Michele: Doing the Right Thing

Mmm. Another story that acknowledges Becoming and runs
with it. There's some awkwardness at the end, but on the whole it's a...
satisfying tale. It's an entirely different look at Angel's whole
happiness clause, and what it means to take revenge. I love it, of
course. There just isn't enough good, dark Giles fic out there that
even pays *lip* service to canon.

This story made me happy.

*

Sheila: Optimistic

Oh *fuck* I'm *scared*. Just... *eeeeek*. Follow Oz on another
one of those road trips. Learn a little. Revel in the damned-good-ficness
of it. And, at the last, be very scared. You see, Sheila is one of those
writers who claims sweetness and innocence and general timidity,
but every once in a while, when you're good and suckered in, she'll put
out something like *this*.

Yeah, it's another Oz on the road thing, but it eventually stops. And
Oz does a perfectly Ozly thing and makes a decision. Sticks with it.
And it's beautiful, and lush, and sad, and when everything changes... well
I was sitting at my computer saying "No, no no no..." over and over
again.

I love it when they can rip me apart. If this doesn't make you feel, I'll
give you a full refund.
 
 

Wendy now, with Milk and Alcohol.

Well, *hell*. I mean... I'd call this a ghost story, but not necessarily
because of the actual ghost. This is a difficult one to describe,
moody yet too calm. Horrifying and heartwarming. I just don't know.

It's an Oz story, and a life story, and a death story, too. Lingers
long after you've finished, that's for you. I think... I think this
is what I want Gothic to mean.

A few missed notes in there, nowhere near enough to give me pause
before reccing this. Just. Go read.

*

Puca Puca Puca! Let's start with Plastic Bag...

Another creeptacular Oz tale. OK, I confess, I spent a large
amount of time at Puca's lovely Diminished Ninth [note: this archive
doesn't exist anymore] archive. She's on my Links page for a
reason.

This story takes a look at the world through one of the realest
original characters I've ever come across. The old man is
fascinating in his ordinariness, rife with blind spots and assumptions.

He tells a tale of an Oz in... difficulty, and it's a lovely bit of
horror.

Sadly, Puca gives a little too much away at the end, but, as you can
see, I've forgiven her. <g>

Bathroom Rituals: Harmony

And another... I believe I already mentioned Puca's Bathroom Rituals
series, but it's just too good not to give it another look. Specifically,
the Harmony piece. Harmony wasn't even a character in my eyes, just
a colorful addition to the whole Jossly mosaic. Somehow, despite the
fact that she's still used entirely for comedy, she's become... *more*.

I can *feel* her, and feel her trying. This is a story about finding
a place in the world... or trying to.

It illustrates beautifully one of the things I like best about fanfic --
taking a character that doesn't get very much screen time or
development and making her *real*. And if not just as human as the
rest of us, per se, then certainly just as worthy of attention.

This one hit me where it counts.

Bathroom Rituals: Spike

How can I not love a Spike that's obviously read the same books
I have? Well, OK, the author has, and has made be believe that Spike
would, too.

--Rec within a Rec: Daniel Quinn's _Ishmael_ completely changed
the way I look at the world. Hell, it changed my life. Maybe yours,
too. --

In any sense, I don't want to give the impression that this is one
of those droningly literary stories meant to showcase just how
darned smart the author is. Nope, no way, because, well, *ick*.

Instead, this is a story about Spike, a beautifully rendered
character portrait that worked so well it almost disappeared
within what I think of as canon. Now *that's* good fanfic.

*

And now for pretty Sheila, with Done.

So, yeah, Gunn's my *honey*. Big, Black, and angry. Be still my
*CENSORED*. And Sheila is just getting better by, like, the hour.
Not to even mention the fact that she's pretty damned cool.

But anyway. Done.

It's a love story in shudder rhythm. A portrait in style. And it has
the nerve to be *funny*, too:

 -- Nothing's changed, really. Not at the hotel, not around Cordelia,
not anywhere. They still fight, and fight other things, and fight with
each other. Wesley still gets more excited over books than anything,
and Gunn still. With Cordelia.

Not *that*.

