thefourthvine | Entries tagged with [rec theme: fast fic]

I have got an awful song lodged in my head. An awful, awful, awful song. A song by Joni Mitchell. A song that is, in fact, my mother's favorite song.

So I am in no mood to fuck around. Hence a set of fast fic. Because it's the fic that doesn't fuck around.

Best FF Introducing One Concept Comics Desperately Need and One Concept Fandoms Desperately Need: The Color Pink, by

basingstoke. DCU, and it's slash without a pairing - a whole new, um, ballgame. And I didn't mean that the way it sounded. So, can I just say that every single possible fandom should have a story in which one of the characters checks out the LotR boys? Think about it, people! Ray ogling Boromir, Fraser agonizing over deviations from the book to the point that he forgets to warn Ray that Boromir dies. Danny secretly buying all three editions of all three movies, plus a poster, and Casey finding out ('cause Danny'd have to have it delivered to his office, since he's never, you know, at his home), and banter ensuing. Bobby and St. John on a movie date ("It's not a date." "It's a movie date." "It's just a movie! No date!") watching Return of the King. Weird metaslash in which the actual book Aragorn watches the movies and says "It was not like that at all, at all. That is not it, at all." There's no end to the joy this could bring! OK. Maybe that's just me. But even if the idea of Kon + Tim + Fellowship of the Rings is not appealing to you (although, for the record, that would make you freakishly strange, possibly even mutant), this story should be. Because: pink kryptonite (that's the thing mentioned in the title that every comic should have). And Batman being so Batman, and Tim...Tim...look, just read this. It makes me giggly and incoherent, folks; it's just that good.

Best FF That Gave Me New Insight into a Character and Taught Me a Whole New Sporting Concept That Will Surely Find Its Way into Many of My Conversations in the Near Future: The Prevent Defense, by

scribblinlenore, who I forgive for her user name even though it makes me recite Poe every time I see it, because, hey, it's better than Joni Mitchell. Sports Night, Danny/Casey. Ish. You know, I read a lot of drabbles. (Well, we all do. I'm not claiming that's special or anything; I'm just saying.) And most of them inspire one of three thoughts: "Hey, there's a great story idea in here - it just needs an extra thousand words to flesh it out!" or "Was there a point to this? A point that I am missing?" or "What the hell was that?" But this drabble kicks ass. It makes me remember why I read all the bad drabblage out there - so that I can find the occasional tiny, perfectly-done gem like this one. What happens here? Casey's thinking of sports, but he's thinking about Danny. You know, the usual. But what the writer has done with that is unusual. And impressive.

Best FF Featuring a Werewolf Who Should Really Think about the Precedent He's Setting, but Won't, Because We Didn't Either at That Age. Or, for That Matter, at This Age.: Weakness, by

enarte. Harry Potter, Remus Lupin/Sirius Black. It's a look back at Sirius and Remus as they once were, before...well, before pretty much everything. And yet we can already see, in this small piece of fic, their entire future together. Sirius is just a little young for his age, just a little thoughtless, and Remus is forgiving but not forgetting. This story shows us why the interlude in Grimmaud Place couldn't be any more than an interlude (and I believe that even if I still resent JKR for writing Sirius so that it had to be that way, and then killing him off just, apparently, for fun). We also see the reason why Remus keeps walking away, moving on instead of fighting - or at least we have proof that he's always been doing that. This is a totally believable young Sirius and Remus, in other words, and teeny canon violations in no way undermine that.

Best FF Featuring a Superintendent of Schools Who Is Going to Learn Just How Totally Outclassed He Really Is: These Aren't the Droids, by

c_elisa. X-Men movies, gen. We began this set with a story from a comics-based fandom and containing a reference to a popular movie, and we're ending it the same way. Here we see why Xavier doesn't have to be evil, why he can afford to be better than that - how he is fundamentally different from Magneto not just because he's good in the moral sense, but because he's good in the skills sense. Xavier, my friends, is the original man with all the answers, and the sad part is that he usually doesn't even pull them from other people's brains. Who needs Jedi mind control when you've got Xavier spin control? Not this passel of mutants, I tell you. Go. Read. Admire. May I join you?

I never cease to be astonished at what writers manage to do with a handful of words. Or, in some cases, a few handfuls.

Best Two FFs That Prove That Everybody Does Indeed Have a Story to Tell: Fault, by

alestar, and The Fisher King, by

c_elisa. X-Men movies, Bobby Drake (Iceman) gen (or, potentially, very mild implied slash in one case). I did not like Bobby Drake in the comic books, and it was pretty easy to transfer that emotion to the Bobby of the movies. I just let my expectations take over. I ended up seeing the Iceman I expected to see - the good-natured, characterless dork who smiles too much.

