Fandom: Popslash *NSYNC
Pairing: various, mainly JC/Justin and Chris/Lance
Author on LJ: doesn't seem to be
Author Website: Restless Eyes
Why this must be read: I actually read this one very early in my popslash journey, while it was still a WIP. I did not know the guys apart from one another yet, or know their fanon characterizations. This story is a great one for newcomers, because there is no need to know any canon, it is a complete AU. There is a fully realized fantasy world here, with love, lust, humor, danger, good and evil, music, magic, elves, sylphs, boggarts, and gods.
Any fantasy reader would love this story without knowing that it's a popslash AU. And don't skip reading the disclaimer. In fact, refresh it and read it again.

Talliswood

Fandom: STARGATE SG-1
Pairing: Jack/ Sam, Janet/ DanielJonas (uh - it makes sense when you read it...)
Authors on LJ: josephides and mrv3000
Author Website: http://www.randomleaves.com/ and http://sg1michelle.homestead.com/
Why this must be read: Well this is a funny story and I'm an angst fan - a big 'un - so it just gets depressing from here on, peeps - but lets just spend a day laughing at ourselves before we go there. This fic (and the one I'm reccing next) send up some of the biggest cliches in the fandom so it's the kind of fic you want to familiarise yourself with before you put pen to paper or fingertips to keys or whatever it is you do. And besides, it's damn funny and you'll laugh lots and you'll cry lots and you'll probably get gas...(uh - that makes more sense after you've read the story...). Enjoy! Keep drinks away from the keyboard!

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night. Suddenly a Jaffa Yelled "Kree!"

Fandom: STARGATE SG-1
Pairing: Jack/ Daniel
Author on LJ: prillalar
Author Website:http://prillalar.com/fic/
Why this must be read: Because it's more belly-laughing, people! And like I said before, KNOW what the satirists are sending up before you start writing. This is another pants-wetting send-up. And that last line! Ha! Yes, it's a fun, fun fandom...

My First Stargate Story by Harloprillalar

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: Sebastian's Professionals fiction can be found at the Circuit Archive
Why this must be read: This is the first of several stories by Sebastian that I'm going to rec this week. She's one of the Pros authors who seems to be either loved or hated; I happen to love her fiction. (See Note, below.)

In The Smallest Room, she shows us Bodie and Doyle near the beginning of their partnership, a time when each is still trying to figure the other out. In a job that requires a high degree of trust between partners, they've struck a balance that lets them work effectively together - though neither is precisely satisfied with the situation as it stands - until a tense op and one impulsive act threaten to throw off their carefully constructed equilibrium.

The Smallest Room

Note: There is a divide - not necessarily a hostile one, but a definite stylistic schism - in Pros fandom. Throughout December I'm going to rec a variety of stories from both sides that divide, in the hopes that everyone will find something they enjoy. Not everything is going to be a personal and/or stylistic favorite of mine, but all stories I rec will be well-written and representative of the body of work of a Pros author widely considered to be exceptionally skillful or otherwise noteworthy. I'll make a point of stating whether or not the author is a favorite of mine, so that readers can evaluate for themselves the level of bias in my comments.

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: CSM/Mrs. Mulder
Author on LJ: 3jane
Author Website: http://www.ravenswing.com/~mirrorgirl/index.html
Why this must be read: First, an explanation -- since most collections of TXF recs include a majority of Mulder/Krycek or Mulder/Scully, I thought this month I would take a chance and, well, not do that. If you're not a fan of minor characters or rare pairings, you may want to chill until January, with my apologies.

Now, onto the fic. Here is another lovely backstory piece, with vaguely noir sensibilities, gorgeous sex scenes and perfectly creepy conspiracy undertones.

(Direct link: "Don't Smoke In Bed".)

Hi. I'm skrip, and I'll be your host for Firefly this month. Can I just give big hugs to my predecessors, sparky77 and pearl_o for making my job just that much harder? Silly women. Stealing my recs. Oh, well, there's plenty more where those came from.

That's one of the nice things about Firefly, in my opinion. I'm still mostly new to the whole "fandom" business, but this is a good sized one. Not too big, not too small. Plus, TONS of great writing.

Without further ado or blather (today, at least)...here I go...
 
