Admin post: The Fics of Your Heart Challenge

[dessert-first.livejournal.com]

It's official! slidellra has wrapped up the January recs in grand style. Thanks to everyone for their fantastic recs, and for kicking off the new year with such enthusiasm.

This week we ask you to give us the fics of your heart. Not necessarily the best fics you ever read (although they well could be), but the ones that stay with you; that you remember a line from or re-read over and over; that encapsulate the way you see a character; that have an image, insight or sex scene that you couldn't stop thinking about; that serve up the romance or the angst or the humor; your go-to fic. If you loved it, we wanna read it.

Challenge closes next Monday, so please--rec your hearts out!

Wings Of Desire, Theories Of Flight, Green Suede Boots

[sam80853.livejournal.com]

Three is, as bertybertle  pointed it out, hardly doable… Just imagine I recc’ed all of kelliem  ’s, aukestrel  ’s (especially their collaborations) and cesperanza  ’s stories – okay.

Title: Wings Of Desire
Author: nos4a2no9 
Pairing: F/K
Rating: R
Length: Mid
Why I'm reccing this fic:Because it’s just beautiful. It has the same feel to it like the movie – both of them; except for the end of “City Of Angels”. This story breaks my heart every time I read it.

“I saw a man in a red tunic dive onto the back of a moving car,” Ray tries to explain. No need to look at his notebook. “He clung to the top for six blocks until the driver made a mistake. And then the man rolled away and dusted himself off and kept order until the police arrived. A woman in the crowd called him a hero. Later he went back to his apartment and wept.”

Cassiel’s eyes narrow. “Why?”

This is a question Ray can answer. “He thinks he’s alone.”

“He is. They all are.”


Title: Theories Of Flight
Author: lamardeuse 
Pairing: F/K
Rating: R
Length: Mid
Why I'm reccing this fic: It hurts. After all the times I read this it still hurts, in a good way.

Not that I blame her for messing up my beautiful shield. It was dulled and chipped and dented nice and slow, so slow I didn't even see the damage right away. When I did figure I was losing it, that I was going to turn around one of these days, and whoops, no shield left, just a few flakes of paint and a rusty handle, I told myself it wasn't something I had any control over. It was the way the world worked, right? There were no more dragons left, just little rats scurrying around at your feet, so who needs a shield? Some of them were fatter than others and had better lawyers, but they were all still rats. Nothing to get worked up about. You are on the job. You are not the job. Skewer as many rats as you can on the end of your sword, but accept that you will always be wading through the fuckers.


Title: Green Suede Boots
Author: china_shop 
Pairing: F/K
Rating: R
Length: short
Why I'm reccing this fic: It's hilarious, that's what it is. Such a great study of Frannie.

I tell her I’m not a cop, and that’s when she tries to grab the boots right out of my hands. I need these boots, so I tug as hard as I can, and she lets go and they fly out of my hands too and go hurtling through the air like a watermelon. The left one lands on the cash register, which rings and crashes open, and the right boot goes thud on Fraser’s forehead, where he’s standing by the door, and knocks him out cold. He falls down right in the middle of the moccasin display.

Eight Days A Week, I Love You Without Knowing How, Hanged Man

[bertybertle.livejournal.com]

Three! Three? In this fandom? *throws self to the floor and wails*

*clings to Dira and Aukestrel and Brooklinegirl and Resonant and KellieM*

Title: Eight Days A Week
Author: Bluebrocade - bluebrocade
Pairing: F/K
Rating: R
Length: Mid
Why I'm reccing this fic: This is a fic I return to again and again. The Fraser/Dief interaction actually brings tears to my eyes in places. Watching Fraser slowly crack up as he searches for evidence of Ray's new boyfriend is funny and sad, and Ray's bewilderment at Fraser's nutso behaviour is very much in character. And then there's happiness and hotness. I call that a perfect fic. And there's Dief. Did I mention DIef?

( Snippet )

Eight Days A Week

Title: I Love You Without Knowing How
Author: China_Shop - china_shop
Pairing: F/K
Rating: PG-13?
Length: Short
Why I'm reccing this fic: Because it is raw and beautiful and the most romantic thing ever. China has a way of getting to the heart of an emotion and holding it up to the light, so you can see it properly. When I need a quick fix, when I need to remember how much they love each other, when I need to be reminded that they're guys and therefore not so good at the whole talking thing.... this is the fic I go to.

