Fandom: POPSLASH

Pairing: Chris/Lance, Lance/Reichen

Author on LJ: nopseud
Author Website: http://www.nsa.slashcity.org/nsa/index.html
Why this must be read:

I'm a little slow off the mark—it's been a busy June, so far—but I'm delighted to have something brand new to rec. I know it's new because it's among the most recently written stories in Popslash fandom, and I was lucky enough to have it written for Me. That's not why I'm recommending it, though, but because it is an awesome story of love.

Chris, you see, isn't always good at taking things as seriously as he could. He doesn't quite listen as carefully as he could to a message Lance leaves on his answerphone, and is in consequence taken very much by surprise when *that* People magazine hits the stands. Chris is also not good at admitting defeat, or that someone else may be right, or... anyway, this gets him into various situations he hasn't exactly planned for. Like making out with Lance. Fortunately, Chris is good at improvising.

Meanwhile, Joey is smart, Justin is resigned, JC knows everything,
and Lance has a secret crush. All in great style, with the kind of dialogue (especially from Chris) that you can just hear them saying. The last section is a thing of beauty.

Very definitely my kind of fic.

( A taster )
Serious

Fandom: NCIS/SGA
Characters/Pairings: Ziva, Ziva/Tony
Author on LJ: mhalachaiswords
Author Website: mhalachai's words
Why this must be read: When this was first recc'd to me, I hemmed and hawed, as I don't really read SGA unless they're randomly a NASCAR team (it's true) or about Ronon becoming Canadian.

But once I started this, I devoured it all in one night. Literally could not stop to even breathe. Mhalachai not only absolutely nails Ziva and her outsider status and how she deals with that. But she presents a picture of Atlantis that you don't usually see, so you see both the mission and her crew from a new perspective. Seeing Ziva carve out a place for herself, bond with the Marines and form relationships, while still maintaining her friendships back in DC (and in the case of Tony, her volatile relationship with her partner) was just pure delight from start to finish.

Agent Afloat Atlantis

Fandom: NCIS
Characters/Pairings: McGee, Abby, Gibbs, Abby/McGee
Author on LJ: atlashrugged
Author Website: stairstotheroof
Why this must be read: This is just a gorgeous look at both Mcgee's relationship with Abby (who is a bit like a force of nature, or catching the wind in a bottle. You just can't keep her bottled up.) and Gibbs, who is also a bit like a force of nature. I love the inside of her Tim's head, and I love watching him not grow up exactly, but grow into.

The Grain of the Wood Underneath Your Fingers

Fandom: NCIS
Characters/Pairings: Gibbs & Abby
Author on LJ: squeelated
Author Website: kate98
Why this must be read: I love this feather-light look at Gibbs and Abby and why they don't (but would) go there.

Safe Driver

Fandom: DANNY PHANTOM
Pairing: Danny/Sam, Tucker/Dora, Box Ghost/Lunch Lady, Johnny 13/Kitty, Paulina/Danny Phantom (one-sided), Jack/Maddie, Vlad/Maddie (one-sided), Vlad/HoloMaddie; Valerie/Dark Danny if you want it
Length: 30k+ total
Author on LJ: firefury 
Author Website: Fanfiction.net
Why this must be read: In my overview, I mentioned that the Danny Phantom fandom has a fascination with “The Ultimate Enemy” (TUE) because of the angst and potential for darkness and gore. There are a lot of TUE-based stories out there, and Firefury’s are among the very best.

The first two stories trace the lives of Valerie (“Jeremiad”) and Phantom (“Anathema”) from the time of the Fentons’ death until Danny’s intervention in the timeline ten years later. They stick religiously to the known canon, explaining even the smallest details, and really, really getting into the hate, anger, fear, and stubbornness of both characters—to the point of getting the reader to agree with some pretty insane actions. Her Dan voice is especially fantastic and handles the dual memories very well.

The last two stories are about redemption and forgiveness, and are no longer retellings of canon. They explore Danny’s relationship with Dark Danny, the fall-out of having two minds in the same body, and Dark Danny’s relationship with Future Valerie and the rest of Future Amity Park. There are also epic battle scenes, with appropriate character whumpage and spatters of ectoplasm.

The stories have gotten an impressive amount of attention from the fandom (you’d be hard-pressed to find a dedicated fanfic reader who doesn’t know them) and it’s pretty obvious why. They’re well-written, epic in scope and undertaking, and have lots and lots of angst from everyone (and it’s about TUE and Dark Danny).


Jeremiad, Anathema, Benediction, Indemnification

Hi, I'm splash_the_cat, and I'll be driving the Stargate SG-1 van this month, and focusing mostly on Teal'c and Sam Carter.


