The Strange Love Collection is a unique Anthology of "oneshot" (single-chapter) fanfiction stories, written by various authors, set in the universe of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, and centering around the theme of sex and relationships. The collection was edited by Lodylodylody
and posted on FanFiction.Net. The collection came about as the result of a challenge with the following rules:
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The Rules
- A pool of all known Suite Life characters (no matter how minor) was compiled. This included characters from other series who appeared in Crossover episodes, and had actually set foot on a Tipton property.
- Writers would be assigned a pair of characters randomly-drawn from that pool
- Writers could specify whether they desired:
- Writers could request one "do-over" drawing per submission. Writers were required to write for their "do-over" pairing (and not the original) once it had been assigned.
- Certain pairings were automatically disqualified, and a "do-over" was automatically issued without penalty.
- Pairings of persons related by blood
- Pairings between two Crossover characters.
- Once drawn, characters would be returned to the pool, and could be drawn again any number of times.
- Writers were then to write a story based upon a relationship between the two characters
- The nature of the relationship was entirely up to the writer. Valid relationship types included:
- Romantic
- Platonic
- Purely sexual (eg: one-night stands)
- Unrequited love
- Fantasies
- Sex was neither to be shown nor implied between adults and minors. Aging-up the younger character was a valid remedy.
- Stories had to be "oneshots," that is, a single chapter. There were no restrictions on length, however.
- The nature of the relationship was entirely up to the writer. Valid relationship types included:
Fifteen authors contributed:
The Contributors
The collection began accepting submissions on January 1, 2010, posted its opening chapter on January 15, 2010, closed to submissions on March 15, 2010, and posted its closing chapter on March 22, 2010.
A new collection will be opened to submissions in January 2011.
The anthology consists of two collections:
- Strange Love - A collection of stories hosted by Wyntirsno with content ratings up to, and including, T.
- Strange Love: After Hours - A collection of stories hosted by Waldojeffers with M-rated content.
This collection provides examples of:
The Tropes
- Actor Allusion - Rumors features an encounter between Alex Russo and Gwen from the episode "A Midsummer's Nightmare." Both are played by Selena Gomez in canon.
- Alpha Bitch - Dana Wuhl is up to her old shtick in What the Heart Wants.
-
Alternate Character Interpretation - It's what fanfic is all about, people! - The Art of Bra Removal - Lampshaded and Averted in Tipton Mountain. Kirk is a seasoned veteran in the art of undergarment removal.
- Banana Republic - The small South American military dictatorship of Cúncun, Esteban's home country, and the setting of The Executioner.
- Beta Couple
- Cody and Max Russo in A Magical Vacation
- London and Chelsea Daniels, who wasn't eligible to be an alpha, having never set foot on a Tipton property, in Cruisin' For Love in All the Wrong Places.
- Zack and Max in Can't Fight the Moonlight.
- But Liquor Is Quicker - It's not the ultimate cause of Emma and Brandi's night of passion in The Ex-Wives' Club, but it certainly helped.
- Casanova Wannabe - Mark in Seven Minutes in Purgatory. Subverted in that he gets the girl in the end.
- Caught with Your Pants Down: Arwin gets quite a shock when he barges in on Dr. Chip in the locker room in The Doctor is In.
- Crack Pairing - This collection serves as living proof that, in the hands of a skilled writer, any pairing can be made to work.
- Did You Just Have Sex? - Maddie and Zack's accurate assessment of Cody's unkempt state at the beginning of The Unlikeliest of Pairs.
- Drowning My Sorrows - The context in which Emma Tutweiler met Brandi Tipton in The Ex-Wives' Club.
- Elevator Going Down - The setting for the action between Jessica and Bailey in Blackout.
- First Kiss - Millicent's renders her unconscious in Seven Minutes in Purgatory.
- Ghost Shipping - In Possession, Grace the Tipton maid has sex with Irene, the ghost in suite 613, by having Irene masturbate while inhabiting her body.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot - For most of the authors, and its male counterpart for two particular authors.
- Hot for Student - Emma Tutweiler toward London in Yoga Lessons.
- The Jailbait Wait - Inverted. Holden waits until his eighteenth birthday to make his move on Connie in Old Enough to Love You.
- Kavorka Man
- Despite looking like Alfred E. Neuman, Dirk has a way with the rich and dumb girls in Tipton Mountain.
- Woody takes some of his unexpected canon game and kicks it up a notch in Can't Fight the Moonlight.
- Kids Are Cruel - Haley's explanation for why she's so shy in What the Heart Wants.
- Lady Killer In Love - Kirk develops genuine feelings for Hilary in Tipton Mountain, only to find out that all she wanted was to get laid.