Just...well. It's Cordelia and he owes her.

Okay, so she's Barbie-like and extremely white. Still a good looking
woman and Jesus God, but he feels guilty thinking that. Why? 'Cause
he's got an even whiter man and wouldn't the folks back home just
shake their heads and wonder whatever happened to that "nice
Gunn boy"?

Fell in with some crazy ass white people, is what.  --

They *sincerely* needed him.

And you guys out there sincerely need to read this. Learn to love the
Gunn. Then write me more fiction.

*

Bruised 3

Ha! I defeat the evil frame!

<fanning self> I'm not usually a fan of Angelus fic -- he has
to be the first villain I've actively *hated* -- but some authors are
rapidly changing that. Including the lovely Lar, who has the great
and fabulously well-maintained Eterniata site that is absolute
*HELL* on my eyes. C'mon, sugar, can't the font be a *little*
bigger? The background a *little* less blue?

Still, it all just means I have to be careful bingeing on the fic there.

Lar isn't just a writer, she maintains an archive filled with
hand-picked fiction. I don't agree with *all* of her choices, but
I certainly agree with quite a few of them. But anyway, the story
in question.

She says you have to read the first two for it to make sense, I'm
not so sure of that. In any case, I didn't like them as much as I
liked this one, so there. Er...

What you need to know: Xander has found himself in a delightfully
fucked up Angelus in the second season.

This story gets right inside Xander's head, and takes the reader
on a ride through not-at-all mindless sensuality and desperate
submission. And the sex is fucking *scorching*.

There are one or two jumping spiders, and I personally don't think
Angelus would show quite so much care, but all in all the true notes
greatly outnumbered the false. This is a hot read, and it even
comes complete with some fabulous Xander insights toward the
end. Go read.
 
 

And then there's the mysterious Jessica Walker. OK, so maybe she's
not so much mysterious as relatively unknown to me, but hell, it sounded
good: Fractured.

*gibber*

*wail*

Mother*fuck*.

Angel/Wesley can be one of the most heartbreaking pairings out there,
and Jessica Walker spells that out in no uncertain terms. The voice
is perfect Wesley, the situation one that I have no problem believing
in. Again, this a sequel to another story. Again, I like this better. This
is a Wesley utterly robbed of illusions, but not yet of his soul.

And it is bitter, and sexy, and soul-searing.

Emptiness can hurt so very badly. Read this, people. It's wonderful.

*

And now for your RDA of the Spike: Animus, part of the Unpossessed
Country series. Whole thing can be found here.

This series is a Webrain production, so I obviously can't rec *all*
of it, but I had to mention this story. Animus is one of the warmest,
most warmly odd pieces of fiction I've read on a while. And it's
also a crossover with Duckman.

*koff*

Look, if you've got any affection at all for love on the fringes, you
most sincerely need to read this story. It gets me all verklemmt.

When I'm not laughing my ass off. Have I mentioned lately how much
I love the Spike?

*

Spyke Raven time, and no, her name has *nothing* to do with the
character. I stand corrected. I wish I could remember what it did
mean, but none of that has anything to do with the fact that she
continues to write fanfuckingtastic fiction. Jiminy Christmas.

Let's start with Lyrical Clarity.

Watch me defeat the frames again! I'm a gee-nee-us.

And Lyrical Clarity. Jesus. Again, an author who reads the same
books I do, and puts the ideas in them to use. Taking loup, indeed.
This story follows Lindsey as he walks his own line between good
and evil. In the end, in a perfectly Lindseyan view, they really aren't
all that different. Another story about emptiness, perhaps, but
Lindsey at least knows exactly how to ride it. What can I say? I see
Spyke's addy in my inbox, I *jump* to read. The woman is good.

As she also demonstrates in Situating the Self.

When I want Darla, I go to Spyke. This story explains everything
unsaid in that whole Lindsey/Darla/Angel fucked-up-some, and,
here's a shock, makes me *feel*. Spyke Raven has that wonderful
gift of letting monsters be themselves. *All* of themselves, not
just those pieces most convenient for fiction.

