For the love of Shassie
EDIT: I've recreated this rec list at my writing journal < http://tera-gram.livejournal.com/17092.html>, and will likely update that one instead of this one from now on.
Oh Shassie, how I love thee! I wanted to create a rec list in case anyone felt the need to join the Shawn/Lassiter ship (and also making them easier for me to locate in future). These stories all fall into the category of Rom-Pr0n. Here is my list of favourite Shassie stories thus far.
I'll start with my favourite writer, regann . Her writing is so good that it's practically an alternative Psych canon. It's one of the few romantic stories I've ever read and I re-read it often. At first I worried that this was the first step on a journey that would end with me reading Harlequins on the bus. I'm past that worry now.
Right Place, Wrong Time by regann . PG-13/R
Summary: 17-year-old Shawn has a fake ID burning a hole in his pocket, a college party to crash, and a mission to stop being the only virgin in his senior class. Unfortunately, there's this big-earred, good-doing grad student by the name of Carlton who catches him in the act. The unfair nature of cosmic humor being what it is, thus begins something that'll come back to haunt them both over ten years later -- when an adult Shawn Spencer decides to give psychic investigation a try.
Comments: This story is the rule by which all other stories are judged. Romantic, angsty, sexy, and fulfilling, despite the lack of explicit sex. Pitch perfect characterizations maintained throughout. Writing a character as their younger self must be difficult, because you want to show elements that prefigure their later traits or show elements that they outgrow. Both the younger Shawn and the younger Carlton are written very well. Starting earlier also gives the characters a backstory that helps undercut the "suddenly gay" theme which can run through some of the Shassie stories. I mean, Shawn's practically canonically bi (at least based on his flirtations) but it takes a bit more for me to buy that Lassiter is bypassing all his inner control. And starting earlier is in keeping with the actual show, which often starts with a flashback. The modern-day Gus is also spot on and his defense of his friend is great, even tinged (as it SO would be in "real life") with his discomfort at the relationship between Shawn and Lassie. There are 21 chapters to this story. I recommend going to the last chapter, which has all the links, and then jumping in and out, or starting at the tag page for the story and going chapter by chapter that way.
Occupational Hazards, part I by regann . NC-17 [Dub-con warning]
Summary: An undercover assignment for Shawn and Lassiter takes a turn for the worst; they're forced to salvage it by any means necessary. Heavy on the porn and the angst. First fic in a series but it stands alone quite well.
Comments: In the comments section of Tell It Like It Is regann wrote, "I tend to suck at smut which is why all my fics stop at the proverbial 'bedroom door.'" As you can see from this fic, her assessment simply isn't true. This story is so hot it's now part of my sexual fantasy Filofax (before some bastard invented computers the Filofax was quite cutting edge and cool). This is the first part but it has follow-up chapters II, III and IV. They continue the plot, but without all the porn.
How can we get our pretend psychic and our by-the-book detective into bed together? It's a question that has troubled people since the beginning of Shassie. The answer is often alcohol, the liquid that makes people gay. It's worked for so many of us in real life.
Tell It Like It Is byregann . PG-13/R
Summary: There's got to be a morning after. Unfortunately, they're even more difficult when you wake up to discover you got drunk and slept with a man you profess to hate. Poor, poor Lassiter. Can we say "hetereosexual freakout"?
Comment: An excellent heterosexual freakout fic. I admit, this genre is one of my favourites. Maybe it's because I didn't have one of my own (although I've been on the receiving end of one once). Perhaps if I'd experienced it firsthand I wouldn't (couldn't?) enjoy them so much. Shawn and Lassiter are totally in character. It's awesomely funny. Lassiter is so hot when he's awkward and uncomfortable.
What To Do When Alcohol Turns You Gay by Andie O'Neill. Rated T, which is PGish.
Summary: A drunken night forces Shawn to do some soul searching.
Comments: It's like Tell it Like It Is, but this time Shawn has a freak-out. This is sort of rare in the psychfic universe; usually they establish that Shawn's been out to himself (and sometimes others) as queer for ages. Sometimes they have Shawn only be Lassiter-sexual. This story is sort of what might happen if the Shawn from the show, just as we know him (equal opportunity flirt, but not openly queer), had a heterosexual freakout. And the title is pure gold in the way it works the cliche.
After you've read regann 's body of work you have to read
Quarter Life Crisis by pookaseraph . PG-R.
