Fandom: MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Pairing: None
Length: Long (three stories, each at least three parts on blackraptor)
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: The authors' stories listed on Blackraptor
Why this must be read: Maybe because this is the best portrayal of pre-teen and adolescent boys you will ever read in this fandom, outside of the Regents AU. Or because it bags a lot of clichés and actually attempts to depict life as a foster child realistically. Though the boys are looked after by people who seem fairly decent, it isn't their family and they don't have a home. There's also the fact that seven year-old JD is one of the best things I've ever seen in my life. This author must either have a slew of children or work with them or something because she added all these little quirks and details that were so perfectly kid-like, from JD's inability to grasp the concept of time to Ezra and Vin getting a choice to do whatever they want for two hours and picking skee ball and nothing but skee ball.

So, yes. In this AU, the Seven are all current or former foster kids between the ages of seven and twenty. As the boys start to age out, they come up with a plan to keep from having to leave their little brothers behind, a plan that they each find cause to regret once or twice along the way. The trilogy is beautifully written, even apart from the fabulous characterization. You really feel for the boys and the circumstances they live in. My only complaints are that Chris is a bit too patient and there isn't nearly enough Nathan to make me happy.

( A sampling )

Start here

Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: Gen; Morgana
Length: ~600
Author on LJ: [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
Author Website: [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
Why this must be read:

This piece is a wonderful exploration of Morgana's nightmares and the person she fears she might become. [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]'s descriptions of her dreams are very well done, the horrific scenes of blood and death are really well illustrated and Morgana's need to believe that her nightmares will never become reality just breaks my heart.

In Morgana’s dreams she walks among the bodies of the dead and she is free.

Here Lies Everything

Fandom: HEROES
Pairing: Sandra Bennet-centric, Noah/Sandra
Length: 2,177
Author on LJ: [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
Author Website: [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
Why this must be read:

Oh, Sandra. Reading this piece you just can't help but feel sympathetic towards Mrs. Bennet, she loves her family and trusts her husband and even with these flashes of memory of something not being right really has no idea what is going on.

Tuesday was lasagna night. Always had been. Even before the kids, Noah never could get enough of her lasagna. It was his absolute favorite.

Canons & Fugues

Fandom: GOOD OMENS
Pairing: Aziraphale/Crowley
Length: ~ 2767 words
Author on LJ: tea_and_snark
Author Website: wrote when?
Why this must be read: One of the easiest ways to get our favourite angel and demon together is to use their love of alcohol. Copious amounts of alcohol.

After the Apocalypse-that-Wasn't, Crowley doesn't like the loneliness he sees in Aziraphale, and he wants to fix the situation. So he does the only thing he knows how: decides to get the angel drunk and offer him comfort. There's a sadness and a sweetness to this story as you realize just how long these two have known each other. Their world has shifted, and they're trying to make sense of that in order to go on.

(And if you're worried for Aziraphale's virtue, don't be: as always, he's harder to fool than Crowley believes.)

( Crowley looked at the glazed blue eyes that swam above a trembling wineglass. There was something in the angel’s eyes that Crowley hadn’t seen before. A desperate sort of loneliness that would never be remedied by the sufferer. )

Read the story: Debauchery

Don't forget to feedback the author - it doesn't matter how old or new the story is. Authors love to hear from you!

Fandom: GOOD OMENS
Pairing: Aziraphale/Crowley
Length: ~ 30,000+ words
Author on LJ: vulgarweed / quantum_witch / switchythings community for joint illustrated work
Author Website: Vulgarweed's AO3 page / Quantum_Witch's AO3 page
Why this must be read: Okay, I'm going to take a few liberties with this rec because Good Omens is a unique fandom in many ways: it has an incredible amount of talent in both art and fiction, it has a relatively small amount of epic and/or smutty fic, and it does historical fic like nobody's business.

Case in point is this series written by Vulgarweed and illustrated by Quantum_Witch. It's Epic (and the series might not be "technically" complete, but each of the three stories so far is definitely able to be read on its own). It spans centuries. It has a fantastic friendship. It has arguments. Hurt/comfort. Romance. Lust. Jealousy. Historical figures. Shakespeare. Wings! Codpieces! Swords!

I've read this twice all the way through, and I still feel like there are so many subtleties that I'm probably missing. Historical details. Character nuances. This is the kind of story you want to take up residence in for a good long time. It makes you want to be smarter. And it really makes you want to know every detail of those 6000 years--the good, the bad, and everything in between.

The illustrations add a whole other dimension to the story. They bring to life the passion, the fashion, the passage of history. You can see how much both writer and illustrator love these characters; it's in every word and every line drawn. Go and read, and encourage them both to keep doing what they're so obviously good at!

( Constantinople, Byzantine Empire, 1105 A.D. )

Read: Internal Rhyme Series

Stories in order: Amid the Sacred Wreck
Breathless Mouths May Summon
The Phoenix and the Turtle (A Metaphysical Romance)