Merry Christmas, everyone!

[osprey_archer]

I feel...satiated. I had duck and dumplings and trifle for dinner, I have Christmas presents to squee over (I finally have a copy of Zilpha Keatley Snyder's The Changling! Best book ever, even better than her Egypt Game), and of course there's an entire archive of Yuletide fics to dig through.

A few recs, because that's just the Thing To Do today:

the sandwich story. Calvin & Hobbes. This has been recced by pretty much everyone already, but it's so wonderful that it deserves every recommendation it can get. Sweet and sad and so, so well written.

The Starkadder Switchback: a Fitz Fortune Thriller, which is fic for Cold Comfort Farm if anyone has read that - but even if you haven't this story is fantastic. It features detectives trying really hard to be hard-boiled, movie studios trying to drum up scandal, lovely figurative language ("the gentle patina of mildew on the walls"), and Flora Fairford (nee Poste) applying her inimitable brand of common sense to make everything come out just as she wants it.

It's lovely having all these stories to dig through, although I'm a little sad that Yuletide is over. It's a pity that there isn't a Yuletide friending meme; I bet it would go over really well, given how bonded everyone is from the excitement and effort and staying up ridiculously late refreshing the archive every ten seconds, waiting for it to open.

Comments

[team-fen.livejournal.com]

Merry Christmas Jin! Your dinner sounds unusual and amazing. I had the standard (but never less than excellent) turkey with the trimmings.

I will definitely read that 'Cold Comfort Farm' rec. I love the movie, and I have so many in-jokes from it with Sally and Fenella.

Yuletide. Wheee! So many stories to read. I doubt I will come across yours in the thousands, but I will keep an eye out nevertheless. :) --Imo

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Cold Comfort Farm is a movie, too? Wow. I have trouble seeing how they could translate the book to film, as the tone is so much a part of the story, but clearly I have to check it out.

it's probably pretty much impossible to guess who wrote which stories, but if you run across anything you feel is a strong contender feel free to tell me. :p

[exuberantself.livejournal.com]

Merry Christmas!

Your dinner sounds awesome. We have traditional homemade pizza and movies...it's a very laidback holiday around my house.

I know you can't reveal which fic you wrote yet, but which one was written for you?

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Merry Christmas to you, too!

The story written for me is Windows in Time (http://yuletidetreasure.org/archive/67/windowsin.html). The fandom is Shadow Unit (I keep meaning to write a post about how awesome Shadow Unit is), and while it's a good fic I don't think it would make sense without some background in the fandom.

[exuberantself.livejournal.com]

Wow. I looked the fandom up, and...I think I have to be more awake when I venture into it. I started reading the first scene of episode one, but I had to start because, wow, that's an awful lot of introduction. I'll come back to it though, because it looks pretty cool.

[girl-called-sun.livejournal.com]

Merry Christmas!

There is so much to read - I'm sure Yuletide will keep me busy all throughout January.

It's been very exciting, and not only was the story written for me awesome, but I've had lovely comments about the one I wrote, too. I'm definitely doing Yuletide again.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely doing Yuletide again, too! I wrote like 4000 words in the last few days (it didn't all make it into the final treats), which is surely good for my writing muscles. And it was so exciting, having everyone all enthusiastic about writing at the exact same time that I was.

I can't wait for the reveal. I'm really curious to see what everyone wrote.

[longlegs21.livejournal.com]

The Changeling is wonderful! I do believe it made me cry.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

It is wonderful! It's just as good as I remember it (except I remember it as longer, possibly because the library copy was hardcover and looked thicker) - but I didn't remember it being so sad.

I mean, I did remember that it ends with Ivy not coming back, but the first time I read the book it didn't occur to me that it couldn't have ended with Ivy coming back, because what would they have done? She and Martha were teenagers by that point; they couldn't slip back into their imaginary world. But I don't know how they could have dealt with the real-world issues of Ivy's family.

The first time I read the book I saw the Carsons as Martha did - distressing and incomprehensible, but totally a background detail - but rereading now made me wince for poor Ivy.

I suppose this is what it means to be a book that grows as you read it.