Summary: Shawn has an introspective moment, and decides to make a move.
Comment: A 24 chapter series written from Shawn's POV. Features the awesomeness of Shawn as a stripper, misunderstandings that almost lead to breakup, meeting the ex Mrs. Lassiter (who gets SUCH a raw deal in psychfic), and making out at the gun range. I wonder if chibichibi k's Fun at the Gun Range PWP story is based on this or if we all just agree that the two of them at the gun range is hot. Easier to read jumping in and out from pookaseraph's tag page or by starting with the last chapter of the series and jumping into the links to the previous chapters.
Another great multi-chapter fic is
The Inretro series by ilsaluvsrick . NC-17
Excerpt: "It had all started as a joke, really. Shawn went over to Lassiter's apartment with beer, and a copy of Sahara so he could channel the desert and find a way to solve Lassiter's latest case (the Egyptologist did it). Granted Sahara went no where near the Pyramids, but his favorite video store didn't have Indiana Jones, and Shawn was lazy."
Comments: The porn is good, but leaves me curious as to why Lassiter has condoms and lube next to his bed.
But that's not all. There are lots more authors writing great Shassie.
My Sharona: The Totally Awesome and Completely Canon Story of How Shawn and Lassiter Got Together by rispacooper and senor_coconut_1 and to a degree, dlasta. This is an amazingly crazy crackfic that mocks the tendency for Shawn and Lassiter to suddenly turn gay yet have all the accoutrement of anal sex handy. It's NC-17.
Clichéd: Once Bitten, Twice Horny by not_the_whip. NC-17.
Summary: Change isn't always a bad thing.
Comments: This is part of a series touching on all the fanfic cliches. But this is also one of the most awesomest pieces of hotness I've read. It's so in-character, if Lassiter ever was a vampire, this is totally how I'd see it going down.
Henry Spencer, Matchmaker by ryann_blackwood . R.
Summary: Henry decides that it's time for Shawn to settle down. He makes it his mission to find a suitable bride...or groom.
Comments: I like the Henry Spencer character. It's one of those scenarios where I kinda find the character hot, even though I don't find the actor particularly hot. His wife, Amanda Pays, on the other hand, is smokin'! But back to Henry...I find it frustrating when I read a story where Henry is used as the homophobic foil to Shawn and Lassiter's biflexible lovematch. Henry's not like that. This story has some very well done Henry. It's got some funny-silly scenarios, (basically, everything in the gay bar and beyond) but the premise is sound.
Multiple Times by auntie_climatic . PG-NC-17.
Summary: There are multiple times Detective Lassiter will be at a loss for words, and most of them involve a certain "psychic".
Comments: Accidental touching leads to more intentional touching leads to hot manlove. Has five difficult to locate parts: Part 2 and Part 3 and Part 4 and Part 5.
In The Prison of His Days by xela_fic is six chapters of engaging dom/sub Shassie, with some cool original characters thrown in the mix Not nearly as much sex as I usually want, but quite realistic in terms of sub/dom dynamics.
What can I say about plainapple? Zie is a star who same from the heavens to inundate us with awesome Shassie fics.
Plainapple’s Opus: A Slashtacular Adventure of Psychish Proportions!, a story in four chapters. It's moving, sweet, sexy, and gripping.
And Then There Were Slightly Fewer, a murder mystery in the classic tradition with hot smut thrown in for good measure. Seven chapters long.
Of Things Beyond My Yin, which manages to be both creepy and sexy. Guest stars Mary, one of my favourite Psych characters, and features one of my favourite Shassie lines of all time: "Is he dead?" "No. Do you want him to be?"
Dirty, Dirty, Smutty Kink Sex: A Psych Story! gives us a hot dom/sub scene with rimming, which is a rarity in Shassie porn. This writer knows what zie's doing when it comes to kink.
The Firm Hand of The Law is possibly the best BDSM themed fic I've read yet. It's two chapters long unless the faithful readers and smut-addicts can harass plainapple into writing more. There are some necessary liberties with hygiene (if you ever do run across communal floggers, do not use them. It's like having a communal toothbrush), but the thing is SUPER hot.
Permanent Ink Short, but moving.
If You Wanna Make an Omelet... in two parts with a sequel, You Gotta break A Few Eggs.
Braaaains! has some sex, but is most memorable for the intimacy it manages to convey in the midst of a zombie attack (And it's so great I just got pulled into reading it again just now).
