Fandom: Enterprise
Pairing: Reed/Mayweather
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: Ana's Fan Fiction
Why this must be read:

Okay, I admit that I have a bit of a weakness for Reed/Mayweather. It started way back in season one with the Snow Vulcan. You can hardly blame a girl. It's very difficult to find Reed/Mayweather, however, and even more difficult to find R/M written in character. "Icing" is a quiet little fic, short and sweet and almost pre-slash, which takes advantage of the brief obsession the fandom went through with the pineapple birthday cake. So really it's a good example of one of the early canon details that make the show sort of hokey but sweet at the same time, and it's a good Reed character sketch as well.

There is a sequel, "Viable", which takes us into NC17 territory, but the ending of "Icing" is so perfect that I really prefer it as a stand-alone. I've linked to the sequel as well, however (there's also a link at the bottom of the fic), so you can decide for yourself.

Icing

and the sequel:

Viable

Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Not really a "pairing" story...
Author on LJ: anr
Author Website: angstnromance.net
Why this must be read: I think this is a very brave story in its brutality. I admire bravery in fic - the willingness to do something that is unpleasant and/ or unsettling. As a reader I like to be unsettled or rocked in my complacency and it's so rare in fanfic to find a story that does this - it's the kind of thing you go to art-house movies for. Ness is also a very clever writer who knows how to constuct an imaginative scenario with an intelligent use of narrative and character POV. This is a story that left me vaguely disorientated for a day or so after I read it. When a story moves you that much it must be read.

Sense Of

Hullo. I'm Deanna, and I'll be your Star Wars Original Trilogy dealer this month. Since my two lovely predecessors have covered the slash end of things, I'm going to try to deliver a month of gen and het to avoid redundancy.

Title: Father's Heart by Fernwithy
Fandom: Star Wars Trilogy (minor references to the prequel trilogy)
Pairing: Leia and Vader friendship ... yes, friendship. Leia and Vader. Yes. A touch of Anakin/Amidala in the background, but it's not a prequel fic.
Author's Website: http://www.vadersmask.homestead.com
Author on LJ: fernwithy

Why this must be read: This is a long, meaty series that takes a teeny tiny event in canon and runs with it. In the very first movie, Leia and Vader seem to know one another already, and Leia to carry a particular contempt for him. Sure, the explanation could be as simple as them having met before in the Capital and seeing natural tension arise as a result of her being a liberal politician who secretly runs missions for a conspiracy to overthrow the government and he being an evil warrior who strangles people for giggles ... but what's the fun in that? Father's Heart is a plotful, well-written character study of a young, idealistic Princess and a thoughtful, not-entirely-Dark Lord of the Sith. Written before Attack of the Clones, some minor bits of it may have been Jossed, but everything is at least consistent with canon in the original trilogy, which is my job. I don't think that the small amount of prequel background used should confuse anyone who hasn't seen the prequels (all two of you), but just in case I've done some quick character sketches of the prequel characters appearing in Father's Heart.


( Bail Organa )

( Amidala )

( Saché )

Fandom: FIREFLY
Pairing:  Mostly Mal/Simon, hints of Mal/Zoe, Zoe/Wash
Author on LJ: blueraccoon
Author Website: http://homepage.mac.com/amythyst/
Why this must be read:
 
Yeah, yeah. Another NC-17 slash rec from me. Figured I'd surprise you all with my gen and het recs later...

Glue is one of THE dark/kinkfics of the fandom. Not as darkly psychosexual as kirbycrow's, perhaps, but there's certainly a lot more of it.

A slight twist to canon leads us to rebecca's Mal and Simon. These are seriously damaged men who have suddenly found each other, and neither of them want to admit it. Nine chapters and four interludes. Well worth the time and emotional investment to read them all.

Well written characters, hot hot hot dirty talk, believable plotlines, and did I mention the dirty talk?

Plus, as a bonus, you end up with one of the most inventive reasons of all time as to why Simon wears vests.

Glue