Five Fics I Really Enjoyed in 2013

[shapinglight]

Bit of a feeble title, but these fics don't have an overarching theme, except that I enjoyed them all a lot.

Broken English by estepheia. Giles/Ethan, rated R.
Not only do I love this fic, but there was a long stretch of time when it looked like it wouldn't be finished (the first part was posted way back in 2007), but estepheia, despite being very busy in RL, came back and finished it. So pleased! A terrific story from a Buffyverse fandom legend.



Another chaptered fic finished in 2013 was Development Hell by beer_good_foamy. Ensemble, PG. While killing time in Rome, Buffy runs into a new Slayer with a shocking secret. Now, she's going to have to face her past to keep both herself and those around her from a Fate Worse Than Death... Hollywood.
Hilarious! And possibly libellous.

quinara is one of my favourite writers in the fandom, and in 2013 she wrote
Broken By Degree, Spike/Buffy(ish) PG-13, with major input from Dawn. This is a 'what if' tale - in this instance, what if Principal Wood had split Spike in two (like Xander in The Replacement) in LMPTM so he could kill just the evil part? How would that work? Or would it even work at all? Hilarity ensues, as Spike discovers that it isn't necessarily 'evil' Spike that's the cool one, if there is such a person.

All the Shakespearoes by anactoria. Spike, PG13. Warning for major character death. The author's entry for the last round of seasonal_spuffy, this one had me from the title - quote from an old Stranglers song - and the fic itself is beautiful and strange and upsetting. In the author's own words, it turns out, even Utopia doesn’t hold a place for everyone.

I'd convinced myself for some reason that hello_spikey hadn't written much in 2013, but as it turns out, happily, I was wrong. Here is one of the things she wrote (and she wrote it for me!), Meddling in the Affairs of Gods for Fun and Profit, Spike/Illyria, R. In which Illyria and Spike attend relationship counselling with the god of love himself. Needless to say, Eros has his own agenda.

Hope you enjoy.

Comments

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Excellent choices! And I was also glad to see estepheia back to writing again.

[shapinglight]

:)

quinara's story in particular didn't get many readers. I hope more people will pick up on it via this rec.

[yourlibrarian]

Well it's just gotten one! I was thrilled to see she has this on AO3 so I've already downloaded it :)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Bit of a feeble title,

It's a perfect title, actually. We're here to rec what we loved and enjoyed this year, simple as that.

estepheia is the only writer here I'm unfamiliar with thank you; I can't believe I missed quinara's story (their Long Distance to London series is one of my favorite things ever); or that I actually forgot anactoria's fic. I've visited a lot of intentional communities and that fic was a pretty accurate depiction of exactly the sorts of people I met.

There was so much wonderful stuff this year, it's impossible to keep up with it all. *banging the "this fandom is NOT dead" drum" *

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Oh I love estephia's story. Nice to see it rec'd. And Broken by Degree I'd never seen before. Good one.

[chasingdemons.livejournal.com]

This looks like a great list!

[snogged.livejournal.com]

I love it when hello_spikey write Illyria/Spike. It's good stuff!

[shapinglight]

:)

I'm going to be reccing another story of hers before you close.

[shapinglight]

There was so much wonderful stuff this year, it's impossible to keep up with it all. *banging the "this fandom is NOT dead" drum" *

It's true it's not dead, but I think it is more widely scattered, which it makes it a bit more difficult to makes recs lists for this comm.

[shapinglight]

:)

I hope you enjoy it. quinara gives good Spuffy(ish).

[shapinglight]

It is! All well worth reading.

[shapinglight]

That's why I keep requesting it. :)

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot for reccing!

And thanks for adding to the list of fics I need to read, as well. :)

[shapinglight]

:)

My pleasure.

Am about to do another post, in fact. :)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

but I think it is more widely scattered,

I said the exact same thing on my New Year's post (http://red-satin-doll.livejournal.com/28708.html). I've only been in this fandom a year and a half, so don't have the long view; your comment confirms I'm not wrong in my assumption.

[quinara]

Aww, your rec also makes me wish this fic of mine had been even longer and more developed... So much could have happened! All the hijinks.

Otherwise, I loved that fic by anactoria too - and it is always great to see hello_spikey writing, even if most of her pairings aren't ones I read... This list all looks great, in fact; it's nice to see your faves collected together.

ETA: Although I think I did actually end up with quite a few readers! They were just over on the Ashtray rather than my journal. At least I think it was quite a lot; I have no idea how many people you can expect to be out reading these days.

[shapinglight]

I think you must have got more readers on your LJ. There didn't seem to be many on the Ashtray.

Either way, more people ought to read it.