Keep Hoping Machine Running (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thefourthvine) wrote2008-03-15 04:15 pm
thefourthvine) wrote2008-03-15 04:15 pm
179: Happy birthday, Best Beloved!
March 12 was Best Beloved's birthday, and what she wanted was a recs set. (We know how to give the big, important, expensive gifts in this family.) Specifically, she wanted clichefic, which she is apparently very fond of.
So, okay, this is a little bit late. But it is heartfelt. Best Beloved, happy birthday. You can has cliches!
The One That Shows Us That If You Can't Get Laid in Chicago, You Can at Least Get Great Pizza. Number Eight, by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cesperanza. due South, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski.
This cliche is a classic. Undercover in a gay bar - I would be surprised if there were not whole challenges and zines dedicated to this one. (I would also be wildly disappointed, for the record.) I would, in fact, be surprised if Kirk and Spock didn't have to go undercover in a gay bar at least once in their extensive non-canonical career. (Oh, my god, I just - I just pictured this. My poor brain. It will never be the same again. Trust me and don't imagine this, okay?) Really, undercover in a gay bar is one of our great media fandom traditions. Probably we should have a holiday to celebrate it. (It could be called Fake It Until You Make Out Day! We could exchange little gifts of glitter and stories! Maybe there could be a ritual of decorating our favorite characters in eyeliner and shiny clothes!)
And the thing is, this story shows, totally and completely, why this cliche works, why it has stayed with us throughout the years, why I'm kind of sad we have fewer law enforcement fandoms these days and thus have fewer opportunities to put our characters in tight pants and make them dance to loud music. See, there's plot and porn, right in the same cliche. You say "undercover in a gay bar" to someone, and right away that person knows that a) there will be gay sex and b) it will be in the interests of justice. It doesn't get much better than that, people. And this story is the perfect example of it. I mean, do I need to summarize? Ray. Fraser. Gay bar. Go.
The One That Proves That You Can Make a Bat Cuddle, with Sufficient Coercion, but You Can't Ever Make Him Good at It. Cold, bybrown_betty. D. C. Universe, gen.
Huddling for warmth. Another classic cliche. There's cold! There's a sincere and honest need to get naked under covers, for genuine life-preserving purposes! What could be better? Of course, when Betty gets her hands on this cliche, things do not go precisely according to tradition. (Like, here's an example: the first people involved in the warmth-huddling in this story are Tim and Alfred.)
But that is why I love this story: it takes a classic and much-loved cliche, shakes it up, turns it inside out, and makes it into something new and shiny. In this case, it's a character study. Actually, it's a study of a class of characters. (Sometimes I think you could summarize 90% of Betty's work as A Short Guide to Batfamily Dysfunctions. It would make an excellent title for an anthology of her work.) Because, you know, this is a perfect example of huddling for warmth and the warmth never...quite...getting there. I love this story because it's so right for each of the characters. And, of course, for the Batfamily as a whole.
I'd say they'll make a therapist rich some day, but in fact all they'll do is drive a whole team of skilled professionals into nervous breakdowns. (Come to think of it, this is probably why we never see shrinks in the Batverse. Bruce broke them all many years ago, back when Albert thought he could be helped, and now they live in a well-funded home for the clinically twitchy.)
The One That Proves That Coping with Extremely Unexpected Transformations Is a Key Pirate Skill. On the Lesser-Known Hazards of Piracy, bypenknife. Pirates of the Caribbean. Pairings are, um, complicated. If you need to know, drop a comment and I'll try to sort it all out.
This is bodyswap, otherwise known as one of my favorite cliches in the whole history of ever. It is also, apparently, one of the hazards of piracy they don't teach you in history books. In fact, I thinkpenknife is the first person ever to identify this as a specifically piracy-linked danger. (Everyone who is now imagining thousands of BitTorrent users suddenly switching bodies, don't fear. I think digital type piracy is still safe, although I will check with penknife and get back to you.)
Bodyswap is just basically always a wonderful cliche, and again, you can kind of see why: there are certain, uh, built-in opportunities when you've got character A in character B's body. I mean, you have an obligation to take care of whatever body you're inhabiting, right? Even if it's, um, not technically yours, right? And then there's porn!
