Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Severus Snape/Viktor Krum
Length: ~5,400
Author on LJ: femmequixotic
Author Website: Femme's page on Archive of Our Own
Why this must be read:
Are you in the mood for raw, dirty, emotionally unflinching smut between two survivors battered by war's aftermath? The kind of storytelling likely to shock you out of your readerly apathy? This may be the fic for you. It's a dark, sexually explicit love song about people broken by loss but still clawing shards of meaning out of life's ruins. The setting is snow-bound half-derelict Sofia, Krum's hometown, where Snape has set up shop as a brothel-keeper, scarred and beaten down, with no pretensions and no future to speak of. The same could be said of Viktor Krum, crippled ex-Quidditch star and current Auror, haunted by unhealed wounds and the corruption of post-Soviet Bulgaria. To the local law enforcement, Snape is rubbish at the bottom of the social ladder. But not to Viktor. Their connection is practically a collision, gaspingly intense, and as searing as a torch lit at the bottom of a cold, dark, bottomless pit.

( In which I quote myself )

The Shadow of Misery's Wings

Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: Doctor/Master (Ten/Simm!Master), Martha Jones, Jack Harkness, Torchwood characters
Length: 50,553
Author on LJ: ariastar
Author Website: Master Fic List, or at the AO3
Why this must be read:

Written after "The Last of the Time Lords," this virtual season swiftly became a classic of the fandom. As Martha and Jack return to their lives and loved ones after the Year That Never Was, and find evidence of a disturbing conspiracy connected to Lucy Saxon, the Doctor and the Master have dysfunctional adventures in time and space and manage, somehow, not to destroy each other or the universe completely.

( He looks into the Master's face and sees, with a thrill of fear, that the Master understands him. He's never going to get used to this. )

Fun and painful and touching and haunting. Highly recommended.

LJ index post or at the AO3

Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: Gen (Six, Donna Noble, Peri, Wilf)
Length: 2,099
Author on LJ: aralias
Author Website: Fic list, or at Teaspoon
Why this must be read:

Because tiny adorable Donna. Is there a better reason than that?

On holiday with Peri, the Sixth Doctor meets a six year old Donna Noble, who's visiting Strathclyde all on her own.

( 'You looked lonely. I thought you might like to talk to me instead.' )

When We Were Six

Fandom: THE MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: Illya Kuryakin and Napoleon Solo
Length: not very long,lots of pictures
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: this is the only one I know about
Why this must be read: It's short and funny and made of crack and MFU. Also, sometimes you just need a dose of laughter, don't you? It makes the day go better.

Trust Me, Cuteness Here, Just click on the button for the story, this link takes you to the title page.

And please remember, if you enjoy this story, a comment to the author is all the payment they get! Show them some love! (whenever possible)

Well, it's been a pleasure driving the Buffyverse van this month.  Here's one last rec for the road.

FANDOM: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER / ANGEL: THE SERIES
PAIRING: Gen
Length: 1224 words
Author on LJ: (?)
Author Website: Thistlerose

Why this must be read: Faith has lived a pretty amazing life in fanfiction.  To many, she's more interesting than Buffy, with her reluctantly-taken road to redemption and general badassery.  In this post-"Chosen" one-shot, she ends up doing her thing in New York City, wondering why only certain parts of her past haunt her.  It's a solid, straight take on where she might have gone after Sunnydale collapsed into a crater, and well worth a quick read.  (There's also a bonus, non-annoying appearance by Connor.)

 

( Wherever she goes, it seems, Faith is haunted. )

Nothing Goes Away

Fandom: STAR WARS
Pairing: Gen; Shmi Skywalker, Padmé Amidala
Length: ~1,000
Author on LJ: fialleril
Author Website: the fic page
Why this must be read:

There's nothing I love more than loyalty. Pure unwavering loyalty to someone, that even in the darkness of times when everyone else has given up on them you still believe they can make amends. Shmi love for her son is on full display here, I loved her interaction with Padmé and I only wish that there had been more of them together in the movies.

She sits on the edge of blackness and watches her son.

