For those other fandoms that
ambush me now and again.
Obligatory Content Warning
These
stories are slash, meaning they involve homosexual relationships, and some
of them are quite graphic. If you are too young to be allowed to read this
or if you are likely to be offended by the subject matter, take yourself
hence.
Andromeda · Brimstone · Lord of the Rings · Queer as Folk UK
Smallville · Due South · DS/HCL/TotC · Once A Thief
Hercules/Xena · BtVS/Angel · Eroica · Star Trek · Sentinel
Stimulating
by Ana and the sequels Interlude:
Cool Down, Scrambling,
and Perfect
Antidote are the best Tyr/Harper stories I've come across so far. Tyr
and Harper come to a mutually beneficial agreement that, somewhat surprisingly,
leads to other things. Not everyone approves.
In
Earthbound and the sequel Aftershocks by Sidewinder,
Lucifer falls... again. When The Prince Of This World is imprisoned in a
mortal body due to an unlikely and seemingly selfless act, Ezekiel finds
himself in an even stranger situation than before.
Plague
of Ghosts by the same author is short and ambiguous. Perhaps you'll
find it romantic; I find it extremely creepy. Remember - hubris, like suicide,
is a deadly sin, and also just plain foolhardy.
They
Say of the Elves by Brancher
Gimli, Legolas and those little stumblingblocks that threaten intercultural
relationships. The story is elegantly Tolkienish without going overboard
- and also very romantic, in the low-key, repressed manner of dwarves. <g>
Although
I loved the series, I never felt the need for fanfic in this fandom - Queer
as Folk (the original UK version, that is) is one of those shows that are
complete in themselves. It's well-rounded, explores the characters and their
relationships thoroughly, and is actually finished when it's over. Even
so, Cesare's Vince/Stuart stories
are a wonderful treat for fans of the series. The character's voices are
perfect, the relationships *right*. Cesare shows us that in spite of what
we thought, there *are* more tales to be told about these characters - and
he tells them very well indeed.
Mercy
by Koi is simply brilliant - intense, dark, bitter, painful and lovely,
with a touch of horror. And the suspense is masterful. I don't want to spoil
it in any way - just read it.
The
Presence of Fire by RivkaT
Another beautifully told story that I don't want to spoil by a summary.
Suffice it to say that it involves the best of intentions, an alien invasion,
and other lethal dangers.
Immortality
by Grail
Clark is never going to die - but Lex is.
Demarcation
by Livia
Years after Clark leaves Smallville and loses sight of Lex Luthor, Superman
runs into him unexpectedly.
The
Rules of Blue by Thamiris
Lex has rules, and he sticks to them - as a result, he never slept with
Clark Kent. Lois Lane might know what Superman looks like after sex, but
as it turns out, she never slept with Clark Kent, either. Time to change
those rules.
· Livia
Twenty-one
Lex attends a harvest fair, buys a cornhusk angel and discovers that at
twenty-one, you're not too old to discover new things about yourself. Livia
has the characters' voices down perfectly, and this version of Lex may well
be the most canonical one I've found in slashdom. Maybe a smidgeon too nice...
but it works.
· The
Spike
The Butterfly Effect
Lex steals the gift of prophecy. If he'd read the classics more carefully,
he might have known better.
· debchan
Antigen and Fate
Short, dark and perfect future AUs.
· Loch
Ness
Invulnerable
Years in the future, Lex gets out of prison, and Clark is there to meet
him. The link to the story is available by email
request.
· LaT
Reveal
Lionel Luthor demonstrates an unsurprising lack of respect for privacy and
a rather more surprising amount of discretion.
· Sarah
T - Drift
Lionel puzzles over his son's extremely peculiar behavior, investigates,
and eventually sets Lex back on his feet again. A telling look at Lionel's
parenting methods.
· Sarah
T
With
Mercy Round and Round
Martha Kent sees more than she wanted to. Ah, romance.