I can't tell you how glad I am that other people saw more. Specifically, the people who wrote these stories saw way more. These are both about Bobby in the wake of X2, about his way of failing to handle what happened in that movie. (It turns out, if you were actually paying attention to his storyline, that a lot of interesting stuff happened to the smiling dork in that movie. If, as I say, you were paying attention.) These stories make him a real person. I find it fascinating that they so clearly describe the same person - the writers use different methods, yes, and tell different stories, but they're showing you the same guy. Now that is what I call being in character, people.

Best FF That Proves That You Really Can't Go Home Again, Because Even If They Have to Take You in, They Don't Have to Wait for You: Stanley Raymond Vecchio, by Cara Chapel, whose homepage does not appear to be working at this time. Due South, Ray Vecchio/Stella Kowalski with tiny hints of Ray Kowalski/Benton Fraser. Yes, I am recommending a story about Ray Vecchio that is sympathetic in nature. No, I am not currently being remotely controlled by alien creatures. This is another story that completely changed the way I saw a character. In this case, it's Ray Vecchio. I've always been pleased with the way Vecchio ended up, which I pretty much summarized as "permanently out of the loop, but happy." It took Cara to show me that Ray Vecchio's ending is not necessarily happy; it's cosmic justice, pure and simple. And it isn't altogether pleasant to be the recipient of cosmic justice, folks. I don't necessarily like Vecchio any more now than I did before I read this story, but I sure do have more sympathy for him. And now I realize how significant it is that Vecchio went south.

Best Two FFs That Prove That the More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: Mirror, by

kassrachel, and Drabble #5¹, by

minim_calibre. Batman (and assorted Robins), Dick Grayson (Nightwing) mild implied slash. You know, I always sort of thought the endless parade of Robins was irritating, even though I liked Robin III a lot. Once again, two great writers prove me wrong. See, the whole point of the Batverse, as far as I can tell, is angst. Plus angst. And some more angst. In my under-construction DCU Fandoms I Have Loved, I describe Batman as the King of Pain. And you know what? Everyone who gets involved with him is a citizen of the country of Pain. (I assume they hand out passes to newcomers: "Welcome to the DC Universe. Your first traumatic life event is on the house!") So, clearly, anything that brings additional pain and/or angst to the Batworld is entirely appropriate and necessary. The Robin succession certainly does that, which is what we see here. Dick's moved on, but he'll never be able to stop looking back. (Side note: is there something about Dick Grayson's voice that causes people to write really great closing lines?)

-Footnote-

¹ Authors, recommenders ask for no better gift from you than an actual title for every damn thing you write. Please, people, I'm begging you. Do you KNOW how many stories I've got in my database under "Untitled"?

Can't make the commitment to long-term fic? Not to worry; these stories will be in your life and then out again in the time it takes to brush your teeth. And while they'll leave something behind with you, it won't be a disease, a pregnancy, a bad taste in your mouth, or a new psychological scar to add to your burgeoning collection. Fast fic: the safe one-page stand.

Best FF That Leaves Me, at Any Rate, Longing for a Happier Ending for a Certain Fandom's Number One Doomed Couple: Conjugal Visit, by C. Elisa. X-Men movies, Magneto/Xavier. This is a hundred-word story that packs a thousand-word wallop; it's a snapshot of Magneto in prison and of Xavier doing the Right Thing (which, for once in his life, coincides with what he wants to do). C. Elisa is the queen of this kind of story-telling; you should read all her stuff immediately. But read this one first, because it gets right to the heart of why M/X is so compelling - there's still so much left in the relationship, even after all the years they've spent destroying it. That's got to count for something. (And I have to quit now, before I succumb to the temptation to quote Philip Larkin's No Road in toto, with lengthy commentary on how this poem so perfectly sums up M/X. Help me. I'm one step away from writing "theirloveissoliterary!" and really meaning it.)

Best FF Involving Harry Potter and Severus Snape Touching That Still Manages to Be, Well, Touching: Pale Shadow, by Sushi,

wikdsushi. Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Severus Snape. This is an aged-up story (and how!); you will not be exposed to teacher/student or adult/teen naughtiness here. It's also a special prose form: four connected hundred-word stories, rated, in order, G/PG/R/NC-17. If that form doesn't make the writers in the audience want to get cracking, I don't know what will. And be sure to visit Sushi's website for the best implicit definition of slash I've ever seen. In the future, I will simply point slash doubters and nay-sayers to Sushi's site, and if they don't get it, I will point again. (I'm practicing the silent pointing so that I can come back as a Ghost of Christmas Future. My kind of afterlife, y'know?)