- Lemon - The "After Hours" collection's raison d'etre. Thoough there's plenty of sex, all stories have enough of a plot to save them from Porn Without Plot-status.
- Lesbian Jock - Becky hasn't figured out by the end of Crusin' For Love in All the Wrong Places if she's one of these, but is at least giving some serious thought.
- Likes Older Women
- Holden in Old Enough to Love You.
- Woody in The Chef and the Busboy.
- Lipstick Lesbian - All female characters shipped with other female characters in this collection, with the possible exception of Becky.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places - Numerous examples. A few include:
- A utility closet in The Unlikeliest of Pairs.
- A swimming pool in The Doctor is In.
- The hallway outside of a cruise cabin in The Birthday Bash.
- The commandant's quarters at a prison camp in The Executioner.
- A hot tub in A Magical Vacation.
- Manipulative Bastard - Spencer Moseby, who in defiance of stated sexual preference, has sex with Esteban in order to get what he wants in Manipulative Moseby.
- Massive Multiplayer Crossover - All characters from crossover episodes who actually set foot on a Tipton property were eligible for the lottery. As such, the collection includes characters from That's So Raven, Hannah Montana, and Wizards of Waverly Place.
- Mating Dance
- Cody and Dakota dance a mean tango in Can't Fight the Moonlight, [[spoiler: both vertically and horizontally].
- Hilary took Kirk out on the floor basically just to get him in the mood in Tipton Mountain.
- May–December Romance
- London Tipton and Carey Martin in Just For Tonight.
- Woody and Chef Gigi in The Chef and the Busboy.
- Kurt Martin and Matisse in An Awkward Reunion.
- Nerds Are Sexy - Cody gets plenty of action in this collection. Justin Russo gets more than his fair share, as well.
- New Old Flame - Justin and London get a second chance in The Real Magic.
- Obfuscating Stupidity - Revealed to be Chelsea Brimmer's M.O. in The Unlikeliest of Pairs.
- Obligatory Swearing - Many of the contributors have chosen to explore how the characters' language might become more "colorful" when not under the eye of the Disney censors.
- The One That Got Away - The Mistakes I've Made reveals that a young Wilfred Tipton once loved a young Theresa Larkin. Indeed, his loss was her eventual husband's gain.
- Pre-Climax Climax - Dakota Smith and Barbara Brownstein are granted their one night of passion before their execution.
- Precocious Crush - Mary-Margaret towards Moseby in Ambition; Millicent towards Moseby and Agnes towards Skippy in Security.
- Rich Bitch - In The Ex-Wives' Club, we have Jeanette Delaney, wife number four and president of the titular club, who leads her fellow ex-wives in using their divorce settlement money to ruin Wilfred Tipton.
- Rule 34 - In full force.
- Sexiled - Cody is forced to hang out in Zack and Marcus' room while Woody works his mojo in Can't Fight the Moonlight.
- Shipper on Deck - After Holden reveals his secret love in Old Enough to Love You, the twins give him a stirring pep-talk that gives him the courage to pursue her.
- Stalker with a Crush - Miss Klotz toward Serge in Whatever Happened to Serge?
- Starboarding - A surprising amount of it
- Mary-Margaret's one-sided schoolgirl crush on Moseby in Ambition.
- Millicent also had a crush on Moseby, even going so far as to ask him out in Security.
- Zack's canon Starboarding of Maddie finally comes to an end in Finding a New Dream.
- Ilsa pines in secret for Maddie in Coveting.
- Star-Crossed Lovers - Barbara Brownstein and Dakota Smith in The Executioner.
- Sweet Polly Oliver - Taken to the next level in Rumors, when Alex Russo actually turns herself into a dude.
- Ten Minutes in the Closet - Seven, actually, and it's the main gimmick of Seven Minutes in Purgatory.
- Their First Time
- Dr. Chip and Marissa in The Doctor is In.
- Justin Russo and London in The Real Magic.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl - Raven Baxter's romantic encounter with Becky Muldoon in Cruisin' for Love in All the Wrong Places.
- Two-Person Pool Party - Dr. Chip and Marissa in The Doctor is In.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend - Zack loses Maddie to a charming young marine in Finding a New Dream.
- Uptight Loves Wild - Jerry Russo fantasizes about Ilsa in Inspector on the Loose.
- Virginity Flag - In Can't Fight the Moonlight, Dakota is able to discern from the tone in Cody's voice when he talks about Bailey that he gave his virginity to her.
- Wall Bang Her - Kirk and Hilary in Tipton Mountain.
- You Need to Get Laid - Emma Tutweiler in Yoga Lessons.
- Your Universe or Mine? - In Possession, it's gotta be Grace's universe. Grace would have to die to visit Irene in hers.
