Fandom: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Pairing: Jack/Anamaria
Author on LJ: honorat
Author Website: FF.net profile
Why this must be read: Literate, educated Jack is a popular take on his character. honorat does it well and develops it further by having him educate someone else, which also provides more insight into Anamaria's character. The "black magic" of the writing is lovely, as is the simmering sexual tension.

Black Magic

Fandom: MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Pairing: None. Gen-fic
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: n/a
Why this fic must be read:

Because there are Elvis impersonators. Because there are secret service code names. Because there's an unfortunate incident involving Eli Joe's House of Chicken-Fried Steak. Because you just know this is how their missions always go.

( The... flamingo has landed. )

Check it out:

What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas by J. Brooks

You remember Newsies, don't you? That movie you watched at sleepovers when you were a kid, the one with all the pretty dancing boys? Well, now that we're all grown up, it's our duty to look back on all that with fondness... and write slash about it. Lo, I give you the Newsies fandom!


Plot
Newsies is a Disney live-action musical from 1992. It's what you might call semi-hemi-historically-inspired, following the story of the New York Newsboys Strike of July 1899.

In the movie, Joseph Pulitzer, who owns the New York World, hikes up the the price the newsies pay for their papers. The newsies, who already struggle to get by, are furious, and so, led by Jack Kelly and David Jacobs, they plan a strike.

Despite a rough start, things go well for the newsies until a photograph in the newspaper leads to Jack's arrest and imprisonment. David is disillusioned when he discovers that Jack has been lying about his past. In the meantime, Pulitzer approaches Jack with an offer to turn scab, threatening that if he doesn't cooperate, David will be arrested as well. Jack, in an effort to save his friend, complies with Pulitzer, leading the newsies to believe he has betrayed them. When David is threatened again, however, Jack comes to the rescue and rejoins the strike. Together, they win out over Pulitzer.

Basically, the whole movie is an excuse for strapping young lads to yell and jump about and touch each other inappropriately. It's good fun.

( Continued, page B16 )

So, you're probably looking at the fandom name right now and wondering, What on earth is ANTHROPOMORFIC? Is it rare anime? Kid Lit? Postmodern stories about anthropologists? Or what?

The answer: none of the above (although if anyone has a pomo story about Daniel Jackson? I want to read it!).

Anthropomorfics are stories that use inanimate objects or concepts as protagonists. You think that sounds dull? It's not, I promise. Anthropomorfics will steal your heart. They are cracktacular, they are nearly always supremely clever meta about fandom cliches, but most of all, they are immensely inventive fun.

The fandom is so small it really only has one LiveJournal devoted to it, anthropomor_fic, which is a tragedy, but I will refrain from waxing maudlin about the sad lack.

ETA: Thanks to mikou for pointing out the specialist Anthopomorfic community, mac_hearts_pc. And to virtualinsomnia for pointing out mcgriddlefanfic.

Anyway, now that you're up to speed on the basics, on with the recs...


Fandom: ANTHROPOMORFIC
Pairing: Canon/Fanon
Author on LJ: virtualinsomnia
Author Website: Insomniac-Supergirl.Net
Why this must be read: This is, perhaps, my favourite anthropomorfic of all time. Why? Because I've always secretly wondered how canon feels about fanon: about the invasion of boundaries, the transgression, the power dynamic and who is really in control. And after reading virtualinsomnia's take on those thorny problems, I'll never look at fanfic in the same way again. "The Corruption of Canon" is a must read for every fangirl. It's glorious.

The Corruption of Canon

Hello! I'm one of the small fandom drivers this month and this is my fandom's overview. It's not a long summary, but then this fandom isn't exactly big. Or even small, it's tiny actually.
And just in case it needs saying, this includes spoilers for most seasons.

( Overview )

Wilby Wonderful, is a quirky, ensemble Canadian film starring a lot of the usual suspects of Canadian cinema (Paul Gross, Sandra Oh, Callum Keith Rennie, Rebecca Jenkins). It manages that seemingly uniquely Canadian feat of approaching dark and serious subject matters in a charmingly whimsical fashion successfully.

Although Wilby Wonderful is a delightful movie in its own right, as a fannish force it mostly grows out of the due South fandom. This movie is the first time Callum Keith Rennie (Ray Kowalski) and Paul Gross (Constable Benton Fraser) were on screen together since that show ended. Therefore the movie had a natural slash fanbase built in that was predisposed to love it, especially considering Callum Keith Rennie played a gay character. The wonderful thing about this is that it pulled in some fantastic writers right off the bat who could also build a cohesive, if small, fandom for the movie.

( Wilby Wonderful Overview. Spoilers for the movie under the cut (obviously), and just to let the dial-up users know, there are also 11 images included in the overview. )

The Lymond Chronicles: An Overview, by Ishafel

"All right," said the boy. "You've chosen a life of vice, and have been consistent and reliable and thorough in carrying it out."

