thefourthvine | Slashy Nominations 100: Days Like These

Entry tags:

Slashy Nominations 100: Days Like These

I was going to do something special for the 100th nominations set, because - that's more than four hundred stories I've recommended. More than four hundred story summaries I've written. You guys have to be getting sick of this, and it seemed like I'd better take the opportunity to do something different.

So I had this post about the slashiest fandom ever all written, and I was going to do a recs set entirely based on that, even if I had to acquire a new fandom to do it.

But then

makesmewannadie left for India. (Technically, she's still around, but she's offline and she'll be leaving tomorrow and not coming back for three weeks.) This is depressing, folks. Plus, it's December, and I've just realized that I have no clue how to write regular recommendations, which is going to make a month behind the SN wheel at

crack_van just...so very special. And I have bought no presents for the holiday season, and we're getting into the seriously scary shopping time, and anyway I'm sort of gloomily wondering where I'll get the money to do said shopping. And it seems like my family-of-origin might be going for the traditional Holiday Implosion this year, which, trust me - not pretty, and I'm talking about the kind of "not pretty" likely to require professional intervention. And...and I feel like whining some more, but I'm going to stop, because Jesus, that's pathetic.

Instead, I'll summarize: it's been a day of petty annoyances and looming dread and self-pity. I need to snap myself out of this somehow, and how better than to read about characters I love having that same sort of day? So instead of a special 100th celebration, you get - bad days. Sorry.

(Maybe we can celebrate the, um, 111th post instead. 111 is a nice number, right? Nothing wrong with 111. No, sir; 111 is going to be great.)

Best FF in Which We Learn, to Our Surprise, the Secret Identity of the Reincarnation of Isak Dinesen. In Which Dan Has a Bad Day, by Sinead, aka

smallbeer. Sports Night, Dan Rydell/Casey. See, now, this perked me right up, because Danny's day? So much worse than mine. For one thing, I have soap. And a working toilet. For another, I haven't encountered any surfers of any kind, which is impressive, considering that they're one of the primary indigenous species where I live, and certainly no airhead Nazi surfboy bimbos, although those would definitely add an original touch to anyone's day. And, finally, I have smutty FF like this to get me through the day - FF that is funny and just a touch angsty and ends with sex. Scented sex. Re-reading this made me 50% happier. Bonus: those of you with clothing fetishes will encounter ripped t-shirt Danny in here, which should make you at least 50% happier. So come on, folks - get happy! Read this!

Best FF in Which We Learn Precisely What Wyndham-Pryces Are Famous for. And No, It's Nothing to Do with That, You Total Perv. A Bad Day, by The Brat Queen, aka

thebratqueen. Angel, Angel/Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. I don't want you to think I'm recommending this story just because I've been calling my dog Brat Queen for five years. No, I could recommend any of TBQ's stories if that was the reasoning here, and the same with my love for the way TBQ writes Angel and Wes in an established relationship - i.e., happily and humorously. (I mean, I enjoy the Wes angst as much as the next girl, but this fandom needs the occasional dose of sweetness and light, and TBQ brings it by the sackful.) I'm recommending this story because it shows the importance of wallowing as a coping mechanism. If more people understood that, this world would be - OK, a whinier place. But also one in which people didn't, you know, hit strangers or break valuable things after a bad day, but rather got down with the Scotch and the self-pity. Tell me you wouldn't prefer living in that world, and, well, I'll have to believe you. But I'll believe you while I myself am moving to Wallowland.

Best FF in Which We Learn a Helpful Telephone Cord Detangling Technique, and Then, Even More Helpfully, Learn Why We Should Probably Not Practice It. Madagascar, by Rhipodon Society, for whom I have no links of any kind. Anyone else have one? The Sentinel, Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg. Why, yes, I am sticking pretty much to my old favorite fandoms today. Why, yes, you will be seeing a due South rec very soon. Why, yes, I am predictable. But it's the good kind of predictable, right? OK. This is just hysterical, from the section epigraphs to the interconnections of the various unfortunate events in Jim's day to Jim's planned strategy for dealing with his troubles, which is moving to, yes, Madagascar. (Or Antarctica.) I myself would choose to move to South America and raise llamas, but we all cope in our own individual ways. The important thing is that this story manages to blend phone cords, illicit Valium-feeding, and a cashier we've all encountered at some point in our lives (

