Five Fics With An Unusual Format

[shapinglight]

The Buffyverse fandom is getting on a bit now, but in spite of that it still attracts new writers and still inspires them to try new and different ideas - not just plotwise but structure/formatwise too. Here are five fics from 2008 told in innovative ways that I particularly enjoyed.

Dial N for Nancy-Boy by deird1 Spike and Angel, rating G. This hilarious and touching story by one of our best new writers reports a series of phone calls between Spike and Angel over a period of four years, from season 1 of AtS on, told in 28 drabbles. Wonderful stuff.



Crushed Spaiku by mere_ubu Spike/Buffy PG, a retelling of the events of Crush from BtVS season 5 in haikus. So, so clever, plus very funny.

Clipping Service by powerofthebook, her entry for this autumn's round of seasonal_spuffy, Spike/Buffy G, retells events post-Chosen in the form of newspaper reports and magazine articles. Marvel at the sheer wonderfulness of the Immortal as revealed by him to a journalist, discover what local people in Little Stainton thought of the sudden influx of a lot of loud, inexplicably strong teenage girls, discover what the local police chief in L.A. thought of that vigilante with the funny taste in music etc etc. Very, very cleverly done.

Extracts From Rules for UCSD Fraternities by bruttimabuoni. Written for the Reptile Boy challenge on fantas_magoria, a short and to-the-point list that manages to reveal an awful lot about that hallowed (or possibly unhallowed) institution, UC Sunnydale.

And finally, what has to be the most unusual fic I've come across all year, and proof - if any were needed - that there's life and creativity in the old fandom still:

Spikeid 1 by quinara. Spike/Buffy, post NFA and featuring Illyria, part 1 of an epic poem in iambic pentameters in the style of the Aeneid, which, if you think about it, is very suitable for the subject matter.

I hope to post more lists as the week progresses, but in the meantime, enjoy.

Comments

[sueworld2003.livejournal.com]

Excellent recs love. Most of these are unknown to me, so I look forward o rectifying that.

[shapinglight]

You'll definitely enjoy the first one, Sue. Very, very funny.

I have lots of other fics/art to rec too, but collating them into 5s takes a little while.

Shall have more time next week.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Excellent list! Especially quinara's epic poem and mere_ubu's Spaiku, fandoms definitely need more poetry.

[shapinglight]

True, though I fear I won't be writing it. I suck at poetry.

[yourlibrarian]

This is a great category and I'm going to try to dig into these today (in between the loads of laundry). What an intriguing collection!

[shapinglight]

Hope you enjoy them. And Happy New Year to you!

ETA: and sorry I forgot to tag. I always forget!

[yourlibrarian]

Argh! LJ just logged me out three times in a row as I tried to answer this -- very weird.

And thanks! And no worries, it's often easier for one person to tag and memory and I have to fix some of the duplicate categories in this session.

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

I loved bruttimabuoni's fic.


Gabrielle

[menomegirl.livejournal.com]

I second that. I love to run across poetry and rec it whenever I find it, which isn't often enough.

[menomegirl.livejournal.com]

Wonderful list!

[louise39.livejournal.com]

A unique and interesting listing. Each one I read is a gem.
I will try "Extracts From Rules for UCSD Fraternities".
Thanks.

[quinara]

*blushes* I clicked on this without any expectation of seeing my name, so this is a lovely surprise. Thanks! (I wrassled with that thing for so long that I think I forgot it was weird.)

And thank you for the other recs - I just read the first and the fourth, which I hadn't seen before, and they were great! I love interestingly-formatted things. :D

[deird1]

Thanks for the rec!
Must check out all the others, too. They sound excellent.


(One point: the entry you've linked to doesn't have any links to the other 6 parts - and I'm having trouble editing the post to add one... Stupid rich text and its crappiness. *kicks it* Any chance you could change the link to lead to this entry? Sorry for being complicated...)

[mere-ubu.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks for reccing the Spaiku! I'm thrilled that you enjoyed them enough to do so.

I've only read "Clipping Service" (so inventive!) before and can't wait to scamper off and read the others. *sigh* You may have just derailed my good housecleaning intentions, darn the luck. ;)

[hello-spikey.livejournal.com]

ooo neat. Thanks for rec'ing. I'm enjoying reading. :D

[shapinglight]

No problem. I'll sort it out.

[powerofthebook.livejournal.com]

With full respect to your significant other, shapinglight, SMOOCH!

Very big thanks for the rec!

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec! A couple of these are among my favourites for the year, so I'm honoured by the company!

[shapinglight]

Yes, she's quite a find. I hope she'll stick around in the fandom.

[shapinglight]

Thanks. Glad you like it.

[shapinglight]

It won't take you long, because it's very short, but I recommend anything written by bruttimabuoni.

[shapinglight]

I love them too, though I cannot for the life of me write them.

[shapinglight]

:cackles evilly:

Glad you enjoyed the list. I certainly enjoyed your Spaikus.

[shapinglight]

Good. Have recced three of yours in my Spike/Dru fics post, in case you hadn't noticed.

Such wonderful stories!

[shapinglight]

With full respect to your significant other

:is puzzled: Um - who might that be?

And very glad to rec. Enjoyed that story so much.

[shapinglight]

My pleasure, and I'm hoping to include more of yours in other categories later on. I've loved everything of yours I've read.

[hello-spikey.livejournal.com]

aw! *blush*

I want to make a rec post, but I haven't decided on a theme. Would it be bad to just post "Five stories in which Spike gets beat down in a delicous way?" :P

[quinara]

Pish! I doubt that very much.

[shapinglight]

Absolutely not. Go ahead. If I remember the rules correctly, all categories are welcome here, as long as the posts are positive in nature (ie. no bad-fic mocking posts etc).