· Meredith
Lynne
The Middle of
Nowhere and The
Road Home
"Nowhere" pushes one of my anti-buttons, so I can't enjoy it as
much as I might have otherwise
it's
excellently written, though, and would even be worth reading just for the
sequel, which features an evil mutant carnivorous cow called Georgette.
· Te
The
Project Series
Smallville is a pretty dull little burg, so it's a good thing that Lex has
a project to help him pass the time: one Clark Kent.
· Jenn
Advanced
Masochism 101
In which Lex is curious as to why he's become a proxy stalker. As an added
bonus, Lana with a brain.
· Justine
Almost
Dawn
Martha Kent spends a sleepless night.
· The
Spike
Ride and Ride
II: Spin Out
More stories by The Spike. This mini-series starts out with a PWP, but becomes
much more than that in the second... because Lex had a plan, and it's gone
completely and utterly wrong.
· The
Spike
Witness
Triptych
The Spike's Witness Triptych is also great - all about Lex's ill-spent youth,
his acquaintance with Sam Phelan the crooked cop, and the beginnings of
his criminal mastermindedness. Plus just a touch of romantic sweetness to
round it all off. (I'm linking to the Smallville Slash Archive because the
story isn't up on The Spike's page yet.)
· Kellie
Matthews
meteOros
and Eos
A good read, well-written and nicely paced.
· Basingstoke
At
the 15th Annual Evil Masterminds Convention
The title says it all, really. <g>
All Fraser/Ray K.
Speranza
is still writing brilliant Due South stories. If you've missed any, I envy
you - you can read them for the first time! Particularly wonderful are Chicago's
Most Wanted (in which an unfortunate chain of events leads Fraser to
embark on the unlikeliest of new careers), The
Killer Replacements (wherein Fraser again receives an ominous phone
call while on vacation in Canada), Scrabble
(in which Fraser isfar too close to breaking point) and Juggling
Act (in which Ray is an angry clown).
Also,
don't miss Resonant's lovely The
American Way, in which Fraser attempts to go undercover as an American,
or her excellent The Teeth
of the Hydra, the story of a serial tattooist, how Stanley became Ray,
and how Ray came out of the closet.
· Resonant
Adorned
Beautiful, touching, lyrical, painful,
true to character and altogether wonderful. If you haven't read it yet,
do. If you have, read it again.
· Speranza
Beyond Embarassment
Fraser attempts to haunt Ray. Strange,
funny, tragic, twisty and wonderful, just like the series itself. Perfect.
This is a truly amazing author, and you should read all of Speranza's stories,
especially Enduring
Distance, which picks up where the series leaves off, and Merry
Go Round, which takes place some years after that.
·
Denise Raymond - All
the Comforts of Home
RayV pays Fraser a surprise visit
in the cold white north and runs into RayK. Unexpected complications for everyone
follow. Very well written, completely convincing, and a bonus of intriguing
native rituals... and RayK chopping wood. <g>
·
Kassandra
Unfortunately, Kassandra seems to
have taken her Due South site down, but try this: ask her for her stories
at KassXF@aol.com.
If possible, you should try to read everything she's written, in particular
"Waiting for the Thaw", the "Choices" series and "Busted". Kassandra's style
is wonderful, her characters are well-rounded and completely believable, and
she takes the time and has the talent to show relationships developing
and changing.
· Caroline
Alert The Alchemy Series
A wonderfully long saga for those
of us who hate to see good stories come to an end.
(I'm linking to Allaire's
Due South recommendation page because the author has no home page. While you're
there, you might want to have a look at the rest of Allaire's excellent rec
site...)
Alchemy 1: Ghosts
of Lovers Past
Alchemy 2: Signs,
Symbols and Dreams
Alchemy 3: Midnight
Blue
Alchemy 4: To
Hear the Words
Alchemy 5: Transmutation
Alchemy 6: Illumination
Alchemy 7: Poem
for a Winter's Night
· Bone
The Layers Series
Ray peels back Fraser's layers one
by one.
· Crysothemis
Damaged Goods
Having your heart ripped out once
tends to make you cautious when you fall the second time.
· Julad
Third Person
Ever wonder how distracting it would
be to have your dead father advising you about caribou while people were shooting
at you?