To me, the best fiction will always be those stories in which it
seems the author sees the characters as real people, and even
if Spyke Raven doesn't, I can happily choose not to believe her.

The story takes a long look at questions like how you fall in love,
what makes a person human, and, of course, what makes Darla herself.

Read, read, read.

*

Aaaaaaand... Jane St. Clair.

She's playing on my turf, too! Thank God! A few of you may have
noticed that I'm something of a Gunn/Wesley fan... *ahem*

OK, all of you have. Jane feeds my need in the most
wonderful way. In her fabulous 4 part (so far, dammit) series
starting with "Chaparral," she took a little idea I dabbled with and
blew it up real good. Here are a Gunn and Wes who are assuredly
adult.

Prickly, grainy around the edges, horny as hell. Um. er. Yes.
It's a love story, and a growth story, and I'm glad to end this
set of recs here. Joyously, the series has a healthy dose of
Giles/Ethan on the side. Gee, Jane, how many of my buttons can
you push at once?

Oh yeah, and this chica has one hell of a way with imagery. My current
favorite quote from the second story, Restaurant Dogs:

-- He supposes they could leave one at a time, but somehow he doesn't
think that'd be much more subtle, so he just follows Wesley back out.
Trucker sitting close to the washroom hallway glares over at them for
a minute and mutters something. Gunn grins back and watches the
washed-out blue eyes slam back down to the tabletop, and stretches the
grin wider, enjoying what a scary black bastard he can be, even with
damp knees and semen at the corner of his mouth. --

*happysigh* Go read.

*

Deb writes the best Oz there is, plain and simple. The guy is so *hard*
to capture, to get all that deep thought in there, with just the right
amount of pain, and let's not forget that he's what? Twenty? Just a
baby yet. And oh, all that delicious *history*.

Deb makes it look easy, children. If you doubt me, read those Oz
sections of Cicatrix again.

Or just read "Plans," because, well, that's what I'm reccing.

This is a road song, pure and clean and sweet, filled with just the right
sort of mood for anyone who likes to slip into some boogieshoes every
now and again and get gone. It's about moving past, and getting
through, and the questionable need for forgiveness. It's about finding
kin, and we *all* know what kind of sucker I am for that sort of
story. Go. Read. Love on her.

*

The Spike: "Clean"

All right, so everybody pretty much knows that Wesley has become one
of my favorite characters, right? I can *feel* him. This wire of
connection that makes me want to blush and wince and cheer all at the
same time, because dammit, he's *made* it. OK? He has. Just look at him.

And he's all the more desirable for the fact that he doesn't *know* he's
made it, yet. And that's what this story hits on, among other things,
Wesley's need, shame, and desperation. Wesley's reckless, overweening
hope that just may get him killed one day. And maybe, just maybe, the
mirror is lying.

*
 

Sarah T.: "Minst'ring Angel Thou"

Oh, how I love to love Angel -- when all that control frays down to
one brittle thread. This little piece is a warmly creepy shot at what
could have happened just after Shanshu, as Angel takes a good, long
look at pain.

I really, really want more from this author.

*

Mmmm. More Jane St Clair, and the curious "Flower."

More Wesley, introspective, drifting easily over the surfaces of
his own thoughts, save for some unavoidable dark, dark crevices.
Calm, steady, and sane, with a touch of bitter, an encompassing
love, and the character-solid need so...

Made simple. Simply there. It is there, and it is not so much a part of
Wesley as Wesley himself.

Very beautiful.

And oh Christ God Jesus.

"Mockingbird"

Fresh off her word processing program, yet another stunningly
gorgeous piece of fiction. Wanna know just who Cordelia Chase *really*
is? Read this story. A character piece with serious range despite its
brevity.

Cordelia and her life, and everything of it.

Cordelia's fascinating mind: softly vicious, gently harsh. Slow, creeping
vision and the blindness it still hasn't quite eradicated.

And then she had to go and add Faith to the mix. Half-broken Faith,
somewhere between child and penitent, and far too tempting for her own
good.

Ludicrously hot, I read this one with my eyes wide. With my lips parted.

