Reading Between the Loins

executrix doesn't have "Reading Between the Loins," the essay published as an appendix in The Democratic Genre, posted online. But she says:


As for the essay, I'm not sure if this is the exact version that went into the book (I'm too kafrazzicated to go and check) but....I don't want to repay Pugh for being so kind to me by putting part of the book up publicly, but if anybody actually wants to read it you can just e-mail it to them.

Email me if you're interested in the essay and I'll pop it back to you. Exec is also working on a updated version for later posting to her lj.

Long, multi-part fic recs--BtVS/Ats

Most of these fics are older ones that I found when I first began reading fic online.

Spike/Xander

Babylon by tabaqui. This piece is one of the most interesting looks at the way the world disintegrates after Angel and Co's last stand in that alley that I've read. The beginning chapters that describe the apocalypse are written so amazingly--such terror and horror and strange beauty in the world going to shit. I bawled my eyes out in those first chapters (wait 'til you read what happens to Angel), and by the time Spike and Xander find each other, I'm ready for the comfort the two bring each other. This piece also makes novel use of Illyria's character. A must read if like me, you love it when the world ends.

Blood Ties by amejisuto This MPREG story imagines that Spike and Xander conceive through the machinations of the Initiative. This is not a humorous MPREG to begin with; at times it is very intense and suspenseful but settles in the later chapters into a more light-hearted mode. WIP

Coming Around Again and it's continuation by yin_again and wesleysgirl This is a classic and one of my favorite Spander fics--watching the boys try fix the places that are broken is so cathartic. If you've ever loved and lost, this will break your heart a thousand times over, and then put it back together again.

Credence by tabaqui I very much love this fic. There's such an undercurrent of violence to this piece, when the violence isn't blatant that is, and it's electrifying to read. Spike and Xander both are very fucked up, and at times, their relationship here makes me uncomfortable. This is not the "let's go buy a puppy and set up housekeeping, Xan" version of Spander; it's something darker and more plausible. WIP

Dead Sunflowers by nasty_shrew Oh is this glorious!!! Shrew writes the best crazy!Xander I've ever read. He's so beautifully shattered, with moments of brilliant cogency. Shrew can write dialogue that is by turns hilarious and cutting, heartbreaking and uplifting. An absolute must read.

Dogs of War by tabaqui What happens when the Initiative can't be stopped? Truly horrifying AU that is utterly plausible. Okay, I have a thing for the end of the world, a fetish if you will. *g*

Everlasting Love by amejisuto Ame describes this fic in the following way: Weird weather invades Sunnydale and Xander tries to bring the Scoobies together to figure out what’s happening, while at the same time he figures out that his vampire roomate has a crush on him. Damn good read.

Hero by tabaqui The lines between sanity and insanity, the real and the imagined, are blurred into a lovely grey fog here. The end, oh, the end. Well, I'm not gonna *tell,* you. LOL

It's Just a Jump to the Left and it's sequel Late Night Double Feature by kimberly_fan The first fic in this series is a brilliant take on the concept of the movie "Groundhog Day" and the second fic deals with the aftermath of Xander reliving that one night over and over and over again.

Little Runaway, Parts One and Part two by tabaqui Spike, Xander and Dawn go on the lam in order to keep Dawn safe from Glory. It's such fun watching these relationships slowly develop and grow stronger, both the romantic and the friendshippy ones.

Spike/Xander/Angel

Angst Monkey by kaygrr Anytime I need a good cry, I pull this out and read it, and sob and snot all over myself. Xander is turned in the line of duty, but Angel makes him an Abject--a lower order of vamp that's dependent very much emotionally and physically on his Sire. Xander is just so pitiful here, and you wanna smack Angel as he comes to terms with what he's done. Well worth the read.

Fanfic vs. Profic

When I reviewed The Democratic Genre a couple posts back, some of the comments turned to a discussion of fanfic vs. profic. executrix suggested I take that convo top-level, so here I am. Doing that. *g*

Anyway, I said that I think that fanfic and profic are equally challenging to read and write, and I don't privilege one over the other. I also said that fanfic and profic often have different aims and pull out different tools from the toolbox.

Now, I can't speak very much about the writing of profic, as I've never had anything published. However, I *read* a lot of profic, and some of my RL friends are writers and one of them in particular has been encouraging me to do some writing of original pieces (*nudge nudge* krayat). So, from my position of dubious experience, here's a handful of comments about fanfic and profic.

I think that fanfic provides someone who's not interested in world building a way to write stories without having to worry about or spend time creating from whole cloth a universe for her characters to inhabit.

I think fanfic provides an excellent opportunity for creativity. Because the infrastructure already exists, doing something truly novel and shocking and intriguing takes a heck of a lot of work. Taking those bones and building something unexpected and different from the original model (or even just the original model from a different angle) on top of them makes for damn good reading. And because your readership is familiar with the original model, making it leaner or showing it only from the ass side immediately creates tension. Fanfic is, for me, all about subversion. Taking this thing that already exists and wringing the hell out of it--sometimes as Pugh says to make more of it and sometime to get more from it.

I know with this original fiction story I'm making pages of notes on and creating outlines and Venn diagrams for writing, I couldn't decide what to write about at first. And then I thought, "Wait! I'm an interesting person. All kinds of traumatic interesting things have happened to me. I'll just fanfic my life." And what I meant by that was, okay, I can take the bare bones of an event from my life and then fictionalize around that foundation. And I know it sounds like I'm calling fanfic a crutch here, but I'm really not. I *am* saying that reading/writing fanfic creates a different way of approaching reading/writing profic, at least for me.

Most profic I think also necessarily has to contain more descriptive passages than fanfic. For instance, most fanfic doesn't spend a lot of time describing characters physically because we all know what the characters look like. Same with, oh, the library in Sunndale or the lobby of the Hyperion. (0f course, always exceptions to the rule)

What do you guys think?