| 21 JUMP ST: |
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SUAINE:
"Candles
And
Chemistry." [No Link]
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12/11/09
29kb |
Tom Hanson/Doug Penhall.
The McQuaid brothers are sent undercover to a school where a principal
is murdering the students.
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"Do
you kiss guys a lot, because that was- that was-" Penhall made a
gesture of frustration. Neither of them had the words, because this was
wrong and very much the hottest thing Hanson had done in a long time,
but also wrong.
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Except,
not
as
wrong
as
it
could
be.
Hanson
chuckled, too much emotional stress
spilling out of him.
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"What's
so
funny?"
Penhall
looked
almost
pleading
and
that
just set Hanson off
on another bout of giggles.
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"Just,"
Hanson
said,
between
laughs,
"I'm
really
kind
of
glad we're not
actually the McQuaid brothers."
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Penhall
looked
amused,
and
fixed
which
was
far
more
important
- he didn't seem to want to run off at the
next opportunity. "Hmm, maybe. But you know, those McQuaid brothers
really do touch a lot." |
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This story is quite good,
although I found the background plot a little thin.
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| ACTION:
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VALERIA:
"Fire And
Ice." |
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16/10/04
146kb |
Peter Dragon/Cole
Riccardi.
Cole Riccardi is
threatening to "come out" as gay
and interfere with Peter Dragon's profits from their latest
movie. In desperation, Peter pretends that he, too, is gay.
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Weird
feeling,
having
someone
you'd
seen
in
seventy-millimeter
Sensurround
closeup
nine dozen times
actually there, inches away from you, staring--at you. No screen,
no lens. Even after you'd dealt with these guys
in person for years, with their minus I.Q.s and their killer B.O. and
their tantrums and DUIs and underage girlfriends (boyfriends?--oh,
Jesus, fourteen-year-old girls are one thing but DragonFire can't
handle a "man-boy love" scandal, Riccardi, you stupid fuck), and their
idiot ramblings about their "art" and their utter and complete lack of
any shred of fucking gratitude--even after that, and with no trace of
fresh-off-the-boat starfucker left in your soul, you could still get a
little lurch in the gut to have one of them right there, face to face
with you. |
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It
was one of the many, many reasons he fucking hated actors. |
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The sex
in this story is
HOT, as Peter falls in love with Cole despite his
best intentions. I love this story and I think Valeria has
captured Peter Dragon's difficult characterisation perfectly: despite
how unattractively venal he can seem, she manages to make him appear
sympathetically human as well, which is no mean feat. There is a
sequel, which is also excellent, but it's no longer on the net and last
time I checked with the author, it was still unfinished.
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VALERIA: "Fire
And
Ice 2: Strong Sweets."  |
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11/05/11
289kb |
Peter Dragon/Cole
Riccardi.
Peter deals with the fall out of Cole's announcement that they are both
gay and lovers. He's still terribly confused about his own reactions to
Cole's overpowering lovemaking.
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"The
thing
is,
Peter," the other man began, his voice a sinuous ribbon, "I know
you. I wish I didn't, but I do...and one thing I know about you
is
that you'd hump a syphilitic goat in the middle of Rodeo Drive, on live
television, if you thought it'd get a picture made. It's one of
the
few things I genuinely admire about you. I also know that
whatever other native talents Cole Riccardi may possess, finding his
dick with both hands and a flashlight isn't among them--in other words,
we both know he is too fucking stupid to ever personally
manufacture a stunt like this." Bobby straightened up abruptly,
the
fingers beneath his chin now industriously church-and-steepling.
"Given that, I think we both know that he didn't just pull this
particular idea out of his ass...and, well, that's where you come
in."
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He
tilted his head
like a bird, giving Peter a quizzical glance. "So what exactly
happened?" |
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This story has a little
light bdsm and is unfinished. Although this story is not as good as the
prequel, it is still recommended as a well written, funny and hot
sequel.
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| ADAM
DALGLIESH: |
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GLASGOW,
M.
FAE:
"Quantum
Of
Solace." |
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01/06/04
82kb |
Adam
Dalgliesh/OMC.
Adam Dalgliesh is
suffering from burn-out and he
finds a deserted bed and breakfast in which to lick his
wounds. While there he meets a grieving man who sees right
through his walls to the loneliness and isolation at his core.
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He
needed a holiday: at least, he hoped a holiday was all he
needed. This past time had been a cacophonous maelstrom of murder
cases sensationalised by the hunger of the press and an infuriating
whirlwind of unwanted publicity. There seemed to be no peace for
him either about his 'staggering success' at solving three rather nasty
crimes in a row or about his 'hauntingly stunning' new book of
poetry. And, much to his extreme distate, most often of all, the
desire to unearth what made a 'policeman like him' write 'poetry like
that'. An exceedingly unwelcome question for him, especially
since
he had no idea what the secret might be. |
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As usual,
M. Fae Glasgow
writes intelligent prose that delights me with
it's grammatical perfection <g>. Her characterisations are
always interesting and her stories deal with the psychological as much
as the emotional - and that's definitely my cup of tea. I love
her take on the complex Dalgliesh and also her ability to create a
three dimensional original character who can meet the imposing
Dalgliesh on
equal terms.
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| AIR
FORCE ONE: |
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SUE:
"Unprecedented."
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01/03/05
264kb |
President Jim
Marshall/Major Ryan Caldwell
After the hijack of Air Force One, an openly
gay Caldwell is hired by the President to keep him company - and only
gradually does Caldwell reealise just exactly what that means.
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"Ryan,
let
me
tell
you
something
about
our
President.
Something
that may surprise you."
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"No."
Firmly,
Caldwell
put
a
lid
down
on
the
conversation.
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"What?"
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"I
know what you're going to say, and I don't want to hear it. I was in
Vietnam too
and I know how people got through out there. It was usually booze or
drugs or corruption or sex, and the way you're talking… well, it wasn't
booze or drugs or corruption, was it?"
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"No.
It wasn't."
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Caldwell
nodded.
"He
must
have
been
very
discreet;
I've
never
heard a whisper against him." |
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This is a
lovely story
about these two characters, although it's rather
more serious in tone and has more sex than Taliesin's "Give A Mouse A
Cookie". I was a little put off by the way Ryan was set up as virtually
the President's male call-boy at one stage but since he wasn't upset by
it, I guess that was just me!
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TALIESIN:
"Give A Mouse A Cookie."
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01/03/05
336kb |
President Jim
Marshall/Major Ryan Caldwell
Jim moves Ryan into the White House to recover from
the injuries he
sustained protecting the President during the hijacking - and then
manages a way to keep him on as his private bodyguard.
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Caldwell
could
handle
all
of
that.
A
man
of
many faces, he could be all
those things to these people and more. And he could also be Major Ryan
Caldwell, the nobody Air Force officer who'd landed in the softest
featherbed he could imagine. Who had his heart on the wrong side, a lot
of scar tissue where it was supposed to be, and a hand that never felt
the cold. Ryan Caldwell, who was in love with President James Marshall.
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He
could even be that last without cracking the facade. Loving Marshall
would have been easy, if that were all it was. What he couldn't be was
the man who desired James Marshall. That was another Ryan Caldwell, and
that face never showed. Except in his dreams. On the bad nights, he
dreamed about the plane and was grateful for his soundproofed room. On
the worse ones, he dreamed of Marshall and was even more thankful for
the soundproofing. Most nights were either bad or worse. Ever since
their stay in Britain, an unbroken night's sleep was an unheard-of
luxury, and Caldwell wondered how much longer he could keep this up
without cracking. |
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This is a
lovely, sweet,
slow get-together story. There is
a little too much "we're all gay and everything in the the garden is
lovely" sort of fic in places, but this is a tiny criticism of
what is, overall, an extremely well-written, well-characterised, very
sweet love story. This is highly recommended.
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| BACK
TO THE FUTURE: |
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DR
WORM:
"Cold,
Cold Wet Day." |
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08/02/05
12kb |
Marty/George.
