Queer as Folk Nostalgia Post #1 (Fan Fiction) Part 1. [Updated: 06/21/11]
So, I've made the decision to separate these posts by theme so the first theme is Fan Fiction! The Queer as Folk fandom has had a number of really wonderful authors throughout the show and post show as well. In my search for these gems, I came across several rec posts compiled throughout the years by once active members of this fandom. Basically, my work was done for me, haha. Doesn't mean that I can't add my own two cents and compile this list so that people can refer to these past fics.
I came into fandom in 2003. Season three had just ended and I was wondering about this show called "Queer as Folk". At that point I didn't even know if it was still on or had been renewed for another season but I was interested in watching it. After that first episode? I was hooked. I had to read everything that I could about this show. I went to the shoboards at the Showtime website, the Television Without Pity Forums that were doing recaps of episodes of Qaf, qaftalk boards, everywhere that I could.
During my research I came across several authors that already or had been developing a name for themselves in the Queer as Folk fandom.
Note: Whether these are too OOC for your taste or you consider them badfic or goodfic, these are the most memorable fics that I can pick out of the bunch. I'm not categorizing going to categorize them into (good) badfic because of the implication that may have nowadays. *nod*
1. First there was Morpheus. You can find Morpheus's fiction here. I think I remember starting with What Love Means and then back tracking.
2. I think that my first author that I really kept up with and was really intrigued by had been Randall.
No matter what you may think of Deconstructing Brian or the journals, this is the author that brought me to tears with The Seven Stages of Gus and made me smile with The Other Side of the Fence. I'll never forget feeling giddy with my best friend when we saw that a new chapter of The Quiet Men was posted but unfortunately was never completed.
3. I first found little clips and some videos on Ethan's site and then discovered that he writes too! Everything that I wished would happen or at least discussed are in Ethan's gapfillers. I mean seriously. Gapfillers galore. You can find them in the journal xhaleslowly or to download all of the fic, getithere's "DL Even More Fics Here" option on the sidebar will provide you with a link to download them in a .pdf version.
4. Who hasn't heard of the Abernathy Trilogy? Who hasn't? Because I think that this fic is asked for at least once a year in getithere. Thankfully, you can find it here for you to enjoy from beginning to end. Brian is a small land owner in England and Justin is a slave with a strange tattoo on the back of his neck. Read it and love it.
5. Rachel Anton (sparkledark) and Laura Blaurosen (blaurosen). What comes to mind when hearing their names? Maps and Legends & the infamous teacher!fic. You can find all the chapters of teacher!fic here. Remember how excited we were as each chapter of teacher!fic emerged? I get all warm and fuzzy thinking about it. EDIT: Hope sparkledark doesn't mind. Teacher!fic is locked in her journal so I've saved and archived the fic. DOWNLOAD TEACHER!FIC HERE (REPLACE HXXP WITH HTTP AND WHEN IT'S FINISHED DOWNLOADING REPLACE .PDF WITH .ZIP).
6. Two of my favorite shows are Queer as Folk and Dead Like Me and nanowrenlet made my little cross over dream come true with the creation of Reaper Boy. Just start from the top and work your way to the bottom. Warning: Justin is dead. Don't let that deter you. Just go through his journey with him.
7. Okay, okay. These are my memories remember? So, one day I stumbled across Decadence by CrazyFairy and I never went back. Justin on the streets, Brian as a mob boss, and Michael as the evil!one. I guess I had a thing for time travel at the beginning of my Qaf adventure.
8. Danny. Oh, Danny. Look, when I needed Brian to be jealous? I got it here. You guys have to trust me on this one. Go here and if you're interested in the Jealousy series skip to the bottom. But, I'm biased and I like them all.
9. Now we're crossing into general fic that I remember reading when I got into the show pretty hardcore. This meant fic reading every week, bouncing off the walls when someone posted a new chapter, just a general air of excitement and happiness all around.
