one wound-up punch of intuition

Star reccing, across the universe! (If you don't recognize that reference, this video will either delight you or leave you wondering if you somehow ingested acid without realizing. Maybe both. Relatedly, I'm very sorry about the ear worm.)

( Hawkeye/Young Avengers; How to Train Your Dragon; Into the Woods; Jurassic Park; Kiss Kiss Bang Bang; Lackadaisy; The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle; The Lizzie Bennet Diaries; Matilda - Roald Dahl; Mean Girls; Michael Bublé Being Stalked by a Velociraptor; Monkey Island; Oglaf; The Paper Bag Princess - Robert Munsch; Parks and Recreation; Pretty in Pink; Princeless; Princess Tutu; Project Runway RPF; Sabrina the Teenage Witch; Saturday Night Live sketches; Saved!; Spirited Away; Singin' in the Rain; Sons of Anarchy; Starship Troopers; Static Shock )

OKAY SO, I wrote the following things for Yuletide this year:

A Very Serious Matter (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency), for lydiabell
More Than Kin and Less Than Kind (Sons of Anarchy), for fated_addiction
Two of a Kind (The Red Star), for rushin_doll
Stars Are Born (Hellboy movies), for cimera
Small Blind (National Treasure), for starfishchick

Most of my recipients found and seemed to like their stories, so I am very happy! My Yuletide experience in general this year was just excellent, and I didn't really even think about comments or recs; I have no idea why this changed (as last year and the year before, I felt very liiike meeee, please like me!), but it made Yuletide a lot more relaxing. It was really nice to just enjoy Yuletide and not fret over things that I couldn't control. But I did get a lot of really wonderful feedback and several recs (including recs from one or two people who recced more than one of my stories, which always makes me laugh and wonder if they had any idea that the same person wrote both), and I have many people to go forth and thank.

And now, some notes on each individual story!

A Very Serious Matter (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, TV; 6524 words), for lydiabell

"No!" Mma Makutsi's voice railed. "No, no, no, you silly man, that is not what has taken place here! It is a crime!"

Mma Ramotswe stepped through the bead curtain and into the former Kgale Hill Post Office. Inside, Mma Makutsi was pacing vigorously, her heels clicking with each step, and she gestured wildly with a stapler. BK sat perched on the edge of the desk with his arms folded; he looked exasperated. "I know that it would be a cri--" he said, and then his eyebrows rose and he stopped. "Mma Ramotswe." She wiggled her fingers at him in a small wave, and he began to smile.

"Yes," said Mma Makutsi fervently, her back to the door. "She would know what to do, but she is away on a very important case, and we cannot disturb her."

Mma Ramotswe gently cleared her throat. Mma Makutsi spun around and her face lit up. "Mma!" she cried, taking several quick, skittering steps toward her. "Oh, Mma, I am glad that you are back!"

( Spoilery notes )

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More Than Kin and Less Than Kind (Sons of Anarchy; 5740 words), for fated_addiction

Jax was perched on the concrete front steps of St. Thomas with his knees draw up, shoulders hunched, and his chin low. He looked so small, so unlike his usual gangly swaggery self, that Tara paused for a long moment before quietly coming down one step, then two. Her sneakers made next to no noise as she sat down beside him, hip nearly brushing his.

Jax held the familiar top rocker in his hands, his thumb running across the TELLER patch just above the one that read PRESIDENT. Dried blood flaked off the leather under his hands. Tara wrapped both her arms around his near one and held on tight.

( Spoilery notes )

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Two of a Kind (The Red Star; 906 words), for rushin_doll

"Yeah," hollered Urik Antares sarcastically, ducking a high-flying chair and rolling across the top of the bar. He hit the floor behind it hard enough that he knew he'd still be feeling the impact in his shoulder in the morning. "This was a great idea, Goncharova!"

Alex Goncharova, on the other hand, was laughing like a maniac. "Wasn't it?" she shouted back, and she popped over the top of the bar long enough to hurl a heavy beer stein in the general direction of the knot of combatants. She was grinning like a wild thing when she came back down, but she held an enormous bottle of blue-ribbon vodka in hand, which immediately made her a remarkably more suitable companion in Urik's eyes.

( Spoilery notes )

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Stars Are Born (Hellboy movies; 684 words), for cimera

"My God," said one of the three judges seated up front. "It sounds like a herd of elephants back there." He raised his voice. "Can we have some professionalism backstage, please! We have a bloody television program to put on!"

Four stagehands carried on pushing a digital screen across the enormous stage. One worker followed along behind them, keeping an eye on trailing electrical wires. Just as the screen reached its place, a huge shaggy gray werewolf entered, stage left. Hellboy burst onstage a half a second behind.

There was a very long moment in which no one moved and no one said a word.

Hellboy and the werewolf stared out at the audience. Three-thousand four-hundred and one audience members -- and three judges -- stared back at them.

( Spoilery notes )

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Small Blind (National Treasure; 884 words), for starfishchick

Rolling his eyes, Ian shoved two cards over to him across the rickety card table, and then his eyes slid to Ben, who had, Riley privately thought, the single worst poker face in the history of the game ever. He was currently frowning at his cards, like doing so would make them magically give up their secrets to him the way that historical artifacts seemed to. "Gates?" Ian prompted.

"Oh," said Ben, looking up. "I'll take, uh -- no, I'll take none. Thanks."

"You're really bad at this," Riley said, sitting with his feet up on Shaw's empty chair.

Ben glanced at him sideways. Dryly: "Thank you, Riley."

Riley tipped his invisible hat to him.

( Spoilery notes )

A while back, I posted a strong, angry response to the season premiere of Sons of Anarchy. I almost gave up the show. I was disgusted. I turned it on again the next week, expecting to see it handled badly. Instead, I began to have hope that they were going in a certain direction. With every episode since then, I've grown more and more sure, and tonight finally confirmed it. Spoilers for tonight's Sons of Anarchy, and for most of season 2, behind the cut. But outside of the cut: I was wrong. Not that Kurt Sutter and his team of writers will ever know that I was even unhappy, much less that I've now changed my tune, but I was wrong. Again, written so that even if you don't follow the show, you should be able to follow along.

( 2x10: Balm )

There are only three episodes left in the season; I am both excited and very, very afraid.