Fandom: ANGEL
Pairing: none
Length: short
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Road Kill
Why this must be read: I just can't control my evil hand. Lindsey was never quite right after that Evil Hand. Damn, that thing just never left him alone. Really cool writing style, broken and fragmented, it's nice to find a good fic written in second person, and the little details are just perfect.

You Will Drive With Your Evil Hand

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: Mulder/Scully
Length: One-shot
Author on LJ: aloysiavirgata
Author Website: Fic tag on LJ
Why this must be read:

Many of us fans of the X-Files think that the ninth season of the show was a travesty, for many reasons. Which, of course, makes that season ripe for fanfic to explore the gaping holes the storylines left. This new story does just that and adds a human, three-dimensional element to a number of events that seemed poorly done and often inexplicable on the actual show. It's an epistolary story, replete with little twists and turns, coded messages, and rich characterization. And by the end, if you're not sniffling a bit, I'll be very surprised.

( We crawled from those primordial seas so many millions of years ago and carry some of it inside of us to this day. )

Love's Austere and Lonely Offices

Fandom: HOUSE
Pairing: Foreman/Cuddy (almost gen)
Length: 1,129 words
Author on LJ: aheartfulofyou
Author Website: luminous misjudgment
Why this must be read:

And now for something completely different! This is a Foreman character study, and while I'm not his biggest fan this fic really works for me. It takes a conversation between Foreman and Cuddy and uses it to throw Foreman into the spotlight, something that rarely happens on the show. It's interesting and funny and smart, and you should go read it even if you're not a Foreman fan.

La Consommation D’Astrologie

Fandom: Sweeney Todd
Pairing:None, really.
Length: 1,325
Author on LJ:hippediva
Author Website: See above.
Why this must be read: It's an utterly awesome, rather chilling introspective piece of writing. And the journey through Sweeney's mind is rather disturbing. But mostly for that final line.

He jerked, felt his wrist snap. The blade twisted, catching the light and he was dazzled.

Fandom: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Pairing:Sweeney/Lovett
Length:29,142
Author: Azurelacroix
Author Website: Azurelacroix
Why this must be read: This is, as far as I can determine, the only fic that most Sweeney fans will accept as a continuation. I have found another, more recent and less well known, one as well, which I will be reccing in the next week.

It works...in a scarily fantastic way without woobifying either Sweeney or Lovett.

You can't help but feel sorry for Toby, though.

Mrs. Eleanor Lovett had been born into a large family consisting of three brothers. At any given time during her childhood, she could be found in their presence, sharing in their games, wrestling with them for a bit of toffee, a toy truck, or a penny found in the street. Their mother had long ago given up the effort of preventing little Nellie from joining in the sibling rivalry. With her tough little fists and quick reflexes, Eleanor found she could defend herself quite effectively. She grew up poor and resilient, and struggling against a long legacy of failure and poverty, she had made something of herself. And damned if she was going to die like this.

Fandom: LIFE ON MARS
Pairing: Sam Tyler/Gene Hunt
Length: 3100 words in total
Author on LJ: fawsley
Author Website: Fic list on her journal

Why this must be read:

It's a little bit of a cheat, but the stories are interconnected and can be read as one. They are "The Immediate Jewel of His Soul", "Parmaceti for an Inward Bruise" and "A Tide in the Affairs of Men".

"The Immediate Jewel of His Soul" was one of my earliest reads in Life on Mars fandom, and as often happens, if its good then it tends to lend itself to comparison to what follows after in your reading. I sort of expected all writing in the fandom to be as delightfully sharp and eloquent, to just catch the character's voices so well and to fill me with that awww factor that I love to feel. And while not every story has been so, Fawsley, at her best, continues to write the two men as I love them to be written.

Immediate Jewel has just the best ending, it's clever and funny and sad all at the same time. I can't really talk too much about the story without giving that end away. Let's just say that Sam finds out about Gene's feelings for him in a rather unexpected way. And when Faws gets going, her writing is a delight.

A sample: ( Read more... )

This is a light, warm story, as close to the much-maligned 'fluff' as I'm likely to drive, but with Faws behind the wheel, it's a lovely ride.

