July 23rd, 2004 
08:33 am "Through the Eyes of a Serpent" by Eos (PG-13) and "Legacy of the Serpent" (R)
Apologies for starting the Stargate recs off (exceedingly) late this month (stupid real life). I've got a bunch of good ones for you though, and I'll make sure we fit them all in.

Fandom: STARGATE SG-1
Pairing: none

Author's page: Eos' Fic
author on LJ: not that I can find

Why this must be read:
We've seen plenty of people get implanted by a goa'uld on the show, and once there was the cold comfort of believing that nothing of the host remained to witness and experience all the nastiness being done with his or her body. Now we know better, and in this, Eos takes us inside the head of someone living through being taken as host. Namely, Daniel.

One of the reasons I particularly like this fic, is that it doesn't simply slather on the horror and angst and leave us to drown in it. No, Eos remembers that she's writing a bunch of people who deal with terror by snarking at it - and she has a wonderful ear for the team's dialogue, in seriousness and in banter, and the feeling underneath. This could easily have been one of the better-written two-part episodes on the show.

Through the Eyes of a Serpent
Legacy of the Serpent - the aftermath
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10:34 am Pomegranates by Brighid (R)
Yeah, I'm back from vacation, jet-lagged, and sunburned enough to make me think it's time for a twofer dealing with... someplace rather warm.

Fandom: OZ
Pairing:  Beecher/Keller
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] brighidestone
Why this must be read:

Brighid is well known across fandom for her poetic turns of phrase and inventive use of fairy-tale themes. "Pomegranates" is a darkly rich example -- pulling Tobias Beecher through the Hell his life has become in verse-words both clever and blunt. There is a hallucinatory feel to this story that fits the mood of Beecher's storyline on the show, the sense of slide. There is no relief inside OZ -- every landing is only another trap door to fall through:

"The prince of hell is the one who walks through it, owning it but untouched by it,
is the one who touches him and suddenly he ain't so hollow anymore, and this is still hell but he ain't so alone anymore.
It's a dangerous, dangerous thing,
a forbidden fruit way, way older than apples,
but just as red, just as tempting.

And thus comes our dilemma,
because if he tastes the fruit, if he swallows it down, it'll take seed inside him, it'll become a part of him, and it'll own him,
and he will never, ever, get out of hell
even if he leaves."

Read Pomegranates
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11:11 am Brimstone by CatHeights (R)
Fandom: OZ
Pairing:  Beecher/Keller
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] cheights
Author Website: http://www.geocities.com/CatHeights/
Why this must be read:

Set after the events at the end of S4's A Cock And Balls Story, Cat's "Brimstone", originally written for the [livejournal.com profile] secret_ids challenge takes a unique look at Keller's operating room death and vision of Hell.

His sins come back to haunt him here, as do the nightmarish realities of Cat's take on his childhood. It's obvious from canon that whatever it was that Keller "saw" during his brief death terrified him to his very core, and Cat has created a fantastically vivid, scary, and real-feeling Hell here, filled with just the sorts of images Keller's Catholic upbringing might lead him to fill in:

"His stomach clenched, and the air was yanked from his lungs as he tumbled downward in a darkness that sought to devour. It grew ever warmer, and his skin began to burn. He twisted in the nothingness seeking to escape the confines of his flesh, but it held on tight. Screams drifted up from the darkness, shrieks that made his ears ache. His back hit something solid, and the substance seared his skin. The screams grew louder, but this time he recognized the sound. It was his voice."

Read Brimstone
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03:44 pm This Year's Prom Theme by Pares (NC-17)
Fandom: SPORTS NIGHT
Pairing: Dan/Casey
Author on LJ: not sure
Author Website: The Ska Lab
Why this must be read:

There's tension in this story, since it's set in late season two. Danny's in therapy and having issues with Casey's new girlfriend, while Casey has issues with Dan being in therapy. Jeremy has a nice presence in this story, being his quietly understanding self and trying not to get in the middle of Dan and Casey's feud. The fights pack a punch and the funny moments are very funny, and yes, eventually, there is smut.

brief, unspoilery quote )


This Year's Prom Theme

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03:46 pm Repercussions by Charlemagne
Fandom: SPORTS NIGHT
Pairing: Dan/Casey
Author on LJ: don't know
Author Website: --
Why this must be read:

This is an easy story to summarize: Dan dates a woman named K.C. Hilarity ensues. I'm a sucker for stories with het that turns slashy; in this one, Casey's one night stand makes him see Dan in a new way, and Dan's girlfriend's name makes him feel weird about Casey. This could be seen as a hurt-comfort story, because it deals (somewhat) with Dan's ordeal with Rebecca, but the emotion and closeness between Dan and Casey feels very real, not manufactured.

Repercussions

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04:27 pm Hatsuyuki by llamajoy (PG)
Fandom: YAMI NO MATSUEI
Pairing: Tsuzuki/Hisoka
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] llamajoy
Author Website: Bishonenink
Why this must be read:

Unintentionally, it would appear that Boni and I are doing complementary recs today. It proves the fannish hive mind is alive and well.

This is, sadly, the only YnM piece I've found by llamajoy. Both melancholy and warm, it touches lightly on some of the small things lost to the Shinigami when they die, but then settles into the comfort of what they gain.

