I've just done the final edit of my yuletide requests (zombies and tribbles somehow crept into the optional prompts), and offers. I love trawling through the needy fandoms and spotting things I would never have thought of writing, but just might be able to. And I found an awesome letter in a needy fandom which tempted me (it'll be a treat if I don't get assigned it). So, two needy fandoms added, plus a more popular one I think I might be able to handle, and another fandom I've a sudden itch to write in.

And now for my plan: I mean to set myself a tough deadline, way before the real deadline. Artificially induced last-minute panic.

Calvin: You can't just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.
Hobbes: What mood is that?
Calvin: Last-minute panic.

A brilliant plan, I think.

Though I still have two ficlets in my notebook needing to be typed up/edited from the writing prompts I got a couple of weeks ago. I need deadlines.

Okay, so, the thing is, I am absolutely terrified of yuletide this year. But even more terrified of not taking part and missing out, because I so love writing for yuletide and that scrabble towards the end to write some treats, and begging hippos for a last minute beta (okay, that bit isn't my favourite) and the wait on Christmas Day for the archive to open, and the fun of opening up my story and sitting down to read. But, guys, I haven't written more than useless, unposted snippets since January!¹ January!!! So can I even still write? I don't know. But I do know that if I'm going to even think of attempting yuletide, I'll need some help. So is someone willing to, I don't know, coach me how to write again or hold my hand or kick my ass or something? And beta some random fandom? And talk me through panicking?

I'm trying to bribe myself into doing it by thinking about fandoms I could request (I love gifting fics, but obviously I do love getting fic too!). So here's what I'm thinking (bearing in mind that I want to avoid really tiny/non-existent fandoms because of the extra work matching they can cause, but I want to pick a selection that means I wouldn't favour any one over the others).

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. This is an easy choice, because Phryne Fisher is an awesome character, and the supporting cast are all fun, and it'd be an easy one to ask for because I'd love just about anything.

The Captive Prince. I'm so glad kaneko and tevere recommended this so heartily, as I'd never have given it a go based on the blurb, or kept going based on the first couple of chapters. But I ended up reading it online and then buying the ebooks and reading it all over again straight away. I have thoughts, and theories, and at one time I even had fic ideas (and a fic fest idea), just no opportunity to write them/run it, so there's plenty to explore here.

The Unusuals. Either Shraeger/Walsh or ensemble. One to make me happy.

The Gates. I'm always going to want more Dylan and Nick (or Dylan/Nick).

And then there are Eureka, Chicago Fire, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Richard II, Macbeth, Diana Wynne Jones novels, Warehouse 13... Look at me, being good and not picking a selection of obscure plays hardly anyone has seen!

¹ This morning for some bizarre reason I attempted to write femmeslash. Queen Margaret/Duchess Eleanor of Gloucester from Henry VI part 2. (As an aside, why?! I can't do hate sex, and that's all they'd have.) I wrote 3 sentences, read them, and winced.

Trawling for story ideas for yuletide treats, I read evilhippo's request for Alice's travels around the world, got a mental image of Alice learning to flamenco dance, and took it from there!

Title: The Road Runner
Fandom: Luther
Characters: Alice, John, Mark (canon-level hint of Alice/John)
Rating: teen
Word count: 1,603
Summary: "They're Wile E. Coyote, and I'm The Road Runner. Meep, meep."
Notes: Thanks to Lenore for the superfast beta.

On AO3 | on LJ.

I'll be reposting my yuletide stories over the next couple of days, to save spamming you all in one go. This was my assigned story, for xenakis, whose request made me utterly gleeful. And I think I actually made the mystery make sense! I certainly had a lot of fun with Haddock's exclamations! Though sadly I had to cut 'Great Gibberichthyidae'.

Title: The Tchang Affair
Fandom: Tintin
Characters: Tintin/Tchang, Haddock, Milou (aka Snowy), Tournesol (aka Calculus), Dupont and Dupond (aka Thompson & Thomson)
Rating: PG
Word count: 11,295
Summary: A telegram and a strange letter lead Tintin to Paris and an old friend.
Notes: For xenakis. A huge thank you to Rosencrantz and innie for betaing.

