Yuletide 2023 Reveals Post
Dec. 31st, 2023 11:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hekaterasThis was my very first Yuletide and it was kinda like discovering a big party next door. :D I've been making things in fandom for nearly two decades and in the past I've done a single-fandom exchange (Good Omens Holiday Exchange, for those familiar). Somehow I only heard about Yuletide last year, and was in time for nominations this year, which is ridiculously overdue considering I always seem to end up fixated on things with tiny or nonexistent fandoms. (Yes, Good Omens was tiny before the TV show!)
Let's have some stats.
Stories: 6 (2 assignments, 2 treats, 2 Madness treats)
Total word count: 15397
Fandoms:
The Last Unicorn
Road Rovers
Darkest Dungeon
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Invisible Inc
FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion Of Your Thesis Defense
If there's one thing I'm proud of with this exchange (besides starting WIPs and actually completing them within a reasonable time, godammit), it's my range. Like, damn, I really ended up writing an OG-flavour TLU continuation and OG-flavour episode!fic for a 90s children cartoon and also sapphic horror and some vaguely homoerotic frenemies nonsense, most of it within days of each other.
Here are the stories.
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An Autumn Dirge for abovetheruins - The Last Unicorn
And so the unicorn left her forest for the second time.
I got assigned, reread the book, got extremely inspired and started writing immediately, but gosh this fic was not easy to finish. It wanted to be a lot more than what I actually had time and ideas for. Somehow I ended up trying to echo the original (deceptively subtle) narrative voice and use of imagery, and on one hand I'm proud of the result but I'm also not sure how that actually happened. I'd probably need to reread the book yet again to recharge the lyrical vibes before I could do that again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Open Road for abovetheruins - The Last Unicorn
They walked in silence as they left Lir's tomb behind.
The rest of what I really wanted to get down in writing and had specific ideas for ended up becoming a Madness treat. But it stands pretty well on its own. I would like to write more for this to bridge the gap between these two stories, but we'll see if I ever get there without a deadline breathing down my neck.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B-Team for wonderminterplus - Road Rovers
"Shepherd, you arrogant fool. Did you really think you could hide your precious pets in plain sight?"
I took a big chance claiming a post-matching Pinch Hit for something I had never seen or heard of before. I did ten minutes of research, decided it was close enough to being my jam that I could probably get into it, and grabbed it, and watched all the episodes as research. I thought I would just be writing fairly close-to-minimum fluffy shippy fic of the husky character and the stupid poor little bark-bark doberman, but what I ended up writing instead was a 5k "spotlight episode"-style fic wherein all of the competent characters are captured and it's up to bitey boy to save them. Prose-wise this is probably the one that fought me the most, my usual style doesn't really mesh with a goofy cartoon that well, and a lot of the characters' catchphrases are VERY silly. I think I made it work, though.
I got pretty attached to these silly dogs during "canon viewing". Sure, the show is dated as hell, but the humour is honestly pretty good and it's all very charming. Wish they'd do a reboot or something. Also, I ship Blitz/Exile now. I may not be a furry but I believe in their beliefs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Gift of Thorns for BubblyiishYoshi - Darkest Dungeon
A ways from camp, the plague doctor and the grave robber explored the decaying elegance of the Courtyard's gardens.
The prompts were a delight. I love DD - more to passively absorb it than to play it, most days - but have never written anything for it before. The prompts leaned pretty strongly towards vampirism and Plague Doctor/Grave Robber, which, hell yeah. I don't own the Crimson Court DLC so I ended up watching a bunch of LP videos as research first. One of my favourite DD fics ever, hold fast or expire by liodain, is written in a very OG-appropriate style and I tried to emulate that. Then I discovered that after writing several thousand words for The Last Unicorn in lyrical, waxing poetic prose, I couldn't quite seem to turn that off. Whoops. DD fic is hardly a bad place for that, though.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All'avaro tutte for specialC - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
It took six months for Tuco to be penniless again.
