Friends

I should have uploaded it before Christmas but I had neither time nor energy to sort through my gazillion of iTunes folders. So here it is now: my Carol of the Bells collection. The files are at Box.net which gives you a neat little option to listen to them all via a built-in Box player. Do use it :)

All the songs on the list have the same title but the singers and albums and all the rest are written in the song tags which you'll see if you listen to them via a player you use. Enjoy!

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From rivkat comes a post titled Yuletide! which offers a retrospective of Yuletide through the years, chock-full of links to posts about the server crashes, instances of the ISP getting hacked, and databases getting corrupted and going kablooie which we all remember so fondly. < / snark >

Seriously, it's kind of amazing to be reminded of all of the ways in which running Yuletide has been an incredible challenge over the years. Kudos are due to the mods, the coders, and this year the OTW coders and Systems teams, for going above & beyond the call of duty to bring us this amazing story exchange which is totally one of the highlights of my fannish year.

[read comments at Dreamwidth | comment at Dreamwidth | How to use openID]

Christmas this year was just another holiday on my calendar. I guess I was being a Scrooge or a heathen. I spent my days reading until dawn then sleeping until afternoon. Anyway, it seems that my mood is reflected on my reading materials.

Here are some fics that are clearly not in the spirit of Christmas but that I enjoy:


Muffin 1-20 by Mahsa
He was just a homeless kid wandering the streets, never expecting his life to change, for the worse or the better.

Ignore the cute title and the light summary, because the story is serious and full of plots. Interesting characters, mysterious intrigues, and the charm of rags to riches cliche.


Kissing a Jock 1-5 by BRBChurch
Jay is seventeen, in the closet, and has a sexy, sadistic jock lover. Let's review how this happened, shall we?

One of my guilty pleasures ;)


Lord of the Phones by Landen
Charlie, in the process of pretending to be a 13 year old girl, meets the man of his dreams who quickly becomes the man of his nightmares.

There's a dubious consent moment in the story, but everything ends happily.


Dandruff 1-23 by Munez
After walking in on his revered mentor in a kinky, compromising position, Jacob blackmails his way into the man’s home… but he never estimated ending up in his bed, too.

Like the author said, the characters in this story have no moral and no redeeming quality. This is like semi-porn soap opera. Contains cheating husband, slutty boy, and BDSM.


Moonlight Denial 1-57 by Darkness
Nicoli always looked down on those who believed in things like vampires, witches, and ghouls. But when he moves to the town of Whixton he’ll realize that the things that go bump in the night are more real than he ever imagined.

This one is an action/adventure story that I didn't put down until the last chapter available. The characters are great and the sex is damn hot!

Yuletide Madness.

I'm somewhat confused. Can someone explain to me how Yuletide Madness works?

Or more specifically, can I snag this C. J. Cherryh Cyteen prompt and write a story that's officially part of Yuletide?

You guys. You guys.

Yuletide!

I finally got to sit down with my stories tonight and read them, and I was lucky enough to get two, a gift and a treat, and they are both AWESOME.

Naivety is a Spooks/MI-5 fic, centered around a series of vignettes from Lucas North's life. Spooks fic. For meeeeeee. \0/ Oh, you guys. Seriously. There's one in particular that just about broke me. It's perfect. And the whole series fits into canon so beautifully, and there's Harry as mentor, and there's Lucas meeting Ros and ZOMG. It's just a lovely, lovely character study with such emotional depth and resonance. I adore it. Oh, Lucas. So broken. I just. *flails a bit*

Immune to Gossip is a Party Animals fic, and really, seriously, I knew I wanted Matt/Danny fic from this series (which revolves around the young staff in the offices of a Labour MP and a Tory MP) but I didn't realize until I read this story how much I wanted it, and really why is there not a Party Animals fandom because Matt/Danny is PERFECTION and I want more, dammit. And this story is an absolute delight, and the best coda to the series that you can imagine. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. This is how the series should have ended. Or should start again. There needs to be more Matt Baker in this world, you guys. Also, how can you resist a series in which the future Eleventh Doctor plays Danny Foster? HOW? *hearts Matt Smith liek woah*

Also, speaking of the Eleventh Doctor, I have watched the Doctor Who special from tonight. No spoilers, but waiting for the conclusion next week is officially Going To Kill Me. :D

And in further BBC series news, I may have done my best to get my sister hooked on Never Mind the Buzzcocks tonight. \0/ (Oh, Simon Amstell, I still miss you... *sniffles*)

Must hie myself off to bed in order to get up early tomorrow, but I leave you with this: YULETIDE \0/

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This entry was originally posted at http://femmequixotic.dreamwidth.org/438795.html. You can comment here or there using OpenID.

A few more recs before I dive into the next loooong fic:

Never Quite What You Expect is a fun anti-cliche McShep fic, short, light and entertaining, perfect for that between Xmas guests smile.

Through To Sunrise is an SGA/Castle fusion (all you need to know about Castle is in the story, no worries) that manages to pack a compelling novella into a few short pages.

Now to read Tongues Of Men And Angels.

A Merry Christmas to you all. You've been a wonderful help and support in a tumultuous year and I truly appreciate you. *hugs f-list*

Only got a small way through the archive before the bugs in the sorting system and horrible lag made me give up for the evening, but here's the gems I've come across so far today. ^_^

Across the Universe

Tolkein and the Age of Something Like Love (Max/Jude) - Max and Jude read Tolkien in an age after Vietnam.

