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white Christmases are overrated
We're at the start of a nasty winter storm here. It's snowing more or less horizontally due to the wind, which is also howling around corners and occasionally rattling the windowframes. I have actually turned the heat on, which I try to avoid because it's not cheap, and I'm currently wearing five layers and am still rather cold. It's supposed to stay bad for about twenty-four hours, but fortunately I don't have to go anywhere. I did go to work today, but only from 7-noon and I was home long before things got ugly.
(Sunday morning ETA: All the really bad weather has missed my area so far. There's just a dusting of snow here, with another inch or two expected today. But east and south of here, it's very bad. If you're there, I hope you're indoors, safe, and warm.)
I had a mellow Christmas, consistently mostly of cheese and movies. I watched Mr. Holmes, which is very good if (I think) not quite as non-heterosexual as people assured me it was; anyway, the performances are excellent, especially Ian McKellen, of course, but also Laura Linney, who disappeared so completely into the role of Mrs. Munro that until I checked IMDB just now I had assumed Munro was played by a British actor, and Milo Parker in one of the best performances by a child actor I've ever seen. After Mr. Holmes and as an antidote to its seriousness, I watched Despicable Me, which I'm probably the last person on earth to see. It was fun! And funny! I liked it best before it started to become heartwarming, but I didn't even mind the heartwarming parts too much--perhaps because I have chosen to interpret them as a story about a single gay man starting a family, and be damned to what apparently happens in the sequel.
Then of course there was Yuletide. I got four lovely fics, thanks to the generosity of writers currently unknown.
books to help you with your life (3498 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Grantchester (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Leonard Finch/Ben Blackwood
Characters: Leonard Finch, Sidney Chambers, Ben Blackwood, Mrs. Maguire
Additional Tags: Pen Pals, Male Friendship, Friendship/Love, Bonding, Slow Romance, Insecurity, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Domestic, Happy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Yuletide Treat
Summary: A routine develops, in which Ben updates Leonard as to how his schooling progresses, and Leonard shares his summation of Sidney's exploits that've taken place since the last time they spoke. His own life is fairly monotonous — as, in truth, is Ben's — and so the pair of them have taken to living through Sidney and the nigh-constant drama that seems to overtake his life each week.
Leonard is my favorite, and I was thrilled to get this sweet, thoughtful fic about him.
Memes In Time And Space (1317 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Thrilling Adventure Hour
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bob McCrumbs/Colonel Tick-Tock
Characters: Colonel Tick-Tock, Bob McCrumbs
Additional Tags: First Time
Summary: Now it's time for some fanfic in the style of old-time radio!
This is funny and meta and adorable all at the same time. Also, it has its own theme song!
Bridges (1208 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tintin (Comics)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Archibald Haddock/Tintin
Characters: Archibald Haddock, Tintin - Character, Bianca Castafiore
Additional Tags: Curtain Fic, Domestic, Yuletide Treat
Summary: An interlude during The Castafiore Emerald
This is not only a great shipfic but a great character study of both Tintin and Haddock.
The Gift (1843 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tintin - All Media Types, Tintin (Comics)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Archibald Haddock, Nestor (Tintin), Tintin - Character
Additional Tags: Friendship, Slice of Life, Pets, Christmas, Fluff
Summary: How Captain Haddock acquired his Siamese cat.
I love domestic Haddock and Tintin, and this is a charming (and gen, if Tintin/Haddock is not your thing) slice of life. Also there is a cat, and cats make everything better.
I've been reading other Yuletide fics a bit, but Yuletide Fatigue set in unusually early for me this year and I'm finding it hard to want to read even things that I would normally be over the moon about.
I do have three recs so far, in the fandoms Rejseholdet, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, here at the top of my AO3 bookmarks list.
(Sunday morning ETA: All the really bad weather has missed my area so far. There's just a dusting of snow here, with another inch or two expected today. But east and south of here, it's very bad. If you're there, I hope you're indoors, safe, and warm.)
I had a mellow Christmas, consistently mostly of cheese and movies. I watched Mr. Holmes, which is very good if (I think) not quite as non-heterosexual as people assured me it was; anyway, the performances are excellent, especially Ian McKellen, of course, but also Laura Linney, who disappeared so completely into the role of Mrs. Munro that until I checked IMDB just now I had assumed Munro was played by a British actor, and Milo Parker in one of the best performances by a child actor I've ever seen. After Mr. Holmes and as an antidote to its seriousness, I watched Despicable Me, which I'm probably the last person on earth to see. It was fun! And funny! I liked it best before it started to become heartwarming, but I didn't even mind the heartwarming parts too much--perhaps because I have chosen to interpret them as a story about a single gay man starting a family, and be damned to what apparently happens in the sequel.
Then of course there was Yuletide. I got four lovely fics, thanks to the generosity of writers currently unknown.
books to help you with your life (3498 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Grantchester (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Leonard Finch/Ben Blackwood
Characters: Leonard Finch, Sidney Chambers, Ben Blackwood, Mrs. Maguire
Additional Tags: Pen Pals, Male Friendship, Friendship/Love, Bonding, Slow Romance, Insecurity, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Domestic, Happy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Yuletide Treat
Summary: A routine develops, in which Ben updates Leonard as to how his schooling progresses, and Leonard shares his summation of Sidney's exploits that've taken place since the last time they spoke. His own life is fairly monotonous — as, in truth, is Ben's — and so the pair of them have taken to living through Sidney and the nigh-constant drama that seems to overtake his life each week.
Sidney is, of course, flattered by such a thing.
Leonard is my favorite, and I was thrilled to get this sweet, thoughtful fic about him.
Memes In Time And Space (1317 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Thrilling Adventure Hour
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bob McCrumbs/Colonel Tick-Tock
Characters: Colonel Tick-Tock, Bob McCrumbs
Additional Tags: First Time
Summary: Now it's time for some fanfic in the style of old-time radio!
This is funny and meta and adorable all at the same time. Also, it has its own theme song!
Bridges (1208 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tintin (Comics)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Archibald Haddock/Tintin
Characters: Archibald Haddock, Tintin - Character, Bianca Castafiore
Additional Tags: Curtain Fic, Domestic, Yuletide Treat
Summary: An interlude during The Castafiore Emerald
This is not only a great shipfic but a great character study of both Tintin and Haddock.
The Gift (1843 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Tintin - All Media Types, Tintin (Comics)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Archibald Haddock, Nestor (Tintin), Tintin - Character
Additional Tags: Friendship, Slice of Life, Pets, Christmas, Fluff
Summary: How Captain Haddock acquired his Siamese cat.
I love domestic Haddock and Tintin, and this is a charming (and gen, if Tintin/Haddock is not your thing) slice of life. Also there is a cat, and cats make everything better.
I've been reading other Yuletide fics a bit, but Yuletide Fatigue set in unusually early for me this year and I'm finding it hard to want to read even things that I would normally be over the moon about.
I do have three recs so far, in the fandoms Rejseholdet, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, here at the top of my AO3 bookmarks list.