Fandom : CLAMP – SERIES: X/TOKYO BABYLON
Pairing : Seishirou/Subaru
Author on LJ: velvetpaws
Author Website: Firecat Fanfics
Why this must be read:

This fic is a long multipart work still in progress. However each chapter is so wonderfully done that it has never left me feeling as if I am missing the end. I want it to keep going!

The characterization of Subaru and Seishirou are right on. This is important when it comes to CLAMP fic as so much of it really does seem to miss the mark.

There is a nice mixture of romance and very steamy lemon scenes. Also Firecat’s Seishirou is probably the sexiest, yet scariest character I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

Definitely a must read fic for anyone interested in the TB/X fandom

Sakura and Snow

Fandom: THE O.C.
Pairing: Ryan/Seth
Author on LJ: joyfulgirl41
Author Website: Our Love Is So Right
Why this must be read:

This story is one of those future fics, set while the guys are in college and living together as roommates. They soon discover living in an apartment is not the same as sharing the house in Newport and hysterics ensue. It's one of those stories that makes you laugh and wish that you could shake some common sense into both Seth and Ryan. I especially love the voices for Seth and Ryan in this story - joyfulgirl nailed their characters.

( an excerpt from the story - further proof that this story should be read! )

so go read Full Disclosure

Title: Tacit
Fandom: QAFUS
Pairing/Characters: Brian/Justin
Author on LJ: windtossed
Author Website: Memories
Why this must be read:

( One day, Brian will wake up and find that his son is ten years old. The sun will be streaming in through the windows, and there will be cars rushing by outside. Then he will look over at the blond sleeping with his mouth open on the bed next to him and think, 'Ten fucking years.' His arm will be falling asleep, because Justin is laying on it, but he won't move it, because if he does, Justin will wake up and bitch and moan about being woken up too early for at least fifteen minutes. )

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: it's JC and Gen.
Author on LJ: tigs
Author Website:Sarah's Story Page
Why this must be read: This story is a must read for many many reasons. The emotion this story conveys is just astonishing. The plot is original (in a sense) and it's flawlessly written. If you love a tear jerker then this is the ultimate of all tear jerkers. It's a death fic, which I know some people don't like, but I promise you you won't regret reading this one. But ultimately, Sarah is my favourite popfic author for a reason and this story is it.

A Short Story For A Lonely Guy by Sarah.

Fandom: SMALLVILLE
Pairing: Clark/Lex with hints of past Clark/Chloe
Author on LJ: rose_emily
Author Website: Life on Hiatus
Why this must be read:

I wanted to not rec one author more than once, but I felt I owed rose_emily something after completely embarrassing her by reccing Superfart, which I still love and pimp shamelessly, mind you.

This is the second in the line of my three favorite Smallville Fanfics ever.

I'm sure there isn't a single person in the SV fandom that hasn't heard of Omiai. It has Froot Loops! It has celery salt! It has uber dork!Clark! It has Lex! MmmmmmmmmmmLexxxxxx... And? It has porn! Yes, folks, that's right. It has porn. And it's really hot porn.

It's set around an arranged marriage, and there's intrigue and adventure and a plot that blew me out of the water. Every character and characterization is right on the money, and it's the story, in my opinion, that really made rose_emily grow as a writer. You can see the difference in her fic pre- and post-Omiai. She was good before, but she's a force to be reckoned with now. Perhaps it's because she took on a fic of monster proportions? I don't know, but I'm really glad she brought it to fandom. I feel like we'd be a lesser place without it.

It's one of the best Smallville stories ever, and I can't stress enough how badly you're missing out if you don't read this.

The story is here.

Prequel: Blush (Clark/Chloe, NC-17)
Sequel: The Sink that Ate Christmas (Clark/Lex, PG).

Be sure to leave rose_emily feedback! She really deserves it for this story.

Title: Imitation of Life
Fandom: ANGEL THE SERIES
Pairing/Characters: Connor (also Angel, Spike, Holtz...)
Author on LJ: nihilistbear
Author Website: Digressions-Nihilistbear's Writings
Why this must be read: Connor Connor CONNOR! ( SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES )

Hi, I'm Cat and I'll be your Pirates of the Caribbean driver once again this month. I'm pretty varied in what I read in PoTC, but my favorites are Jack/Will/Elizabeth and Sparrington. I'm also a big fan of obscure pairings and poly groupings, and I'm going to start the month off with one of my favorite truly obscure femslash pairings.

