A standard convention of “Sentinel” fiction is that Jim is rigidly set in his ways; that because Blair is the anthropologist, he’s the “I’ll try anything once” guy. Not Jim. Never Jim. So it stands to reason that if anyone went for a walk on the wild side and was found tied up in bondage gear and abandoned in a hotel room, it would be Blair, right? Right?

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Author on LJ: sihayab
Author Website: Sihaya’s Seraglio
Why this must be read:

In “Lie Perdu,” Blair receives a call one night from an unknown man who says: "Listen to me carefully. Ellison needs you. Badly. He's in Suite 601 of the Cascade Hilton. The door's unlocked. Get there quickly, and for god's sake, go alone."

With an opening like that, anything could have happened. Blair rushes out into the night, not knowing if he’s headed into a trap, and ends up helping Jim out of a very compromising position. What follows is a steamy premise, leading to masturbatory fantasies, and finally to more blisteringly hot sex. And there’s even more of the hot and steamy in its sequel, “Lock ‘n’ Load.”

Not only is this a scorcher of a story, but it’s a wholly believable one, as well. Jim’s mortification at Blair’s having to rescue him from the situation he’s placed himself in is sharp and totally in character. And Blair walks a very fine line which demarcates friendship and what’s above and beyond the call of duty. Sihaya Black’s a talented writer with a knack for characterizations that are right on the money. On top of that, she totally gets that it’s not about subs and doms, but that it’s about trust.

Oh, and the sex is hot. Did I mention it’s hot? *fans self*

Lie Perdu

And its sequel:

Lock ‘n’ Load

*waves* Hello, all! I'm Rynne, and I'll be your Star Wars OT driver this month! (Sorry for the delay in starting, but I just got a new job.) Anyway, I've got some nice variety here, some real gems that hopefully aren't very well known yet, but I hope you enjoy them all!

Fandom: STAR WARS: ORIGINAL TRILOGY
Pairing: Gen
Author on LJ: No LJ, as far as I know
Author Website: Her JC forums user profile
Why this must be read: I have always been a fan of the relationship between Luke and Vader, but rarely do we ever get fic with that relationship from an outsider's point of view--especially when that outsider doesn't know that they're father and son. "The Sith Who Brought Life Day" is about Vader discovering Luke's existence, with the help of a hilariously irreverent OC.

Yes, this fic is OC-centric, a thing that I often don't care for, as well as in first-person POV, which I rarely read, but I had to make an exception. Ophelia truly brings her characters to life, original as well as canon, and Lieutenant Vorgartin of the Imperial Navy, who lost a bet and now has to get Lord Vader a present for Life Day, is certainly lively. His observations will continually have you laughing--until he has a thought that is completely sobering and poignant, but the moments of poignancy in this otherwise hilarious fic just add to its appeal. And this fic is filled with supreme irony, which ophelia uses very skillfully; Vorgartin has no idea how ironic the readers will find some of his thoughts, which is just perfect.

But aside from the wonderfully real OCs, characterization for the canon characters are dead on. The naive farmboy of Episode IV is totally apparent in the Luke we see here, and Vader, from all the comments leading up to his appearance to his actually showing up, is spot on as well. But it's the brilliantly-created OC, and how everything comes in from his refreshingly irreverent point of view, that really brings this fic to life.

( Excerpt )

The Sith Who Brought Life Day

Fandom: THE WEST WING
Pairing: None, Gen
Author on LJ: Not sure
Author Website: Kim's West Wing Fan Fic
Why this must be read:

I'm a big fan of fics written from the view point of minor characters. This brilliant and funny fic is from the POV of Toby's assistant Ginger, as she lies on Toby's couch suffering from food poisoning inflicted on her by her boss.


Was he trying to kill me? Have I done something wrong in my role as assistant extraordinaire that would make him want to poison me with a danish?

I wonder if I die in the White House if they'll bury me at Arlington?

Probably not.

"Ginger!!"

Oh God, Sam. Go away.

"Ginger!!"

I hate it when they don't listen to my inner voice. So annoying.


