Fandom: Dark Angel
Title: A Good Soldier
Pairing: mention of Alec/Biggs/Lola, Renfro
Author on LJ: alyse
Length: 2,000
Author Website: Unconscious Mind
Why this must be read: One of my favorites, because it touches on the dirty wrong bad! Alyse gives us a lovely glimpse of Renfro (I adored Nan’s portrayal of Renfro). Where Alec is a ‘good soldier’ of ordinary look at life at Manticore before Max is recaptured. Not exactly a pwp, but IMO it is hot, sad! and very wrong. Layered character insights to Alec and Renfro. Loved Alec’s voice, of being a good soldier, a lovely read.

( Excerpt )

A Good Soldier

Fandom: Gundam Wing
Pairing: Duo/Heero, Quatre/Trowa
Length: about 300,000 words
Author on LJ: snowdragonct
Author Website: her ff.net profile
Why this must be read:

Gundam Wing is a fandom that lends itself to AUs, at times. But there are certain dangers inherent to surfing for AUs on fanfiction.net.

This is a fic that makes trawling through That Site well worth the effort - and better still, the author is active, working on another (quite different) AU that's at 240,000 and climbing.

To quote her summary, 'Four boys in the juvenile justice system receive a last chance to make something of their futures. Will boot camp make or break them? And can they ever learn to be a team?' The charecterization is /on/ (although I will note that Treize reads like an OC, but he's not a focus character), she does something interesting by splitting Wufei off from the boys, and this is certainly not a fic lacking in action!

( Read more... )

Boot Camp

Hola! I have been having so much fun picking stories for everyone to read and introducing others to the wonder that is Hot Fuzz fanfic. I have a couple more to post today, but I wanted to give a mighty shout-out to zeddish and redderz for keeping us in line over at sandfordpolice, to ldhenson for maintaining the original archive, and to mikes_grrl for setting up the new archive. There are lots more stories to be read than I could post here, so please go over and check them out!

Fandom: Hot Fuzz
Pairing: Nicholas/Danny (pre-slash)
Length: 1730 words
Author on LJ: lozenger8
Author Website: Unknown
Why this must be read:

Aside from having the most brilliant title ever, this is one of the best stories that addresses Nicholas's adjustment to having a best friend in his life. One can't help but get the impression that he had few friends in London, and had gotten used to that. Loz addresses this and also manages to throw in a wickedly funny conversation comparing Vin Diesel to Chuck Norris. As usual, the greatest strength of this story lies in the natural-sounding banter between Nicholas and Danny. It ends on a beautifully hopeful note that I believe is perfect for the coming year.

( Sample? )

(Cheer Up (You Miserable Fuck))

Fandom: LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT
Characters, Pairing: Goren, Eames (implied Goren/Eames)
Length: 1307
Author on LJ: justanotherfic
Author Website: http://justanotherfic.livejournal.com/tag/%5Bfanfiction%5D+fanfiction
Why this must be read: Unlike Law & Order: Original, Law & Order: Criminal Intent delves more deeply into the personal lives of the series characters, and their relationships with one another. Goren and Eames, going into their eighth season on the show, are extremely popular characters. This story portrays Goren's internal mindspace and his relationship with Eames beautifully :)

Summary: Love is an infinite regress: You can't love someone who doesn't love themselves. But how can you love yourself if no one else shows you that there is something there that’s actually worth loving?
Excerpt: It’s simple, really. He just doesn’t know what it’s supposed to feel like. He’s never been in love – has never allowed himself to love someone; depend on someone – because, possibly, no one has ever loved him.

Infinite Regress

Fandom: LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT
Characters, Pairing: Olivia Benson, John Munch, Fin Tutuola, Elliot Stabler, Alex Cabot, Olivia Benson/Alex Cabot
Length: 777 words
Author on LJ: theholyinnocent
Why this must be read: Because you get such a feel for the characters, for what they must go through as people and as professionals. And because there's such a lovely bit of Olivia/Alex in it, and I miss Olivia/Alex.
Excerpt: She sat hunched over her desk, hands curled around the nape of her neck. So this is what it's like to be burnt out. She could taste it in the back of her throat. Like vomit.


Don Quixote in Manhattan

Fandom: Hot Fuzz
Pairing: gen, ensemble
Length: 1630 words
Author on LJ: fivil
Author Website: Unknown
Why this must be read:

At first glance, this small ensemble piece seems little more than a bit of life thrown on the page. But one can look deeper and see the bits of interaction and humor evident throughout the story are actually a love letter to the movie. Like a couple of the other gen stories I recced here, "Direct Evidence" works best when viewed as part of the larger whole of the movie-verse. Nothing spectacularly angsty or emotional happens, but that doesn't matter. These are our characters, moving on. Making us laugh.