fanofall should be thinking the words "Federal Express" right about now) into a delightfully springy and satisfying whole. Unsolved Mystery: what is it with The Sentinel FF and lasagna? My lasagna manufacture and consumption has increased at least tenfold since I began reading in this fandom, because something like 88% of all TS stories (note: hyperbole spoken here!) feature lasagna as the ultimate in comfort and sexiness. And, yes, OK, that's entirely correct, but it doesn't make it easy for those of us who haven't got the right ingredients on hand. Won't someone please think of the lasagna-less?

Best FF in Which We Learn What Happens to People Who Do Not Have Access to the Food They Are Craving. And to Everyone in the Vicinity, Too. Out of Range, by SA, aka

sathinks, who, incidentally, has a marvelous recs LJ at

sareads. Due South, Ray Kowalski/Benton Fraser. Even Rays have bad bad days, but they can be solved with the judicious application of Mounties. OK, one Mountie. And - critical lesson, here - nicotine (hush, dSfen), caffeine, carbohydrates, cheese - none of these things can substitute for said Mountie, or your local equivalent. You may think they can, but really you're just fooling yourself, and the sooner you accept that and go get your Mountie the happier you'll be. Um. But no one should take that as an attempt to incite felonious behavior towards our big-hatted, red-coated Northern Friends, because they should be handled with respect and love, not live-capture traps. (Also, they are notoriously skittish, so luring them with bait works better in the long run. I recommend maple candy, myself, or pemmican for the more extreme Mountie.)

P.S. This post is dedicated to

fanofall, who had a day that was much worse than mine. Nothing like the suffering of one's friends to put a little suckiness into perspective! (And, um. That was a joke.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've just been reccing Rhipoden Society stories in Nero Wolfe & Batman recently, and so mourning anew their continuing absence. Rhipoden Society (Ryan & Gayleen) took down their website (stories, songvids, recs, etc.) in September 2003, IIRC, when they were making some serious connections with paid, professional writing gigs. Some of their marvellous stories can still be found in various archives (most of the Sentinel stories are at 852 Prospect, I think). Others aren't archived anywhere that I know of (e.g. Nero Wolfe, and maybe the Batman stories.) There was a suggestion that they'd be putting the site back up at a later date, but if so, I've never seen it.

Gayleen can still be reached about her music CDs (which are fantastic original music, much of it fandom based in topic) & she has been responsive in the past to requests for her fiction.

I think I have most, if not all, of their fiction saved, and I'm willing to email out stories if I have them.

Oh, thank you. I knew their website is down, but I had no idea why or if they'd reincarnated elsewhere. Mystery solved. And I would very, very much appreciate it if you emailed me their stories, if you think it'd be OK with them; I've only read a few in TS, but they're so good I've always wished for more.

Is there an email address I could use to send you my, um, non-posted email address? Because my fannish account is as squirrelly as the campus of the University of Texas at Austin (mental note: come up with better simile) and would in any case choke on such substantial emails.

No, they're fine with the stories reaching readers, and they let all the archived stories stay where they were. They just felt the need to pull the site, and make their fandom contributions less visible as a whole.

I'll be happy to email you all the Rhipoden Society stories I have. I have their Sentinel, Nero Wolfe, MFU, Batman, Pretender, Jedi, X-Files, and Buffy stories. I'll break the emails up by fandom (since the stories are filed that way on my hard drive) & zip them to reduce size.

Email me at my LJ name at AOL with the email address to which you'd like the stories sent. I might not have a chance to get them sent until Saturday though, due to work issues, but I'll try to send them off earlier if I can.

Hi,

I've got the stories together & zipped & read to go whenever you send the email address to which you want them sent. (If you did email me, I've not received it, so resend, please.)

SQUEE!!!!!!!

OMGAWHOLESETDEDICATEDTOMEOMG!!!!!!