The Guilt of Ziegler

Fandom: X-MEN COMICVERSE
Pairing: Wolverine/Jubilee
Author on LJ: thelasteuropean
Author Website: N/A
Why this must be read:

So, I wasn’t going to recommend any Jubilee stories this time since that’s pretty much all I did in February. This one is so good though that I just have to. This author has become one of my favorite writers in the fandom. I wish we could recommend WIPs because the novel The Last European has been posting is a really fun grocery store read. Oh well. Her shorter fics tend to not be so fun. She writes stories that are totally gross and totally realistic at the same time. The squick level in this particular one is kind of off the charts. The characters are written in a way that they’re both sympathetic and totally hateful at the same time. It’s not a way I like thinking of Wolverine or Jubilee.

Tiny Fires isn’t a fun story. It’s not a story that I had a good time reading. It’s really, really well written though and definitely worthwhile.

( Excerpt )

Tiny Fires by The Last European

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: Mulder/Diana Fowley
Author on LJ: winter_baby
Author Website: N/A
Why this must be read: First off, there were and are very few writers in this fandom willing to tackle this pairing. Diana Fowley was never well-liked by fandom, and that was mostly the show's writers' fault. But a small segment of us always wondered, why did she leave Mulder in the first place, and what was that like? Winter Baby doesn't answer why, but she does humanize Diana in a wonderful, brutal way.

( excerpt )

Trivial Things

(So late, I know. So, so late.)
Hikaru No Go

Hikaru No Go (also known as Hikago, as I will undoubtedly slip into calling it sooner or later) is a manga that was serialized in Weekly Jump a few years back. There are 23 volumes of the manga and an anime which covered a good portion of that, with further material in specials. The series is the brainchild of Hotta Yumi, illustrated by Obata Takeshi (later of Death Note), with go professional Umezawa Yukari providing consultation on go matters (many of the games in the series are based on actual go games).

Basically, go is a board game, and Hikaru no Go is about a boy and his ghost playing that game. How could you go wrong?

( Let's GO! )

Fandom: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Author on LJ: anmani
Author Website: Not entirely sure, sorry.
Why this must be read:

This story's not like many. For one, it's [almost] in Det. Vartann's view, who is possibly my favorite detective on the show, next to Vega. In a few simple sentences it shows how Nick's changed since his burial at the end of season five, and that the people around him have noticed, and try not to give it too much attention. It also shows that, in this situation, Greg can ground him, and give him support, and not rip him away from the child that Nick saved on his own, and that he could not give up to the people from child services. It's a sad, yet happy and maybe an almost-tears because it's just amazingly real piece of art and it deserves recognition for how great it is. Good work, anmani. Pieces like this give me a reason to love the solidity of this pairing.

Greg arrived flushed and with his clothes in more disorder than usual. Vartann just pointed to the room where Nick, Grissom and the child services head honcho still were. He listened to the agitated voices of Greg and Grissom occasionally interrupted by the female leader and the infant, but never Nick. The chirp of his phone brought him back to the present and he fumbled to answer it. The display read Willows and he knew she would be disappointed with the little information he could give.

He was still on the phone when Greg emerged from the office guiding Nick with a firm grip. Anger rose as he took in the disheveled Nick without the baby. Greg gave him a curt nod, never breaking his pace. The voices in the office reached a higher level, thus making them all freeze on the spot. Catherine raised her voice on the other end to regain his attention, Vartann choked out a half baked answer and hung up.

All in a Day's Work

Hello, I'm hua, and I'll be driving your small fandom Hikaru no Go for this month. Hopefully I'll be able to get this sucker up to the speed limit by the end of the month.

Fandom: Hikaru no Go
Pairing: None
Author on LJ: supacat
Author Website: !Super Cat Online
Why this must be read:

Shindou and Touya and Sai. A large part of Hikaru no Go is the chase; everyone seems to be constantly measuring their skills against someone else. This is a short piece that moves very calmly for the nature of the discussion, which is not usual, but in context I like the style. It's an intimate setting but sort of a detached way of processing it, different from the usual meltdowns in the go salon. Touya is very Touya; I can envision his first line very well.

Marked