Hatsuyuki (First Snow)
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05:02 pm Hyouten (R) by Tenshi no Korin
Fandom: YAMI NO MATSUEI
Pairing: Muraki/Oriya
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Bishonenink
Why this must be read:

Three very good Yami fics at this author's site, and I chose this one out of them all to rec, but the other two are also worthy of a read. I chose Hyouten for the way the images draw themselves in my mind when I read it. Like a cat with a mouse in its paws, Muraki plays games with the people who come close to him, and Oriya is no exception. This short story is dreamy and atmospheric, by turns hot and sensual, sharp and cold. Oriya as seen through Muraki's eyes is complex and fascinating even in his thoughtful silence. Muraki as drawn so beautifully by this author is intelligent, detached, and manipulative, as he overcomes the challenge that is Oriya.

Excerpt )

Hyouten (Freezing Point)
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05:06 pm Milk Run by Kate Bolin (G)
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: Zoe/Wash
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] katemonkey
Author Website: The Pearl
Why this must be read:

Because Zoe and Wash are married, a lot of fic tends to ignore their relationship. This story is shiny, short and fun. Kate has a great voice, and it had me smiling from start to end both times I read it.

Milk Run
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05:08 pm "The Midas Syndrome" by Rheanna (PG)
Fandom: STARGATE SG-1
Pairing: none
author's page: Palimpset
author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] rheanna27

Why this must be read:

I know someone has already recommended one of Rheanna's other Stargate stories, and while I'm reluctant to repeat authors, this is one of my very favorite SG stories, that bad day/rainy day/one last story before bed stories.

"Midas Syndrome" is about one of SG-1's very first missions together, while they're still getting used to the whole exploring-the-galaxy thing, and still just getting to know one another. Team bonding, mold run wild, and the secret to ordering pizza at a top secret facility ensue.

Note: this story, like the last one I recc'd, is told in 1st person POV, by Jack. The addendum to this note is that Rheanna has his voice (and everyone else's) so perfect, I completely forgot about that.

sample )

The Midas Syndrome
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05:39 pm A Companion's Lot by Mara Greengrass (PG)
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: None
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] marag
Author Website: Diversions and Digressions
Why this must be read:

In order to do her job as a companion, Inara must have been trained in the more subtle aspects of psychology, such as how to use music, color, light, and other means to alter someone's comfort level. Poor Jayne doesn't stand a chance.

A Companion's Lot
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09:13 pm beginning to see the light by moonwhip (R)
Fandom: BUFFY
Pairing: Willow/Xander, Willow/Darla, (Willow/Willow)
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] moonwhip
Author Website: moonwhip's fiction
Why this must be read: Like many genre shows, Buffy has its own evil alternate universe, full of leather, bisexuality and twisted versions of favorite characters. In this case it's the Wishverse, a delicious playground of wrongness as seen in the season 3 episode "The Wish," which examines what would've happened if Buffy had never come to Sunnydale.

There is tons of great Wishverse fic out there but this story is one of my favorites. Vamp!Willow and her new (un)life, in gorgeous, crackling prose. Purely lyrical as it trips from character to character -- normal!Willow, Xander, Darla, Angel, Oz -- teasing open her relationships with each. Sexy, perverse, unforgettable.

beginning to see the light
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10:37 pm All In War With Time by Sorcha Smith & Devanie Maxwell (R/Mild NC-17)
Fandom: CSI
Title: All In War With Time
Pairing: Grissom/Sara
Author on LJ: They aren't, as far as I know.
Author Website: Haven't been able to locate one aside from Grissom & Sara .Com
Why this must be read:

All In War With Time is odds on one of my favorite CSI stories. It does feature a Grissom/Sara dynamic at the core of the story but it's so much more than just that. It's life, their romance, and work all rolled into one and all the characters have an input here. It is an exceptionally well written story and one that stuck with me long after I read it. The characters and their friendships and their interpersonal dynamics are spot on while giving us the added dimension of Grissom and Sara's relationship as it's revealed to their coworkers. The emotion of the fic snares you and keeps you hold as you read the fic and the Grissom of this story is very much the Grissom of the show and I've always considered this story as a good example of how the relationship could work.

All In War With Time"
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10:56 pm The Devil You Know (R) by Sephy
Fandom: YAMI NO MATSUEI
Pairing: Hisoka/Tsuzuki implied
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] sephyelysian
Author Website: Fallen Icons
Why this must be read:

Wah, we're fast approaching the end of our month! No rating on the site, but on the very safe side I give this one a soft R for non-sexual content ... Yami is a fandom ripe for many genres, and horror is one of them. The manga especially can tend toward violence, and gore; we are talking about the gods of death and dying, after all. Once in a while things are bound to get a little messy, and sometimes downright scary. Shinigami can still die, can be damaged beyond their bodies' abilities to heal. Horror done well makes you tense, leaves you looking over your shoulder, has you waiting for something to jump out from the dark. In this fic, which is horror done well, something goes terribly awry, and Hisoka has to find what strength he has left buried deep inside him ... If you want warnings, spoiler ) ... there's one.

The Devil You Know
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