Fanfiction Fridays: Coffee by JackVelvet

Coffee by JackVelvet is a fic I read back in the day at the height of the Nolanverse Batman craze. I was obsessed with the pairing Jonathan Crane/Bruce Wayne (aka Scarecrow/Batman), which was, unsurprisingly, a rare pairing. It is just like me to get hooked on a pairing almost no one is writing about. And when I did find any Wayne/Crane fic, a lot of it was just smut. No lengthy fic, no plot, no character development; it was boring. There were maybe two other lengthy, well-written Wayne/Crane fics out there, and I had already read them both. And then, dearest JackVelvet (admittedly a friend of mine from my LiveJournal days) wrote Coffee, and blew me away.

I mean look at all the chemistry they have! And their names rhyme! Seriously there should be more fic for these two.

Not only is this pairing a rare one, but both Batman and Scarecrow hate each other. And while many fanfic authors would idly brush that hatred aside in favor of sex and romance, JackVelvet takes the time to build a believable setting in which these two characters would grow to fall in love with each other.

Fanfiction Fridays: What is Forbidden by EsmeAmelia

So in one of the earlier seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ahsoka Tano and her fellow Padawan, Barris Offee, team up for a few episodes. In these episodes, their friendship buds, they get buried alive together and attacked by infectious worms that can possess people, and are finally made to fight one another. And after all this, the two of them end up in this position:

And thus, the slash was born.

Sexualized Saturdays: Tops and Bottoms

“I know fanfic authors, well, I know what they like.

[WARNING: IRENE ADLER MEANS ADULT CONTENT AHEAD]

One of the things that really bothers me in fanfiction is something as simple as arguing over who is the “top” and “bottom” in a pairing. If magically there are somehow no arguments about who’s on top, then I notice that one person in a pairing is constantly seen as the bottom because they are “weaker and more stereotypically feminine.”

I should stress that I feel this is mostly a slash fanfiction problem, but het pairings and femslash pairings are not exempt in any way. Het pairings simply delegate the women to the role of a “bottom,” but femslash tends to avoid top and bottom debates, though there are some exceptions, such as if a female character tends to be more “stereotypically masculine,” then she will more than likely be on “top.”

Have you seen the key factor here? Hint: it’s a penis.

Fanfiction Fridays: When the Music Stops

Hello readers, it’s me, Fiyero3305, bringing you another wonderful AU Big Time Rush fic. Today’s story comes from the very talented author candidcanoe and is titled “When the Music Stops“.

As I’ve mentioned in my reviews of the show, the boys of Big Time Rush started out as four friends growing up together in Minnesota before unexpectedly ending up with a trip to Los Angeles to become a boy band for a desperate record producer named Gustavo Rocque. This story is AU because it explores how things would be different if one of the four guys never moved to Minnesota, making for a completely different dynamic for the trio of friends as opposed to the quartet we know in the show.

In this story Logan suffers an accident as a child which leaves him deaf. Because his parents don’t want to uproot him in light of the situation they decide not to move to Minnesota as planned and Logan instead grows up in Texas, never knowing the three boys who would have been his best childhood friends had he gotten to meet them. Up north, James, Carlos, and Kendall grow up loving each other but never having the proper symmetry to their friendship. This is felt most keenly by Kendall, who has to deal with knowing James and Carlos share a closer bond with each other than they do with him while he has no one to call his own, to be his best friend.

Logan’s absence affects the group in another way: they never become Big Time Rush. Gustavo Rocque still comes to Shakopee, Minnesota on his talent search but instead of accepting Kendall’s terms of making his friends into a band in order for him to sign on with the producer’s label, he passes on the offer of a three-man boy band. The trio does feel the call to music, however, and try to make themselves a band and move to LA on their own.

Music also becomes very important to Logan in his adolescence. Growing up without his sense of hearing he has a unique appreciation for music in that he feels it rather than hearing it but it fills a need in his soul. Logan in this story grows up very differently than Logan in the show. He’s isolated and relies only on himself. He has trust issues and doesn’t express himself very well or put himself at risk of emotional pain but finding music gives him an artistic release. He pursues his dreams of being a drummer by attending school in LA.

From here, I’m sure you’ve guessed that he meets up with Kendall, James, and Carlos but things don’t go so smoothly. Read the story to find out all the twists and turns of how these four friends find each other and how differently they work together having grown up apart. It’s not so easy as one may assume and I love that candidcanoe keeps the story character-driven and doesn’t make things easy or clean when the four finally meet. There’s no magic moment of fitting in and understanding; it takes work and not everything is perfect harmony. I love it when authors don’t sacrifice characterization for a neat and pleasant story, so if you’re like me then you should definitely give this story a read.

Sexualized Saturdays: “Straight guys don’t do that!”