The Gus Who Cried Gorilla, a delightful Shassie tale that's just chock full of Gus. Lest one suspect that plainapple's skill doesn't extend to writing awesome Gus/Shawn dialogue.
Those of us who write Shassie tend to assume that Shawn is bisexual. Lassiter, however, is a little trickier. I love the many angsty fics where Lassiter tries to label his interest in Spencer. But even the most detailed and drawn out of these stories tends to end with Lassiter embracing a bi, gay or queer identity, even if only hesitantly. Yet there are lots of straight-identified men having hot bumsex with other men. And there's at least one really good story that reflects these slippery gaps between identity and practice:
The Third law by deadlybride is a six chapter story (although some chapters have an A and a B entry) that presents a bisexual Shawn and a straight Lassiter, yet becomes quite explicit slash. It's got some intentionally creepy non-con involving an original character, but an excellent multi-chapter sex scene with Shawn and Lassiter that packs a real emotional punch. The plot kind of leaves us hanging, though, and since it hasn't been followed up on since jan of 2009 it may be as much as we'll ever see on this story. Still, it's worth the time.
Carpool by rispacooper presents Carlton stumbling his way into a Ménage à quatre with Shawn, Juliet and Gus. I've always avoided Carlton/Juliet fics and I just don't think of Gus that way, but this story is fun, funny (I was crying and laughing) and hot. Plus, it includes a bonus porny chapter.
And in case you want a backgrouder to all this, there's the Shawn/Lassiter Ship Manifesto, which outlines the canonical courtship of these two hotties. Well, I think Lassiter's a hottie and Shawn's sort of half a hottie. or Shawn a hottie and Lassiter's a hottie and a half.
mariska_lee wrote Boy-Toys and Bathwater for me as part of the Sweet Drabblethon. My prompt was Uncivil War Re-enactment. Her story is an awesome hot one-shot set at a civil war re-enactment, the day after Shawn and Lassiter hook up. Awesome kissing. And 'smores!
1930 by nixa_jane is impressively like an actual episode. It also showcases Shawn's sillyness, which I have as yet failed to capture. The story is good - Uncle Jack returns, dragging trouble with him, and Shawn and Lassiter hook up (of course!)
Oh Shassie, how I love thee! I wanted to create a rec list in case anyone felt the need to join the Shawn/Lassiter ship (and also making them easier for me to locate in future). These stories all fall into the category of Rom-Pr0n. Here is my list of favourite Shassie stories thus far.
I'll start with my favourite writer, regann . Her writing is so good that it's practically an alternative Psych canon. It's one of the few romantic stories I've ever read and I re-read it often. At first I worried that this was the first step on a journey that would end with me reading Harlequins on the bus. I'm past that worry now.
Right Place, Wrong Time by regann . PG-13/R
Summary: 17-year-old Shawn has a fake ID burning a hole in his pocket, a college party to crash, and a mission to stop being the only virgin in his senior class. Unfortunately, there's this big-earred, good-doing grad student by the name of Carlton who catches him in the act. The unfair nature of cosmic humor being what it is, thus begins something that'll come back to haunt them both over ten years later -- when an adult Shawn Spencer decides to give psychic investigation a try.
Comments: This story is the rule by which all other stories are judged. Romantic, angsty, sexy, and fulfilling, despite the lack of explicit sex. Pitch perfect characterizations maintained throughout. Writing a character as their younger self must be difficult, because you want to show elements that prefigure their later traits or show elements that they outgrow. Both the younger Shawn and the younger Carlton are written very well. Starting earlier also gives the characters a backstory that helps undercut the "suddenly gay" theme which can run through some of the Shassie stories. I mean, Shawn's practically canonically bi (at least based on his flirtations) but it takes a bit more for me to buy that Lassiter is bypassing all his inner control. And starting earlier is in keeping with the actual show, which often starts with a flashback. The modern-day Gus is also spot on and his defense of his friend is great, even tinged (as it SO would be in "real life") with his discomfort at the relationship between Shawn and Lassie. There are 21 chapters to this story. I recommend going to the last chapter, which has all the links, and then jumping in and out, or starting at the tag page for the story and going chapter by chapter that way.