Oh, Xander/Spike. My first Buffy fandom love, and *so* hard to
make even remotely credible. Mad Poetess, however, does a pretty
good job, considering, and has me positively lapping up the sugar.
Rrrr.

"Chocolatey Goodness" is a long, lazy look at the growing relationship,
from first contact to -- at this point -- pillow talk at turns sweet, terrifying,
and awkward. It's a long, lovely universe and a good solid night up reading.

Just so long as Tripod isn't being a prick.

[Edited: Heh. No longer at Tripod. Good deal...]

Oh, and then there's "A Long Time," which just broke me down. God,
something about those life-long stories, the passage of time... I like
this one better than CG, I think, even though I would've liked more
set-up for the schmoop. I just... there are some lovely, lovely
character sketches in there, a few elegant brushstrokes that wrap it
all right up.

Lives. God. This one is staying with me.

I look forward to more from this author, to be sure.

*

Aaaaack! It's another site rife with frames! KILL IT KILL IT KILL
IT!!!

http://www.geocities.com/OpheliaGirl_99/Fanfiction.html

But, er... read the stuff there first. Christina Melani is doing
some *fab* things with Xander that are basically right on the line
of squidge/run away screaming. I'm gonna rec the gentler one, because
I still haven't gotten a hold on the other.

"Underground Music" is an AU that is *unabashedly* AU, well outside
the range of canon, yet oddly not beyond the range of character. Just
think: Xander has been performing every day for years and years,
trying to be funny to cover up flaws both real and imagined... but what
if he chose a different role to play?

And what if he had, say, Spike there to encourage him? Don't get
me wrong -- this is gentler than her other work, but that's a relative
thing. This one made me want to go out and kill something, for the
sheer hell of it.

And isn't that the best part of it? The way a story can make you feel?

*snicker*

*

Oh, and, of course, UCSL.

What can I say? I've spent hours there on many an occasion over the past
year and change, and I'll be doing it again before too much time has passed.
UCSL, the list and the archive (both run by the abfab Kate Bolin), changed the
way I approached fiction, opened me way up and let me run. I've made some
wonderful friends, I've read some wonderful fic, and I'm a better writer for
having dived into that particular pool.

Check it out.

*

Look! I have a new love! Her nom de fic is Spyke Raven, and I
somehow managed not to hold that against her, despite my unreasoning
prejudice against naming oneself similar to characters. I don't know
where this comes from.

I'm working on it.

All stories mentioned linked from here.

Oh, how I do hate frames.

I first came across her fic when I saw "Incarnadine" posted to one
of the lists I'm on. I just... I read, and midway through I was
already IMing people *demanding* that they read this story. It's
an album of blood, a dreamy slice-of-death, surreal and sweet, dark and
oddly warm.

I think it's about how you never really stop loving, and how there
are just as many ways to love as there are people *to* love. More,
maybe.

"Nocturne"

My God! Darla fic that works! Erotic and moving, and just... You know,
there are relatively few holes that need filling in the Jossverse, and
filling them is like... It's like adding to a masterpiece, you know?
Chances are, it's not gonna fit. Chances are, that'll be *glaringly*
obvious.

But here's one hole that got filled most gorgeously: Darla. Angel's
sire, mentor, teacher, lover, mother and goddess all wrapped into one
package. Has to be pretty wow, right? Unfortunately, Julie Benz has
been rather disappointing as Darla, bland and... unconvincing, maybe?

In any case, Spyke Raven has given us the *real* Darla, as far as
I'm concerned. Everything she should be, and more.

And just one more: "Blood Ties."

You know, I'm not usually a fan of Extreme Hurt/Comfort. Most of
it comes across as rather gratuitous to me, and well, if I want to
hear about rare, tragic, incurable diseases I'll start paying attention
to my doctors instead of covering my ears and screaming "la la la
I can't hear you la la la!"

They hate that.

But this one isn't like that. I mean, you've got your big, incurable
bugaboo, but thankfully the author focuses on the characters
involved, as opposed to wallowing in the hurrrrrrt. Bleh. And what
focus! She creates incredibly believable -- and heart-rending --
portrayals of Angel and Riley. Glimpses of how the world has
and has not changed over the years.

