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THE WEST WING Pairings: Ensemble, CJ/Toby. Josh/Donna, Sam/ ? Author on LJ: Not that I know of Author Website: Archived at The National Library Why this must be read: The thing I love about TWW fiction is the tremendous variety - fics about pairings, whether het or slash, meaty political stories, beautiful character stories – and how many of those stories are so very well written. It’s the first fandom I’ve been in where the catch isn’t about one particular character or pairing for me, and for many others as well, I suspect. Ygrawn has written a wonderful story that encompasses much of this – there’s banter, there’s angst, there are moments of hilarity and there is beautiful insight into some of the characters. This story exemplifies why I’m so fascinated by all of the characters in The West Wing - it’s a powerful look at the ties that have made them family. And also for lines like these: CJ moves through truth and untruth as other people move through sunlight and shadow, and it is no more consequential to her than those intangible objects. She knows what is true and what is not, but she also knows the harder lesson. She knows the time for truth and the time for lies. She knows to be afraid of neither and wary of both. She knows that the power of a lie and the power of the truth resides in the pauses, not the words. Summary: Adjective, Verb, Noun, Adverb. Past imperfect. Future tense. Present reflection. Four stories with no split infinitives. The Syntax of Things Unspoken | |
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Fandom: X-MEN MOVIEVERSE Pairing: None Author on LJ: miss_porcupineAuthor Website: The DMZWhy this must be read: Colossus is someone who is woefully under-represented in movieverse stories (or any X-Men fanfic, for that matter) -- many of the characters who have never had a movieverse appearance turn up in fic far more than he does. Poor old Piotr never seems to get a look-in; and when he does, he almost never gets to show off anything spectacular in terms of characterisation... or anything else, really. 'Still Life' is a rare exception to the rule. This story examines a short snippet of life in the wake of X2 -- Piotr trying to deal with the ways in which things have changed, and having a lovely little conversation with Kurt, whom he is meeting for the first time. Both characters are fleshed out wonderfully well from what little was shown of them in the movie; the writer draws from aspects of their comicsverse counterparts, whilst keeping them true to their movieverse forms. I love 'small slice of everyday life' stories, and this is one of the best I've read. Excellent character insight, atmosphere, and imagery, and it walks the fine line between unrealistically upbeat and downright depressing with precision. Still LifeHi, I'm Apathy, and I'll be your X-Men Movieverse dealer for August. I'm mostly into gen and slash, and my favourite movieverse characters are Logan and Kurt; as such, my recs will probably be skewed somewhat towards these factors, but I'm planning on including a fair range of characters. (I make no promises on reccing het, though. *g*)
Hope you all find something here to enjoy! | |
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Fandom: RANMA 1/2 Pairing: Mousse/Shampoo, Shampoo/Ranma Saotome, Akane Tendo/Ranma Soatome, Ukyo Kuonji/Ranma Saotome, Ryoga Hibiki/Akane Tendo Warning: Character death(s), but most of them aren't permanent. Infocom was like that. Author on LJ:Author Website: Bailesu's Ranma Fiction PageWhy this must be read: If you ever played Infocom adventure games, you will understand the format of this story immediately; if not, you will wander through it confusedly until you start to have a giggling fit and surrender to its sheer absurdity. The story is silly, wonderful, and includes (among other oddities) a pocket fisherman, a chaingun with flamethrower attachment, cybernetic attachments, St. Peter, and a spoon. And flying monkeys.
>KILL WINGED MONKEYS WITH SPOON
You crush the skull of three winged monkeys with your spoon. They die.
You fall and splatter all over the ground.