Okay, so. There are two friends from my main weird gross niche fandom whom I got to sign up for Yuletide with me. Roughly a week before the collection would close, I got the simply devilish idea that I could look up their prompts and write them a treat. And they won't suspect it's me! Diabolical if I do say so myself. So I ended up doing just that for my poor friend specialC, who requested a bunch of things I didn't know and one thing I didn't know but could watch in only 3 hours. So I did that, had a great time (can't beat the classics!) , wrote a fic, sprinkled it with a few references to their other weird gross niche fandom just for that Targeted Ad uncanniness, and changed up my regional spelling on the off chance they would suspect me. Great fun, 10/10 recommend this prank.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computational Biomimetics for StableState - FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion of Your Thesis Defense
It was when Dr. Sam emailed him an article about the anatomical weaknesses of snakes that he began to worry.
As a PhD student, let me tell you I found my heart aching for the person who was all "I have to hand in my thesis by December 31st, please write something for me" in the prompts. I've had my eye on that prompt for treats since signups closed. So I ended up doing a self-indulgent crossover with the cyberpunk fandom I normally write for, a fandom where my main blorbo conveniently has an academic background. (Probably part of the reason they're my blorbo.) I wouldn't have written this if not for bouncing around ideas with specialC and a few comments that really got the ball rolling. Again, dear recipient, good luck with your defense. God I'm so glad that is still a ways off for me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And that's it!
There's more treats I wanted to get to but never did, specifically for Frostpunk, Heart of Stone, and a few others I can't remember right now. Some art, too. Might be something for the NYR collection. Now, one last thing.
Gift spotlight
Agency in Chaos by?????????? MossyMossbird - Invisible Inc
This fandom was the fandom I was desperately hoping to get for Yuletide. It's the reason I signed up. And I got a delightful crossover between it and a different cyberpunk game I recently played and wrote fic for. I have no idea if the author saw my post in the crossover mini-challenge thread, but they nailed the vibes. Author, I am so grateful you offered it and so glad you got matched to me. Sorry I spammed your comments section because I got so excited I forgot the Edit key existed.
Post-reveal edit to this post: AAlkdja;lgjd;l this gift was written by a close friend and I had no idea because they're newish to fic-writing and have never written anything in this style before, I have been BAMBOOZLED
Let's have some stats.
Stories: 6 (2 assignments, 2 treats, 2 Madness treats)
Total word count: 15397
Fandoms:
The Last Unicorn
Road Rovers
Darkest Dungeon
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Invisible Inc
FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion Of Your Thesis Defense
If there's one thing I'm proud of with this exchange (besides starting WIPs and actually completing them within a reasonable time, godammit), it's my range. Like, damn, I really ended up writing an OG-flavour TLU continuation and OG-flavour episode!fic for a 90s children cartoon and also sapphic horror and some vaguely homoerotic frenemies nonsense, most of it within days of each other.
Here are the stories.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Autumn Dirge for abovetheruins - The Last Unicorn
And so the unicorn left her forest for the second time.
I got assigned, reread the book, got extremely inspired and started writing immediately, but gosh this fic was not easy to finish. It wanted to be a lot more than what I actually had time and ideas for. Somehow I ended up trying to echo the original (deceptively subtle) narrative voice and use of imagery, and on one hand I'm proud of the result but I'm also not sure how that actually happened. I'd probably need to reread the book yet again to recharge the lyrical vibes before I could do that again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Open Road for abovetheruins - The Last Unicorn
They walked in silence as they left Lir's tomb behind.
The rest of what I really wanted to get down in writing and had specific ideas for ended up becoming a Madness treat. But it stands pretty well on its own. I would like to write more for this to bridge the gap between these two stories, but we'll see if I ever get there without a deadline breathing down my neck.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B-Team for wonderminterplus - Road Rovers
"Shepherd, you arrogant fool. Did you really think you could hide your precious pets in plain sight?"