George has never
been able to forget Marty Klein.
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George,
however,
was
surprised
to
find
that,
over
the
years,
he could not let Marty go. Something little would bring the
other boy back to him, almost every day. A smile from a stranger, blue
eyes, a bottle of soda, Lorraine’s gentle touch on his wrist. And
sensory memories would come flooding back,
memories of some sort of strange adolescent love and lust and blind
admiration. They
would claw at his consciousness, begging for attention, which he would
always give
without hesitation. |
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Dr Worm
likes to play with
the dislocation in character and time that
Marty's time-travelling brought about and this is a look at George's
reaction to a Marty who is becoming increasingly like his memories of a
childhood friend. This isn't her best story but I liked the
atmosphere created in the story.
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DR
WORM: "Remembering
Things That
Never Were." |
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08/02/05
10kb |
Marty/George.
Marty muses over
issues of time and the ghosts
of a man who was, and one who was not.
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Daddy’s
wristwatch
went
tickticktick
in
his
ear
as
they
embraced
awkwardly as strangers on the living room
couch. They were alone and yet not, because everywhere Marty went, he
saw ghosts.
There was his Daddy then, unhappy and tired, sitting at the kitchen
table, hair slicked back and ill-fitting clothing bunching in all the
wrong places as he tried hard to ignore his children and his wife. And
Marty sighed with uncomfortable nostalgia, because that Daddy had been
killed and buried without eulogy or headstone.
But there was also George, young and fresh-faced and sweetly goofy and
earnest; he would spend most of his time at the bookshelves, flipping
through novels, smiling and nodding like an overgrown pigeon. Sometimes
Marty would look up from his homework in the evenings and see George
sitting across from him, notebook flipped open, pen in hand, but only
staring. Staring at Marty with wide blue eyes that both beguiled and
accused. And Marty would cringe and think, No, this isn’t right. You
shouldn’t be here. I gave you what you wanted and more! This is the way
it’s supposed to be. And George would lick his lips like a predator and
Marty would hear a voice that sounded like George even though it
wasn’t, not really. No, you didn’t, it said, time and time again. This
isn’t what I wanted at all. Then the image would flicker and fade like
the memory it really was, and Marty would be left with nothing but the
bitter tangles of his own insecurities convincing him of the unreality
of dreams, hallucinations, and things that never were. |
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I like
this story the most
of Dr Worm's Back to the Future tales - it's
complex and it made me think. And I especially like the Marty's
bittersweet
understanding of what exactly it is he has done by tampering
with time.
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| BEND
IT LIKE BECKAM: |
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NEKO:
"Far
From
Home."
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01/07/05
6kb |
Jules/Jess.
Jules hates it when her mother is right.
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She
hates that her mother was right.
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Because
she's
never
right,
and
of
all
the
things
she could be
right about, this is by far the worst. Anything else Jules could
handle, but this, this just makes her life a thousand times more
difficult than it already is. |
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Neko is
another author
I've just discovered who writes in a lot of the rarer fandoms and does
it very well. I'd recommend a look at all her fiction, especially
her CSI stories. This story is short but sweet.
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| BIG
WOLF ON CAMPUS: |
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CRANE,
CAROLINE:
"History
Lesson." |
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01/07/05
6kb |
Merton/Tommy.
Merton remembers all the firsts his old couch has
seen over the years.
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They've
had
a
lot
of
firsts
on
this
couch
– their first awkward,
fumbling kiss
happened there, somewhere in the middle of an Evil Dead
marathon. One minute Merton was mocking the bad special effects and the
next he was flat on his back with a very confused-looking Tommy
hovering over him. And he'll never forget that moment, because their
teeth clashed when he leaned up too fast and Tommy's elbow was digging
into his ribs, but as far as he's concerned it was the most perfect
first kiss in history. |
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This is a
nice, short,
basic slash story but a well done one of its
sort. Caroline Crane is one of the better writers in some fo the rarer
fandoms, of which this is one.
|
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| BLACKADDER:
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GLASGOW,
M.
FAE:
"Yule
Log." |
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01/06/04
50kb |
Blackadder/Baldrick.
Baldrick has a “cunning Plan” and ends up gradually
tricking Blackadder into letting him fuck him.
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"I
have a cunning plan, Mr Blackadder, Sir."
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"Oh
yes, and what is it this time? We go
marching up to the
Palace, bang on the door, apologise to Her Royal Fatness Queen Victoria
and offer you to that ravening pansy prince Albert to roger and hope
they give us the 50,000 after all?" |
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This is a
very funny story
and I think the characterisations of both
Baldrick and Blackadder are spot-on.
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| BOONDOCK
SAINTS:
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AZRHIAZ:
"Confiteor." [No
Link] |
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10/06/05
14kb |
Murphy/Connor.
Connor McManus goes alone to church in the early
morning.
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It
shouldn't be this difficult, Connor thinks. He feels deeply that
this is wrong--mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa--but
on the matter God is strangely silent. He'd spoken to them clearly in
the dream, and they had obeyed. Every second of every day since then
had revolved, in one way or another, around being His shepherds. Around
culling the wicked from the herd. And they had done it, one by one, a
great and bloody sacrificial offering.
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But
what did this make them, if not wicked? Sure enough and
Scripture was clear on the matter. Even as Connor prayed for
forgiveness he knew he wouldn't be forgiven, because he wasn't truly
sorry. It had felt like stepping back inside a home you'd forgotten you
owned. Murph had only spoken of it once, the morning after. He'd sat up
from beside Connor, still languishing in the places that were half in
the kingdom of sleep, and pulled on a tshirt. Looked at Connor and said
"I'm not sorry" before heading off to the bathroom. Connor had no
answer to that, merely twisted the cheap white sheets between his
fingers and tasted ash and regret. |
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This is
an interesting
look at what Connor might think, not only about
incest with his brother, but about their recent acts of extreme
violence.
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EROS,
RANA:
"The
Passion
Of Paul
Smecker." |
01/06/04
38kb |
Paul
Smecker/Murphy & Connor MacManus.
Smecker can't stop thinking about the McManus
brothers and he jerks off to images of their violent killing sprees.
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I
like to fuck men, but most of the men willing to
be fucked by me are
men I can't stand. Fags. Fairies. Flamers. Men who want to cuddle and
talk about their feelings. Men who probably pass out at the sight of
their own blood. Do you know what I want? An honest-to-god man. A man
who gets into bar fights and swears as much as I do and talks about
death without flinching. A man who handles a gun like a pro. A man I
can like.
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Don't be
put off by the
description of what this story is about -
although I guess if you've seen the movie you aren't the sort who will
be put off! "The Passion of Paul Smecker" is a very well-written story.
I love the characterisation of Smecker, which the author has nailed
completely, IMO, and I love the intensity of the emotion she generates
in this brief glimpse of Smecker's convoluted psyche. I read it
with enjoyment even before I saw the movie, and I like it even more now
that I have seen it.
I have to say, though,
that every time I look at the name "Paul
Smecker" I get a fit of the giggles because I always think "pecker"
<g>. "Pecker", I hasten to explain for those not familiar with
this usage, is a slang term for penis. "Smecker" also reminds me
of the "Quarentine" episode of the British comedy Red Dwarf:
Cat: "Don't correct
me! You know how much I hate
being corrected. It really
gets my feckles up!"
Kryton:
"It's 'hackles', you moron. It really gets your hackles up.
There's no such word as 'feckles'!"
Cat:
"Feckles, heckles, hackles, smeckles--they're up right now and pointed
right at you!"
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| BREAKFAST
CLUB,
THE:
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KANEKO:
"The Supper Club."
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01/07/05
24kb |
Bender/Andy.
20 years after the events of the Breakfast Club,
Bender is a policeman and Andy is a prisoner in a dead-end job
where he's belittled constantly by his father for his druggy
past. One night, while delivering a package, he runs into
Bender...
