Five classic Xander/Oz fics

[sparrow2000.livejournal.com]

Xander/Oz was the very first piece of slash I ever read and while at the time the slash itself got me hot under the collar, as time went by I came to realise that there was something about this pairing that is truly wonderful when done well. To me, these five stories are examples of them done brilliantly.

The Summer Sun and That Boy’s Look by entrenous88 is just beautiful. Oz looks out of the window of a bookshop and Xander is there. The imagery is this is just breathtaking and these boys will make you want to sigh.

( Step this way for the rest of the Xander/Oz goodness )

Five Classic Willow fics

[punch-kicker15.livejournal.com]

Willow is a fascinating and complex character to me, and I really enjoy fiction that reflects that. Here are five classic Willow fics. I'm going to be cautious and label them all not worksafe.

1) The Power and The Other Thing by mosca.Willow/Tara, Willow/Glory (not really the focus of the story) Gorgeous Wishverse story, with Nerdy Willow, Super-witch Willow, and Scary Willow all wrapped up into one. I really enjoy the way the characters from Angel were worked in. The tone is a bit chilly and remote and matches the world-building wonderfully. This is one of the most hopeful Wishverse stories I've read, but the hope seems earned. This is one of those stories that I think should get a lot more recognition than it has.

( The other four below the cut )

5 Recs for stories that are part of a series

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

All of these are either part of a series or a rec for the series as a whole.
None of these are worksafe, but none are terribly squicky either.

1) Of Old Mystics by omphalos and Wolfling: Giles/Ethan - Giles, now head of the Council, rescues Ethan from the Initiative only to learn that they are a bonded pair, Order and Chaos, who must work together to save the world. One of my favorite go-back-to stories.

( The other five recs are eyeing each other and wondering who's going to clean up the mess from that Halloween bash ... )

Top 5 Stories I hadn't even heard of until Oct 2013

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

All of these are pre-2013 postings. I just first discovered them recently.

1) The Butterfingers G. D. I. Stark Guide to Problem Solving by Epiphanyx7
Avengers verse
Starks' A. I. bots are building another bot. Adorable story.

So in the end there always ends up being some sort of tiny, insignificant anomaly --- not a mistake, or anything. Just a... a loophole, in the programming parameters. This line totally reminds me of a plotline from Freefall, and you can see another example of robots creating robots in Girl Genius.

( The rest of the recs are busy wondering: if it's still the Day of the Dead, why aren't there more zombies skulking about ...  )

Top 5 recs that didn't fit into any other categories.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

If you've been following you'll notice I went a bit overboard with recs this year.
;-)

I basically found a bunch of stories I adore and then put them into categories. Here are five that are awesome but didn't get put into any of the other categories. I marked the two that are not worksafe.

1) Dealing by estephia
Not worksafe.
Ethan/Lindsey
Ever wonder how Lindsey got those tats?

( The rest of the recs are sharing a joint and gazing about at all the pretty fall leaves ...  )

5 Apocafics

[baudown.livejournal.com]

Because I love them.  And they're not all Spander.  But some are.

1. Babylon, by Tabaqui.  Richly detailed, original world.  The language and imagery are beautiful.  This story always gives me a pang.

( Read more... )

Five Terrific Crossover Fics

[sparrow2000.livejournal.com]

I’m a sucker for a good BTVS crossover, so here are five that I come back to again and again.

Out of the Shadows by twilightofmagic is a gem of a Torchwood crossover and I’d recommend it even if you’ve never watched Torchwood, because it really doesn’t matter. Xander takes a walk to get away from the estrogen-heavy castle in Scotland and runs into someone who looks kind of familiar... I wish all my walks were this productive!

( Lures you down the rabbit hole to the rest of the fics… )