Belgariad/Mallorean

Without Words (Silk/Garion) - Inspired by Silk's assurances to the Earl of Seline that Garion's odd accent would be corrected 'when we have leisure'. While Belgarath is out scouting for the night, Silk endeavors to show Garion another use for the Drasnian secret language. Garion, of course, is himself.

Cable & Deadpool

Cable & Deadpool Yuletide Special - ...summary? Is that like a recap page? Huh. Okay. I'm Deadpool, the Merc with a Mouth. You may remember me from such comics as "Deadpool," "Deadpool," and "Cable & Deadpool," and from my brief appearance in Wolverine's first solo movie, which for now makes me Marvel's latest license to print money -- thank you, Ryan Reynolds. Anyway, now I'm in a Yuletide story, so join me and my buddy Nate Summers, aka Cable, for wacky hijinks and reality-hopping adventure. Say hi to the fangirls, Nate.

"Wade? Who are you talking to?"

Fairy Tales

Queer as the Fork When the Knife Ran Away With the Spoon (Beauty and the Beast, slash version) - Beauty grew up in a box. He divided himself. How could he know who he was, unless he undid the wrapping?

Knight's Tale

The Way to a Man's Heart (Wat/Chaucer) - Wat evaluates his priorities and begins to realize there is more to life than just a full stomach.

Last Herald Mage

Haven Academy (Ty/Vanyel) - A high school AU for Vanyel and Tylendel - with horses!

NCIS: LA

Will It Go Round In Circles (Sam/G) - G Callen's day-to-day is not as boring as most other people's.

Sky High

Through the Cracks in the Ground (Warren/Will) - It was Layla who clued him in, actually—they were sitting at the Paper Lantern waiting for Warren's shift to finish when she said, "You guys are like, best friends now," her smile slowly growing as she absorbed that realization. Will thinks it maybe should have been more of an epiphany to him, but it was just so obvious. He's well aware that sometimes he just needs to be punched in the face with things for him to truly comprehend them, and that was one of those times.

So my brother gave me his present with a grin, saying "with this, you're never going to get any work done anymore".

Turns out he was right. He gave me The Sims 2.

"I've got quite to like you"... I even call your name when I'm in fever. He was all over him in this episode!!! Merlin this, Merlin that, Merlin I like you, Merlin talk to me, Merlin look at me, Merlin you're not a fool, Merlin I want to kiss you, since I might die, don't cry after me, gaaaah! ♥
And the warlock was the same with his "how I feel about this armour so I'm coming with you" stuff *______* Every single moment with those two was worth its screen time. It's LOOOOOOOOVE!!! ♥♥♥
The "don't cry after me" part was the best. Or not. They all were.

Funny. In s01 Merlin would give a lot to hear Arthur thinks of him as a friend. I like the way he changes due to circumstances.

Plothole. Arthur said that he'd be careful in the enemy country but he still took a back with Camelot logo on it? XD

Wooooow, they actually mentioned Morgana xD

Colin/Merlin. I love you. Merry me, for all I care. He had all emotions you can get on his face in this ep. My heart cringed. I only hoped he would a) reveal himself, b) trust Arthur with his stuff. Like love, magic, family, worries and so on. Let's hope he will still have the chance ;)
And he fights pretty well! XD last time I saw him swinging a sword was in Ealdor XD maybe that is his keyword XD

Balinor's death was lame. They could have done it better. But meybe Merlin will inherit some healing powers. Up till now he never appeared too powerful or well tought ^^'

Uther could move his ass sometimes too. All he does is sit in his chambers and order Arthur to go or not to go (that is the question xD)

Why oh why do I love Sir Leon so much? He is pretty, he is strong, he is so loyal to Arthur *_* I knew it would be him to volunteer first *Q*

Why didn't Merlin wear an armour as well?

I hate Gwen and I don't get the Dragon. It got bigger XD But we never get to know its purpose. Why he.. it.. even bothered to protect Arthur when he attacked him later?
Hahahah, of course their paths will cross again. Merlin must have an advisor XD

Did I mention I hate, HATE, Gwen?

Really. Great, great episode! I want to cry. MOAR!!!!!!

One more thing. OST? NOW? LINK? WHERE? *O*

I don't usually edit to old posts or call out edits, but since I still get comments and new links on the original post (Dreamwidth mirror) and people have mentioned passing print-outs on, it seems worth making an exception in this case.

I've removed a few sentences from the warning about ad hominem attacks because they promoted the myth that oppressed groups claim oppression they haven't experienced to win arguments. The oppressed group I mentioned was gay people, and I apologize to them in particular for my homophobic words in this essay.

Happy Christmas to all who celebrate it!

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I made you something:



( Do you like my wintry John and Rodney? )


The one thing I look/ed forward to was the advent of John Simm, the rebirth of his character (today ie. at a suitable cheeky time). I've been pointlessly refreshing torrent sites before it was even screened, and the bloody Beeb even disabled their advent calender for "my region", so I can just sit here with my buttered bread and wibble the time away.

ETA: Tennant was oddly out of his depth in Qi, and even in NMtBuzzcocks he showed he was really a solo-player; it was Bernard Cribbins (who oddly enough looked quite interesting now and there) and Catherine Tate who made the show; even the Boosh guy gelled well with them.

ETA-2: I'll upload betterised caps tomorrow (my time).