Occupational Hazards, part I by regann . NC-17 [Dub-con warning]
Summary: An undercover assignment for Shawn and Lassiter takes a turn for the worst; they're forced to salvage it by any means necessary. Heavy on the porn and the angst. First fic in a series but it stands alone quite well.
Comments: In the comments section of Tell It Like It Is regann wrote, "I tend to suck at smut which is why all my fics stop at the proverbial 'bedroom door.'" As you can see from this fic, her assessment simply isn't true. This story is so hot it's now part of my sexual fantasy Filofax (before some bastard invented computers the Filofax was quite cutting edge and cool). This is the first part but it has follow-up chapters II, III and IV. They continue the plot, but without all the porn.
How can we get our pretend psychic and our by-the-book detective into bed together? It's a question that has troubled people since the beginning of Shassie. The answer is often alcohol, the liquid that makes people gay. It's worked for so many of us in real life.
Tell It Like It Is byregann . PG-13/R
Summary: There's got to be a morning after. Unfortunately, they're even more difficult when you wake up to discover you got drunk and slept with a man you profess to hate. Poor, poor Lassiter. Can we say "hetereosexual freakout"?
Comment: An excellent heterosexual freakout fic. I admit, this genre is one of my favourites. Maybe it's because I didn't have one of my own (although I've been on the receiving end of one once). Perhaps if I'd experienced it firsthand I wouldn't (couldn't?) enjoy them so much. Shawn and Lassiter are totally in character. It's awesomely funny. Lassiter is so hot when he's awkward and uncomfortable.
What To Do When Alcohol Turns You Gay by Andie O'Neill. Rated T, which is PGish.
Summary: A drunken night forces Shawn to do some soul searching.
Comments: It's like Tell it Like It Is, but this time Shawn has a freak-out. This is sort of rare in the psychfic universe; usually they establish that Shawn's been out to himself (and sometimes others) as queer for ages. Sometimes they have Shawn only be Lassiter-sexual. This story is sort of what might happen if the Shawn from the show, just as we know him (equal opportunity flirt, but not openly queer), had a heterosexual freakout. And the title is pure gold in the way it works the cliche.
After you've read regann 's body of work you have to read
Quarter Life Crisis by pookaseraph . PG-R.
Summary: Shawn has an introspective moment, and decides to make a move.
Comment: A 24 chapter series written from Shawn's POV. Features the awesomeness of Shawn as a stripper, misunderstandings that almost lead to breakup, meeting the ex Mrs. Lassiter (who gets SUCH a raw deal in psychfic), and making out at the gun range. I wonder if chibichibi k's Fun at the Gun Range PWP story is based on this or if we all just agree that the two of them at the gun range is hot. Easier to read jumping in and out from pookaseraph's tag page or by starting with the last chapter of the series and jumping into the links to the previous chapters.
Another great multi-chapter fic is
The Inretro series by ilsaluvsrick . NC-17
Excerpt: "It had all started as a joke, really. Shawn went over to Lassiter's apartment with beer, and a copy of Sahara so he could channel the desert and find a way to solve Lassiter's latest case (the Egyptologist did it). Granted Sahara went no where near the Pyramids, but his favorite video store didn't have Indiana Jones, and Shawn was lazy."
Comments: The porn is good, but leaves me curious as to why Lassiter has condoms and lube next to his bed.
But that's not all. There are lots more authors writing great Shassie.
My Sharona: The Totally Awesome and Completely Canon Story of How Shawn and Lassiter Got Together by rispacooper and senor_coconut_1 and to a degree, dlasta. This is an amazingly crazy crackfic that mocks the tendency for Shawn and Lassiter to suddenly turn gay yet have all the accoutrement of anal sex handy. It's NC-17.
Clichéd: Once Bitten, Twice Horny by not_the_whip. NC-17.
Summary: Change isn't always a bad thing.
Comments: This is part of a series touching on all the fanfic cliches. But this is also one of the most awesomest pieces of hotness I've read. It's so in-character, if Lassiter ever was a vampire, this is totally how I'd see it going down.
Henry Spencer, Matchmaker by ryann_blackwood . R.
Summary: Henry decides that it's time for Shawn to settle down. He makes it his mission to find a suitable bride...or groom.
Comments: I like the Henry Spencer character. It's one of those scenarios where I kinda find the character hot, even though I don't find the actor particularly hot. His wife, Amanda Pays, on the other hand, is smokin'! But back to Henry...I find it frustrating when I read a story where Henry is used as the homophobic foil to Shawn and Lassiter's biflexible lovematch. Henry's not like that. This story has some very well done Henry. It's got some funny-silly scenarios, (basically, everything in the gay bar and beyond) but the premise is sound.
