.
Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Characters: Ray Doyle and George Gently
Length: One Good Copper(3062 words) & Repudiation(4625 words).
Author on LJ: greengerbil
Author Website: Other stories can be found here.

Why this must be read:

As I’ve noted before, Pros canon gives us a rather sketchy background for the lads at best. Here, SAC imagines a bleak background for young Ray, the fire that forges him and sets him on his path to becoming the Doyle we knew in canon.

“I told you to – right then, you little shit, you need a good lesson!”

The blow sent Ray flying, the back of his head slamming into the filth-stained wall with stunning force. Dazed, he slid to his knees, his thoughts skittering aimlessly even as he groped desperately for his flick, his fingers slow and fumbling and reluctant to obey... Stupid. How could he have been so bloody stupid? The basics of the game. Always have an escape route, always keep control of the deal, and if the trick makes you nervous – get out. And he hadn’t, had he? Fuckin’ thick, just like Mum said... but Christ, they needed the money...

One Good Copper and Repudiation.

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Fandom: TRANSFORMERS
TF Continuity: G1/G2
Pairing: Optimus Prime/Starscream
Length: 44,007 words
Author on LJ: deceptikitty
Author website: on FF.Net
Why this must be read:

It's almost October, so a creepy and rather horrifying tale was definitely on the list! It's a post-TFTM AU, where Optimus Prime and Starscream are marooned on the 'Pitch Black' planet. You know the one: always night, monters that eat everything and are impossible to kill?

Both Transformers have some terrible injuries, and there is no fuel that is not also poisoning them. From the claustrophobic setting, the at times rambling POV, the desperate circumstances, the way Prime is trying to maintain his sense of self (and failing, failing...), and the (im)possibility of rescue--this is not light read, but it is a rewarding one.

WARNING: I don't know how to classify the almost!non-con, but I thought I should warn that there is some fuck-or-die hate-ish sex here.

Hate the Dark

Fandom:  RUROUNI KENSHIN
Pairing:  none
Length:  108k
Author on LJ:  n/a
Author's website:  FanFiction.net
Why this is a must read:

I passed this story by for many years until a few months ago.  At first, I just couldn't buy into Hitokiri Battousai being a in a kabuki troupe.  Just too far fetched.  But that's the point of this story.  Conspirator creates a possible transformation from a battle weary assassin to the swirly-eyed wanderer we see in the anime/manga.

A trademark of all of Conspirator's stories is the attention to detail she brings to creating original characters and a story line that you just don't want to ever end.  She brings the action, drama, lots of humor in this one, and just the right amount of angst to keep us reading long after we should have gone to sleep, work, made dinner or whatever.

 

( A wee snippet )

An Unexpected Lesson

Dean and Sam Winchester


In 2005, a show called Supernatural debuted on the WB. It was about two ghostbusting, monster-slaying, exorcist brothers, Dean and Sam Winchester, who traveled the country in a classic muscle car, carrying on the family business: “Saving people, hunting things.” Think Route 66 meets Kolchak the Night Stalker scored by AC/DC and Metallica.

As of 2010, the network has been renamed the CW, and the Winchesters’ lives have become a lot more complicated...

Why You Should Watch
It was clear from the start that Supernatural would be a smorgasbord of eye candy, gore, headbanging rock, and family melodrama. What viewers didn’t expect were the crack (all canon: a slow-dancing alien; shared dreams; a Groundhog Day-style time loop; Dracula on a moped; a seven-foot-tall, suicidal teddy bear; Mahatma Gandhi kicking ass; a character getting turned into a car; another character getting turned into an action figure; bodyswap), the meta (some shows wink at the audience, this one gooses it), or the eschatology (an apocalyptic arc mapped out by series creator Eric Kripke that plays out over the first five seasons).

The sixth season has just started airing on Fridays at 9 p.m. Since writer/producer Sera Gamble has succeeded Eric Kripke as show runner, this seems like a good time to retrace...