I took a big chance claiming a post-matching Pinch Hit for something I had never seen or heard of before. I did ten minutes of research, decided it was close enough to being my jam that I could probably get into it, and grabbed it, and watched all the episodes as research. I thought I would just be writing fairly close-to-minimum fluffy shippy fic of the husky character and the stupid poor little bark-bark doberman, but what I ended up writing instead was a 5k "spotlight episode"-style fic wherein all of the competent characters are captured and it's up to bitey boy to save them. Prose-wise this is probably the one that fought me the most, my usual style doesn't really mesh with a goofy cartoon that well, and a lot of the characters' catchphrases are VERY silly. I think I made it work, though.
I got pretty attached to these silly dogs during "canon viewing". Sure, the show is dated as hell, but the humour is honestly pretty good and it's all very charming. Wish they'd do a reboot or something. Also, I ship Blitz/Exile now. I may not be a furry but I believe in their beliefs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Gift of Thorns for BubblyiishYoshi - Darkest Dungeon
A ways from camp, the plague doctor and the grave robber explored the decaying elegance of the Courtyard's gardens.
The prompts were a delight. I love DD - more to passively absorb it than to play it, most days - but have never written anything for it before. The prompts leaned pretty strongly towards vampirism and Plague Doctor/Grave Robber, which, hell yeah. I don't own the Crimson Court DLC so I ended up watching a bunch of LP videos as research first. One of my favourite DD fics ever, hold fast or expire by liodain, is written in a very OG-appropriate style and I tried to emulate that. Then I discovered that after writing several thousand words for The Last Unicorn in lyrical, waxing poetic prose, I couldn't quite seem to turn that off. Whoops. DD fic is hardly a bad place for that, though.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All'avaro tutte for specialC - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
It took six months for Tuco to be penniless again.
Okay, so. There are two friends from my main weird gross niche fandom whom I got to sign up for Yuletide with me. Roughly a week before the collection would close, I got the simply devilish idea that I could look up their prompts and write them a treat. And they won't suspect it's me! Diabolical if I do say so myself. So I ended up doing just that for my poor friend specialC, who requested a bunch of things I didn't know and one thing I didn't know but could watch in only 3 hours. So I did that, had a great time (can't beat the classics!) , wrote a fic, sprinkled it with a few references to their other weird gross niche fandom just for that Targeted Ad uncanniness, and changed up my regional spelling on the off chance they would suspect me. Great fun, 10/10 recommend this prank.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computational Biomimetics for StableState - FAQ: The "Snake Fight" Portion of Your Thesis Defense
It was when Dr. Sam emailed him an article about the anatomical weaknesses of snakes that he began to worry.
As a PhD student, let me tell you I found my heart aching for the person who was all "I have to hand in my thesis by December 31st, please write something for me" in the prompts. I've had my eye on that prompt for treats since signups closed. So I ended up doing a self-indulgent crossover with the cyberpunk fandom I normally write for, a fandom where my main blorbo conveniently has an academic background. (Probably part of the reason they're my blorbo.) I wouldn't have written this if not for bouncing around ideas with specialC and a few comments that really got the ball rolling. Again, dear recipient, good luck with your defense. God I'm so glad that is still a ways off for me.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And that's it!
There's more treats I wanted to get to but never did, specifically for Frostpunk, Heart of Stone, and a few others I can't remember right now. Some art, too. Might be something for the NYR collection. Now, one last thing.
Gift spotlight
Agency in Chaos by
This fandom was the fandom I was desperately hoping to get for Yuletide. It's the reason I signed up. And I got a delightful crossover between it and a different cyberpunk game I recently played and wrote fic for. I have no idea if the author saw my post in the crossover mini-challenge thread, but they nailed the vibes. Author, I am so grateful you offered it and so glad you got matched to me. Sorry I spammed your comments section because I got so excited I forgot the Edit key existed.
Post-reveal edit to this post: AAlkdja;lgjd;l this gift was written by a close friend and I had no idea because they're newish to fic-writing and have never written anything in this style before, I have been BAMBOOZLED