· Zen&nancy
The Politics of
X
Someone slips Fraser a mickey. Ray
fails to do the honorable thing.
· Wax
Jism When
She Walks in the Room
Maybe Ray's insecurity is justified.
· Hth
East O the Sun, West
O the Moon
Fraser and Ray have been together
for a long time, but Ray still seems like an enigma to Fraser.
· Basingstoke
Their Faces Resemble
His
An XF crossover... Which makes sense
because as we know, Ray Kowalski was abducted by aliens when he was ten.
· Viridian
5 Borderlands (One for Sorrow) Series (Amigos,
One for Sorrow,
and Long, Long Way
from Home)
Not all spirits from the great white
North are benevolent parents.
· Jane
Symons Mr.
Kowalski's Feeling for Snow
The story is very good, as well, but
you just can't beat the title. <g>
· Kellie
Matthews and AuKestrel
The Northern Comfort Series
An epic crossover spanning three universes.
Northern
Comfort by Kellie Matthews starts out by bringing Billy Talent, former
guitarist of the defunct punk band Hard Core Logo, into the Due South universe.
No Secrets,
also by Kellie Matthews, depicts the aftermath of this encounter in the Chicago
of Due South. Both of these stories are very good, but IMO, they can't hold
a candle to the third story in the series, Shadows
Fade, co-authored by Kellie Matthews and AuKestrel. This lovely novel-length
tale follows Billy to Los Angeles, where he enters the world of Tales of the
City and meets an idealistic lawyer who bears an amazing resemblance to Constable
Fraser. This story is beautiful in every way. Read it even if you know neither
HCL nor TotC. You'll enjoy it anyway.
· Anne
Zo Going Deep
Anne Zo delivers irrefutable proof
that the cliché that cannot be turned into an excellent story in the
right hands doesn't exist. Mac and Victor go undercover as a gay couple, and
there is nothing at all boring or formulaic about it. Go. Read it. Bug her
for a sequel.
· Rina
The Connections Series
The Director sets her team to track
down a serial killer who finds his victims in internet chat rooms.
· Te
The Music Series
Te hits the characters right on the
nose, especially Vic. This may well be the most canonical Victor of them all.
Except for that slash thing, of course.
· Sophia
Mars Rising
WIP. My knowledge of the fandom is
extremely limited, but I have the impression that this story is very untypical.
It plays in the present and has very little connection to canon-specific material
so far (I don't consider Greek gods in general part of Herc/Xena canon). It
*does* have extremely strong writing, a spellbinding plot, excellent original
characters, an especially compelling protagonist and an equally fascinating
dark mystical universe. The author handles the characters and plot so subtly
that the reader never quite knows what role any given character is truly playing.
I love that kind of thing. <g> If I were Sophia, I'd have this published
as original fiction. It's more than good enough, and as far as I know no one
has attempted to copyright gods yet.
· Te
Post-Grad (Part 1,
Part 2)
Xander and Spike, the way it works.
· Doyle
Investigations
In a darker world where the forces
of darkness run unchecked, a bitter Doyle is all that stands between LA citizens
and the terrors that stalk the streets. Alongside Faith the Vampire Slayer
and her Watcher, Wesley Wyndham-Price, Doyle fights the forces of darkness
in the world inspired by the Buffy episode "The Wish", a world with the Master
ascendant in Sunnydale and with Buffy Summers and Angel dead and gone. I won't
try to sugarcoat it: it's gen. But. It has Doyle the tough-as-nails, half-Bracken
PI with the obligatory heart of gold , Spike aka William the Bloody as he
lives and err whatever, Faith, great writing, incredible characterization,
compelling and well-plotted alternate episodes, angst, angst, angst... And
last but not least, Darla the way canon never showed her, Scary with a capital
S.
· Tammy
Green City
Without...
An alternate universe version of "City
of Angel" in which Angel refuses to be the Trenchcoated Avenger, preferring
to go off and brood in a dank cellar. This leaves Messenger Doyle in a rather
awkward position, because the Powers That Be dont like taking no for an answer...
