Yuletide author reveals!

[regshoe]

My Flight of the Heron gift Other Such Mysteries was by friendofthejabberwock, whose authorship I did not guess! But I am delighted to see it was you :D And my two Jill gifts, To Stay in Service and An Affair of the Heart, were respectively by luzula and edwardianspinsteraunt, whom I did successfully guess :) Aah, thank you all, they are some lovely gifts.

As for my own writing—dr_zook introduced me to the excellent nineteenth-century horror story 'The Horla' shortly before the start of Yuletide, and I was very pleased to end up matching on it! Here is the result, written to dr_zook's wonderful prompt for an interpretation where the horror of the canon is all just the result of the titular supernatural creature's misguided attempts at courtship:

A thousand things deceive a man (6148 words) by regshoe
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Le Horla - Guy de Maupassant
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Horla/Narrator (Le Horla)
Characters: Le Horla (Character), Le Narrateur (Le Horla)
Additional Tags: Crack Treated Seriously, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Misunderstandings
Summary:

Five courtship attempts that didn't work—and one more successful.

While I had great fun with this fic, I am slightly disappointed not to have written any treats. I think next Yuletide I will try not to be in the middle of a longfic WIP throughout the exchange! But it's been a good time anyway :)

Comments

[luzula]

Ha, there was no chance I'd have guessed that! Can it be read without canon knowledge?

[regshoe]

Canon knowledge would certainly be helpful—the fic being a reinterpretation of canon, which will only make sense if you know what it was originally—but edwardianspinsteraunt has enjoyed it without, so clearly not essential! Also the canon is only a short story, and is available here if you'd like to read it :D

[luzula]

Well, I will put the short story, as well as your fic, on my ereader for later. : )

[regshoe]

:) I hope you like them both!

[edwardianspinsteraunt]

:D I really enjoyed reading this fic, and having now skimmed through the original story, I can say that it's a totally plausible interpretation of canon-- the Horla is clearly just in love, and definitely has no murderous intentions at all ;)

[regshoe]

XD Totally, right?

[dr_zook]

I'm so relieved I didn't make up these vibes, haha. ♥

[liriaen]

Your Horla story is fantastic!! What a wonderful flipping of the mirror, and your style pastiche is spot on. Excellent writing!

[regshoe]

Aww, thank you, I'm glad you liked it :D

[dr_zook]

Listen, I literally squeed this morning when the authorship was revealed, croaking, "I KNEW it, haha," at my spouse-- your story is still such an absolute gem and I'm clutching it against my loving bosom. I relished in our brain ping-pong when I wailed about the story, and your delightful support of my idea about their relationship. ♥

It's also a real rare capacity to write their story not only with these slashy undertones, but also as an attempt at friendship. This love the Horla is smitten with is, as you wrote, firstly this feeling of being welcome and seen; which must have been pretty overwhelming for an invisible creature. :)

I love this tale to bits. THANK YOU SO MUCH for indulging in my whims, and I'm SO GLAD you (obviously) had your fun writing as well. 🥰

[regshoe]

:D :D Hee, I love the phrase 'brain ping-pong'—and I relished that too—so it was great to get to continue it by writing this fic! An excellent bit of teamwork, I think <3

Aww, and that's very true—that's it, really, all these terribly misinterpreted things he does are just an attempt at connection and to realise that feeling of seen-ness. And he succeeds in the end!

:)

[friendofthejabberwock]

:D :D I thought it was about time I wrote some Flight of the Heron fic. And oooh - I haven't read that particular story, I don't think, but I've really enjoyed what else I've read of de Maupassant's work. I may give it a read.

[regshoe]

I'm very glad you did! :D And yes, I highly recommend 'The Horla', it's a great story (and available here, if you haven't got a copy already).