Fandom: YAMI NO MATSUEI
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: lyssiebaby
Author Website: Fallen Icons
Why this must be read:

As you've no doubt noticed by now, YnM includes some truly horrific elements, and one of the most horrific (and unexplored) was a background detail in the King of Swords Arc. The arc featured an organ-harvesting ring, and the organs themselves were harvested from children sold to the leader of the ring. This story can tell you the rest. Be warned, Lys really brings the creep to this story, but it's a creep the canon called for.

Hold

ETA: LJ username and website. Thank you, EAG!

Fandom: X-MEN COMICVERSE
Pairing: None
Author on LJ: wyzeguy
Author Website: Wyze World

Why this must be read:

I'm going to spare you the abject grovelling and apologies about the absence of X-Men comicverse recs these past couple of weeks - RL got away from me - and get straight to the fic. I've decided to do something a bit different this time around, and do a month of Ultimate X-Men recs instead of sticking to original continuity.

Marvel's Ultimate universe is a concept designed to cash in on the movies draw in readers who don't want to deal with decades of continuity from the regular Marvel Universe. The X-Men and Spider-man are teenagers again, without all the baggage and history that can be so confusing to people not familiar with their extensive backgrounds. Because of that, the fanfiction based on the Ultimate titles tends to be very accessible to new readers, too.

This fun story is a crossover between Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Spider-man. Peter Parker is rescued from a Sentinel (that's a giant purple mutant-hunting robot for complete X-Men newbies) by Cyclops. It turns out that they've got a lot in common, being orphans and - as the title says - loners. An entertaining adventure follows, and many giant robots are destroyed. And really, what more can you ask of a good superhero story?

Loners

Fandom: X-MEN COMICVERSE
Pairing: Magneto/Xavier
Author on LJ: azurine
Author Website: Teethmarks

Why this must be read:

Azurine is one of the best authors to tackle Ultimate X-Men continuity (her Zero Plus One has been recced here previously) and I'm delighted that she's written a couple of stories about my favourite characters. The history between Xavier and Magneto varies between the different versions of X-Men continuity, but in Ultimate X-Men as elsewhere they have the enemies-who-used-to-be-allies thing going. But here they're even slashier than they are in the other universes *g*.

In this iteration of their background, Charles and Erik met when they were both married to human women. Then they left their wives so they could run off to the Savage Land together and screw liked crazed weasles build a mutant paradise. Unfortunately, the inevitable falling-out eventually occurred, and Magneto crippled Xavier by putting a giant metal pole through his spine. (And yeah, that looked just as phallic as is sounds.)

This story is set before the breakup, but it explores rather than ignores the cracks in the relationship. At the same time it shows the power of the attraction and obsession between them - Charles knows how it's going to end, but he worships Erik regardless. It also has very hot, exceedingly blasphemous holiday season sex. One of my favourite stories about this pairing, in any universe.

Antiochus Wept