I know it is unusual, but this is a two-fer recc, one of which is mine and the sequel which is co-authored. I wanted to share my story because I had so much fun writing it.

Fandom: FARSCAPE
Pairing:  John/Harvey, John/Aeryn
Author on LJ: ixchup and kazbaby
Author Website: Words To Web and Unrealized Reality
Why this must be read:
 
This story was generated via IM and intense beta work from kazbaby and began from an exploration of the science of wormholes. I recc it because it won 2nd Place 2004 Sparky Award for Angst Fiction. Imagine what would happen if John, alone in his module at the end of Dog With Two Bones was caught in the vortex of the wormhole that sucked Moya down its gullet. The story takes off from there with much angst.

Through The Rabbit Hole

kazbaby and I continued the story with Stars In His Eyes

Fandom: ANGEL
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: yahtzee63
Author Website: yahtzee!
Why this must be read:

Just because Connor has never set foot inside a school does not mean he is uneducated. This fic takes the reader on a hunt with Connor during one night in Los Angeles sometime in the summer after the episode "Tomorrow". But as his careful stalking of his demon prey progresses, we learn more about Connor's thoughts on his time in Quartoth, his relationship to Holtz, and the person those two critical elements of his experiences have made him.

yahtzee63 ably arranges the fairly simple action of the plot against the backdrop of the rich and varied lessons Connor has learned thoroughly, the fields of study he has no use for, and the genuine confusion regarding the things he simply cannot conceive of, like Angel's deep and desperate love for him. An amazing work providing insight not only into Connor's thinking but of the mapping of his very psyche.


On the Education of a Young Man


If you enjoy the story, please send the author feedback.

Hi, I'm bitchygrrl I'll be driving the Smallville van this month. I am going to try and rec a few of the less commom pairings because there is some awesome non-Clex fic is this fandom. Don't worry though there will be some Clex and plenty of Clark and Lex. Buckle up. :)

Fandom: SMALLVILLE
Pairing: Jason/Lex (unresolved) Lionel/Genevieve(implied) Lex/Genevieve (implied) Jason/Genevieve (implied)
Author on LJ: khohen1
Author Website: none
Why this must be read: If you don't know kHo she is a writer who cares deeply about this fandom, and really tries to dig deep into the characters. This yielsd some truly good fic. Jason Teague, was only around for 1 season but he made an impression. There were hints initially that he and Lex knew each other before his arrival in Smallville and there was definite tension. kHo exploits the tension between Jason and Lex and connects them in the most interesting of ways, and the last line is killer.

Six Meetings

Fandom: SUPERNATURAL
Pairing: There's a little Dean/OMC, flirts with the Wincest
Author on LJ: lyra_wing
Author Website: N/A
Why this must be read: This is another of the early stories I read in this fandom, and it's just such a clever idea. Sam and Dean go to the big city where something or someone has been turning people to stone. Along the way, Sam discovers some surprises about both Dean and himself, and has to confront one of the most uncomfortable truths of all, that there are some destructive forces in the world that we're all vulnerable to.


Go read and give the author some love:
Denial Ain't Just a River In Egypt

Hey everyone I'm Vian and I'll be driving the PopSlash van for March. I know I'm a little late getting started so I'll try to make up for it. I tend to be a TimberTrick girl, but variety and all that are good things.

Fandom: PopSlash
Pairing: Nick/Justin
Author on LJ: affluence
Author Website: http://methyl.autumnal.org/
Why this must be read:

After having been in a fandom for a while it gets hard to find stories I haven't read. While this story isn't necessarily new, it is a great read. Its a different view of the pop world from familiar eyes.

Who you are is what you are.

Switch

Fandom: AFFLECTION
Pairing: Matt Damon/Ben Affleck
Author on LJ: veronamay
Author Website: fabulae and Memories
Why this must be read: I adore this story; it's one of my all-time re-reading favourites in this fandom. You can feel the connection between Matt and Ben in every line. It's like mainlining smack if, like me, you have a friendship kink.

The Last Resort

Fandom: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 2003
Pairing: Bits of Kara/Lee, Kara/Baltar, Kara/Baltar(/Six), and Six/Baltar.
Author on LJ: stars_like_dust
Author Website: Claira @ at the end of the world
Why this must be read: Here's another Six/Baltar story that I absolutely love. Something that I think BSG does very well is show how Baltar communicates with Six while also having conversations with others. There's something about how he's able to juggle these two conversations simultaneously that makes me laugh and feel slightly bad for him.