One of my favorite challenges of all universal time was the Grocery Store Challenge. That was a pretty shitty month in general for me but November 2003 brought The Grocery Store Challenge. Take your pick because they're all good. Oh, I do highlight Julad's Busy Week on the Fridge because after all this time it still never fails to make me laugh.
10. Speaking of challenges -- Snowin' and Blowin'. I'm skipping ahead to Christmas 2004 which was pretty much the best Christmas ever because of the talent that gathered together to create some of the best fic, videos, and graphics that fandom had seen gathered in one place. You can find mostly everything here. What else can I say about how great that time was? It just was. It was the brain child of burnitbackwards and reinabelle.
Now we're shifting into general awesome that I came across throughout fandom.
I think that several authors come to mind when talking about fan fiction in qaf fandom here on LiveJournal. Their names spread like wild fire among the masses and I think that we all learned to become familiar with them over the next few years:
bea_nonymous: I think most think about Aida and her kick ass awesome fantastic videos but what about her brilliant times twenty fics? She even wrote one RECENTLY and it felt like a fucking Christmas miracle! That is how excited I get about them. Her descriptions, her characterizations, humor, absolutely top notch and I highly recommend. Her, "I'll Wait For You" will never fail to make me cry. Go read them here right now.
bigboobedcanuck: Yeah right. Like I can pick one fic that I like of hers. I deem that task impossible. I think what stands out the most right now though is The Twelve Years of Christmas & From A Safe Distance. But that's just a dent in the wonderful fanfic that she's offered.
burnitbackwards: Loved her. Loved everything about her and her fic. Every time that she posted I literally felt giddy. When Raw emerged we all collectively gasped. When To Know the Difference came out, one read wasn't enough. I needed another and another. I kind of lived for her ficlets. Brilliant. You can check out all of her fiction here.
darksylvia: Leah, hey Leah. :D What a wonderful writer we had in our fandom. I can't tell you how many times I've read/still read Overheard, Domestic Tranquility, and since I'm a huge Friends fan you gotta love the cross over No More Ugly Naked Guy. But there weren't only these great finds. There was so much more to be had and you can find them here.
E and Erin, I'm combining as one because of their great fic 12 Days Of Christmas (12_days) and because of their general greatness as a pair. Unfortunately their site closed down um, unexpectedly I'd say. Thankfully, E's stories are still in their basic form here. I highly recommend Picture Imperfect: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. Thanks to flamencanyc! Erin's fic can be found here.
eleveninches: Four words for you: International Brian Kinney Day. Go read it and read these while you're at it.
jane2005: Jane's been a favorite for a while. I still find myself always going back to read Crisis and Inferno, the latter which is my fantasy season five. Crisis is definitely a personal favorite that never fails to make me cry like a little baby. I have no shame here. But really I have a lot of other favorites in here so check them out for yourself.
julad: Busy Week on the Fridge! Mentioned it but it's also here at her site along with all of her other fic. Yes. I love "Love of His Life" because you know what? Post-S4 didn't we all kind of yearn for those more domestic moments that we ever saw and didn't see ever before that other Brian came along in S4? Yes. Great fandom writer.
juteux: I don't think that she's written anything that I didn't like. Just one of those writers where I could go back and read over and over again. I can't even pick a favorite since there are a lot of stand outs. I'll say I love PDA for the Michael POV, Ready stands out because it's fucking amazing, The Difference ... told you. I can't pick. Can't find them all in one place but they're up on paddies site here in the fanfic section.
lennongirl: Ani's fic always leaves me saying "guh". I mean I'm a woman of no words. I just end with a "guh". Overtime Supplement immediately comes to mind. One of my favorite voyeur fics from Ted's POV. Amazing. Family Date and Meet the Queers never fails to make me smile and think about that Kinney-Taylor family dynamic. Predictable is another one of my all time favorites. So, read them all! Read them all right now.
