickensian, more canonical, asks more of the characters and the reader.
A personal darling of the fest is the highly canonical "Waiting Close the Approach of Morning" (Dracula by Bram Stoker, ~2.5K words, G). This is the one tagged "Crew of Light Doing Crew of Light Things," which so grabbed my attention. It delivers a set of character-specific vignettes that together compose this interlude, pause, quiet glimpse into our heroes between action sequences, that -- under the shadow of what we know comes next -- thrums with good guys being good, the power of friendship, and greater love hath no one than this. It's narrative, not canon's epistolary, which lets it poke just a little further into things our team doesn't tend to bring up aloud or in print, like Seward's boxing and Van Helsing's wife.
(For those who best love AU, you might instead prefer "When The Going Gets Tough" (Dracula by Bram Stoker, ~1.7K words, T). Mina takes action and heads the novel off at the pass. With two tweaks to canon -- one Mina's decision and the other underlying lore -- Lucy is saved and the Count is destroyed and a third of the novel never happens. (I don't like the adjustment to underlying lore; it feels unnecessary and therefore careless. But I enjoyed the "Action!Mina" piece up to that twist.))
Over in the new Quantum Leap (2022) (which, again, is a respectful sequel, not a reboot), I must recommend all three Yuletide gifts, all of which felt sparkly and vibrant to me. Excellent work, newborn/legacy fandom!
- "Recruited" (Quantum Leap, ~6K words, T) is the Ian backstory we've all been waiting for. Brilliantly, it's set while Magic is recruiting Ian (in Ian's last year of grad school), and the back and forth between them of motivations and experience is spot-on the way TPTB should run this play. (This piece is so strong that it's fully enjoyable by someone who doesn't know a hint of canon, I think.)
- "What Happens in Vegas..." (Quantum Leap, ~7.5K words, T) is basically a standalone episode. Sure, on screen, we would have gotten a few more scenes back in the present day, and at least one contribution to the larger story arc. But this story reads like a solid, thoughtful episode. Ian has to fill in for Addison as the observer while Ben has leaped into a '30s film star (who may or may not be closeted) on his tumultuous wedding day and figure out what's best for all involved, with precious little help from the historical record (because: '30s film star).
- "Acts of Service" (Quantum Leap, ~1.5K words, G) is a string of vignette reflections by selected characters on how each came to know of the project, from which emerge each's motivations for what they're doing in the present of canon. (This one, I think you have to know the canon to enjoy.)
Honorable mentions:
- "Family They Chose" (Equalizer (2021), ~1K words, T), a vivacious missing scene with most of the good guys around the dinner table just being themselves, which means: competing agendas, layered motives, and haunting wounds, wrapped in kindness, love, loyalty, humor, and regrets to come.
- "Fever Dreams" (Scarlet Pimpernel by Emma Orczy, ~1K words, T) in which a feverish Percy spends most of the story reflecting before he finally gets rescued by a disguised Marguerite turning a famous stage plot device from her acting days into a plot device to rescue her husband.