Bryan's picks

<comments />

"Bryan's picks" is a list of stories on Shifti that Bryan has picked as being of particularly good quality, both in terms of technical execution (formatting, spelling, etc) and in terms of writing.

If you've posted a story on Shifti that I haven't included here please don't take it personally. This list reflects my own subjective tastes, and furthermore I may have not even read it yet; I've had little time to read most of the submissions so far. Other users are encouraged to create their own lists and make their own editorial decisions. I'm doing this solely as a user, not as an administrator.

Note that I have high technical standards; a few incorrect "your/you're"s is sufficient to warrant the "needs copyediting" icon and a story that still looks like a rough draft won't be added here at all even if it's otherwise complete. I am happy to provide editing assistance myself, or for general assistance requests try the editor's corner.

New additions

New additions remain in this section for at least a week before being moved into sections by subject.

September 27:

• Major Problems by Eirik - Backpackers in France encounter a cursed abandoned farm. The aftereffects are with them for years.
• Through Reality by Eirik - Gene comes to a gateway through which a story lies, and then runs away.
• Best Laid Plans by Eirik - Plot and counterplot between old friends - who's fooling who?

September 17:

• The Long Shadow by Jon Buck - A reluctant knight goes off to war and gets tangled up in a battle of magics. An excellent depiction of the equine mind.