The Pilot
Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Season 4 • Season 5
Must-See Episodes

Characters
The Winchesters • The Campbells • The Harvelles • Other Hunters • Assorted Humans
Angels • Lucifer • Demons
The Impala


( Carry on my wayward son/There'll be peace when you are done/Lay your weary head to rest/Don't you cry no more... )

Well, this is it - my last rec of the month. I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words of support and hope that you found at least a couple of new stories to read or old favorites to re-read. I urge you to leave comments for the stories you like no matter how long ago you first read it. Fan fiction authors are only 'paid' in reaction from readers and you never know if something you say might spark their muse to write more!  So take a little time out of your day to go back to your favorite stories and leave a comment for the author to let them know how much you enjoy their work.

I'm certain that jirel will have a lot of great recs for all of us to enjoy next month. As for me,  I'll be switching gears as I take over driving The Man from U.N.C.L.E. van for October.

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo
Length: 11,000 or so words
Author on LJ: xanthestories is her story journal
Author Website: Xanthe Stories
Why this must be read:  I can't say that I'm a big reader of AU fan fiction. There's a lot of really good ones out there but in my estimation the best ones all have the same thing in common - even though its setting is AU the characters are still the people from the show that we've fallen in love with. It might seem prejudicial of me, but I won't even consider reading an AU story by an author who hasn't written a couple of stories in the show's original setting. I need to know that they have a handle on the characters as they are before I dedicate the time to go on an AU journey with them.

With xanthelj, there was never any such fear. Her previous work has shown time and time again that she has a deep understanding of all of the characters with a special emphasis on her take on Gibbs and DiNozzo - as individuals and together. From the moment I read she was doing a vampire story I knew that she wasn't going to turn Gibbs into some sparkly creature of the night, but that he would be the same rough, gruff, deadly man we've all grown to love and admire over the years just with something extra. She creates a believable vampire subculture with only snippets of information so that Tony, and hence we the readers, can follow what's going on but are still left yearning to learn more.

I love a good vampire tale and therefore I love "Birth-Day".  (And if we're all nice maybe xanthelj will grace us with more stories in this marvelous universe she's created.) Seriously, if you love vampire stories and even if you only have a passing knowledge of NCIS you'll adore this story. Trust me.


Birth-Day



P.S. - For those of you wondering, it really is a totally happy coincidence that part one of Xanthe's new story Soul Deep is debuting tomorrow.

Fandom: STAR WARS
Pairings: Obi-Wan/Anakin
Length: 1115 words
Author on LJ: probablyquantum
Author Website: Master Ficlist
Why this must be read:

We pop a wheelie before gliding sedately back into the driveway with this story, its prose elegantly clean. Through the swift changing of their relationship in wartime, Anakin is feeling good and takes a chance on sharing his feelings about Obi-Wan with the man himself. Read this story to discover how it turns out. And so, we slip the van's keys back onto the communal hook in the foyer and depart. 'Bye! I'm looking forward to reccing for DC Comics sometime in 2011, so see you there.

He Would Not Stay For Me

Fandom: CW RPF
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Length: 146k
Author on LJ: paleogymnast
Warnings: Please read the warnings carefully!
Summary: Three hundred years ago the people of Zyreta were united. Their diverse, scientifically inclined, space-faring society had already expanded to settle the other planets within the habitable zone of their binary solar system, as they avidly explored the galaxy.
Then disaster struck. An unexpected foe returned after millennia of absence and left the bustling world in discord and ruin.
Today, Zyreta is two worlds: Zyreta above, a medieval, idyllic, but oppressive, merchant and agrarian society where “magic” abounds, and the Scientist Union below, a small, but free and scientifically and technologically advanced society founded by the outcasts of the world above. Now, the old foe has returned and both worlds face annihilation unless they can uncover the secret to turning back the foe once and for all.
But it won’t be easy...
Zyreta is a theocracy where nothing is as it seems. The Scientist Union is desperate, paranoid, and weary after centuries of cold war. And the fate of the star system lies in the hands of two young men, one from each world, who must overcome social and religious taboos to work together, racing against time while fighting enemies at every turn.
This is their story. The story of the Agent and the Lost Son—how they found each other, forged a friendship, fell in love, and saved the world.

