Recs from purimgifts

[raven]

I had a surprisingly eventful day, considering I didn't talk to anyone and didn't get up until two. (Hi, brain, not useful, thanks.) Here are my purimgifts recs:

First of all, these three stories were for me:

Caifornia Girls, Code, Midnight Radio, gen, Star Trek (2009).
These are about Gaila and Uhura, apart and together, and I really, really like them; they're very simple snippets, but the writing is so elegant, and the execution so neat. Also, Gaila and Uhura = win.

And from the others:

A Certain Slant of Snow, gen, Sports Night/The West Wing.
Amy Gardner meets Dana in an airport bar. This is so great; so smart, so much like them, and I really enjoyed it. It's the first of three, and while I did like the other two, I haven't seen enough Sports Night for them to make entire sense to me, so the rec's limited to the first. But it's great: sharp and fun.

I'm Blushing on the Inside, gen, The West Wing.
Ainsley likes hamantaschen. Also pwning people. Lovely.

End of the Rainbow, Gaila/Kirk, Star Trek (2009)
Gaila has some questions to ask Kirk. I really, really like this for the depth it gives to Gaila, and to Kirk as well for that matter, but to Gaila: it thinks through her motivations with such clear-eyed writing. I like it a lot.

Moving To The Country, gen, Star Trek (2009).
Sulu shows Chekov around San Francisco. Really understated, really nice.

The Final Message, gen, Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
When the people of the Milky Way Galaxy first heard that God's Final Message to His Creation was being displayed, the Jews of the Galaxy were among the first to seek it out. This is... highly strange, and strangely nice.

Untitled (day 1, day 2, day 3), gen, Vorkosigan.
Helen Natalia, the daughter of Count Vorkosigan, has worked something out: she is the best-placed person to take on the countship. Cordelia and Gregor help, in their own ways. It's a lovely story, this, just right in style and tone.

(Also, I was reading this and thinking, huh, it's a complete three-part story, I wonder why the author didn't give it a title?

...then I thought, this is a story about a woman trying to take on a countship, which she doesn't have at the moment. Aha.)

1 Kings 12:3-15, Exodus 7:8-13, Esther 6:1-5, gen, Good Omens, Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible, with the amendment of a certain angel and a certain demon, and a certain amount of judicious snarking. The style of these is ludicrously, effortlessly seamless; the biblical language is resonating along, ringing from the rafters the way it always does, and then suddenly the dark scribe didst grin widely, saying unto him, Trust me, this shalt be one for the books. If they weren't a gift for daegaer I would have thought that she wrote them; as it is, they are a delightful mystery.

That is all. My heart hurts, I hate advocacy, why do people need defending in court anyway.

Comments

[jacinthsong.livejournal.com]

Oh, Ainsley! Sounds so like her. I will sleep now and read the others later :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*squish*

[soupytwist.livejournal.com]

I can tell you as someone who loves Sports Night a lot, the other two after A Certain Slant of Snow are also awesome. Thankyou. :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I totally need to see more Sports Night, don't I. :)

[soupytwist.livejournal.com]

I think you might enjoy! It's... really quite nineties, but mostly in the good ways? Danny and Casey are The Most In Love (I showed it to my co-traveller when doing an exchange year in Toronto and she saw the first ep and went "... okay, so this is about ACTUALLY gay sports anchors?" which, hee, no it's not, but only just) and Dana and Natalie are FABULOUS despite Sorkin having some issues (but I don't think they're ever de-awesomed... I prefer to think of it as an illustration that even strong and awesome women can make flawed decisions sometimes, and their friendship and being good at their jobs are taken very seriously) and there are at least some people who aren't white (Isaac their boss is black, and is AMAZING). It's veryvery Sorkin, but before he really started having problems... it's kind of the ur-Sorkin, to which the others refer. :)

Oh and there is an awesome bit where Donna from the West Wing is in it and kicks Casey's ass. :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Katie Katie I have JUST SEEN DONNA KICKING CASEY'S ASS. Be still, my fluttering heart. <33333!

[soupytwist.livejournal.com]

I AM SO HAPPY YOU'VE SEEN THAT BIT! Isn't it awesome! Casey is such a White Dude (in that way where sometimes he knocks it out of the park and I love him but the rest of the time he seriously needs to stop thinking the black hole at the centre of the universe is up his ass), and having Donna unleash the righteous clue-bat is a beautiful thing. :D

[amore-di-libri.livejournal.com]

Those are some lovely recs. I especially fell in love with Gaila, Vorkosigan, and Good Omens ones. Purimgifts isn't a fest I'd normally check out, so thanks for the recs! :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome. :)

[lilka.livejournal.com]

Oooh, recs! *peruses*

Also, I'd be very happy to stick all of Sports Night on a couple of DVDs for you if you like.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

You know, that would be SO awesome. I have seen about ten random episodes and always have wanted to see the rest.

(Also. Do you (and R) fancy coming for dinner sometime in the next couple of weeks? What with exams life has sort of got on top of me, but you have to have fun sometimes, right? *nods* Yes. I am away this weekend, but some time the following week?)

