Our Recommendations
 November 15, 1998
Today we'd like to recommend three fascinating stories
about one of the most mistunderstood guys in fanfic: Chakotay. Yeah, so he's
complacent and underdeveloped on the show, but he didn't have to be like
that. For a more complex view of his character, and some excellent Maquis action,
check out War Crimes
by VoyWriter, Killing
Time by YCD, and Truth
and Dare by VoyWriter. (The stories form a loose series in the order listed.)
And now for something new . . . we can't help but
recommend this Mulder/Krycek novel zine, The Gift of an Enemy by Sylvia.
It's a great story, a real X-File plot, and a wonderful slash romance.
Sylvia's Alex Krycek is one of the best we've seen in a long time. And it's a pretty
zine, too -- it has a beautiful cover by Jo and a nice, easy-to-read layout. One
last thing: if you've never ordered a zine before, don't be scared to deal with
Teeny Gozer Productions -- they are honest and above-board through and through. For
ordering information, go here.
Recommend your favorite
stories and writers here!
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Our Past Recommendations
October 13, 1998
I'd like to recommend a short Mulder/Krycek story by
Merri-Todd Webster today: L'Alba.
I guess I just have a thing about Mulder and Krycek and hotel rooms. Also,
for your reading pleasure, may I suggest Amirin's Stewing. If I am not
mistaken, this was her first Chakotay/Paris story -- and it's still one of my favorites.
For something a little different, try this site: fanzines.com. If you came to slash through the
internet, like we did, you may never have had the chance to read a zine. At this
site they sell gen, slash, new, used, and they have a great search engine, too. This
is a great slash resource!
September 6, 1998
Jan says: Time for something nasty.
And I mean that in only the most complimentary way, of course.
First, a Chakotay/Paris favorite: Contact by Super!Cat.
It's dirty, sexy, and the voice is perfect (that's a bonus). Then
something from the world of Mulder/Krycek: Naughty Chair
by Te. It's funny and hot, with a dash of dangerous Krycek.
August 2, 1998
Jan says: It's been a year today
since we started our website, and to celebrate I'm recommending an old favorite: Russian Roulette,
by torch. It's a wonderful Mulder/Krycek missing adventure
from the timeline of Tunguska. I imagine most people here have read it before, but
it bears multiple re-readings. And it was written just over a year ago, in July of
1997. I've used this story more than once to introduce mundanes to slash, and non-XF
fans to M/K. Definitely one of my all-time favorites.
July 18, 1998
Jan says: Another short X-Files
story, another of my favorites. The Only One Who Knows,
by Maria. Sometimes writing a sad story helps when you're feeling
sad. Sometimes reading one helps, too. This story is a wonderful example of
what is so good about Maria's writing: the simplicity and clarity of emotion, the detail
that transports you into the scene and leaves you shaking.
July 2, 1998
Jan says: In celebration of
Independence Day here in the U.S., I'd like to recommend Born on the Fourth of July
by Catherine. She wrote this short little Mulder/Krycek story last July 4th. It's an
alternate universe partnership story, a sweet glimpse at what might have been, and one of
my favorite holiday stories.
June 21, 1998
Jan says: Read Solace by Dawn M. Pares.
It's a Mulder/Skinner short story that presents a really nice psychological
portrait of both characters. Solace is safety, comfort, home. And we all need
solace sometimes.
June 7, 1998
Jan says: Have you read the badfic? If not, you're
missing out on something wonderful. Get to the archive and wallow in it. I
promise you'll come out smiling. My favorites are Wildfire and Precious Moments.
June 1, 1998
June here: Over the weekend I read a
truly different story and I thought I would share. Mona has a new
Chakotay/Paris AU called The Balance
Series (look down Mona's page for this series; it's near the bottom).
It's dark, intense and mesmerizing. It's also heavy on the angst. There are
mind games and domination but not enough to put off the average slash reader. Tom
and Chakotay are helplessly drawn together but the rules of their game continue to push
them apart and into a dark place. If fluff isn't what you want right now, give this
a try.
May 18, 1998
Time for something out of the ordinary: Be Careful What You Wish For by
Atara Stein. A hot little story about Tom Paris and . . . B'Elanna?
Yep. It picks up right where the episode "Blood Fever" left off, and
B'Elanna puts Tom through his paces in the most delicious fashion. "But it's
not slash!" I hear you say . . . well, give it a chance anyway, it's a real
scorcher. Jan and June loved it (and we rarely read het). Besides, have I
steered you wrong before? ;-) And please remember that Atara is also an excellent
slash writer, one of the premiere Q writers in fact. If you haven't read her Q
stories, head on over to GiffStein
Productions and check them all out, along with those of her partner Ruth
Gifford. Some of the best TrekSmut on the web!
