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2019

Coal All The Way

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M/M fic over 4k and under 30k with fewer than fifteen hits and no comments or kudos.

Front Cover (2015), E, NAWA, 10k
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2019/works/21898435

The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde (Comics), The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde, T, NAWA, 5.8k
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2019/works/21833608

Fyra år till | Four More Years (2010), E, NAWA, 6.3k
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2019/works/21883738

Oasis (Band), M, NAWA, 4.4k
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2019/works/21482818

Bonus for one that's over 30k, for the intrepid coalie:
Dracula (TV 1968), T, NAWA, 38.8k
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2019/works/21759043

Front Cover - The writing wasn't too bad, but I was not into the romance at all. I think Ning's pushiness was supposed to be cute and endearing, but I found it super obnoxious and just wanted Ryan to be able to get away from him. I assume this is an element of canon, though, and not the author's fault.

The Strange Case of Mr Hyde - I liked this one! The mystery was creepy and the dynamic between the two leads was messy and interesting. My main complaint was that it felt like it needed about 25% more words, because I wanted to see the resolution of the mystery, and also the jump from mystery-solving to kissing seemed very abrupt.

Four More Years - Ugh, first person. I mostly skimmed once I realized there wasn't going to be anything else besides the porn, which was too bad, because I liked the bits at the beginning best, where Martin is reflecting on the kind of person/politician David is. In terms of feedback, I'd say the rhythm of this feels monotonous, like it's 2-3 sentences and a paragraph break, repeat, repeat. I also feel like more complex sentences would help - more dependent clauses, that kind of thing.

Oasis - More first person. I already don't like that POV, but I really can't handle it for RPF. Also based on what I know about the Gallaghers, this seems kind of overly fluffy, characterization-wise. "You always make me happy"? Some of the individual scenes were nice, though.

Books, short-mid length:

The Queen's Thief, M, 4.6k
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2019/works/21827899

The Secret History, T, 4.2k
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2019/works/21845521

The Three Musketeers, G, 1.4k
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2019/works/21842914

The Eagle of the Ninth, G, 6.7k
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2019/works/21842950

I only read The Secret History one. It's competently written and it has an interesting premise, but Camilla's thoughts were kind of really unpleasant about everyone? I'm fond of all these characters, so I was put off and in the end, I couldn't find anything to say.

1) I like the cleverness of Costis not at first knowing that the name of one of his soulmates, Irene = Attolia, until after Gen becomes king. (And this is my OT3 for this fandom, also!) But ugh, this was written for someone who said they didn't want an AU, and the author's note is "sorry, you don't like AUs but I had to write you one!"

2) This is really beautifully written, but it's not interesting to me because I don't know the canon.

3) I liked this one a lot! I think the summary is not a good advertisement, but the story itself is an engaging moment in time. Aramis trying to be a good priest, but unable to resist the call of womanly beauty and LOOOOOVE is wonderful.

4) What fever dream did this story come from? It starts out pretty promisingly - I like Cottia being resentful of her housewifely duties - but then takes a turn for the weird. ROAD TRIP TO WALES AND COTTIA SPEAKS WELSH WTF? And then she starts singing! (In Welsh!) And holy shit this paragraph is gold:

Marcus completely forgot about his food. In fact, he forgot about everything except his bronze-headed vixen and her mellifluous voice. A powerful urge to bed her grabbed him like the jaws of a rabid wolverine. He gripped the table's edge with his free hand and bore it out. One song merged into the next.

Then she sings in Latin (apparently, we see it in English). And they get in a boat and land on...the Azores or the Canaries?

OH GOD SHE SINGS THE GILLIGAN'S ISLAND THEME SONG I KID YOU NOT

Sit right back and you will hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip
That started near Segontium aboard this tiny ship
The mate was a mighty sailor man, the skipper brave and sure
Three passengers set sail that day, bound for shores unsure....

Okay, whoever put this list together, THANK YOU for bringing this fic to my attention. It's supremely weird and I can't tell if it's in earnest or a parody, but I have to say it's a lot more fun than most Eagle fics I've read.

But ugh, this was written for someone who said they didn't want an AU, and the author's note is "sorry, you don't like AUs but I had to write you one!"

For fuck's sake, WHY.

+ 1 You're allowed to put recipless fics in Madness too. They had a chance to get some eyeballs without bothering a recip. What an asshole.

Yeah.

Tbf the recip's details say: "I'm not really into AUs for this fandom but if there's one you've been dying to do then go wild" which is explicit permission, and they don't give much other info. But even so I wouldn't have done an AU.

dc

What the text of the request says is:
I'm not really into AUs for this fandom but if there's one you've been dying to do then go wild.

So I feel like recip was okay here after all.

Heh, that rabid wolverine line stood out to me as well. But mostly because I don't think wolverines are native to Britain (or Rome).

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