Fandom: OZ
Pairing: Beecher/Keller Keller/Ryan
Author on LJ: n/a
Author's Web Site: n/a (correct me if I'm wrong for web site and lj)

Why this story must be read: This story takes place during Keller and Ryan's fabulous fourth season alliance of chess playing and murder and Keller and Beecher's eyefuck and mudity filled break up. It's told from Ryan's perspectivie and he's at his witty, sarcastic, foul mouthed best making observations about life in Oz and his "friendship" with both Beecher and Keller. This is a fun, little twisted Oz story about three of my favorite boys using each other and desperate for some affection. Ryan is an astute job of character and I love to watch him call Beecher and Keller on their bullshit.

green

Fandom: HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS
Pairing: Iolaus/Iphicles
Author on LJ: marinarusalka
Author Website: The Treasure Trove
Why this must be read: This story examines what would happen if Iolaus stopped adventuring and tried to settle down, which isn't a theme much dealt with in the fanfic. It's also a well thought-out take on how Iolaus would cope with returning to life again after being dead for so long. It's the third story in a series, but I feel it can be read on its own, and if you'd rather read the others first, they're great too. I like this story best because I'm fond of ensemble cast stories, and Rusalka draws excellent portraits of Iolaus, Iphicles, Hercules, and Jason.

"Homecoming" is set in the series canon just after the last episode of the fifth season, when Iolaus was resurrected after being killed by Dahak. Iolaus and Hercules head for Corinth, to tell Iphicles, with whom Iolaus was having a relationship, that Iolaus is alive again. Once the initial shock and celebrations are over, Iolaus makes an effort to stay in Corinth for Iphicles's sake, to give up his life of travelling with Hercules and constantly risking his life. As you can imagine, this causes problems for both of them. Rusalka's prose is skillful and the characterizations in this story are spot-on. Oh, and the sex scenes are hot, too. ;)


Homecoming

Fandom: ALIAS
Pairing: Syd/Vaughn
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: Below The Moon
Why this must be read:
I couldn't possibly do this story justice. The imagery is so powerful and visceral, it takes my breath away.

Someday I will have to tell you the story behind this picture:

A woman standing in the kitchen of a deserted apartment, standing by the window, standing by the air conditioner even though it is winter because she wants to feel the air press her skirt against her legs. She is watching a man in a gray overcoat enter a taxi cab, not one of those yellow cabs that pull up to the curb like a pointless smiles, but the more somber black-on-white variety. "I never loved you," she whispers, into the place on the glass where his reflection would have appeared, if he had been pinned to the right angle of light. "I never loved you," she whispers, into emptiness, into space. Behind her the wall is covered with random words: rocket, solomon, indigo, wrinkle, lip. Crevasse. Piano, rain, saffron, newspaper. Heart. And other such insanities. The meaning of these words is a secret she will leave in the kitchen, not entirely out of place amidst the unwashed plates, the cracked coffee mugs, the pile of children's crayons and finger paints. She reaches for the coat she bought just last week, a second-hand Army coat, heavy with its wool and wooden buttons, but leaves it draped over the windowsill, over the place where her reflection would appear, if she had anything left to reflect. Her only reflection, now, is the wall and the lost, beautiful graffiti. She leaves the room.

Someday, yes, I will have to tell you this story. We will sit at the hot-pink Formica counter of the restaurant where I wore out three pairs of tennis shoes as a waitress, and we will order the coffee (strong as ink) and as you ask me what happened to us all, my fingers will move in distraction across my napkin. The words they trace will appear to you as nonsense. After the last memory of the last word, I will tell you this:

The greatest tragedy of surviving is that we are forced to live in the aftermath of those who survived with us.

But how could I make you understand this?

Graffiti

Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO/IRON CHEF (crossover)
Pairing: None
Genre: Crossover, humor
Author on LJ: not as far as I know
Author website: Stories by Mairead Triste and Shadows and Light, but neither have been updated in years.

Why this must be read:

Sometimes the darker the source material, the easier it is to parody. Most of the funniest pieces of fanfiction I've read are Hard Core Logo stories, and this one is quite possibly the best example, although I'll be reccing others throughout the month. This is also the first of several crossovers I'll be reccing (and it's definitely the funniest).

Are there any people out there who have not seen Iron Chef, the completely OTT Japanese import shown late on the weekends on Food Network? If you've seen that, and you've seen HCL, you are in for a treat when you read this story. Everything is there, from the absolutely note-perfect obsequity of Ota to Chairman Kaga, to, well, to the band dropping acid and bringing in a live goat. It's probably kind of confusing if you're not familiar with either source, but you'll probably still be amused.

I had despaired of finding this on a website somewhere, as it used to be archived on Ten Buck Fucks but never made it over to Touch My Stump, but terrio saw my post over at dhappy and found it for me, so now y'all can enjoy it, hooray!