In this particular story, both of the swapped characters take full and excellent advantage of all those built-in opportunities. And, really, when you're swapped in to Jack Sparrow's body, you've got a lot of potential, there, although it would be reasonable to take some time to worry about what he's doing with yours. And, since I've already mentioned that Jack Sparrow is involved, I assume I don't need to elaborate on the "and then there's porn" part.
The One Where Elizabeth Proves She Totally Did Not Pay Attention in the SGC-Mandated "Being Sensitive to Major Body Alterations in Your Staff" Training. And, Yes, I Am Quite Sure the SGC Does Have Such a Training. Frankly, They Would Be Fools Not To. always should be someone you really love, bythingswithwings. Stargate: Atlantis, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay.
And, from the title alone, the eight people alive who have not already read this story know what this last cliche is: genderswitch. And, oh, I love genderswitch. There was a time when I didn't - a time when I wouldn't even read it - but fortunately due South broke me of that. (It wasn't an inhibition I really needed, after all.) I'm not even sure why I love genderswap so much, unless it's the conversion effect, where you're much much more passionate about something if you disliked it for a while before you started loving it. In any case, the passion is definitely here.
In any case, I love genderswitch. I particularly love when writers play with it a bit - not just the classic scenario of "Hey, you have new parts! They are more compatible with MY parts! What say we get it on?" (Not that there is anything wrong with that.) And I love whatthingswithwings does here; she turns both the guys female, and what happens then says a lot about, you know, deep things: sexual preference, identity, desire versus love. So there is thinkiness and girl-on-girl action. (If only more written works managed to incorporate both of these things. In particular, I can think of some textbooks that would be vastly improved by sex. Although, in all honesty, some of those textbooks could be improved by adjectives, so it's not like the bar is set particularly high, here. Still. I think we can agree that sex improves most things.) In short: this is one of my favorite genderswitch stories, and genderswitch is one of my favorite cliches, so - really, this is a very favorite thing of mine. Read!
So, okay, this is a little bit late. But it is heartfelt. Best Beloved, happy birthday. You can has cliches!
The One That Shows Us That If You Can't Get Laid in Chicago, You Can at Least Get Great Pizza. Number Eight, by
cesperanza. due South, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski.This cliche is a classic. Undercover in a gay bar - I would be surprised if there were not whole challenges and zines dedicated to this one. (I would also be wildly disappointed, for the record.) I would, in fact, be surprised if Kirk and Spock didn't have to go undercover in a gay bar at least once in their extensive non-canonical career. (Oh, my god, I just - I just pictured this. My poor brain. It will never be the same again. Trust me and don't imagine this, okay?) Really, undercover in a gay bar is one of our great media fandom traditions. Probably we should have a holiday to celebrate it. (It could be called Fake It Until You Make Out Day! We could exchange little gifts of glitter and stories! Maybe there could be a ritual of decorating our favorite characters in eyeliner and shiny clothes!)
And the thing is, this story shows, totally and completely, why this cliche works, why it has stayed with us throughout the years, why I'm kind of sad we have fewer law enforcement fandoms these days and thus have fewer opportunities to put our characters in tight pants and make them dance to loud music. See, there's plot and porn, right in the same cliche. You say "undercover in a gay bar" to someone, and right away that person knows that a) there will be gay sex and b) it will be in the interests of justice. It doesn't get much better than that, people. And this story is the perfect example of it. I mean, do I need to summarize? Ray. Fraser. Gay bar. Go.
The One That Proves That You Can Make a Bat Cuddle, with Sufficient Coercion, but You Can't Ever Make Him Good at It. Cold, by
brown_betty. D. C. Universe, gen. Huddling for warmth. Another classic cliche. There's cold! There's a sincere and honest need to get naked under covers, for genuine life-preserving purposes! What could be better? Of course, when Betty gets her hands on this cliche, things do not go precisely according to tradition. (Like, here's an example: the first people involved in the warmth-huddling in this story are Tim and Alfred.)
But that is why I love this story: it takes a classic and much-loved cliche, shakes it up, turns it inside out, and makes it into something new and shiny. In this case, it's a character study. Actually, it's a study of a class of characters. (Sometimes I think you could summarize 90% of Betty's work as A Short Guide to Batfamily Dysfunctions. It would make an excellent title for an anthology of her work.) Because, you know, this is a perfect example of huddling for warmth and the warmth never...quite...getting there. I love this story because it's so right for each of the characters. And, of course, for the Batfamily as a whole.