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On
the week of his thirty-sixth birthday, he stopped to fill up on gas,
and maybe buy a Mars Bar or two. It was late and Andy was tired and
he'd had to wait nearly an hour for someone to turn up at the last
delivery. He didn't even see the cop until he backed up his car and
almost ran over the guy.
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"Oh
fuck!" he said. And he was a terrible person, but all he could
think of
was that now he was in so much shit.
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The
guy was still knocked on his ass when Andy got to him. "Fuck, man,"
he
said. At least there wasn't any blood gushing - not that Andy could
see, anyway. "You okay?" Andy put out his hand to help the guy up.
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"Am
I okay?" The cop stared up at Andy like he was the biggest moron on
earth. "You are so unbelievably under arrest."
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"Yeah,"
Andy
said.
He
rubbed
a
hand
over
his
eyes. "Yeah, I kinda
thought so."
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The
cop snorted. "I'm kidding, dumbass," he said. He grabbed Andy's
hand
and hauled himself up.
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It
was Bender. |
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This
story is a little
depressing at times - Andy is in a dark grey place
where his life is going nowhere and it takes time for this to change -
but it's still an interesting read. And it does have a
happy ending.
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| BRIMSTONE: |
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THE SPIKE:
"Blasphemy." [No
Link] |
01/06/04
6kb |
Zeke/Devil.
Zeke and the Devil work through some power issues.
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As I
suck his cock, the wind begins to howl. Rain
beats down and
something flaps once against the window glass. He tastes like ashes and
like stone. And a faint essence of something unearthly sweet. I guess
even the flesh of fallen angels is divine. |
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This
is a PWP that resonates with meaning - the best kind. It's short
but it packs a powerful punch. I was blown away by this story.
|
| CADFAEL:
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TALIESIN:
"Upon The Snowy Field." |
08/02/05
48kb |
Cadfael/Hugh
Beringar.
Cadfael is lost in a snowstorm and Hugh Beringar
goes after him, only to find him injured in the woods.
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He'd
seen Cadfael in all moods at one time or
another. Or so he
thought. But trust as he did in Cadfael's steel-sharp mind, his dogged
determination, even his worldly advice, so unexpected in a monk, he'd
never particularly thought of Cadfael as deadly. He knew right well
that Cadfael had fought in the Crusades, and was not like to forget it
as some did. But there was a long cry from a warlike past to a man
holding a knife to your throat.
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This
Cadfael, lost in fever, was the young Welsh soldier. No more
vigorous and alive than the Benedictine monk, but far more dangerous.
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It
would behoove Hugh to remember that, until Cadfael came again to
himself. |
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This
story captures the flavour of the original Cadfael novels extremely
well and I love the way the relationship betwen the two develops.
Plus I do like this sort of
hurt/comfort, where one looks after the other who has been injured.
|
| CASABLANCA:
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DORINDA:
"Nom De Coeur." |
08/02/05
75kb |
Rick/Louis Renault
During their long, gritty escape from Casablanca
across Africa's increasingly barren landscape, Rick begins to realise
that there might be more to Louis - and their new "beautiful
friendship" - then he has previosly suspected.
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Rick
grinned up at the ceiling. "Louis,
you slay me. You're like a bachelor on the run from a bunch of
matchmakers."
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"Some
men
are
just
not
meant
for
matrimony."
|
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"Maybe.
But
I
don't
get
it.
You
and
Vichy
bureaucracy,
it's a match made in heaven. You can't
tell me you didn't even consider it."
|
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The
silence went on this
time until Rick was sure he'd had the last word. But again Louis proved
him wrong, speaking hesitantly. "I should have."
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Rick
thought about the
prospect of crossing into the Tibesti alone, really didn't like it,
squelched that train of thought, and answered. "There's still time."
|
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"Not
'should have taken the job,'" Louis said, his voice sharp now.
"Should have considered the
job. Should have wanted the job. But I didn't."
|
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Louis
lied
when
it
suited
him,
sure.
But
Rick
knew how most of his lies
sounded, and this
wasn't one of them. "You didn't. Why the hell not?"
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"You
don't want to know. Which, you are thinking, is a ridiculous thing
for me to say, since the very act of saying it guarantees that you will
want to know. To which I'll say, go to sleep."
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Rick
laughed quietly. "I guess that takes care of that."
|
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"Good
night,
Ricky."
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"You're
really
not
going
to
tell
me?"
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"Let's
not
lose
all
the
mystery
in
our
relationship
before the
honeymoon is even over."
|
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"Good
night,
Louis."
And
Rick
turned
onto
his
side
and stuffed one hand
comfortably under his pillow. His mind wandered vaguely around
matchmakers, bachelors, weddings, and honeymoons before he finally fell
all the way to sleep. |
|
As usual,
Dorinda writes
very subtle fiction. She does not
bludgeon
you with facts or force conclusions on the reader; rather she allows
the story, and Rick and Louis' relationship, to unfold in a beautifully
natural way that pleased me greatly. What a pity she writes so
little fiction in any one fandom.
|
|
LYRASTAR:
"The Beautiful Dawn." |
08/02/05
39kb |
Rick/Louis
Renault.
What happens in the aftermath of Ilsa's
departure? And how far will the "beautiful friendship" go?
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He
pulls a chair up with me and sits arms and knees spread in the body
language of unfettered communication. Again I ask him the same
questions everyone wants to know. Again I get amusing evasions in
return. That's Rick: on the surface so apparently open, but afterward
you realize he has given you nothing at all.
What he left me
with was nothing, but my mind planted the memories and those seeds have
sprouted and grown. Of course, it's still nothing; one cannot make
matter out of naught; that is simple physics. But at night in my
dreams--and in day when my mind wanders, after one too many brandies or
one too few afternoon delights--those derivations of memory seem so
real. |
|
Interesting
take
on
the
movie
-
I
love
what's
she's
made of the
character of Louis,
from whose perspective this story is told.
|
| CHIEF,
THE:
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ANTRIM,
BRENDA:
"Full
Circle." |
01/07/05
58kb |
Alan Cade/Ray
Doyle.
Crossover with The Professionals.
Many years after Bodie's murder, Doyle still chases vengeance.
Seducing Cade as part of a cold-blooded plan to get his quarry, Doyle
finds himself caring more than he wants to - but is that enough to stop
his plan to kill?
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|
Now
or never. Cade was as ripe for the plucking as he was ever going to
be,
and if he hesitated now, second thoughts and sobriety would take
his chance from him.
|
|
He
stilled, willing the narrowed jade eyes opposite his to
look up. It took some concentration, because Cade's attention
was focused on the hollow of his throat, seemingly mesmerized
by the pulse beating there. Eventually, his stillness penetrated
the other man's preoccupation, and he glanced up. Doyle allowed
the heat to show in his own eyes, and Cade stared, fascinated.
Taking care not to lose that eye contact, Doyle leaned forward
slowly, watching the other man's face flush, his eyes widen, pupils
dilating. Yeah, he hadn't lost it. |
|
This is a
well done
crossover with nice emotional intensity. There's a little too much
fanon at times - witness the "jade eyes" in the excerpt above - but
overall this is one of my favourite Brenda Antrim stories.
|
| DALZIEL
&
PASCOE:
|
|
|
|
GLASGOW,
M.
FAE:
"A Public Display." |
01/06/04
58kb |
Wield/OMC.
Wield is awkwardly trying to find someone in a gay
pub when he's chatted up by a handsome man called Kevin.
|
|
Why
the hell am I doing this to myself? Detective Sergeant Wield
wondered, staring morosely into the remains of his pint. I've
been here once already and a miserable bloody experience it was an'
all, but here I am, setting myself up again. Funny, what loneliness can
do to a man. |
|
This is a
realistic and
well written story about a relatively minor
character in a relatively minor fandom. Detective Sergeant Wield
is, in his own words "as ugly as sin" and coming out of the closet late
in life. He's uncomfortable with the concept of dating and public
displays of affection and this is a wonderful look at how he comes to
terms with his new relationship with Kevin, a teacher at the college
and friend of Peter Pascoe and his wife, Ellie.
|
| DARIA:
|
|
|
|
KASS:
"A Slice Of College."
|
01/07/05
23kb |
Daria/Jane.