And. Yeah. FedEx. That woman. And the bubble wrap. GRRRR....

Well, I thought you deserved it, and the 100th one seems curiously appropriate, given all the FF you're responsible for me having read. Plus, you know, you had a bad day.

(Bubble wrap. Hee. I mean, I know it was annoying as hell, but I still giggle every time I see any of the stuff, because I'm always considering how it could best be used as a weapon.)

HEE! Hee! ::still giggling::

I love the fact that we've managed to pimp SportsNight to other people *koff

delurkerkoff*, too. It makes me feel better and less...stalker-y. Kind of. Not like I, you know, targeted you for world domination or anything. Whatever. :-D

Not like I, you know, targeted you for world domination or anything.

I'm hurt! I had so hoped that I was specially selected to be the very first step on your path to dominion over all fandom (and after fandom - the world!).

But if you can't rule the universe yourself, at least you can make sure Bhagwan Sports Night does. You know I'm totally behind *that* cause.

(And, hey. Don't forget

zebra363. We brought her into this fold, too.)

Oh, that's right! I am sorry. I had failed to immediately recall that. (I plead crazy-boss.)

I don't want dominion over all fandom. I just want people to know that SportsNight is love, and love is SportsNight. :-D

Hee. Crazy Boss covers so many lapses. At least when it's your Crazy Boss, who should be in the Crazy Boss Museum where visitors from all over the world can admire his insanity, strange fixations, and off-the-charts irritation quotient.

I just want people to know that SportsNight is love, and love is SportsNight.

Thanks to you, that's all I want, too. Damn you and your seven habits of highly effective pimps!

your Crazy Boss, who should be in the Crazy Boss Museum where visitors from all over the world can admire his insanity, strange fixations, and off-the-charts irritation quotient.

He could be in his OWN museum. With the rhinos and mammoths and bison, oh my.

And the Egyptian kitsch.

You REALLY REALLY REALLY need to come visit. Or I could just get a digital camera and share.

Damn you and your seven habits of highly effective pimps!

I wonder if Stephen Covey's written this one yet?

*feels the love*

I LOVE your icon! *basks*

Thanks! I made it myself. *feels ridiculously happy*

I'm tempted to submit The Prophecy as the slashiest fandom, given that the slash is about as canon as you can get. Case in point: the images in this icon have not been altered in any way.

I look forward to all your posts, and await #111 with eagerness and patience.

Huh. I think you've just prompted me to post my slashiest fandom entry, because a) I've never heard of The Prophecy and b) you're right. That's - damn slashy, there.

It doesn't hurt that Viggo Mortensen plays Lucifer. And sings. And draps himself all over Elias Koteas.

"Little Tommy Dagget. How I loved listening to your sweet prayers. And then you'd jump into bed, so afraid I was under it. And I was!"

I can get you links, if you'd like.

*blinks*

*tries to imagine a context in which that is not very, very slashy*

*tries to imagine what the hell The Prophecy could be about*

*fails spectacularly on all counts*

Links. Yeah. I'd like some links. Of course, I'm also damn scared of them, but then it's hard not to feel that way about Lucifer as played by Viggo Mortensen.

*blinks some more*

I've got some links in the next post up (the "slashiest fandoms" one). I can get more, if you'd like.

Viggo Mortensen plays Lucifer. And sings. And draps himself all over Elias Koteas.

Well now I'm starting to wonder what thing there is about Lucifer that causes people playing him to get all touchy (http://www.livejournal.com/community/ship_manifesto/48974.html) with other characters.

Is there an evil=groping clause I missed in my research?

*sticks "The Prophecy" on her to-watch list*

I think a celebration of the eleventy-first post is entirely suitable in a fandom journal. Looking forward to it.

You know, I didn't even think of that when I picked 111 as the celebration post?

I feel - fannishly inadequate. Thank you so much for filling me on that - it would've really fannishly inadequate to miss a reference to my first fandom in the celebration post.

I'm sorry you're having a rough time of it, but I'm certainly not tired of your recs!

