Fandom: MARVEL COMICS
Pairing: None. Kate Bishop gen with several guest stars.
Length: 4,700 words
Author on LJ: inlovewithnight
Author Website: Exaggeration and Blank Verse
Why this must be read:

There’s a fair amount of Young Avengers fic on the internet, but almost all of it focuses on the male characters. And while the YA boys are certainly awesome, I’ve always wanted to see more of my personal favorite YA character: Kate Bishop.

This is THE Kate Bishop fic. I have never read anything that so perfectly captures her personality, her toughness and vulnerabilities, her fears and hopes and the way she interacts with all the different people in her life. The concept itself is simple: Kate struggles with an important decision about her future. But the way inlovewithnight layers in Kate’s anxieties, and the physical ways they manifest themselves, is brilliant. Plus, the language throughout is simply beautiful, rich and deliberate, and the sense of the Marvel Universe as a cohesive whole is incredibly strong.

( An excerpt from the beginning, because my words really can’t do this justice. )

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Leroy Jethro Gibbs/Timothy McGee. Abigail Sciuto/Timothy McGee (past)
Length: 4,606
Authors on LJ: gyoro and lawpup
Author Website: Demon Cry
Why this must be read:

This co-written story is the first ever NCIS story the partners have written - and I truly hope it will not be the last. In fact the authors say they are working on part two, so . . .

Abby plays a vital role in this story as she is the person to talk to McGee about his growing feelings for Gibbs and then tackles Gibbs in a roundabout way about McGee. It is actually pre-slash and is a first-rate story.

The authors capture the  characters and their voices and little habits perfectly - not just in the big things but in the little things as well.

You can hear the whole story as well as visualise it - you really could be watching an episode.

Now, gentlemen, about the sequel . . .

( Extract )

---

Spilled Coffee

Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Pairing: Methos/Joe Dawson
Length: 1300 words
Author on LJ: lannamichaels
Author Website: My Homosexual Agenda
Why this must be read:

I probably have a soft spot for the stories that deal with Joe's mortality, and this one does it in a really excellent way. I love how Methos, lannamichaels' unique Methos, is here shown through Joe's eyes. It is a rather short story, yet not only does it pack an emotional punch, it also contains more layers than I can properly articulate (even the premise is kind of indefinite inside-turning spiral - Joe watching Methos watch Joe). It is at once foreign and familiar, beautiful, bitterly humorous and sad and terrifying and resigned and hopeful - a bit like the life itself.


( An excerpt )



Waiting For Methuselah

Fandom: STAR WARS
Length: about 1500 words
Pairing: Anakin/Obi-Wan
Genre: Comedy
Author on LJ: heartofslash
Website: justthefic
Why this must be read:

Comedy in Star Wars is an integral part of the saga, and this author contributes so much to the fanfic element of it for years now that I'm pleased to rec this story. There is the Jedi Kink series, the standalones and, and ... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's the lure of an all-convo fic that lured me in and the stylish humor of it that kept me reading. This fic takes a reasonable assumption, that Palpatine, being Sith and in tune with selfishness, greed for power, and above all, ambition, might not realize what love does: it makes the Significant Other's safety paramount. In the hands of a Sith, love is a weapon. Palpatine could have stopped in Stover's ROTS novelization by offering Anakin the Corellian system and waited for Anakin's, "Hey, yeah! That's just what I wanted! Thanks, sir!" without going into the issue of Padme's safety. He would have been wrong, and we would have had a different saga. As it is in this story, Padme confides in her fellow Nabooan and leads him through her tangled thoughts concerning her husband's attachment to his former Master. Though Anakin has been Knighted, he and Obi-Wan are still attached at the ... hip. It really bothers Padme.

My Future Folds

Fandom: EARTHSEA
Pairing: none
Length: ~3500 words
Author on LJ: ellen_fremedon
Author Website: On Skyehawke & Yuletide (Arithmancy.net appears to be down), but I'm not aware that she's written any more in this fandom
Why this must be read:

In my first five recommendations, I've introduced three of the main characters of the Earthsea series, and now plan an interlude where I highlight stories focusing on just a few of the host of minor characters who populate the islands. If there's time I hope to get back to Ged & Tenar at the end.

