Moonbeam's Fanfiction Predilections -- LiveJournal

Over the years, I've become a lot more discerning about the quality of fiction I'll read. Despite working in a library, I rarely read books anymore because the quality of the writing for most pro-fic absolutely sucks in comparison to amateur fanfic authors who write because they love it, instead of just because they're paid for it.

Because of that, my standards for high-quality fic have risen drastically over the years. But one thing seems to have remained the same: my love for detailed world-building. Any author who can take a concept and develop it so thoroughly that I end up living and breathing it, seeing it as its own reality, even dreaming about it at night? Those are the stories I love the most, the ones I never forget, and keep going back to over and over again. They are stories which do more than just explore the characters or follow a cunning plot, they are stories that feel alive... rich and immense with detail, background, meaning and future possibilties. They are stories which have created a reality all their own, one which when done well, can often feel more real than canon.

There are several authors I can think of off the top of my head who do this with ease:

1. Macx (aka Gryph) with her undisputed Fire & Ice series in the Knight Rider fandom

2. James Walkswithwind (aka zortified) with her enormously popular 'Centaur AU That Eats Fandoms', to which the world-building was so rich I came to love a show I'd never even heard of just through reading it. (To this day, I've never seen an episode of Houston Knights despite reading several hundred fics for it.)

3. Nix (aka crimsonquills) who continued the Centaur AU brilliantly into two new fandoms and gave it even more depth and richness.

4. Red Wolf (aka redwolfoz) whose werewolves Wolf and Declan have been part of my personal life for so long I've claimed Dec as my own perfect mate. Alas, too bad he's ficitonal. ::pouts::

5. TenthMuse1 who seems to excel in world-builing, even if her most popular one is a world I don't particularly like.

6. Jennifer Lyon and Suzanne Bickerstaff with their classic, beloved fantasy X-Files novels, The Magician Trilogy (in four books).

7. Sam (aka copperbadge)'s better-than-canon Sirius and Remus raising Harry Potter AU.

8. Domenika Marzione (aka miss_porcupine) who has taken the flippant world of Stargate: Atlantis and given it's military a voice and believability, as well a host of characters the readers keep looking for every episode despite them not actually being canon.

9. Susan Foster's Sentinel GDP AU, which while often unpleasant, no can deny has a life of its own.

and of course,

10. The entire Magnificent Seven fandom, who cooperatively brought to life the ATF AU based off of one tiny little fic by Mog.

And now the newest name to add to my list, Sanjuno Shori Niko (aka sanjuno), who's taken the original G1 of Transformers and built an entire culture from the dregs of canon. A culture that revolves around my favourite characters, the sleek and gorgeous Seekers: Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp.

~*~

The Nine Rings of Vos, A Transformers G1 Fanfic
by Sanjuno Shori Niko

Summary: The Seekers have a plan, one that spans the entire length of the war, and is now coming to fruition. Soundwave and the Cassettacons get caught up in the plot, and somehow cannot find it in their sparks to regret any of it. As for the Autobot and Decepticon factions, well, they are all just really, really confused.

~*~

Link goes to the main timeline of series that span over 50 stories and millions of years. It's fun, full of humour and love, and best of all... builds a world I can't help but love.

Yes, yes! Finally! Here it is, the next Lair-fic! ::trumpets play, fireworks go off, and much cheering is heard::

And it's actually a fairly long one, too! I had a devil of a time writing it, dang thing kept wanting to go off in it's own directions. Anyway, here's hoping you like where I finally wrangled the bunny down.

( Operation: Safeguard )

We have two new authors joining us in the Lair today, stormr_d and leni_ba -- everybody say "hi!"

As for the rest of you, don't forget to get your bios in! :D

Another one! I like this one -- and I think Tomy, especially, will as well.

And if you're curious, this one was inspired by my own day so far. I'm not over-stating the weather situation in the least! It's too freakin' hot! ::wipes the sweat off her forehead::

( The Bet )

I think the next major project at the Lair ought to be the installation of a swimming pool -- or at least the discovery of an underground aquafer. :D

Hi folks! I'm sure by now most of you are familiar with the existence of my Secret Lair, right? The extensive mountain cavern I own -- exact location hidden from all but my friends -- in which all our favorite fandom characters gather and much fun is had by all? And fic writers are kidnapped by my highly-trained ninjas and chained up in the Lair, so that ever may they produce lots and lots of high-quality fic for our enjoyment? *eg* Sounds familiar, yes?

Well, I wrote a little something for dknightshade as a joke which she liked enough to spark an entire series. (I've sworn it before: that woman is a fully-registered Evil Influence(tm)! ;P) But, thanks to her, the new "Life at the Lair" series has been born!

The "Life at the Lair" series will be short, funny snippets detailing scenes and moments of, well, life at the Lair! Expect characters from mulitple fandoms to pop in at any time, and keep your eye open for some other familiar faces. ::snerk:: Friends are always welcome at Moon's Secret Lair! ;P

( And now, to start us off... )