( The briefest samples... )

(Direct Evidence)

Fandom: Chuck
Pairing: Chuck Bartowski/Lester Patel, Morgan Grimes/Lester Patel, Chuck Bartowski/John Casey
Length:  long one shot
Author on LJ: fiareynne 
Author Website: Agents Provocateur
Why this must be read:I'm ending the month the way I started it, with the goddess of Chuck slash, Fia. This is by far one of her best. It's long and epic and oh so angsty. She takes Lester, a character we know virtually nothing about, and she makes him a fully fledged person, a character that the reader can really and truly care about. I just want to take him off the screen and hug him with this story. Fia is a master of storytelling and I know that when I go to read, I will always be satisfied, I hope you are too.

Broken

Fandom: Hot Fuzz
Pairing: gen, ensemble
Length: 5000 words
Author on LJ: annlarimer
Author Website: Her Fuzzfic tag
Why this must be read:

I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't blast-post too many stories from one author, no matter how much I love her work. But I also wanted to finish out the year with my favorite stories, and this one definitely counts as among my favorites. Told in a quasi linear/vignette fashion, it recounts the events immediately following the explosion while everyone is still in hospital.

To say this story makes me giggle like a madwoman is an understatement. Sometimes I cackle. Still. There is a brilliant juxtaposition between thought and dialogue that allows the reader to feel they are inside the characters' heads and wondering when exactly everyone went mad at the same time the characters are interacting. Weaving throughout it all is the bond between Nicholas and Danny, unbroken and filled with glee that each is alive. And then there's the moustache hijinks.

( An example of what you're in for. )

(Turkey With Fireworks)

Fandom: LAW & ORDER: ORIGINAL
Pairing: Mike Logan/Jack McCoy
Length: 3995 words
Author Website: http://members.tripod.com/waywardslashwriters/Trig.html
Why this must be read: Oldie, but goodie. Jack McCoy and Mike Logan breathed such subtext on the screen for the one season they were both on together that slashing them was kind of inevitable. And, in Trig's case, also rather hot. ::fans self::

There's a few sequels to this, by the way. Just sayin' ;)

Excerpt:
"Uh, look, I didn't mean to offend..."

"None taken." He let his tone say it all, and waited for the stranger's response. He hadn't picked someone up like this since college, but he remembered the rules. The ball was in the stranger's court now.

New York Rain

Here is my last rec. Thanks to everyone who let me know they enjoyed the stories I picked. As I said before, there are many more at the archives and new stories being written on a regular basis, so come visit us!

Fandom: Hot Fuzz
Pairing: Nicholas/Danny
Length: novella length (seven chapters)
Author on LJ: pepperlandgirl4
Author's Website: The Pepperverse
Why this must be read:

Hot Fuzz is not a fandom that inspires writers to lengthy stories, though I don't know why. There are many elements to explore, and as an ensemble movie, many characters to go exploring with. I had always wondered what the immediate aftermath of the events in the movie would be in such a town as Sandford, where trust may become an issue and so many needed to heal both physically and psychologically. Pepper deals with these issues, some bodies in a castle, Nicholas's stress and worry over Danny, and a new face in town, in a manner that is both serious and believable.

This isn't a happy story, because it deals with unhappy events. But it's a hopeful one, with an ending that honestly made me feel sentimental and pleased. It is easy to read this and see how everyone made it from the explosion to the epilogue of the movie. And...yes, this is Pepper Espinoza we're talking about, of course there's hotness.

( Intro )

Side With the Seeds - the stories don't link off each other, so I'm posting all chapters here. Or you can go to her Hot Fuzz memories.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Fandom: LAW & ORDER: ORIGINAL, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT
Characters, Pairing: Stars or mentions Lennie Briscoe, Ed Green, Bobby Goren, Claire Kincaid, Don Cragen, Elliot Stabler, Anita Van Buren, Fin Tutuola, Alex Cabot, Olivia Benson, John Munch, George Huang, Jack McCoy, Serena Southerlyn, Nora Lewin, Paul Robinette, Ben Stone, and Dick Wolf. Pairings too many and too squicky to list.
Length: 1561 words
Author Website: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/220190/Alisia_D_Crede
Why this must be read: OMG Crack. Shameless, eye-burning, glorious crack. You can't decide whether to shriek with laughter or meep with horror at the unnecessarily vivid imagery and vicious character abuse.

