Note: I've heard some concerns from European fen who have not yet seen S6, so, I'm *not* spoiling the final season. But keep in mind that OZ *is* a serial, so describing the characters in any depth will almost necessarily spoil certain events if you've never seen the show. My major aim here isn't to so much to synopsize plot lines, but to try and give a sense of the overall production and enough of a feeling for some of the major characters and relationships that you'll want to seek out more. For people who really crave nitty gritty detail, there are links to episode guides, show transcripts, etc. in the "Fandom" section.

This came out a little longer than I expected. *g*

( Overview )

( Enough blithering! Show me some naked guys in the shower already! )

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: Fox Mulder/Alex Krycek
Author website: Den of Sin
Why this must be read:

In my last rec, we visited the dark, violent places of M/K slash with C.M. Decarnin; this time we'll go to the warm, tender spots with Aries. Certainly, there is angst and hurt along the way in this story, too, but mainly, we get a Mulder and a Krycek who leave the physical fighting and the dominance games behind once they realize their love for each other. Which is not to say that their love story is an easy one. If you want to admit to yourself that the man you thought was your mortal enemy is actually the love of your life, you're in for a few bumps in the road.

I'm not easily sold on Mulder/Krycek longterm happiness, but if you want to convince me that they have a future together as a couple in any everyday sense, then a good portrayal of Scully and her reactions is key. Aries writes one of the best Scullys out there - I might even go so far as to say that Scully's character is the strongest part of this story. Scully, and the M/K sex. Aries is the only slash writer I've ever seen accused of having too much sex in her stories, and though I don't agree with that assessment, there is a lot of love-making going on here. Part five in The Admission Series may well be the most porntastic thing I've ever read, and who can resist that when the guys getting it on are as pretty as Fox and Alex?

This story was originally conceived as a five parter, and it comes to a natural conclusion after part five. The rest of the parts were added later, and personally I think that Aries dragged this universe out for too long. Others will no doubt disagree with me on this. What I think most readers will agree on, is that this is a steaming hot fandom classic, a romance which does an unusually good job of fitting the Mulder/Krycek relationship into Mulder's everyday life as we see it on the show. A new Aries fic always made waves in the M/K fandom, and to my mind, this is the best example of her work.

The Admission Series

Fandom: Star Wars Trilogy

Pairing: Han Solo/Luke Skywalker

Author website: http://www.elusive-lover.de New fiction section, near the bottom

Why this must be read: This is the fic that pimped many of us into the fandom. For quite a number, it was the first Han/Luke we ever read. It gives us the same restless Han we saw in the movies, and the idealistic Luke. It's a good intro point to SW slash because the story does build slowly, especially for as short a piece as it is, and lay background for a beautifully intense sex scene.

Cara was pretty much the founder of SW slash, she edited the Elusive Lover zines and wrote prolifically. I still think, out of the hundred or so stories, this is one of the best.

Fandom: Angel: the Series
Story URL: As Time Goes By
Pairing: Angel/Cordelia, Buffy/Angel, Buffy/Xander, Wesley/Fred
Author on LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/yahtzee63/
Author Website: Yahtzee: Genre Edition
Why this must be read: I should first say that I'm not particularly a fan of these pairings - I rarely search for stories featuring them, at any rate. But this story is so well-written and so much *fun* to read that I almost forgot I wasn't really an Angel/Cordy 'shipper in the middle of this story.

The author describes the story as "a pastiche fic inspired by Casablanca," with a future, noir-ish LA as the backdrop. Its center is a version of Cordelia I dearly miss: warm, funny, honest, and more heroic than she'd like to think. This is also the rare story with a love triangle presented with sympathy to all of the characters involved. There's also a fabulously intricate and satisfying plot, which I probably should avoid spoiling here. *g*

I should note that the story goes AU midway through Angel's season three and Buffy's season six.

And, to steal a page from the person doing popslash recs, the relevant ( supporting cast )

Wonderful Waste by Brix

Fandom: Alias
Pairing: Vaughn/Weiss
Author on LJ: shadesofbrixton
Author Website: None, but you can find all her Alias slash at the Alias Slash Archive.
ETA: Brix just pointed me to her site here.
Why this must be read:

By special request, my favorite Vaughn/Weiss story. :)

Alias slash fandom is a little small. To give you an idea: Currently there are right around 900 stories on the main Alias archive; less than 40 are slash. At the time this story was written, there were less than 10. But I would remember it out of 400, for a couple of reasons:

* Weiss, my TV boyfriend, is perfectly represented in this. He's funny, smart, a little goofy, devoted to his best friend (on many levels), and still conflicted enough to be interesting. He's also a lot more honest with himself than the average character, which is an aspect of Weiss I adore.

