Fandom: FIREFLY
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Author on LJ: budclare
Author Website: N/A

Why this must be read:

I heart budclare. She's snarky, occasionally evil, and has a gift for saying a lot with very few words. This was written for the 90th [Bad username or site: ff_friday Challenge @ livejournal.com], 100 to 1000 words about gravity. It's the perfect drabble: 100 words, features my OTP, and it never fails to make me laugh.


Inevitable Decline

Hello guys! Sorry for the late start. I'm Nicole, aka short_girl, and I'm reccing The X Files this month. I'm an MSR kinda girl, but I've dabbled in Mulder/Krycek, so I'll probably be reccing from those categories. To start us off...


Fandom: X-Files
Pairing: (somewhat) Mulder/Scully
Author on LJ: not on lj, that I know of
Author Website: N/A

Why this must be read:

There are so few good William-centered stories out there in the fandom, and even fewer that don't attempt to send him back to his real family. This is one of the few good out there. It's absolutely heartwrenching. It's also short, so go read it.

Lee

Note: If the link doesn't work (and it likely won't, silly gossamer project), just scroll down to the story here.
http://fluky.gossamer.org/html/title-l-1.html

Alcohol, card games, drunken sparkly dance boys kissing, and a recipe for punch? Huzzah!

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: JC/Chris (sorta)
Author on LJ: jawamonkey
Author Website: This Big Mix
Why this must be read: Continuing in the vein of stories written as dialogue, "Asshole" is what happens when the boys take some time to play a drinking card game. What I like most about this story is that the things each boy says are totally realistic to what we know in canon. JC would be the nice one, even in drinking games, and Chris would be even more hyperactive when drunk. Plus, Jawamonkey gives us a real recipe for alcoholic punch in her notes, and that's like a bonus gift after a really cute story.

( Excerpt )

Link to the story: Asshole

Fandom: STAR WARS OT
Pairing: Vader/Palpatine
Author on LJ: maelicia
Author Website: N/A

Why this must be read: Yes, I have chosen another pairing Sith pairing, this time in the aftermath of ESB. The existence of Luke Skywalker is proving troublesome for Darth Vader, especially in his relationship with Palpatine. The Apprentice has proven to fail his Sith destiny, seeking to return to the glory and grandeur of his early days. Much angst ensues, because Vader does it so fantastically, but how about some Palpatine angst to compliment that?

( Excerpt )

Touch Me

Fandom: FIREFLY
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: N/K
Author Website: N/K

Why this must be read:

As far as I can tell, Bookworm10 wrote only three FIREFLY stories, which is a pity--I would have loved to read more by this author, who demonstrated a complete and brilliant understanding of the show and the characters. So this is really more of an author rec, and don't be concerned that I'm sending you to FF.NET.

"Paid in Full" reads like an exceptional episode, in which the crew of Serenity meets up with a captain who's more than a match for Mal, who must take on a job he doesn't want, in order to do right by his crew--and others. The story serves as a perfect stepping-stone between the end of the series and the time prior to SERENITY.


Mal burst into Simon's quarters, grabbed River by an arm and pulled her around to face him. He looked into vacant eyes.

And then he saw stars and bounced off the wall before slumping to the floor. He shook his head and looked up to see Simon glaring down at him. The doctor's fist was clenched and ready for another blow should the captain dare to stand up.

Mal put his hands up in surrender. "Stand down, Doctor. I was too rough, an' I apologize. I'm feelin' a mite frantic right now."

The sincerity in the captain's tone was unmistakable. Simon lowered his fist. "What's wrong?"

"Kaylee musta worked her magic. The other ship took off, but Kaylee and Jayne are still aboard."

Simon wrestled with the implications. "And . . . you blame River?"

Mal rubbed his jaw. "No. 'Course not. But she, she listens. I woulda thought she'd know this was gonna happen."

"That's crazy," Simon objected.

"Well, that's your sister," Mal retorted. "Look, I just need to talk to her. Can I get up now, or are you feeling a need to create demand for your surgical prowess?"

"Uh . . . of course. Just, you know, don't get grabby."

Paid in Full

And be sure to try Bookworm's other stories, Cat and Mouse, and An Earful. "Cat and Mouse" tackles the time just after "Objects in Space," with equally serious and whimsical moments, while "An Earful" is a chilling coda to "War Stories."

