Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Author on LJ: audrarose
Author website: audrarose.com
Why this must be read:

After Twilight, an entire genre of fic sprung up of authors trying to cope with Kate's death. Most of them got retconned by Kill Ari, Part 1 but hey, we had three months to write the stories with no idea what happened next. This is one of the best, in my opinion; Audra Rose takes these two angry, grieving men and turns them to each other for comfort, for the need to feel alive. It doesn't solve anything and yet it solves everything. She has a lovely, lyrical style here, stream-of-consciousness that makes it all the more immediate and real.

( excerpt )

Breaking Point

Fandom: BUFFY
Pairing: Angel/Xander, Spike/Xander, Angel/Spike/Xander
Author on LJ: kaygrr
Author Website: Kay's Asylum Journal
Why this must be read:

There’s a particular brand of hurt/comfort in which the main character isn’t merely hurt; he’s very nearly broken until he at long last finds some support and help. But in this category of h/c, just when things seem like they might be on a better course, that character keeps encountering more and more emotionally threatening challenges, until the very hope of recovery seem impossible to count on.

kaygrr’s aptly named Angst Monkey is perhaps one of the more heart-breaking examples of this sort of story in Buffyverse fanfiction. Just as the emotionally fraught relationships it features are thrown into question and reconfigured by the inexorable rush of developments, so too are the story’s readers drawn in and then thrown off expectations, witnesses to the tiniest glimpses of happiness for the characters that often seem just out of reach. For those who look for long stories, you’ll be happy to find forty-five satisfying, wrenching, and satisfyingly wrenching parts in this fic, some of them as immensely painful for the slender and oh-so-delicate strands of hope they hold out as well as for the emotional devastation experienced by the main characters.

Very brief and spoiler-avoidant summary: Because of some tricky circumstances, Xander must be the one to perform a particular action in an upcoming fight between good and evil. But when Xander faces death, Angel makes a decision that keeps Xander around but also changes Xander into someone and something who, while a kind of innocent, brings immense pain to the other characters. Spike features significantly in the story, and his past and continuing relationship with Angel also gain the author’s scrutiny and capable storytelling skills here.

Make sure to give yourself ample reading time, because it’s quite possible that once you begin this story, you won’t be able to stop until you’ve reached the end. And if you enjoy the story, please let the author know.

Angst Monkey

Fandom: Highlander
Pairing: Methos/Joe, Methos/Duncan implied
Author on lj: no that I know of
Web site: none (but her fics are hosted Here (scroll down until you find the right name)
Why this must be read

I'm usually not crazy about Methos/Joe, because it's often very akwardly written and makes the whole thing... Embarrassing rather than hot. But this one is perfect. Sad (minor character's death warning), but warm and... generous. It's a hurt and comfort fic, but the comfort part is long and warm and sexy and it makes you love Methos like you rarely do, and Duncan is a model of tolerance. Joe finds comfort in his friends generosity for him -including hot sex with Methos... But not only that. Duncan has an epiphany, too.

( an exerpt? Yessir! )
Go read it.

Generous souls

Fandom: SMALLVILLE
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Author on LJ: matchsticks_p
Author Website: Fanfiction.net
Why this must be read: This is another amusing future fic, with a Lex who can compartmentalise his life and a very confused Clark Kent who doesn't find it so easy. I particularly loved the denoument, which had me cackling into my coffee when I read it, and then randomly snickering for days afterwards.

Normalcy is a Subjective Thing

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Author on LJ: As far as I know, not on LJ
Author website: A Journey of the Heart
Why this must be read:

Watch NCIS long enough (about two episodes, really) and you see that Tony will do anything for Gibbs. Call it hero-worship, call it love, whatever you like, the fact is that he'll do anything to win Gibbs' approval and respect. Juli gives us a good, long story involving what happens when Tony thinks he needs to be more like Gibbs, and how Gibbs reacts instead. And when I say it's long, I'm not kidding; she originally wrote this for a zine. Long fics are hard to find in this fandom, and good ones even more so. Definitely worth a read, especially when you've got some time. A little sweet, but hey, we all need some sugar from time to time.

( excerpt )

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: Mulder/Scully
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: It's no longer available, but Brandon's stories are archived at Gossamer.
Why this must be read:

Colonization stories are usually the most complicated X-Files stories you'll find. The writer has to account for Chris Carter's convoluted mytharc, and depending on when the story was written, a cast of thousands incorporated. Apocalypse threatened weekly on Buffy, but on The X-Files it was always at least a season or two away, so for a colonization story to stand the test of time it has to have the basic ingredients and some ingenuity to boot.

Brandon D. Ray's "All Which It Inherit" comes in three installments, each of which could be read as a standalone, but which work even better when read together. It begins just after season seven's "Hollywood A.D." and wraps up enough mytharc canon into one package to make the show's paltry attempts seem even paler by comparison. Best of all, though, is the Mulder/Scully dynamic. I first discovered his work when I was a flush XF newbie, and when reading stories like this it's hard not to become a Mulder/Scully "shipper."

( excerpt )

It came down the grapevine late last week that Brandon Ray passed away. I didn't know him beyond some brief email exchanges over feedback and what have you, but I'm assured he was a good man and I already knew he was a great writer. I'm reccing "All Which It Inherit" today, but I encourage you to read some more of his work.

All Which It Inherit 1: Insubstantial Pageant
All Which It Inherit 2: Melted Into Air (Part One) | (Part Two)
All Which It Inherit 3: Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On

Fandom: RPS
Pairing: Michael Rosenbaum/ Jensen Ackles
Author on LJ: khohen1
Author Website: kHo's words
Why this must be read:

-I haven't seen much of this pairing, though, it really should be written a lot more often. Michael and Jensen are both extremely hot and the way the paw all over each other at events can not remain unnoticed.

