Fandom: STAR TREK: REBOOT
Pairing: Kirk/Spock friendship
Length: 2,600 words
Author on LJ: green
Author Website: fic:star trek tag
Why this must be read: Look, by this point there can be no doubt in your minds that I love Kirk and Spock and their epic BFFness as much as the next girl. But let's face it. Sometimes you just need the good crack. In this darling story, Kirk is ridiculous and yet oddly charming as he woos Spock. With meatballs. And his innate awesomeness. Hahahaha.

How to Win Friends and Influence Vulcans

Fandom: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Pairing: Willow/Dawn (sort of)
Length:  500 words
Author on LJ: katemonkey 
Author Website: The Pearl

Why this must be read:

Because I can't believe it hasn't been already recced.  Kate Bolin is a genius at taking the ugly and making it beautiful.  Dark piece that takes place during Willow's downward spiral in season 6.

"Head full of noise, I can't think 'cause it's crushing/
Back on my feet, like a freight train I'm cumming".

Trip

Fandom: STARGATE: ATLANTIS
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard, Zelenka/Sheppard
Length: 700 words
Author on LJ: esteefee
Author Website: fiction tag
Why this must be read: In this delightful list, transcribed to great effect by esteefee, we finally discover what Zelenka really thinks about his co-workers, with particular focus paid to Rodney's "heart-shaped ass". *snickers*

Heretical Opinions Held By Dr. Radek Zelenka, Ph.D., Ph.D.

Fandom: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Pairing: Buffy/Spike (implied)
Length: 5400 words
Author on LJ: rahirah 
Author Website: Barb's BTVS Fanfic

Why this must be read:

I thought I'd go with a theme.  This is another outsider POV fic.  It takes place in a Post-Gift AU and is a futurefic that is part of a series but stands on its own.  I love original characters well-done and Candice is an interesting girl indeed.

You run into a lot of weird shit on the road.

Family Matters

Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Length: ~14,971
Author on LJ: 01100100
Author Website: 01100100's Website
Why this must be read: In a fandom that's pretty much all about either the boy with the secret magic or the Merlin/Arthur bromance of legend, this is a story that is really about Arthur. When Uther suddenly dies, Arthur is thrust into a kingship he's not ready for. Ah, but wait. It's much more complicated than that because even on the first night of his return, Arthur starts being visited by a somewhat cantankerous Uther-ghost, who has more than a few things to say about Arthur's bedmate (Merlin) and his approach to kingship. Think you've got this story figured out? You don't. The author gives us a fabulous character building tale with mystery and ghosts, friendship and love, and the opportunity to see Arthur as king, even though he's still really just a prince. Intrigued? I hope so.

( The King is dead. Long live the King. )


Read the story and feedback the author: House of the Rising Sun

Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin, Guinevere/Lancelot
Length: ~ 3350
Author on LJ: raphaela667
Author Website: Master List of Fic
Why this must be read: If you're a slasher, don't let the het tag fool you--this absolutely deserves to be read no matter what your pairing of choice--and there is nothing explicit in the text for either pairing. It's the way a lot of die-hard slashers can come to terms with the inevitable future where Arthur and Guinevere must be together, only to have Arthur betrayed by Guinevere and Lancelot. (That's not a spoiler, people - that's just history.) Here you have a brief glimpse into their lives - the difference between public and private, what they do for the sake of the kingdom and for each other. What is appearance and what is truth.

The story is told from Gwen's point of view - the woman who went from a maid-servant to the most powerful woman in Camelot. She has the ear of the king, but nothing more, and although there may be moments of bitterness, there is so much more to her life than that. They are the sum of who they are together, rather than their own individual loves and losses. It's beautifully, poignantly told, and you can feel the heartbreak and love in every single character. This is a future I can believe.