The Immediate Jewel of His Soul
Parmaceti for an Inward Bruise
A Tide in the Affairs of Men

Fandom: TOUR OF DUTY
Pairing: Sgt Zeke Anderson/Lieutenant Myron Goldman
Length:  714 words
Author on LJ: None
Author Website: Notes from the Underground

Why this must be read:

TJ has a wonderful knack of writing guys as guys and this, the first of two stories, is a prime example. The topic of jeep sex and if Sergeant Anderson has ever “done it” in a jeep comes up as the team is being flown out to their next mission. 

Excerpt:

Myron found himself biting the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. The men were staring at Zeke like he was about to impart the wisdom of the ancients to them. Considering how young some of them were, it probably did seem like the wisdom of the ancients. Deciding to have a little fun of his own, Myron turned to face his squad.

"So tell us, Sergeant, was this brunette any good?" Myron asked. You could have heard a pin drop as Team Viking gaped in astonishment at their lieutenant and waited for their sergeant to reply.

Helicopter Conversations - Jeep Sex

Tags: fanfic, tour of duty

Fandom: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Pairing: Elizabeth/Darcy
Length: 12,000 words
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Derbyshire Writer's Guild
Why this must be read:

When it comes to fic, I think I’m something of a voyeur. I enjoy examining events and relationships through the eyes of connected but peripheral characters. Sarah’s Story is a sequel told from the point of view of Sarah, who moves from Longbourn upon Lizzy’s marriage in order to be her lady’s maid. What follows is a relatively short but extremely poignant story of confidences, loyalty, and love of more than one sort. I’m not ashamed to say that the first time I read it, I cried a little. And with every subsequent reading it still leaves a small ache in my heart.

Sarah's Story

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A week in advance of your assigned month you will be notified with a reply to your comment. During that time, you agree to post a minimum of 1 fic per week in the following format:

Subject: Title by Author (Rating)

Fandom: YOUR FANDOM
Pairing: (no abbreviations, please)
Author on LJ: (if applicable)
Author Website: (author's fics, if available)
Why this must be read:

Emphasis should be on fics that you feel are especially outstanding and accessible examples of your fandom, e.g. it plays on a repeated theme in the show, it's a fandom or a personal favourite, it was a controversial fic, it's good smut. Whatever.

Warnings are not required beyond what the author has posted on their own stories.

Thanks for playing and remember, kids! Without you, the crack_van will run out of gas!!

(snerk)

Fandom: STARGATE SG1
Pairing: Cameron Mitchell/Jack O'Neill
Length: 9,600
Author on LJ: surreallis
Author Website: None,just on lj
Why this must be read:

Before the rec starts, have some warnings: this was written for apocalypse_kree last year, and it starts off with all of SG1 dead, except for Jack and Cam, and most of the world destroyed. It's one of the most depressing stories I've ever read.

That said, it is a brilliantly written depressing story. She gives only the barest information about how the world ends, but it's enough to draw a perfect mental picture of this completely changed world, and Cam and Jack in it. Cam watches the Mountain blow up, then goes all the way to Washington to tell Jack that SG1 are gone; and then he pretty much turns right back around and goes back to prove it, with Jack and the ghosts of SG1 and Cam not saving them, not dying with them, to keep him company.

It's a story about acceptance, more than anything else: about accepting what you had, and what you didn't, and what you've lost, and all the things that you regret and can't change, and that what you're left with is all that you've got, and that you have to find a way to live with that. The physical plot is the journey Jack and Cam make back to where the mountain used to be, and the moment when they arrive, and Jack sees what happened, breaks my heart every time I read it, almost as much as how badly Cam doesn't want to be the one to show it to him.

There's an element of hope, at the end, for the two of them, but it's a brief glimmer of hope in a whole lot of darkness; it's the only possible way this could end. Jack and Cam are a rare pairing at best; in the circumstances, there's a whole lot of desparation, of trying to hold onto something that's gone, when they do have sex; again, it's the only real way it could go in this story, and it's a beautifully written inevitability.

( Read a little? )

Bend Low Towards The Dirt