Blue GhostGhost
The Student Prince
by FayJay
word count: 145248
Summary:
A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love…
This story was inspired by the thought of Prince William of Wales (and indeed the current Max von Hapsburg) studying at the University of St Andrews; it is also, as the title suggests, at least a little inspired by the operetta ‘The Student Prince’.
***
Just finished this and highly recommend it! It’s set in a Merlin AU but I don’t know anything about Merlin and it stood fine on its own. Really great witty dialogue, well written characters, lots of plot build up, and just the right amount of angst.
New Blue Prince chapter!
I’ve updated my epic tale of mystery, injustice and manly luuurve once again. We’re up to 21 chapters now, and this new chapter heralds some pretty big changes in certain persons’ situations.
Thank you to all the people who’ve been reading this so far, and for everyone who leaves me comments and encouragement. please keep it up. I promise it’s most of the way there now. I swear!
You guys if you don’t know about this story you should check it out. It’s my favorite WiP on AFF right now. It has a nice juicy plot and really complex interesting characters. You should read it and then we can all freak out together when it updates.
It takes a while watching TWC before you realize that they are such weather nerds that they sometimes tend to see things from the storm’s point of view. They talk about the shape of the storm as beautiful, or “great,” or “improving,” and what they mean is that the storm is thriving. It’s along the lines of, “This storm is looking great. Your lawn furniture? Not so much.” At first, when they say the storm is getting better, you the viewer assume it means “less fierce.” But they actually mean “more efficient, in terms of destruction.” This is how you know that they are true nerds, and not just poseurs. CNN anchors would never accidentally say a storm is great because it’s so beautifully shaped that it will look great on the radar as it tears a few shingles off the Hot Dog Hut in Atlantic City.
The Violet and the Tom by Octotillo
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 93k.
Warnings: Institutionalized slavery, reference to underage sex, D/s, Bondage, pain. BDSM FOR REALS FOLKS
Summary: In what might have been the middle ages, had neither Alexander the Great nor Jesus the prophet died young, the Greek State is a powerful economic force in southern Europe, and slavery is a profitable and well-entrenched social institution. Nygell, a Lord of the Northern Isles, is given the gift of a Grecian slave by the King. Nygell wants no such responsibility.
Review: I have put off writing this rec because it is solidly one of my favorite slash stories on the web and I am not sure I can do it justice. I have a real soft spot for stories of people with serious kinks finding a partner that will go there with them. For me it is both deeply romantic and interesting psychologically. In the hands of a less capable writer this story could have been unfortunate, but Octotillo guides the reader through a difficult path with an exceptionally sure hand and bright, believable characters. Exceptional.
Make the Yuletide Gay by Aggybird
Warnings: none
Rating: NC-17: more swears, graphic (slightly kinky) sex.
Words:17K
If you haven’t read Aggybird yet her livejournal is full of fun things to discover. I am in love with her sense of humor and her use of monsters. But Yuletide, in particular, is an all time favorite fic of mine. It’s one part mystery, one part opposites attract with just the right amount of angst. Lovely. Other stories by Aggybird I enjoy: Summoning Spell, Frank-in-Love, Wrinkles Are a Nymph’s Best Friend
Under the Table and Dreaming by Snooter
Rating: NC-17
Words: 15,000
Warning: none
I usually favor original fiction over fan fic but this story is exceptional. I adore these characters, the painful coming of age stuff, the smoking hot sex scenes, what assholes young people can be, just all of it. I love the balance of strength and weakness in both people. It left me thinking for days. There is a follow-up one shot to this story Behind the Wheel, and then To the Dogs or Whoever and then the epic The Second Most Important Person in the World. So if you wanted to just bathe in this stuff for a longer than healthy period of time that’s an option.
The Heart May be Tiny but the World's Enormous by Lady Sisyphus
Rating: NC-17
Words: 22K
Warnings: some violence
Gong Ji is a thief who has never had an easy life. One night while trying to steal a goat he meets Din, a new father struggling with the recent death of his wife. Gong Ji should leave, but he can’t seem to bring himself to do it. This story manages to construct two very complex and interesting men in what is essentially a one-shot. The characters are flawed and funny and sweet all at the same time. The post-story fic bits are really nice too.
