get me off this crazy thing

This year, I completely spaced on signing up for Yuletide. The month of October is a blur. Call it premenopausal brain or hiker brain or work-being-a-pain brain! Perhaps I left my brain in the Grand Canyon (and I've forgotten to write up about my GC trip! Guys, it was so hard hiking and amazing!) All those things. I want to say it's been hectic and busy, and it has! Anyway, I was hyper aware of HLH Shortcuts and my assignment and when December rolled around and I'd started writing my HL story and was like waaiiiiiit a second what about yule.... oh whoops. 🫠 :D Hey, at least I remembered to sign up for HLH Shortcuts!

BUT, I did manage to squeeze out a very quick Yuletide Treat in the literal last 4 hours before the Yuletide archive went live. Started it at like 8am and had it in the archive at 12:40pm before it went live at 1pm my time. \o/ Went with Spy Game because a) I know it well, and b) I could tell there were no other stories in the archive for it this year.

And so here it is, now with fixed typos:


Four Things (1646 words) by hafital
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spy Game (2001)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tom Bishop & Nathan Muir
Characters: Tom Bishop, Nathan Muir
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat
Summary:

“Four things,” said Tom, raising his hand, showing four fingers, folding one finger for each thing. “Fifteen minutes, a secret, something stolen, and something of value willingly given, starting…” he looked at the clock over the bar. “Now.”

Oh my goodness you guys look what I got yesterday as a gift! Check out the podfic for my story Moondance or A Series of Extraordinary Events. I'm so happy and pleased! Link in the notes for the story. 

Honestly never thought I would ever have a podfic made from one of my stories, but how perfect to receive one for this story in particular. ❤️  Thanks to killabeez and AlbatrossGJ !

My hopes and wishes for 2025 are mainly that nothing is as bad as people fear and we all have a good time. :D

I wrote three (3!) stories for Yuletide this year. Don't know what got into me. But it's mostly because I was indecisive. My recipient had 2 fandoms I could write for and I decided to write for both of them:

Main story:

Advantage (3935 words) by hafital
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Sting (1973)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Henry Gondorff/Johnny Hooker
Characters: Henry Gondorff, Johnny Hooker (The Sting), Billie (The Sting)
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Late Night Conversations, Stubborn Johnny, Patient Henry, Johnny needs to learn to duck
Summary:

After his run-in with Snyder, Henry convinces Johnny to stay the night. 

And then, a Treat for the same recipient:

Pin My Siren Thief, Bombard (1326 words) by hafital
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Sneakers (1992)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Martin Bishop & Bernard Abbott
Characters: Martin Bishop, Bernard Abbott
Additional Tags: Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship, Yuletide Treat
Summary:

“What does this mean?” he asked, reading the card. “‘Pin my siren thief, bombard?’”

Abbott’s grin went as wide as wide could be, and it transformed his entire face.

By then, I was like may as well go for broke and write a third Robert Redford fandom, a Treat for dorinda!:

A Different Memory (2888 words) by hafital
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Spy Game (2001)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tom Bishop/Nathan Muir
Characters: Nathan Muir, Tom Bishop
Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat
Summary:

One month into his retirement, Nathan Muir receives an unexpected visitor.

Always a pleasure to write for Dorinda. It was like I was running my own private little Robert Redford mildly injured h/c fic fest ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Of the three, the Sneakers fic was the most difficult to write, to get the right tone and there's actually so very little of Agent Abbott in the film (the James Earl Jones character) that I had to really tease the story out bit by bit. And figuring out the anagram took some doing. (Also, how adorable is that movie!? Rewatching it after so many years was a treat in itself. My choice would probably be Martin/Whistler as a pairing, but I loved writing Agent Abbott quite a lot).

My favorite of the three is the Spy Game story (for reasons; also I posted it to the archive with literally 10 minutes to spare before the archive went live on Dec. 25 haha), though I have a soft spot for Johnny Hooker getting one over on Henry Gondorff. <3

Dear Yuletide writer,

I completely failed in getting this linked to my requests before assignments were sent! Hope you find this anyway. Thankfully, I don't have much more to say than what was in my sign up anyway. My main wish is that you have fun writing this, and I deeply appreciate it. :D <3

( Requests )

Hello! Authors have now been revealed for the 2023 Highlander Holiday Shortcut fest. Go check out the stories and give kudos and comments. <3

My story:

The Aingeal (8236 words) by hafital
Chapters: 6/6
Fandom: Highlander: The Series
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Rebecca Horne/Ceirdwyn (Highlander), Ceirdwyn (Highlander) & Marcus Constantine
Characters: Rebecca Horne, Ceirdwyn (Highlander), Marcus Constantine
Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, implied Ceirdwyn/Marcus Constantine
Summary:

Ceirdwyn must choose her own path.

Thank you to my beta, raine!!

For all my years in the Highlander fandom, this story broke a lot of new ground for me. First time writing from Ceirdwyn's POV, first time writing HL femslash (I've written femslash for other fandoms! Just not HL), first time writing Marcus Constantine in any form whatsoever. And boy, let me tell you, Marcus Constantine is the very definition of "still waters run deep." One of the descriptions I used in my story was "Marcus was a man of few expressions." Breathing life into him was an Experience.

Writing Ceirdwyn/Rebecca on the other hand, was easy peasy. <3 I was like, why haven't people slashed these two before?!

