Fandom: THE WEST WING
Pairing: Sam/Josh
Author on LJ: allcanadiangirl
Author Website: and chimeras
Why this must be read:

So, I need to give you a reason for reading a Sam/.Josh G story? Not in this case, because there's something about bj's writing that gets under your skin and you end up *knowing* that even though nothing might happen here, it could. At any moment. I've loved this story since the first time I read it (which seems like a lifetime ago, to be honest) and it's been a rec to more people than I care to remember. As bj's had other work featured here, I felt I should add it to the list...

laugh and explode

Fandom: FIREFLY
Pairing: Zoe/Wash
Author on LJ: skripka
Author's website: Along The Rim
Why this MUST be read:

There is a weird lack of Zoe/Wash fic, considering how ridiculously adorable and complicated they are. As the title suggests, skripka takes Serenity's token married couple from before to after, managing to exactly capture how they are: in love. Cool and sweet and not at all sticky.

"Yeah," and he's feeling reckless, what the hell, let's spin languidly in the chair, and .... wow. There are her eyes, deep and dark, and looking straight at him. Zoe's toying with something in her hands, but her eyes hold him like a magnetic grappler. "Um," finding his voice, barely, "Is that a problem?" He is so going to either die or get thrown off Serenity.

Vignettes

Fandom: Oz
Pairing: Beecher/Keller
Author on LJ: maverick4oz
Author's web site: MavCat Productions or at Unit B

Why this must be read: This was written in response to a challenge to write an Oz fic where something or someone was destroyed, with the writers free to interpret that as they wished. In this entry, that was put to use in a way that enriches the character, the destruction turning him into something more, something better -- hence the title. I love it for the way it packs so much punch into a relatively small space, as with this wonderful dialogue exchange:

( an excerpt )

It's snarky and sexy, and right on the money for these two.

Go, read, and send feedback.

Chyrsalis

Fandom: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Pairing: Spike/Drusilla, Spike/Other
Author on LJ: ladycat777
Author Website: Subtle Salvation
Why this must be read: Like few others Ladycat writes consistently well. The stories can be funny, headily romantic, thrilling. Or like this one they can be dark poetry. This short piece reads like an elegy for evil. "Spike discovers that while the medium has changed, his love of beauty has not."

Hymn

I've been re-reading this entire series today and it deserves to be recced.

Fandom: Starsky and Hutch

Pairing: Starsky/Hutch

Author on LJ: gwynfyd

Why It Should Be Read: This is an AU series and like all of Jen's universes, this is a very detailed and descriptive world in which they live. Jen has summarized their world well in the notes of her stories. The series is set in a parallel universe, in which the Roman Empire never fell. In this world, Judaism, Christianity and Islam have never existed, or indeed any monotheistic religion. Same-sex marriages are legal and honourable. Slavery still exists. Prostitution is legal. People may behave in ways which would be offensive in our world, but perfectly acceptable in theirs. Starsky and Hutch have a complex relationship, in which Hutch is not entirely equal to Starsky, in a legal sense. Also, Hutch is a Shaman who can change his gender. It begins when Starsky and Hutch first meet and continues on until two years later, after much pain and heartbreak, joy and happiness. They are bound to one another and nothing will seperate them, even though they go through many trials along the way to prove how strong that bond is.

Fic Links:

Seidhrman http://meandthee.shahrazad.net/display.php?storyid=174

Veneficus http://meandthee.shahrazad.net/display.php?storyid=175

Phantasma http://meandthee.shahrazad.net/display.php?storyid=318

Leprosus I: Carnifex http://meandthee.shahrazad.net/display.php?storyid=321

Leprosus II: Arac http://meandthee.shahrazad.net/display.php?storyid=322

Erebus http://meandthee.shahrazad.net/display.php?storyid=425

Judicium http://meandthee.shahrazad.net/display.php?storyid=461

Interitus http://meandthee.shahrazad.net/display.php?storyid=463

Sacramentum http://meandthee.shahrazad.net/display.php?storyid=542

Janus http://meandthee.shahrazad.net/display.php?storyid=541

Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Grissom/Sara
Author on LJ: [---]
Author Website: cincoflex.com
Why this must be read: Overall - Because sometimes you really need a happy ending.

I'm going to go ahead and say that the series is an ongoing work in progress, and that eleven of the twelve stories within the series are complete, and it's a Grissom/Sara mainstay, and that I'm fairly certain that because Cincoflex does reliably finish her stories that I don't think there'll be a problem with reccing it. I'm actually quite surprised that one or all of the series hasn't been recced here yet.

The story itself is an AU taking place sometime before the fourth season, though I'm unable to say whether it's an alternative to Play With Fire or takes place after the events of said episode (there is a reference to Butterflied somewhere in the middle of the series). As such, the events and revelations of Season 4 and especially Season 5 don't exactly apply. Under sets the series up with Grissom and Sara caught in an old mineshaft after an earthquake and resultant cave-in. Beneath really brings the conversation of Under to fruition, and the whole thing snowballs in the following ten stories. (My favorite being Auld Lang Syne - Yay strife!) Grissom and Sara's relationship as it developes is dealt with with care, and comes off - your humble driver thinks - in a very successful manner.

Read with an open mind - the characterization is spot-on, the original characters lovely and not at all overstated, the discription treading the fine line between perfection and purple with absolute success.

Did I mention that there's smut? Did I mention that it's exceptionally good smut? There is, and it's completely GUH-inducing, and yes, I mean that in a good way.

Part I: Under (R)
Part II: Beneath
Part III: Casa Caliente
Part IV: Casa 2 - Pet
Part V: Casa 3 - Nosy Little Old Ladies & That Time Of The Month
Part VI: Casa 4 - Significant Solitude
Part VII: Casa 5 - Grave Matters
Part VIII: Casa 6 - Gifted
Part IX: Casa 7 - Christmas Revelations
Part X: Casa 8 - Auld Lang Syne
Part XI: Casa 9 - Sheba
Part XII: Casa 10 - Catbird Seat (Currently a WIP. You have to click on the link on this page yourself, if you'd like to read it.)

Don't forget to leave feedback!

Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: sylviavolk2000
Author Website: Trivial Pursuits

Why this must be read:
Good, solid characterization and dialogue and absorbing plots, with lashings of history on the side. If you crave well crafted gen, with a whiff of subtext between Methos and Duncan, read Sylvia Volk. It was a struggle to pick just one story to recommend, but I'm going with the first one that was rec'd to me.

"The Good Student" is a story of education and apprenticeship among Immortals, with dessert at the end.

The Good Student

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Author on LJ: not that I know of
Author Website: Fanfiction by quercus/Lemon Drop

Why this must be read:

There are hundreds and hundreds of stories speculating about what may have happened after the series finale. Did Blair go to the academy? Did he become a cop? Regardless of what he ended up doing, it makes sense to me that he would grieve for the academic life he left behind.

Giving up such a major part of his life - for all that it was his choice to do so - must have been a wrenching loss. And as with any loss, chosen or not, you have to grieve before you can go on. Lemon Drop writes a very believable account of how Blair may have mourned the life he walked away from.

Does this mean Ocean, Moon is a depressing story? No, I promise you it isn't. Although it deals with his depression, it's ultimately a hopeful story of Blair getting through the pain of the life-changing events of TSbBS and seeing the possibilities now in front of him - including new possibilities in his relationship with Jim.

Ocean, Moon