Responsibility and terror, and, in the end, maybe a little love.  Read.
Now.

*

And now for some art. I love, love, *love* digital artwork. The best
artists make the medium *sing*. Spyke Raven has some absolutely
stunning art on her pages, and, well, then there's Craww.

The visual representation of everything UCSL stands for, you can
find a large amount of her work here.

My two faves-of-the-moment are a Dru/Xander and a Faith/Dru.
Both are rather on the wicked side, almost entirely seamless, and
*lingering*. They put ideas in my head, mommy. Craww matches mood
and tone well, and I just like going here to look around. It's funny
the plots that can pop into your head from looking at some of these
things.

We loves Craww.

*

And and and also Puca Dentata. I don't think I want to know the literal
translation of her name, but she sure makes some good, weird fic.
Disturbing and fascinating and refreshingly unique. Start here:

Bathroom Rituals: Oz

And then meander. But Oz... this is just one of the *good* things
about Oz being gone -- he really could wind up in some odd situations. This
piece is atmospheric, as artistic as the other two subjects within, but
thankfully self-aware. A good read.

*

And some more Kita. I'm getting pretty addicted to her work, I am. I
love it when writers hook me through the proverbial bag. Latest love:
"Thirty Days."

Here we have a meaty, thoughtful piece on the nature of women
and blood. And blood. Some of these authors have a real thing for
blood, I've found.

Me, I'm more into the whole rending and tearing of flesh. Thicker.

Er.

Yes.

I like this story a lot, see, and it has lots of little snapshots within,
and it just... God, it was so *affirming* in some ways. And I love
this image:

"And it's only Angel's soul that prevents him from doing the same.
From pulling Cordelia to him that once a month time when he can
smell her from the shelter of his office. From laying between a pair of slim,
pale thighs and drinking his full of the life's blood which can be taken and
taken without ever injuring the giver. The New Improved Spike cannot finish
the act with common brutality, but Angel could, oh yes he could, and he
would, and he knows this, and so he doesn't."

Mrrr. I sure do wanna see that, Kita.

*hint*

*

Rheanna: Happily Ever After

Oh, *wow*. Kita *demanded* I read this, and she was just too fucking right.
A future of a very limited sort for the Angel crew, and just real enough to
make it linger, clutching, at the back of your neck. *shudder*

*

Esmerelda: Change of Fortune

Hey, look! Someone who knows *how* to use second person! How I love
to love such people. The fact that she uses it within the milieu of an
Apocalypse was just icing. There are a few semi-false notes here, one or two
typos, but the tale *dragged* me in and kept me there. Very nice look at
Angel. Good stuff.

Mary Borsellino: Bruised and Borrowed

Aw, hell, y'all know how I am about dark AUs. This one is *damned* dark,
a different look at how the Glory thing might have gone down. Well-
written, fascinating, engagingly creepsome. My problem with it? Not long
enough.

*

Benaresq: For Giving

I made the mistake about reading the summary, which purported to
offer more of the same plappy h/c Angel/Xander that makes me pretty
much delete any story with the pairing on sight. I deleted this one, too,
but Kita *insisted* I give it a read. If you like the pairing, you'll like this one.
She's ruthlessly accurate (IMO) in her characterizations, and the style
is just as clean and spare as it should be. Very, very nice.

*

Sarah T.: Anywhere But Here

Just when I thought I'd have to go on a multistate kill spree if I saw one more
Dawn road trip story, Sarah T. writes a *good* one. One, in fact, that felt
damn near perfect. Her secret ingredient? Brilliantly written Ethan. *purr*
I'm in love with this tale. Wit, danger, corruption of the young... what
more can a girl ask for?

*

Kita: Echoes

Good God-*damn*. This is the story I've been waiting for since Sanctuary. Angel
and Faith, and all the ways they do and don't connect. Beautifully done, raw and
powerful, like a punch to a bruise. Just honestly wonderful. My only complaint is
that there were several places that felt like 'endings,' but the story kept going. Kept
going quite *well*, mind you, but it was a little jarring.

