Have some fun this weekend – read some classic slash!

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Length: range from 8K to 65K
Authors on LJ: unknown
Authors Website: unknown
Why this must be read:   Because there’s nothing quite so wonderful as having a bunch of fanfic writers whipped into a frenzy!

 

Years before LJ made it easy to have a writing community, there was still comraderie among the writers of the “age”. Then, as now, a challenge would be sent out for fun and to bring in new writers through imaginative prompts. Bone’s fabulous Territorial Imperative series, which has already been recommended here, provided the raw material. In 1999, Bone put out a challenge to provide a “missing scene” in her TI universe. No more than 1500 words with the prompt “toasted Blair and activity on the kitchen table that requires a scrub brush the morning after”.

 

Bone provided a most hilarious answer to her own challenge, as did nine others. See how delightfully each accepted the dare.

Pulp Friction by Bone
Tabling the Discussion by Deanna Jamroz
Of Spatulas and Men by JC
Salt, Tequila and Lime by Lyrica
Intoxication by MJ
Curiously Strong by Pares
Cause and Effect by Suzanne Finn
Tell Me a Story by rjkinski
A Mouse’s Tale by Virg Vaughn
Tables Are For Glasses, Not Asses by SarahQ

After you stop laughing (or drooling) don’t forget to send the author(s) feedback!

Hi, I'm moscow_watcher, your Buffy the Vampire Slayer reccer for this month.

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing: Buffy/Spike
Length: ~ 30 000 words
Author on LJ: anaross
Author Website: anaross uses her LJ Memories as her fic archive.

Why this must be read: Anaross writes vintage Buffy - a girl who laughs at her own misery - and the plot twist is fresh and intriguing. Buffy, who lives in Cleveland, gets an unusual gift - a garden - from an unknown person. Investigation leads her to newly-resurrected Spike, who lost the ability to speak and to write. Gradually Buffy realizes that he uses the language of flowers to warn her about some danger. This premise allows the author to delve into the magic of words, spoken and unspoken, into the art of omissions and reservations. In the classic BtVS episode, Hush Joss Whedon has brilliantly explored the ramifications of people's inability to speak; Anaross continues his exploration by pitting an emotional mute (Buffy) against Spike who usually did the talking but can't do it now. As the story progresses, we watch how words separate people and actions unite them.
( Excerpt )

Unspoken

Fandom: MARVEL COMICS: Iron Man Movieverse
Title: Engine of Survival
Pairing: Mostly gen; hints of past Yinsen/OFC
Rating: PG-13
Length: approx. 6800 words
Author on LJ: marinarusalka
Author Website: marinarusalka
Why this must be read:

Author's summary: Yinsen's story.

Yinsen is such a major part of the film that it's amazing to me that there isn't more fanfiction written about him. Still, once you read this particular story, you won't really need more. It's brilliant and it tells the story of the man who created Iron Man - and it certainly isn't Tony Stark.

This is a realistic look at what Yinsen's life was probably like - everything from why he left Afghanistan to why he returned, the decisions that made him more heroic that anyone in a metal suit, and the consequences he knew would result from those decisions.

Make sure you have tissue handy.

( Excerpt )

Engine of Survival

Hi, I'm millari and I'll be your driver this month for Battlestar Galactica 2003. I'll try and include stuff for a variety of tastes, but I'd like to try and put a little extra emphasis on great fics that represent what I feel have been less recced genres, characters and pairings in BSG here. You can expect a mix of het, slash and gen, as well as a bit of crack!fic. I hope you find something you like and haven't seen in this fandom before, or even better, that you are encouraged to try out a new fandom.

Now, let's get to the good stuff:

Fandom: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
Pairing: Anders/Gaeta
Length: 6,000 words
Author on LJ: anna_bird  and sasha_feather 
Author Website: the authors' LJs
Why this must be read: "Mirror Box" is at times a heartbreaking, at times funny, at times even a little mystically creepy recovery and reconciliation fic about Felix Gaeta, Galactica's navigator who lost part of his leg in Season 4, and Sam Anders, the athlete and estranged husband to Kara "Starbuck" Thrace. In the heat of a mutiny, Anders was responsible for Gaeta's injury. Ever since, these two characters have never interacted, never mind reconciled. This story of their awkward, uneasy attempt to do that is paralleled with an intriguing B-plot of Gaeta trying to reconcile to the strangeness of an artificial leg sickbay has given him – taken from a defunct Centurion. There is also eventually slash, but the main focus is on the recovery and reconciliation.

Anders starts out this story almost stalking Gaeta, trying to make Gaeta accept his guilt-ridden apology for the injury and subsequent amputation, but by the end of the story, it is Gaeta who has turned the tables on Anders. The harsh-yet-gentle, playful banter between the two characters is competitive and a little messed-up, but ultimately goodhearted. The authors draw interesting parallels between these two characters not highlighted on the show. A fic I kept thinking about for days afterwards.

( Excerpt )

Mirror Box
 

Fandom: STARSKY & HUTCH
Pairing: yes
Length: long
Author on LJ: not known
Author Website: HERE
Why this must be read:

There are many post–"Sweet Revenge" stories and many of them, I admit, are really great, but the following one is the only novel that I truly believe could be the postscript for the show. In my word it is the only possible continuation of their lives, careers, friendship, brotherhood and – most of all – their partnership. If you like h/c you will find it there, if you like case stories – it's all here. If you like our detectives fighting side by side for the comeback of the Zebra 3 Unit you will not be disappointed. You don't read this story – you watch it, you feel it, taste it and you want more and more. There are so many wonderful supporting characters, plot twists and moving (but not soapy) moments that you never feel bored. Read it and you will not regret.