It's Like This by Obiting Jupiter
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Angst, Light bondage, Dom Sub, rough sex (may not be for everyone)
Niles isn’t quite sure where he stands with his best friend, Rylan. They have been in a relationship since high school but they don’t really talk about it. Niles is a very likable neurotic and the sex scenes in this are downright legendary. Orbiting Jupiter writes a lot of coming of age stories and I enjoy the way she creates interesting, vulnerable, witty young men. Her writing is peppered with details about the city and culture the story is set in, which I think a lot of these types of stories can end up skipping over (to my great disappointment.) There is also a darkness to her works, a slight twisted element that I find very interesting.
The Devil and Cowboy Will by Parhelion
Rating: NC-17
Words: 32k
Warnings: none
Pretty much all of this author’s fiction is well researched, compelling and wonderful. It is worth spending some time reading everything on their author page. But I have a very special place in my heart for The Devil and Cowboy Will. Set in 1932, Will is a young man who has recently moved from his father’s ranch outside of Santa Fe New Mexico to Los Angles where his uncle gets him a job working on movie sets. He meets Nigel Cole, a well known screen villain, and they initially strike up a friendship based on their love of books. The slow build up, the dialogue and the 1930s Hollywood back drop gets me every time.
*I’m just starting these recs and thought they’d work best as a link. Hmm? Also I made a rec tag on my page so you can look at them all at once. If you guys have any suggestions on formatting or content I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Gay Zombies in Fiction
ecHow Sam Met the Ghoul of His Dreams By Aggybird (all her monster love stories are really good)
Sam loves Halloween — until the Halloween he finds out monsters are a little more real than he imagined. Now he’s got monsters trying to kill him, monsters trying to save him, and a meddling witch of a mother complicating things. All Sam wants is to be able to eat his candy corn in peace.
Blue says: I think I have an Aggybird addiction.
I Fell in Love with a Zombie by Sean Kennedy
Jay didn’t expect to be one of the very few survivors of the virus that decimated the country, leaving shambling, ravenous zombies behind. Fighting for his life amongst the dead, he keeps moving until the day he’s surrounded and facing his bloody end—and shockingly, another zombie saves him. But not just any zombie… it’s Dave, the first man Jay ever loved, and there’s something special about him even now, in the midst of the horror around them.
Blue says: I just found this and of course I love the title. There is some nice Zombie Apocalypse world building that I enjoyed. Jay is the first person narrator and I really liked his reactions to things. This story plays more with the symbolism in classic zombie stories and possible double meanings of an “outbreak.” It’s much more of a “what we talk about when we talk about zombies,” kind of story. I found the ending good, but also not altogether happy.
Midnight by Megan Derr
Lord Devlin White, Duke of Winterbourne, is the last in a long line of powerful witches who assist the Demon Lord of London in keeping control of the Nightwalkers living amongst normal men. With all but one of his siblings gone to the new American colonies, his proud family line all but ended, Devlin is kept from gloom and despair only by unusual ward, Midnight.
Neither alive nor dead, sustained by magic and a bond to Devlin, and confined to the night, Midnight is happy to spend his life by Devlin’s side—though he longs for the day that Devlin sees him as more than a ward. But the powerful magic that raised him from the dead is desperately sought by someone who will stop at nothing to obtain the secret of Midnight that Devlin would die to protect…
Blue says: Oh my god go buy this! It’s really good. In fact, it was a major motivator for me to dig up some old drafts of zombie stuff and work on them again. You can read a review of the story here. I love that Midnight is a monster and has monster type thoughts sometimes instead of just being a person with extra powers.
Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Dawn Johnson
A short story in the book Zombies vs. Unicorns. ”A half-zombie boy falls for boy who has his own killer secrets.” I haven’t read this one yet, but I’ve heard really nice things about it. I will make a more detailed post once I get my hands on a copy.