* Vaughn is also in character, as someone dealing with True Love Issues (aka Sydney) and sublimating badly.

The truth is, Mike could call me up any time, day or night, the living room of my apartment or the broom closet at Langley, and get exactly what he wanted from me. And the worst part is, he knows it. He knows my protests are just for show. He knows exactly how badly I want him, and he knows that I know his secrets.

Hrm. I have a sudden urge to write broom-closet fic now. *wanders off*

Rec: Save The Last Dance For Me by Dayspring
Fandom: Highlander
Pairing: Duncan/Methos
Author on LJ: ddayspring
Author Website: Dayspring's Desires

Why this must be read: Save The Last Dance For Me was the second hook for me in Highlander. After reading Sacred Trust, I wanted something light-hearted (in a way) and romantic. Someone recommended that I try this story and I was absolutely thrilled when I read it.

Save The Last Dance For Me is a very romantic cliche fic that will make you grin like a crazy person and want to cuddle both Methos and Duncan.

It was so heart-warming and wonderful that I even forgave Dayspring for the fact that there was, *gasp*, no sex. But, the story doesn't need sex to make it wonderful and one that I've already read three times. I'll be reading it again, I'm sure.

Save The Last Dance For Me is destined to be come a comfort fic for those terrible days when one is sick or in depressed. You won't be disappointed by this story if you are feeling the need for romance.

So! Go! Read! Send feedback because feedback is love!!! :) (So says the girl who hasn't even sent feedback on this story yet. *slaps own wrist* Bad me!)

Fandom: Farscape
Pairing: errr...some dysfunctional John/Aeryn
Author Website: none, unfortunately. Her other story "Golden Apples" can be found at Leviathan.
Why this must be read: There is a strange dearth of Farscape stories out there that read like they could be episodes, but this story is one of the few. By turns hilarious and affecting, insightful and completely gross, this story is a long-ish, plotty, suspenseful and fun read. The characterization is spot-on and the dialogue is excellent. Moreover, it's a real attempt at an ensemble piece, which is pretty unusual for the Farscape fandom. It's set in the weird twilight time after the 3rd-season episode "Fractures," when Aeryn had come back after losing John's double and was having a hard time relating to him and the rest of the crew, as well as dealing with her grief. (There are a lot of stories out there set during this time period; many of them are excellent.) This story deals with those issues in a subtle way. Moreover, as I said once before:

I never thought I'd read a story about sentient tofu, never mind a good one.

Should've Brought a Bag by BetanSurvey


Edit: One of the many things I had to leave out of my original overview was the concept of "food cubes." Think bland-tasting parti-colored military ration that's supposed to be like a Power Bar but looks more like Laffy Taffy. Seen extensively in the first season and not much since, but the story makes it believable that the crew would have to subsist on them once again.

Fandom: THE SENTINEL

Pairing: Jim/Blair (slash, non-explicit)

Author Website: http://www.squidge.org/~halfaft/index.htm

Why this must be read:

The Treeline Trilogy
Treeline

Moraine

Montane

In Treeline and its sequels, GreenWoman explores the consequences of Blair's denouncement of himself and his dissertation, his subsequent loss of credibility, and the repercussions of the enemies that Blair and Jim have made along the way with gritty, eerie, precision. These stories are dark, and haunting, and yet there is enough fragile hope in the resolution of this story arc to give you something to cling to.

On her website, GreenWoman hosts other's sequels to her Treeline, the story that started it all. I think you'll see why this story inspired such a plethora of fic, and why it still resonates with every read, no matter how many times you've devoured it.

This one isn't for the faint of heart, but it is a "must read".

Junk Novels by Punk and Sabine
rec: Junk Novels
Fandom: Sports Night
Pairing: Dan Rydell/Casey McCall
Authors LJs : runpunkrun

sabine101
Authors' Websites:Punk's Website (corrected link)
Sabine

Why this must be read: It's probably the funniest SN fic I've come across. Dan and Casey are on a plane. There's a lack of good reading material, except for a crappy romance novel Natalie left behind at the station, and the "what to do in case of an emergency" placard, which actually has no words. There are also declarations of hotness, both in print and in speech. Just the fic for a layover.

Casey opened one eye and looked down at the laminated safety triptych. "This doesn't have any words," he said. "I can't read this.There aren't any words."

"You're ostensibly a writer," Dan said, scooting back a little bit and pulling up his knees toward his chest. "Write some words."

"You want me to caption the safety card," Casey said. "And I suppose some poor Thai tourist will have you to blame when he looks at this thing and thinks he's missing something, and doesn't know what to dowhen his 757 goes crashing into the sea?"