Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Author on LJ: brighidestone
Author Website: Brighid’s Reading Room
Why this must be read:

Eros Epistolary

Hi, I’m Rhiannon, and I’m your reccer for The Sentinel this month.

After much waffling about which of many favorite TS stories should be my first rec, I finally decided on one of the first fics I ever read in the fandom. You know how after a few months of being in a fandom, some of the stories you found the very first week lose their shine when you go back weeks or months later and read them again?

This one never loses its shine, even after numerous rereads.

Gently humorous and sweet without being at all sappy, it’s about what happens after an argument takes an unexpected detour. As Jim and Blair get used to this new development, their communication (as the title suggests) is done almost entirely by notes and email. Brighid’s writing is lovely and warm, and her Jim and Blair voices are perfectly in character.

Eros Epistolary is TS comfort fic at its finest, guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Author on LJ: mistful
Author Website: Lasair and Maya's Fanfiction and Ramblings
Why this must be read: On the flip side of happy-ever-after there's a strong sense in fandom that H/D would never (could never) really be right. Maya takes this premise and gives us a relentlessly bleak look at a relationship that's both seductive and horrifying.

It starts harmlessly - because Harry is a hero, noble, good - then the horror starts very quietly, slowly unfolding, a disturbing and surreal built up to an inevitable tragedy, with no way out. This fic is a trainwreck of a story. And as a H/D fan, I *always* want them to work, yet it's saying something when I desperately want them end.

It's hard to say what I love about this story, without giving away too much. So I'll just say, Harry's behaviour is unforgivable, but it's hard not to feel for him - for his loneliness, his guilt and his knowledge - which actually makes things so much worse. And Draco...the flashes of his real self juxtaposed with his cursed self is heartbreaking and powerful.

This is such a complex tale. A stories that can make you cry silently. One to read to the bitter end.

Summary: Power corrupts. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. Even absolute love.

Quote - "'I love you,' he tells Draco. 'I love you. I love you.' He believes this, although he is aware nobody who knew the full story would agree."

Your Every Wish

Fandom: OZ
Pairing:Beecher/Keller
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: I'm not sure that Brian still has a fanfic website, but some of his work is archived at the C5 Archive

Why this must be read: This was one of the first Oz stories I ever read, and certainly the first AU. I have a love/hate relationship with AU; when they're good, the characters remain in character despite being out of their original setting, and the story keeps you hanging on every word. When they're bad, you can change the names and the story can be anyone, from any fandom.
This is a good AU, and one I've been back and read more than once, which is unusual for me. Chris and Toby are beautifully written, and the plot is enjoyable.

Oz is a tough fandom to write for, and thankfully it's blessed with a number of excellent writers, a few of which I hope I can tempt you with during December.

Anyone checking out Oz for the first time should be aware that it can be a very harsh fandom, containing death, non-con, rape, violence and non-PC language as a matter of course. Stories also very rarely contain warnings. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Enjoy....
Pas De Deux

Going Home by Daegaer
Fandom: Good Omens
Pairing: Crowley/Aziraphale
Author on lj: daegaer
Author website: None at present, but all the author's fics are stored in her lj memories section.

Why this must be read:
Aziraphale gets recalled to Heaven and Crowley sets out to bring him back. There have been quite a few GO stories that tackle this idea, the idea of either one or both of them having to leave Earth, and this is my favourite of them all. There are lots of things about this story that I love: the details of Crowley's occult experiments, the description of Heaven and Aziraphale's miserable existance there, the manna, the line where Crowley describes Aziraphale: "Cheerful looking fellow, likes music and thinks Mr Kipling should be canonised?" Aziraphale is not overly happy in heaven, even if he has been promoted.

Crowley never admits that the reason he spends months figuring out how to rescue Aziraphale and then risking his life to enter Heaven is that he misses him, yet that emotion underlies the whole story. He prefers to think that he wants Aziraphale back because it would be so inconvenient to train up another angel to be his friend. Aziraphale never quite manages to say that he misses Crowley, yet their affection for each other shines out clearly. The ending is resolved beautifully and never fails to make me go all squooshy (technical term).