*hugs*

*hugs back*

The things is - you know that bit in Busman's Honeymoon where Bunter says that it's one's ability to handle minor annoyances and discomforts, rather than catastrophes, that really reveals one's character? Well, I think that indicates some pretty unsavory things about my character, because - I am not so good with the minor annoyances. Seriously. One trifling unexpected change can destroy my mood more effectively than a flood. So it wasn't a tough day by any real definition, just one that left me grouchy and oddly filled with foreboding and a burden to my loved ones. So thank god for LJ, where it's always safe to whine!

(Unrelated side note: that icon of yours always makes me want to use this icon of mine. And I'm not at all sure why.)

To be honest, I consider each of your reviews pieces of perfect writing in and of themselves. Nonfiction is just as tough as writing fiction, but you do it with grace. So hey, celebrate away! That's over 400 works of prose you've accomplished.

Wow. I'm - that's an amazing thing to say. I'm going to print that out and save it somewhere, because, wow.

You've rendered me inarticulate with delight. Thank you.

*jaw drop*

I'm not entirely sure I've read 400 stories. and certianly not 400 stories worth reading, much less reccing...then again, you intersts range far and wide and mine are small and plebian.

:::is in awe:::

You know what's really scary? I've recommended only a tiny fraction of what is in my queue. When I first started this, I had less than a page of tentative categories and sets; I now have - and this is embarrassing - 35 pages. And that's not all the stories in my to-be-rec'd database by any means; those are just the stories that have already been sorted and prepared for recommending.

Which we could regard either as proof that my obsession has reached clinically unhealthy heights, or as evidence of the astonishing quality and quantity of the FF out there.

Let's go with the latter interpretation, shall we? It'll save a lot of bother with diagnosis and medication and so on.

(And your interests are not plebeian, unless all of ours are, and they aren't narrow. You know whole fandoms of which I had not even heard prior to meeting you.)

I now have - and this is embarrassing - 35 pages.

That is the best thing I've heard all week. Because lots of people rec, but few and far between are those with consistent quality and summaries both informative and amusing. Here's to another 100!

My god. I suppose - I managed 100 of these in nine months, so maybe I'll manage another 100 in a year or so. But that seems like such an astonishing number to contemplate.

I'm happy to hear that you like the recs. I never expected my LJ to be useful to very many people, because it's so idiosyncratic, so it's especially nice to hear about people who share my taste. Just more supporting evidence that fandom is a wonderful, wonderful place.

400 recs? And 100 rec posts, full of snarky and slashy goodness? Wow. I feel like we ought to mark this occasion somehow. Besides being generally gleeful, and that sort of thing.

damn, I'll think of something!

Ahah! Drinks! Are on me! (aside from the whole living-3000-miles away from you bit, and I'm not all that sure that alcohol goes through the mail well. Can you even send it, without the Postal Service flipping a nut? Important questions, yes.)

Drinks, that's what we were on. So, um.

Yes, I was going somewhere with this line of reasoning.

Celebrations! I love celebrations! Drinks all 'round!

Yeah, you knew I was going to say that.

I don't know what the Postal Service has to say about alcohol, but chocolate - chocolate is always welcome. And much less likely to be aborbed by our mailalien, I should think. Yes, chocolate! Chocolate all 'round! (Look, it's late; sanity is always the first to go.)

And, yes, 100 Slashy Nominations posts. I'm either proud or, well, really alarmed. And I think I'll stick with proud. For the moment.

Aw, bad day blues. *hugs*

You guys have to be getting sick of this
Never! I see the updates and I'm always like, 'Yay! New

thefourthvine ficrecs!'

Plus, it's December, and I've just realized that I have no clue how to write regular recommendations, which is going to make a month behind the SN wheel at crack_van just...so very special.
You're reccing in

crack_van? Yay! Good luck.

Maybe we can celebrate the, um, 111th post instead.
*waits in anticipation*

But it's the good kind of predictable, right?
The very best. So good that I've followed you into SN, in fact.