Fandom: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Pairing: Scarlett/Giselle
Author on LJ: the_dala
Author Website: N/A
Why this must be read:

Dala takes two extremely minor characters and provides them with a rich and compelling backstory. Scarlett and Giselle are the two whores who slap Jack Sparrow in Tortuga -- that's all we know of them in canon -- but here these two women are brought beautifully to life. There's none of the fantasy of the movie here, these are two lower-class women who've lived hard lives and lost all their illusions, and yet in Dala's hands they are also appealing and captivating heroines. Dala deftly weaves her narrative around and through the movie. Familiar characters come and go, but we see them only as Scarlett and Giselle see them, just as we see Tortuga as it looks to two working women, trying to scrape by. There's darkness in this story, but ultimately it's strangely romantic and amazingly, impossibly real.

The Highway is for Gamblers

Fandom: HORNBLOWER
Pairing: Horatio Hornblower/Archie Kennedy
Author on LJ: misskittie79
Author Website: Miss Kittie's HH Slash
Why this must be read:

I know I recced a fic of hers before, but this one is just so wonderful that I had to. This is a fic set at El Ferrol, and it is one of the most heartwrenching and beautiful pieces I have ever read. It is full of Archie angst - actually, there is just angst all around. And yes, it is long, in three parts, but the length is good. Just to give a little hint of what it's like, here are a few short quotes:

From Part I:
"Licking his dry lips, Archie slid along, holding the bed for as long as he could until he had to let go and cross the dirty floor on hands and knees. A lump rose in his throat and his eyes stung. God, he was crawling like an infant. Horatio should have let him die."

From Part II:
"He had watched Archie many nights from his hammock aboard Justinian, but never throughout those vigils had he stopped to think him beautiful. Now Horatio could not bar the word from his mind.">

From Part III:
"And, if he knew Horatio at all, Archie was abruptly certain he had spent the past days working up his nerve to offer recompense, as Horatio might call it, for the other night. Archie blinked, struck by the realization that he had received the singular honor of being seduced by Horatio Hornblower."

Resurrection Part I: Confession
Resurrection Part II: Mercy
Resurrection Part III: Absolution

Fandom: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Pairing: Jack Sparrow/James Norrington
Author on LJ: commodorified
Author Website:
Why this must be read:

This is one of those stories that's just so terribly incredibly hot and at the same time so gloriously honest and true to character that it floors me every time I read it. This is Jack and James as complicated, passionate and very fully realized individuals. There's strength in these two men, and flexibility -- like in the best swords. And really, this story is all about swords; its about the strength and the steal, the outer flash and the core of steel, and the meeting of two men of sharpened steel in a very different kind of battle.

There Was One

Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Pairing: Duncan/Methos
Author on LJ: hafital
Author Website: Hafital's Fanfiction Paradise

Why this must be read: There's a lot of post-series 6 falling-in-love/lust fic in HL fandom, but this one gets me every time, because it's a lot more than that. We know Methos and Duncan each have a playful side, but we rarely see them playful together in canon. Which is why this story is such a delight. Methos is wary and evasive and teasing, Duncan is teasing and seductive and a little reckless. Together they're playing off each other in a game that has nothing to do with The Game and yet we're not allowed to forget that it's always there, ready to cut short whatever happiness they happen to find.

And the sex is well-written and hot.

( Have a little taste )

Above the Dingle Starry

Title: Crave
Fandom: ANGEL THE SERIES
Pairing/characters: Cordelia/Faith, Lilah
Author on LJ: faithtastic
Author Website: pulp. [fiction]
Why this must be read: Another very important part of my fandom is sex, godammit, sex power. Three of the brightest, snarkiest and sexiest women on telly, in a strip-club stand-off of a fic that shows you how rampantly sexual, in-character show downs should be done. It was so hard to pick just one of these Cordy/Faith fics but I said to myself 'hey, all the others are linked in the sidebar so stop bleeding angsting about it'. I chose this because YAY LILAH and also YAY LAPDANCING. And also because this is fine writing with refreshingly sharp lines, tight characterisation and has Queen C at her owningest best.

( Excerpt )

Crave

Fandom: ALIAS
Pairing:  Sydney/Lauren
Author on LJ: katjanka
Author Website: None
Why this must be read: Because the 'what ifs' in Alias fandom are a never ending whirl and this is one of the best. Because good femslash is hard to find.

This fic isn't that long but it packs a punch. I haven't found enough good femslash in Alias fandom and I think this is probably my favorite piece. I'm one of the few fans who liked Season 3 and I think that this fic perfectly captures the mood of season 3 even if it is an AU. Also it makes Lauren into a real character something she is rarely allowed to be in fanfic.

Stasis