Category Archives: Disney

Five Fanfiction Recs

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Are you down because of the last soul-destroying novel you read? Are you too lazy and/or cheap to buy something new? Here’s a hand-picked selection of fanfic recs, across many different fandoms, for discriminating folks who’d like something fun to read but can’t be arsed to figure out what is decent reading from Amazon.com or B&N.

–Learning to Dance

There is of course the most excellent space opera/adventure “Learning to Dance,” written by my first Author of the Month, Karri Shea. It’s based on the “Starship” musical, from Team Starkid (who wrote the Very Potter Musical), but you don’t have to know anything about the fandom to enjoy the story.

–Hope Springs Eternal

Here’s another pic– a Persephone/Hades romance, based on “Hercules,” the 1997 Disney animated film. I’ve read many romance novels and YA stories based on this myth, but none of them are quite as quirky, fun, romantic and incredibly well-researched as this story by Quantum Witch. She wrote it in 1998– but it hasn’t aged at all. It’s considered a classic by discerning readers on fanfiction.net, and for a good reason too. It’s one of the best treatments I’ve ever read of the myth, period.

–Blood And Ashes

It’s hard to choose just one of ChristineX’s excellent fics, but her Boba Fett romance, “Blood and Ashes,” is easily one of the best I’ve read. She says at the beginning, “I just couldn’t help but think that Fett would rather be rescued by a cute redhead instead of Dengar,” and I can’t help but agree. Fett is a very hard character to write convincingly, but she pulls it off with flying colors. It’s exciting, sexy, action-packed, and very much fitting with the derring-do of a Galaxy Far, Far Away.

–Picture This

TrudiRose manages the Herculean task of taking the Gaston/Belle pairing from the Beauty and the Beast fandom and making it actually believable. It’s not only believable, but it’s beautifully written and moving too– both Gaston and Belle have very satisfying character arcs, without ever acting OOC (out of character). It’s a charming and romantic homage to the Disney film– I highly recommend it.

–I, Grûsbálk

For something less serious, “I, Grûsbálk” by Simbelmynë is an absolutely hilarious satire of Tolkien, Mary Sues and portal fantasies in general. Miss Amy Seru, a dazzling California blonde, is plunged into the world of Lord of the Rings, but she doesn’t become a Tenth Walker– she becomes an orc. It is both ridiculous and awesome at once.

There are many other stories I’d like to recommend, but for now I wanted to stick to het/gen fics that were finished. Do you guys have any fic recs?

Happy Valentine’s Day with Belle and Gaston

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Sometimes reading fanfiction can be a relaxing break from work (or trying to get work, as is often the case with freelancing). For some reason, I felt in the mood for reading Beauty and the Beast fanfic; and when I saw a recommendation for the fanfic of TrudiRose, who wrote about everyone’s favorite swaggering heavy Gaston, I thought, “Sure, why not?”

Well, I was really pleasantly surprised. I was not too fond of the character of Gaston beforehand, but such was the author’s skill that I found myself actually getting personally invested in what happened to him. In fact, if you’re in the mood for some good fanfic, check out Picture This and Man of Stature — both by TrudiRose at fanfiction.net. Both stories are smart, entertaining and compulsively readable, and they treat Gaston’s character quite differently in both. Check them out– you won’t be disappointed!

Then, for the hell of it, I decided to do some fanart of Belle and Gaston. So here they are:

It was a challenge to draw Gaston realistically, since in every screencap I found he’s mugging more than Brian Blessed. DID SOMEBODY ORDER A LARGE HAM!?

As for Belle, I couldn’t stand the idea of drawing her in her generic peasant outfit and ponytail, so I put her in a simple but fashionable robe a l’anglaise from the late 1770s or early ’80s. Her hair is loose and flowing, like the Gainsborough portrait of the Linley sisters.

Belle definitely seems to fit into the 1780s, I think. I can just see her in some small village in Poitou or elsewhere, sitting under a tree, reading Rousseau’s Julie and sighing over the love of Julie and Saint-Preux. And then Gaston would come and annoy her. I am sure he would make plenty of disparaging remarks about Rousseau and other such wild, radical authors, while eying her bosom.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!