I'd say they'll make a therapist rich some day, but in fact all they'll do is drive a whole team of skilled professionals into nervous breakdowns. (Come to think of it, this is probably why we never see shrinks in the Batverse. Bruce broke them all many years ago, back when Albert thought he could be helped, and now they live in a well-funded home for the clinically twitchy.)
The One That Proves That Coping with Extremely Unexpected Transformations Is a Key Pirate Skill. On the Lesser-Known Hazards of Piracy, by
penknife. Pirates of the Caribbean. Pairings are, um, complicated. If you need to know, drop a comment and I'll try to sort it all out. This is bodyswap, otherwise known as one of my favorite cliches in the whole history of ever. It is also, apparently, one of the hazards of piracy they don't teach you in history books. In fact, I think
penknife is the first person ever to identify this as a specifically piracy-linked danger. (Everyone who is now imagining thousands of BitTorrent users suddenly switching bodies, don't fear. I think digital type piracy is still safe, although I will check with penknife and get back to you.)Bodyswap is just basically always a wonderful cliche, and again, you can kind of see why: there are certain, uh, built-in opportunities when you've got character A in character B's body. I mean, you have an obligation to take care of whatever body you're inhabiting, right? Even if it's, um, not technically yours, right? And then there's porn!
In this particular story, both of the swapped characters take full and excellent advantage of all those built-in opportunities. And, really, when you're swapped in to Jack Sparrow's body, you've got a lot of potential, there, although it would be reasonable to take some time to worry about what he's doing with yours. And, since I've already mentioned that Jack Sparrow is involved, I assume I don't need to elaborate on the "and then there's porn" part.
The One Where Elizabeth Proves She Totally Did Not Pay Attention in the SGC-Mandated "Being Sensitive to Major Body Alterations in Your Staff" Training. And, Yes, I Am Quite Sure the SGC Does Have Such a Training. Frankly, They Would Be Fools Not To. always should be someone you really love, by
thingswithwings. Stargate: Atlantis, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay. And, from the title alone, the eight people alive who have not already read this story know what this last cliche is: genderswitch. And, oh, I love genderswitch. There was a time when I didn't - a time when I wouldn't even read it - but fortunately due South broke me of that. (It wasn't an inhibition I really needed, after all.) I'm not even sure why I love genderswap so much, unless it's the conversion effect, where you're much much more passionate about something if you disliked it for a while before you started loving it. In any case, the passion is definitely here.
In any case, I love genderswitch. I particularly love when writers play with it a bit - not just the classic scenario of "Hey, you have new parts! They are more compatible with MY parts! What say we get it on?" (Not that there is anything wrong with that.) And I love what
thingswithwings does here; she turns both the guys female, and what happens then says a lot about, you know, deep things: sexual preference, identity, desire versus love. So there is thinkiness and girl-on-girl action. (If only more written works managed to incorporate both of these things. In particular, I can think of some textbooks that would be vastly improved by sex. Although, in all honesty, some of those textbooks could be improved by adjectives, so it's not like the bar is set particularly high, here. Still. I think we can agree that sex improves most things.) In short: this is one of my favorite genderswitch stories, and genderswitch is one of my favorite cliches, so - really, this is a very favorite thing of mine. Read!
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And also full-stops (seriously - how do you get to be an emminent social theorist without being able to add a full-stop to your work more frequently than every 12 lines?!). Though I would happily take sex over full-stops, to be honest :)
Yes! Then someone could be poked into writing *Ronon* undercover in a gay bar, getting hit on by *everyone*. Or Rodney, pointing out how unhygenic some of the things happening on the dance floor are, and Teyla dancing with all the women... It's a sad comment on my life that this has (a) got stuck in my head in a will-end-up-with-me-writing-it way and (b) greatly lifted my evening. Thank you :)
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It's entirely possible that that is a pre-requisite skill for being an eminent social theorist. *did not take social theory in her college career, om account of a tragic allergy to run-on sentences*
My own personal favorite - seriously, I still have this textbook just so I can occasionally take it down and stare at it with loathing - was the man who managed to write a whole textbook without ever learning that you group sentences together by topic, in things called paragraphs. I - I have nightmares sometimes. It was awful.
