Fandom: FARSCAPE
Pairing: John/Aeryn
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Unknown archived on Crash Debris

Why this must be read:

This is an action story that also delves into the guilt, grief, and exhaustion of Moya's crew (and especially John Crichton) from the events of Self-Inflicted Wounds and the death of Zhaan. I love it for its whomping as well as its original alien characters of the Ashreikechin who are fully realized and truly libertarian society. This is Grendel and Beowulf.

I am providing an exerpt because it sets up the story so beautifully.


Night Walker

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: none (gen)
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Destinies Entwined
Why this must be read:

This AU is just shy of being a crossover with Star Trek. Denim n Lace borrowed the setting but no characters for this fast-paced space opera. In this universe empaths are known, but Sentinels aren't.

Captain Simon Banks pleads with his old friend Jim Ellison to take on the job of Security Chief on his new ship, the Raptor, unaware that since returning from a disastrous mission that isolated him for 18 months, Jim thinks he is going crazy. Jim goes to give Simon his regrets but once on board he meets Chief Science Officer, and empath, Dr. Blair Sandburg, who has been searching for a Sentinel almost his whole life.

The Raptor is charged with bringing order to the lawless Neutral Zone, but even before leaving space dock sabotage endangers the mission. Sentinel and Guide are barely bonded before being thrown into frenetic, seat-of-your-pants action.

( Read an Excerpt )

The Raptor Chronicles

Fandom: AFFLECTION
Pairing: Matt Damon/Ben Affleck
Author on LJ: fran_de_sales
Author Website: fran's Memories
Why this must be read: Fran has given us a glimpse into the high price of fame if you're closeted, and this Matt just leaps off the page with his laid-back charm and despair. Heartbreaking and bittersweet.

Penalty Kill

Fandom: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA 2003
Pairing: None
Author on LJ: butterflykiki
Author Website: The Chaos Horizon
Why this must be read: And here's yet another story that was written for the Common People challenge. (It'll be my last one. Promise!)

The premise is relatively simple: someone has to prepare a final list of the dead and, in the process, link back together those who are looking for each other. But the execution is anything but simple. Through the OC of Cynthia, we run through an entire gamut of raw emotions, almost as if we're right there with her, fighting to stay awake, stay sane, remain hopeful.

( snippet )

An Offering to Hestia

Fandom: QUEER AS FOLK US
Pairing: Brian/Michael
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: unknown
Why this must be read:

This is one of those stories that just grabbed me from the first words. I loved the premise, which I won't ruin for those who haven't read the story. I will say that Justin and Ben are essential to the plot, which is enjoyable and it's something you don't see all the time in Brian/Michael fic. I loved the execution of the story. The dynamics between the characters were realized very well by the author. She managed to integrate personality and motivation into the fic at a level that I also don't see very often in these kinds of stories. It's a good read.


Graphic Arts

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Unknown

Why this must be read:

That's a difficult question if, like me, you love the Old Man and don't much enjoy pain, or hurt without comfort. The first reason and the less convincing is that I have announced I intended to focus my recs on the character of Cowley; I already presented him in various predicaments, only discarding stories where he is shown as ridiculous or evil. So, I couldn't avoid to pick at least a text where he is taken from our affection.

So, this is another death story, and contrary to the previous one, not funny at all. The author doesn't play nice. All the cruelty and absurdity, even the sordid side of our mortal condition is confronted here, by the writer but, first, by his character, who has decided he won't let himself being passively engulfed in the wreckage of physical and mental decay. So, he dies as he has been living, like a warrior but in absolute loneliness. This kind of ending is only too likely for a man such as Cowley, more likely than the miracle of a belated love relationship, though I allow me to dream about possible miracles.

That's maybe the second and the main reason of my choice; it meets one of my deepest belief about our fate as human beings: Alone we were born, alone we will die, alone we have to live in between. And anything else is literature (something we are aware somehow: why all these stories about everlasting friendship and loyalty between mythic partners, if not to counteract in our mind the depressing effect left by the everyday's observations of continuous misunderstandings, abuses and deceptions between real lovers and friends?)

By the way, this consideration is perhaps why I so much like this character; he is for me the perfect personification of loneliness assumed with the highest degree of lucidity and dignity, "in the service of public interest".

There is a third reason: the writing. The author knows how to make her reader get a feeling of loss, of grief, of weariness, of helpless revolt before the tragic "irremediability" of certain events, without having to speak too loud.

If I have not dissuaded you to read the following text, well, that is you are a brave heart! Do it, however; it's worth the effort.

Sunshine after Rain