Multiple Times by auntie_climatic . PG-NC-17.
Summary: There are multiple times Detective Lassiter will be at a loss for words, and most of them involve a certain "psychic".
Comments: Accidental touching leads to more intentional touching leads to hot manlove. Has five difficult to locate parts: Part 2 and Part 3 and Part 4 and Part 5.
In The Prison of His Days by xela_fic is six chapters of engaging dom/sub Shassie, with some cool original characters thrown in the mix Not nearly as much sex as I usually want, but quite realistic in terms of sub/dom dynamics.
What can I say about plainapple? Zie is a star who same from the heavens to inundate us with awesome Shassie fics.
Plainapple’s Opus: A Slashtacular Adventure of Psychish Proportions!, a story in four chapters. It's moving, sweet, sexy, and gripping.
And Then There Were Slightly Fewer, a murder mystery in the classic tradition with hot smut thrown in for good measure. Seven chapters long.
Of Things Beyond My Yin, which manages to be both creepy and sexy. Guest stars Mary, one of my favourite Psych characters, and features one of my favourite Shassie lines of all time: "Is he dead?" "No. Do you want him to be?"
Dirty, Dirty, Smutty Kink Sex: A Psych Story! gives us a hot dom/sub scene with rimming, which is a rarity in Shassie porn. This writer knows what zie's doing when it comes to kink.
The Firm Hand of The Law is possibly the best BDSM themed fic I've read yet. It's two chapters long unless the faithful readers and smut-addicts can harass plainapple into writing more. There are some necessary liberties with hygiene (if you ever do run across communal floggers, do not use them. It's like having a communal toothbrush), but the thing is SUPER hot.
Permanent Ink Short, but moving.
If You Wanna Make an Omelet... in two parts with a sequel, You Gotta break A Few Eggs.
Braaaains! has some sex, but is most memorable for the intimacy it manages to convey in the midst of a zombie attack (And it's so great I just got pulled into reading it again just now).
The Gus Who Cried Gorilla, a delightful Shassie tale that's just chock full of Gus. Lest one suspect that plainapple's skill doesn't extend to writing awesome Gus/Shawn dialogue.
Those of us who write Shassie tend to assume that Shawn is bisexual. Lassiter, however, is a little trickier. I love the many angsty fics where Lassiter tries to label his interest in Spencer. But even the most detailed and drawn out of these stories tends to end with Lassiter embracing a bi, gay or queer identity, even if only hesitantly. Yet there are lots of straight-identified men having hot bumsex with other men. And there's at least one really good story that reflects these slippery gaps between identity and practice:
The Third law by deadlybride is a six chapter story (although some chapters have an A and a B entry) that presents a bisexual Shawn and a straight Lassiter, yet becomes quite explicit slash. It's got some intentionally creepy non-con involving an original character, but an excellent multi-chapter sex scene with Shawn and Lassiter that packs a real emotional punch. The plot kind of leaves us hanging, though, and since it hasn't been followed up on since jan of 2009 it may be as much as we'll ever see on this story. Still, it's worth the time.
Carpool by rispacooper presents Carlton stumbling his way into a Ménage à quatre with Shawn, Juliet and Gus. I've always avoided Carlton/Juliet fics and I just don't think of Gus that way, but this story is fun, funny (I was crying and laughing) and hot. Plus, it includes a bonus porny chapter.
And in case you want a backgrouder to all this, there's the Shawn/Lassiter Ship Manifesto, which outlines the canonical courtship of these two hotties. Well, I think Lassiter's a hottie and Shawn's sort of half a hottie. or Shawn a hottie and Lassiter's a hottie and a half.
mariska_lee wrote Boy-Toys and Bathwater for me as part of the Sweet Drabblethon. My prompt was Uncivil War Re-enactment. Her story is an awesome hot one-shot set at a civil war re-enactment, the day after Shawn and Lassiter hook up. Awesome kissing. And 'smores!
1930 by nixa_jane is impressively like an actual episode. It also showcases Shawn's sillyness, which I have as yet failed to capture. The story is good - Uncle Jack returns, dragging trouble with him, and Shawn and Lassiter hook up (of course!)