Fandom: STARGATE SG-1
Pairing: none
Length: Approx 4200 words
Author on LJ: katie_m
Author Website: http://katiefic.shriftweb.org/
Why this must be read:

I was surprised to see that this hasn't yet been recced here. It's an incredibly deft and bittersweet portrayal of Teal'c's struggle to mesh his two worlds, told though the beautifully captured voice of Ry'ac. One of my five top picks in this fandom. A must-read for any Teal'c fans.

"Almost a Statesman"

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: none
Length: 65K
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: http://slashcity.org/quercus/index.html
Why this must be read:   This is another winner from the dependable Lemon Drop. 

Jim’s senses have mysteriously disappeared, apparently for good. Despite the fact that he has become a good and in-demand detective, Blair feels that same insecurity that always accompanies the loss of senses. He wonders whether he has a place with Jim if he is no longer needed as a guide. Then along comes someone from Blair’s past, making him an offer that Blair doesn’t want to refuse:

 

 

( check it out. . . )

 

Lemon Drop has a style I’ve never found duplicated in the fandom. She unfurls her stories in a leisurely fashion yet they never stall.This is one I go back and re-read every so often. It has one of my favorite minor characters in it, as well as Jim and Blair at their human and heroic bests. And, if you read most carefully you will find that , like Alfred Hitchcock, she gave herself a tiny cameo!

In Vision I Roamed

Reminder: even authors who no longer write in the fandom enjoy feedback. 

Fandom: LIFE ON MARS - UK
Pairing: Chris Skelton/OMC
Length: 3k~ words
Author on LJ: time_testudinem
Author Website: none that I am aware of
Why this must be read:

Chris Skelton is beloved in LoM-UK fandom, but sadly underwritten in fanfic. He's a young cop who may or may not be smart, may or may not be competent, and may or may not have potential. In the show he was awkward and innocent and often played for laughs, but there were suggestions littered like confetti that there was far more to him than what Sam Tyler was willing to give him credit for. Often a foil, to others and himself, he was and is nonetheless one of the most endearing characters of the show. He's cute, and sweet, but the possibilities of making him complex and interesting are endless. time_testudinem took that open book and FILLED IT UP with this amazing character study. It runs a bit towards dark realism -- highly unusual for a Chris Skelton fic -- but it teems with the sad longing and ill judgment of a confused young man. Just, wow, I never read this one enough.

Tuesday


~

Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Harry Potter/Percy Weasley, Percy/Severus Snape, Harry/Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger
Length: ~30,000
Author on LJ: rinsbane
Author Website: None
Why this must be read:
First, be aware that rinsbane flocks her fics, so if you're not on her friends list, you'll need to ask her for access.

I'm completely in awe of this fic. I adore it. I could make a fool of myself babbling about it. I beta'd for rinsbane during most of her years in the HP fandom, and to this day her gifts as a writer make me swoon. When I read her best work, a painful delight wells up in me. *shakes head* There is no one like her. "Mustard Seed" was her farewell to the HP verse, and it's gorgeous. Technically, it's a tour de force; chronologically speaking, it's written in the shape of a horseshoe, starting in Harry's POV and going backwards in time before curving forward again, refracting the world through Percy's eyes. The fic returns to, and slightly surpasses, its starting point.

Poetic sharpness and an ability to distill beauty from just about anything is one of rinsbane's trademarks, and this fic shimmers and burns with perfect, fleeting truths and turns of phrase. But it's also raw, even harsh, poignant, and breathtakingly erotic. Or perhaps I should say "carnal." The sex scenes are so fiercely in character, cathartic, they mean so much more than just sex, but take it from me, they're scorching.

This fic is partly about loss and second choices. Not chances, choices. By which I mean, if you can't have the person you love most, what does that do to you and what can you do about it? It's also about being known, and sharing a private language, honoring the person you lost by entrusting that secret part of you to someone else. It's a fic about words and memory and the color yellow. It has deserts and heat, synesthesia and fabulous characterization, love and longing and a searing, heartbroken emotional landscape. As a bonus, Snape pops in to shake things up with a cameo that's a testament to his undying arseholery (this was written pre-DH). This is a fic that's left a permanent mark on me, and I invite you to give it a try.

( Plucked at random - NSFW )

Reminder: ask rinsbane to friend you before clicking the link!

Mustard Seed

I'm off for vacation, so posting will be light to non-existent for the next week.

Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: Ten/Martha
Length: 23000
Author on LJ: violetisblue
Author Website: fic archive
Why this must be read: This is the most amazing Ten/Martha story I've ever seen. It gets at the heart of how the Doctor's trolleys of emotional baggage, defense mechanisms, and previous relationships (more old-school references than you can shake a stick at, but they don't impede enjoyment of the story if they fly over your head) affect what he has with Martha, who is smart, perceptive, ten kinds of awesome (the kind of Martha that saves the world), and calls him on his shit. The dialogue is phenomenal, and the sex is hot, and I really wish there were more stories like this in any fandom.

( excerpt )

Nothing but Flowers