Wilby Wonderful recs - 8 stories and 2 vids
Yesterday I uploaded Wilby Wonderful. I love that movie so much it's downright embarrasing. If you haven't seen it download it here. If the links are dead, just ask and I'll reupload it for you. If you have seen it and are craving for some fanfic, your best bet is to try due South authors. A lot of them have written at least one story in the fandom and the great thing is -- they're all really good. I don't think I've read anything that could be labeled as badfic, so it's safe to go around reading blind. The most comprehensive list that I've come across is http://del.icio.us/wilbylinks, a listing started by pearl_o and maintained by isiscolo and secret_garden. It's not a list of recs, though, but a resource that tries to list all known Wilby stories and vids. A few recs can be found in the crack_van memories. New things in the fandom are announced every Wednesday in wilbywednesday.
Wilbyfic consists mostly of short, post movie Duck/Dan stories. The ones I've ran into are mostly happy endings, different scenarios of how Duck and Dan continued life together after the movie. There are two camps in Wilby fandom considering Duck and Dan before movie - did they or did they not know each other on the Watch? My opinion on this isn't set in stone, but I think they at least knew of each other even if they never ended up having sex together. The uncertain glances and awkwardness between them in the movie can be either the awkwardness of a new relationship or one changing drastically. But hey, if they did know each other there's a chance for hot and awkward semi-anonymous sex! (I don't think Dan could be anything but awkward in that situation.) I haven't really seen fic where the relationship ends badly even though that's a distinct possibility. It might be interesting to see something where Dan can't shake his depression or can't adjust to life as an openly gay/bisexual man on such a small community, but it would also be really really upsetting. I want the boys to end up happy. I always love it when I find something that includes backstory for the characters, or fic that focuses on someone other than Duck and Dan. There's some of it out there, you just have to find it.
Wilby Wonderful recs:
Lonesome Wilby by isiscolo
songvid | Duck/Dan | 11.3MB
Dan sees his life as a Western movie.
I loved the cowboy movie theme and the song choice (the theme from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly). It shows Dan's life in Wilby in a 'stranger coming to town' type of way. And really, what else is the Watch scandal but a lynching? Dan just takes care of the hanging himself.
Air by voiceless009
songvid | Duck/Dan | 31.2MB
"There is only air where I used to care."
I love the song choice, it's very fitting for Dan. I like the rhythm of the vid, the fast clips followed by the longer ones that make me stop for a breath. I like the use of colour too. Everything is a little faded and muted or even grey until the last scene that's like coming up for air after being suffocated. (And I keep using all these expressions that have to do with breathing, but they're so apt!)
A Change of Season by malnpudl
Duck/Dan | NC-17 | ~1800 words
NC-17, Duck/Dan, ~1800 words
Dan's alive. It just takes a long time to sink in.
I love this. The change of the seasons paralleling Dan's slow internal transformation. Beautiful imagery, hot and sweet at the same time.
Slow Days by lalejandra
Duck/Dan | R | ~850 words
There are a lot of things that Dan really likes about Duck. He's really sincere about everything. He's got a horrible sense of humor. He reads old sci-fi paperbacks that are practically falling apart. "Westerns in space," he calls them, and grins, bumps his shoulder into Dan's. His jeans are always a little too tight and a little too loose at the same time, and if Dan had a more poetical nature, he figures he'd think of that as a metaphor or something. But he's not poetical, he just likes Duck's arse. In and out of jeans.
Duck through Dan's eyes is a sexy and mysterious creature, still very warm and down-to-earth. Just the way I like him!
Vinculum by Sage sageness
Dan/Val, Dan/Duck, Dan/OMC | NC-17 | ~7977 words
He wondered how often people committed adultery by accident.
This story gives a good, plausible backstory for Dan. It shows how he could've come to be at the Watch at the night of the raid. It also handles Val very well rather than dismisses her. She's hurt, betrayed and reacts badly but isn't a monster. It lasts a little further into the future than the movie, but ends in that same warmly quiet, understated way.