And theyre heavily into contingency planning. It's gen, too. I don't know
what's come over me. <g> Must be the good writing.
If you're not familiar with this fandom, you may want to have a look at Lisa's excellent site From Eroica With Love. Most Eroica stories are not available on the net, but have a look at the Eroica Fan Fiction Index for a list of stories available per email request.
· BT
The Caged Flight Series and the My Kingdom For A Horse Series
Everything by BT is worth reading
several times over, these series most of all. BT is the author who made me
fall in love with this fandom bringing Dorian and Klaus together without
distorting either of them beyond recognition is a labor of Herculean proportions,
and of everything I've read so far, she does by far the best job of it.
·
KM and CTB - Ten Years Gone
Painfully realistic, dark and very
good. Available by email request.
· Sandy
K. Herrold Calamity
Is Virtue's Opportunity
Just what the title says, although
I'm not certain I'd use the word "virtue" to describe either Dorian or Klaus.
<g> Another one of the very few (almost) convincing scenarios for getting
these particular boys together. (Although being as annoyingly nitpickety as
I am, I feel compelled to remark that there are no statues for Dorian to hide
behind in that particular park.)
· Killashandra
Ghost in the Machine
TOS and VOY, K/S and K/Paris
One of the best science fiction stories
I know, period. Also a very good slash story. Summarizing wouldn't do the
story credit; suffice it to say that if you're in the least interested in
science fiction slash of any flavor, you should read this.
· The
Anonymous Sisters Escher Dreams (Part
1, Part 2,
Part 3)
TNG, Picard/Q
The best Picard/Q story I've found.
The authors summarize: Picard begins having dreams of a mysterious lover at
the same time the Enterprise begins study of an unusually beautiful anomaly.
Is the anomaly responsible for the dreams, or is something more complicated
going on?
· Varoneeka
The Louder the
Song
TNG, Picard/Q
Another excellent Picard/Q story in
which Picard makes a deal with an irritating, almost-but-not-quite omnipotent
entity in order to save his ship. He doesn't sign the contract in blood, but
then it's not his soul that's being bartered... Or so he thinks.
· Super!Cat
Contact
VOY, Chakotay/Paris
Tom Paris makes contact with the Maquis.
His luck holds true.
· Blue
Champagne The Pride of Lions
DS9, Bashir-centric
An epic tale of what happens when
roads intersect. This is a story for everyone who, like me, wanted to see
a lot more of the Mirror Universe's Bashir than canon gave us. Another one
of BC's numerous good points is that she actually runs with the idea of Bashir's
genetic enhancements, which is more than canon ever did.
You might also like to have a look at BC's The Crisis Team Series, specifically Diamond Wall and the Alternative Stories There Are Always Alternatives, Eighth Alternative and Ninth Alternative. I'm not as optimistic as BC when it comes to the sexual politics of the 24th century, but again, I love the way she explores some of the ramifications of being the subject of illegal genetic enhancements.
While valiantly (and, in the end, unsuccessfully) trying to befriend this fandom, I found a handful of stories that are so good they made me forget the fact that I don't actually like TS. No mean achievement.
· Russet
McMillan Tale
of the Body Thief
It's an X-File. It has realistic characterization,
a fascinating plot, and romance without sap. It's also got het sex that falls
under the heading of slash. Just read it.
· Sandy
K. Herrold In
The Air
A hilarious story featuring one of
the most mortifying and surrealistically grotesque situations of slash history.
· Bone
and Aristide Out
of Whack
Wherein Blair Sandburg's illusions
about the gentle sex are shattered, he re-thinks his sexuality and is likened
to a fire-hose.
· Helen
in Hell Not Exactly
Funny
Ever read an amnesia story that wasn't
contrived? Didn't think so. Helen goes the other way, pours on the clichés
unflinchingly, and makes it work.
· Francesca
Mia
Francesca has written very many good
TS stories, but this one in particular sticks in my mind because I love the
idea behind it. That pheromone business isn't as uncomplicated as it sounds.