Fandom: X-FILES
Pairing: Mulder/Scully
Author on LJ: nope
Author's website: nope
Why this must be read:

Another distinct genre of X-Files fic is the mytharc story, where the ficwriter takes on the almost insurmountable task of making a coherent story out of the mess which is nine seasons of incompatible plot elements involving alien abductions, smallpox, bees, cancer, cloning, alien invasion, the black oil, faceless rebel aliens, aliens breeding inside human beings, Antarctica, and other wacky things. It's almost impossible, but when someone manages to tell a big story that incorporates a lot of the canon plot and make sense out of it all, they deserve our respect.

Hide and Seek was written a long time ago, round about season 5, so the characterizations of Mulder and Scully aren't as complex and angstful as you'd get now. It starts a little overwrought, but the plotting and the epic sweep of this story more than make up for that. Once you get moving you won't want to stop reading. It's great fun. Set aside some time this weekend to read it.

"You know," he blurted, "sometimes I'm a prick."
It was the way he said it, as if he'd just had an epiphany, that made her laugh, softly but uncontrollably.
"Did you just open yourself up to that extreme possibility?" she asked.
"Isn't your line, 'No, you're not?'" he asked with a half-smile.
"No, it's not."
"So I am a prick."
"Sometimes."
"On the prick-meter, where do I rate?"
"Is there a prick-meter?"
"Sure. I just invented it."
"How does it work?"
"It rates from zero to, let's say, four."
"Only four? That's not much of a prick, Mulder."
He chuckled. "Twelve then."
"Is twelve good or bad?"
"No one's complained."
"*Mulder.*"
"OK. Zero is a saint and twelve is, twelve is I'd-laugh-at-your-execution prickdom."
"Most of the time," she said quietly, "you're a negative number."
"But--"
"But you can be a six," she finished.

Hide and Seek by SpearmntXP.

Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Pairing: Logan/Ororo, Logan/Jean, and Logan/Marie
Author on LJ: stellamaru
Author Website: shinynewthing.net

Why this must be read: This story gives me the warm fuzzies every time I read it! Now, folks, I'll warn you right now, I'm a diehard Logan/Marie shipper! This story, however, helped me see the light -- that Logan "could" be with someone else and I could still get the same happy, tingly feeling from reading it that I get from reading Logan/Marie.
It's all about good writing. And Stella isn't just a good writer, she's a great writer. Her character development is awesome and her phrasing is sublime! She rocks! She writes in several fandoms... go check out her stuff on her site... you won't be disappointed!

Happy Endings

Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Pairing: Kurt/Ororo
Author on LJ: stellamaru
Author Website: shinynewthing.net

Why this must be read: This story is breathtaking. It's set right after X2 and explores the beginnings of a relationship between Kurt and Ororo.
The story is one big metaphor -- likening Kurt to a grotesque or gargoyle from an ancient cathedral. Both characters quote moving verses from the biblical "Song of Songs" in the story. Although the story is not very long, the characterization of Ororo here is one of the best I have ever seen.
I had thought I was sold on the Kurt/Ororo ship after the movie, but this fic helped to seal the deal!

Grotesque

Fandom: STARGATE SG-1
Pairing: Jack/Daniel pre-slash or none depending on your point of view *g*
Author on LJ: destina
Author Website: Worlds Without Boundaries

Why this must be read: Destina has been rec'ed here before by others. She's known as a Jack/Daniel writer, but being a gen girl at heart, my favorite of her stories is Ciphers. Like my other favorite gen stories, this one mixes a unique and well written story with great character interactions. There is an emphasis on the friendship between Jack and Daniel, but the other members of the team are neither completely forgotten nor relegated to simply providing exposition and then disappearing again.

It's a wonderful story and a nice long read that's perfect for a quiet afternoon.

Ciphers

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: none; it’s a gen story.
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: Dasha’s gen stories can be found here.
Why this must be read:

As promised, here’s a TS gen rec for you. “Clinging” ranks as not only my favorite TS gen story, but it’s on my list of allover favorites as well.

There are several premises that get trotted out frequently in TS fic (Blair and Jim as relatives, Blair having to guide Jim in adverse situations, and of course, the ever-popular Sentinel-Guide bond), and Dasha has a way of putting her own unique spin on them. The opening paragraphs, though gentle in tone, have a way of sneaking up on you and demanding you finish reading the story just to figure out exactly what’s going on:

I'm in hell. I lie most of the time in a huge, barren cage. Not that the cage is keeping me in - - I couldn't get away anyway. I can't move, not even to lift my head or turn over. I can't speak. I think I might be very sick, because I sleep all the time and I'm always hungry. . . except nothing hurts.

I get moved around a lot. With no warning. And no real way to say, no, leave me alone! or please, come help me now, I've pissed myself again. The people around me--and I am sure they must be people, even though their size is wrong, their shape is wrong - - are talking gibberish. Oh, it's English they're speaking, but their references make no sense. The--woman?--is a nutcase who speaks of herself in the third person as 'momma.' She is not my mother. And everyone thinks my name is Stevie, and it's not. It's Blair.

I know that. I'm sure of that.

I'm in hell. Which makes sense, because although I can't remember it, I am pretty sure I have died.

Dasha manages to capture the “Blair” characterization exactly right, though he’s not entirely Blair and not entirely someone else. He’s frustrated in all the ways Blair-as-we-know-him would be in this situation, yet his “child-ness” is totally believable.

I love this story because even though their relationship is far different than what you’ll find in in slash, it still rings with the overwhelming truth that Jim and Blair are connected in some deep, cosmic way that’s absolutely unbreakable. They truly belong to one another, and Dasha does an excellent job of keeping them together, regardless of circumstance.

Things that might throw you: As a person who avoids death stories, I need to advise you that though it's labeled as such, you won't walk away from it in a deep funk. As the author says - "Death story . . . but as usual, nobody is actually dead at the end of it.”

Clinging to the Wheel

 
Fandom: FARSCAPE
Pairing:  John/Aeryn
Author on LJ: crankygrrl
Author Website:?
Why this must be read:
 
First of all, this should be read because it's Friday and this is just a lovely piece to round off the week. Secondly, because there's just not enough well done NC-17 in Farscape fandom. Thirdly, it should be read because Cranky writes clean, quick prose that makes you grin and makes you gasp.

It takes place after a riotously funny episode, Out of their Minds, and lets the tag of that ep run to it's natural conclusion, namely sex.

But sex in the Farscape universe, is something often contemplated, frequently talked about and bemoaned, but rarely achieved. At least, until Season 3. However, Out of Their Clothes gives our protaganists a release without answering any of the myriad questions or concerns that lie between them.

It's not sentimental about these people, but it is clearly affectionate. The characters are spot on, and the encounter is breathless and very, very sexy, and at the end the resolution is true to form. Not an answer, but a continuation.

And did I mention that the story is just a whole, pointy, lot of fun?

For example:

An officer and a gentleman should scruple about screwing a woman on the floor of a public hallway. He didn’t care: Aeryn Sun was kissing him and her hands were under his shirt and in his pants. His better angels were as horny as the rest of him.

(I should mention, in all fairness, that the author has been known to sneer at the better angels line. I, however, am very fond of the whole paragraph).


And yet so very vulnerable and alone, standing barefoot in the middle of a prison cell staring down at that shirt like it held answer to the riddle of the universe: the dichotomy confuses her, frustrates her, keeps her from finding his range. She never knows whether she wants to choke him, frell him or lock him away from the universe for his own good. He is constantly in apposition to her expectations. And desires.

Like now: she'd expected him to greet her naked in bed with a grin and one of his moronic aphorisms. But of course it couldn't be that easy with him.

 

Out of Their Clothes by Crankygrrl