*** You have died ***
Game over
<Quit, Save, Restore?>
>RESTORE Just read it. Shampoo's Quest | |
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Fandom: BLAKES 7 Pairing: not really Author on LJ: vilakinsAuthor Website: http://www.farsight.net.nz/Why this must be read: Because it's a joy to see what someone with talent can do with a normally cheesy and cringe-inducing plot point. In this case, it's the idea of bodyswapping. Nearly every SF show has tried this at some point, and it's nearly always doomed to failure. At every step, there are ways it could go Terribly, Terribly Wrong; if nothing else, being a character in someone else's body puts strains on the actors that mean any weaknesses immediately start to show. Luckily, so do the strengths. Stargate: SG1, for instance - in their body-swapping episode, Christopher Judge out-acted everyone else on the cast by so many degrees that I was half convinced Richard Dean Anderson had dubbed his lines for him. This fic is the Christopher Judge. :) It's also freaking hilarious, totally believable, and comes complete with its own rather neat little twist. If you're looking for something funny but in character, this is the place to go. Mistaken Identities | |
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Fandom: THE O.C. Pairing: Ryan/Summer. Seth. Author on LJ: missdeviantAuthor Website: Why this really should be read: Another story inspired by the season finale, and it's really good! I'll flail my arms and point and hope that's clear. This story conveys how much Seth's actions in the finale would hurt everyone around him. And doesn't make Seth an ass, which I always count as a bonus. From the beginning: Fuck heartbreak. This was not heartbreak, it was heart torture. Heart mutilation. Heart rolled over by Julie’s monster trucks, stepped on by Luke’s soccer cleats, ground into the asphalt and speckled black.Like Birds Singing | |
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I'm Vissy, and I'll be presenting lotrips this month. My tastes veer all over the place: fluffy, funny, dark, angsty, schmoopy, bizarre. The recs'll probably be a bit hobbit-centric, and I've got a definite fondness for AUs, but I'll try and cover as many bases as I can. Fandom: LOTRIPS Pairing: Franka/Dom/Elijah Authors on LJ: jubilancy and oneangrykateAuthor Websites: Say goodbye to Hollywood (on hiatus) and Postcards from the edge of nowhereWhy this must be read: Scorch is a torrid and sometimes uncomfortable tour de force about the power struggle between a possessive, snarly Franka and a covetous, provocative Dom for the heart and body of Elijah Wood. Elijah himself is almost completely overshadowed by these strong, battling characters, a picture of wilful and rather pathetic oblivion. Franka's narrative voice sears with anger and impatience, and nothing's pretty through her eyes, although she maintains a bitter sense of humour and the thinnest thread of tenderness throughout. ( excerpt )Scorch, Part 1 and Part 2 | |
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Fandom: HORATIO HORNBLOWER Pairing: Archie/Horatio Author on LJ: unknown Author Website: unknown Why this must be read: The story of how Archie Kennedy didn't die in Kingston is a very popular one in Hornblower fandom. There's even a fanon abbreviation; LKU for Live Kennedy Universe. The majority of LKU stories focus on rewriting the ending of Retribution and going AU from the series after that point. Island Dream comes at the common story from a slightly different angle. Eight years after the events of Mutiny and Retribution Captain Horatio Hornblower, walks around a corner in Santa Cruz and runs headlong into a man he's never met with a face he never dreamed he'd see again. ( excerpt from Island Dream )Island Dream is a lovely hopeful story of two men discovering that sometimes life does give you a second chance to get it right. Her Archie and Horatio are both different men from the ones we see in the movies, they are older, a lot has happened in their lives but at heart they are the same and it doesn't take long for the distance of years to melt away. Island Dream by Marion | |
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Fandom: RANMA 1/2 Pairing: Akane Tendo/Ranma Saotome, Ukyo Kuonji/Ranma Saotome, Ryoga Hibiki/Akane Tendo, Shampoo/Ranma Saotome, Mousse/Shampoo, Tatewaki Kuno/Akane Tendo, Kodachi Kuno/Ranma Saotome Warning: Character death(s) Author on LJ: unknown Author Website: Transpacific Fanfiction!Why this must be read: I have mentioned that I'm trying to represent every genre of Ranma 1/2 fanfiction I know of in these recs at least once, right? Well, this is a light comedic murder mystery, Nerima-style. Daisuke is a minor canon character who is a classmate of the group at Furinken High, usually portrayed in canon and in fanon as a friend of Ranma who thinks the red-haired pig-tailed girl is really hot. In this story, Ukyo pays Daisuke to investigate Akane's murder, because something just doesn't seem right. It's set after volumes 37 and 38 of the manga, the final two volumes, and telling you the critical piece of information that happens in those stories would pretty much give the murder mystery away, so... Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed? | |
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Fandom: LOTRIPS Pairing: Bernard/Dom Author on LJ: sophrosyne31Author Website: LJ memoriesWhy this must be read: Because this one's a delicious romp. The Two Towers, Return of the King and their dvd extras gave lotrips the gift of Bernard Hill, a saucy old tart who doesn't receive nearly as much fanfictional attention as he deserves. Sophrosyne's got a natty, naughty way with words, and Bernard and Dom's bantering ribaldry is almost medieval (Middle-earthian?) in its clever coarseness. ( excerpt )Bernard has bounce | |
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Fandom: POPSLASH - *NSLASH Pairing: Justin/Lance Author on LJ: [Bad username or unknown identity:
<b>Author Website:</b> <a href=]Pop Muisc Problems Why this must be read:( Read more... )Or What They Think Is Love. | |
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Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Ray Kowalski/Benton Fraser
Author's Website: http://www.trickster.org/speranza
Author on LJ: cesperanza
Why this must be read:
I'm starting off my time here at crack_van with a story that I feel most in the dS fandom have likely read. Maybe it's not been rec'ed yet because it's so obviously great? ^_^ I'm not quite sure. It's probably also one of the very first dueSouth stories I ever read. I was first taken aback by the amount of work that went in to creating the two voices, side by side, narrating one all-encompassing story. And then when they begin to play Scrabble? Well, at that point I become completely engrossed. Scrabble manages to be heartfelt, funny, and endlessly intriguing from start to finish: it's brilliant.
( a short example... )
And now, because of it's complicated formatting (which is completely necessary to the story) you have a few reading options:
[ Scrabble optimized for Netscape]
[ Scrabble optimized for IE]
for your curiosity, I use Opera, and the IE optimized one works best for me
It's also available in the following formats:
[ Word document (.doc)]
and
[ Adobe Acrobat file (.pdf)] | |
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