Why this must be read: This is a very complex, very detailed, well written world. Full of science and at the same time a believable theocracy. All the characters are exceptionally written and well thought out, to the point that I cried during several parts of this story and not only with Jensen's story (which will break your heart, especially in the first chapters *sniffle*). An extremely well done, huge story that could easily be one a science fiction best seller if it was to be published.

Read "The sword of stars"

Fandom: BANDOM
Pairing: Gerard/Gabe
Length: 2,050 words
Author on LJ: romanticalgirl
Author Website: Fiction A to Z
Why this must be read:

Gerard and Gabe in the beginning back in Jersey.

This is one of those pairings that seems so strange at first but the more you think of it the more right it feels. This is a gorgeous story with beautiful writing, and the atmosphere and mood is stark and raw and intense.

( Excerpt from the story... )

Smoke from Another Fire

I've had a great time reccing both SG-1 and SGA fic this month, but would like to close with an SGU fic or two. Which means, we need an SGU fandom overview!

( Introduction )

( Major Characters )

( Other Recurring Characters )

( The Fandom, Controversies, Fan Works )

( Resources, Final Notes )

Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: Doctor/Master (Shalka!Doctor/sexbotShalka!Master)
Length: 16,889 words
Author on LJ: bagheera_san
Author Website: Fic masterlist
Why this must be read:

The animated serial "Scream of the Shalka" presents us with an odd, semi-canonical AU. The Doctor, thin, bitter, and dark, is inexplicably at the beck and call of the Time Lords. And he's sharing his TARDIS with an android version of the Master, with whom he seems to have a very, um, domestic sort of relationship. (For a given value of "domestic" that includes the occasional murder attempt.) It's great fodder for the Doctor/Master ship, but really: what's going on?

"Living Things" provides us with a brilliant backstory, as the Doctor makes a dangerous bargain out of loneliness, pity, self-destructiveness, and spite, and then has to come to some kind of equilibrium with his old enemy, and with himself.

( 'If anyone has turned you into a monster, it was you. I'm just salvaging what's left.' )

Living Things

Fandom: TRANSFORMERS
TF Continuity: 2007/2009
Pairing: None
Length: somewhere in the range of 12,000 words
Author on DW: Sorciere
Author website: FF.Net
Why this must be read:

This story explores the aftermath and possible consequences of the events in the Bayverse movies. Ironhide's care for a soldier in arms, how Will Lennox deals, how they make the world bend to accommodate the situation but still pay the piper...

It's a fascinating look at the humans from the Autobot perspective, and the characters leap off the page and bash you around the head. Utterly worth the reading time. (And if you like it, there is a hefty series that follow

Four Conversations 1/2, 2/2

Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Length: ~260k
Author on LJ: joandarck
Author Website: LJ Fic Index
Why this must be read:

Because this is an incredible fic, and if I managed to remain unaware of its existence for four years, maybe there are others out there who haven't read it either! Also, this fic reminded me exactly why I'm never leaving due South fandom ever - how could I when fic like this might appear?

Joandarck's characterization is fantastic, with a Fraser who sounds astonishingly like canon!Fraser. Or at least the way I see canon!Fraser. In fact, her characterization of him was so spot on that I spent most of the fic even more intent on him than on RayK, which is honestly kind of amazing and doesn't happen all that often.

And speaking of RayK, damn is he portrayed well here. Again, he just matched up perfectly with how I see canon!RayK, and his dialogue/narration sounded very true to his character. And really, I think that's an enormous accomplishment in this fandom. Both of these characters have such distinctive voices that I truly admire anyone who can do them well.

Then there's the story, which unfolds at a gradual, believable pace with just enough half-truths and injustice woven in to stave off the inevitable resolution for about 260k. In essence: total paradise.


( Excerpt )


After the Nile

All my recs have been long and/or angsty thus far, so here's one that's not.

Fandom: TRANSFORMERS
TF Continuity: G1
Pairing: none
Length: 882 words
Author on Deviantart: jameson9101322
Author website: on FF.Net
Why this must be read:

OH LORD. This is the most creative hostage situation solution I have ever, EVER seen. Short and loltastic--RUN, do not walk to read this story.

Stolen Hostages