I’m sure our readers know that I am a big fan of Big Time Rush, but you may not know that I am also a fan of Supernatural. In fact, I was the one to tell Ladies Geek Girl and Saika about the show in the first place and encourage them to watch it, so…

I’m not very active in the SPN fandom anymore, though, because my work schedule makes it difficult to keep up with the show, which is why I don’t really post about it. (I am watching the anime version right now though, so expect a post or two about that once I finish the series) Back when the show started, however, I followed the fandom pretty closely through LiveJournal and forums (these were pre-tumblr days folks!) so I was very aware of the shipping and all that in the fandom. One of the things I noticed that irked me, which I’ve also noticed in the BTR fandom, was that any time Sam and Dean (or Jared and Jensen, for that matter) showed affection or concern for one another everyone jumped all over it as being proof that they were gay for each other.

 

Why does this bother me? Well, for one, I related strongly to the family dynamic in Supernatural. I saw myself in Sam so much and the relationships he had with Dean and John hit really close to home with my own relationships with my brother and father. It was wonderful to see them try, fail, try again, make headway, etc. in their relationships with one another and the strength of familial love between them reminded me of my own and gave me hope that no matter what troubles may exist in my own family we could get through them because we loved each other.

Then I went online and that love was turned from something purely familial into something lustful and I was made to feel uncomfortable and confused. Why did it seem no one could believe that these men loved each other as father and son, brother and brother? Why did any sign of affection have to be turned into something romantic or sexual? One of the phrases I saw thrown around a lot in the SPN fandom and even more so in the BTR fandom is “Straight guys don’t do that.”

And any time I see that phrase, or some variation thereof, I want to ask “Says who?”

Sexualized Saturdays: Male Pregnancy in Fanfiction

Okay, so for the most part Sexualized Saturdays has been pretty tame. We have mostly talked about sexuality and the portrayal of relationships, with a couple notable exceptions, but now I am about to take you deep into the world of fanfiction and fetishes. Be warned, adult content ahead.

“I know fanfic authors, well, I know what they like.”

Let’s talk about one theme that shows up a lot in fanfiction: male pregnancy.

Fanfiction Fridays: Hanging On (At the End of the World)

Whenever I hear the word “epidemic” in conjunction with post-apocalyptic stories I assume “zombies”. This story does not have zombies but I still chose to write about it as one of my Halloween-themed posts because it’s awesome and the collapse of civilization is still a pretty frightening subject so I think it counts.

Hanging On (At the End of the World) is an AU Big Time Rush fanfic written for this year’s Big Time Big Bang by author CerinityKS with artwork by teh_emowaffle.

WARNINGS: I must warn for violence, a graphic almost-sex scene, and mentions of offstage sexual abuse. It’s rated M for a reason, this story ain’t kidding around, but I think these situations are handled pretty well by the author.

The story follows the four friends as they deal with the aftermath of a deadly black market drug which causes either death or animalistic homicidal rages in its users. The premise has a very 28 Days Later feel to it and definitely has some similarities to other pandemic films but it doesn’t feel unoriginal and Cerinity’s writing is strong enough to make the story very much her own.

I wanted to finish introducing Big Time Rush the show before posting any fanfiction about it but since those posts have been put on hold in favor of my spooky October posts I had to give up on that hope. Thankfully the story is fully AU so it doesn’t matter too much if the reader is unfamiliar with the show’s canon. CerinityKS has written a piece that I believe is complete on its own and doesn’t rely very heavily on the reader knowing the characters beforehand since they have new backgrounds anyway.

The story involves shipping, namely Kendall/Logan (my OTP) and James/Carlos but what I love is that it’s still a story independent of these relationships. It’s not just relationship drama, it’s a story that has relationship drama included. The story gives focus to these aspects but it’s not just one character yearning for another and then confessing his love at the end. Instead, it’s a very character-driven piece which I absolutely love.

Fanfiction Fridays: A Pause in the Air by The Angst Guy

Today I had planned for you a glorious redemption of the Sonic fandom by finding a multi-chapter fic void of OC’s and with mostly correct grammatical syntax. However, after wading through about 10 pages of absolute shit I quickly discovered that this search was harder than finding the Holy Grail and that it wouldn’t be done in time for today. You’ll just have to wait until later. All is not lost, though! Today I bring you a fic from a series that even I don’t think really needs fic.

Today’s story is from Daria, and most anyone aged 20 and up knows about this series and how it essentially defined a generation with its scathing apathy and cynicism towards teenage life in the 90’s. Although there were certain flaws with the series (coughTOMcough), it’s as close to a perfect series as I’ve ever seen. My family actually gets together to watch the DVDs, and with our widely differing tastes, that’s saying something. Since the show relies more on a vignette format as opposed a legit continuous plot, it may be hard to figure out what aspects remain “canon” enough to include in a fic or what would stick with the characters but this fic uses this aspect to its advantage. A Pause in the Air by The Angst Guy separates itself into 10 different sections that are loosely connected, but gives enough time in between the “chapters” that the audience is not bored with mundane details. And really, this story is all about the mundane details in life that end up being not so mundane.