( Snippet )

I Love You Without Knowing How

Title: Hanged Man
Author: Speranza - cesperanza
Pairing: F/K
Rating: PG-17
Length: Long
Why I'm reccing this fic: This fic just takes my breath away. I must have read it thirty times or more. Because they struggle and struggle to find a way to make it work, and they're both kind of damaged and Speranza makes you work SO hard for the happy ending that makes all the angst worthwhile.



"Very much so, yes. In fact," and Fraser's not meeting his eyes, now; Fraser's staring at—what? The square tattoo on his bicep, a red and black Champion logo. "I'm hoping that you'll indulge my, uh, preferences." Fraser's been using his best hoity-toity syntax, but suddenly he lets it drop and looks at Ray with dark, serious eyes. "I haven't had my choice of sexual partners, Ray. The pleasures of my life have been mainly solitary ones. So what I want—I mean, what I really, really want," and Ray didn't know Fraser could sound so excited and needy and desperate, "is to feel your strength and your rhythm and know you're not—me."



Hanged Man

Busted, Adorned, Surface

[akamine_chan]

Like bertybertle and sam80853 before me, I had an almost impossible time picking out three to rec. I'm gonna assume that everyone knows to read kelliem and aukestrel and cesperanza. Right? So, while I am an angstmuffin (so dubbed by qe2), I am easily seduced by a happy ending. So, the beloved fics of my heart are:

Title: Busted
Author: Anonymous CO
Pairing: F/K
Rating: NC17
Length: Long at ~60k words
Why I'm reccing this fic: There are so many reasons why I love this story. The main reason, though, is Ray. He is so believable in this story; his voice is clear and right. This is Ray in all his possibilities - prickly, wounded, strong, loving, broken, sexy, stubborn, tender. Alive and open.

I love how easy it is between Fraser and Ray. Their partnership is strong and they have an unbreakable bond between them. There are parts of their relationship that aren't simple, they fight and they argue, but the love shines through, constant and undiminished by distance and time.

Part of the charm of "Busted" is watching the relationship between Ray and Fraser grow to encompass something larger: the town of Owl Creek and its denizens, Ray's family back in Chicago, the cops at the 2-7, all entwined together to form a larger whole.

The original characters in this story are wonderfully realized and dynamic, drawing the reader in and not letting go.

"Busted" has so much going for it: great characterization, lovely story-telling, smokin' hot sex, mystery, angst, passion...I always come back to this story, no matter how many times I've read it.

( A brief excerpt )

Busted


Title: Adorned
Author: resonant8
Pairing: F/K
Rating: NC17
Length: Medium at ~7k words
Why I'm reccing this fic: I guess I'm a sucker for great Ray-voices. And this is another one. Ray's personality is very vivid and immediate, with so many textural details - I feel like I've met him. There is no doubt in my mind that this is a real person.

Ray is romantic and open and terribly in love with Fraser. And he's waiting to be left behind when Fraser goes home to Canada. He's opened himself up before, with Stella, and it nearly broke him. Yet he doesn't hesitate to do it again, because Fraser is worth it. This story has so many poignant moments as Fraser and Ray struggle to find a balance of what they both want and what they need.

It's interesting to watch Fraser and Ray dance around the specter of Canada in their lives - it's the elephant neither wants to speak of but neither can ignore. Fraser is going back to Canada, it's just a matter of when. And what will happen to Ray when he does?

"Adorned" has everything I could ask for in a story. Realistic characters, ridiculously hot sex, World Wildlife Federation tattoos, reindeer mittens and secretly luxurious Canadian soap. What else does one need?


( A brief excerpt )

Adorned


Title: Surface
Author: imkalena
Pairing: F/K
Rating: NC17
Length: Medium at ~10k words
Why I'm reccing this fic: I love imkalena's writing. Spare yet richly detailed, she has a way of bringing Ray and Fraser to life and setting them free.

In "Surface," Fraser is driven by his unrequited love of Ray into someone else's arms. Eventually, he realizes that sublimating his desire for Ray isn't working and he throws himself at Ray, wanting, if nothing else, a single night of passion. He doesn't realize that Ray is willing to give him more than just passion. Ray's willing to give Fraser everything. Heart, body, soul.

Watching these two together is awkward in many ways - they both are striving for the same goal, but spend so much time getting in each other's way - it's almost funny.

But it's really the emotions that spark during the sex that makes this fic shine so brightly. Heart-wrenching and honest and raw, this story remains one of my favorites.


( A brief excerpt )

Surface

Edited for numerous spelling errors *smacks self in head*