Out of Exile by isiscolo
Wilby Wonderful/Hard Core Logo | Joe/Duck, implied Joe/Billy | NC-17 | ~6486 words
But Duck wasn't much of a talker, so Joe did a lot of looking at the incredibly boring lack of scenery and writing lyrics in his head, rhyming fuck and duck and truck, Minnesota sucks, getting low on bucks. From time to time he snuck glances at Duck (snuck a fuck, in a truck) and thought about Billy. About fucking Billy; the tape loop in his head that kept playing over and over again.
This story is more about HCL than it's about Wilby but it gives some good backstory for Duck. It's pre-movie in both canons. There's a throwaway line in Wilby about alcohol not agreeing with Duck and this story shows what might be behind that. Joe's side of the story is about him coming to terms with the band breaking up and Billy leaving and maybe even atonement in a really fucked up, Joe Dick kind of way.
Let Me Go On by pearl_o
Duck/Sandra | R | ~2827 words
Duck and Sandra, a month before graduation.
pearl_o has written maybe not a lot, but many WW story's and drabbles. I chose this one because it's a nice view of Duck and Sandra when they were still struggling to find out who they were, young and unhappy. There's a lot there, between the lines.
last cigarettes by brooklinegirl
Duck/Dan | non-explicit | ~941 words
Even now, after all these months, Dan had a way of watching him with this sort of controlled dread in his expression, like he was waiting to see what Duck wanted or expected or was disappointed by.
A great Duck POV. Duck is taking his time and waiting things out as Dan settles down a bit. Lovely.
New World Coming by tigs
Duck/Dan, ensemble | PG | ~4100 words
And for three days, Sandra walked up to every conversation she heard, wielding her coffeepot, smile firmly in place, and said, "Well, I think it's sweet, don't you?"
Life in Wilby a few days after the movie through the eyes of different characters. Duck and Dan are always present in the background somehow, but it's really an ensemble piece and feels a lot like the movie itself. All the different POVs are well in character. I really liked this one.
Odd Man Out by dsudis
Emily, Duck | PG | ~620 words
It's been that kind of day, really. Taylor is an arsehole. Her mother is... still her mother, even on Wilby, which shouldn't be surprising, but managed to catch her off-guard anyway.
The one where Emily doesn't mind different. Duck and Emily talking in the car. Nothing spectacular, but I like the quiet mood and her voice is spot on.
ETA: I found a new vid this morning that I just had to add to the list. Go check it out!
Wilbyfic consists mostly of short, post movie Duck/Dan stories. The ones I've ran into are mostly happy endings, different scenarios of how Duck and Dan continued life together after the movie. There are two camps in Wilby fandom considering Duck and Dan before movie - did they or did they not know each other on the Watch? My opinion on this isn't set in stone, but I think they at least knew of each other even if they never ended up having sex together. The uncertain glances and awkwardness between them in the movie can be either the awkwardness of a new relationship or one changing drastically. But hey, if they did know each other there's a chance for hot and awkward semi-anonymous sex! (I don't think Dan could be anything but awkward in that situation.) I haven't really seen fic where the relationship ends badly even though that's a distinct possibility. It might be interesting to see something where Dan can't shake his depression or can't adjust to life as an openly gay/bisexual man on such a small community, but it would also be really really upsetting. I want the boys to end up happy. I always love it when I find something that includes backstory for the characters, or fic that focuses on someone other than Duck and Dan. There's some of it out there, you just have to find it.
Wilby Wonderful recs:
Lonesome Wilby by isiscolo
songvid | Duck/Dan | 11.3MB
Dan sees his life as a Western movie.
I loved the cowboy movie theme and the song choice (the theme from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly). It shows Dan's life in Wilby in a 'stranger coming to town' type of way. And really, what else is the Watch scandal but a lynching? Dan just takes care of the hanging himself.
Air by voiceless009
songvid | Duck/Dan | 31.2MB
"There is only air where I used to care."
