Yuletide reveals 2020

[primeideal]

I like the double 0's in this year name, the 01/01/2020 displays are visually amusing. Good start.

Anyway.

The Apple Falls (Far From The Tree) (2048 words)
Fandom: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Beatrice Baudelaire II, Lemony Snicket, Isadora Quagmire
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Vaguely Fearful Dialogue
Summary: Please avoid this document unless you wish to encounter such mental images as felines clawing out the organs of communication, underfunded public spaces serving as impromptu safety nets, and the economic potential of cormorant guano.
--
This is actually my first time writing ASoUE fic for either the book or the TV-verse? (I did do fic for a story-within-a-story, but that involves less Lemony-isms. I'm sure I've parodied his voice elsewhere, though.)

There's good meta about what the schism represents and how before they were "firefighters" and "firestarters," they might have been "the faction with shallow popular taste in literature" and "the elites who love True Art which is angsty and cliffhangery." In which case I would have probably sided with Olaf in the schism. :/ So Beatrice II is kind of working through those fears. (That and Olaf may or may not be her biological father but that's another problem.)

Fortuitously, shortly after finishing this, I read "The Library Book" by Susan Orlean which is about the Los Angeles Central Library, its history, including a major fire. (There are also two subplots about The Importance of Libraries Today, and the life of someone who was charged with arson in the case but then had the charges dropped--both are less interesting than the main storyline.) Lots of library/fire/VFD feelings. (I've been to the restored building, it's great, there's lots of cool artwork outside in tribute to the Spirit of Knowledge and stuff. Including pi!)

Anchor Ring (1489 words)
Fandom: Chess (Board Game)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Pawn (Chess)
Additional Tags: Temporary character "death", Chess Variants, Topology Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

The center pawn is loyal to her deities, win or lose. She wishes they'd stick to the normal rules, though.
--
Look, if you mention topology in your general likes, I'm gonna take it and run with it.

Cylinder chess is another variant mentioned in the Burt Hochberg puzzle book (that one truly is the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to chess-as-a-story bizarreness). Bughouse, I played a little in high school, but the time pressure is too stressful. Alice Chess was one of the many nerdy game variants my college math friends experimented with.

Also the wranglers in their "wisdom" have moved Chess (Board Game) to Chess Pieces (Anthropomorphic), which ???? It's not to filter out RL Chess Grandmasters RPF (yes, that exists, and under the same tag). And there are lots of other board game canonical tags too. I ain't even mad, the fics are still there and easy to find, but sometimes wranglers' priorities baffle me.

Fantasy Rules (1875 words)
Fandom: Galavant (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Sidney (Galavant), Isabella (Galavant), Galavant (Galavant)
Additional Tags: Baseball, Song Lyrics, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Never accept a quest from a strange man in a large dragon costume.
--
If you mention baseball in your general likes, I'm gonna be like "in this fictional twelfth century? ...actually yes, that makes as much sense as anything else in Galavant." I worked hard on the rhyme for the unicorn part.

The Citadel (2541 words)
Fandom: Megillat Ester | Book of Esther
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Ester | Esther, Hathach, Vashti (Abrahamic Religions)
Additional Tags: IN SPACE!, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

There had been talk that Ahasereus had tried to clamp down on the rights of human women in the wake of Vashti’s dramatic abdication. Of course, not even a king could singlehandedly dictate policy for all of the 7-Bits, but it was no surprise that cyborgs were even more paranoid than normal.
--

You know you're a fledgling ASCII programmer when you see "the same Ahasuerus who ruled over one hundred twenty-seven provinces" and are like "that's 2^7 -1." Actually no, I would have had that reaction anyway, but work is...interesting.

Anyway, I was a little nervous about this one--I'm not Jewish, so I didn't want to appropriate or twist too much in the AU setting, but the prompts encouraged me to go wild. But I'm gratified that people seemed to enjoy the worldbuilding. Also cahn / raspberryhunter wrote an amazing epic story based on the same prompt, only with femslash! And giant insects! Read that one too!

Hathach (the eunuch who waits on Esther in chapter 4) was already an existing tag and this is why I love Ao3.


The Mercenary Menace (1224 words)
Fandom: Star Realms (Card Game)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat
Summary: A day in the life of the Stealth Needle.
--
I love the Stealth Needle.

Star Realms is a game I only recently got into, first in physical form and then online, but it came in 9th in my recent ranking of board games. Let me know if you want to play on the app sometime! I'm being vigilant about not being tempted to buy "credits" or freemium expansions.

Kings and Rivers (1022 words)
Fandom: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Janduin/Tigraine Mantear
Characters: Janduin (Wheel of Time), Tigraine Mantear
Additional Tags: Mostly Pre-Canon, A bit post-canon, Timeskips are fun, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

Janduin and Shaiel share a quiet moment in the middle of the war.

--
As I continue with my reread, something for the prompt "visions and prophecies." Sometimes canon feels a little too "well, we must, because the prophecy said so," but I get the sense these two didn't need any supernatural meddling to fall for each other.

Comments

[cahn]

Aww, thank you for the kind words!

Also: I seriously did not get the "7-Bits" thing until reading this. *facepalm* They're gonna take back my math geek credentials for sure now :P :)