Daria realises she fancies Jane when Jane tells her
she's dating another girl.
|
|
They
didn't have pizza the next week. Neither one of
them called to make a date. Daria told herself midterms were the reason
why. |
|
She
told herself she wasn't jealous of Rowena. |
|
She
stood outside the house where the Raft Queer
Student Union met, listening to the people laughing and talking inside,
but couldn't bring herself to go inside. |
|
She
thought about going to meet with a peer sexuality
counselor during open hours, but every time she imagined the
conversation and how it might go, she wanted to take up smoking or
heroin or something less humiliating and painful than admitting "I
have a thing for my best friend and she's dating another girl." |
|
Femslash!
Kass is always
good value and this story is tart and terrific. I love Daria and
I can hear her voice clearly in this story.
|
| DARK
IS RISING, THE: |
|
|
|
ASHURA:
"The End Of The Summer." |
16/10/04
50kb |
Gen? Het?
Bran/Will?
At the end of his
life, Bran receives an unexpected visitor from his past.
|
|
The
house, it's about the way she left it.
Her pillows, that purple afghan, thrown over the back of the couch; the
flowers in the windowboxes and the watering can beneath. The harp in
the corner, and he'd play it sometimes if he could, but his old hands
are too rough and withered. The scattered leavings of a lifetime, of
growing up and leaving home, of coming back, of nervous dates and
laughing and newlywed arguments and staying up all night with a baby
who won't stop crying. Of homework and first days of school, of long
nights with birthing animals and cups of hot tea. Of growing up, and
growing old. |
|
This is a
rather
mysterious little story and one of its pluses is that
the reader can read into it the genre
they prefer. It's rather melancholy in tone but I love
these sort of mood pieces if the're done well.
|
| |
ASHURA: "Light
Breaks." |
16/10/04
68kb |
Bran/Will.
Bran and Will are 17 and Will is again spending his
summer in Wales.
|
|
Spica
had
just
climbed
above
the
horizon,
dangling
below
crimson
Arcturus. The fainter stars were becoming visible at last, tiny
pinpricks of white and gold. As recently as half an hour ago, Will
would have found them magnificent; but now they wavered in his vision.
He was preoccupied now with those same colours in another form; the
white of Bran's hair and skin against his own, the tawny gold of his
fluttering eyes. A slender shadow dark against the heavens, he lay
awkwardly atop Will, who wrapped both arms around his back, frustrated
by the barrier of his thick jumper and fumbling for the hem to hunt for
more smooth skin beneath. He heard a gasp as he found the knobby ridge
of Bran's spine and stroked lightly up the length of it, tore his mouth
free to press his hungry kisses into the curve of that smooth white
neck, slip up to toy with the lobe of one ear. The salty-sweet taste of
his skin was stronger there, and the muted herbal scent of shampoo.
Bran's teeth grazed his collarbone, and he whimpered into the skin
beneath his lips. For the first time in years, he thought it might be
all right after all, that he might somehow survive the long years ahead
as watchman of the Light, that he may not have the Pendragon next to
him but he might still yet have Bran. And that maybe that would be
enough. |
|
This is a
wonderfully
sweet first time story without even a drop of
angst. The two boys get together simply and sweetly, and I
enjoyed it immensely.
|
|
ODDCELLIST:
"Half Suite." |
16/10/04
11kb |
Bran/Will.
Will is left behind at 12 by the old ones and,
bereft and hurting, he determines not to care about anyone ever again
-- until his hormones kick in!
|
|
Once
they've reached his room, Bran pulls off his dripping shirt -
which should be ordinary enough, Will thinks, and certainly no
extraordinary action - and all Will can do is watch, transfixed,
forgetting his own dripping clothes for the moment. Because this time,
he is the one who has forgotten - how absolutely shocking Bran's skin
can be in the half-light that comes with a rain, how beautiful Bran
remains. And for all he's seen of how much his absence wounded Bran,
Will is enough of a man to note that if he had known, then he wouldn't
have walked away, because he has wounded himself too, forcing the
separation from Bran. If he closes his eyes now, and calls up the
dreams that plagued him at home, even after his trips to London... he
can admit now, in Bran's presence, that it was always Bran he held
close to him in his dreams, always Bran he had every hope of catching. |
|
This
story is darker than
most of the other stories I've read in this
fandom
but I like the writing very much and it ends happily.
|
|
PARES:
"Alignment."
|
16/10/04
62kb |
Bran/Will.
Will meets Bran accidentally at a bar in London, in
the year they both turn 21.
|
|
Will
had never yet had this with another.
The people he knew were simple and kind, and he loved them, but he knew
better than to hope for some spark of recognition, for some connection.
But the world seemed full of sleepers who would never know him, never
see the man he was behind his own round face, and now he realized that
he had had no other because he had been waiting for this one. |
|
I like
this story very
much, especially the mystical parts that echoe
the books.
|
| DEAD
POET'S SOCIETY: |
|
|
| |
AZRHIAZ:
"Would That My Tongue Could Utter." [No Link] |
01/09/04
8kb |
Todd/Neil.
Todd is out on the lake in the snow, a week after
Neil's death.
|
|
Overhead
the
sky
is
metallic,
and
Todd
thinks
it
will probably snow
again today. It has been snowing all week and his heart is broken. The
two seem somehow related, but he can't explain, and has no one to
explain it to, in any case. Knox would listen, and Todd is fairly
certain he wouldn't laugh, but he does not think Knox would understand.
He doesn't exactly understand himself, because this is somehow more
terrible than just losing a good friend and a roommate. It feels like a
room inside him has been cordoned off, the clocks and mirrors covered
in the harsh black crepe of silence.
|
|
He
realizes, now, that he loved Neil. |
|
The
language in this is
evocative and lovely - yet another to add to my
collection of brilliant death stories.
|
| |
GRAYCASTLE:
"To Live Deliberately." |
01/09/04
10kb |
Knox/Charlie.
Every third Saturday, Knox and Charlie meet.
|
|
Charlie
runs
the
First
National,
and
Knox
just
won
a big case for GM.
But
sometimes, even if it is only every third Saturday, they let their
lives get a little messy. Third Saturdays bring pillow fights, or long
poker
games that go well into the night, or even real stories from Hellton,
ones that don't fit the lunchtime script and have to be mumbled into a
pillow in the dull twilight. One time, Knox yelled "O Captain, my
Captain!" while Charlie was rimming him and they both laughed so hard
and for so long that they had to start all over again from the
beginning. But that was okay, because third Saturdays don't have much
to do with linearity or time frames or schedules. |
|
I like
this story very
much: it's deceptively simple but it has a
hidden
depths.
|
| DIE
HARD: |
|
|
| |
DARGELOS:
"Servant
Of
Two
Masters." |
01/09/04
116kb |
Pik/Fouchon;
Pik/Gruber; Gruber/Fouchon; Fouchon/Eroica.
CROSSOVER WITH EROICA.
Pik and Fouchon, long time lovers and professional killers, are hired
by Hans Gruber to assassinate Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach.