Our Lady of the Fallen

Sorry for the giant ass block of recs but work had an office in Christchurch so things have been a little chaotic this last week.


Fandom: NUMB3RS
Pairing: Colby/Ian
Length: 31,000
Author on LJ: emmademarais
Author Website: http://emmademarais.livejournal.com
Why this must be read:

emmademarais is the Master (Mistress?) of the UST slow build story.

To start with Colby/Ian is a slightly rare, but hot, pairing and the author starts them off as just two FBI agents heading into the wilderness to catch a bad guy.

Then things go a bit to hell and that’s when the story gets really interesting. Ian invites Colby out of his family’s place so they can recover from their injuries together.

Slowly they get to know each other and things develop in a way that feels very natural.

This is also a nice change of a fic because we meet Ian’s family and they’re not a bunch of weirdoes or extremists. They’re just a nice, normal, slightly large family that loves Ian for who he is.

This is a cuddle up on a rainy day fic or print out for that trans Tasman flight in economy fic.

Wilderness Bound Part 1
Wilderness Bound Part 2
Wilderness Bound Part 3

Fandom: NUMB3RS
Pairing: Charlie/Ian, Don/Robin
Length: 39,300 over 233 drabbles
Author on LJ: ladygray99
Author Website: http://ladygray99.livejournal.com
Why this must be read:

( So much time wasted on foreplay. Don’t worry. I’ll make things right. )


A Silk Pillow

Fandom: NUMB3RS
Pairing: Colby/Ian
Length: 28,617
Author on LJ: swingandswirl
Author Website: http://swingandswirl.livejournal.com
Why this must be read:

This is the bit of fic where swingandswirl jumped from a promising author to a really good one.

The story sends Colby back to his home town to see his mother die with Ian along for support.

There are reasons Colby hasn’t been home in so long and a childhood under a violent, sexually abusive uncle is one of them.

This isn’t a healing!cock story and I wouldn’t rec it if it was. It’s a look at how an abused child can still grow into a strong adult but never fully remove what happened from their lives.

It isn’t preachy or make you want to kill yourself dark. It’s a just a really good read.

Some Rain Must Fall

Fandom: NUMB3RS
Pairing: Charlie/Amita/David
Length: 10,336
Author on LJ: rubynye
Author Website: http://archiveofourown.org/users/Rubynye/pseuds/Rubynye (I’m giving you her AO3 site because it’s a bit easier to find fic than her lj but it’s all on her lj as well.)
Why this must be read:

Out of words, Amita squeezed David's hand, and he squeezed back very gently. Charlie leaned forward a little, his hand on David's shoulder, and said, "What color is the sky on Mars?"

Charlie had to have a point, he always did eventually, but Amita had no idea what it could be. At least David was distracted, blinking in confusion. "Um, red?"

Charlie shook his head, in full explanatory mode. "Actually, it's approximately butterscotch, but we didn't know that until the probes sent back color pictures. Our best models before then -- our best math -- indicated a rust-colored sky."

After a moment of waiting to hear what that had to do with anything, Amita nodded. "So...?"

This is a post Janus List ‘Make David Feel Better’ fic written in Ruby Nye’s almost poetic style.

The sex is hot but it’s almost secondary to the way Charlie, Amita and David interact.

Charlie and Amita are at their strongest in this story determined to make David forget about Colby for at least a night. And the descriptions are rich and textured making you almost feel like you are in the room with them.

Another Planet's Sky

Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: Gen
Length: 651
Author on LJ: calapine
Author Website: LJ fic tag, or at Teaspoon
Why this must be read:

Every fandom needs a version of Skippy's List. This is one of those fics that is funny under any circumstances, but gets exponentially more hilarious the more canon knowledge you have.

If you're one of the people who's in violation of #11? You may well find yourself unable to breathe for laughing.