Fandom: ANGEL
Pairing: Gunn/Lindsey
Author on LJ: danawoods
Author Website: Broken Symmetry
Why this must be read: This fic is a twist on canon, adding raspberries instead of strawberries; some might call it an AU. It's hot, dirty, wrong, and brilliantly written. The author summarizes it as "Lindsey's a hustler who never makes it out of Oklahoma, at least not until S2 of AtS. Gunn's a John who keeps going back for more. So totally and utterly A/U that it shouldn't even be considered fanfic." And I'm going to have to disagree with the last part. While this might have started out as a cracked out idea for dirty, somewhat cliched PWP, it became a look into the emotional boundaries and needs of both Gunn and Lindsey. The hotness is only the whip cream on top of the smoothie.

The Hollow

Fandom: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 2003
Pairing: Lee/Laura
Author on LJ: jennyo
Author Website: I'm Just Sayin'
Why this must be read: Oh, how wonderful is this story? Lee and Laura reminisce about Caprica city... and, and, it's so fracking *hot*! Or, then again, maybe it *isn't*! Guh!

Paul and Miriam in Love (Warning: Spoilers for S2's "The Farm")

Fandom: SMALLVILLE
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Author on LJ: bookend
Author Website: None
Why this must be read: My favourite romances feel as though they skate the edge of tragedy, missing a crashing disaster by the barest hairsbreadth. This story shows us what happens when Clark and Lex don't miss the edge, but go right over it into darkness and destruction. God, this story is dark, painful and beautiful.

Immortality

Fandom: The Sentinel
Pairing: Jim, Blair, Simon, Joel, Henri, Rafe
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: Hephaistos' Forge
Why this must be read:

I don't read a lot of gen in this fandom but this story is hilarious!  Blair escapes from "protective custody" one too many times to go help Jim.  The gang from Major Crimes and Blair make a bet - the guys all spend the weekend at the loft and Blair has until Sunday to escape from the loft.

All he had to do was escape custody from the loft and get to a designated location without being caught. One small him against five large detectives. Creative thinking versus training and experience. Brain versus brawn. Blair versus them... Okay, this could be fun.


The Great Escape

Fandom: X-Men Movieverse
Pairing: Scott-Logan friendship
Author on LJ: Musings on Writing
Author Website: The Medicine Wheel
Why this must be read:

This novel is another “fan classic” of the X-verse. It’s won several fannish awards. Hard to believe it hasn’t been recommended here before now.

A rescue mission goes horrifically awry for the X-men and Scott and Logan are captured by humans who make William Stryker seem tame. Scott is treated savagely. He is stripped of everything – his fiancée Jean, his mutant power, and his dignity – and he reacts by throwing away his sense of honor, his ideals, and his standards of morality. Scott’s reaction to his imprisonment reminded me strongly of Erik’s reaction to his childhood experiences in the death camp. The parallels between Scott and Erik seemed very clear to me. To me it’s a re-telling of the Charles-and-Erik saga. Scott has no more faith in Charles’ dream, and apparently no more love for Charles. In fact he works hard to alienate Charles. But ultimately, Scott doesn’t become another Magneto. He’ll never be the idealist he was, but he reclaims the values he gave up to the enemy.

This is a good action story. The scene where Scott and Logan fight their way out of prison is terrific. The last scenes – where the bad guys mount a final assault on the mansion – form another outstanding action sequence.

Climb the Wind isn’t slash, or pre-slash, although you might think it’s headed that way from the opening chapters. The story focuses on the friendship that develops between rivals Logan and Scott in a time of crisis. It’s Logan, of all people, who pulls Scott back from the edge of the precipice.

Scott is raped while imprisoned, but his personal situation is almost immediately subsumed by the threat to the school. The rapes become the B plot of Scott’s life, and he just has to deal while the A plot keeps spinning around him. I don't think I've read another "rape/recovery" story in fandom quite like this.

Be aware there is a major character death right in the first paragraphs of the first chapter. There is a lot of killing and violence. The rapes are not graphically described, but there are graphic descriptions of Scott’s medical treatment after he escapes his captors.

Climb the Wind