As their relationship falls apart, so does the job.
|
|
It
wasn’t about money, no matter how many times they both tried to
pretend
it was. It was about them; the way they fit together, the way the
corners were growing back on each of them and how that made it
impossible for them to fit together in any comfortable way.
|
|
Sometimes
when
Pik
thought
of
what
they’d
become
together
he wanted to
weep. But
he was not a weeper and there was no release for this pain. So he
simply grew more sharp edges, honed on people like Gruber, and realized
that the day was coming when he and Emil would either part or try to
murder each other. He wanted to be gone before that last step came. Get
out before the rot set in. He turned his face into the cool, damp wind
and, all unbidden, the image of Fouchon came to him - Fouchon on a
beach in Morocco, dressed in white, laughing, limned with sunshine.
|
|
The
ache inside deepened. |
|
This is
not a story for
everybody and some of the things that happen
within
it will be too confronting for some people. This is a story about
three very amoral individuals and they act accordingly - you have been
warned! Fouchon and Pik are in love but their relationship is
souring due to Fouchon's inability to give Pik the emotional security
he needs. Pik turns away from him and starts a relationship with
Gruber. How things go, and how the two get back together,
is an interesting story, nearly a series of sexual encounters but the
language is brilliant and Dargelos carries it off, keeping my
interest to the end.
|
| DOGMA:
|
|
|
|
ANTRIM,
BRENDA:
"You're
Welcome." |
01/09/04
21kb |
Loki/Bartleby.
Bartleby kills Loki - but is that the end for both
of them?
|
|
"I'm
sorry." His breath was hot and sweet on Loki's neck, his arm
strong around him, and Loki felt safe for the first time since all the
madness
started. That stupid envelope. That stupid fucking newspaper clipping.
He leaned against Bartleby and closed his eyes, dizzy for the first
time in millennia with the beer, hanging on for dear life to his very
best friend. |
|
This is
an interesting
take on Bartleby's motives when he
killed Loki and a possible future. Nicely done.
|
| EASTENDERS:
|
|
|
| |
GLASGOW,
M.
FAE:
"Nor The Leopard His Spots." |
01/07/05
196kb |
Colin/Barry;
Bodie/Doyle.
Crossover with "The Professionals".
Ray Doyle is exhausted from the demands of too many operations and now
he's required to go undercover in London. Unfortunately for
his undercover role, almost immediately he meets someone he once knew
very well - an old lover.
|
|
The
sky was crawling over the roof-top
when he awoke, all the light leached from the streets in that strange
time between full dark when the streetlamps shone brightly and the
greyness that swallowed all light up into a uniformity of
dullness. So he just lay on the bed for a little while, watching
the way nothing in the room actually cast shadows in the feeble light,
watching the blackness creep up the walls as the light from outside
faded into night-time and the glow of lamps stayed up in the street
away from his new bedsit. He should be up and bathing, he knew,
but it seemed pointless. One more possible terrorist supplier, or
just
another entrepeneur in London's fastest expanding business.
Didn't seem to matter too much, not now. Once, when first he'd
started, he was going to be SuperCopper, Chief Constable Raymond
Aloysius Doyle,
the best and most incorruptible policeman on the face of this God's
green earth, scourge of criminals and bent coppers alike. But
that was half a lifetime ago, and he was feeling every single one of
those years in every joint in his body. |
|
I adore
M. Fae Glasgow's
fiction. She writes extremely well: her
characterisations are always a joy and there is a realism about her
stories that I like very much. I'm not a big fan of Eastenders
but this story is a contained universe within itself and tells you
really
everything you need to know.
|
| EMPEROR,
THE
|
|
|
| |
FISHER,
KITTY:
"Tribute." |
01/06/04
20kb |
Pu Li (The
Emperor)/Wah Dee (The Tribute).
Wah Dee, the Emperor’s old childhood friend and
lover, is now tribute for his country's safety.
|
|
He
stood alone in the vast chamber, the sombre darkness of his robes a
contrast to the golden opulence of his surroundings. Quite still,
breath so soft as to hardly betray the reality of his life, he waited;
poised,
balanced, energy singing in the stillness of his bones like a flame
hidden by shadow. He waited. |
|
This is
an interesting
short story and I like it very much.
|
| FAST
AND THE FURIOUS, THE: |
|
|
|
DEVIL
CHILD: "Baja."
|
01/09/04
44kb |
Brian/Dominic.
After his undercover operation is over, Brian is no
longer a cop and he goes after Dominic.
|
|
It
wasn't much. Just a dusty, rutted
dirt road leading down to...a glorified shack really...about 100 or so
yards from the sea.
|
|
Brian
O'Conner's
motorcycle
sputtered
to
a
stop
in
the
dusty
yard. No one came to the door. "Hello?" he called.
|
|
Eerie
silence,
broken
only
by
the
lapping
waves
and
the sound
of rustling the beach grass. Brian paused a few moments then swung
a leg over and made his way up to the house, the weather beaten boards
of the porch squeaking under his feet. |
|
This is
an interesting
story - two previously straight guys realising
that
they aren't as straight as they thought.
|
| GALLIPOLI: |
|
|
|
LYRASTAR:
"Raised Up From The Clay."
|
01/07/05
52kb |
Frank/Archie.
Frank and Archie go gaily off to war together - and
neither knows what realities they will have to face before they are
through.
|
|
You
don't have to be
best mates to decide to run off to war; to lock yourselves together in
a freight car headed to god-knows-where in the middle of the night with
nothing to do except think and talk; or to decide to trek across fifty
miles of dry, snake-infected lake bed with neither map nor compass and
with minimal provisions. You don't have to be best mates to do
these
things, but if you are lucky enough to make it through them alive, you
probably will be best mates in the end. |
|
This
story deals
with the awful reality of being injured during the war - the details
are very gross, but the relationship aspects are sweet. One of
the most interesting things to my mind about the source material
is that the makers of Gallipoli have stated that one of the main things
they were interested in doing with the film was exploring the
homoerotic elements of close male friendships.
|
| GEORGETTE
HEYER:
|
|
|
|
JAT
SAPPHIRE:
"The
Wages
Of
Vice." |
01/06/04
217kb |
Justin, Duke of
Avon/Hugh Davenant.
Hugh is in love with Justin but how does
Justin feel about him?
|
|
"Justin,"
Hugh
said
quietly,
not
for
the
first
time.
|
|
The
tall, lean figure in the opposite armchair stirred. In the dim
light of the fire he might have been the far younger man whom Hugh had
first known: he had worn powdered wigs then, but now his hair was white
whether he powdered it or no; the stillness that had once been
affectation now was weariness. The slender hands that lay upon his lap
were thinner, the knuckles larger, and the skin if seen in daylight was
as translucent, as flecked with tiny dark spots, and as full of faint
wrinkles as Indian gauze ... but they had always been just as white,
and the ruby ring upon one finger burned with the same fire as ever.
|
|
So
did his Grace of Avon's eyes, when they focussed on his friend. |
|
This is a
long story
detailing the ups and downs of the relationship
between
Hugh and Justin, as friends and sometime lovers.
|
| GET
REAL: |
|
|
| |
BONE:
"Reunion." |
01/06/04
97kb |
John Dixon/Steven
Carter.
Ten years after school, John Dixon is still running
from who he is – and realises he can't survive like that anymore.
He returns for a school reunion and meets Steven again – and tries to
change.
|
|
I
still run.
|
|
I've
been running all my life. My mother told me once that my first
steps were actually a halting gallop across the lawn, but I've only run
with purpose for the last, oh, twelve years or so. Since I had a choice
between football and track and field at the start of sixth form and
decided track would be less work. I didn't know, when I started, what
it would come to mean to me. |
|
This is a
wonderful story
- it's by Bone, after all, and that should
say
it all. I've never seen the movie on which this story is based,
but I'll read anything that Bone writes and I still enjoyed this
thoroughly.
|
| HARDY
BOYS: |
|
|
|
HIGGINS,
ANNE:
"In
All
Ways." |
01/09/04
73kb |
Frank/Joe.
Frank is seriously worried by his sexual feelings
for his brother.
|
|
Never
run
away
from
a
problem.
|
|
Frank
Hardy
had
heard
those
words
of
wisdom
more
than once, but the
walls were closing in and how could a man think when he was slowly
suffocating? |
|
Anne Higgins is a well-established fandom
writer and always writes good stories. If you're not into incest, give
this one a miss.
|
|
| HAVE
SPACESUIT, WILL TRAVEL: |
|
|
|
RIVKA
T: "Once
More." |
01/09/04
36kb |
Het.
