Fandom: FIREFLY
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2971 words
Author on LJ: sullensiren
Author Website: Fic Journal at IJ
Why this must be read: This is a chilling story about Simon getting his hands on a copy of the surveillance videos made during River's counseling sessions at the Academy (it helps to have seen the session 416 tapes, but it's not necessary to follow the story), and his subsequent efforts to understand and repair the damage done to River. This is set pre-movie but post-series, in that uncomfortable space after "Objects in Space" and "Ariel" but before the watershed events on Miranda. River is not entirely a girl anymore, and sullensiren does an excellent job of finding a really authentic and captivating voice for that odd mixture of laughing child, brilliant young woman, and cold weapon that makes up the inside of River's mental landscape. Simon's guilt and horror also come through with heartbreaking clarity, especially as he comes to better comprehend exactly what happened to his sister, and I love the complexity of his feelings here. The relationship sullensiren paints between the Tam siblings is very layered and real and and fundamentally loving, and all the more devastating in the ways it (and they themselves) has been damaged because of that.

Wait my Dissolution

I'm back with some fic! Sorry for the wait.

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: Chris/Lance
Length: ~33,800
Author on LJ: rhyssj
Author Website: Experiment V
Why this must be read: To put it simply, Chris. Rhys strikes up this great balance of humor and neurosis that just fits Chris so incredibly well and leave me wanting more. The story is fun and funny and sweet and wacky and everything you would want to see when you throw the five guys of *NSYNC into a cabin in Wisconsin. It's a read that will lift your spirits and leave you laughing.

I dare you to read and not fall in love.

( Have an excerpt )

Two Straight Guys in Wisconsin: The Amazing Adventures of Chris and His Cock

Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Length: 15, 499
Author on LJ: sunawareness
Author Website: fanfiction tag
Why this must be read:

This is a simply beautiful World War I AU where Merlin is a young doctor and Arthur is about to head off to war. A chance meeting leads to Merlin indulging Arthur before he leaves for war and things seem to be going well (in a closeted 1914 sort of way) but when Arthur returns for leave, everything is different.

I love historical AU and I love the whole homosocial, forbidden love thing (I'm a sucker for punishement, ok!) and I also love that we get Gwen and Morgana managing to kick arse in a very 1918 sort of way.

( Once an excerpt, always an excerpt. )

The Nine Of Wands (1/2)

Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Pairing: Duncan/Methos
Length: A little bit more than 13.600 words
Author on LJ: [Bad username or site: [info]hafital @ livejournal.com]
Author Website: FanFiction Paradise
Why this must be read: This is a long, calm story. Duncan and Methos' story: filled with sorrows, and violence, and pain, but also with friendship, loyalty... love. This is the story of two men, who even falling in love can't find the way to stay together.
And we share this story with them, we follow Duncan going through the Dark Quickening, the Horsemen, Ahriman, and Keane...
And then, after all those years, all that loneliness and pain, maybe, just maybe, they are finding the way...
Have a taste ( here )

So, what you think?

Sorrow Unmasked

Fandom: MARVEL COMICS
Pairing: Steve Rogers (Captain America)/Arnie Roth
Length: 2,500 words
Author on LJ: harmonyangel
Author Website: Harmonyangel's LJ fic-archive
Why this must be read:

Reading harmonyangel's Captain America fic is always a joy -- because she has such a thorough knowledge of the character and his history, and because she's obviously thought a lot about the conflicts and contradictions presented by that history. In this story, she examines Steve's transition from a shy, serious, artistic kid growing up in New York during the Depression, to the model supersoldier that he became in World War II. harmonyangel uses one skillfully envisioned, lyrically written scene set during Steve's childhood to represent all the things Steve Rogers leaves behind when he becomes Captain America -- including the possibility of a full acceptance of his own sexuality.

And You'll Take to the Sky

Fandom: SMALLVILLE
Pairing: Clark/Lois
Length: 3100 words
Author on LJ: mskatej
Author Website: same
Why this must be read: The awkwardness that's a hallmark of Clark's relationships with women carries on into this dirty, funny and rollicking story that manages to bring Lois and Clark together without a drop of sap and a tonne of sexiness.

( This is the first time they’ve seen each other since, and wow, he’s so close. )

Lick

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: none, gen
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Saoirse's Stories
Why this must be read:

Saoirse's stories tend to focus on the depth of Jim and Blair's relationship and what happens when things conspire to strain it. In Where We Love, Jim and Blair stumble into a bucolic alternate universe, which seems like paradise to Jim after the stress and strain of being a cop in Cascade. But can he really be content there forever? Can Blair? The answer is both heartwarming and terribly bittersweet.

Excerpt:
He waited until the late afternoon sun was warming the wall of the cottage, and Sandburg had settled on the bench outside, to soak up the last rays. Then he went out to stand beside him. "You got a minute, Chief? there's something I need to talk to you about."

Sandburg leaned back against the stone side of the cottage and closed his eyes. He was clearly still hurting but there was no telling him to slow down. He sighed, stretched, winced, and finally said, "What's up?"

Ellison sat on the bench beside him. "You know we've done everything in our power to find a way home."

Sandburg didn't speak. He obviously wasn't intending to make this easy.

"The thing is," Ellison said, "We could spend the rest of our lives searching for a way back and never find it. Maybe it's time we stopped fighting it and just accepted that this is our reality now. There's no way back, and we're just going to have to make the best of it."

"Bullshit, man." Sandburg sat up and glared at him. "You don't know that. There's no way you could know that, so why don't we just lay it on the line here?"

"Chief, I'm just saying--"

"You're saying you don't want to go back. I get it. I just don't like it."

Where We Love