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crack_van2011-02-22 09:35 am
stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2011-02-22 09:35 am
Entry tags:
Phoenix Burning by Yahtzee (Up to NC-17)
Fandom: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER / ANGEL: THE SERIES
Pairing: Buffy/Angel, others
Length: Novel-length
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yahtzee63
Author Website: yahtzee!
Why this must be read: "Phoenix Burning" is one of those fics in Buffyverse fandom, especially in the B/A shipper subsection. The kind that just about everyone has read and people look at you funny if you do a B/A rec list without it (believe me, I've been there). And the reputation is not undeserved. As with most of Yahtzee's work, this fic lays out a fully-conceived world, set centuries in the future with a bevy of original characters that seem as real as the ones we know. This is, in the words of the person who recommended it to me, "a post-The Gift fic of epic proportions....This is the very best our fandom has ever produced. If you haven't read it: you must."
The light hit Buffy like a blow, stunning her whole body, sending sensation prickling across her skin, into her gut. "What the --"
"Relax," a voice said. A woman's voice. "Relax. You're all right now."
Buffy blinked her eyes, trying to make out images in the sea of light blinding her. The walls were white -- oh, God, she'd lived.
The thought did not make her happy or relieved. The words clattered in her tired mind: I lived.
How the hell did that happen?
She shook her head; her jaw felt fine. So did her neck. She squinted as she looked at the white room she lay in. They must've had to take her to the hospital. Dawn would be freaking out --
"Let me up," she said, trying to push herself up from the table on which she lay.
But a hand pressed down on her shoulder; Buffy was still weak enough that this could hold her in place. "In just a moment. You need to get your bearings," the voice said. Buffy realized that the woman was speaking with a British accent.
"What are my bearings?" Buffy said, squinting at the woman. She was wearing loose white clothing, maybe scrubs, and had her frizzy black hair pulled back into a bun. She was smiling at Buffy -- sort of nervously, come to think of it. Then Buffy glanced down. "And why am I naked?"
"Oh. We can see to that," the woman said, quickly turning to get a sheet.
"Where is this?" another voice said. Another woman's voice -- more like a girl's -- this one accented in a far more exotic way. Buffy glanced over and saw who had spoken; she was a girl a bit younger than Buffy, as naked as Buffy was, with long, dark hair and coppery skin. She was looking around her in every direction, a bit wildly. "The vampire --"
"Is taken care of," said the white-garbed man at her side.
Buffy got her first good look at the room. It didn't look like a hospital. It looked -- strange, like a cross between a warehouse and a temple. The ceilings and walls were plain, the architecture very ordinary. But the candles along the perimeter, the hangings with various runes and symbols embroidered on them -- not from a warehouse. And not from a hospital.
She took in the other tables -- three of them -- with other young women waking up from whatever sleep had claimed them all. "What is this place?" Buffy said slowly.
Phoenix Burning
Pairing: Buffy/Angel, others
Length: Novel-length
Author on LJ:
yahtzee63 Author Website: yahtzee!
Why this must be read: "Phoenix Burning" is one of those fics in Buffyverse fandom, especially in the B/A shipper subsection. The kind that just about everyone has read and people look at you funny if you do a B/A rec list without it (believe me, I've been there). And the reputation is not undeserved. As with most of Yahtzee's work, this fic lays out a fully-conceived world, set centuries in the future with a bevy of original characters that seem as real as the ones we know. This is, in the words of the person who recommended it to me, "a post-The Gift fic of epic proportions....This is the very best our fandom has ever produced. If you haven't read it: you must."
The light hit Buffy like a blow, stunning her whole body, sending sensation prickling across her skin, into her gut. "What the --"
"Relax," a voice said. A woman's voice. "Relax. You're all right now."
Buffy blinked her eyes, trying to make out images in the sea of light blinding her. The walls were white -- oh, God, she'd lived.
The thought did not make her happy or relieved. The words clattered in her tired mind: I lived.
How the hell did that happen?
She shook her head; her jaw felt fine. So did her neck. She squinted as she looked at the white room she lay in. They must've had to take her to the hospital. Dawn would be freaking out --
"Let me up," she said, trying to push herself up from the table on which she lay.
But a hand pressed down on her shoulder; Buffy was still weak enough that this could hold her in place. "In just a moment. You need to get your bearings," the voice said. Buffy realized that the woman was speaking with a British accent.
"What are my bearings?" Buffy said, squinting at the woman. She was wearing loose white clothing, maybe scrubs, and had her frizzy black hair pulled back into a bun. She was smiling at Buffy -- sort of nervously, come to think of it. Then Buffy glanced down. "And why am I naked?"
"Oh. We can see to that," the woman said, quickly turning to get a sheet.
"Where is this?" another voice said. Another woman's voice -- more like a girl's -- this one accented in a far more exotic way. Buffy glanced over and saw who had spoken; she was a girl a bit younger than Buffy, as naked as Buffy was, with long, dark hair and coppery skin. She was looking around her in every direction, a bit wildly. "The vampire --"
"Is taken care of," said the white-garbed man at her side.
Buffy got her first good look at the room. It didn't look like a hospital. It looked -- strange, like a cross between a warehouse and a temple. The ceilings and walls were plain, the architecture very ordinary. But the candles along the perimeter, the hangings with various runes and symbols embroidered on them -- not from a warehouse. And not from a hospital.
She took in the other tables -- three of them -- with other young women waking up from whatever sleep had claimed them all. "What is this place?" Buffy said slowly.
Phoenix Burning