Then someone could be poked into writing *Ronon* undercover in a gay bar, getting hit on by *everyone*. Or Rodney, pointing out how unhygenic some of the things happening on the dance floor are, and Teyla dancing with all the women.
OMG AWESOME. Ronon! In a gay bar! I mean, he goes to earth a lot. He has earth clothes. I can think of so many ways to get him to a gay bar, and they'd all be so cool. Like:
Ronon: What about this one?
Rodney: In general I think we should avoid places with words like "Tool" in the name.
Teyla: Why is that?
Rodney: Because they're gay bars, and I don't think the Colonel would -
Ronon, interrupting: I think Sheppard'd like a place with "Tool" in the name.
Teyla: I agree. That place, of all the places we have so far explored, seems to attract the kind of clientele Colonel Sheppard is most like.
Rodney: Fine! Fine! We'll go seek our amnesiac team leader in a gay bar, and later when he finds out he can kill you in your sleep. But I don't want anyone blaming me for messes, or people being hit on, or - oh, god, where's Ronon?
Teyla: He spoke briefly with the man at the door of the Tool establishment, and then he went inside. He is unaware of the local customs, so perhaps we should follow him?
Rodney, muttering: When Sheppard gets his brain back, I'm going to implant a GPS tracker in it.
Oh my god, why are there not MILLIONS of SGA gay bar stories? *craves*
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bandslash fills that void! it also has genderswitch!in abundance!
i love cliches! if nothing else this set gives me an excuse to reread so due south... which you never really need an excuse for but it's nice to have one anyway!
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Ah, but does bandslash have AUs with the boys as buddy cops?
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if nothing else this set gives me an excuse to reread so due south... which you never really need an excuse for but it's nice to have one anyway!
It totally is. I re-read a lot of dS for this set, because it's one of BB's favorite fandoms, and oh, it is such a wonder.
*clings to it forever and ever*
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ETA: Oooh, look, fixed before I could say anything else. Now that is fantastic service.
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*adores cliche!fic*
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*wonders if she should maybe get a beta for these posts*
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May I metaquote this?
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Hooray! And thank you, for I had not seen many of these, and I am in need of good fic. *G*
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I practically made SEAL NOISES I was so happy!
As long as you're not making sea lion noises. Your neighbors would likely complain. (Even if you lived several miles from the nearest neighbor, they'd likely complain. Cute but LOUD.)
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Fascinating.
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*loves it deeply*
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Like I NEEDED another reason to love you.
also
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I'ma read the rest of these when I am no longer playing chicken with my sleep deficit.
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You mean you can reread something you wrote and actually like it? I am VERY JEALOUS.
Although, actually, there's a story of mine I can reread without pain, too. And this is certainly an excellent story and worthy of your time. Still. JEALOUS.
*sends you to bed*
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*busily reads recs*
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I would, in fact, be surprised if Kirk and Spock didn't have to go undercover in a gay bar at least once in their extensive non-canonical career. (Oh, my god, I just - I just pictured this. My poor brain. It will never be the same again. Trust me and don't imagine this, okay?)
Pshaw! K/S was the first fanfic I ever read (not counting Sherlock Holmes pastiches) and I can imagine that for breakfast. And then for lunch, I could reread the Syn Ferguson story where Spock and McCoy infiltrate a Romulan gay bar/sex club to save Kirk from slavery.
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SOUL BONDS, OMG. How did I not include a soul bond story in this? *has failed at cliches*
Pshaw! K/S was the first fanfic I ever read (not counting Sherlock Holmes pastiches) and I can imagine that for breakfast. And then for lunch, I could reread the Syn Ferguson story where Spock and McCoy infiltrate a Romulan gay bar/sex club to save Kirk from slavery.
I...I...
Oh my god. Really? (Keep in mind that I have seen precisely one episode of Star Trek, so my knowledge of the canon is limited. And I've never read any fan fiction, so my knowledge of the fandom is nonexistent.) Wow. Romulan gay bar/sex club? Slavery? I. Um.
Oh, dear. My brain's "emergency maintenance required" light has just come on.
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That sentence works for me in so many situations!
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*loves dS intensely*
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Okay that totally convinced me. And it was well worth it! And then of course I had to read more Due South from your recs and then I started reading an amazing McShep piece and then I just had to read Written by the Victors...so after that thank you for the rec and the great night of reading!