Slashy Nominations 44: The End of the Affair

[thefourthvine]

Sometimes what comes after is neither happy nor forever. Those wedding bells do not ring out. Keys are returned, photos burned, hearts broken.

Sometimes people fall out of love. Sometimes, so do the men we slash.

Best FF That Features Someone Who Is Even Worse at Telling Jokes Than I Am: A Lesson in Business, by alestar. X-Men comics, Nightcrawler/Wolverine. Nightcrawler is getting what he always wanted; he's becoming a priest. And Wolverine is losing what he's always wanted. Or is he? The end of the relationship is not quite cut-and-dried here, but I'm with Wolverine on this one; there are some things that just are mutually exclusive. (Note: I have been reliably informed that I tell jokes like Marlin in Finding Nemo. But in this FF, Kurt Wagner makes me look like a real raconteur, which makes me feel a whole lot better.)

Best FF That Reveals a Little More About Harry Potter Than Even J.K. Rowling Knows: Je n'en Connais Pas la Fin II: Things to Do When Your Lover Is Dead, by Zahra, hackthis. Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy. No one's lover is dead in this story. Doesn't matter, because - give me an O. Give me a U. Give me a C. Give me an H. Yes, this is some seriously ouchy FF, here; Harry's going through that part of the breakup where you wonder if there was ever any love at all. I know some folks won't agree with me, but I think this FF is very Harry. He really is very much like a steamroller at times; he tends to enfold people in his worldview and forget that there's another way to look at things. (Clearly he never read The Phantom Tollbooth, which is probably his whole problem right there.) This story is fantastic, in part, because it answers Harry's questions. Did he know Draco? Did he consider him? Did he ever even see him? He doesn't figure it out, but you will.

Best FF That Reveals the Healing Power of Music, Which Is Sort of Strange Given That the Main Character Goes Crazy When He Hears Electric Guitars: We Walk Like a Ghost, by Torch, flambeau. Velvet Goldmine, Curt Wild/Brian Slade. This is a canon relationship and a canon breakup. It's excruciating to watch in the movie, and Torch lets us relive the pain in her story. With added gorgeous imagery and a hint of recovery, and from Curt's point of view. ('Cause, hey, he was way more interesting than Slade, mmm? Something Todd Haynes never really figured out, I'm afraid.) This is a great story to read if you've never seen the movie; Torch gets the characters, and she makes damn sure you will, too. But I think after reading this you'll understand why you need to see the movie.

Best FF That Features Ray Kowalski Doing Everything Right and Fraser Not Remotely Worried That Ray's Taking His Usual Role: Old Lock, New Key, by thisisbone. Due South, Fraser/Vecchio, Fraser/Kowalski. Vecchio hurt Fraser. What luck Kowalski is there to pick up the pieces. In other words, folks, what we've got here is a story that will piss off both factions in the Ray Wars. Never let it be said that we FF types don't know how to make friends and make nice. This story does not, for the record (and for a Certain Person), violate my Due South "Happy Endings Mandatory" policy; the ending is happy. There's, you know, just the teeniest hint of angst on the way, but there's definitely hope at the end, and that's what counts.

So that's how we'll leave this depressing set: with the knowledge that, yes, people do break up. But, if I may quote the Weepiest Elf, there is still hope.

Comments

[thete1.livejournal.com]

Bone: thisisbone

:D

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I googled her, and poked around LJ for her, but couldn't find her. I will now update my post with a promptness.

[umbo.livejournal.com]

Have you read katallison's The End of the Road (http://www.katallison.com/eotr_main.htm)? It is, in my opinion, not only the best break-up story ever, but one of the greatest works of fanfic ever. Of course, Kat's just that good. It's long, and it's heart-wrenching, but it's fucking fantastic and horribly under-read and under-recced (people don't want to read it because it ends sadly).

[destina.livejournal.com]

Ditto everything shell said. Kat's story is fabulous.

[raveninthewind.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, I'm not one for angst, and this was painfully real, but in some (totally fucked up) universe, this is exactly what happened to RayK and Fraser.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I have indeed; it's sad (and sad is worse when the story is long, I find, because you have so much more time to wish for things to be better and so much time to get attached to this version of the characters) but1 *incredibly* good. It's waiting patiently for the day when I do the noms set with the epic-length fics.

End isn't my favorite Katfic, though; that prize would have to go to "Roots Rain," which is just an amazing story. Just - wow - incredible. Wish she wrote more.

[umbo.livejournal.com]

Okay, cool, I'm glad it's going to get recced. Actually, my all-time Kat fave is her Hard Core Logo story Xeriscape--it's absolutely brilliant--but Roots Rain is fabulous too. The woman is simply incapable of writing anything that's not great!

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

She's a great writer, I agree. Though her metier seems to be the, um, grimmer end of the spectrum, which means I try to ration my reading of her; one of her stories has to be followed by one of a decidedly more cheerful bent.

I'm such a wimp when it comes to sorrow or angst in dS stories, which is ironic, considering that I originally started reading TV FF because I didn't know the characters and therefore didn't care what happened to them. Yeah. Like that lasted. Four minutes into dS and I cared deeply about RayK and Fraser; now I can handle sadness in HP or LotR (books or movies) or M&C (books or movie) - all canons I know and love - much better than in dS.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

I think Bone's current site is here: http://www.geocities.com/coffeeslash/bone/index.html

It has the sequel to the story you recced, as well.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I had not seen "Old Shit, New Shovel." I am off to read it at once, but I can tell you this - I already love the title.

[firesignwriter.livejournal.com]

Alestar is one of my favorite human beings, both in person and through her writing. And this is a fic I've not even read! I rejoice, and bookmark, and thank you.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I love the way Alestar writes the comics universes. In point of fact, I love her versions far more than the canon ones. This is especially true with Marvel; it's like the canon authors work industriously to remove every shred of sense, coherence, and character from every title, and then FF writers like Alestar come along and patiently put it all back in, and then add some stuff way better than the canon ever was.

I'll go back to reading comic books the day they call me about who to hire to write the damn things.

Of course, that'll be the same day that all the teenaged boy comic fans will stop reading, probably immediately after being scarred forever, so I doubt Marvel will be asking for my number any time soon.

[ardent-muses.livejournal.com]

I adore "Old Lock, New Key". Not only is it one of my favorite stories, but it is, hands down, the Best Fanfic Title Ever.

There are other stories that posit Vecchio leaving Fraser brokenhearted, too. One is Aukestrel's "Waiting to Fall", which, like OLNK, was also published in the Serge Protector zine. WTF is not my favorite of AuK's stories, and it's very hard on Vecchio, but it's still well worth reading.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Hadn't read "Waiting to Fall," in part 'cause it's only available in pdf. But now I am, and, well, it's not going to be one of my favorite of AuK's stories, either. You're right that it's worth reading, though, and I'm glad you rec'd it to me.

And good call on OLNK; great title, and I'm also fond of the title of the sequel, "Old Shit, New Shovel."