Tipsq's request reminded me of a story I've been meaning to ask you guys to help me identify.  It's your basic re-worked Cyrano tale.  A slutty college student agrees to help a female friend woo his dorm roommate by writing him love poems. The roommate is a guitar player.  The poet eventually falls in love with the guitaritst when he starts paying closer attention to the guy seeking inspiration for the poems, and when the roommate begins to set them to music.  I really loved this story, but for the life of me I can't remember the name, the author, or where I read it.  I can only remember that the poet was totally won over when the guitar player turned one of the poems into a tarentella.  I've tried googling "tarentella" with "gay fiction" and similar terms a ridiculous number of times.  So at last, I'm cutting out the foolishness and turning to you all!  Hopefully one of you has read it and can help me out!  And Tipsq too!

Tags: fic-search

Title: Bastille Day
Author: Tony Malone
Format: Short Story
Length: about 4800 words
Status: Complete
Rating: R
Warnings: Sex
Link: here
Summary: A young man persues his fellow French student at Iowa State university.

Review: Every so often the voracious reader of original slash will find herself at a loss.  She can't find any good stories, and she's already read as far into the world of AU fanfic as she is currently willing. After all, she can only cross that line so often before she has to *shudder* admit to herself she is part of a fandom. In those times the poor reader must grimly turn her eyes back to Nifty.  She must wade through that often strange and filthy world with a mouse hovering over the back button, and a prayer that none of the ickier stuff sticks.

Friends, I was recently at just such a point.  The Nifty archive is so vast that a determined survey almost always yields a few gems.  This time I found Tony Malone.  He is on Nifty's Prolific Authors page, but I believe this is his best story.  Set in the recent past (it reads like the sixties to me) this story chronicles the narrator's persuit of the aloof Jaochim.  I enjoyed the story's marriage of romanticism (love poems left  semi-anonymously in a locker) and eroticism (no drawing of the Victorian Veil in this story). Furthermore, Malone shows the dehumanizing demands the homophobic patriarchy makes on the queer community without dwelling on it.  This is a good, grown-up story.

It seems to me that slash and gay fiction writers often have different ideas about what makes for appealling characters and happy endings.  I think Bastille Day successfully incorporates the romanticism of slash with the clear-eyed depiction of male sexuality found in gay fiction.

Tags: author: tony malone, complete, fiction, genre: historical, rec'd by: conchita_perez, short story

Among many other weird things, I dreamed I was a falconer. I had a female kestrel, like Lauren, and so did Wayne, and we were hunting through some marshes and rainforests in Florida. My kestrel was kind of a weird bright orange color, sort of tangerine. She was brand new, and I hadn't properly trained her yet, but she was really good and came back to the glove. I named her Beta, for no reason that I can think of. She caught a moth. ^_^ At some point she turned into a hawk... I think she was supposed to be a Harris hawk. She was mostly black, and her eyes were red. Her name was still Beta, but I nicknamed her Laserface. Wayne had a Harris hawk too. Now we were hunting in my front yard in Hilo. Which for some reason was populated with mainland animals. I saw this really gorgeous flicker with iridescent blue and teal wings. I flew Beta/Laserface at some wild kestrels, and she fought with one female for a bit before swallowing her whole. Then Lauren was throwing Penny at a squirrel, so I threw Laserface at it a few times, but she kept missing. She was very obedient but kind of lazy and dumb... she kept landing on the ground, and refusing to sit up straight on the glove. But she was very nice and didn't bite.

In an unrelated part of my dream, much earlier, my fridge in Hilo had a bag of something like tater tots, only made with apple instead of potato. This strikes me as delicious.

Tags: dream, falconry, food, penelope
Current Location: Still in bed, wtf.
Current Mood: groggy
Current Music: Video Kid - The Birthday Massacre

Title: Pickup
Author: Brian Holliday
Format: Short Story
Length: about 1900 words
Status: Complete
Rating: R
Warnings: Sex
Link: here
Summary: Two men engage in some unusual pillow talk during a one night stand.

Review: Halloween was a week ago, but is supernatural slash ever out of season?  I say no.  This is one of Brian Holliday's latest.  I think he is one of the best writers out there.  I hope you enjoy!

Tags: author: brian holliday, complete, fiction, genre: modern fantasy, rec'd by: conchita_perez, short story

Does anyone know any good music themed m/m romances? (I have read Let The Music Play, Changing Lanes and The Doors of Time). Music is a big thing in my life, so I would love to read some nice stories with this theme. Any recommendations please?

ps. I am new to this community, so hello to all and thank you for the lovely recs, I have found a few new favorites from this site.

