>VERBOSE

Title: A Visit from Guybrush
Fandom: Monkey Island
Characters: Guybrush, Stan, Elaine, Boybrush
Rating: General
Words: 523
Summary: Terrible Toybox posted this cute holiday image on Twitter:

I chuckled at the stockings full of limes and it made me think of the famous poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", a.k.a. "'Twas the night before Christmas", so here we are. With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore.
Additional Tags: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Parody, Humor, Poetry

I have allowed my recs bookmarks folder to get way out of control. So beware the recs list of DOOOOOOOOM!

It's possible I have recced some of these before, yet they reappeared in the folder due to syncing mismatches between three installs of Pale Moon (Firefox), but whatever. If they were worth it once, surely they're worth it again. ( Read more... )

Whew! What was that, 20? I dunno, I only sort of counted the number of times I pasted in my rec template. I have a few Yuletide recs in other fandoms, but I'll save those for a different post.

edit: apparently this crosspost to LJ failed. apologies to those who see it more than once on DW and IJ.

I've been building these up for a while (there are... 17?), so I'm omitting the quotes from the fics I would usually give.

( Fic )

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( Fic+Art )

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( Art )

The Mistletoe Incident by naadi
(Harry/Draco, PG-13, may be NWS depending as it includes some suggestive nudity)

Draco parks himself beneath some mistletoe and will neither clear out nor kiss any of the hopefuls. Harry Potter to the rescue! (with a bit of a surprise ending.) Sort of comic format - text on pictures - done in sort of limerick rhyme scheme.

Harry leaned close to his old nemesis
His lips just a breath from the kiss.
He moved closer still,
Said in whispered ill will,
"I am so going to kill you for this."

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snapelyholidays - The Crystalline Cold of Christmas Air
(Tom Riddle, with appearances from Abraxas Malfoy, Gellert Grindelwald, and Severus Snape)
Alchemia asked for a sympathetic Dark Lord. Here he appears as a boy under the shadow of another, as a man who has assumed his own pride of place, and as a lord bestowing a Christmas gift.

My comment: "That's just so amazing! I love Tom's voice and the echoes of people's colors and placements down the generations."

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mini_fest - Delighting in Your Company
(Severus/Sirius, PG-13, 1300 words)
The most beautiful present is not under the Christmas tree, the most beautiful present is having the love of your life on your arms and knowing that for ever they will be there.

Pretty schmoopy in the end, but also has a few of the barbs we so love this ship for:

"I got you a dish that says 'Fido'."
"Git. I got you a whip."
Severus's mouth opened, but no sound came out.
"For eggs and things."
"A whisk, you idiot."

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mini_fest - Legend of the Accursed Fruitcake of CamlannM
(mostly gen humor but with some Harry/Draco, Albus/Gellert, PG-13, 3537 words)
The Accursed Fruitcake of Camlann was said to have been a rejected Christmas present from Morgana to Merlin, forever doomed to pass on from wizard to wizard, bringing its curse upon all who dared regift it. This is its epic story over the ages and how one brave wizard finally defeated the Accursed Fruitcake’s evil spell.

Summary kind of says it. This was a silly delight. I highly recommend a dramatic reading for no doubt soon-to-be-confused significant others or friends.

Malfoy’s poorly thought-out plan went roughly like this:

1) Fruitcake is cursed.
2) Give fruitcake to Potter.
3) ???
4) Profit!

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mini_fest - A Christmas Wish
(Severus/Harry. Artist rated PG-13 but as far as I can see it's straight G, so it makes me wonder if I'm missing some saucy detail.)
Prompt(s): 29. "All I Want for Christmas" - Harry makes a Christmas Eve wish that Severus was still alive. and 31. Snape as Jack Frost.

The frosty coloring and spiky hair and eyebrows suit Severus surprisingly well. Harry's gloved fingers touching the corner of Severus's smile is very sweet.

When you see this, post a poem in your journal.

Sure, why not.


Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

(Shel Silverstein)

The Right Decision by unbroken_halo
(200 words, PG)
Double drabble about Severus making the choice and taking the Mark, the first from Voldemort's POV and the second from Severus's.

Highly Toxic by midnight_ljc
(~530 words plus art, PG-13, mabye barely NWS if a girl in a bra or hints of teenage sexuality are a problem)
Older Severus/Lily (2006). Yummy and tender and sad. I especially like the way he's kissing her cheek and jaw in the last picture. I've had to re-read this a few times before the narrative actually fell together in my head, because it's told kind of backwards, but I love its dreamy quality.

The Raven by atdelphi
(~800 words, NC-17)
"A play on Poe's famous poem: Filch receives a rather persistent late-night visitor."
Severus/Argus Filch. Wait, wait, come back! It's only a parody, and a hilarious and very well-made one at that. And somehow, even though it's potion-induced and the, er, unfortunate victim of the blast radius is Filch, somehow Severus's insatiability still comes off really hot.

Trusting in Fanfiction by gmweasley
(~475 words, soft R)
Severus/Remus. While we're on the subject of humorous poetry, yeah? This one is original, not parody, but is also quite well-constructed. In brief, I LOLed.
It occurred to Remus one fine day: his past was unrewarding
So off he set to start anew; in short, he stopped Marauding.
He said goodbye to all he'd known; decided to commit.
At last he found (or so it's told) our favourite Greasy Git.

Five things Regulus Black regrets in his life and one thing that he doesn't by curia_regis
(~1300 words, PG)
This is great in so many ways. I love the Severus/Regulus content, the hints that from the first he doesn't really want to do what his family apparently expects him to, and the quiet bravery. The little bit of Severus expounding excitedly on a potion to little Regulus because he made the mistake of getting him started on the topic is just precious.

Can't Run But by kaydeefalls
(~5850 words, PG-13)
Gen with Regulus and Draco in alternating sections, eventually dealing with the locket Horcrux. Older stuff again (2005), set after the end of HBP, so canon-shafted now (albeit not that badly). I like the echoes between Regulus and Draco, and Severus gets some great lines in this:
Snape looks over at him sharply. "A coward?" he repeats. "A coward would have exulted at the opportunity before him. Dumbledore was a weak, helpless old man, without even the strength to run. A coward could have killed him."
"So what does that make me?" Draco snaps, his face flushing with shame. "Less than a coward?"
"It makes you a human being," Snape replies shortly.

Players by snegurochka_lee
(~3500 words, NC-17)
"If Grimmauld Place is a stage, and all the men and women in it merely players, then there really isn't any reason for Snape to take it all so seriously, now is there?"
Again a bit older (mid 2007). Severus/Sirius with plenty of hate in, although it's that special kind of Snacky hate that has clearly got something else going on inside of it. Focuses on how, as Sirius observes, Severus's entire existence is this constructed stage show, and how Severus gets off sexually on that. Characterization is razor sharp on both; I love Sirius's bad attitude and the aside that "Remus isn't any fun any more".