Lymond considered this with every appearance of seriousness. "I see. Thus the baseness of my morals is redeemed by the stature of my manners? You admire consistency?"


There are small fandoms, and there are tiny fandoms. This fandom is tiny, but mighty.

Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles are a series of six historical novels set in the mid-sixteenth century. Francis Crawford of Lymond, Master of Culter, is a younger son home from exile, a brilliant, troubled man with a mysterious past and questionable motives. The Scotland he returns to is governed by a French regency on behalf of the child-queen Mary Queen of Scots. Its nobles are restless and power-hungry, and just over the border the English succession is in question. Lymond's fate is entertwined with Scotland's, but the series ranges far beyond Scottish politics. Lymond's quest for redemption takes him across Europe, and to Russia and the Middle East as well. Dunnett's knowledge of her subject is as exhaustive as it is impeccable, but it is her characters that make her books so memorable.

( Overview )

Fandom: NEWSIES
Pairing: Jack/David
Author on LJ: cycnus
Author Website: Shimmerwings
Why this must be read:

This fic has such a beautiful slice-of-life quality, but it retains the slight dreaminess of old film reels. It's 1914, and Jack and David are grown up and making a life together.

You can't help leaning against the glass, searching the streets for the first sign of your lover approaching, even though you know he probably won't be back for a while longer. Inactivity is foreign to you, though, and you're not used to being home from the press offices so early, so you step onto the fire escape. At a school, too far away to see from here-- imagine you've tried many times-- you know David is standing in front of a blackboard, chalk dust probably on his hands and maybe in his hair, as he dismisses his class.

(Imagine a) Brown Leather Wallet

You'll Believe a Man Can Fly

Superman Movies: The Background
In 1978, the Superman franchise made a memorable leap to the big screen. With four films airing up through 1987 and a Supergirl spin-off, the Superman movies left an indelible mark on popular culture. Conforming to the pre-Crisis conventions of the DC universe (which considered Superman the "real character" and Clark the alter-ego), Superman battled a range of movie villains while also wrestling with a complicated love life. The first film laid out Superman's origin story and introduced the hero's amazing powers to the grateful citizens of Metropolis and his love interest, Lois Lane ("You've got me? Who's got you?"). In subsequent movies, other familiar franchise characters appear (General Zod, Lana Lang) as well as some more uneven, original characters (Gus Gorman, Nuclear Man).

In 2006, the franchise revived under the direction of Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men). ( Superman Returns )

( Characters )

( Fandom Highlights )

( Useful Links )

Fandom: LYMOND CHRONICLES
Pairing: Lymond/ Will Scott
Author on LJ: pushdragon
Author Website: http://archive.skyehawke.com/authors.php?no=101, http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/George_Pushdragon/
Why this must be read:

Writing in Dorothy Dunnett's universe is a daunting task. Writing in Dunnett's voice, and so well that your words feel like canon, is almost impossible. pushdragon does a remarkable job of capturing it all: the language, the sense of history, and the relationship being forged between two difficult, dangerous men.

It was an act as profound as it was simple: the Master reached out and placed his fingers over the back of Scott's wrist, slipping beneath the extremity of his sleeve.

The gesture turned Johnnie's stomach over. In a drunken Edinburgh laneway, on a foggy autumn night, he remembered it. The same touch, the same direct, low-lidded gaze, and for the merest instant, the Master of Culter's breath against his ear. It had been an experiment, he'd realised instantly as he covered his reaction with a weak grin. Lymond had been testing to see if there might be another lever he could use to alter the balance of power between them. Whatever the Master had concluded that night, the experiment had never been repeated, though Johnnie had watched for it and rehearsed a different reaction.

A sacrifice, if you like, or a misjudged advance

GetBackers has everything. Supernatural powers, futuristic technology, strange family traditions, witches, magicians, mad scientists, Dashing Adventures, Touching Moments, and more passionate male friendship than you can shake a stick at. Also, boobs. It follows two young men, Ginji and Ban, as they stuggle to do their job, actually get paid, make sense of their lives, help out old friends, and avoid old enemies, in a Tokyo that isn't quite the one we know. It's utterly madcap. It has more twists than a Slinky. And it alternately makes you laugh aloud and sniffle with sympathy.

Come on, who wouldn't want to read the only shonen manga in existance to include a canonical mpreg joke?

( Who are these people, and what are they doing in my coffeeshop? )

Fandom: SUPERMAN
Pairing: Lois/Superman
Author on LJ: salymander
Author Website: Dream Harder
Why this must be read: How does one get from here to there? From terror to safety? From longing to love? And from love to loss? In this story, Lois Lane reflects on her relationship with Superman. She recalls how they came together only to mysteriously drift apart. Now, years later, as a mother and fiancée, Lois looks back and wonders if she could have done anything differently. Lyrically written and poignant, this has to be my favourite backstory for these characters. Spoilers for both Superman II and Superman Returns

( An excerpt )

Save Me