Excerpt: Alex needed little encouragement and soon had Fin pinned against the witness stand. (Her original plan had been to do it in Judge Schreiber’s chair, but upon further reflection, she realized the accompanying Old Man Smell would have a detrimental effect on the entire enterprise.)

Law & Underwear

I wish I could've spaced these out more, but December succeeded in distracting me in so many ways. Alas. At any rate, I am now forced to smack you all with a bunch of recs at once on this final night of 2008. I apologize in advance for being spammy.

Fandom: M*A*S*H
Pairing: None. (perhaps Hawkeye/BJ if you choose to read it that way)
Length: 8,820 words
Rating: PG
Author on LJ: furies
Author Website: running through the tulips
Why this must be read:

Written for Yuletide 2006, this story is a classic of the fandom's post-war genre. Though it is, above all things, a vehicle for BJ, it does justice to the entire ensemble - and it conveys BJ's sense of dislocation in a manner that is true to character and to life.

( Read more... )

the hours between dawn and nothing

Fandom: M*A*S*H
Pairing: None.
Length: 14,000+ words
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: likethesun2
Author Website: Finishing the Hat
Why this must be read:

Is it kindness or cruelty to restore a painful memory that has been suppressed? Through Sidney - and the well-developed original characters who populate his psychiatric ward - Epigone explores all the ambiguities inherent in this question - and walks away with no easy answers. If you want richly drawn finale-fic, this is the story for you.

( Read more... )

The Dawn Don't Rescue Me No More

Fandom: YAMI NO MATSUEI
Pairing: Muraki/Tsuzuki/Oriya
Length: drabble
Author on LJ: ciceqi (inactive)
Author Website: ciceqi on insanejournal

Why this must be read:

Written for Halloween, this tiny story is appropriately and wonderfully haunting. Read it for the imagery, the way the author captures Muraki and Oriya's glittery charisma, for the hints of a universe far broader than can be explored in 100 words, but that is vividly realized all the same.

And tell her how much you like it, too. We all know that feedback for writers is always a good thing, but here there's a solid ulterior motive to prod you: she's mentioned that this is a universe she might be inclined to explore further, and I think you'll agree that that's something that should definitely be encouraged.

Corbies (scroll down to #10)

Fandom: YAMI NO MATSUEI
Pairing: n/a
Length: 1273 words
Author on LJ: cloudednine
Author Website: Fanfiction.net - Angranse

Why this must be read:

Tsuzuki's power, and his emotional instability, hover as a shadowy menace through all of YnM: rarely in the foreground, but never entirely absent. For all his kindness, and his rigid self-control, he is more than capable of bringing ruin to all around him, and although we never see it in the course of the series, it often feels as though that ruin is as inevitable as Ragnarok.

"Requiem in Flame" gives us a look at one all-too-believable scenario for that apocalypse, and a gorgeous and heartbreaking portrait of Tsuzuki pushed one step too far, and of the shikigami who even at the end will not desert him.

Requiem in Flame

Fandom: YAMI NO MATSUEI
Pairing: n/a
Length: 3500 words
Author on LJ: sheisninjagrrl
Author Website: Fanfiction.net profile

Why this must be read:

The Hisoka we meet in the YnM manga is, for all his delicate beauty and his classic uke visual presentation, a colder and more ambiguous character than he first appears (or than he is is in the anime, or in most anime-based fic). One of the most interesting developments in the fandom over the past few years is the growing awareness, on the part of a number of splendid writers, that far from being an eternal victim, or a fragile flower, Hisoka is someone with the potential to be very dangerous indeed.

"Evergreen" is a look at that Hisoka. Beautiful, scary, and utterly original, it hasn't gotten nearly the attention within the fandom that it should have; it's one of the most remarkable stories the fandom has seen in these past four years.

Evergreen

Fandom: Dark Angel
Title: Chimera
Pairing: Alec/Ames White
Author on LJ: jaguarcaine
Length: 50,581
Author Website: NA
Why this must be read: Author's summary: You think Alec/Joshua is a weird pairing? Try mixing Alec, his out-of-control pheromones, and a reluctantly attracted Ames White, then add a dash of Manticore meddling and stir.

Chimera finally takes us into the darkness promised by the premise of Dark Angel. This is a wonderful epic fic with lots of detail and great spot on characters. Don't let the MPREG scare you away - this is deliciously angsty and very believably done.

( excerpt )

Chimera

Fandom: M*A*S*H
Pairing: Hawkeye/BJ (mild)
Length: 450 words
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: annakovsky
Author Website: the speed of glaciers, maybe
Why this must be read:

I'm a sucker for an arresting image, and this brief slice-of-life story certainly provides.