This story is set just a little bit after the events of the Daria movie with Jane and Daria being an actual couple. The first story takes place during a Thanksgiving meal at the Morgendorffer’s home. There’s obvious tension over the girl’s recent civil union however there is another surprise in store for the family. I feel as though if I say anything, it’ll ruin the experience so I’ll keep this brief. There’s nothing supernatural or anything too horridly dramatic (except in the second to last part): this story is all about exploring the facets of this relationship and how it impacts the families involved and in general the apathy and soul searching that comes during college. The Angst Guys’ story is very dialogue intensive, but he does a wonderful job of keeping all the dialogue in-character. I can hear the characters’ voices saying each and every line and it just makes the story that much more gripping. It’s a slice-of-life drama that’ll make you laugh, make you cringe and possibly bring a tear to your eye. But, it’s something that will stick with you long after you read it.

 

Fanfiction Fridays: True Love is Arguing about Go

So today I was going to bring you a fic about the Doctor finding the Master only he’s regenerated into an octopus and Amy and Rory are the most confused… but I don’t have it bookmarked and AO3 seems to be down so I guess I’ll save that for another Friday.

Instead, I bring you a true classic in the world of Hikaru no Go fanfiction: A Whole New Apocalypse by Aja. Aja is what fandom calls a BNF—for most of the 2000s, any fandom she joined was bound to get a dose of awesome writing out of her attention. Her most famous work is also her most infamous—her abandoned WIP Harry/Draco epic Love Under Will cut off on a terrible cliffhanger—but she’s written for many fandoms, and HikaGo is one of her favorites. (Her glowing recommendation on LiveJournal was the whole reason I watched it, in fact, and it remains one of my all-time favorite anime.)

Dat proprietary hand on Touya’s shoulder.

This fic is really tremendous, and I constantly return to it when I desire a dose of the pure and true go-fueled love between Hikaru and Touya. (It does have some sexy scenes, so I guess it’s notthatpure, but go with me.) It begins with Hikaru having a total sexuality crisis because he’s worried that he’s been accidentally leading Touya on despite his being not gay, thank you very much. It features awkward conversations at McDonalds (why do they always eat there between Insei sessions?), Waya as a beleaguered relationship counselor, Touya being awkward and intense and wonderful and looking totally hot even though he’s wearing a horrible pink tie, impassioned arguments over games of go, corny go similes, Ochi being obnoxious, wonderful UST and realizations, and a perfect ending.

Check out A Whole New Apocalypse here!

Fanfiction Fridays: A Traditional Family Road Trip by Kantayra

This fic seemed particularly relevant today as I am, as you read, road-tripping all the way to Florida for Spring Break.  (I wrote this yesterday. HELLO FROM THE PAST!)

But anyway. I recently finished watching the anime Tiger & Bunny, which is about the daily lives and adventures of superheroes in a futuristic city called Sternbild.  The heroes all compete in a reality TV show (called, aptly, Hero TV) where they receive points for rescues, arrests, and not-destroying-property.

The odd couple of Kotetsu, the goofy older guy who doesn’t care about his scores, and Barnaby, the hot young blond with a revenge complex and a desperate desire to succeed, was born to be slashed, let me just say.

I was surprised they didn’t get married at the end of the series, the subtext was so obvious.

So, needless to say, this is a Kotetsu/Barnaby fic.  It’s set post-series, but doesn’t really have any significant spoilers, and the whole story is that Kotetsu, Barnaby, and Kotetsu’s daughter Kaede are going on a road trip to see a big hole in the groun-sorry, a canyon.

Possibly my favorite thing about it besides its sugary cuteness is that it’s written from Kaede’s point of view.

Kaede is a snarky, old-for-her-years ten-year-old with a crush the size of, well, a canyon on her Hero TV favorite, Barnaby.  So when she gets the chance to spend days in the car with him, she’s thrilled… until she realizes that Barnaby in person is a lot more awkward and dorky than his TV personality, and, more importantly, that he is quite obviously in love with her father.

The story itself is really just hilarious, with nods to typical road-trip problems such as the what-music-do-we-listen-to, the you-drive-too-fast-you-drive-too-slow, and the must-we-really-stop-at-every-worlds’-largest-ball-of-string-for-pictures problems.  It does have its serious moments too, however – it deals with how Kaede rationalizes her mom’s death and the possibility of her dad starting a new relationship with someone else.  And yes, the ending is sappy and adorable, but what else would you expect from a road trip story?

If you loved Tiger & Bunny like I did, I definitely recommend you read this lovely story. Check it out here at AO3.