*drags self in tardily from sandy beach in Northern Ontario, looking guilty*

Hi, I'm Marna, and now that I have computer access again, I'll be sailing the Bloody Indy driving the van for Hornblower this month.

As a writer, I'm Archie Kennedy's Bitch and Major My Lord's personal stenographer, but as a reader I like almost all of the boys and most of the girls, and will be happily reccing fic with any or all of them in it this month.

As so many wonderful reccers have come before me, I'll be concentrating on short pieces, Fictional Hornblower Scholarship, and other such small and easily overlooked but worthy gems of the fandom.

I will probably tend not to list pairings, as many of the pieces I have in mind rely on some degree of surprise or ambivalence or both.

Fandom: HORNBLOWER
Author on LJ: nindulgence
Author Website: none
Why this must be read: Nin's greatest strength is short, brilliantly polished pieces which capture character and emotion wonderfully -- and also place the Hornblower characters firmly and naturally inside the culture and time in which they live, both bringing it to life and giving the characters an added depth thereby.

Here, she explores one of the ways in which the events of Mutiny and Retribution have consequences both wide- and long-ranging, touching people we don't know and changing the lives of those we do know forever.

As an added bonus, this story comes with a link to the gorgeous piece of fanart by black_hound which inspired it.

Lord Craven--true to his name--had lost his nerve.

Fandom: STARGATE ATLANTIS
Pairing: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Author on LJ: brighidestone
Author Website: Brighid's Stargate Poetry and Fiction
Why this must be read:

I love Brighid's work, I always have, so one of her stories had to be in my recs for this month. I went with Referencing because it has everything that makes Brighid's stories wonderful -- a great baseline idea and a lyrical telling that just sucks you in.

Accidents are bound to happen when the team keeps coming into contact with alien technology that they don't really understand while searching for a ZPM. That is the case here. It's a great use of it as a deux ex machina to explore the ramifications of past and future actions. Dork Side picks up after Referencing and takes things a step further.

( excerpt )

Referencing Gilbert Ryle
Dork Side of the Moon

Fandom: SMALLVILLE
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Author on LJ: no longer on LJ
Author Website: A Thousand Churches
Why this must be read: Continuing the theme of classic stories, this is one of my favourites. Many people simply know it as the "Mouse Fic" or the "Porn Star Cap" fic. It's got both. It's also got really funny banter between Clark and Lex, a relaxed friendship that's (mostly) overcome the secrets still between them, and a great transition from comedy to hot first-time fumblings. It's really a shame Wendi's no longer active in the Smallville fandom; she's a fantastic writer.

( Excerpt from A Picture of Home )


Go and read: A Picture of Home.

ETA: Thanks to svmadelyn for catching my error in the name of the author. My apologies to Wendi and Hope for the confusion.

Fandom: STAR TREK DS9
Pairing: none
Author on LJ:alara_r
Author Website: Alara Rogers' Happy Happy Mostly Text Web Site
Why this must be read:

The excellent "Judgement Day" series is based on the premise that Q's faction lost the civil war described in "The Q and the Grey" (VOY). One of the results was humanity's being confined to the Sol system, barred from the rest of the galaxy. In this story, we see Benjamin Sisko, now dwelling in the Celestial Temple with the rest of the Bajoran Prophets, react to this harsh sentence. As usual with one of Alara's fics, the writing is crisp and the character voices shine through clearly. The title is also inspired. I strongly recommend the rest of this series as well.

Go Down Moses

Fandom: STARGATE SG-1
Pairing: None, really. Very brief mention of Sam/Jack, perhaps a hint of Daniel/Janet.
Author on LJ: Not that I'm aware.
Author Website: butcheredart.net (under construction)
Why this must be read:

Maayan paints a moving, compelling picture of what life might be like for the person made the public face of the Stargate Project after all is revealed.

Her Daniel is exactly the kind of Daniel Jackson I'd like to see more of on the show, and it's an added bonus that we get a wonderfully fleshed-out Emmett Bregman as well. This story is moving without being overly emotional, at times almost painful in its realism, but most of all it is beautifully told.

( excerpt )

Limping Toward Bethlehem