Fandom: ALIAS
Pairing: Sydney Bristow/Eric Weiss
Author on LJ: torchthisnow
Author’s Website: Riders on the Storm
Why this must be read:

Sure, fic writers can bring the angst to any pairing, but when I search out Syd/Weiss fics, it’s for the sense of *warmth.* That, and the good-natured snarking, of course. I tend to gravitate towards friendship-based romances, and this fic provides both a feeling of comfort and discovery as Sydney and Weiss’ relationship progresses.

Monday morning, Sydney's showerhead detaches. Her bathroom is sprayed with water that she can't shut off. Years espionage training, but she can't fix a faucet. It'd be funny if she wasn't freezing.

She locates a dry towel and calls Weiss. He's over in two minutes, still in boxers. Thirty seconds later, he has the water off.

"It'll hold until you call a plumber," he says good-naturedly.

She clutches the towel, grinning because it's suddenly hilarious. "We look stupid."

"You pull this off," he laughs. "Me? I shouldn't be seen when I'm soaked."

He looks good wet.

The realization surprises her.

Tongue Tied Lightning

Fandom: ALIAS
Pairing: Sydney Bristow/Eric Weiss
Author on LJ: synaesthete7
Author’s Website: FF.net Profile
Why this must be read:

This is one of the first Syd/Weiss fics I read, and I love it for much the same reasons as I do torchthisnow’s Tongue Tied Lightning--that is, the for the caring and friendship that grew between Sydney and Weiss during the third season.

RJ Anderson’s Weiss is a darling, and you can’t help but wish him the best.

For a moment she did not reply, just sat there gazing into the darkness, eyes huge in her pale, stricken face. He was just about to nudge her when she answered at last, her voice barely audible: "Nobody wants me."

Weiss stared at her, then let out a snort of a laugh -- he couldn't help it. "Syd, are you kidding me? Let me tell you, if there's any guy you've ever met who doesn't want you, he's either in a coma or he's got it for Vaughn instead."

She gave him a startled look, and he realized what he'd just said. Whoops. Nice one, Eric. Ever heard the term "dead giveaway"? "Uh, but don't tell Mike I said that. He thinks we're just friends."

Oh, yeah, like that's going to help. By now Syd had to know as well as Weiss did that if he were going to switch teams, it would not be for the sake of a guy he'd once seen sporting a mullet and a zit like a third eye, playing air drums to Def Leppard with a Cheeto up each nostril. But it was the only escape route he'd left himself.

Consolation Prize

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: no pairing - GEN
Author on LJ: Don't know if she has one
Author Website: DawnC's Blair angst fiction page

Hi, I'll be driving the bus this month for The Sentinel. It's the first fandom I read fiction before I even saw one episode. Crossovers are evil things your know. : )

I'm an hopeless romantic, plot and angst junkie in this fandom. I'll be offering GEN and Slash recs. Oldies but goodies and new ones too. Hope you don't find the ride too bumpy.

Why this must be read:

This one fits two of my "buttons" angst and plot.
DawnC knows how to pull at your heart strings. Especially this story. Set in between Sentinel Too and The Sentinel by Blair Sandburg, Soul of mine is a story that should come with its own kleenex box.

A mix of science, conspiracy and friendship. This is still one of my favorite Gen story. Be warned, do have a few kleenex near by.


Soul of mine

Comments always welcome

Fandom: Angel
Pairing: Angel/Lindsey
Author on LJ: apetslife
Author's Website: Educated Guesses
Why this story must read:
Angel and Lindsey bicker a lot and then have sex. Honestly, that's all you really need to know, but because I can't shut up...

Now in my own sick, perverse way I enjoyed the tortured, angst filled end to Angel and Lindsey on the show, but sometimes this story is the way I like to pretend it really ended. It takes place shortly after Angel put the infamous COPS SUCK sign on Lindsey's truck. Lindsey decides he needs to retaliate. Comedy, guitar playing, astonishing displays of immaturity, evil hand jokes, and sex ensue. Yes, Angel fighting until the very end is poetic and lovely and all that, but Angel and Lindsey bickering on forever just seems so right.

UST

Fandom: HORNBLOWER
Pairing: Horatio/Archie
Author on LJ: misskittie79
Author Website: http://www.geocities.com/miss_kittie79/
Why this must be read: A post-"Retribution" fixit that also stands on its own merits.

Archie, of course, survives the trial in "Retribution" and Horatio must change in response to this. MissKittie writes one of the best Archies in the fandom -- ballsy, witty, strong, and a little bit of a drama queen all by turns, but never weak or flimsy. Her Horatio is angsty and easily seduced by guilt, but it's never overdone. And, beautifully, the characterization doesn't stop when they're naked.

