Fandom Snowflake Challenge, Day 13

[aadler]

 
Continuing the meme/challenge begun and tracked here.

Fandom Snowflake Challenge, Day 14
 
In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you did not create. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I’ve done this one a few times before, and have probably hit the major highlights that I really thought worthy of requiring recommendation. Still, there might be a few more out there, in various spots …

Okay, most of my picks — maybe all of them — will be ‘old stuff’. Lots of talented people writing today, but the things I remember when I start looking for something good, are the things that have stuck with me for awhile. This time, I’m going with four picks.

The first is a delight, but at a quarter of a million words is a set of solid meals rather than a snack. ‘Back in the day’, I called Oracle/Avatar the Tom Clancy of Buffyfic. His Dark Slayer series set the bar for me on just how good fanfiction could be. Except for “Memento Mori”, the stories kept getting longer and more involved, and remain captivating. Unfortunately, this was in 1999; since then, both the site where I first found the stories and the author’s own original site have gone defunct. The stories themselves, however, can be found here. If you want to entertain yourself for a leisurely week (or just forget about sleep and power through), check them out, and see what gave my fanfic world a jump-start more than fifteen years ago.

The second one is of comparable vintage, and almost as hard now to find. “Alternative Lifestyle”, by A.C. Chapin, can currently be found only through the Wayback Machine, so I strongly recommend that it be read before even that last tenuous link is cut. Well under 5,000 words, the story is a slam-bang stream-of-consciousness thrill ride, with two different worlds and two different Buffys and two different Gileses and one solid, entertaining kick from beginning to end.

“California Screaming” is both the best and worst Buffy/Veronica Mars fic I’ve ever read. Best because it really is that good; worst because it stopped dead and was never finished, after a compelling introduction and more than 9,000 words worth of world-building. Shame, shame, shame. (Any unfinished fic is a shame. A really good unfinished fic is an offense.) I recommend that you go instead with “Subcontractor” by Marcus Rowlands (ffutures on LJ). Starts off a bit slower, but builds to a satisfying resolution, with workmanlike storytelling throughout.

Finally, for a change of pace, something that has nothing to do with Buffy. (I know, the shock of it all!) “Queen of Spades”, by astolat, is a post-Casino Royale chronicle about the long-term dynamic between James Bond and M. Probably the shortest of my recommendations here, but it is beautiful, excellent characterization of two striking personalities, through conflict and concert and eventual understanding. I re-read it periodically, and it has yet to pall.

That’s it. Jump in and enjoy.

Comments

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recs. I've not read any of them so they go onto my "to-read" list!


Gabrielle

[aadler]

You’re in for a treat.