"You're takin' Dobey's side to protect me, aren't you?"

The accusatory tone in Starsky's voice cut Hutch deeply. He closed his eyes again and turned away.

"Aren't you!?" Starsky demanded.

This time, Hutch exploded. "Yes, I am! So sue me! Lord knows you've got grounds for it. I've done a piss-poor job of protecting you for years now. I'm not very good at reeling you in, Starsky. I know how you are, and I still don't stop you from jumping into" - he took a deep breath - "into harm's way. I have no idea how you've survived this long with me as your partner!" He started trembling with silent sobs.

Starsky took Hutch in his arms, grimacing when the blond head landed on his right shoulder. "Hutch, babe, don't you know I'm still here because-a you? I survived this long because you protect me while still letting me be me. Having you as my partner and friend is the best thing that's ever happened to me." Hutch's trembling increased. Aw, shit, gettin' too damned soapy in here for me. "Well, almost. There's Terry, and Meredith, and Rosie - Malone and Dobey, of course - and Dennis - he's the first guy I had a fight with and won - my drill sergeant, the lady who cleans the bathrooms in the stationhouse..."

Starsky stopped as Hutch raised his head to look at him. He gently cupped the curly-haired man's neck in his hand and smiled broadly. He bowed his head slightly, blond hair finally out from the gauze turban. Starsky bowed his until their foreheads touched.

We'll find a way to get those bastards, Starsky. We'll do it before they touch you again.

The Phoenix and the Dragon I
The Phoenix and the Dragon II
The Phoenix and the Dragon III
The Phoenix and the Dragon IV
The Phoenix and the Dragon V
The Phoenix and the Dragon VI

Fandom: STAR WARS
Pairing: none
Length: novel-length
Author on LJ: none
Author Website: FF.net Profile

Why this must be read:

Qui-gon survives to take Anakin on as his apprentice and Obi-wan has trouble finding his own path as a Knight. This is one of the rare epic AUs that does a total rewrite of the universe but still manages to stay completely plausible. There's also some fabulous Obi-wan angst for those who like that sort of thing.

An Uncertain Path

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Pairing: Buffy/Spike
Length: ~ 19 000 words
Author on LJ: shapinglight
Author Website: Distorting Mirrors

Why this must be read:
Can you stay a slayer when you're not an adolescent anymore?
BtVS started as a tale about adolescence, but its content has never been adolescent; no wonder that many fanfics explore hardships of the passage to adulthood, often re-evaluating and adapting the metaphors from the show.
...When Buffy turns 25, her slayer power is gone. Suddenly she's an ordinary girl who can't fight, can't slay vampires. And, worst of all, Spike is so afraid to hurt her he can't bring himself to make love to her. Shapinglight ingeniously rewrites the premise of the episode "Helpless" adapting it to Scotland setting and older, wiser but still insecure Buffy. The plotting is smart and the voices are spot-on.
( Excerpt )

Obstacles

Fandom: DC COMICS
Pairing: The Kents, Clark, Lex, Mercy, Lois. Mostly gen, a touch of Clark/Lois.
Length: Short
Author on LJ: _marcelo
Author Website: N/A
Why this must be read:

Superman meets Lovecraft and it's glorious and creepy as only _marcelo could make it. He puts a wonderful Lovecraftian cast onto that most wholesome of heroes, tilting everything just a few angles off and making a whole new kind of sense to it. It might just be me, but I found the ending weirdly and eerily romantic and the whole thing very beautiful.

They knew he was going to be different from the moment they opened the small spaceship. How could it be otherwise? But as the crystal capsule seemed to melt into the dull angular metal, they saw...

Their eyes refused to see what was in front of them. Their brains, panicking, tried again. They saw...

A baby.

A beautiful, perfect baby.

Shards of Night

Fandom: X-FILES
Pairing: Mulder/Scully, Samantha/Scully
Length: 1500
Author on LJ: threeguesses
Author Website: threeguesses' fic tag
Why this must be read:

I love Five Things fics. It's actually a little sad, because anything that begins with "Five things" I will read. This fic is exactly why. These things that never happened to Dana Scully are scary, and wonderful and happy as well, but the ones that linger the most are the scary ones. The ones I would never want to happen. On the other, happier side, are vignettes that make me smile, and wish, and imagine.

Six months after I last read this fic I can still remember the final line -- and that is a powerful, powerful thing.

( Excerpt )




Five Things That Never Happened to Dana Scully

Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: Ace/Hex
Length: ~915
Author on LJ: livii
Author Website: Teaspoon account
Why this must be read: Because this is spot on Ace and Hex. Because it's a fic about Hex attempting to propose to Ace and everything gets messed up in a predictably Doctor Who way.

Can't All Be Wedding Cake

Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Ray Kowalski/Benton Fraser
Length: 13,100 words
Author on LJ: alex51324
Author Website: Alex's due South tag
Why this must be read: Oh golly, how to put this. Alex wrote this for Team Whimsy (whimsy, folks. Note that. It's important) in this past year's dS Match. Then we made her our queen and carried her above our heads on a silk pillow and gave her the very best of our snack foods, because that was the only possible rational response to this fic. First One Thing, Then the Otter is made of glee and flaily hands and things of great improbability that are nevertheless true and awesome. As Alex's summary says: When the guys find signs of a sea otter living in a Chicago pond, Fraser is strangely reluctant to investigate. Darn skippy, he is. And for very good reason. GLEE. FLAILY HANDS.

( Excerpt )

First One Thing, Then the Otter