Peewee/OMC; Peewee/Kit implied.
Peewee and Kit grow up and find themselves on
another planet again - but this time they are alone.
|
|
You
see, I had this spaceship.
|
|
No.
|
|
That's
the
wrong
way
to
start.
That's
a
Kip way to start, "you
see,"
all chummy and hail-fellow-well-met....
|
|
...I
was very lucky, growing up. I had a father who adored me, a thin
intellectual skin and a near-absolute indifference to other children.
If I hadn't ever hit puberty, I could have been happy forever. |
|
This is
quite a dark
story, dealing with the reality of attempting to
travel
to different worlds, rather than the kids adventure style of the
original Heinlein novel. It's well-written but it's not a story
likely to appeal to readers who like happy endings.
|
HAWAII
FIVE - O (ORIGINAL):
|
|
|
|
SHEETS,
DENISE: "In
Sunlight Or In Shadow." |
01/06/04
41kb |
McGarrett/Danno.
McGarret, in a
moment of weakness, admits to himself
that he has feelings for Danno. He drives Danno home and
struggles
against his feelings.
|
|
"God
damn," he muttered and punched the buttons of the remote control,
trying to find something else to think about besides behind that door.
It didn't help. In fact the frenetic flashing of images and rattle of
broken dialogue made him more tense than ever. In the end, he left it
on the delayed broadcast of a baseball game and went for the other
beer.
He paused to absorb some of the cool air that rolled out of the open
refrigerator. Not that it helped. Going away would help, but he had
committed himself to stay at least for a while. A part of him knew very
well he should walk out forcefully, though truthfully another part was
still in the thrall of the madness and would not allow it. Madness.
Indecency. He chugged the beer without stopping for a breath and
was ashamed of himself for doing it. |
|
This is
the only slash
I've seen for original Hawaii Five-O and I enjoyed the
novelty
of it. The idea of the stiffly upright (you'll pardon the pun)
McGarret giving way to feelings for Danno was compelling, which
makes up for the fact that this is a very ordinary story in a lot of
ways.
[Note: I found this story
at The
Android's Dungeon a UK fandom slash site. The following
remarks appear with the link to "In Sunlight And In Shadow":
"The only
known outing of this story was in a zine called ‘Tongue in Cheek’
printed by Dobie Cat Press of Parkersburg, West Virginia, in 1984.
Having entirely failed to make any contact with the copyright holder, I
have bitten the bullet and included this story on The Android's
Dungeon simply because I feel it is too good not
to share."
I haven't found the story anywhere else on the web.]
|
| JEREMIAH:
|
|
|
|
KILLASHANDRA:
"So Tonight That I Might Sleep." |
01/03/04
60kb |
Markus/Jeremiah.
Jeremiah has some difficulty with facing the
thought
of being a leader - and the reality of what happened to his
parents. Markus is there to help him, but his motives are not
entirely altruistic <g>.
|
|
He
knew, even before he saw him, though how he knew, he'd have been
hard-pressed to explain. Something about the single-minded focus in the
speed and force of the blows, maybe -- something that was more fury
than strength, more desperation than fury. He stopped in the doorway
and
leaned on the jamb, folding his arms. Jeremiah's back was mostly to the
door, and he didn't see Markus there. Bam bam BAM! The big bag
shuddered under the impact of determined fists. His black T-shirt was
soaked
through, and from the way he was breathing, he'd been at it for some
time.
|
|
I
think you killed it," Markus told him, trying not to smile.
|
|
This is a
typically
beautiful story by Killashandra and I love it.
|
| JUGHEAD:
|
|
|
|
RIORDAN,
MICHAEL:
"Moments
Not
Allowed." [No
link] |
01/06/04
63kb |
Jughead/OMC.
Jughead grows up waiting for "heterosexuality" to
hit him over the head but it never does.
|
|
My
pivotal moments happen in stairwells, have you noticed? I
guess
it's symbolic that I am halfway up or down somewhere, and that I'm
always accompanied by one person. I look for stairwells now but,
at seventeen, in the stairs there with Betty, I missed the
chance. I knew I could spill it out in two words, and that she
wouldn't damn
me, but I was afraid how far else it would go. I just couldn't
trust
her, yet the problem didn't lie with her. It lay with me. |
|
There is
no real
resolution here but this is a lovely story. Jughead
finally
realises he's gay and spends a week in a misery of self-loathing and
doubt, not wanting to accept the truth but not willing to live a life
of denial and lies either. In my innocent childhood I identified
strongly
with Jughead, despite the fact that "gay" was pretty much something
that hadn't crossed my conscious radar at all. Obviously my unconscious
radar was operating quite well on its own!
|
| LAWRENCE
OF
ARABIA:
|
|
|
|
DERRY: "During The Night." |
01/06/04
7kb |
Lawrence/Ali.
During their winter lay-over in some old ruins,
Lawrence thinks about the way Ali loves him and the way he loves Ali.
|
|
He
does not often laugh. I think this may be for the best. When he
laughs, my heart laughs with him and, for that one brief moment, I plan
to abandon the Army and my duty and all the trappings of western
civilisation to live free, as a Beduin man. |
|
Nice
little story and
interesting Lawrence POV.
|
|
DERRY: "Strange And
Beautiful."
|
01/07/05
23kb |
Lawrence/Lord Peter
Wimsey.
CROSSOVER with Lord Peter Wimsey (see below).
Peter Wimsey seduces Lawrence at college, when they
are
both beautiful blond men.
|
|
"Oh,
yes," Peter breathed and Lawrence lost himself in the feel of
Peter's hands on his chest and stomach, the tension in Peter's stomach
as he reached up to touch Lawrence's shoulders. He had expected Peter's
hands to be soft but there were callouses that caught against him,
frissons of texture that brought more pleasure than smooth skin could
have. "You're still tanned. You didn't wear a shirt in Syria, did you?"
|
|
Memories
of
the
sun
beating
down,
beating
him
down,
and he shook his
head.
|
|
"Did
you sweat?" Peter's hands traced down from his neck, following the
path the perspiration had taken as it trickled down. "You shone in the
sun, I know. And your hair was bleached white. White hair against brown
skin." Peter strained upwards to touch Lawrence's face, stomach muscles
quivering between Lawrence's legs. "I wish I'd seen you." |
|
This is
an interesting
story and the sex is very well done. The
characterisation is
particularly accurate to canon - at least in my opinion.
|
| LETHAL
WEAPON:
|
|
|
| |
FISHER,
KITTY:
"New Year's
Day." |
01/06/04
49kb |
Martin
Riggs/Roger Murtaugh.
Riggs is in despair, looking out over the waves,
when Roger turns up.
|
|
After
a
while,
Riggs
leant
his
head
back
against
the wall and stared.
His eyes were full of unconscious hunger; the hopeless hunger of a
starving man. The confusion in his brain left him incapable of
decision. He wanted this with every atom in his being. Yet... When the
towel was
used to dry the hollows of his throat he moaned in denial, his mouth
helplessly, soundlessly forming one word — No.
|
|
Roger
smiled
to
himself
and
concentrated
on
the
touch
of his fingers on
drying skin.
|
|
Partners.
Friends.
Lovers.
|
|
Was
that a mathematical progression? |
|
Excellently
written,
evocative
piece
with
a
melancholy
edge.
|
| LORD
PETER WIMSEY: |
|
|
|
DERRY: "Strange And
Beautiful."
|
01/07/05
23kb |
Lawrence/Lord Peter
Wimsey.
CROSSOVER with Lawrence of Arabia (see above).