On AO3 | on LJ

I'm temporarily crossposting on DW and LJ - I really don't like it (for so many reasons), but with the mess LJ is in, I'm giving it a go. Question: is it possible to crosspost with a client like Semagic and get the little link back to DW at the bottom of the LJ post? And is there a way to get that automatically on DW, linking to the LJ post?

Anyone who follows my recs feed, oxoniensis_recs on LJ/oxoniensis_recs_feed on DW, I'm sorry about the massive dump of recs today. LJ has been having major problems with feeds lately¹. Anyway, as soon as support change it for me, that recs feed will be picking up my Pinboard recs, because I've finally had enough of Delicious and dumped it². I really, really hope the feed doesn't pick up a backlog (which would be 1883 recs!), but if you want to filter it out for a day or two, just in case, that might be wise! (eta The DW feed is sorted, and it didn't pick up a backlog, so you're safe if you're subscribing.) As soon as the feed for oxoniensis_recs and oxoniensis_recs_feed has been updated, I'll start posting the recs I've been saving up over the last few days.

In the meantime, have nine more yuletide recs. I'm still dipping randomly (mostly picking stories by their summaries), including the Madness archive this time, so if you've only time to read 96 words, I've just the story for you.

( A Tale of Time City - Diana Wynne Jones, Better Off Ted, Calvin & Hobbes, Haven x2, I Dream of Jeannie, Life, Luther x2 )

¹ This is where I should probably resist listing all the other things LJ has been having problems with lately. Like, say, listening to their customers...

² I held out for a long time, but even though they gave us a few features back, it's just not that good for recs these days. And tagging it has become a game of 'guess how to do it today', which oddly enough isn't my favourite game, especially at midnight when I've read a good fic and just want to rec it quickly before I fall asleep.

Because I suck this year, I didn't send out Christmas e-cards, so happy whatever holidays you celebrate!

I set aside the whole of yesterday for betaing yuletide fics and writing treats, then lost all the words (I had a doc open, with a title and two lines for most of the day) until well into the evening when I got a line of dialogue in my head and managed to turn it into a story! So I ended up writing my main story, and two treats, which was the minimum I wanted to do this year. Why do I always leave treats until the last minute? Every year I have good intentions of writing treats well in advance, and every year I'm scrabbling to edit at midnight!

I don't know if I dare offer fics to anyone who guesses what I wrote - I'm pretty sure my three stories are incredibly obvious, especially as I didn't write the obscure fandom I'd been planning for a fourth treat. But, okay, I'll be brave - guess two (or all three if you're a smarty-pants) out of the three, and I'll write you fic. Guess one, and I'll make icons.

Now for some recs (I've been reading incredibly randomly as ever):

Always Winter (3360 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Tintin, Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tintin & Chang Friendship, Tintin & Snowy Friendship
Characters: Tintin - Character, Milou | Snowy, Tchang Chong-Chen | Chang Chong-Chen, Maugrim
Summary: “Snow,” he murmurs, almost to himself. “I saw the snow, it was all nothing but snow, everywhere. He was trapped in it. He was calling for me.”

I went out on the pinch hit list rather last minute again this year, so I was only expecting a little thing, and instead I got this beautifully crafted, moving Tintin/Chronicles of Narnia crossover. It has everything I could wish for: Tintin's bond with Chang driving him on, a Snowy who can talk out loud, and an ending that made me melt. Even if you don't know the fandoms, read it! You won't regret it. Thank you, wonderful yuletide author for such a beautiful gift. ♥

( 50/50, Demon's Lexicon - Sarah Rees Brennan, Luther (TV), Macbeth - Shakespeare, Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) (Song), The Avengers (2012) )

So many fandoms, so many goodies, I don't know what to read next! Overload, of the most delicious type!

I have several A03 invites if anyone needs one. Either leave an email address in the comments, or email me (address on my profile page).

And yuletide joy for me - I suddenly realised I'd forgotten to nominate a fandom I desperately wanted, but it's okay, it's there! \o/