A small quote to ensnare you:

CHAIRMAN KAGA (by way of subtitles): If memory serves me, many years ago I had the great fortune to voyage across the seas, to the strange land of Edmonton. There I was attacked and press-ganged by a roving band of circus freaks, and would certainly have come to harm if it were not for the intervention of a charitable group of punks looking for a dwarf to work into their act. These benevolent strangers feasted me sumptuously on a delicacy known as the 'Herbie's Burger'. Not even the clotting blood in my mouth could obscure the mystical and complex flavors of this masterpiece, and indeed, I have never forgotten it. Of course I had to invite them to Kitchen Stadium, to pit their culinary wizardry against the sturdy bedrock of my Iron Chefs!

It only gets better from there, folks. Go and read and be prepared to laugh your ass off.

A Few Highlights from My Very Favorite Imaginary Show

(Hi, I'm d, and I'll be your reccer for The O.C. for February. What you can expect from me is as much variety as I can manage. Hope you enjoy.)

Fandom: THE O.C.
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: serialkarma
Author Website: link to her lj memories
Why this must be read: It's Sandy fic! We love Sandy. Or, okay, I love Sandy. Sandy is funny and earnest and loves his family. I wish he was my dad. And in this vignette the author nails the flip banter and the sense of humour that we see on the show from both Sandy and Seth.

If you don't watch the show, the whole bagels thing is a reference to a running riff in the episode The Third Wheel, where Kirsten's slacker sister Hailey has moved in and Sandy keeps complaining that she's eaten all his breakfast food. I think that's all you need to know.

"Lox," Seth repeated, blinking. "You're up at 3 in the morning for lox?"

"Ahh, but not just any lox!" Sandy leaned forward, bringing Seth into the conspiracy. "This is the good shizznit."

"Dad, *please* don't say shizznit."

"All right, shizznit is crossed off the list."

Sandy Cohen and the Secret of the Bagels and Lox

Fandom: THE X FILES
Pairing: Mulder/Scully
Genre: Post-col, angst
Author on LJ: jeviltwin, jetfic
Author website: http://www.alanna.net/JET/

Why this must be read: There are very few writers with a voice as distinctive and as lovely as JET's. Here's a bit of not-quite-random description:

( excerpt )

This particular story takes place after colonization has succeeded: Mulder is in hiding, and Scully's been captured by the shapeshifting aliens who continue the Consortium's fondness for experiments in the form of torture, torture in the form of experiments. That's the setup: the story is about the aftermath. About trauma, and identity, and of course that old X Files staple, trust. In the end, JET takes a hoary old chestnut of XF dialogue, immediately identifiable from a hundred episodes and a thousand fanfics, and redefines it as the recognition of grace.

"Night Giving Off Flames"

Fandom: STARSKY AND HUTCH
b>Pairing: STARSKY/HUTCH
Author on LJ: Unknown
Why this must be read:

"Hutch. We found your partner's car at the beach near your parking lot. There's no sign of your partner and there's blood all over the front seat."

With this chilling call from Captain Dobey, Hutch begins his descent into hell. And I mean hell. My partner dead? No f'ing way. There's gotta be something... Going on sheer cussedness (a little bit of pure, unadulterated love) Hutch starts looking. He's a bit lost, because Hutch without Starsky is Kool without the Aid, Pop without the Tart, Chitty without the Bang-Bang, Sex without the City, and damn it, HR without the Puffinstuf. I'm sure you get my drift.

This story begs the question: (and no one put it better than the immortal Captain Kirk) Can half a man live?


Hutch struggles to keep his sanity while trying to be "Detective Hutchinson" is a sight to behold. His angst is so... angsty, without turning into an episode of Felicity. Is he dead? Is he alive? Does he know how I felt? Am I too late? Taunting calls and letters from an anonymous source only add to the suspense. All the signs point to Starsky being dead, but with so many nail-biting twists and turns here, one never knows until the writer is ready to tell you.

To say more would spoil the story, and being a newbie, I'm sure lots of you have read this before. What the hell, read it again, just for the sheer beauty of Anguished!Hutch, slowly dying before our eyes, hoping against hope that he'll find Starsky alive and well, but with each clue pointing to Starksy's death, he loses a bit of his soul.

The absolutely heart-wrenching description of Hutch's gorgeous blue eyes turning to ice at the mere suggestion that they might find him dead is one good bit of writing.

Grab a hankie, and be prepared to stay up for a while, because once you start, you won't be able to stop. Okay, maybe that was just me, but I was very sleepy at work this morning.

And if I get the link right this time, I get a gold star! Never fear, it's on the Me and Thee archive just waiting to be read.


<a href="http://meandthee.shahrazad.net/display.php?storyid=131</a>