Recommendations
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Silly awards
Best Tough Love
Every character has a facade that we're supposed to accept.
- Chicago Pale, by
Gearbox
-- Benton Fraser, great northern hero
- No Lothario, by
Francesca
-- Blair Sandburg and his amazing collection of table legs
Best Canon-Like Craziness
Some shows just don't take themselves seriously. Some writers can pick
up that ball and run with it. This is a good thing.
- In third place, Partners by Josephine
Darcy.
"This isn't, like, a typical day for you, is it? Well, is
it?"
--Blair Sandburg, The Sentinel: Seige
In which Brown and Rafe find out just what a typical day for the
Ellison/Sandburg team is really like, and hand Ellison's partner right
back over to the jealous detective with great relief. A little too
crazy for Sentinel canon, but too much fun to turn down.
- In second place, Merry Go Round by Speranza.
"It's been weird, but it's been a pleasure."
"Likewise. Let's
lock our load."
"It's lock and load."
"Lock and load, I'm
sorry."
--Ray "Vecchio" and Benton Fraser, Due South: Burning Down
the House
Considering the old woman with the banana and the little girl with
the balloon, this was a strong contender, plus it's one of my favorite stories
ever. Fraser's police work is perfect in this one, and I've
developed a sudden inexplicable craving for gyoza.
- However, the winner does have to be Supposedly
Dead Guy by katapult.
"We have a lot of fun, don't we, you and I?"
"More fun than a
barrel of monkeys."
--Ray "Vecchio" and Benton Fraser,
Due South: Burning Down the House
Unlike the other two stories, the technical quality of this story
is merely good -- but the storytelling, my god.
Fraser's voice sounds a little off to me, but
Kowalski's is excellent, and the wacky scenario is bang on target
for Due South.
Best Use of Joke Mail
Hey, anything that inspires a writer to put pen to paper (or bytes
to file) has to be a little worthwhile, right?
- Affirmations,
by Viridian
Life lessons for the homicidal axe murderer in all of us.
- Gun
Wounds Again?, by Quoth
There's a temptation to call this "When Good Subtitles Go Bad", but I
suspect that these were never good subtitles....
Best Story Summaries
What makes a good summary? On the net, your story summaries are your
book covers -- like it or not, your stories will frequently be judged by
them. Good summaries tell you everything while giving away nothing, as
well as showing off the author's ability to turn a pithy phrase. It's a
fine art, and an underappreciated one.
- Matthew Haldeman-Time
For stories such as Ring ("Wherein Benton Fraser's vocabulary fails him;
Ray Kowalski's tub is full of socks; and Ma Vecchio goes postal over an
OFC.") and Are We Friends? ("Wherein Xander plays with Buffy's old toys,
Graham donates blood, and no, it's not Riley's turn to clean the bathroom.").
- Francesca
For stories such as Nature's Fireworks ("In the Proceedings of Which
There Occurs an Entire Game of Softball, with Interludes of Discussion, and
then Fireworks, followed by More Discussion, and then More Fireworks.") and
The Other Guide ("Jim wears a bathrobe. Blair offers him beer. Chaos
ensues.").