( Excerpt -- )

No Quarter Given

Fandom: X-FILES
Pairing: Mulder/Scully
Author on LJ: ?
Author Website: Leia's Fanfic
Why this must be read:

Mulder and Scully are dead (or maybe not), very intoxicated (or maybe not), and off living and talking in an otherwordly realm (or maybe not). Yes, it's a Halloween story, but that doesn't mean it's not good to read on any holiday or just on any plain old day.

This is one of my favorite fanfic stories because it brilliantly absurd, humorous, unique, and oozing with UST. It's constructed in a disjointed way that could be confusing but instead enhances the story's mystery and the disorientation of the characters. The dialogue is consistently fabulous - always entertaining, insightful, and totally in character. There just aren't many stories that can combine such an interesting premise with such fantastic story construction and characterization.

( It took me forever to choose just one excerpt to quote )

Full Moon, Near-Death, and Things Left Unfinished

Fandom: LOTRIPS
Pairing: Viggo/Orlando
Author on LJ: woodcliff
Author's Website: the wood in bloom

Why this story must be read:

It's a unique insight into Viggo's mind, wonderfully and experimentally written. It contains deft turns of phrase, and some lovely Viggorli interaction. But mainly, this story is Viggo, in all his slightly mad glory.

I rented a house in Wellington to photograph some plants. I mentioned this winter trip to Orlando, just in passing.

I'd ran out of things to say to Orlando in emails, you see, all that was left was "I want to sleep with you very much."

Instead I wrote "Scenting Place, grows night flowering cacti. (The naked lens captures truthful film grain reciprocation of environment?) Natural light, b/w, no filters. Not really your scene, Orli, is it?"

Much to my surprise Orlando had called me up, huffing and puffing.

"Hello Viggo, I'm a huge fan of," Orlando sounded angry and indignant. "Cacti, which are very cool, specially the night flowering ones, which flower, miraculously, at night."

Harlequin

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Author on LJ:janissa11
Author Website: Emland
Why this must be read:

This is an AU of the What if variety. What if Jim never went to meet Blair at the University.

It's a long, detailed story about friendship, trust and the power of being able to still be amazed. Most of the pieces and characters that we love or hate are there. They are just shifted a little to make a new puzzle.

I fell in love with this story enough to buy it in zine format (digest). It's one of the few I kept from the fire sale Idid two years ago.

If you haven't read this one go; if you have, it's fun to reread something well written and entertaining.

Detour

You can also find a zip version or a web version of the story at Emland if the archive doesn't cooperate. Which happens sometimes.

Comments always welcome.

It is I medie back reccing again. This month, I will be reccing, by a wonderful little twist of timing, two fandoms. CSI and Smallville. I'm gonna start with Smallville...cause, well, today was a good fic day in SV land. *smiles*

Fandom: Smallville
Title: Acclimate
Pairing: None
Author on LJ: happyminion
Author Website: A Thousand Churches
Why this must be read: happyminion has long had a talent for writing very unique and very detailed stories that suck you in and give you a view of the characters that you may not have given much thought to or bothered to consider. She breathes life into stories and blends worlds and delights readers.

This time, she gives us a view of the sleepy little town that is Smallville that pulls away the 'sleepy little town' veneer to reveal the truth beneath and she does so through the eyes of the women whose lives are irrevocably tied to it. Chloe, Martha, Lana, Lillian...they each have their say and they are, thanks to happyminion, telling quite the tale.

This story is a part of the SV project Ground Zero so the story is hosted at that site.

Acclimate

Fandom: BLAKE'S 7
Pairing:  Avon/Tarrant
Author on LJ: not applicable
Author Website: Pat's Place (memorial site)
Why this must be read:


I was very surprised when I didn't find this story in the B7 recs Memories; it's such a gem that I was sure it had been recced here before:).

Pat Jacquerie's "Duty" is an epic tale of Avon and Tarrant coming to terms with each other and the culture of Fargone, an agricultural planet where (you guessed it) homosexuality between men under fifty is the norm. Having said that, this is quite different from the usual "Our Heroes On A Gay Planet" story, in that we get to see the culture of the planet in depth, get to know its people and their joys and sorrows. I don't usually care much for long and winding plots and OCs, but here they work quite well--it isn't just a story of two guys, but of more complex interactions between them and the people of Fargone.

Avon and Tarrant are clearly recogniseable and believeable. Avon's dry wit and Tarrant's youthful impetuousness are both here in evidence, and the relationship between them is just as difficult as you could imagine. Good Tarrant stories are hard to find, and here, I think, we have Tufty characterisation at its best. I can see the twinkle of the blue eyes when I read what he's saying and doing here. Conflicting emotions, thoughts and actions, sizzlingly hot and desperate sex (and lovemaking), then denial and conflict again... the boys go through a lot during the course of this story and it's all good. The only minus (IMHO) is the revelation about Fargone's rulers at the end (cringe), but thankfully that is at the very end and doesn't spoil the main thread of the A/Tness.

Lovely stuff.

Duty