Five Things Spike Does With Angel's Ashes by lyrstzha and written for MOI!!! It's no secret that I think Lyr is an absolutely brilliant writer, but this piece showcases her talent so well. (The woman should always write by request; every prompt I've ever given her has resulted in a gem like this one) Rather than being five separate vignettes, this short piece outlines the five things Spike does with Angel's ashes in chronological order after Angel's death. It's hurty, and oh so fitting, and there's Dru! *bounce*

Fic translated from French! With Angel and Wesley fractal_bat has been practicing her French for class by writing drabbles and then translating them into English for us. The results are hi-larious.


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I think I'm going to start posting prompts, free for the taking for anyone who wants them (and how cool would it be if several different people wrote variations on the same prompt) because I'm not going to be writing fanfic for awhile and I can at least feel all inspirey.

The Great Prompting of Aught Six, Prompt One:

I already gave this prompt to hermionesviolin, but I think it's a good one, so I'll share. Choose a character you don't like in one of your fandoms and write a fic (drabble, ficlet, epic length novel) exploring why you don't like that character--just what it is about that character that squicks you, gets on your nerves, pisses you off, or makes you uncomfortable. I don't mean a character bashing fic; I mean one in which you really thoughtfully examine the elements of the character you don't like. Obviously, this prompt may go unclaimed, but if anyone does write a fic based on it, I'd love to know so I can read.

I have been pissed as hell at my woman parts for the past week for they were rife with a womanly affliction, but as of today, they're back in my good graces again.

But enough about my hoo-hah.

suki_blue asks: If you'd been writing fanfic about ten years ago, what fandoms would you have written in? There's also a purty 21-Jumpstreet icon up for grabs and *cross your fingers* a B7 one, too.

Fade to Black by lyrstzha Spike/Angel, set in the alley of NFA You know how sometimes you read something and when you realize that, no, in fact, canon did not play out exactly in this way on your telly, it makes you sick to your stomach? This is one of those stories. Every single word in this is perfect. It's funny and so damn sad and it feels just absolutely *right*. I think I wanna make out with this story a little. No, I have not printed it out expressly for those purposes. Geez, I'm not a perv. LOL

Love What is Mortal by hermionesviolin Kennedy/OFC (her Watcher) Yeah, yeah, I know. Nobody likes Kennedy. I sure don't. But I'm finding a place for her in my fanfic heart, and this is one of those fics helping me along. It's a really interesting look at Kennedy's life pre-Revello Drive, and contains a very moving and beautiful ritual experience.

Snakes on a (Jamaica) Plain Have I mentioned lately how chuffed (thank you jjjean65 for the exciting Aussie vocab word *g*) I am that Exec is writing Buffyverse stuff? This is a Faith piece, and it explains how she met her first Watcher.

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.

I decided to restructure my memories so that instead of having actual fics saved there, I will have saved to my memories recs posts with links to fics. Hence this post. Most of these are fics that I read in the first days of my newbie fannishness, and as such, (here lies my great fandom shame) many of them I did not feedback. I think it's not initially apparent that feedback is a part of fandom culture, especially if you stumble upon fandom through an archive or websites (as I did) where you're not interacting with people like you do on lj. Once I'd been on lj for awhile (and became a writer myself!), I realized that feedback is an integral part of the fannish experience. It's an important part of building community. I now leave feedback for everything I read in its entireity on lj but must admit to not leaving feedback for much fic I read on sites or in archives, or for fic in a fandom I don't "belong" to, whatever that means. Like, I've feedbacked almost none of those Trek fics I've been reccing. I know that's very horrible and bad. Does anybody else do this? Feedback primarily to fics presented in a certain forum? Rec things without having feedbacked them? I am rambling!! Sorry.

( Big Damn List of Buffyverse Recs )

Everybody remember that we are discussing riani1's Career Change over at club_joss. I'm not getting a lot of participation on this, and I know some of you have read and enjoyed this fic. /prodding

Sacrilege by nasty_shrew S/X This fic imagines that Jasmine's hold on L.A. was not so easy to dissolve. This is bleak and full of despair, but it's oh so pretty when Shrew makes the world go to shit.

Fred Sky at Morning (a SafFic) by executrix Saffron, meet Fred. Let the exploitation begin. As always with Exec's writing, interesting insights on both characters.

Intersecting Arcs by executrix This is a brilliantly done slice of backstory for both Mal and Niska. [Mal] wasn't afraid of buying himself a Special Delivery to the Regular Hell, but it would be awfully embarrassing if the clouds parted and a mighty voice announced that Mal wasn't worth the powder to blow him there.

Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me by amejisuto Final chapter; previous chapters linked at the top of the post. This is the end for HMTMKMKM, and it's been one hell of a ride. The writing is always tight, always a smart and insightful commentary on canon events, and always very clever and funny. She's also written a Cordelia and an Ethan that are true joys to read. It's hard to say goodbye to this one.

First off, check out club_joss this week. One of my favorite Firefly fics, Dirty Tricks by executrix is up.

Droit d’Seigneur (The Right of the Lord) by jjjean65 This is an A Knight's Tale fic; William/Adhemar; Jean has the period dialogue down, and she paints such a lovely picture.

( Buffyverse fic recs )

( Firefly fic recs )

1. Hubby's family is from Jackson, MS. We spent this Thanksgiving with them and the day before T-Day had dinner at Little Tokyo. Where we ran into Laurie Smith of "Trading Spaces" fame who mother-in-law is apparently acquainted with on first name basis.

2. Since my club_joss post got no love, I'll ask the same question again and more annoyingly. claireweasley, executrix, potential lurkery type peoples--Are you interested in participating in a book club type community for fanfic? If not, do you think other people in the Firefly fandom would be? It would not be a stretch of the imagination to amend club_joss to include Firefly.

3. Fic recs

( BtVS/Ats fic recs )

( One lone Firefly rec )

I hope these posts aren't getting tedious for everyone. I prefer to use lj to keep track of fics I've read, enjoyed, and may want to read again. I don't like using the AOL bookmarks and I find lj mems easier to navigate than, say, creating a Word doc or something.

So.....

( BtVS/Ats recs )

( Random fic links, including Winnie the Pooh slash )

( Firefly meta )

( Firefly fic recs )

Also lookit here: http://www.homoerotimuseum.net/map.html Homoerotic Art Museum. I'm thinking iconage, yo!!!!!!

Here's hoping you guys aren't tiring of these rec posts.

( Firefly fic recs )

( BtVS/Ats recs )

Fic recs for my mems; disregard. :)

http://shadowscast.popullus.net/links.html shadowscast's site: home of gorgeous Spander and "That 70s Show" fic.

http://ig.nearheralways.com/index2.html is where the Xandrew is happening.

http://geocities.com/juliatheyounger/slash/slash Julia the Younger's We're not Gay Series. Guh, and whoa, and hot damn why don't more fics focus on masturbation? Just saying.

http://inlovewithnight.tripod.com/id1.html inlovewithnight's site; and every one a gem.