Best FF That Proves the Basic All-Round Usefulness of Yellow Goop, Especially in Teamwork, Bonding, and Character Perspective. Yellow Goop: Buy Some Today!: Small Unit Tactics, by Livia,

liviapenn. Teen Titans, gen. This is one of those little stories I'll be recommending in the inevitable (but much dreaded) DC Universe Fandoms I Have Loved. It serves as an excellent introduction to the characters, which the average human desperately needs in DCU, and it's still good reading. We can't blame Livia for its G-rating; this story is already so densely packed that any more goodness, even of the slashy kind, would probably create an exceedingly literate and sexy black hole.

Best FF That Reveals the Evil That Lurks in the Heart of Men: Lights Out, by

penknife. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, gen. Giles wants to kill Angel. Actually, he wants to hurt Angel. And he knows exactly how to do it. I love this story because it shows the side of Giles the canon implies but never (as far as I know, which isn't that far) truly explores. We know he's human and we know he has a dark side; it makes an amazing amount of sense that this is what he keeps there.

Best FF That May Be of Interest, or Even Comprehensible, Only to the Author, My Best Beloved, and Me: Your Pilgrimage Is Over, by Mooncalf. Final Fantasy X, gen. This is a special bonus story, included for the roughly 1.5 readers of this blog who a) have finished, or nearly finished, FFX (a must for this story, I'm afraid) and b) want to read gen fic about it. (I would, for the record, gladly recommend FFX slash, especially any combination of Auron/Braska/Jecht, except that it's damned hard to find. So gen is what we're left with, fellow player(s).) Note that I love Auron with an unhealthy passion, and this story puts him in a somewhat darkish light, but that's, well, perfect for good ol' Aurie. You want proof this is a fantastic story? It directly contradicts the canon; what happens here could not have really happened. And yet I believe this version of events; it just makes so much more sense.

No time to read? Hah. You can read these stories in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee, get an order of fries from McDonald's, or think about what you're going to make for dinner. Seriously. Some of them you can read in the time it takes to answer the phone. So read them, because in fan fiction, length truly has nothing to do with quality.

Best FF That Uses Sex to Comment on Society, Psychology, and Character, Thus Proving the Author to Be a Superhero Named Multi-Tasking Girl: Only Queers Kiss, by

miriam_heddy. The Professionals, Bodie/Doyle. This story is why people who don't read PWP are missing out. Because, OK, technically there's nothing here but sex, but, um, are you noticing how good this is? How much it says about the characters and their thoughts and their times and what is happening with them? (And if you've never heard of The Professionals - a cop TV show, is my understanding, from the dark ages of the world - read it anyway. If you've read two pieces of fan fiction in any fandom, you know enough to read this.)

Best FF That Suggests Perhaps the Canon Authors Are Also Reading FF: Unclear, by C. Elisa. X-Men movies, Magneto/Xavier. Note that this story was finished before she saw X2. C. Elisa has recently joined my list of I'll-Read-Anything Authors. A new fandom? Fine. A weird pairing? Absolutely. Original fiction? Believe me, I'll be delighted. I'd read these folks' shopping lists with interest. This story is exactly why. C. Elisa's got Xavier's voice, in my opinion, she's deep into what it means to be a mutant, and almost as an afterthought she's totally revealed the whole relationship between these two characters. So, really, her shopping list? I'm sure it contains the formula for a cure for the common cold and the location of the mates to all my odd socks, somewhere between "gal. milk" and "4 tomatoes if nice" and "harvest bread unsliced." Of course I'm ready to read it. And you should read this.

Best FF That Proves That the Bang and the Whimper at the End of the World Will Probably Be Immediately Preceded by a Misunderstanding: Quiproquo, by V, aka

deepsix. Harry Potter, Marcus/Oliver. I never even suspected this pairing when I was a naive young innocent FF-free lass reading the early HP books. I had to go back and re-read them so I could remember who Marcus was. But there's this whole rich vein of Marcus/Oliver slash out there, and I've got to put these guys on the Pairings That Elucidate the Horror of Adolescence list, right under "Bobby/St. John." And this story also elucidates the horror of the coming war and betrayal and, well, look. Just read it.

Best FF That Forces Me to Make Not One but Two Real Fiction Recommendations in the Course of a Discussion of It That Is Longer Than the FF Itself Is: Shapes, by

brancher. Eight Days of Luke, Luke/David, and I am going to say it until you succumb: read Diana Wynne Jones' Eight Days of Luke. It'll take you three hours. And they will be hours well spent, if for no other reason than that you'll now understand some of the best FF out there. (FF, I might add, apparently condoned by the canon author, which is saying something.) Now, this story. Have you ever read "Climax to a Ghost Story?" (Feel free to do so now; it's a .pdf document, so it'll take longer to load than to read.) When you do, you think, wow, I wish he'd written the whole story, because those few lines kick ass - and then you realize those lines are the story. Anything else would be totally superfluous. Same thing with "Shapes." Trust me on this.