Slashy Nominations 41: Once Again, We Are the Cynosure of All Eyes

[thefourthvine]

It's time to celebrate public sex. Because, really, that's what FF is.

Well, the kind I tend to nominate, anyway.

Best FF Featuring a Clear Case of Sandwich Abuse: Party Aliens, by daegaer. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Ford Prefect/Arthur Dent. In which we learn that some planets have office parties way more fun than ours. (Of course, Hitchhiker's Guide employees can flee to distant galaxies the next day. Probably how most new assignments get filled, actually.) OK, I'm just about the last person on Earth to recommend this story, but I had to add my voice to the multitudes. Because this - this is just so funny, and I love Arthur's sort of pathetic objections, and Ford's just so very Ford, and, well...just read it. And then thank daegaer for having such a twisted mind, and makesmewannadie for commissioning this, and fan_the_vote for providing the venue. Heck, while you're at it, thank your mom, too. Why not?

Best FF That Really Ought to Be Called "Love's Bitch": Subtleties, by Anna S., eliade. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spike/Xander. In which Xander learns to like vampires and Spike learns to make stir fry. Among other things. There's a special prize for the first person to find the public sex in this story, because I admit it's a small part of a relatively long story. But it's definitely in there, and I'm counting it. So there. And now that I've temporarily left the kindergarten playground mentality, let me add that I started this story and then left it. For about a week. Because I was thinking, "Spike as a rentboy. Xander as a rich man. Um, Anna? That's insane." But I was the insane one, doubting Anna could pull this off. And the kicker is that this story is just a compiled series of off-the-cuff LJ pieces. Really, it isn't fair how well certain people can write. Or, no, let me rephrase that: it isn't fair that they can't spend all their time writing.

Best FF That Leaves You Making a Mental Note to Attend More Black Tie Charity Events and Keep Your Eyes Peeled: Proof and Pudding, by Aristide (does anyone have a more complete link for her?). The Sentinel, Jim/Blair. In which Jim learns that Blair is willing to fight for the title of "Kinkiest Inhabitant of the Loft." Well, if there wasn't enough public sex for you in the previous story, this one should make you feel a lot better; what we've got here is an entirely public PWP. And, really, I think you'll agree we could all use a bit more of that. If you've ever wanted to see Jim and Blair engage in inappropriate activities while wearing tuxedos and attending the Policeman's Charity Ball, well, dearheart, prepare to spontaneously combust with joy. Or something.

Best FF That Leaves You Making a Mental Note to Attend More Religious Charity Events and Keep Your Eyes Peeled: Relief, by kassrachel. Due South, Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski. In which Ray learns that Fraser cannot resist a dare. If "Proof and Pudding" didn't persuade you that there's something unexpectedly sexy about charity events, let me offer Exhibit B. Although, really, I think these must be alternate-universe charity events, because I've attended a street fair or two in my time, and usually the most interesting thing about them is that you get to see who actually buys those pictures of big-eyed children. (Exactly who you'd expect, usually.) The sexiest it gets is the standard boy/girl teenage couple licking each other's tonsils, and, really, that wasn't that sexy even when I was in the couple. So can I buy a couple tickets to the public sex Alternate Universe? I promise my charitable contributions will increase markedly.

Comments

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

This is going to have to be partial, because a lot of the stories I want to rec here are archived at squidge.org, and it's down right now. But here's a very partial list; if you tell me what you liked and didn't like from here, I might be able to tailor things a bit better. I gave myself a bit more latitude here than I do when I'm giving out Slashies, so these stories aren't all satisfaction guaranteed, but they all have a lot to recommend them. Feel free to tell me exactly what you thought of them.

Due South Angst, Part I

The End of the Road (http://www.kat.mrks.org/eotr_main.htm), by Kat Allison. Because this is dS, I think I should warn you that this doesn't have a happy ending. Very long, very well done. Kat can write.

Roots Rain (http://www.kat.mrks.org/rootsrain.htm), also by Kat Allison, is much shorter, but brilliant and painfully sad. Again, no happy ending. Most of Kat's stuff is on the sad side, and it's all very well written. Really, you should read her entire catalog (which consists of only six stories; wish she'd write more).

True North (http://crys.mrks.org/fic/tn/truenorth.html), by Crysothemis. Is this roughly the degree of angst you wanted? 'Cause if you're wanting more, well, this is as angsty as I get in this fandom; I can't handle superangst in dS. In general, Crysothemis tends to be fairly high on the angst-o-meter, with solid writing and lengthy stories. If you like "True North," you might want to check out her other stuff.

An Admirable Solution (http://www.trickster.org/speranza/Admirable.html), by Speranza. I assume you've already read everything Speranza's written, but I'm recommending this one in any case. It's got a touch of a very special kind of angst. And I assume you've read "Juggling Act," which I've rec'd before, but that's another angst-ish one. Also read "Passion," which is one of my very favorite dS stories; it features Fraser-angst and a happy ending a wonderful elaboration of Fraser's backstory.

Declension (http://www.dementia.org/~jacquez/writing/dsfic/declension.html), by Laura J. Valentine, is exactly the opposite of long, but it's wonderful. And extremely angsty.

Internal Affairs (http://beth-h.mrks.org/DS_Fiction/IA.html), by Beth H. The angst comes from a different place in this one; it's interesting, because in some ways this story is backward. They start out where they usually end up, and vice versa. I choose to believe this story has a happy ending.

Surface (http://kalena.mrks.org/kb_surface.html), by Kalena. Fraser gets a girlfriend. Ray gets angst. It all works out in the end.

The Whole Enchilada (http://www.debchan.com/skalab/anchovies.html), by Pares and Laura Shapiro. I think this has, overall, less angst than a lot of these stories. It also contains one of the most purely touching paragraphs I've ever read.

That's about all I can do without squidge, but at least it'll give you some stuff to read, and me some idea of how you like your angst.

Come back, squidge.