Every year participating in HLH Shortcuts I learn something new about Highlander and these characters and get to explore new aspects that I previously hadn't paid much attention to. Love it!

All of the Highlander Holiday Shortcut stories are posted and available for reading. 25 NEW Highlander stories, with something for everyone! Huzzah!! Please go check it out, if you're so inclined. The stories are here: HLH Shortcuts 2023.

You can also access the stories from the DW community - hlh_shortcuts


I received a lovely gift, featuring an unstuck in time Richie Ryan and a resulting alternate timeline, which left me emotional.

Know Where It's At (5457 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Highlander: The Series
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Richie Ryan, Methos (Highlander), Darius (Highlander), Tessa Noel, Duncan MacLeod
Additional Tags: Background Duncan MacLeod/Tessa Noel, Time Travel Fix-It, Highlander Holiday Short Cuts Challenge, References to Other Canon Characters - Freeform
Summary:

The universe must have a plan for why Richie gets to do it all again. Now, if only someone would tell him what that plan is.

haven't done yuletide in ages, but giving it a go this year. crazy times.

Dear Yuletide Friend <3,


Thank you for writing my story this year! It's been so long since I participated in Yuletide that the whole sign up part of it has changed considerably, so forgive me for not including things like DNWs and tags and whatnot. :D

ETA: I would love treats for any of these! In case anyone comes here to check. Sort of late in the day, but I didn't realize we were supposed to mention that lol.

Request 1 - Friday Night Lights

I didn't require that you had to use every character in my request because honestly these are all favorites and I am happy to receive any combination in a story. I love the Taylors and I love Tim Riggins. I have a yen for Tim/Julie, anywhere from just friendship or futurefic, or whatever spark works. I guess if I have a DNW it would be for any infidelity between Eric and Tami, and no non-con.

Request 2 - Dunkirk

Ever since I saw this movie the first time I have wanted fiction between Collins and Farrier. I read a few of the stories in the archive and still want more. :D I also said for this request you don't need to include both so if for whatever reason you only want to focus on one of these men, that's fine, too. I'm mostly wanting some kind of reunion fic but I honestly am not too picky so whatever you want to explore, gen or slash or future fic or whatever, go for it!

Request 3 - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Man, I adore the relationship between Rick and Cliff, and however you want to explore that will be fine with me. For any DNW, I don't want them to be like angry with each other anything like that. And no intimate partner abuse. The dynamic in the film is what I love the most.

Request 4 - Emma.

I'm perpetually in love with this novel, and I very much loved the new film. My request said I was happy to receive either Emma/Mr. Knightly or Emma/Harriet, either gen or romance at any rating, but I am also okay with all of them together or any combination. Post novel or something that takes place within the known story are both good. Most of all, have fun!

hlh_shortcuts stories have been revealed! Every year we get an excellent crop of stories and this year is no exception. Please head on over and check out all the wonderful stories -- there's something for everyone.

This year I wrote another gen story focusing on the season 1 character Randi McFarland - the journalist who begins nosing around Duncan and Tessa's life, always asking probing questions and getting herself accidentally kidnapped by creepy doctors in basements haha.

Anyway, I would not have guessed writing this story would have been so fulfilling and enjoyable, but it is honestly one of my favorite stories I've ever written in this fandom. Not because it's super complicated or plotty or even particularly well written but it was so great to give a minor character a bigger sandbox to play in the show, to weave her into Duncan's life beyond what we see in the handful of eps she's in, AND perhaps most especially, to view the world of Immortals and Duncan in particular through someone who is a) not another immortal, b) not a main character, and c) not a watcher. She's just a person, who trips into that world, and stays.

Also, it was a true delight to write for my recipient, brightknightie.

I know Randi's not a particularly popular character, but I'm going to be rude and recommend you read my story anyway. :D

Big big thank you to my beta reader, raine. <3

The Jaded Journalist (9682 words) by hafital
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Highlander: The Series
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Duncan MacLeod & Randi McFarland, Duncan MacLeod/Tessa Noel, Randi McFarland & Tessa Noel
Characters: Randi McFarland, Duncan MacLeod, Tessa Noel, Amanda Darieux, Gina and Robert De Valicourt, Methos (Highlander)
Summary:

Randi McFarland, jaded journalist, finds her story.

hello! Happy Holidays! (I know, I'm late, I've been distracted.)

The hlh_shortcuts Fest is now live! And I got this wonderful wonderful gem of a story.


Little Blessings (3514 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Highlander: The Series
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Duncan MacLeod/Methos (Highlander), Methos/Original Character
Characters: Methos (Highlander), Duncan MacLeod
Summary:

Methos is 5,000 years old. He's managed to attract some attention in his long life.

I believe this story, completely. I love that the old gods know and love Methos. Who else would they love? <3

The rest of the fest can be found here. I've only read a handful of stories so far, but they've all been wonderful.

My particular favorite is Legend Has It -- Gen, Darius, Richie. Not only is it note perfect in-character, but it's also my favorite kind of canon-divergence.

I loved every second of this film. Every second.

( Read more... )

eta: I was convinced the young actress who played child Natasha was Milla Jovovich's daughter, and I was right.

I had planned to watch it again today but now I'm seeing the F&F9 instead. But I'll see Black Widow several more times before it's gone from the theaters!