skygiants

Who amongst us has not wished for Jin Guangyao's star turn at Guanyin Temple to include a kicky Broadway solo number?




Audio from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Nothing Is Ever Anyone's Fault

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Thanks to genarti and shati for a.) enabling b.) very patiently providing feedback on 3 million drafts while I agonized over correct placement of sepia tone for maximum comedy

I love small fandom exchanges because it means I can actually get through the archive and make recs posts BEFORE REVEALS.

. . . in this case probably like five minutes before reveals, I'm pretty sure, but whatever, STILL MADE IT.

Anyway I have to start out with my own glorious Parallels gift:

More Cowbell, Revolutionary Girl Utena

GUYS. I have been BLESSED BY THE UNIVERSE with a NANAMI VID. So many twirls and ho-ho-hos of triumph! It is everything I could possibly want and I will be watching it approximately five million times over, interspersed with screenings of Total Eclipse of the Heartsword.

(Everyone has already seen "Total Eclipse of the Heartsword", right? I don't need to rec it again, right? If not: sidebar from Parallels recs, GO WATCH "TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEARTSWORD." RIGHT NOW. And then move on to shati's other VVC premieres from this year, Hope on Fire, an awesome tale of rival queens who WANT IT ALL, and Follow Me, an awesome tale of one lady beating up everyone. OKAY SIDEBAR OVER MOVING ON.)

Anyway this was a good year for Nanami because there was also an amazing Nanami fic, not written for me but it might as well have been:

Lovely Exorcist Nanami

"Nanami-san's incredible! Ohtori is already much less haunted than it was this morning."

It's basically a perfect Wacky Nanami Episode in fic form, complete with unexpectedly poignant stab in the heart at the end, and I love it and want to cherish it always.

(. . . another sidebar: there were also a ton of amazing Nanami fics from last year's Yuletide that I never got around to reccing. YOU SHOULD GO READ THEM TOO.)

Other stuff I really liked from this year's exchange:

Some Songs That Aren't About Love, Chihayafuru

Kana tells them about the cards, yes, but she knows other things too. How difficult it is to start, how precious every word of encouragement; how it feels to keep losing, and how important it is to have a reason to play.

Did I mention I watched Chihayafuru? So I saw Chihayafuru and this fic feels like the reasons I love the show -- the affection the kids have for this game, for all the weird reasons they have affection for the game, and for each other, for all the weird reasons they have that too.

Biding Time, Legend of Zelda

Outside, in the daytime, Zelda is a boy named Remmy, with scruffy brown hair cut short and a gap in his smile, because Zelda just lost a front tooth.

This is a really cool, thoughtful exploration of Zelda's seven-year timeskip, and the shifting of identities that eventually leads Zelda to transform into Sheikh. Amazingly, it both feels like the game, and makes the worldbuilding and characterization of the game feel genuinely real and genuinely kind of horrifying.

The Life and Death of Setsuka Heel, Skip Beat!

"Mogami-san," said Tsuruga-san with infinite gentleness, "That's a cleaning cupboard."

I'm not going to lie, I have my issues with the Sexy Incest Siblings Arc, but this fic rapidly won me over heart and soul by having Ren and Kyoko actually TALK HONESTLY ABOUT THEIR ISSUES in a way that felt super plausible! And have their issues not magically go away by talking about them! And move towards romance in a way that allows them to remain respectful of each other and the high value they place on their friendship! SO MUCH APPRECIATED. And also it features my favorite thing, which is more of Skip Beat!'s kind of of glorious over-the-top telepathic method acting; and also it is hilarious.

Festivids is my absolute favorite fannish exchange that I do nothing to participate in. It is also conveniently small enough that I feel comfortable doing a recs post for some of my favorites!

( AWESOME VIDS ARE AWESOME under the cut )