I like that they're actually sober. A lot of these WB/CW RPS fics have the guys stumbling together in a drunken haze type thing, and I like that this is a little different.

So, yes. Go read, leave khohen1 feedback.

Two Doors to the Left

Fandom: RPS
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padelecki
Author on LJ: joyfulgirl41
Author Website: ... she doesn't have anything listed
Why this must be read:
-I like this because its got an aggressive Jared and a Jensen confused and hot and not quite knowing what hit him until it does. The spanish in it is just hot and I can just imagine hearing it in Jared's voice. Damn.

This is definitely worth the read. Short and hot and why are you still here reading the review when you could be reaidng the fic!?

It Always Seems Like a Good Idea at the Time

Fandom: RPS
Pairing: Jared Padelecki/Chad Michael Murray, Jared Padelecki/Jensen Ackles
Author on LJ: ladyjaida
Author Website: Her Memories
Why this must be read:
-Wow. Where do I even start? I absolutely loved this fic. I love how Jared is all sensitive and easy and laid back and Chad is this uptight, closet freak and nothing is ever good enough for him. I love the aspect that scared Chad off. I think this part might be my favorite:

It’s only a matter of time before that douche has a name.

*

“Hey, man,” his new costar says. “I’m Jensen.”

And everyone needs to go read this, and then tell ladyjaida how awesome it was.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Crushing on a Douche

Fandom: ANGEL
Pairing: Spike/Xander, but this feels more like gen
Author on LJ: witling
Author Website: Witlingville

Why this must be read:
The BtVS/Angel 'verse has sparked some of the best dark fiction I've ever read. Angst, h/c, and flat out dystopic storyverses abound. Some readers avoid dark stories, but given canon, the possibility for Bad Things is undeniable. So, give this dark AU a try. It's got a slash pairing, but it's also more of a plotty gen story that has an incidental slash pairing; the focus is on characters and plot, not romance/sex. I like this one for the way Angelus is written, and Wesley, Angel and Xander do suffer beautifully, don't they?

The Assistant

Fandom: THE WEST WING
Pairing: CJ/Ainsley
Author on LJ: mandysbitch
Author Website: Mind Games
Why this must be read:

Because it's hot and awkward and disappointing in that way that only drunken sex with someone you've been obsessing over can be.


She's obsessed with the Press Secretary. She's drunk and she's barely able
to move and her thoughts keep returning to CJ Cregg who is tall and gracious
and always able. So much more able than Ainsley Hayes who has one foot in
the White House, one foot in the upper echelons of the Republican Party,
and, on occasion, one foot in her mouth.

It's normal - she read that somewhere - quite normal to fantasise about
other women and be a normal, heterosexual, god fearing, Republican, only
she's pretty sure the "Republican" part is her own addition. Perhaps it is
normal, but it's driving her crazy.

How did this happen? Was it CJ's hand grasping hers in her new office as Sam
and Josh sang "He is an Englishman?" Was it those long fingers pressed
against hers that sent a message to her brain along with a shiver up her
spine?

And now the thought is wild, well and truly out of control. She finds
herself fantasising about CJ when the night gets too long and the air
conditioning in her office is too hot to concentrate. CJ's image sits on her
desk and pushes her hair off her face.


Eyes Grow Feet

Fandom: STARSKY AND HUTCH
Author Website: http://stripedtomato.tripod.com
Why this must be read:

You know how sometimes you can't explain why you like a story, but you just like it? I'm that way with Down a Dark Hall. I don't usually go for horror stories, spooky stuff, etc. But this one is really nicely done, with a good level of intimacy between the boys, and some interesting casework as they investigate murders at a prestigious college.

It's a nice Sunday afternoon read if you have the stomach for some soul-stealing horror (imagine a spooky cackle inserted here...).

Down a Dark Hall

“Rogue” is a watershed episode in both the canon and fanon of “The Sentinel.” It shifts the show’s paradigm, and suddenly the relationship between Jim and Blair seems a little more symbiotic. It’s the first time the term “guide” is used. It’s the first time we see one of Blair’s infamous “sensory tests” on Jim. And it’s how we meet Lee Brackett, rogue ex-CIA agent now in business for himself.

Any Sentinel fan will tell you: you can’t read Sentinel fic without stumbling across stories that either reference or feature guides, sensory tests, or Lee Brackett.

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Author on LJ: miriam_heddy
Author Website: Miriam Heddy’s Little Corner of the Universe, or look her up at 852 Prospect
Why this must be read:

Jim and Blair are complex guys. They’re articulate, and when necessary, they’re both pretty willing to get up in your face. Like most guys, they don’t always know what they want - or how to express it - and sometimes they have to work their way around to knowing what to say. Here, they define a couple of things: just what a guide is, why Brackett was more of a nuisance than a true criminal mastermind, and that Jim and intimacy get along just fine – when you finally figure things out and know the right thing to say.

Miriam Heddy is one of the masters of “Sentinel” fanfic. Her works are powerful and compact, and she writes Jim’s senses with a subtle finesse. What Miriam can convey in a single sentence, most writers can’t accomplish in a paragraph. She’s terrific at writing “guys,” sex, and Jim, and making it all real and tangible.

She's also someone whose enjoyment of the written word and the nuance of language comes across on the page. It’s no wonder she would write a story called, “Vocabulary.”

( Yeah, whatever. Send me a postcard from *where*-ever. )

Vocabulary