Falling Stars

Ahhh, how is it almost the end of December? The last few months have been a blur. Christmas Day and Boxing Day were hectic in a good way with family celebrations, and now there's the chance to settle down with the Yuletide collection! This time I was lucky enough to receive two amazing gifts. Both for the same fandom, but taking different angles.

Title: Adventure! Romantic couple's activities! Rubbery lumps! [archive-locked]
Fandom: Fallen London | Echo Bazaar
Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Player (Fallen London)/Your Lover Returned (Fallen London), Player (Fallen London) & Your Lover Returned (Fallen London), Player (Fallen London), Your Lover Returned (Fallen London), Fruits of the Zee Festival (Fallen London), the joy and agony of reconnecting with someone you love but no longer know
Summary: A new ship rests in the marina. A ferry, headed to Mutton Island for their annual festival, you gather by the yells of its zailors. When you make the mistake of catching one's eye, their cries get much louder in your direction. Adventure! Wholesome family activities! Romantic couple's activities! Rubbery lumps!
You and your companion share a glance. A smile tugs at their lips, and they tilt their head invitingly in the ferry's direction. Well, it's not like either of you have something better to do today. You scrounge payment and gallantly help your companion aboard.

A lovely and wistful adventure together. Gorgeous and atmospheric.

Title: To Take Tea With an Ostensible Stranger [archive-locked]
Fandom: Fallen London | Echo Bazaar
Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Player/Your Lover Returned (Fallen London), Player (Fallen London), Your Lover Returned (Fallen London), Original Fallen London Character(s), This is tagged f/f because one of the characters is a he/him butch lesbian lmao, Spoilers for Ambition: Nemesis (Fallen London), Third Person POV
Summary: Joaquín didn't remember her. He didn't remember a lot of things. Maybe Petunia could help him sort a few things out.
Contains major spoilers for Ambition: Nemesis. Written for Yuletide 2025.

All the exploration of aftermath I could want. Beautiful angst with a hopeful ending.

Thank you so much, dear authors! You've really made my Yuletide.

Sometimes I wonder, is this nomination too niche? Too obscure? Do I need to make an evidence post? Is anyone else even interested in this weird corner of the canon? To find out that someone else is - it's just so good.

Exchanges can be exhausting or frustrating or unpredictable. But this is the kind of thing that keeps me coming back: the magic of releasing your requests out into the world, and sometimes them returning with a brand new story that would never have existed otherwise.

1538 stories in 1075 fandoms in the Yuletide collection, and 226 stories in 194 fandoms in the Yuletide Madness collection. Happy Yuletide!

Been away for a few weeks. But I'm back now!

* Dreamwidth - Way behind on reading and posting. Hoping to catch up soon. (Also behind on the news generally. I know I should catch up. But it's hard to summon the will to dive back in.)

* Haikyu!! - In that weird limbo of waiting to get hold of the next part of canon, and in the meantime trying to dip into fic without getting spoiled. (Probably playing with fire.)

* Yuletide - Watching the nominations queries posts go by, and always feeling amazed at the snapshot of fandoms they offer. (Mod query: "Can you confirm if the polar bear is a character?" Nominator response: "Here is a link to the polar bear.")

The story I wrote for ginger_green was:

Title: Wake the Dead
Fandom: Kill the Dead - Tanith Lee
Relationship: Myal Lemyal/Parl Dro
Characters: Myal Lemyal, Parl Dro
Rating: Teen
Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Ambiguous Relationship, Commitment Issues, Ghosts of the Past, Love Confessions, Post-Canon
Summary: Parl wants to bury the past. Myal wants to lay a ghost.

The treat I wrote for UrsulaKohl was:

Title: The Great Circle
Fandom: Alliance-Union - CJ Cherryh
Relationship: Paul Dekker & Ben Pollard
Characters: Paul Dekker, Ben Pollard, Ensemble
Rating: General
Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Time Loop, In Media Res, One Scene, Yuletide Treat
Summary: Dekker knows what year it is.

Meta to follow.

Thank you again to misura for unwritten and lea_hazel for Seasonal Companion, wonderful stories that made my Yuletide. <3

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you so much for offering to write a story for me! I love all these fandoms, and I'm keen to see what you do in them! I've provided some prompts in case you're looking for inspiration, but I'd also love to see whatever other ideas capture your imagination.

For me, it's about the characters and their interactions. I'm not a stickler about researching canon details, as long as the spirit of the characters and the flavour of their world is there. I want to see adventures that might have been, or missing moments from between scenes, or a slice of their daily lives, or where the future might take them.