Bryan's picks

Animal TFs
Canine, lupine and vulpine
	The Effect of Spotted Clothes	by Erastus Centaur	A love story about a boy and his dog. Set in the Barken, Texas universe, but previous knowledge of it isn't needed.
	Free	by Xodiac	Buddhists should learn Morse code.
	Spells of Brigervan	by Virmir	Bryce's life flashes before his eyes.
	Where Wolf	by Bob Stein	Becoming a wolf, where?
Cervine
	Escape	by Jon Buck	The alien invaders have vastly superior technology, but humans have an advantage that the aliens simply don't understand.
	Forest Life	by Bryan	The elevator stopped at a most unexpected floor. A long transformation ensues.
	It's in the Skin	by Michael Bard	A quick little tale showing why one should make sure one can trust one's suppliers.
	Summer Job	by Erastus Centaur	Spending summer in a national park isn't a bad way to earn some money.
	Swift of Foot and Hoof	by Eirik	Morlith discovers a brand new spell of a sort never seen before. The only way to be sure what it does is to cast it, and then the challenge for him and his apprentice becomes figuring out how to reverse its effects.
	Who gets the Dreamers?	by Michael Bard	Team 18 scores a major catch! Go team!
Equine
	Arms and Armor	by Jon Buck	A curator at a museum discovers a peculiar suit of medieval armor, or perhaps barding; it looks like both.
	Baylor's Rein	by Bob Stein	A wayward Prince will do anything to have his own way - even if it means using risky magic.
	Companion	by Bob Stein	Aaron's life slowly starts to change. Who's responsible?
	Gypsy Gold	by Bob Stein	A murdered Gypsy's ghost wants his rightful property restored.
	Hoof Beat	by Bob Stein	A human cop insults a pompus elf and gets predictably cursed. But even magic wears down with time.
	Jacked into the System	by Bob Stein	Jake got a 'deal' on his BodMod suit - and finds out that the price tag is a lot higher than expected.
	Lasting Impression	by Bob Stein	A couple of clever thieves run into a cleverer Wizard.
	Long Ride into Morning	by Eirik	A man and his mare get their bodies swapped for a year by a chance encounter with a fay. Both are eager to swap back, but complications arise.
	No Bull	by Bob Stein	A phooka tries to be helpful, in her own way.
	On The Couch	by Eirik	Post-traumatic TF syndrome? Perhaps. A patient confides in his psychiatrist about the time he spends as a horse.
	Simple Life	by Bob Stein	The King's tax assessor finds he's got a price on his head, and then decides he's fine with what his assassin has in mind.
	Totally Pucked	by Bob Stein	Puck has a bit of fun at the expense of an ass.
	An Unexpected Stop	by Charles Matthias	A broken-down car, a stay at a farmhouse, the love of the farmer's daughter; a classic tale well told, and with a nice ending.
	Whicker Man	by Bob Stein	An extremely well described and drawn out transformation story.
Other
	Eyesore	by Eirik	Haunted houses come in many forms and locations.
	How did the Ceolocanth REALLY Survive?	by Michael Bard	Thanks to shapeshifting, of course.
	The Pantry is Bear	by Eirik	A short about the trials and tribulations of a long-suffering husband.
	The Perils of Wereostrichdom	by Michael Bard	A social worker means well, but really, who'd believe the truth?
	The Power of Suggestion	by Michael Bard	The placebo effect is powerful indeed.
	Puzzle Box	by Eirik	A memorable and disturbing reptilian TF. A word to the wise; the old cliche of friendship overcoming all doesn't always hold true.
	Testing The Waters	by Viqsi	The woods are lovely, dark and deep. Subtle magic draws one in.
	Witchhunt	by Bryan	Sequel to Xanadu. Someone's gunning for Eric, and his friends Arthur and Felix get caught up in it.
	You get what you Wished for	by Michael Bard	Starfleet knows what it's doing when it sends in the redshirts.
Anthropomorphic
	Change Lady	by Eirik	Know when to stop asking!
	Colony	by Jon Buck	An alternate history where the New World has no native humans, and the magic of the land keeps it that way.
	Doe's Hoof	by Jon Buck	When a gnomish forest ranger riding a raven advises you not to leave the trail, don't. Origin story for the "Enchanted National Forest" setting.
	Down the Rabbit Hole	by Michael Bard	Evil bunnies! Evil, evil bunnies!
	Far Indeed From Sherwood Forest	by Xodiac	Robin Hood and Maid Mare-ian, now living on the pun in modern Florida. A Xanadu story.
	Historical Revisionism	by Eirik	A man gets a chance to rewrite history, but the result is a bit unexpected.
	My Name is...	by Michael Bard	Upon gaining superpowers, be extremely thoughtful about how you choose to first introduce yourself to the world.
	Rush Hour	by Jon Buck	A Winds of Change short, though you don't need to have read any others to follow this. Contains one of my favorite dino TFs.
	Slip Sliding Around	by Michael Bard	Quick and cute, illustrating a common problem of anthro TFs.
Mythical TFs
	Bottom Up	by Bob Stein	An old partnership from ancient Greece still holds firm to this day.
	Cleaning Up	by Bob Stein	A grad student working in a museum cleans up a set of pan pipes sealed over two thousand years ago, and discovers what was sealed within.
	A Faerie Tale	by Michael Bard	Offended fae take terrible vengeance, and then make it worse. A nice bittersweet little story.
	Inspire Me	by Michael Bard	If one can't find inspiration, giving it is not such a bad consolation.
	Keeping Secrets	by Michael Bard	If you have secrets you shouldn't assume you're the only one.
	The Limelight	by Jon Buck	The magic of wisps mix with the magic of the stage. Set in the Wisp-touched universe.
	Mortal Danger	by Bob Stein	A boat trip into the wilds results in a whole passle of shapeshifting, including an interesting version of the satyr/dryad dynamic.
	Of Love and Hate	by Michael Bard	Also of good and evil. A bittersweet tale that touches on the concept of absolute and relative morality.
	Olympus	by Bryan	In 1935 magic swept out into the world and devastated civilization. A quarter century later Dalton thinks he's figured out where it came from. Origin story for the Wisp-touched universe.
	Refamiliarization	by Xodiac	He thought he'd got off easy, wearing just a modest pair of horns when the magic struck the convention... (A Xanadu story)
	Unicorn Dance	by Bob Stein	A beautiful fantasy tale of a young princess and her love for a visiting prince.
	A Walk in the National Enchanted Forest	by Michael Bard	Featuring one of Canada's most famous mythical creatures.
	Wereing on the Moon	by Michael Bard	Another science fiction epic, though not quite as long as Returning Home. Even far in the future an old disease resists a cure.
Transgender
	Joker	by Bob Stein	Prototype teleporters and practical jokers are an interesting combination.
Miscellaneous and multiple
	Just the Right Shoes for This Life	by Erastus Centaur	Set in Bob Stein's "Walk-a-Mile" universe, a man tries on a variety of lives to see which one fits best.
	The Last of the Niagaras	by Michael Bard	Creepy-creepy! Makes me glad I'm not a railroad buff. A man goes in search of a long lost model of train locomotive and it finds him.
	The Myth of Beetlecat	by Michael Bard	Oberon demands a fursuit for the fairie ball! Not exactly a classic tale, but classically told.
	Once Upon a Country Road	by Eirik	Kidnapped by aliens, but for nontraditional purposes.
	Reality Bites	by Eirik	What would really happen if a common TF plot device was tried.
	Returning Home	by Michael Bard	A science fiction epic. Anita Lei discovers the means to open a gate between universes, and winds up cast through to a world that's been devastated by a war that rendered the land uninhabitable. The only way to survive is to go native.
	Sentinel	by Jon Buck	A small troop of French soldiers, fleeing Napoleon's fall, come upon a manor house abandoned after the French Revolution. Its grounds contain a small pool of magic, in which a number of ghosts still survive.
	Something Fishy	by Michael Bard	How do aquatic aliens invent technology without the ability to make fire? A Xanadu story.
	Survival and Sacrifice	by Michael Bard	The Thing's journey, told from an interesting perspective.
	The Survivor	by Michael Bard	Far in the future Venus has been terraformed, humanity has passed, and a successor civilization of uplifted animals controls the solar system. A smuggler crash lands and finds that the 'primitive' aboriginals of Venus have retained some fairly advanced knowledge.
	Taint of Chaos	by Bryan	When the gods created the world out of chaos, they left a few bits behind. These have bad effects on their surroundings.
	Taylor Series Tom and Cat	by Jetfire	An odd means of curing cancer, to be sure. First in the Taylor Series.