Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: The Doctor, Donna/Lee, Jack/Ianto
Length: three full length LJ posts, so 30,000ish?
Author on LJ: kattahj
Author Website: here
Why this must be read: An AU after Midnight. Donna, the Doctor, Jack and Ianto go to Jack's homeworld

This is an excellent crossover with Torchwood, with an intriguing science fiction plot and interesting back story for Jack. The characterisations are strong -- I particularly liked her less cocksure Jack -- and the uncovering of Jack's background and the world he comes from was cleverly done.

Memory Lane, Aydrdoon Valley

Fandom: FIREFLY
Pairing: 2 Gen, 1 Wash/Zoe, 1 Mal/Simon, and 1 that might be Gen or Jayne/River
Length: 1502 words
Author on LJ: itinerant_vae
Author Website: Vae's Fic Journal
Why this must be read: This is a group of short stories covering the entire crew at different time periods. Now, normally Vae writes mostly over in the Mal/Simon end of the pool, and I meant to rec one of those lovely stories (and one of the pieces of this group is, in fact, obviously a Mal/Simon)---but I have a lot of love for every single character of Firefly, and stories that manage to let each of them shine have a special place in my heart, so I finally decided to choose this one instead. There's a wonderful warmth and found-family joy to having the whole gang together, and Vae shows that quite well here by presenting these stories together, even though the characters appear in pairs or alone in the separate sections rather than all at once. The voices are lovely and endearingly in character, and despite the fact that there's no obvious link between the ficlets, there is nevertheless a good sense of thematic connection and full circle-ness. I particularly love the way Vae chooses to end this collection with Book's prayer; that choice hits the perfect note, and leaves a wonderful lingering sense of love, family, and hope mingled with a bittersweet sadness.

Five Ficlets

Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Length: 4, 157
Author on LJ: thehoyden
Author Website: fic: merlin tag
Why this must be read:

This is a fic where Merlin gets kidnapped by a dragon. What more do you need to know?

Oh, ok.

It's funny, the dragon is a filthy perve, Arthur is a little bit stupid but loveable and Merlin is very very put upon.

( Oh, excerpt, you're so fine! )


Damsel In Distress

Fandom: GOOD OMENS
Pairing: Aziraphale/Crowley, Anathema/Newt, ensemble cast, OCs
Length: Long one-shot, with epilogue and several 'aftermath' companion stories.
Author on LJ: irisbleufic
Illustrator on LJ: linnpuzzle
Author Website: collaborative community puzzlebleuink

Note: This community and everything on it is friendslocked, but membership is open. I asked the crack_van mods about this and they said it was OK.

Why this must be read:

This is the story that rocked the fandom hard in the summer of 2005, when the second wave was really getting going. The author/illustrator team had struck gold before with an earlier romantic story, but this one was especially distinctive and haunting and a bit controversial. "Second attempt at the Apocalypse" stories are a common subgenre, and some are very good and some are very bad, but this one re-envisions and realigns the sides in the battle, adds some pivotal and charismatic OCs, inflicts several intense gut-punches, and does it all with beautiful language and absolutely luminous illustrations. The author has said she was in part aiming for a dark feel heavy on the Neil side of the Gaiman/Pratchett spectrum, but I find her evocation of the dread and sadness - but occasional unpredictable miraculous hope - of war reminds me also of Tolkien.

Some passing familiarity with Gnosticism is helpful, but not necessary.

A Crown of Stars