( Read more... )

Attention, All Personnel

Fandom: M*A*S*H
Pairing: Hawkeye/BJ
Length: 955 words
Rating: PG-13
Author on LJ: mijmeraar
Author Website: Unknown
Why this must be read:

A bored Hawkeye tries to entertain himself. Another very funny ensemble piece!

( Read more... )

Those Who Wait

Naturally, this has to be my final rec before I turn over the keys to the van:

Fandom: M*A*S*H
Pairing: None.
Length: 1,000 words
Rating: PG
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Unknown
Why this must be read:

Because everyone knows that when all is said and done, Radar is the heart of 4077^th. Radar is the man who keeps the machine running - and this story conveys this fundamental truth with touching simplicity. Read it if you want to feel some warm fuzzies before sallying forth into the new year.

( Read more... )

Three Times Radar Made Christmas Bearable

Fandom: YAMI NO MATSUEI
Pairing: Hisoka/Tsuzuki, Hisoka/Muraki, Muraki/Tsuzuki
Length: about 3700 words, in 11 related pieces
Author on LJ: b_hallward
Author Website: ghost_of_banquo

Why this must be read:

If you've ever encountered any of Dorian's work, you'll already know that she is one of the best writers to grace any fandom that's lucky enough to attract her notice. Which is a good thing for me, since it makes this, my final rec of the month, merely difficult to write up, rather than impossible.

Dorian says of this piece -- and it is a single piece, just as an atom is a single bit of matter for all the subatomic particles that comprise it -- I have managed to destroy Tsuzuki, storm the heavens and burn Meifu to the ground in just under 3700 words. As that implies, this is an epic and a tragedy; it is much bigger on the inside than on the outside. The structure of the piece cuts away everything that is nonessential, and holds everything that is essential bound together in perfect, terrifying balance.

I have an (amateur, wholly untested) hypothesis that one of the things we're beginning to see in fanfic is the emergence of a genuine new literary form, one that uses a reader's familiarity with a given canon to achieve effects not possible with the novel, the conventional short story, or the formally-accepted structures of poetry. If that has any validity, then "The Three of Swords Variations" is the most perfect example of the new form that I know: astonishing in the amount of sheer storytelling packed into these 3700 words, in the virtuosity with which the author has used the tools the form puts at her disposal, and in the understated austere beauty of every line.

This isn't exactly what I think most people have in mind when they talk about comfort reading. Its effects rely on its audience being willing to read every word, and to pay attention to all the references, and perhaps even to google things you think might be references. (Dorian is a writer who'll reference Propertius and let you figure it out for yourself.) And it will be worth it, every moment of it; those references aren't mere gilding, the writer flashing peacock feathers at you. Every one of them is structural, adding to the weave of meaning.

There's a reason I've saved this one for last. This is art; it doesn't get any better.

And that makes a neat segue into the necessary disclaimer, which is that "The Three of Swords Variations" can be thought of as a remix of pieces of my own. All I can say -- and I have said it often enough elsewhere, and meant it -- is that to the extent that is true, I think that having in any way contributed to the writing of this story is more than I could ever have hoped to accomplish by my presence in fandom. If YnM were a full-time crack_van fandom I'd leave this to the next reccer for appearance's sake. But it isn't, and it would make a mockery of the whole concept of this community to leave this piece unrecced.

The Three of Swords Variations (index, with links and useful author's notes)
Individual links:
Useless as Next Morning's Sun
for lo, the rebel spheres spin round
with venomed tooth
A Deep So Profound
A Pit With Heaven Over It
Round Earth's Imagined Corners
Oubliette
Osiris (All in Pieces)
Yet Still 'Tis Just
Apotheosis
Of Angels Watching Round

And one bonus, from a universe next door to this one:

Aftermath

Hi there and Happy 2009! Between wars and economy, last year was pretty bleak. So, I thought I’d start out with a couple of New Year’s stories that are on the lighter side.

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Blair/Jim
Length: short
Author on LJ:fluterbev
Author Website: http://fluterbev-fic.dreamwidth.org/ 
Why this must be read: Because Enthusiastic!Blair and In!Love!Jim are sooo adorable!

First up is a brand new story from Fluterbev, set in her Irish Saga universe (the series just won a Light My Fire Award – congrats Bev!). Post-TSbyBS, Blair has moved to Ireland. After Jim retires, he follows his friend and his heart. “Frost” starts a year later, as they prepare for the holidays. There’s a little angst and h/c woven through this sweet slice-of-life story, as well as plenty of delightful details of Irish life. Come on in and enjoy the craic!

The Frost is All Over

Make it a New Year's resolution -- send authors feedback if you like their work.  It will make you feel great!