( 15 – I am not at risk of a predestination paradox if I hand in my thesis on time. )

50 Things I'm No Longer Allowed To Do At The Academy, by Theta Sigma

Fandom: NUMB3RS
Pairing: David/Charlie
Length: 130,000
Author on LJ: ladygray99
Author Website: http://ladygray99.livejournal.com
Why this must be read:

( David trudged upstairs, trying to avoid getting oil on anything. He pushed open the bathroom door. The first thing he saw was Charlie. The second thing he saw was the blood. )


Who We Are

Fandom: NUMB3RS
Pairing: Charlie/OMC/OMC
Length: 15,194
Author on LJ: emmademarais
Author Website: http://emmademarais.livejournal.com
Why this must be read:


( READ THE WARNINGS ON THIS FIC! )

Simon Says

Fandom: WATCHMEN
Pairing: Dan/Laurie, gen Dan/Rorschach
Length: ~2300 words
Author on LJ: radishface
Author Website: Fic index at daikontime
Why this must be read:
It's absolutely beautiful; gorgeous imagery, evocative descriptions, great use of themes and recurring images. In all this there's still a subtlety to it that builds into some very powerful moments. It’s not very slashy, but it’s one of my favorite portrayals of Dan/Rorschach.

"Hey there, buddy."

He's the first one to say anything. Rorschach just keeps looking at him through the hazy suggestion of dawn, eyes dark and unreadable, something like a smile on his mouth. The air slides around them, pepper-sharp and Dan thinks he has tears in his eyes. Both of them do, maybe.

Rorschach turns around and heads for the foyer. Dan realizes that they're going outside, that they had planned to go outside since the start. He grabs his coat off the rack and joins Rorschach.

Between 1 and 31

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: Mulder/Scully
Length: 335k (three parts)
Author on LJ: Not to my knowledge.
Author Website: Basement Office or Gossamer.

Why this must be read: Rachel Howard is, IMO, one of the single best authors in XF fandom, and "Above Rubies" is probably the best fic I've ever read, period. "Above Rubies" is one of those ultra-rare plot-heavy long pieces with a complicated plot that actually works. It's utterly unsupernatural, but it feels like it could be one of those rare mundane canon plots. (Okay, it could almost be one of them.) The process of Mulder and Scully's coming together is skillfully interwoven with the plot rather than being dependent on it, and in addition to narrating and describing the whole thing eloquently, the author has a rock-solid grasp on every last corner of every character and relationship involved. She also does a great job of dealing with all the emotional issues that the characters carry without either getting bogged down in angst or resolving them cheaply. The fic is set in S5 and narrated in alternating sections primarily by Mulder and Scully, but with appearances by Skinner and Krycek as well.

( excerpt )

Parts one, two, and three of the whole thing, which is also at Gossamer. If you prefer an angstier or more Emily-centric plot-heavy exploration of S5's situations, you can also have a look at Goodnight, Newton, which is independent of this fic but stands as a complement to it.

Fandom: GILMORE GIRLS
Pairing: Luke/Lorelai
Length: 4500
Author on LJ: fourteenlines 
Author Website: LJ fic tag,

Why this must be read: Ah Stars Hollow, the place pretty much anyone would want to live if you're of the small town inclined. Yet what if a nuclear war was unleashed on Earth? How would Stars Hollow and our favorite residents fare? This stunning fic offers one scenario. Fic of this nature should always be applauded. It takes the world of Gilmore Girls and thrusts upon it a frightening real world possibility and to tell this particular story though the eyes of Lane Kim's is inspired. 

( Excerpt )


Strange Love by fourteenlines

Fandom: STARSKY AND HUTCH
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Length: 121,022 words
Author on LJ: greenlady2
Author's Website: My-greenlady, Archiveofourown
Symmary:
Kenneth Hutchinson is an Inspector with Scotland Yard, chasing a serial killer.

Why this must be read:

This is an epic not a common long story. Worked with Jen's flawless plotlines this is one AU that surpassed any other. I will admit that I'm partial in historical AU's but if Jen touched History with her "White Wolf series" she is making History live again in "La Vita Nuova". Add that is also a hair-raising case story and a sizling yet tender romance and you have a thriler that you will not want to end and deeply regret it when it does...

If you have a bit of time in your hands read:
La Vita Nuova