Playing with words

Challenge #9: Fandom Wrap Challenge

What are your top five fandoms for 2021 based on the amount of time you interacted with them?
1. The Queen's Gambit (by a landslide)
2. Ted Lasso
3. MCU
4. Game of Thrones
5. Shadow and Bone

( Cutting the rest! )

It's the mooooost wonderful tiiiime of the year~

This is just my favourite exchange- you never know if you're getting a delicious little ficlet or a giant chocolate heart or ART. And I got fanart this year for the first time, I am all aglow! Beth/Benny, Red String of fate in cozy, snuggly turtlenecks! Just look at the movement in this! :DDDDD

dance me to the end of love - (Beth Harmon/Benny Watts, G, fanart)

My recips both like their fics, so I'm pretty stoked. I'd not written fic for either fandom before, although the tropes I used are faves. 


Multifandom recs - here are some of the pieces I adored:

Fics:

Marshmallow Fluff - (Calvin&Hobbes, Calvin&Calvin's Mom, G, 907 words) HILARIOUS Spaceman Spiff intro that is just Perfection. Loved the ending of this too, Calvin's Dad totally deserves his "character building." LOL

A Thousand Shades and One - (Enola Holmes/Viscount Tewkesbury, G, 1590 words) 5+1, Language of flowers, post canon epistolary? SIGN ME UP. Her Enola voice is spot on perfect and the sweet, sweet flirting and Enola's protesting too much denials are adorable. 

Starring Matt Damon - (Matt Damon&Loki, G, 480 words) OMG this was soooo funny I am cracking up all over again typing this out! You know how it was Matt Damon inexplicably playing Loki in Thor Ragnarok? The author runs with that concept all the way through to the end of the film- just the best kind of crackfic. 

Beginners' Method - (Miles Morales&Peter Benjamin Parker, G, 681 words) A lovely little exploration of how Spiderman Noir is beginning to learn colors, and Miles helping him do so with his own hobby. 


Fanart:

In Highgarden - (Sansa Stark/Margaery Tyrell, G, fanart) This is so beautifully done. The details like the lines of the fabric are exquisite.

Nights in the Waste - (The Castle&Turnip Head, G fanart) A lovely digital piece. 

Capture the Castle - (Joe|Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky|Nicolo di Genova, G, fanart) This piece is absolutely stunning, and is an amazing historical parallel to their kiss in the movie.

Stay with me a little bit longer - (Hades/Persephone, G, fanart) POMEGRANATE FLOWERS and such a sweetly loving pose. 

I was spoiled this year and I got TWO amazing Jojen/Bran (GoT) fics! I have re-read them both a bunch of times already and have been all asquee since I got them!

Absolutely love how cleverly crafted the first is. The way the author plays with multiple universes/time travel/greenseeing visions just gets me where I liiiive. With little Hodor pinches to remind you what isn't. Seriously can't wait to find out what else this author has written:

Twice and Future (969 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Game of Thrones (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jojen Reed/Bran Stark
Additional Tags: Timey-Wimey, Visions
Summary:

Bran dreams.

The second is a smutty little Jojenlives! snapshot of how Bran might be in an after where he's King and 3ER. And Bran is still so True North to Jojen and yet this also shows how Jojen can anchor Bran in reality too. Lovelovelove.

Hands of Time (550 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Game of Thrones (TV)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jojen Reed/Bran Stark
Additional Tags: First Time, Fade to Black, Jojen Reed Lives
Summary:

Jojen looks half-surprised, half-flattered and half-apprehensive, never mind that that's one half too many. "You've seen this? Seen me?"


There are so many amazing things in the exchange this year! (Link goes to the fandoms page.) I was thrilled to find a couple longer pieces- Choco Box is great because the minimum word count is lower than most exchanges, so it's usually full of tiny, beautiful things. It's a delight to find several course meals in the mix, though! More recs:


Fic:

Lay on Hands (Spinning Silver, Irina/Mirnatius, 551 words, M) Love how this plays with the fire vs. ice themes of the book, and how these two literally embodied them. 

Metal Rat (Rogue One, Baze/Chirrut, 947 words, G) Food as a love language and the last couple of lines are so swoonworthy them. 

Best Suited (Person of Interest, John Reese/Zoe Morgan, 756 words, T) So I totally shipped this in the first couple of seasons but fandom was totally not feeling it. But John in a suit, Harold acting jealous, Zoe telling John what to do; what's not to like?

build love, build god, build provinces (MCU, Natasha Romanoff/James "Bucky" Barnes, 2459 words, T) THE STRUCTURE OF THIS. THE TENSION. THE FEELS. So this fic is an ode to both Halsey's Manic and a negotiating-life-in-the-after kind of Winter Widow fic and I want to read it again just typing up this rec. LOL

Needlework (Game of Thrones, Tywin Lannister & Arya Stark, 875 words, G) I love "missing scene" fics and this dynamic was so great onscreen that it was pure pleasure to revisit it. The title is freaking brilliant too!

gonna thrill you in the way you deserve (Frozen, Anna/Kristoff, 2501 words, E) So this is wedding night, first time in actually ever smut, and the dialogue and characterization are just spot on. There was one euphemism I personally dislike, but in general it's sweet and awkward and oh wow sex is awesome kind of smut.

(At Least) Five Times Soren Told A Joke (And One Time He Didn't) (The Dragon Prince, Soren & Claudia, 2268 words, G) Want to wallow in angst over their current sibling relationship by reflecting on their past? GREAT. Reflects on how their family fell apart and how Soren (and Claudia) still cling to the jokes to cope. 

Here Comes Trouble (Black Panther, T'Challa/Nakia, 10881 words, E) Long, plotty relationship backstory fic! Love this look at the War Dogs and just how freaking competent Nakia is and why T'challa just worships her. Also family feels and bonus smut!


Fanart:

Traditions (FFXII, Gabranth/Larsa Ferrinas Solidor, 533 words, G) This is both a short story and illustrations and very sweet!

Uncertainty (The Dragon Prince, Claudia & Soren) Claudia just needs a hug, okay?!  Set in S3 while waiting for Ezran's decision.

pure of heart (The Dragon Prince, Amaya/Janai) This is such a gorgeous painting. Ugh. LOVE. 



I wrote two pieces, and both recipients liked them, so I am pretty happy! :)