Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: Mulder/Krycek
Author on LJ: thete1
Author Website: Teland
Why this must be read:

Aaah, vampire fic... What fandom would be complete without a fic, or ten, where the characters for no logical reason turn into bloodsucking creatures of the night?

In the Mulder/Krycek pairing, A Love of Dead Things is the prime example of this absurd genre. I admit, I enjoy this type of fic because I have a weakness for blood play, but the reasons I'm reccing this series of snapshots from Mulder's unlife with Alex here is the beauty of Te's language and her stunning command of narrative technique. The stream of consciousness narration is original and powerful, and, though this doesn't reach the level of perfection Te has achieved in some of her later works in other fandoms, it is still a remarkable piece of writing. And the biting really is hot.

A Love of Dead Things

Fandom: SILMARILLION
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: granamyr
Author Website: Armenelos
Why this must be read:

The Downfall of Numenor is among the most tragic tales of Tolkien's entire mythos. When Ar-Pharazon usurps his wife's throne and uses it to quest for immortality by making war on the gods, his hubris dooms his whole continent, overshadows the entire future race of Men, and even makes it into the RotK-EE.

The majority of the surprisingly scanty fanfiction chooses to view the tragedy through the eyes of the last queen, Tar-Miriel, but this engaging vignette from the doyenne of Numenorean fanfiction gives us a glimpse of the last days of some of the ordinary inhabitants of Numenor, blithely going about their business as history prepares to overtake them.

( A snippet )

Aglarrâma

Fandom: STARGATE
Pairing: Jack/Sam UST (barely), some Daniel/everybody UST
Author on LJ: anr
Author Website: acerbitas
Why this must be read:

Written before Season 7 began, Seven Days is a concise, dark look at descended Daniel trying to find his place in a five-person SG-1. This is really a Daniel story, though it has a couple mentions, from Daniel's POV, of Sam/Jack UST, and of Daniel/justaboutthewholeteam UST. It's heartbreaking and intriguing, since many of us had hoped Daniel would have a tougher transition than he did on the show.

Tuesday, for some reason, starts with a child-like rhyme that trips through his brain like a machine-gun in battle. 'Five little soldiers went to war. One got shot and then there was four...'

The tune plagues him; he hopes he's not precognitive.

Seven Days

Fandom: ALIAS
Pairing: Sydney/Sark
Author on LJ: quiet_rebel
Author Website: Quiet Rebel
Why this must be read: I’ve always liked dialogue fiction. This is a piece that works with the chemistry and understanding between Sydney and Sark through a range of dialogue. It’s fast paced and fresh. The author gets the characters on their marks – somehow you feel like they’re dancing around each other with coy remarks.

Tomorrow

Fandom: THE O.C.
Pairing: Kirsten/Ryan
Author on LJ: maudgonne
Author Website: None
Why this must be read: Maud calls it dirtywronghet, and it is, but it’s also an exploration of the bonds between foster mother and foster son. Sandy and Seth visit the Nana during her radiation treatments, leaving Ryan and Kirsten at home alone. This was written in the interval between the first season finale and the second season premiere, and it imagines a different kind of resolution to Ryan’s departure and Seth’s flight. Kirsten is floundering, and she finally realizes it.

An excerpt:

When [Kirsten] felt calmer, she reached for her book on the end table. She had first read Nabokov in the Berkeley days, and every time she re-read him she found quick flashes of memory between the lines: the scent of patchouli, the blue-and-gold macaroni box sitting on the counter, the feel of Seth’s sun-warmed curls under her palm as they sat outside the laundromat on Shattuck waiting for the clothes to dry. She wasn’t surrounded by beauty in those days and she tried to manufacture it, tacking Klee and Rothko prints on the walls, covering the sagging couch with a bright slipcover. She fed Seth Oreos and bought him coloring books to keep him quiet so she could sit on the porch and read Adrienne Rich and Paul Verlaine and Lolita.

These days, beauty rushed up around her on all sides like waves, but she hardly noticed it. She barely registered the artwork on her walls. She had shelves of books that functioned mostly as decorations.



Everything You Want is Wrong

Fandom: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Author on LJ: not that I know of
Author website: Athea's Writings

Why this must be read:

This is gothic romance UNCLE-style, with lashings of caring Napoleon and wounded Illya, topped by generous dollops of personal angst and loving sex to make everything better.

While on assignment in Europe, Illya is hurt by a cocktail of Thrush truth drugs and a bad concussion, leaving him as weak as a baby and emotionally vulnerable (i.e. prone to the odd tear when he thinks about his unrequited feelings for Napoleon). Napoleon whisks him away to a 16th Century castle and takes tender intimate care of him as a partner should - undresses him, bathes him in a clawfoot bathtub, orders his favourite food. But a strange presence haunts the castle and Illya sets out to uncover the mystery behind it.

The setting is lavishly described - the rooms, the food, the towels, even the characters themselves. It's over-the-top in its sensuality, and deliberately so - there is no doubt that we are reading first and foremost a romance. In a way, this story is like a babushka doll of romantic fantasy - the mystery revolves around a doomed romance, and the character's own reminiscences as they open up to each other are rose-tinted vignettes in themselves. Some readers are going to find the characters too OOC for their tastes. And the small Star Wars reference may bother purists.

Nevertheless, this is a indulgence for those who secretly long for the traditional-style hurt/comfort slash. And the sex is unashamedly explicit and enthusiastic, which made me happy. Napoleon's remark about 'cock-sucking bugs' still brings a smile to my face.

The link will take you to part 1 of 9 chapters. Each chapter is roughly 3000 words. Don't worry about the reference to a sequel in the last chapter - this story is complete in itself.

Ghosts in the Castle

Fandom: LORD OF THE RINGS
Pairing: Aragorn/Legolas
Author on lj: mcee
Author website: unknown
Why this must be read: This fic manages to be both too short and just the right length and is full of eloquently worded observations. I'm always fascinated by stories that say *exactly* what they mean without ever coming out and saying it directly, and this is one of those.

Of greens and golds, the Elf seemed as sound and powerful as nature itself. Aragorn didn't dare destroy such beauty, soiling it with dirty nails and knuckles scraped raw, the deep red of royal blood drying there.

Greens and Golds