Fandom: DC COMICS
Pairing: Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent (aka Batman/Superman)
Author on LJ: azurine
Author Website: Will Bite When Provoked
Why this must be read:

Even though I'm reading this fic for the fifth or sixth time, I'm still laughing my ass off. Bruce and Clark are so very very married (see comic series Superman/Batman for more evidence of this) and this is a hilarious story of these two old friends in a rather odd predicament. It also very neatly uses a DCfic cliché: Aliens made us do it.

( Read an excerpt )

Hell or High Water

Fandom: X-MEN COMICVERSE
Pairing: Kitty Pryde/Pete Wisdom
Author Website: Fonts of Wisdom
Why this must be read:

I'm shocked and amazed that no one has pimped Luba before here! Not only is she a splendidly talented writer, she also runs one of the largest and longest-running archives for slash, het and gen comic fic on the web. The Day After is one of her earliest stories, the first in a series about the quirky relationship between former child prodigy and X-Man Shadowcat and her chain-smoking, foul-mouthed, spandex-hating, ex-spy boyfriend, starting the morning after their first time. (The first time happened off-screen in the comics, at the tail end of a nasty piece of espionage, so the story jumps right into the thick of things. Just sit back and enjoy, and pick it up as you go.) I've always loved the insecurities and miscommunication Luba brings out in this story, the way the new lovers tend to trip over themselves and each other. It's love and life (and very hot!) without being smoothly choreographed porn.

"Nothing's wrong with your underwear, Pete, I love them, really I do -- they're so cute, you look so cute in them..." Kitty couldn't help it. She started laughing again. "God, I'm sorry, Pete -- I'm not making fun of you, really I'm not..."

He could feel there wasn't anything malicious in her laughter, and her bubbling mirth and innocent delight were contagious. "'S all right, love. I'll wear silly pants every bleedin' day if it makes you laugh -- I love hearin' you laugh. You just swear you ain't goin' t' run tell all your mates, right? This is between us, like, right?"

The Day After the Night Before

Fandom: LOTRIPS
Pairing: Elijah Wood/Orlando Bloom/Dominic Monaghan
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Buffonia on Mirrormere
Why this must be read: This is a wonderful snapshot of life in LaLa land, where men are paid a lot of money to look pretty and boys will be boys for as long as possible.

The Lost Boys

Direct Link: We Grow Stronger in Sin
Fandom: Smallville
Pairing/Character(s): Lana/Lex
Rating: NC-17
Author on LJ: littledrop
Author Website: a little drop in the ocean

This is the second of my recommendations that focuses on relationships other than Clark/Lex or stories told from another character's point of view. This one is actually both of those.

Why this must be read: Because, as Kirsten puts it, this is "not your average Lex and Lana." In the first place, it's an AU. Lex, apparently, never came to Smallville, became a geek instead of a businessman, and he and Lana meet when Lana goes off to college at MetU, where Lex is a grad student. Those are the surface differences. It's what's under the surface, though, that makes it so fascinating.

To me, this story is like getting a peek into the very secret thoughts of Lana Lang, and, baby, she's nobody's Pink Princess. Kirsten shows us with ruthless honesty that Lana knows how people perceive her, knows that she's been defined by their expectations more than her own, and now she's off on a voyage of self-discovery, sexual and otherwise, to take back what's rightfully hers.

This Lana and this Lex have a kind of a train-wreck quality about them, with obsession and control issues a-plenty, but they sure do make it hot. Kirsten warns that the story has sex play that may make some people uncomfortable. It certainly hit my kink for a woman sexually dominating a man, hit it hard, and if that's your kink too, then this is an absolute must read.

We Grow Stronger in Sin

Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: None
Author on LJ: icebluenothing
Author Website: Bloodletters
Why this must be read:

Rose feels that time travel is useless if you can't go back and fix the past. The Doctor shows her how she can make a difference nonetheless.

This fic deals with some sensitive subject matter and really deserves to be rec'd for how well it handles it.

Of More Value Than Many Sparrows