Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: Fox Mulder/Alex Krycek
Author's website: The Clinic
Why this must be read:

I don't remember how old I was when I first realized I was different. When I say different, you have no idea what I mean. How could you? You probably think I mean physically different, but that's not it. I look much the same as you.

You could sit beside me and never know that I was not as you are. You could sit beside me and never know it was the time of your death.

Until you died.

[---]

Let me tell you more, and then maybe you'll understand.

So begin the memoirs of Alex Krycek as Dr. Ruthless tells them for him in Musings of a One Armed Man. Speculations about Krycek's background and upbringing are common in XF fic, not very surprising since the canon information on that subject is minimal and contradictory. Alex's past is an enigma his fans love to ponder. This is one of the few stories I know where a description of Krycek's childhood is a main feature, and Dr. Ruthless sells me completely on her tale of a boy brought up to kill and seduce in the name of humanity's survival, made into a weapon, trained with horrifying precision to have no part in the normal life he's created to defend. I'm especially fond of the stilted, formal tone of the prose, which contributes a great deal to this portrait of a man who knows far more than anyone should, but has never learnt to interact naturally with other people. The impact of the story is that much greater for being told in first person, Alex himself presenting feelings as perfectly reasonable that are far removed from what most of us would call sanity. With sadness, but also with almost clinical detachment, he relates experiences of torture and rape, and with near-pathetic passion he conveys his love for Mulder. Like much M/K fiction, this story hovers in an odd borderland between the romantic and the pitch-black and perverted, but unlike most fics out there, it truly gets away with it.

Musings of a One Armed Man is part of a series called Bad Seed, which is a crossover with Moloney, where Nick Lea, who plays Krycek, starred as a character named Anson Green. There are no traces of this other fandom in Musings..., though, and to me it's always read as a completely separate fic, so you don't have to worry about the other parts. Just go read this one!

Musings of a One Armed Man

Hey, we need drivers in November for CSI, Star Trek: Enterprise or S.W.A.T.. Please click on the links to volunteer your services. Don't forget, you can volunteer for a turn to pimp any of the active fandoms by following the links right here.

Title: Komodo by Kita
Fandom: Angel the Series
Pairing: Angel/Lindsey
Author on LJ: kita0610
Author Website: Almighty Gah
Why this must be read: Because nobody knows Angel quite like Kita does. This story is an all-access pass to Angel's head, with nothing white-washed.

The key to writing Angel is getting in touch with his dark side, which this story does with gusto. The rich, detailed writing makes this even more of a pleasure to read. I'd highly recommend all of her stories, but this one most beautifully illustrates the complexities that come with sharing your head with a demon.

Title: Flesh and Bone
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: Mal/Simon
Author on LJ: dirty_diana
Author Website: n/a

Why this must be read: One of the many nice things about this community is it forced me to go back through a lot of the firefly fic. I don't know how or why I didn't remember this one, but it's amazing. She uses second person to an amazing effect giving the whole story a beautiful dream like quality. This is not a sweet story. I love the Mal/Simon pairing because I think it makes for a real, compelling, complex relationship; and this story exposes all the inherent flaws. It's sexy, beautiful, and tragic without being at all sappy. Go read it now! :)

Title: The Poker Game
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: Mal/Simon/Janye
Author on LJ: sffan skripka kelly_girl
Author Website: Sffan's Firefly Obsession and Along the Rim

Why this must be read: This is pure pwp. Lovely shameless smut by three kick ass smut writers. I though slash was no longer capable of making me blush and then I re-read this. Smut. Smut. Lovely Smut. If you need justification to read it besides it's fabulous smutness, the voices are right on, the banter between Mal, Simon, and Jayne is perfect, and you really get a good sense of why people get so excited about the Mal/Simon/Jayne slashiness. Don't read at work, don't read where your mother could see, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the lovely, fabulous smut.

Title: Acceptable Risk
Fandom: Enterprise
Pairings: Tucker/Reed and Tucker/Archer, as well as a very complicated orgy-kinda thing which...yeah.
Author on LJ: Not that I know of.
Author website: Slash Fan Fiction by Kylie Lee

Why this must be read: Kylie Lee writes damn good slash. It's hot, it's character-driven, it's compelling. I'm specifically recommending this series because she tries a bunch of different things with it: Montage is a series of vignettes, Holding Back does a nifty POV switch. The whole series is tied up in canon in a really nifty way, but it gives you a fascinating insight into the characters. There's tension, sex, conflict, and angst. Who could ask for anything more?

The Acceptable Risk Series

Title of fiction: Brothers And Other Strangers
Fandom: Highlander
Author: Valentin
Author web site: Valentin's Stories
Author on LJ: I don't know if she has an LJ
Pairing: Methos/Duncan

Why this must be read: Well, this story has two things that hardly ever seem to go together in Highlander, (or so it seems to me), plot and hot sex. Or, at least, I thought it was hot sex. You can decide for yourself. It is also an interesting look at something that pouncer and I both seem to get from Methos' character--i.e. a tendency toward dissociative disorder. I'm also a sucker for a story that looks at Methos as truly different people over time.

So, read it! It has plot! It has sex! It was highly enjoyable in my opinion! If you disagree, we could discuss it below. If you agree, we could discuss it below. Don't forget that you can comment on my choices in recs!

Also, send feedback to the author! Feedback = Love!

*g*

I love Highlander!

Fandom: THE SENTINEL

Pairing: Jim/Blair (slash)

Author Website: http://www.squidge.org/~candy_a/


Why this must be read:

A Million Pieces

Explorations of the possible turns that Jim's and Blair's lives might take following the ending events of the series are always intriguing. In A Million Pieces, Candy offers us one possibility -- a Jim and Blair who have remained fast friends even as Jim marries and has a child -- and then shatters her carefully constructed house of cards, only to rebuild it once more. There is pain here, and anger, and sorrow that feels real in all the ways that fantastic writing can achieve, but there is also hope, and love, and an affirmation of the power of both.

In addition to a wonderful "relationship" story, Pieces is a richly layered emotional journey that deals with love in all its incarnations, arriving at resolution that resonates with heartfelt *rightness* long after the last word is read. There are some odd moments here and there, some turns-of-phrase that may not, perhaps, ring entirely true, but the deft blend of emotions make those few and far between glitches easy to overlook.

It's a long story, but well worth your time: dig in, pull up a chair, and lose yourself in this wonderful story.