Yuletide 2021!

I participated in Yuletide for the first time in a long time this year, and it brought back some good memories. I was a single parent to very young children for eight years, until I remarried, and my children go a bit older. Christmas day was one of the few days when my ex would reliably take the kids, and I would usually spend the day in longed for silence and solitude. Yuletide was always a big part of what made the day special and enjoyable. This year, thinking back on all that, I felt so much gratitude for all the people who organized the collection, wrote stories, recced stories, and everything else. Thank you!

And to top it all off, I received a perfect story!

proud and strange and so hopelessly hopeful (1505 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Counterpart (TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Emily Burton, Ian Shaw
Additional Tags: Pre-Relationship, Pre-Canon, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Summary:

A long silence stretched between them. She tried to think of something else to say, or questions to ask him, but came up empty. Ian had been with Housekeeping for five years, which meant that Emily still thought of him as a new hire. She could scarcely be bothered to get to know someone until they’d worked there for at least six years. All that she really knew about him was that he was an exemplary agent.

I just watched Counterpart this year, and Emily was my favorite character. This story captures Other Emily's voice perfectly, provides a compelling pre-canon scene, and just captures this world in a wonderful, moving way. I'm not sure it will make sense if you haven't at least watched the first season of the show, but it you have, you will love it!