1. Romance – Broken/By My Side by Julie http://absolutechaos.net/viewseries.php?seriesid=16 Broken/By My Side – Okay technically this is two, but they’re one giant story when you really look at it. That’s my excuse for cheating on this LOL. This was actually the story that back in the day, got me to stop ignoring romances. Like y’all think I “hate” romance now? LOL. Back then I wouldn’t even attempt to click (which I do do now, for the record lol). It suckered me in with the angst layer, which has real pain, real consequences. How many stories do you see where you actually chop off a leg? And when the romance hits, I was already way too invested to stop. By My Side is heavier on the romance than Broken, but it’s very engaging and you just want to know what happens that badly. Claire is a relatable female character. She’s independent, she’s stubborn, and you sometimes want to strangle her for the choices she makes. But that’s also why you love her.
2. Drama – “Something Beautiful” by Pengihttp://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=10154This story, I just couldn’t stop reading it last summer. It’s such a beautiful and tragic tale. You have a female character who makes you wanna scream, but you’re rooting for her all the same. It’s simplistic, a cross country trip for Nick and Brian as a last hurrah. But it’s the simplicity, the friendship and bond between the three of them that really carries the story. This is the first story last summer that made me tear up in a LONG time.
3. Suspense - “Boys In The Basement” by Ebonihttp://web.archive.org/web/20040202031726/http://bewaretheenchanted.homestead.com/BoysInTheBasementindex.html Okay, this one is harder, because there’s a lot of suspense stories I love. Because two of my other great loves have been mentioned…(It Stays With You, and Ground Zero). I’ll mention another. It’s an old one, by one of my fave “old” fanfic writers. It’s the classic kidnapping story that you simply can’t put down. There’s even a self insert but the story was so good that I forgave it LOL.
4. Sci Fi - “Journey Into Dreams” by Bobbihttp://web.archive.org/web/20011230135057/http://www.walkingintheclouds.com/dream1.htmI know everyone expected me to say “The Answer Is Yes” by Eboni. I almost did. But at the same time I’m trying to find different authors for each category, and name ones that haven’t been named yet. (Yes I realize the first two were named by others…SHUSH!) . This story is based off ideas from a comic book, but man there is just…there’s no words for this story. It’s one of those you have a ton of questions about, love every moment of, and wish there was more.
5. Alternate Universe - “Libera” by Coldfirehttp://www.angelfire.com/pa3/Everworld/Liberaindex.htmlThis one was inspired by LOTR and was actually the fanfic that got me to check out the movies lol. Yes I’ve never read the LOTR books, I suck. Anyways, it’s very creative and I always enjoyed it. It was the first one I thought of when I got to this one, but I haven’t read it in forever. So it took me a long ass time to run a search for it. But the fact I remembered it after so long should say something LOL. (Which if you like her writing, I suggest MIA and the sequel My Sundown, which are epic suspense stories
http://www.angelfire.com/pa3/Everworld/MIAindex.html )
6. Comedy – “Five Backstreet Boys In Search of a Plot” by Mare, Mersey, and Marinahttp://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=4359This story is not only hilarious, but it’s clever. It mocks the entire set of clichés in fanfiction, but without turning you off from the story. It’s engaging, it’s cute, and I love to reread it now and then.
7. Visual – Um, I have nothing lol.
8. Slash – I don’t touch slash with a 100ft. pole, so ditto here.
9. Dramedy – “Just One Kiss” by Hannah and Jenhttp://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=10411 I realized as I was thinking of this, there’s not many dramedies! It’s a shame, cause it’s a great genre. It’s funny, and yet Nick’s in a coma, so it’s pretty serious lol. Like Julie said about this story, it’s the very definition of what a dramedy should be. It was hilarious that Nick’s on life support but his spirit is around to drive Kevin completely insane.
10. A story that might not necessarily fit one of the categories above – “Finding Brotherhood” by Merseyhttp://www.angelfire.com/weird2/mersey/fb.html I realize I said I’m trying to pick stories others haven’t and I just did again, two in a row that were. But this story here is a MUST MENTION. This story is just beyond description. It’s a beautiful story about the relationship of the Boys. It’s supernatural, it’s almost fantasy, it’s realistic. It’s a bit of everything. She needs to post it on AC so more people would know about the epicness of this story.
11. Action - “All I Wanted Was Some Cough Medicine!” by Marehttp://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=122I’m cheating a little, this is probably more suspense than action. But oh well. I love old school fics and this goes back in the day to the early days of the Boys. Nick is sick (not much has changed lmao), and AJ has to take them to get some medicine. And of course they end up in a bank robbery. It’s funny, it’s filled with action and I love it.
12. Short story - "Documentaries" by Izzyhttp://www.dreamers-sanctuary.com/dwlyn/documentaries.html This story is cute, it has depth, and tells a lot within a short amount of time. It’s one of those stories that you can’t help but awwwww at lol.
13. Fantasy – “The Legend” by Whitneyhttp://web.archive.org/web/20020208231625/http:/www.angelfire.com/ky3/perfect_fans/legendintro.htmlOkay, technically this is more sci-fi than fantasy, but it’s got prophecies and everything so I always considered it a hybrid of both. It’s got NSYNC in it, but you can forgive that. They’re actually likable in it! I know right? But it captures you, makes you care, like her stories always tended to do. Even though it’s Fantasy/Sci-Fi/AU there’s still these bonds within them all, and make you want to keep reading.
14. Series – You know, I should probably put Broken/BMS here, but I don’t consider that a series. I see it as a story and a sequel. Series tend to lose my attention. It’s very rare that they’re necessary to go on that long (Harry Potter is one of the rare exceptions in original fiction…Star Wars is another in movies…) . So I really can’t think of one.
15. Best Overall Fanfic - “Why I’d Do It All Again” by Marehttp://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=4981 Oh my god, okay this one is NOT easy. I think I pasted and deleted SO many links trying to figure this one out. I’m gonna have to go with “Why I’d Do It All Again” by Mare. It’s a story I’ve found myself re-reading plenty of times. It’s one of those classic stories about the Boys and their issues, and how they are reminded yet again of why they put up with each other. It’s set around the time where they’ve just come back together from the hiatus to make “Never Gone”, and I feel it captures the feelings of that time perfectly.
