Fandom: FIREFLY
Pairing: N/A
Author on LJ: aliaspiral
Author Website: SilverSpiral.net

Why this must be read:

Amidst all the post-SERENITY fic, there are some which are actually missing scenes. This tense little moment focuses on Jayne and Zoe, making not-so-idle conversation as they wait behind the blast doors for the end of everything. The characterizations and voices are spot-on, giving the piece a perfect you-are-there feeling.

(Spoilers for Serenity the movie.)



They sat and watched the non moving door for a moment.

“I can’t hear nothing,” he finally said.

“Doors are too thick.”

“I can’t help but wonder, you know?”

“Yeah.” She swallowed, the sound audible in the odd silence. “Thought you didn’t like her.”

“I got nothing ‘gainst her, ‘cept some bruises and a tendency to knock me unconscious.”

“Sounds like plenty.”



Beautiful Destruction

Fandom: DCU
Pairing: Bruce Wayne/Dick Grayson (reader's choice)
Author on LJ: azurine
Author Website: Teethmarks
Why this must be read:

Batman and Robin. Are they doing it? Pure family love, or something less innocent? Is Batman a creepy pederast, or a driven man unsuited to bringing up children? Canon, frankly, can support either interpretation. One of my favourite things is fic that allows the reader to bring their own interpretation. Azurine doesn't answer any of the above questions, but she shines a light into the parts of canon that it might be nicer to overlook

Trespassing.

Remember, feedback saves lives! Remember to tell the writer what you thought of it. :-)

Fandom: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 2003
Pairing: Kara/Lee, Kat/Tyrol
Author on LJ: meyerlemon
Author Website: None
Why this must be read: Hot, wonderful, fucked-up het sex, with a voyeuristic frisson for added melt-your-brain pizazz.

Private

Fandom: SMALLVILLE
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Author on LJ: suzvoy
Author Website: Suzvoy's Smallville Fic
Why this must be read: This is what angst should always be like: bittersweet, ironic and just beautiful.

The 53rd Wednesday (Warning: This is a death fic)

Fandom: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
Pairing: Jack Sparrow/William Turner, Sr./OFC
Author on LJ: viva_gloria
Author Website: Imagin'd Glories
Why this must be read:

This is bittersweet and haunting, with remarkable character interactions -- pre-mutiny Jack Sparrow is hard to write, and we've never met William Turner, and we'll never met Will's mother, and the idea of them all in bed together, to tell the truth, makes my head spin. This story makes my head spin in a totally different way, a very good way.

Once a Thief

---

Feedback makes a writer's head spin in the very best way of all.

Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Pairing: Hank/OC, with guest appearances by many of the X-Men
Author on LJ: Don’t know.
Author Website: Dyce’s Corner
Why this must be read:

A Homely Touch is “comfort fic” without the hurt. A heartwarming, humorous story, a charming Hank romance, and it has an honest-to-god good original character. You’ll never see an OC like Sally on fanfiction.net. Sally’s awesome mutant power is the ability to cook well – okay, so that’s not really a mutant power. It just seems that way to those of us who live on take-out. Actually, Sally is a sympath. She can listen to people complain for hours on end. Marvel needs to add a mutant like Sally to canon.

The X-folk had adapted with surprising speed to the presence of regular meals and apparently unlimited baked goodies … The angst-levels in the mansion had dropped dramatically, and a permanent scent of baking cookies had replaced the perpetual miasma of guilt and anguish.

Links updated: The story is posted in its entirety on another website. There are 3 chapters that do not connect to each other. You'll have to click on each link here.

A Homely Touch, Chapter 1
A Homely Touch, Chapter 2
A Homely Touch, Chapter 3

Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Pairing: Pete/Kitty
Author on LJ: Don’t know.
Author Website: Madripoor Rose
Why this must be read:

A great Pete Rasputin story. Part adventure, part romance -- the events of X2 written mostly from Pete's POV. What happened to the X-kids after Stryker invaded the mansion? Pete leads the escape and turns to a former girlfriend in the Russian mob for help. How’s this going to affect his tentative relationship with Kitty? I liked the escape scene, full of nice practical details, and Pete just shines as a leader. We have the strange but very interesting situation of the mobsters helping the mutant kids hide from Stryker.

In one locker he found a cellphone, an ATM card in the name of John Smith with the PIN number on a post-it note attached to it. A spare visor for Mister Summers, and a holstered 9 mm semiautomatic and a spare clip. Piotr looked at the gun for a long moment, bit the inside of his cheek, and took it.


Refuge

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: None
Why this must be read: I do so love how Bodie's commitment to Doyle is presented in this story. You see what Bodie will do for his partner and how far he'll go in order to save Doyle, leaving no mistake as to who has top priority in Bodie's life. The situation is not far-fetched; unfortunately, I can see this sort of set-up all too readily. And because of that, it makes their commitment to each other, because I don't for a minute feel it's one-sided, all the more wonderful.



Neon Nights

Fandom: THE MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: None (gen)
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: AJ's Fan Fiction Library
Why this must be read:

If you like action/adventure stories, if you remember with nostalgia the good old times of the cold war, if you want the thrill of angst, suspense, compassion and human felowship, then this story is for you. If you demand a lot of Napoleon and partnership, well, maybe you'll appreciate it less. Because there is Illya, alone, back to the homeland and not willing to be there. Not welcome either. I must say IK is a defector in the plot. Not my take of the character at all. If I'd read this story now, I would frown sternly and utter some severe political comment. But I happened to read it when I first discovered the MFU fanfiction, gen of course, I hadn't yet dared to enter the slash world, and was happy to explore any corner of the gen play field, providing there was no trite love story. I read this one voraciously, didn't pay attention to IK's politics, enjoyed the adventure and positively loved the innocent!

For there is an Innocent with a capital I. And it is a woman! A woman who will be Illya's compagnion all along the story, following him, helping him, taking care of him. And no, it is not what you think. She is not blond, she is not young, she is not pretty, at least she probably is not so any longer when the action begins. She is a middle aged, very respectable, very reasonable retired nurse, who has a high notion of ethics and professional duty. Not foolhardy, but not scared either. And she saves the day! This is one of the very, very rare interesting female original characters in all the MFU fandom, not a bimbo, not a whore, not a "good, nice, average American girl" but a real woman, experienced, strong minded and up to overcome any hardship with cool blood and high spirit, not out of pride or adrenaline addiction but simply to abide her own personal rules of behaviour and sense of honor. And that is the very definition of courage.

There are also nasty KGB officers, malignant Thrushies (if my memory doesn't fail me because I had no time to read the story again before writing my post) and helpful gypsies...What to wish more?

The Homeland Affair

Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Severus Snape/Lucius Malfoy
Author on LJ: predatrix
Author Website: http://predatrix.slashcity.org/
Why this must be read: This is a story imagining a possible childhood for Snape.
It is also a story about sexual discovery and seduction. Sad but lovely at the same time. This story is fantastic. Mindblowing even. I don't do a lot of Snape-slash but this is certainly a worthwhile exception. It does contain severe verbal domination/submission/humiliation and underage sexuality. Also pre-HBP.

Sans Merci by Predatrix

Fandom: Oz
Pairing: Beecher/Keller
Author on LJ: rileyc
Author Website: Little Bluebirds
Why this story must be read:
I've always loved stories that look at all the possibilities of what could have happened differently after Beecher and Keller's first kiss in the laundry room. This story does that, and does it better than any I've read. It's wonderfully written, and stays true to the characters the show gave us. And at it's core, despite the darkness of its characters, it's a romance.

This Kiss