Peter Wimsey seduces Lawrence at college, when they
are
both beautiful blond men.
|
|
"Oh,
yes," Peter breathed and Lawrence lost himself in the feel of
Peter's hands on his chest and stomach, the tension in Peter's stomach
as he reached up to touch Lawrence's shoulders. He had expected Peter's
hands to be soft but there were callouses that caught against him,
frissons of texture that brought more pleasure than smooth skin could
have. "You're still tanned. You didn't wear a shirt in Syria, did you?"
|
|
Memories
of
the
sun
beating
down,
beating
him
down,
and he shook his
head.
|
|
"Did
you sweat?" Peter's hands traced down from his neck, following the
path the perspiration had taken as it trickled down. "You shone in the
sun, I know. And your hair was bleached white. White hair against brown
skin." Peter strained upwards to touch Lawrence's face, stomach muscles
quivering between Lawrence's legs. "I wish I'd seen you." |
|
This is
an interesting
story and the sex is very well done. The
characterisation is
particularly accurate to canon - at least in my opinion.
|
| |
GLASGOW,
M.
FAE:
"A
Gentleman's
Gentleman." |
01/06/04
53kb |
Lord Peter
Wimsey/Bunter.
Peter Wimsey has a nightmare; Bunter helps
him through it.
|
|
Bunter
came
to
him,
of
course,
perching
himself
on
the edge of the bed
and holding the beloved hand while the very last of the man who called
himself 'Peter', and who loved him, was subsumed by sleep and lost to
him, if not forever, then until the next bout of nervous agony.
Though it grieved him dreadfully to watch Peter fade away and leave him
yet again, Bunter could not wish for his return, for such a return
meant untold horrors for Lord Peter, whom Bunter loved as much, though
more
discreetly, as he did Peter. |
|
This may
seem to be a
hoary old fannish chestnut of a plot but it
really is
a unique twist on this formula. The
story is wonderfully well
written and the tone is delightfully melancholic.
|
|
KESWINDHOVER: "Ring
Out, Wild Bells, To The Wild Sky."
|
01/07/05
53kb |
Gen; Lord Peter
Wimsey/Harriet (implied).
Harriet visits St George in hospital in
1942. He's been injured and sidelined for good from the airforce,
his eye and half his face burned badly.
|
|
"I
didn't think so," said Saint-George, "Thought it was a damn shame
Uncle Peter had already snapped you up. I rather fancied someone
sensible - and deuced attractive of course," he added quickly, "Someone
to keep me on the rails." He paused, looking away from Harriet into
space for a moment, "I was rather hoping that this War might finally be
the making of me. And now here I am. I've made some widows and orphans,
my eye's gone and half my bally face is burned off, and I expect I'll
get a shiny medal, but it doesn't make one feel a jot more manly, I
assure you."
|
|
"Well,
if
you've
learned
that,
then
you're
a
wiser
man than you give yourself
credit for, Gerry," said Harriet softly. |
|
A rather
nice sweet story
in which nothing major happens but its still interesting to read, if a
touch melancholy.
|
| LOST: |
|
NEKO:
"The Passing of Summer Places." [No Link]
|
01/07/05
17kb |
Sayid/Charlie.
Sayid and Charlie become close on the island.
|
|
The
scent of jet fuel still hangs in the air.
|
|
It
covers everything, clinging to him like a second skin. He
can feel it in his hair, in his lungs, and he's fairly certain it's
probably made its way into his bloodstream. It leaves him feeling
dirty, suffocated. |
|
Nice
story that follows
the whole island experience until they're rescued and beyond.
|
| LOST
BOYS, THE: |
|
|
| |
LEMON,
AUDREY: "Young
Love." |
01/06/04
20kb |
Sammy/Michael.
Michael and Sammy are in love but their obsession
with each other is dark and dangerous – it's so intense and the incest
taboo hovers over everything they do.
|
|
But
what kind of normal could his life go back to now? A community
college program somewhere, a tiny basement apartment where he could
start over, without Sammy? But he couldn't really imagine it, could no
longer imagine a future without Sammy. He wondered what the world could
possibly hold for him now, never able to have what he wanted, or to
even speak of it, his secret making him as monstrous in others' eyes as
if
David's blood still ran in him. And for a moment he hated Sammy as much
as he loved him, hated him for how necessary he had become. |
|
Wow - a
wonderfully dark
story about the nature of obsession.
|
MILLENIUM:
|
|
|
| |
ALLISON, KAT: "Revenant."
|
01/07/05
51kb |
Mulder/Frank Black.
CROSSOVER WITH THE X-FILES.
Frank and Mulder assuage their mutual loneliness after meeting on a
case. |
|
I've
never liked having
other people around me when I'm working. In my days with the FBI, such
intrusions were inescapable, a downside of the job. Since I've been on
my own, though, I avoid them when I can. There are a few exceptions:
Catherine was always welcome to be with me, back in the days when that
was something she wanted; Jordan, as much of a distraction as a child
her age can be, keeps the work in some kind of perspective, which I
value. But as for others--even Peter's restrained presence rasps on me,
watching, demanding; even Bletch used to get on my nerves at times,
though I'd give anything to have that irritation back now. |
|
Alternating
Mulder
and
Frank
POV
slows
the
pace
down
a
little - as each narrator goes over the
same actions - but Kat Allison pulls it off.
|
| NARNIA:
|
|
|
| |
CULLINAN,
KYRA:
"Girls
Grow
Up
Quicker
Than
Books." |
01/06/04
22kb |
Gen.
Lucy is too old to return to Narnia ever again.
|
|
Years
later,
the
smell
of
mothballs
will
make
her
feel like crying. A
hot and prickly sensation blooming suddenly behind her eyes and aching
in her chest, not exactly like sadness but subtle enough that even if
she were to try, she couldn't name all the emotions tangled up inside
her. |
|
This is a
very poignant
look at the loss of childhood joys.
|
NOW
AND AGAIN:
|
|
|
|
DEBBIE
K:
"All The King's Men."
|
01/07/05
9kb |
Gen?
Michael Wiseman' body has been crushed completely in
a massive explosion and even his superhuman body may never recover.
|
|
We
knew this could happen. We had a contingency plan for it in the event
that it did: |
|
'Should
the
experiment
become
no
longer
viable,
terminate
it.' |
|
We
made you as strong and
as resilient and as fast as we possibly could. We made you immune or
resistant to every known pathogen, and we gave you a fighting force of
antibodies that rivals the armies of Alexander. |
|
But
no living organism, no matter how "perfectly
engineered" is a match for a kilo of semtex and the consequent
entombment beneath the rubble of a ten-story building. |
|
This is a
nice angsty
short story with an ambiguous ending.
|
OCEAN'S
ELEVEN:
|
|
|
| |
DORINDA:
"Confidence Men."
|
01/07/05
39kb |
Danny Ocean/Rusty
Ryan.
Danny's just out of gaol and he goes straight to
Rusty, who makes him feel like himself again.
|
|
On a
chill and waning afternoon, they paroled Daniel Ocean for the
first time. Daniel was a good guy, a regular guy, with a flat, calm
manner and a heavy, almost lumbering walk. He didn't smile much. He
wasn't a victim, but he wasn't a bully, either. He kind of hovered in
the upper-middle of the pecking order, for no discernable reason. He
helped guys with their appeals, he did the jobs he was assigned, he
shot bull about who was gonna win the Super Bowl and the Final Four. He
won at cards, but not enough to piss people off. He was never short of
cigarettes and chocolate for trading. And when there was trouble, he
always seemed to be somewhere else. |
|
God,
Danny was going to be glad to get out of this guy's skin. |
|
I love
Dorinda's writing
and this story is no exception. I love the way it delves into the
guys' history together. I like the way they finally get together
almost casually and the way the characterisation is handled throughout
the
story. Lovely.
|
|
KIRRIN,
KEIKO: "And Then You Take The House." [No Link]
|
01/07/05
76kb |
Danny Ocean/Rusty
Ryan.