LIKES: Some of the things I enjoy in stories are: undying loyalty, personal bravery, risking self to protect others, displaying cool competence, big damn hero moments, special everyday moments, banter, hijinks, confessions exposing emotional vulnerability, conversations loaded with unspoken meaning, tough people showing a soft side, and soft people showing a tough side. Some of my favorite tropes and genres are: amnesia, angst with a happy ending, animal transformation, arranged marriage, bodyswap, cosmic horror, curtainfic, five things fic, getting together, hurt/comfort, marriage of convenience, mystery solving, requited pining, road trips, sex pollen, slice of life, stranded together, and time travel.

DISLIKES: I generally prefer optimistic stories in exchanges, so I'm not keen on anything that is brutally violent or hopelessly bleak. However, I don't mind darkness during the story, as long as there is a glimmer of light at the end. Endings that are bittersweet or ambiguous are also fine.

DO NOT WANT: Noncon, underage, bleak endings, crossovers, setting change AUs like high school, coffee shop, or omegaverse (but canon divergence AUs are fine).

RATING: I am open to gen or ships for these characters. For the latter, I'd enjoy anything ranging from unresolved sexual tension, to getting together, to established relationship. I'm fine with explicit sex, but it's usually not the most important part of the story for me.

STYLE: I'm fine with first, second, or third person. I'm fine with past or present tense. I'm fine with stories of any length, including stories that start in media res or consist of a scene that implies a larger plot.

POV: I'm open to stories from the point of view of a different character from the ones requested, especially if they provide an interesting perspective on the requested characters.

INTERACTIVE FICTION: I like interactive fiction and would welcome it.

AO3: I have gifts enabled and am open to treats.

I've listed more details under each individual request.

I hope this helps. Have fun writing!

Yours sincerely,

meteordust
(AO3 name Serenade)

***

( Request 1: Falcon - Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson (Falcon, Agidy Yelov) )

( Request 2: Fortress Series - CJ Cherryh (Tristen, Barrakkêth) )

( Request 3: Fallen London (The Noman) )

Notes on The Skies of Orion (Star Trek: Lower Decks)

( Notes )

The highlight of my fandom year!

Title: by such dreaming high
Fandom: Fallen London | Echo Bazaar
Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, The Duchess, The Roseate Queen, The Second City, Estival, Worldbuilding
Summary: It is summer, in a fallen city; and someone, somewhere, is doing something unwise...

My gift is a gorgeous and poetic story of the long ago Second City, and the then Fourth Princess and Fifth Princess, in their earlier lives. It's written like a fable, and has the feel of a legend, and conjures up all the perilous beauty and deep mystery of Fallen London.

Thank you so much, dear author! This is everything I could have hoped for. It feels like opening a hidden door into a slice of the past.

1790 stories in 1131 fandoms in the Yuletide collection, and 311 stories in 261 fandoms in the Yuletide Madness collection. Happy Yuletide!

Notes on Ulysses and Ozymandias in the Labyrinth (Gattaca)

( Notes )

Notes on Vows (Seafort Saga)

( Notes )

My favourite time of year!

Title: Parallel Tracks
Fandom: Fallen London | Echo Bazaar
Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Mr. Transport, Interactive Fiction
Summary: Mr. Transport has lived an exciting and varied life. Or possibly more than one.

My gift is a gorgeously written work of interactive fiction, featuring everyone's favourite baby alien space bat (or at least mine), and perfectly capturing all the wonder of Fallen London.

Thank you so much, dear author! I was so excited to see the title and summary, because it promised we would get to see those alternate lives for Mr Transport. I feel so lucky getting to have all my prompts fulfilled.

1865 stories in 1135 fandoms in the Yuletide collection, and 248 stories in 211 fandoms in the Yuletide Madness collection. Happy Yuletide!

Notes on Murderbot and Birthdays (The Murderbot Diaries)

( Notes )

Notes on Commitment (Seafort Saga)

( Notes )

It's been a hell of a year. But Yuletide is one constant, and I'm grateful for that.

Title: Another Door Opens
Fandom: Chanur Series - CJ Cherryh
Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Hilfy Chanur/Tully, Hilfy Chanur, Tully, Geran Anify, Chur Anify, Original Characters, Hallan Meras, Memories, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Unrequited Love
Summary: Hilfy seizes a chance to finally have a private talk with Tully.

Thank you so much, dear author! This is exactly the kind of futurefic I hoped for. I only finished the Chanur series this year, and loved how it ended. But there was still one scene I wanted to see. The magic of Yuletide: making a wish into the ether and having it appear. It still feels kind of wondrous to me.

1962 stories in 1083 fandoms in the Yuletide collection, and 350 stories in 243 fandoms in the Yuletide Madness collection. Happy Yuletide reading!