Tags: requests

Title: Favoured One
Author: llyzsm2
Status: Ongoing
Length: 8 chapters so far, each of moderate length
Rating: T+
Summary (by author): To avoid a war Kaheem takes his disgraced sister's place as a bride offering to the son of the Pharaoh of Tumbik, but must persuade his reluctant bridegroom that he sees beyond the favoured one and to the man within.

Review: Seems like I've been rec'ing nothing but clichéd fics lately. Heck, Kaheem is as obedient and soft as how a bottom should be. But believe me, this one has something different for you - very different. The author could have indulged in tons of denial and angst and drama, but after the latest chapter, which was 8, she pushed it forward to more interesting matters that keep you interested. Plus, I really enjoyed her calm, collected, and smooth writing.

Link: Here

Tags: author: llyzsm2, fiction, genre: fantasy, genre: romance, rec'd by: shiyuri_say, series, wip

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Happy Guy Fawkes Day, y'all. Lauren's making a parkin, and tonight we will consume it and watch V for Vendetta. We'll have a fire too, if the weather permits. Looking forward to seeing Penny again, bless her little toes.

My window's a great place for wildlife, what with those trees right there. There were a couple of robins earlier, acting like re-re's. As robins do. And then some sort of woodpecker/sapsucker/flicker that I couldn't identify. ...I need some sort of kestrel-sized Lauren, that can sit on my fist, and I can fling her at small birds... "Identify!"

Mme. Suzette's being obnoxious, as per usual. With an extra side order of creepy. She's been sitting quietly, staring at me, for several minutes, and then she just leaned calmly forward and took a small bite of my forearm. I told her I didn't like that, and she stared at me some more, then leaned forward and started delicately licking the spot. ...If you never hear from me again, assume she ate me.

...OH GOD SHE'S LICKING MY ARM AGAIN. T_T

Tags: cats, falconry, guy fawkes night, holiday, kestrel, living in the land of port, penelope, wildlife
Current Location: Bed of Port
Current Mood: afraid for my life
Current Music: Remember - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

This has been such a nerve wracking week. I've been constantly behind on all of my work. I have been writing papers or "responses" nonstop. I've slept for 3-4 hours a night. And I had a conversation with somebody last night in which I made myself emotionally vulnerable in a way I almost never do, which has left me feeling drained and strung out. And now I have the nagging doubt that even though he acted really cool with what I told him I think he may not think of me the same way anymore, which is sad because I like him.
I conduct at least half of my daily interactions via internet, so it feels second-nature to me, but times like these I am reminded of the uncertainty of communicating with people when there is a screen between you. It's hard to judge people's emotions and reactions when you can't hear their voice, see their face, or observe their body language.
I need to be less insecure.

I just had to removed 3 "very"s from the above post. Trying to cut back on words that are a waste of space.

Tags: college, random

I’m taking this idea from blueeyedliz.

For the holidays I’d like to write little ficlits for people. If you’d like something from me you have three options—choose a story that is finished (short story) and request something based off it, choose a multipart story that you want to see a new chapter for, or give me a new plot/idea. I do original gen, original slash, original trans, and gen supernatural fic.

It is likely that I’ll end up being late with these(I’m always a day late and a dollar short) but so long as I don’t lose the majority of my writing in a external-harddrive death I should be able to finish them by January without too many issues.

How to request:

Name: Your name
Fandom: Original/Whatever Fandom
Genre:
Idea: Prompt words, themes, plotlines—example: 1) Forks and pearls, 2) Fairytales, 3) A story/new chapter based on XYZ.
----
Current plotlines in play
( Read more... )

**See a story here you want to read but isn't up? Just ask for it.

Tags: giftfic, meme

None of my characters speak languages that I speak. What the hell is this? What's the use of being a polyglot and speaking English, Spanish, Japanese, Swahili, Esperanto, Welsh, Latin and ASL...if my characters are going to decide to be French and Thai?! I mean, yes, okay, the large majority of them do speak English. It is not yet to the point where I literally do not understand my own characters. But this? Is kind of ridiculous.

Oh, the woes of being a writer without good control of the character creation process. By the way, if you know anyone who speaks Thai, Mandarin or Hindi, I might need their assistance at some point. I already have a French consultant, thankfully.

Tags: writing
Current Mood: amused and faintly exasperated