Rusty and Danny nearly have sex several times - and
finally do just before Las Vegas.
|
|
Danny
hadn't
felt
this
calm
and
confident
--
himself
again,
his old self -- since before
prison. Being with Rusty, all that old rhythm had come back. And that
list he'd made? Reasons why they wouldn't have sex? Dumb list. Dumb
reasons. It was great sex, but great in ways he hadn't expected and
couldn't have anticipated.
|
|
This is
nicely done,
especially the background of the many times they nearly had sex but
somehow didn't. Despite the gentle delightful sex scene, the
rather ambiguous ending is still dictated by Danny's canon relationship
with his ex-wife.
|
| OZ: |
|
|
| |
DARGELOS: "Big
Yellow
Taxi." |
01/09/04
131kb |
Beecher/Keller.
Beeecher is back as a laywer in Austin, Texas, ten
years after his release from Oz. And one day he runs into Keller - but
is it really his old cell-mate?
|
|
"Keller’s
gone.
He’s
been
transferred."
|
|
"Where?
Why?"
|
|
"I
don’t know."
|
|
"What
d’you
mean,
you
don’t
know?
You
have
to
know!"
|
|
"Beecher,
I
don’t
know
where
he’s
been
taken
and
I
don’t know why. I released him into custody, and that’s the
end of it as far as I’m concerned."
|
|
"Will
he
be
back?"
|
|
"No."
|
|
And
just like that, Tobias Beecher’s world changed.
What had been a life lived in vivid colors became gray again.
He tried to be angry and he tried to feel betrayed, but all he
really felt was lonely. As long as Chris had been there in Em City,
even if they were enemies, Tobias knew there was one person in the
whole
lousy place that knew who he was. Belatedly he realized that Chris had
been the one person on earth who knew who he really was and loved him
anyway.
|
|
Maybe
the
hardest
part
was
not
knowing
why
Chris
was gone. |
|
This is
one of my
favourite scenario kinks: is it Keller or isn't
it?
This story has lots of emotional intensity and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
|
| RED
DWARF: |
|
|
| |
CULLINAN,
KYRA:
"Couplets
Out
Of
Rhyme." |
01/01/05
7kb |
Het.
Kochanski can't stop thinking about Lister - and
comparing him to her Dave,
who's lost to her in another universe, along
with every other thing she valued.
|
|
When
he plays, sometimes, she
sits in the hallway outside his door and listens, eyes closed and head
resting on the wall and pretends. Pretends that when the music stops
she'll walk in and it'll be her Dave, who'll smile at her and ask what
she wants for dinner and all of this will be a bad dream. The rusty,
tiny ship and bizarre crew and all the other horrid differences.
|
|
And
it's so strange, because she remembers him like this, if dimly.
Remembers those first long nights (and days) of cheerful, exuberant
sex, a Lister who might not have taken his socks off in bed, but could
kiss her senseless and make her actually like chutney. She hasn't
thought of him in years, takes for granted the gradually genteeled,
improved hologram version of himself he's become. Holly tried to
explain to them once how it had all happened, but he got muddled
partway through and for once in her life, who was she to question? She
does wonder now, though, when Lister pauses in the doorway as if to
speak to her before losing his nerve. Did his years as a softlight
hologram add something ineffable and gentle to her Dave or did it strip
away some of the rawness, make him the sum of his possibilities? Is her
lover trapped somewhere inside the man who drinks cold curry sauce for
breakfast or has he yet to be realized in this universe's Dave Lister? |
|
You gotta
love Kyra
Cullinan: I wasn't very impressed with Season 7 Red
Dwarf and Kochanski left me cold - but this story makes me care about
both! I love the emotional intensity she brings to her
writing and the poignancy that very much hits my bittersweet kink.
|
| SPLASH: |
|
|
|
KAI: "Fathoms Deep."
[No link]
|
01/07/05
35kb |
Madison/Allen.
Madison and Allen have made it down to the depths -
but what happens now?
|
|
She
always knew he’d choose her. It was
never in question, pretty tears and goodbyes aside she always knew in
her fathoms deep mermaid’s heart that he would follow her to the sea.
They always did, the men the mermaids brought Below to give them their
swift viciously bright children with their sharp teeth and treacherous
smiles.
|
|
Madison's
POV - she has
lured her prey down to the depths and now all
secrets are revealed. A creepy, sinister look at mermaids and
their
real motives. Very well done.
|
| THE
WALTONS: |
|
|
|
RIORDEN,
MICHAEL:
"Sforzando." [No link] |
15/05/04
202kb |
Johnboy/Rev.
Matthew Fordwick.
At 17 Johnboy is having a crisis of faith and
conscience - and then Matthew Fordwick arrives.
|
|
"There
is
so
little
hope
but
you're
one
of
the ones who can try."
|
|
"I'm
not strong enough."
|
|
"I'm
not, but I think you are," Matthew said.
"I also found that
paper with the single word sforzando written on it."
|
|
"What
paper?"
|
|
"On
your dresser."
|
|
Johnboy
frowned,
then
said,
"There's
nothing
to
that.
It's
the
only word I missed on a spelling test. I didn't want to miss it
twice."
|
|
"You
know what it means, don't you?"
|
|
"In
music, the part with sudden emphasis."
|
|
"In
the entire song, it's that one, single note that's meant to be
louder and clearer than all the rest. Of all the people around
here, you are the only one I ever see. I have no hope for myself,
John, but if I had even an iota, you and I would get on a bus and just
leave." |
|
This
story starts out very
slowly but if you stick with it there are
some very nice parts to it, not least of which is what happens after
Matthew's introduction to the Miss Baldwins' "recipe". The
grammatical errors are annoying at times but, I mean, "The
Waltons" slash - ya gotta include
that if only for the sheer
improbablility factor, right? <g>
|
| WARSHIP:
|
|
|
|
SUE:
"Out
Of The Blue."
|
08/02/05
155kb |
Commander Mark
Nialls/Lieutenant-Commander Derek Beaumont.
On leave from their ship, Derek sets sail to pick up
some researchers from an isolated island for his father - and he's
horrified when his commanding officer offers to come along.
|
|
"Poor
Mark,"
he
said
instinctively,
without
thinking
how
odd
it might
sound. "I fought all
these battles years ago; you've still got them to come. All the
uncertainty and the abject terror of saying and doing the wrong thing.
Everything's always been so simple for you and now you're ... "
inspiration struck suddenly, " ... casting around in the fog. I wish I
could help you."
|
|
"You
can. Hold my hand." He'd meant it figuratively at first, but then
impulsively stuck out a hand
and waited a thousand or more years until Derek's fingers slowly
wrapped around it. |
|
"All
right. But no promises. I want to take this very slowly." |
|
"Best
way in fog," Nialls agreed
with a grin, squeezing the hand that held his and which squeezed back
with deep and genuine affection. |
|
A
typically restrained
British slash story - who would have thunk
it? I enjoyed
it all the more for being so faithful to the time, place and occupation
of these two seafaring gentlemen. Unfortunately, no sex at all in
this one. I wish there was
a sequel that went into their first time and how they coped with their
new relationship but I love the way this one doesn't duck the
difficulties inherent in such a relationship but has two intelligent
men explore them sensibly before starting something that could lose
either one of them their job and reputation if discovered. This
is a very nice, sweet read of its type and I enjoyed it, even though
I'd never actually seen the show.
|
WIZARD
OF
OZ,
THE:
|
|
|
|
SHAYE:
"Rum
Punch
Is
A
Colour
Of
The
Rainbow."
|
01/07/05
6kb |
Gen.
Dorothy has moved from Kansas to New york after they
released her from the madhouse. And now she's drinking rum punch
at a speakeasy.
|
|
Dorothy
has
heard
of
Harlem
speakeasies
filled
with
poets
and
painters and people who just might believe her story. This, she
realizes dimly, is not one of those places. The wrong part of town, she
thinks, and sighs |
|
Her
silver shoes won't save her this time. |
|
(Did
they ever, now? Be honest with yourself.) |
|
Interesting
surreal
look
at
what
the
aftermath
of
Oz
has
done to the innocent Dorothy of the
beginning of the movie. This story is not for the fainthearted or
those who only want to read happy endings.
|
