Fandom: HORNBLOWER
Pairing: Horatio/Archie
Author on LJ: ndannais
Author Website: http://www.squidge.org/~ndannais

Why this must be read:

This is a Live Kennedy Universe story using elements and characters from the Secret Adventures of Jules Verne to resurrect and save Archie. If you haven't seen that show, don't let it detour you from reading. I have to say this is one of the most comforting fix-its around with the sheer escapism factor of a machine to bring someone back from the dead. After something as horrible as the end of Retribution, one could use a break from reality.

What's also unique about this story is that it's a first time fic. The step from platonic to sexual relationship comes naturally, with lots of kissing and cuddles. The characters are portrayed exactly as we see them on screen, with Horatio fussy, protective, and adorably sweet, and Archie cynical, but perceptive and quick on the trigger. I only wish I had read this thing right after watching Retribution.

Relativity

Edit: Thanks to widget285 I have corrected the author/website.

Hello! I am your Star Wars fanfic reccer for the month of May. In honor of the final Star Wars movie premiering this month, my recommendations will generally focus on the central character in the series as a whole, namely Darth Vader / Anakin Skywalker.

Fandom: STAR WARS
Pairing: Gen
Length: 3,500 words
Author on LJ: fernwithy
Author Website: Vader's Mask, Fern's Humongous Bighead Site

Why this must be read:

In this story, Leia and Vader have a brief but gripping confrontation during Han Solo's torture at Cloud City. Vader asks Leia the one question she can never answer. He wants from her the one thing she promised she would never say. Had she told the truth, everything would have changed, but neither character knows that. We also learn why Leia was not tortured; she had her own pain to broadcast to Luke, but it was emotional rather than physical pain.

The story's point of view shifts from Leia to Vader and then back again, so we know both characters' thoughts, but there is still much going on beneath the surface of which neither are fully aware. This story achingly portrays two people who once wanted to understand each other. Now, however, they are both too hurt by what each did to the other in the past to come to any understanding. They are also too much alike to recognize their similarity and from whence it comes.

This missing-scene moment fits nicely into The Empire Strikes Back, although portions of it will become AU once Revenge of the Sith hits theaters on May 19. It is also a brief follow-up to Father's Heart, which was recommended by a previous Star Wars crack van driver here.

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( Excerpt )

The Only Question

Fandom: LORD OF THE RINGS
Pairing: Denethor/Finduilas
Author on LJ: kielle
Author Website: Twelth Ring
Why this must be read:

Kielle is best known for her hilarious rendition of the Perfect!MarySue in Nine Men and a Little Lady, but her other stories sometimes fade in the shadow or such a well known fic.

Refraction presents us a possible explanation of the death of Boromir and Faramir’s mother, Finduilas of Dol Amroth. Tolkien only told us she simply “pined away for the sea.” And to quote the very first line of this wonderful story, “Nobody pines away for the sea.”

What if there was a more sinister explanation?

Refraction