I love the song choice, it's very fitting for Dan. I like the rhythm of the vid, the fast clips followed by the longer ones that make me stop for a breath. I like the use of colour too. Everything is a little faded and muted or even grey until the last scene that's like coming up for air after being suffocated. (And I keep using all these expressions that have to do with breathing, but they're so apt!)
A Change of Season by malnpudl
Duck/Dan | NC-17 | ~1800 words
NC-17, Duck/Dan, ~1800 words
Dan's alive. It just takes a long time to sink in.
I love this. The change of the seasons paralleling Dan's slow internal transformation. Beautiful imagery, hot and sweet at the same time.
Slow Days by lalejandra
Duck/Dan | R | ~850 words
There are a lot of things that Dan really likes about Duck. He's really sincere about everything. He's got a horrible sense of humor. He reads old sci-fi paperbacks that are practically falling apart. "Westerns in space," he calls them, and grins, bumps his shoulder into Dan's. His jeans are always a little too tight and a little too loose at the same time, and if Dan had a more poetical nature, he figures he'd think of that as a metaphor or something. But he's not poetical, he just likes Duck's arse. In and out of jeans.
Duck through Dan's eyes is a sexy and mysterious creature, still very warm and down-to-earth. Just the way I like him!
Vinculum by Sage sageness
Dan/Val, Dan/Duck, Dan/OMC | NC-17 | ~7977 words
He wondered how often people committed adultery by accident.
This story gives a good, plausible backstory for Dan. It shows how he could've come to be at the Watch at the night of the raid. It also handles Val very well rather than dismisses her. She's hurt, betrayed and reacts badly but isn't a monster. It lasts a little further into the future than the movie, but ends in that same warmly quiet, understated way.
Out of Exile by isiscolo
Wilby Wonderful/Hard Core Logo | Joe/Duck, implied Joe/Billy | NC-17 | ~6486 words
But Duck wasn't much of a talker, so Joe did a lot of looking at the incredibly boring lack of scenery and writing lyrics in his head, rhyming fuck and duck and truck, Minnesota sucks, getting low on bucks. From time to time he snuck glances at Duck (snuck a fuck, in a truck) and thought about Billy. About fucking Billy; the tape loop in his head that kept playing over and over again.
This story is more about HCL than it's about Wilby but it gives some good backstory for Duck. It's pre-movie in both canons. There's a throwaway line in Wilby about alcohol not agreeing with Duck and this story shows what might be behind that. Joe's side of the story is about him coming to terms with the band breaking up and Billy leaving and maybe even atonement in a really fucked up, Joe Dick kind of way.
Let Me Go On by pearl_o
Duck/Sandra | R | ~2827 words
Duck and Sandra, a month before graduation.
pearl_o has written maybe not a lot, but many WW story's and drabbles. I chose this one because it's a nice view of Duck and Sandra when they were still struggling to find out who they were, young and unhappy. There's a lot there, between the lines.
last cigarettes by brooklinegirl
Duck/Dan | non-explicit | ~941 words
Even now, after all these months, Dan had a way of watching him with this sort of controlled dread in his expression, like he was waiting to see what Duck wanted or expected or was disappointed by.
A great Duck POV. Duck is taking his time and waiting things out as Dan settles down a bit. Lovely.
New World Coming by tigs
Duck/Dan, ensemble | PG | ~4100 words
And for three days, Sandra walked up to every conversation she heard, wielding her coffeepot, smile firmly in place, and said, "Well, I think it's sweet, don't you?"
Life in Wilby a few days after the movie through the eyes of different characters. Duck and Dan are always present in the background somehow, but it's really an ensemble piece and feels a lot like the movie itself. All the different POVs are well in character. I really liked this one.
Odd Man Out by dsudis
Emily, Duck | PG | ~620 words
It's been that kind of day, really. Taylor is an arsehole. Her mother is... still her mother, even on Wilby, which shouldn't be surprising, but managed to catch her off-guard anyway.
The one where Emily doesn't mind different. Duck and Emily talking in the car. Nothing spectacular, but I like the quiet mood and her voice is spot on.
ETA: I found a new vid this morning that I just had to add to the list. Go check it out!