Story Recs: Endings and Beginnings

Welcome to the first official post of the Fangbangers Anonymous Blog!  Where the Directory at its core is here to display the abundance that continues to be produced by many talented writers, our blog is here to remind all of us of the wealth already present while seeking out the gems of new.

You’ll find these story recommendations every other week organized to a specific theme. For our first installment we couldn’t think of anything more appropriate than “Endings and Beginnings.”

We hope to complement the Directory with a collected approach that will offer new and long-standing readers alike something different beyond a notification of what is updated each week (Our Twitter and Facebook pages do offer this service).

The emergence of the Directory itself came from a discussion about the fandom in its heyday and its current state. You’ll find commentary about it everywhere with a certain hint of nostalgia; we’ve lost some greats to retirement or to circumstances.

We have featured one of those here today. While we were discussing memorable endings and beginnings with our contributors, it didn’t take long for EricIzMine’s name to surface along with the story that turned an ending upside down. In that vein, we sought more stories to recommend that harbored that spirit of an ending or a beginning that threw us all for a loop and left us wanting more…

Enjoy our recommendations below, even if it is only to reminisce with the memories of these stories in the comment section like we did while discussing them, or to join in on the excitement of those who have just begun and be sure not to miss the tidbit of site news all the way at the bottom.

Recollector by JR Watkins

Eric enters the glamoring business, but some memories are best not forgotten. E/S, AU, canon characters, rated M, in progress.

“You miss her.” It was a gross understatement yet the most Pam dared to say. Eric’s fingers stilled ever so slightly before moving again. “She is only a memory,” he replied hoarsely. He had seen to it himself, that only he would remember, not her.”

JR Watkins’ latest story, “Recollector,” may only be five chapters thus far, but the beginning has us wondering if we’re starting in the middle, or at the end, all while secrecy shrouds us from understanding the history of the past. The story slowly unfolds side by side in the present. All of Sookie’s memories have been taken away, but it’s a mystery as to why and Eric seems to have a vested interest in keeping it that way. There’s a continual interchange, in the foreground we find Pam and Amelia amidst hilarious chattering and scheming while very silently in the background another story is related. Eric and Sookie are both rather absent in it for now; sometimes physically, sometimes more in the absence of self, but that only makes their presence, especially Eric’s, all the more pervasive and intriguing leaving us eagerly anticipating what’s next.

These Days by Seastarr08

This story starts six weeks after the events in “Dead Reckoning.” Tired of the burden Sookie makes her wish with the Cluviel Dor, with unintended consequences.  Together they have to find their way through the aftermath. It will make or break them, and will take them on a journey of self-discovery neither of them ever anticipated.[1] E/S, SVM, rated M, COMPLETE.

This fic is *mostly* All Human but in a SVM Canon setting. It may sound like a cluster of clichéd phrases strung together to make a good sounding summary, and it is, kind of, but we really don’t want to give the story away because that is part of its ‘magic.’ Any SVM fanfic reader interested in authentic, high-quality writing should read this! It’s one of a few we return to over and over again with it being one of our favorite depictions of Eric and Sookie as they travel down one of their unique paths. It’s haunting, heartbreaking, and despite it all, uplifting and sweet. Small and perfectly formed in just six chapters with probably the best ending ever!

[1] Writer has no summary in print available. Seastarr08’s site is marked as private, to gain access see her profile page on https://www.fanfiction.net/u/2075011/seastarr08

Bored to Death by EricIzMine

EPOV. A ‘What-If’ AU. What if Eric and Sookie’s first meeting at Fangtasia had gone differently? E/S, SVM, AU, rated M, COMPLETE.

Enter a sassy and uninhibited Sookie Stackhouse; one who relies on her senses and comes to learn quickly to think of her telepathy as a gift.  Eric is, of course, his sexy, flirtatious self, but with a softer side.  The description and the story itself had us all fooled!  It was a traditional deviation from canon with a twist that featured hilarious and tender moments throughout, but the true twist came near the end. Suddenly we were all screaming at our digital screens as the story opened us up to the MultiVerse. We happily skipped along to a unique series of stories that are, without a doubt, a must-read for anyone who loves Eric and Sookie together and has posed the question ‘what if?’ “Where one simple act could have saved a lot of tears and proving in that, perhaps, timing really is everything…”[1]

[1] Italics quoted from the description as found on https://EricIzMine.com/

Stale and Diminished by California Kat

Ten years after “Dead Ever After”, Eric muses about his sorrows as he fulfills the destiny his ‘makers’ (both vampire and literary) crafted for him. I have not shied away from “After Dead”; thus, this story is more tragedy than anything else. E/S, SVM, rated M, ONE-SHOT.

As the tedium of the Coda, “After Dead,” left us all feeling empty, however, an antidote was found in “Stale and Diminished,” a one-shot by California Kat that treats the ending of the book series like the tragedy it was. S&D is a beautifully written reflection from Eric’s perspective ten years after he began his servitude in Oklahoma. His poignant struggle to deal with his unrequited love for Sookie and his age-old quest for freedom resonated so much more for me than the way the books ended. Its grace and Kat’s knack for capturing the spirit of our Viking makes it worth the read.  Be warned:  There is no HEA here, but it became the seeds for Kat’s ‘Enduring’ series. You can read that to make yourself feel better!

 

Some site news: we now have our very own Story Locator page to help you find that story you no longer know the title and/or writer of. We’ve also added an F.A.Q. page to answer some common questions we’ve been receiving.