Azver is the only Karg to attend the Roke School of Wizardry, saying on his arrival simply 'I come to learn!', and becomes Roke's Master Patterner. He lives in the Immanent Grove, the heart of Archipelagan magic, whose trees are the oldest in the world. Introduced in The Farthest Shore, he's a major character in the novella 'Dragonfly' & also appears in The Other Wind. His story is intriguing -- why did he choose to come to Roke? How did this 'sword-begirt, red-plumed young savage' from a culture that rejects all magic become one of the wisest mages of the Archipelago?

Fanfiction that answers these questions is woefully sparse, which makes 'The Veins of the Forest' all the more wonderful. Ellen Fremedon runs with the Norse model for Kargish culture to give us a backstory for Azver that is beautifully detailed and absolutely perfect. The story also works in some thoughts about the Immanent Grove, whose roots Azver says are 'mingled with the roots of all the forests that were or might yet be'. The result feels like a lost short story from Tales from Earthsea. This was written for me in a past Yuletide, but it would be criminal not to share it.

( Excerpt under the cut )

The Veins of the Forest by Ellen Fremedon

Fandom: HEROES
Pairing: Angela/Kaito
Length: ~1800
Author on LJ: tju_tju_tju_tju
Author Website: jf_and_sd
Why this must be read: Because Angela is one of the most unruffable of the Heroes characters, capable of conducting flirting with all the precision of a knife edge. Set some years pre-series she and Kaito take a drive, the fic showing them keeping their mutual guards up whilst still enjoying the other's company.

It's not quite about the Company, but it's a backgrounded presence that slips in and out of the fic, particularly working with the reveal of the OC - both as a person, a new ability and a double take at the title. There's a definite sense of history here, and Kaito and Angela are well kept to their core characterisations, not saying an unnecesary word or a carefully considered one.

( Excerpt )

Murphy's Law

Fandom: MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: None
Length: 11,913 words
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Solo Sojourn

Why this must be read:
I know some of my other recs have been quite explicit which may have put off the people who only read gen. I do like gen stories aswell and here's the proof of the pudding as they say. This story mixes two of my favourite things to perfection - Man from UNCLE and Disney. Before you run off screaming that I've lost my marbles please hear me out!

Most Man from UNCLE stories centre on action, angst or our boys being in peril (as you usually see them in the show). This story doesn't have any of that. What it does have however is buckets and buckets of character. It takes place in Disneyland where the boys are following a suspect. Naturally, they can't go in all guns blazing, so they have to just work their way through the park in search of their mark.

( Excerpt )

Every now and again you need a bit of fluff to make you smile. Not all the time, but just occasionally :-) I wouldn't say this story is proper fluff, however the story fills the need for something a little light perfectly. Just imagine a moody, communist spy from Russia, working for an international organisation seeing Disneyland for the first time! The banter is just perfect - Illya's reaction to what he sees is (in my opinion) exactly how he should react. The Napoleon/Illya relationship in a story is always a critical thing for me and this one hits it right on the head despite the odd situation. I can certainly believe that Illya should react with confusion and that Napoleon would have to explain some things to him.

So for me, it works. Spies in Disneyland. In the 60's.... Surprising and yet fluffily satisfying *g*

The Magic Kingdom Affair

Fandom: POPSLASH ('NSYNCSLASH)
Length: Novella
Pairing: JC Chasez/Justin Timberlake
Author on LJ: N/A 
Author Website: Shadows
Why this must be read: When it came time to rec Destiny's fics, I wasn't too sure which one to rec because she has so many well written fics with original and thought provoking plotlines. This is among my favorites of Destiny's and I hope everyone enjoys it as well.  Again, Justin Timberlake is the angst victim. Surprise. Surprise.


Hush

Justin grew silent, lost in his own world, quickly loosing any fight left in him. He tried to pray but could no longer recall the words the Lord instilled in him -- he tried to sob but the tears had abandoned him for higher ground -- he tried to scream some more but his vocal chords were badly bruised from the collar around his neck.