Fandom: FIREFLY
Pairing: Jayne/Simon
Author on LJ: nope
Author Website: can't find it.
Why this must be read:

Okay. You like plot, you say? We got some plot. You like character development? We got that, too. Hot sex? Oh, baby, yeah.

This is a great story. A bit cursory on the action bits, but hey, even Tim Minear has problems with action sequences. The characters are easily within canon tolerances, and the story makes sense. It's even got techno-babble, for all of our inner geeks. One of the more believable openings for a Simon/Jayne relationship, even.

The crew makes a drop on a badly terraformed planet, and things go to hell immediately.

Teeny-weeny spoilers for Jaynestown and Safe, but nothing that will ruin your enjoyment of either episode.
 
Perdition

FANDOM: Farscape
PAIRING: n/a
AUTHOR ON LJ: nope
AUTHOR'S WEBSITE: here

Annigmatic appears to have drifted away from the fandom in the past few years, but 24 Hour Pass was one of the first, and best, stories I found when I fell down the wormhole in 2001. It's set in an unspecified time after the Look at the Princess trilogy, late in season 2.

Why this must be read: What sets this story apart is the smooth ease of the storytelling, and the professional use of outside perspective. The entire incident is told from the point of view of Jack Crichton and the staff of the international space station, while avoiding those hazards so common to third-party povs (over-investment and over-observancy). These narrators are confused and stay confused, and I like it that way. Also, the author has done her research and presents a technically believable setting for the story.

There's not a ton of plot here, but the story moves smoothly along, and it serves as an excellent character study and examination of Earth's possible response to Crichton's return, written years before Terra Firma aired. I recommend the story not just for the quality of the story itself, which stands up to repeated readings (rare in any instance), but for its importance historically in the fandom. In many ways, to my mind, marks the point at which Farscape fic took on a more mature and professional quality, and it was recognized as such by the fandom, which gave it the Best Overall Fanfic award in 2001.

So go read this, and send the author a note about the story, if you'd be so kind.

Fandom: THE WEST WING
Pairing: Jed Bartlet/Leo McGarry
Author Website: Xanthe
Why this must be read:

Jed/Leo is hardly one of the more popular pairings in the West Wing fandom, but it is my personal favourite. Whether you want to call it friendship or something more than that, there is a love between the President and his Chief of Staff which lights the screen whenever they have scenes together, and to me, their relationship remains the cornerstone of the show. Few things make me happier than a good Jed/Leo moment.

Finding quality slash fiction here can be a problem, though. Not many people write Jed/Leo, and of those who do, I have yet to find someone who can give me a fully believable take on Abby's role in their relationship. There are, however, a few writers for whom I'll gladly suspend my disbelief on that point, and Xanthe is one of them. Her June 17th captures everything that I love about this pairing, and it does it in a brilliant way.

Through meetings on the title date, from 1962 to the present, Xanthe paints a picture of forty years of friendship, love and commitment, through the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, the tears and the laughter. She does it with humour, tenderness and an unfailing sense of the characters as they are on the screen. What attracts me to Jed and Leo is the feeling the actors manage to project of a life-time of intimacy, the unquestionable closeness that comes when you've been through it all together, when you know that whatever happens next, you'll face that side by side as well. That is what June 17th is all about, and the fact that Xanthe really manages to bring her theme to life makes this a beautiful story, one that lies very close to my heart.

June 17th

Other stories in the June 17th universe

Star Trek: The Next Generation is exactly what the title implies - it's the next generation of one of the most beloved and popular science fiction television series in history. And as a Trekker who used to be able to identify TNG episodes by season, title and plot within five seconds of seeing it on the screen, trying to do this overview in a way that would make you want to watch and read the show has been quite the...enterprise.


( Engage! )

Fandom: Enterprise
Pairing: Tucker/Reed
Author on LJ: taryneve
Author's website: Apparently Taryn's decided to take her site down.
Why this fic must be read:

I've been out of ENT fandom for a long time, and I just recently started reading in it again. So this next month of recs I'll be rediscovering some old favorites as well as discovering new ones along with the rest of you. I do have a strong bent for slash, as that's what I write, so my first rec happens to be Tucker/Reed fic.

This is a death fic, which isn't normally something I enjoy, but Taryn's got a great handle on the characters and she tells the story of Trip and Malcolm's romance in a bittersweet way that will leave you sad, but with that sort of 'aw' feeling of a story well-told.

Blackberries