*

Tanja: Death Becomes Her

Oh, yes. I have a weakness for Darla. Have had one ever since the scene of her,
gazing into the mirror, sick but painting herself up for the only kind of
redemption she knew. Darkness and a world with the only kind of love she
understood. Whore. This captures all of it with simple grace, and we love
Roz for posting it for us.

*

Samantha: Timewatching

And what a fascinating and beautiful look into Wesley's soul *this* was?
Wesley, to me, is a marvelous gift of a character, hopelessly complex, endlessly
full of goodness and helpless need. A Xander, all grown up and still unknown
to himself, still full of doubt. A wonder. I love the authors who can conjure him
through words, and Samantha is no exception. Here he is, naked and unsure,
split between hope for honor and need.

And Cordelia through his eyes is beyond special.

Absolutely lovely.

*

James Walkswithwind: Wesley Rogue Demon

Oh, what an original idea! I loved this to pieces, devoured it in minutes,
ignored my friends to read more... Sweetbitter (more sweet than bitter)
tale of how the past can define you... or not. Made me grin like a loon,
despite how gentle it was.

Hth: Pink Ladies

It's a rare, rare author that can write a Dru as wonderful as this. It's an even
rarer one to make me give a damn about Tara's existence, and Hth may
very well be the only one who can make me fall in love. The music weaves
through beautifully, reminds me of the inside of my head on the days when
the music just doesn't stop. Reminds me of every darkly pretty think I've
ever seen, and makes me feel.

Read this *now*.

And: anyway, the main thing is

Sometimes it seems like hell will freeze over before Hth and I agree on
*anything*, but when it comes to the stories... I'm *there*. This is Gunn.
This is love. The hurt's there, the trouble's there, and I'm not gonna say
it doesn't matter, because it *does*. Thing is, love doesn't give a flying
fuck. Ain't it beautiful?

*

Spyke Raven:-plex series

BtVS All I can say is thank goodness for the Improv List. The challenge that
spawned this incredible series was a simple one -- all stories must take place in
the Wishverse.

Spyke Raven took it and *ran* with it with this, three loosely connected
pieces to form a framework. Something about what it means to be human
and alive in a world completely unwelcome to you. Something about being
warm and safe in the night, and what the absence of that safety truly means.

It's beautiful, and it's harsh, and it's *beautiful*, and I command each and
every one of you to read it.

*

You know, Spyke Raven is fun and wonderful and I adore her. She has
an absolutely beautiful site.

But I don't think we'll ever agree on the importance of clarity. I can
hardly find a *thing*. Ay, oh well. The price we pay for good fic, nu?

Metamorphosis.

OK, so, I *hate* her for thinking this up before I did. It's Gunn, it's
real, it's the sort of thing where you know all the way down that the
author really *loves* the character.

So much that she knows exactly where to pull and push to get the
answers you didn't really want, but really do need. Rrr. It doesn't
hurt that this little chica has *style*.

I don't know what it is, but some writers write great, beautiful
stories that make you weep... and then you forget all about them.
Other authors write okay stories that stay with you for years, and I
kinda think it has something to do with style. A confidence in one's
skills.

Everybody notices when a confident woman walks down the street, no
matter what she looks like. No matter what she looks like, she can
be beautiful with just the arch of an eyebrow.

Style can do that for you -- and Spyke Raven is a fuck of a lot better
than just *okay*.

Also check out Burning Lucifers, which is the very first Penn fic that ever
made me give a damn. Spyke explains him to us in clear, darkly sweet detail,
and suddenly makes him a part of that lovely, fucked up family of vamps that
we're all just that slightest bit obsessed with. *happysigh*

*

Jane St. Clair: Tangential

AAAAAGH! She's too good! She's too good! Jane makes us fear, y'all,
and for good reason. Her language is an odd mix of the languid and the
cuttingly precise and it gets right down under the skin. And *burrows*.

So here we have  a Buffyverse that is just slightly warped. Like God took
it in hand and twisted, gently. Nothing quite matches up, but it's in that
subtle way, where you just wonder when you got that smudge on your
glasses.

In any case, it's gorgeous, and day-to-day frightening. It lingers, and it's
sexy, and it's much too real.

Wonderful.