May 11, 1998
Jan says: Back to our roots . . .
today's recommendation is Paris
Nocturne by Brenda Antrim. This was one of the first Paris Angst
stories ever written (can you believe June, 1995?) and it made a huge mark on Voyager
fanfic. This is first-season Tom Paris at his angsty best - misunderstood and
unhappy, a chip on his shoulder the size of the Delta Quadrant. It's amazing now,
when I look back at this story I have a hard time telling how much of my own idea of Tom's
character has come from the show, how much from the fanfic canon. I just want to say
thank you to Brenda for showing us what Tom could be . . .
May 1, 1998
Jan here: Something a little
different this time. . . Seasons by
Sebastyin was brought to my attention recently and I really, really liked it.
In fact, all I could say was "Wow!" Sebastyin is a slash writer
(there's a fun Starsky/Hutch
story on the site, too!) but this story is unusual. It's also very beautiful.
Give it a chance, and let Sebastyin know what you think! (Let me know what you think, too!)
April 15, 1998
June says: Give the boys lots of toys. Although I
am not the biggest fan of Due South, Mutual Assent by Mary Bernadette
Underhill is a fun toy romp. This was her first attempt at writing and it is so
delicious. Dining in bed one night, Ben and Ray discover a perk to their house and one of
the boys ends up tied and handcuffed. He suffers such sweet torture at the hands of his
lover and their toys. I just love it when they use vibrators, dildos, and other items
(bottles!) on each other. Very inspiring. :-)
Jan says: Last week, I heard from some C/P readers
who said they'd "like to read more X-Files slash but it's all so depressing and
dark." I remember thinking that myself, before I got hooked on that fandom. So this
week I want to recommend the two stories that first made me love X-Files slash - one is
Mulder/Skinner, the other Mulder/Krycek.
A Fox in the Sky by
Rosalita is the very first X-Files slash story I ever read - and I read it before
I ever watched the show. I had no idea what Skinner looked like, but god, I loved this
story! After I read it, I had to watch the show. However, I didn't see the appeal
of Mulder/Krycek for quite awhile after my first introduction to the X-Files. I didn't
become an M/K fan until I read Mystery by Maria M.
It was so lovely, so emotionally real, that I couldn't stop myself from writing
one of the gushiest, most incoherent feedback letters of my life. A year later, this is
still one of my favorite stories. If you're looking for romantic, angsty M/K with a
healthy dose of hot sex, Mystery's for you.
April 7, 1998
Jan here: This time I'd like to recommend a
wonderful Mulder/Krycek series, one I think Chakotay/Paris fans would like particularly
well, The Cure by
Liza McGrath. At the moment the series is five (and a half) stories long, but
Liza's working on the sixth one right now. I love all the stories so far, but I think my
favorites are St. Crispian's Day (4) and Merry Christmas (5). The emotional power of these
last two is simply incredible. These are romantic stories, and I love them for it, for the
way Alex needs Mulder and the discovery that Mulder needs him just as much.
Mulder and Krycek are one of my favorite couples, and the
two characters are very dear to me individually as well, but in general this pairing
saddens me deeply. I find it difficult to conceive of happiness for them, sometimes, a way
to bring them together that is not ultimately destructive. Liza's stories acknowledge that
sadness, yet they present the possiblity of redemption. Check them out.
February 15, 1998
This week we're making two recommendations . . . one of
the benefits of working as partners. Both these stories get two thumbs up from both Jan
and June.
June says: P.S. I Love You by M-n-M
is a great Sentinel first-time story, long and loving. It's told mostly through letters
written between Jim and Blair while Jim is off on assignment, and the letters add a unique
element to the story. I especially love the eroticism of the letters, and the way Jim and
Blair taunt and tease each other in them. Even in the transition from the intimicy of
letters to being comfortable in person, M-n-M don't shy away from the reality of this type
of relationship. This is one of my favorite first-time stories in any fandom.
Jan says: To balance out the sweetness of June's
recommendation, go and read Tainted Love by Tenaya,
a Highlander/Forever Knight crossover. Tainted Love explores some of the issues of
immortality in a way I've never seen before. It's a wonderful portrait of what it might be
like for Methos to run into a vampire -- an immortal so dangerous and twisted that even
the ROG isn't sure how to escape. Tenaya's careful, loving descriptions and her
intelligent treatment of the quickening make this one of my favorite Methos stories. So
give it a try, even if you don't watch/read Forever Knight. I'd never seen that show when
I first read this story, but I loved it anyway.
February 8, 1998
For all the faithful Chakotay/Paris lovers who keep
checking our site for the elusive sequel to In This Corner, we'd like to recommend Moondancer's
wonderful C/P stories, What
Price, Freedom? and Strange
Angel. These stories, though not new, are two of our absolute favorites, and
they exemplify the kind of C/P that Jan and June love to read -- they have emotion, plot, hot
sex (with biting!), fighting, and lovely, lovely angst. Very inspiring! We suggest you
read (or even re-read) these stories right away, then write and beg
Moondancer to finish the sequel! |
