Title: Falling Is Like This
Fandom: Lotrips
Author: Echo (heartichoke@hotmail.com)
Author website: Burning Memories
Pairing: Billy/Dom, Orlando/Elijah
Rating: PG-13

Why this must be read:

The author's summary is simply It's because they're Merry and Pippin which does and doesn't tell you about the story. Basically, Billy is confused. And angry. And not quite sure how these emotions seem to spring from Dom's apparently unconcerned and careless behaviour but he is utterly sure that they do.

This is fun. You can't help feeling sorry for Billy and there's a certain amount of sympathy generated for him but there is a strong sense of the ridiculous running through the story.

Echo describes the story as 'fluff' but I think that it does the story a disservice. The inside of Billy's head is a surprising and entertaining place - the lists are especially note-worthy - and there are genuine moments of pathos - as well as the ones where you want to smack him upside the head.

The revoltingly happy-and-content-and-blissfully-in-love relationship between Orlando and Elijah serves as a nice counterpoint as Billy fumbles his way through his feeling, over-analysing and over complicating everything.

Charming, I think best describes this story, and adorable. The kind of story you want to pick up and cuddle because it's cute but which still has claws and teeth which get you unexpectedly.

( It is fucking 4:30 in the morning and someone is bouncing on his bed. To elaborate, it is 4:30 in the morning and someone is bouncing on his bed and shouting at him in a language he's too tired to identify. )

[The link goes to the author website and the story is under Lord of the Rings fanfiction - you'll need to scroll down.]

Falling Is Like This by Echo

Title: The Prophet's Right Hand (NC-17)
Fandom: Alias
Author on LJ: yahtzee63
Author Website: Yahtzee!
Pairing: Jack/Irina
Rating: NC-17

Why this must be read: Because it's an epic, high-concept AU novel in which young CIA agent Jack Bristow is given the assignment to meet, seduce and marry KGB agent Irina Derevko, which is an intriguing premise to begin with, and Yahtzee explores it in brilliant detail. I don't want to give away any spoilers (and there are some very cool plot twists), but "The Prophet's Right Hand" has everything--mytharc, action, humor, a love story, and over thirty years of alternate history--and that's without even going into how it also deals with themes like the nature of memory and reality, or all the clever use of metaphor and literary references, or anything else to do with the writing (except to say that I am in love with her Jack in this, because, that needs to be said). Oh, and you might want to set aside an evening before you start reading, because I couldn't put it down.

The Prophet's Right Hand

Fandom: Blakes 7
Pairing: Blake/Avon
Author on LJ executrix
Author Website: No
Why this must be read: Executrix is on record as saying she believes in the Blake/Avon pairing but doesn't think it's a good idea for either of them. This is a good example of why. Belatrix Carter wrote a story, (two for the price of one today) Someone to Watch Your Back, breathing life into an old B7 cliché: Avon's canonical back trouble leads to massage which leads to guess what. She did it from Blake's viewpoint; Executrix, typically, wanted to explore what it looked like from the other side and wrote it in Avon's voice. His reaction when he gets what he wants says everything about how Executrix, and several others, see this doomed relationship:
( excerpt )

Backup Disk

Fandom: BTVS
Pairing: Spike/Xander
Author on LJ: witling
Author Website: fiction by wiseacress

Hello, I'll be your crack van driver for BtVS in April. Buffy is my first and longest-lasting fannish love. I've come to like a variety of slash pairings in four years as a BtVS slasher, and I might even rec a gen or a het story, so if you don't like one of my selections, try the others. I find my tastes in BtVS/AtS slash to be darker than in any other fandom, largely because in Joss Whedon's universe, a happy ending is usually just surviving. Love in a Whedonverse never seems to end in a good way, and the epic, recurring battles of Good vs. Evil are also a deterrent to finding lasting happiness. But I will make sure that all my recs this month aren't dark.

Why this must be read:
I'm recommending this bittersweet story for several reasons. This is one of my favorite slash stories in any fandom, and although I'm sure many BtVS slashers will have already read it, I think those in other fandoms will find it a compelling introduction to the dark pleasures of the Buffyverse. I've successfully used it to pimp people into reading BtVS slash on several occasions. And even those who have trouble believing in the S/X pairing seem to find the slow progression of events in this story credible.

Modus Vivendi by wiseacress

Note: Ars moriendi, the follow-up story to Modus Vivendi, is an AU ending from chapter 13, rather than a sequel. Wiseacress says to pick whichever ending one prefers; I like them both, for different reasons.

Title: "The Only Way" and "And Then You Say Hey" by Danvers
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Author on LJ: danvers
Author Website: untitled
Pairing: Daniel/Jonas
Why this must be read:

I'm usually not an angst junkie, and not much of a slash fan (there are a few pairings I like, but I'm supremely picky *g*), but the absolute ache of potential between Daniel and Jonas--two men whose *friendship* was doomed to be star-crossed, let alone anything more--is supremely compelling to me. By a cruel twist of fate, whatever bond they could share is always thwarted by the circumstances of their meeting. And few authors really know how to delve into that painful potential like danvers does. These two stories--one taking place during "Fallen"/"Homecoming" with flashbacks to "Meridian," the other during "Fall Out"--are almost physically painful to read, but lanced through with a thread of hope that is just as heartbreaking in its own way. Keep a Kleenex handy, not to mention someone to hug, 'cause you'll need them both after this one-two punch. *g*

( excerpt from 'The Only Way' )

( excerpt from 'And Then You Say Hey' )

The Only Way and And Then You Say Hey