[lilka.livejournal.com]

It's a really great show, Aaron Sorkin's Relationship Issues aside! I'll sort that out for you. And I would love to come to dinner. I'm busy every evening next week apart from Monday and Wednesday, but free the week after, so whichever works for you :)

Also, Chris TT's playing at the Jericho Tavern on Thursday 11th, which I would highly recommend getting to if you have the time. I'm trying to drag along as many people as possible :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Fabulous. Let's make it the week after, if you're busy next week, and I can think about what to feed you. (Or we could go out somewhere, and poss. ask Emma and Anna too? And Sally?)

I have not heard of Chris TT, alas! But that said, probably wouldn't say no to a nice evening of live music on spec. :)

[lilka.livejournal.com]

Oooh, dinner out with Lashings would also be fun... I think I might leave that choice up to you, since you're playing hostess :)

Chris TT does folky pop (or maybe vice versa) with a pretty even split between off-beat humour and angry lefty protest songs. You're very welcome to come along if you feel like it - it's unlikely to sell out, so you can turn up on the night or not.

[bookwormsarah.livejournal.com]

What wonderful recs, thank you. I particularly like the Amy/Dana friendship (the West Wing episode where Abby, CJ, Amy and Donna get drunk together has some of my favourite moments). Sports Night is wonderful, definitely worth seeking out more (and far too little fic that isn't Dan/Casey).

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I made that connection too; when Sorkin is good, he's really good, and that's a great episode. (Also notable, I think, for being the one where Donna accidentally defects to Canada.)

I shall definitely check out more Sports Night. :)

[bookwormsarah.livejournal.com]

Was about to offer to lend you Sports Night, but notice someone else has a far better solution :) I do enjoy stories about strong female friendships (or strong platonic female-male friendships). West Wing had moments of this, but would have gained from many more...

[miarr.livejournal.com]

H-Hello! I'm the one who wrote the Good Omens/Old Testament series, and, uh, oh my god. I basically got nothing but sdjfslkjf;sd THANK YOU FOR THE REC, LONERAVEN, THANK YOU SO VERY VERY MUCH. Your praise makes me happy in my soul. I'm so glad you like the fics, and seriously, just, thank you. ♥

ETA: Ahaha, this is what comes of writing comments when sick with the flu. And it's especially ridiculous because I am a mild stalker of your journal. Fail, self. Apologies for the typo! /o\

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*grins* You're very welcome! I thought it was such a lovely triptych, so neatly put together, so adorably illustrated.

No worries re: typo, I am sorry you have flu! And, er, speaking of stalking, I was sort of lurking about yesterday and reading your post about your grandmother's hamantaschen and making quiet noises of om-nom-nom. It was kind of awesome. :)

[miarr.livejournal.com]

My brother got home from the army today; I dragged him to your rec post and pointed (well, flailed) at the relevant paragraph and went THAT'S ME SHE'S TALKING ABOUT :DDDDD. I have not yet been smacked upside the head for being annoying by all and sundry; this is probably a testament to the saintly patience of my acquaintances. My brother looked close, though. Still! How can I not be excited? ♥

reading your post about your grandmother's hamantaschen and making quiet noises of om-nom-nom.

Hee! I snuffle through your RL escapades and you nom my hamentaschen; I SENSE THIS IS THE START OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP.

(Plussss oh my god you are friends with teh_elb! This is, like, an immediate mark of highest favour to your name. And she mentioned you to me and I was like "o hai, who is this dashing stranger?" but then apparently she also mentioned ME to YOU and ahahaha, oh my goodness, sometimes LJ really is the size of a thimble.)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

D'awwww. That is adorable. :D

Yes, yes I am friends with Elb! She told me about you! Okay, so, we were at a party. It is a few entries down in my journal. And she was VERY DRUNK. She thinks she was not. THIS IS A LIE. And we were talking about purimgifts. And she was telling me about your awesomeness, and possibly your hamantaschen too. (And, er, possibly I had been drinking too and have only remembered this NOW but let us move swiftly on past this point.) I raise a glass to the beginning of our beautiful friendship. :P

[seekingferret.livejournal.com]

Hi... I wrote the Hitchhiker story. Thanks for the rec, and I think your summation covers it extremely well. I was nervous enough about the result that I tried writing two other stories to replace it, but I couldn't make either work in time and in the end, I'm glad I ended up posting it. In its own bizarre way, the story does have something going for it.

[miarr.livejournal.com]

*threadjacks like ninja*

Speaking as the recipient, I'm very glad you ended up posting it too. ♥

[seekingferret.livejournal.com]

Well, but this was the opening of one of my abortive attempts at a replacement:

Elisha is asleep. His eyes flutter in the throes of rapid eye movement. He is dreaming.

His mentor, teacher, friend, guide, master, spiritual leader, his everything is in Heaven. The phrase made him laugh for ten minutes when it first occurred to him, its truth stinging him with its irony. Most of the time, he realized, "Ploni is in heaven" means anything but that. It means they're dead, moving on to a new existence that even prophets no little about. But Elijah went to heaven without dying, like Enoch centuries ago. The insight burned at him, leaving him agitated and unable to sleep. But finally he sleeps.

He is pursued by a bear.

And this is the opening of the other attempt:

Letter to the Jews of Yemen
Stardate 1172.2
From Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, Chief Scientist of the Osirean Empire

So I'd have to say you were going to do fine no matter which way it went.

[miarr.livejournal.com]

I sincerely — nay, passionately — hope you post these someday, as well. Just because Purim is over doesn't mean we should cut short the merriment, am I right? \o/