London: London's series are all definitely unique and tugs at your heart strings. London really takes you on an adventure from season three onward. It veers off course and just develops into this brand new version of the show. That's how I think of it. There's Ethan, other characters involved but I like that she really incorporates everyone in the story while remaining Brian/Justin centric. Go and read London's series here.
mcpofife: I thought that this was going to be weird crack!fic that I never wanted to look at again but it isn't. Welcome to the Monkey House and My Animal are just fun stories when you need to take a break from all the incredible angst. You can find those in the memories here.
mintwitch: I've never been so interested in ficlets or word of the day fic if it weren't for mintwitch. Every single one is memorable and incredibly well written. You can find it here.
mojokid: I'm 100% sure that I've never quite fully recovered from her "How to be Dead". Warning, death fic but in a good way. Go read them all. No skipping.
ragingpixie: Really fills my meter on the domesticity scale. There are just those writers that have it down, you know? Like, there are missing moments in the show when I think, "I wish that would happen" and ragingpixie is one of those writers that completely fulfills any kind of craving that I may have for anything in canon. And her collaboration with bigboobedcanuck is in my top ten. That's called The Long Way and you can find the rest of her fic here.
reinabelle: Always left me wanting more. More! More! More! Why wasn't there more? Elemental Drifts and I Sing the Body Electric come to mind. You can find them here.
rhiannonhero: I'm kind of a whore for future fic. I love the whole ... Brian and Justin are apart and come together again after years and years of separation. I've always loved that and Rhi captures my little fantasy perfectly in Forever Changes Everything. But it's been brought up to me that this isn't her only great fic and I completely agree. Discover which one that you like best. I'm a fan of most.
seperis: I think that this is someone that I discovered yet again through someone else's recommendations or they were thanked in a fic or I just spotted the fic recommended by someone else. That's pretty much how I learned about mostly everyone on this list. But, yet another author that just got it right when it came to canon characters. You can find her fic here.
soundczech: She wrote Stockholm Syndrome. Isn't that enough? Actually it started to be called something else. I guess now it's called "Love Is An Endurance Sport" but it was Stockholm Syndrome when I read it. You can read that here. Just fantastic. MAJOR FUCKING EDIT: GO READ SUBJECT TO CHANGE RIGHT NOW. I just did and my heart will not recover for days.
Part One
Part Two
sweetestdrain: She's done a little bit of everything. There is beloved and total crack fic, there are ficlets, there are great non B/J writing. There's a little bit of everything for everyone's taste and ships (except for Brian and Michael unless you're looking for friendship fics). You can read all of it here.
windtossed: Sometimes fics don't have to be epicly long to get the point across and I got my satisfaction from these fics. Always left me wanting more but I loved what we had while we had it. You can find them here.
Okay ... okay, and I'm putting rizabeau at the bottom here. I am, okay? The minute that I read about babies and twins my hormones must've been spinning because I said, "YES! BABIES! JUSTIN'S BABIES! AND BRIAN CLAIMING AND ALL THAT ANGST!!!111111ONEONEONE!!!" ... okay? Okay. That said, no I don't really enjoy the slow torturous way of every single detail written in long paragraphs and the word "baby" being thrown around and evil!Mikey and a really drawn out Melanie and Lindsay story but hey, BABIES AND THE B.B.B. You know you love it. You do. Don't even try it. Go read it here and start with Songs in the Key of Love.
- What fics here or what kind of feeling do you remember getting seeing new fic by your favorite author?
- Did you get giddy when you got warm, enthusiastic replies from your favorite fandom writer?
- What made your favorite fandom fic memorable?
- Did you enjoy the crack!fic, Mary Sues, mpreg?
- Do you miss these writers and fic as much as I do?
So, those are most of my memories. Believe me, I know that I'm missing a lot. I can see that when I'm looking in other users memory posts. I'm going to get to Myrna, msjudi, plumsuede, tricia, severina & twistinside, etc. But, this is why this is only part one of nostalgia post. There's a number two that's coming. Hopefully that'll be coming tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy this one!
Go to part two!