Fandom: STAR WARS: EXTENDED UNIVERSE
Pairing: Luke/Mara
Author on LJ: obaona
Author Website: obastuff
Why this must be read: So many elements of this fic just ping me so hard. It's an epic AU with two basic premises: not all of the Jedi were killed in the Purge, and Vader found Luke when he was twelve years old. Now Luke Skywalker is the Emperor, and does this fortuitous, inexplicable thing--he wants to make peace with the fledgling New Republic, and to seal the treaty, he wants to marry a Jedi: Mara Jade.

This fic has almost everything I love to read about in a Star Wars EU fic. There's Luke, powerful and in control, not quite a Jedi and not quite a Sith. There's Mara, without the bitter past of the Emperor's Hand, but still full of her customary fire. There's political intrigue and philosophical discussions, which always make me happy. There are two strong personalities learning through an arranged marriage to respect each other, to like each other, and to even come to love each other. There's an absolutely brilliant OC in Luke's majordomo, and a wonderful ensemble cast.

And along with having so many story elements that I love, this fic is just written so absolutely gorgeously. Obaona has such an eloquent, graceful style, and so evocative. She even gives us a sense of history within her universe by putting excerpts from the "Annals of the Empire" prior to each new section--excerpts that both give us that sense of history, and set the tone for the coming section. It's really brilliantly done.

Honestly, I could probably go on about what I love about this fic for pages--it's probably better for you to just read it yourself.

( Excerpt )

Drive You Mild

Fandom: WOMEN'S BUSINESS
Pairing: Katee Sackhoff/Jamie Bamber
Author on LJ: hobviously
Author Website: trisfic on del.icio.us
Why this must be read: Meta-meta-fiction? Is that even, like, a real thing? Well, it is now anyway, because Tris bent my head with it real good in this. It's kinda freaky; it's sorta, um... my thesaurus is not providing the right word. Curse you, thesaurus! Let's just say I really, really love this story-type-thing, and leave it at that. Go read it, already. *nods*

Real Person Fiction, Reality, and The Moonlighting Principle

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: Chris/Lance
Author on LJ: not known
Author Website: Vanishing Point
Why this must be read: Crack fic abounds and abounces and a-giant-leaps in popslash. I'm only 5 foot 1 and a bit. I like things to shrink. And I like the TrickyFish. So.

"You're saying I'm shorter than Mini-Me!" Chris yelled. It was, unfortunately, more of a screech. "Jesus fucking Christ, I am a Mini-Me! I am mini me! Aaaaaaaaagh!" He ran out the door. Lance could hear him thumping down the stairs, yelling the whole way. “I think he's handling this well," Joey said. Lance calmly noted the new height in his Palm.

Diminuendo

Fandom: SPORTS NIGHT
Pairing: None; Casey, Dan, gen
Author on LJ: sarcasticsra
Author Website: None known

Why this must be read: Sports Night fandom, or at least the part of it that writes fic, is a fairly small and tight-knit community, boasting a few wonderful writers who turn out a consistently high standard of material. Every so often a new name arrives on the scene, and, when it does, it's always a cause for celebration. And, er, a certain amount of chanting of One of us! One of us! This is sarcasticsra's first and, so far, only SN fic: a mostly-dialogue piece of Casey-and-Dan banter that, for all its comparative brevity, captures the characters, their voices and their personalities quite beautifully. I hope it won't be the last we hear from her.

"I draw two conclusions from that. One, you fixate on random, meaningless pieces of information – "
"Everyone loves me because of that quality."
"Everyone loves you in spite of that quality."
"But you concede that everyone loves me."
Casey rolled his eyes.

The Antics of the Liberal Media