Fandom: BOY MEETS WORLD
Pairing: Eric/Jack
Author on LJ: no
Author Website: Craig's profile on ff.net

Why this must be read:
To get all accusations of nepotism out the way, yeah, I beta'd this, and the mentioned story in the intro never came into fruition. Still, this sweet first time story makes you root for the characters, and it's the kind of happy story that makes you sigh at the end. It's a short read, but a good one.


What If?

Fandom: ANTHROPOMORFIC
Pairing: Het/Slash
Author on LJ: pauraque
Author Website: Under the Skin
Why this must be read: The age-old battle of shipping versus slashing is duked out in this short, but brilliantly funny, grudge match. Who will you be barracking for?

Het vs Slash

Fandom: YU YU HAKUSHO
Pairing: Kurama/Kuronue
Author on LJ: kahn
Author Website: reikaiwriters
Why this fic must be read:

Kurama/Kuronue is a pairing that requires a lot of originality. Not because it's all been done, but for the exact opposite reason. There's almost no canon whatsoever for them. Kurama's life before he was reborn in human body is a virtual unknown and can be summed up in five or six bullet points:

-He's a kitsune/fox demon
-He was full-grown one thousand years ago
-He was(is) a thief
-Based on the number of old acquantainces who show up and try to kill him, he wasn't much of a team player.
-He can control plants.

Kuronue's past is even vaguer. We only ever see him in flashback scenes, and even then he's only alive for about ten seconds. He was, apparently, very much attached to his pendant, and when he fell into a trap he encouraged Kurama to leave him and save himself.

Having so little to work with certainly gives the writer a lot of creative leeway, but it also tends to invite sloppiness. If there are no rules to follow, how do you judge the quality?

kahn manages to take what little the series gives us and fleshes it out into a believable scenario explaining how these two met. She takes a character we know almost nothing about and extrapolates a back-story, voice and personality that rings true. And even better, she takes Kurama, a cold-hearted, occasionally merciless fighter with power to make others of his kind quail, and explains how he could have fallen into the situation he's in without making him helpless.

Summer of the Garden is set before the series begins, so there's no need to worry about not being familiar with the plot or characters. kahn gives us everything we really need to know in the story itself. And while this is technically only the first part of the Earth and Sky Arc (which she seems to have more or less abaondoned, sadly) the story stands independantly.

( You can have run of my castle, Nishoku had said, but do not disturb the treasure in the garden. )

Summer of the Garden by Kahn

Hi there. My name’s Sheera, and I’ll be your friendly Brokeback Mountain sheepherder driver for the month of December. Together, we’ll be delving the finer points of a relationship between two men who don’t have the education to name what’s going on between them or the tools to cope with all the troubles it presents for two rural ranchhands who dream about being cowboys but, in the end, find out their best dream was one another. This is an OTP-driven fandom so everything I’m reccing will be Jack/Ennis, mostly one shots, a good deal of angst, and some smut thrown in for good measure. Also, this is an ideal time to be checking this fandom out, as the Special Edition DVD is going to be released in January.

So let’s buckle up and get started, shall we?

( BBM overview: spoilers for movie and novella )

Fandom: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Pairing: Jack Twist/Ennis del Mar
Author on LJ: vdkapenguin
Author Website: BBM fic memories
Why this must be read: This pieces takes a unique approach to showing us the relationship between Jack and Ennis, and for that, I love it. The writing style is no-frills, used to full effect because of the no-frills nature of their relationship, yet at certain points (just like in the original novella) a turn of phrase will refract light like still waters that run deep. It’s short and really says it all. A lovely ficlet that explores how two people who can’t say much with their words say a lot with their actions.

Our Way