With "Not What You Need," stars_like_dust takes such a juggling conversations moment and has it unravel just as it would on the show. In addition to the wonderful execution, the interactions between Starbuck, Baltar, and Six are so perfect that it leaves you breathless.

( snippet )

Not What You Need

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: none (gen)
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Susan's Sentinel Stories
Why this must be read:

Imagine a universe in which Sentinels are valued for their abilities and feared for their protective, sometimes savage, instincts. To allow Sentinels to remain sane and function in society they are bonded with empathic guides, who become their property. The GDP, Guide Development Project, is a corrupt agency with full authority to find, train, and control empaths.

Blair is an empath who tried to hide his abilities in order to keep his freedom. Jim Ellison is a late-blooming Sentinel who is repulsed by the idea of owning and being dependent on another human being. But Blair is captured, first by psychotic Sentinel Alex Barnes and then by the GDP, who label him rogue and set out to break him. When Jim goes into a life-threatening crisis, the two are thrown together.

The GDP series, along with the associated Learning Curve, Dark Guide, and Dark Sentinel series, are very popular in Sentinel fandom. Nevertheless, I have been uncertain about reccing them. Susan's writing is often rushed and sloppy, riddled with poor grammar, plot holes, and typos (especially when first posted - the older stories have been mostly cleaned up). But she tells such gripping and emotional stories that readers overlook the flaws. The concepts in these stories have inspired many other authors as well, spawning a whole sub-universe of Sentinel fiction. I think it is a good idea for the interested reader to start here, at the beginning.

PS. While classified as Gen the bonding scenes are sensual enough to satisfy many slash fans. Enjoy :-)

Excerpt:

Simon saw the GDP personnel arrive and focused on the small figure between them. This was going to be Jim's guide? This kid, barely five foot nine, dark brown hair touching his shoulders and falling into his eyes, nothing but a hippy punk? His nose wrinkled as the too thin body was dragged past him and he smelled the stench of old sweat and new fear. The kid had not bathed in days. There was no way he wanted this person near his friend.

Before he could say anything, Amy took it out of his hands. "Thank you for coming so fast, Senior Guard Wilson, we do have something of an emergency. We have a sentinel nearing critical zone out; he needs a guide and he has apparently formed a tentative connection with this person."

Wilson sneered, "He's still a handful, ma'am. We need more time to discipline him."

Captain Mason nodded, and cut in, "We'll put Sandburg to him now and see if they bond. I know he's a flight risk, but from what I understand, Ellison is more than capable of keeping him in line."

Sentinel 101

Fandom: VERONICA MARS
Pairing: Weevil
Author on LJ: silviakundera
Author Website: Her website appears to be gone..
Why this must be read:

This tells the story of eleven year old Eli 'Weevil' Navarro. Before he was Weevil, before he became what he was forced to become. This tells the story of how he became.

Beautiful, gorgeous, spot-on and stunning are words I use to describe this story.

You are not actually fluent in Spanish, and you’re smart, very smart, and they hold you back a year, and try for another, and they want to teach you how to spell ‘tomorrow’. They try to teach you values. They don’t notice that you know, because there’s one class for all of you, and abuela, she speaks pretty good now, but then --

This is Not Ironic

Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Neville Longbottom/Theodore Nott
Author on LJ: hackthis
Author Website: dysfunctional
Why this must be read: There isn't a whole lot I can say: it's about Neville and find yourself and Theodore and helping the people you care about become what you know they can. Just go, read it. It's worth it. The entire thing just sticks in your mind. A very well written fic about the characters we don't hear so much about.

( Excerpt )

I See Monsters (That's When I Reach For My Revolver)

*hackthis didn't rate it so I guessed.

Fandom: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Pairing: Xander Harris/Spike
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: N/A
Why this must be read:

I'm mostly a Xander/Spike girl myself, so that's what the majority of my recs will be. This one is a fic written several years ago. It does a great job of showing that Spike knows how to push all of Xander's buttons. The story starts out light--the two of them in bed together--and ends up, not dark exactly, but at least darker. This fic gives us a great sense of the depth of Xander's character and suggests that he's not as heroic and self-sacrificing as the show makes him seem.

( Excerpt )

If anyone has an LJ or web site for either of these girls, I'd be glad to edit this information.

Monday Morning Going Down