But no one should take that as an attempt to incite felonious behavior towards our big-hatted, red-coated Northern Friends, because they should be handled with respect and love, not live-capture traps. (Also, they are notoriously skittish, so luring them with bait works better in the long run. I recommend maple candy, myself, or pemmican for the more extreme Mountie.)
*gets extreme weather clothing*
*flies to Canada*
*wanders into the Great White Wilderness*
*calls* 'Here, Mountie Mountie Mountie...'
*tempts with maple candy*
*lures one south*
*giftwraps*
*gives to

thefourthvine*
Merry Christmas!

I definitely feel the love, here. Thank you!

And thank you for the luck; I will need it in

crack_van, because - yow. No, really, yow. 'Tis far scarier than I had anticipated, venturing out of my comfortable home pond and into the big scary ocean. I mean, yes, just post the stories, right? Except - eeeeek!

The very best. So good that I've followed you into SN, in fact.

Yay! Welcome to the fold, my child. It is a happy place, this domain we call SNland, inhabited by delightful people, delightful characters, and delightful and often slashy stories.

*embraces vigorously*

(And many thanks for the Mountie, who will find maintaining the right damn challenging in this house.)

But then makesmewannadie left for India. (Technically, she's still around, but she's offline and she'll be leaving tomorrow and not coming back for three weeks.) This is depressing, folks.

Oh, my yes.

I'm thrilled for the adored MMWD, of course. But I fully expect to go into a decline for the three weeks of her absence.

Maybe we can celebrate the, um, 111th post instead. 111 is a nice number, right?

Eleventy-one! It's a perfectly lovely number. :)

*sneaks out from undercover to give you both huge hugs*

*and more huge hugs*

Damn, I'm going to miss you!

But, right. Am married. Not to fandom. No, really.

*sniffles*

*wails*

*clings to MMWD*

They can't take you away from me!

Oh. You're willingly going? Ah. Well, have a good time, then, and enjoy India, and your husband, and bring us all back presents. Like, like - Indian gay porn!

*brave front collapses*

*sniffles*

*waves pathetically*

Bon voyage!

You are so right. The decline begins at noon tomorrow.

Because, yes, happy for her. But she's...gone.

*sniffle*

*looks forward to January, when Accursed Holidays will be over,

yuletide story will (please god) be written, and, most important, MMWD will be back in the bosom of fandom where she belongs*

eeeyourecc'edmeYAY!

Thank you. You just brightened my day.

Though I will mention that my journal is

sathinks;

sawrites is, um, there, though I haven't done much with it. ::grin::

Ah. Well, I'd wondered, but I thought - if she has a writing-specific journal, I ought to use that one. I've changed it, though, to

sathinks, which will let them link to the others.

(And let me tell you how jealous I am of your neat little constellation of inter-related journal names. My advice to all those new to LJ would be: never, never pick your LJ name late at night and on a total whim, because you may *think* you are only getting a LJ for the friendslist, but you never know where addiction will take you.)

Heh. Well, my username used to be sarahsworld, which was a product of being on thirteen and unable to think of anything else. But at the beginningof the year I bought a username token, and I am infinitely more happy being sathinks. Not the least because I haven't been called Sarah by anyone but my parents for a very long time.

If I ever think of a really good name for this LJ - although it's sort of a mystery to me why I didn't name this thing, oh, "slashyawards" - I will have to buy myself a token. Although it will be sad to lose my name-specific icons.

Huh. Maybe I could call it "universalfandom." I have that on a lot of icons.

(And I so, so want a LJ called "poke_the_sally," except I think I'd be the only person on the planet who knew what that meant.)

So what does "thefourthvine" mean then?

Well, unfortunately, it's a bad pun that only makes sense if you know my real first name, which I will cheerfully tell you via email but not, you know, here.

And I have to say, for the sake of full disclosure, that the people who do know, or are told, my real first name still don't get it. I have to explain it every time. Hence part of my dissatisfaction with my late-at-night, near-exhausted, won't-be-posting-anyway LJ name choice.

You can tell me via email at sathinks @ gmail.com. :)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Slashy Nominations 100: Days Like These

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

400recs

Re: 400recs

Re: 400recs

Re: 400recs

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject