Fandom: THE WEST WING
Pairing: mention of Charlie/Zoey, but it's Charlie gen-fic
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Wednesday Night Rants
Why this must be read:

This is an understated, wistful story where Charlie muses over his job and his family and how one is taking time away from the other.

He comes home early and has dinner with his little sister and they dance to their mother’s CDs. But as you absorb it, you feel Charlie and Deena’s quiet pain at the loss of their mother and the subtle strength that gets both of them through the day.

Charlie's solid, not flashy, and he's overlooked a lot, but with Mrs. Landingham gone, he's become a touchstone for the President, and this story is a nice look at him beyond his White House duties.

Mom didn't talk about her childhood too terribly often. She told us house-tales -- told us about the time Grandma Lucy took her to a restaurant and asked for a glass of water, a dollop of ketchup, and saltines, and created tomato soup for free. And about the time Grandpa Joe thought he lost baby Mina in a crowd, and it turned out she was sitting on his shoulders playing with his hat the whole time. But she didn't tell us too terribly much about what happened outside the family.

"When you're older," she liked to say a lot, and now I'm older and she's dead.

So I'm standing here doing the dishes, and I don't know the first thing about my mother's life when she was my age. And I'm too old, and I'm too young, and my little sister is sitting at the kitchen table behind me and she hasn't said a word for 17 minutes.

The Language That Gets the Job Done by Sary

Fandom: STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE
Pairing: Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan/Other
Author on LJ: rushlight75
Author Website: The Bard's Den
Why this must be read:

Another of the many stories where Obi-Wan has to go undercover as a pleasure slave, and a classic in the genre. This time Qui-Gon doesn't get to play the role of master to Obi's slave, and the real danger involved is all the greater for it. Our Padawan is exposed to a world of raw sensuality unlike anything he's ever imagined and forced to submit to pain and humiliation that nearly destroy him. But in this new role, he discovers aspects of himself he was oblivious to before and learns the pleasure of complete abandon and loss of control.

This is a powerful story, and you should heed the author's warnings before you enter, but it is also beautiful and ultimately sweet. Rushlight is one of my favourite writers in several fandoms and The Red Temple is an excellent example of why.

The Red Temple

Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Pairing: Duncan/Methos, Amanda/Nick Wolfe
Author on LJ: ?
Author Website: MacGeorge’s Madness

Why this must be read:
Possibly because I was a fan of the Highlander universe long before I’d ever heard of fan fiction, my absolute favorite type of Highlander stories tend to include some sort of immortal plot elements in addition to romance. In this respect, “Wolf at the Door” and it’s sequel, “Holy Ground,” deliver beautifully. MacGeorge’s pitch perfect characterization makes reading these stories like watching a particularly fine episode of Highlander—that includes hot sex between Duncan and Methos. What could be better?

Both stories are excellently crafted so that the relationship aspects fit in perfectly with the other plot elements, and I love the way MacGeorge uses Amanda’s spin off series, The Raven, and the glimpse of Methos’ life before/without MacLeod that we see in the series two-part finale, To Be/Not to Be to launch the intrigue of her plots. In Holy Ground, a character we only glimpse in one scene on the show gets fully developed into a villain who demands at least a little of the reader’s sympathy.

Additionally, I recommend “Wolf at the Door” and “Holy Ground” because Methos’ fear of love and commitment is a common and favorite theme of mine, and MacGeorge’s treatment of it is excellent.

One final note, it is possible to enjoy “Holy Ground” without reading “Wolf at the Door”, and if you only read one it should be that one, but really if you don’t read them both I think you’re missing out.


Wolf at the Door
Holy Ground