my Yuletide fics

[tielan]

One assignment, one PH, one treat. All got excellent receptions before reveals, with the recips all commenting, and kudos and comments arriving independent of the recips.

FANDOM: Order of the Air Series - Melissa Scott & Jo Graham
TITLE: Voices For The Voiceless for mari4212
SUMMARY: Stasi and Douglas have a conversation about the war, about people, and about right and wrong.
RATING: PG-13
TAGS: No Archive Warnings Apply, Stasi Rostov & Douglas Sorley, Douglas Sorley (Order of the Air), Stasi Rostov, parenting, Growing Up
NOTES: I had three fandoms that I could reasonably write for mari4212 and after some thought and consideration, I decided on this one. Douglas stole my heart quite unexpectedly in 'Wind Raker', and I really wanted more of his interaction with Stasi - the loving, clever, open-minded, open-hearted woman who he thinks of as a mother and who would answer his questions with honesty, even to saying she didn't know if she didn't.

I was researching the Japanese Internment camps with an eye to having Douglas comment on this, and then discovered that a historical politician of the time had already spoken out: conservative Republican Ralph Carr Governor of Colorado. Governor Carr not only objected but gave a speech before a hostile audience citing the Constitution as protecting Japanese Americans same as white Americans.

Governor Carr presented a perfect opportunity, given Douglas' open heart and open mind, and the people he's already met, and the kind of person that Mitch and Stasi (and Lewis and Alma and Jerry) would have brought him up to be.

All in all, I'm very happy with how this one turned out. A little bittersweet, but also with hope.

It's the most well-received one among the target audience - the ratio of kudos to hits is the best of the three.


FANDOM: Ghostbusters (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe
TITLE: Heroes and Fans for Bodldops
SUMMARY: Patty had a moment when she thought, They’ve separated us! And then she had a moment when she thought, It’s a trap! And then she had a moment when she thought, Get a grip on yourself, Patty! This ain’t no weirdo mad scientist – this is Tony Stark!
RATING: G
TAGS: No Archive Warnings Apply, Jillian Holtzmann & Patty Tolan, Patty Tolan & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Jillian Holtzmann, Patty Tolan, Maria Hill, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Tony Stark, Friendship, Crossover, Post-Movie(s), Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Misses Clause Challenge
NOTES: This was pure fun. The PH came up on the list and I went "oh, what the hell" and took it. I haven't written Ghostbusters fic before, and I think more than anything else, I'd be scared of writing too much Holtzmann, because she's such a fan favourite and you could easily get crucified for getting it wrong. She's a bit like Tony Stark for me (or Rodney McKay) - a little goes a long way.

I worried that I overdid Patty's speech style, although Leslie Jones plays her so much larger than life there is at least some justification. And once I had Patty in Stark Tower, what could possibly be more natural than her interest and curiosity about Rhodey?

Of course, Maria would make an appearance, even post-Civil War; and of course Rebecca Gorin (Sigourney Weaver's guest appearance in one of the post-script scenes) would have worked at Stark Industries at some point and probably encouraged the younger Tony Stark. (There was probably a mad fling for a while before she declared he was too exhausting for her to countenance any further and took a job down in South America for the Bolivian government.)

Hit-wise, this is the most popular story out of the three, thanks to the megafandom crossover.


FANDOM: Ancient Egyptian Religion
TITLE: Older Than The Deserts for Delen
SUMMARY: Then, he was bright and unyielding, burning and nurturing both, the source of light and joy. Ra, they called him, and Khepri – the holy scarab that pushes the sun through the sky, and Atum – the final burning blaze before the darkness and the long journey through the night to the reborn dawn. Now, he is known in scrolls and in books, but no longer worshipped, no longer adored.
RATING: G
TAGS: ancient gods in a modern world
NOTES: This was a treat that I initially thought would be longer. The recipient asked for the Egyptian gods in an 'American gods' style situation. And while I haven't read 'American Gods' I rather like the idea of the old gods still wandering the earth, in the flow of humanity even if they're not of it, still remembering the old times and, perhaps, mourning it.

I never got past Ra. Shu needed a conversation with someone and I wasn't sure who would be calling him, apart from Tefnut and her section was next so I didn't want to butt in on that... Ah well, maybe someday.

This one was surprisingly well-taken; I expected only the recip would read it, let alone kudos or comment, but quite a few people have enjoyed it.

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I have at least one reasonably-sized treat that didn't get completed due to time and brain. It's on the New Year's Resolution pile for Yuletide, which I have every year and somehow fail to ever complete...