Fanfiction Meme, from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wondygal
Apr. 17th, 2009 10:15 amPick your five all-time favourite pieces of fic, the ones which made you laugh or cry or kicked you in the guts, that became your personal canon, that inspired you to offer the author internets and first born sons, and tell us why you loved them. Any fandom, any pairing, any genre - the only requirement is they stood out from the crowd. Also, links or it didn't happen.
In no particular order, certainly not of preference - I love them all - and let me tell you, it was very tough to limit this to five.
1) Father's Heart, byfernwithy. (Star Wars) Still my favourite Star Wars story, years later (this was written shortly after TPM was released). Set between trilogies, it pulls off something a lot of people tried since, and does so in a credible way: Vader and the child and later teenager Leia forming a tentative friendship, which falls apart with a vengeance as she grows older and experiences the empire at its worst. In addition to a terrific take on Leia and Vader, Bail Organa and his wife (who in this version is one of the former handmaidens, Sabé) as well as some original characters are compellingly written.
2) Last Set Before Closing, bykatallison. (Highlander). On the surface, not much happens in this story, which is set several years after the series ended; Joe Dawson is very old, not far from death, and his mind has started to wander; Duncan visits. Behind that simple description hides one of the best and most gutwrenching stories I've read in any fandom, which at once gives us the relationship between Joe and Duncan, and how both of them relate to Methos, about friendship, about mortals and immortals, and at the same time manages to say something very personal to anyone who has an older relative. Another reason why I love it is this: at the time when it was first posted, its take on Methos was pretty much unique and went directly against how most fans then wrote him. And yet I find it entirely plausible.
3) His Mother's Eyes, byartaxastra (X-Men movieverse). A story with two time lines; one is set post-X2, as Kurt Wagner tries to learn more about his origins, the other is set in the past, as Erik Lehnsherr meets a young woman calling herself Raven; they'll become Magneto and Mystique. artaxastra made me fall in love with her take on the Magneto/Mystique backstory and relationship, which has become my canon for the movieverse ever since, her Kurt is adorable, and the other X-men, whether Charles Xavier or Ororo, are very good in supporting roles.
4.) the naming of things, byariastar (Doctor Who). Along with "the reason the Doctor originally left Gallifrey" or "what happened to his family other than Susan?", "how did the Master become the Master?" is one of those DW questions which I think the majority of fans, myself included, don't want a definite on screen canon reply. Suggestions and hints are fine and inspirational and I love them. But no definite answers, so that fanfic like this one can be written. Which, as the author herself says, tried to avoid the three most popular clichés for origins of supervillains: tragic loss of love, was bullied as a child, or evil-from-the-cradle. And succeeded. The result is a wonderful story with plausible characterisation not just for the future Master and Doctor but for Time Lord society, by the writer who gave us the splendid dwseason4 and dwseason5. This is my personal canon.
5) The Yankee's Loot, byyahtzee63 (Doctor Who/Gone With The Wind). It was this or "Phoenix Burning", but a Yahtzee story had to be among my top 5. Here, she pulls off an idea so crazy that it's perfect for a DW crossover: the (tenth) Doctor and Martha Jones encounter Scarlett O'Hara. I dislike all the official GWTW tie-ins, where I can't recognize the characters. But this is Scarlett, with all her flaws and strengths, and Yahtzee doesn't ignore the racism, either. (Thereby proving you can write about a character sharing the prejudices of his or her period of origin without condoning or trivializing said prejudices.) It's also a great take on Martha during her time as Companion, and for me, not just a missing DW adventure but the definite Gone With The Wind sequel. This is what happened to Scarlett O'Hara. Oh yes.
In no particular order, certainly not of preference - I love them all - and let me tell you, it was very tough to limit this to five.
1) Father's Heart, by
fernwithy. (Star Wars) Still my favourite Star Wars story, years later (this was written shortly after TPM was released). Set between trilogies, it pulls off something a lot of people tried since, and does so in a credible way: Vader and the child and later teenager Leia forming a tentative friendship, which falls apart with a vengeance as she grows older and experiences the empire at its worst. In addition to a terrific take on Leia and Vader, Bail Organa and his wife (who in this version is one of the former handmaidens, Sabé) as well as some original characters are compellingly written. 2) Last Set Before Closing, by
katallison. (Highlander). On the surface, not much happens in this story, which is set several years after the series ended; Joe Dawson is very old, not far from death, and his mind has started to wander; Duncan visits. Behind that simple description hides one of the best and most gutwrenching stories I've read in any fandom, which at once gives us the relationship between Joe and Duncan, and how both of them relate to Methos, about friendship, about mortals and immortals, and at the same time manages to say something very personal to anyone who has an older relative. Another reason why I love it is this: at the time when it was first posted, its take on Methos was pretty much unique and went directly against how most fans then wrote him. And yet I find it entirely plausible. 3) His Mother's Eyes, by
artaxastra (X-Men movieverse). A story with two time lines; one is set post-X2, as Kurt Wagner tries to learn more about his origins, the other is set in the past, as Erik Lehnsherr meets a young woman calling herself Raven; they'll become Magneto and Mystique. artaxastra made me fall in love with her take on the Magneto/Mystique backstory and relationship, which has become my canon for the movieverse ever since, her Kurt is adorable, and the other X-men, whether Charles Xavier or Ororo, are very good in supporting roles. 4.) the naming of things, by
ariastar (Doctor Who). Along with "the reason the Doctor originally left Gallifrey" or "what happened to his family other than Susan?", "how did the Master become the Master?" is one of those DW questions which I think the majority of fans, myself included, don't want a definite on screen canon reply. Suggestions and hints are fine and inspirational and I love them. But no definite answers, so that fanfic like this one can be written. Which, as the author herself says, tried to avoid the three most popular clichés for origins of supervillains: tragic loss of love, was bullied as a child, or evil-from-the-cradle. And succeeded. The result is a wonderful story with plausible characterisation not just for the future Master and Doctor but for Time Lord society, by the writer who gave us the splendid dwseason4 and dwseason5. This is my personal canon. 5) The Yankee's Loot, by
yahtzee63 (Doctor Who/Gone With The Wind). It was this or "Phoenix Burning", but a Yahtzee story had to be among my top 5. Here, she pulls off an idea so crazy that it's perfect for a DW crossover: the (tenth) Doctor and Martha Jones encounter Scarlett O'Hara. I dislike all the official GWTW tie-ins, where I can't recognize the characters. But this is Scarlett, with all her flaws and strengths, and Yahtzee doesn't ignore the racism, either. (Thereby proving you can write about a character sharing the prejudices of his or her period of origin without condoning or trivializing said prejudices.) It's also a great take on Martha during her time as Companion, and for me, not just a missing DW adventure but the definite Gone With The Wind sequel. This is what happened to Scarlett O'Hara. Oh yes.