( She is his wife; she will never be his consort. )


Read the story and feedback the author: Everything's Going to Get Lighter (Even if it Never Gets Better)

Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Length: ~9,000
Author on LJ: snegurochka_lee
Author Website: Moonshadow (This is where more of Lee's Snupin fics are archived. Her website, like maeglinyedi's, appears to be a casualty of whatever deleted slashcity.net)
Why this must be read:
Honestly, I'm not much of a Snape/Lupin fan, so it amuses me that I'm serving up two fics that focus on the pairing. But snegurochka_lee is a spectacular writer - like all of the authors I'm reccing, actually - and everything she produces is worth reading. This fic was my first exposure to Snupin. I took a chance on it back in 2005, and it's stayed with me ever since. Written after the release of Half-Blood Prince, it deals with wartime; the story's arc is gripping, intense, relentless, streaked with dark beauty, cruelty, purpose, and sacrifice. The relationship between the two men is tangled and angry, erotic and committed, and as central figures in Voldemort's war their very lives are embattled. They play chess for desperately high stakes, and the plot moves back and forth with the pieces. The splendor of the prose helps reconcile me to the bleakness of the story, which doesn't flinch from facing the rules of the game. And this game is all about who wins.

One thing I admire about Lee's strategy here is her use of HBP and its tropes, the echo of that famous, fatal, "Severus, please," and its implicit significance. I adore Lupin's final denunciation of Snape. Let me just suggest, for those swept up in the fic's tragic momentum, that for every instance where Lupin spits "hate," you substitute the opposite. It's an outburst of passion that sums up this story, an astonishing declaration from the bottom of a forfeit heart.

I should also mention that, as complex and interesting as her Lupin is, it's Lee's prose and her Snape that reel me back in. I can't get enough of the way she conceives of this dark, brave, damaged, unpleasant, and mesmerizing character, the gorgeous words she finds to make this ugly man linger on long afterward in the mind.

However, this is one fic where you'd do well to heed the warnings.

I've linked to the fic's first appearance in lupin_snape's Snupin Santa fest, but you'll need to join the community to read it. It's also archived on the Moonshadow website linked above, which isn't locked and may be more convenient.

( An opening gambit )

Match Point (Unforgiven)

Fandom: YAMI NO MATSUEI
Pairing: Tatsumi/Watari
Length: ~3,000 words
Author on LJ: mistressrenet
Author Website: Renet's Archive
Why this must be read:

Because, like my last rec, it gives believable happiness to a character who doesn't get nearly enough of that.

After Kyoto, Tatsumi decides to stop being a shinigami. After all, if Tsuzuki has Hisoka and no longer needs Tatsumi, what's left for him? Watari might have the answer.

Tatsumi/Watari always suffers from the risk of becoming a "pair the spares" sort of pairing, but there's none of that here. Their attraction to each other and burgeoning relationship feels real. The characterizations are excellent as well. Watari is both wiser than he usually lets on and absolutely alive (especially for a dead guy), while Tatsumi is practical and subdued, all the while concealing a huge potential for passion.

Plus, I'm always up for a story in which Tatsumi learns to stop torturing himself.

( Excerpt: )

Earthly Attractions

Fandom: DANNY PHANTOM
Pairing: Danny/Valerie friendship
Length: approx. 17,000 words
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: Fanfiction.net, Geocities

Why this must be read: Danny decides to talk Valerie around to the fact that he’s Phantom. Alone. At night. And he gives her a Fenton Thermos, which she can use to capture him forever, if she wants to. Except that by the time Danny gets around to properly revealing himself, maybe she doesn’t actually want to anymore. But maybe she does. Fics about their relationship don’t get much better

A Thermos for Valerie

Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Author on LJ: misslucyjane 
Author's Website: Unknown

Why this must be read?:

This summary grabbed me from the start, "It's not in his job description, after all: nowhere does it say, Make coffee, take out garbage, service Captain Jack."  This Jack is fixated on Ianto in a very interesting way. It's a different kind of need and want between them in this story.

( Excerpt )


"SIR"