Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Victoria Metcalf/OMC, Victoria Metcalf/Benton Fraser
Length: 850 words
Author on LJ: exeterlinden
Author Website: AO3 page
Why this must be read: This is actually a poem, and it's amazing (although rather dark, so be warned). The first sections put tears in my eyes, because they pin down so exactly what Victoria's backstory might have been like. I don't think anything (other than zabira's equally amazing Come With Me) has made me feel so much for Victoria. Oh, and there are also werewolves, and the way they fit into the story is very interesting. This poem is actually backstory for something else the author wrote, but works very well on its own.

You Are Free

Fandom: STAR WARS
Pairings: Kit Fisto/Aayla Secura, Tholme/T'ra Saa
Length: 7183 words
Author on LJ: agaricus
Author Website: Profile
Why this must be read:

Using Kit's and Aayla's interior monologue device, this author pursues the subject of attachment, Jedi and otherwise. When does attachment become lethal, as with Anakin and Padmé? When does it nurture and support and end as the Force wills, as with Jedi Spymaster Tholme and his centuries-old Neti consort, Master T'ra Saa? With soul-searching, reasoning and a large dollop of humor, this fic charms all the way through, containing unusual visuals and a heart-warming final sentence. Enjoy.

After Kamino

Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Remus/Snape; Fleur/Bill; Neville/Luna; numerous het and slash OC relationships.
Length: 66,436
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Shedoc's FFN Profile
Why this must be read: Shedoc takes a simple premise -- what if the Ministry exiled Harry after he won the War for them -- and creates a delightful AU. While Shedoc plays fast and loose with canon (Harry looks for, finds and destroys the Horcruxes in his sixth year instead of his seventh; both Snape and Dumbledore survive) she also gives us a Harry who still can't keep out of trouble, even when he tries. The premise is simple: as soon as he is exiled, he is approached by the goblins to apprentice as a cursebreaker; he has inherent skills for the job, as well as those gained in finding and destroying the horcruxes. He, of course, becomes successful -- the younger Master Cursebreaker in history. With a rich cavalcade of OCs (names after characters from other fandoms but with no other similarities), Harry sets out to make history.

There is, of course, more to this fic than that. It is one of the few fics that makes mpreg logical or at least less farfetched than it usually appears, with a unique take on what the horcrux that resided in Harry for so long might make him susceptible to. There is a rich friendship and loyalty between Harry and Dobby, Winky, and Hagrid, all of whom follow Harry into exile. The war itself is hinted at as well as some of the aftereffects in Britain. The last chapter reunites Harry and Remus and sets up the sequel. The sequel brings in more of the Harry Potter characters and focuses on Harry's confrontation with the Ministry and his past. And of course, he gets his happy ending.

( snippet )

Harry Potter and the Soul Gems

And it's sequel:

Harry Potter and the City of Tents (Note: there are numerous pairings in this, including Harry/Ron, Ginny/Draco, Hermione/Charlie, Fred/Tonks, George/Angelina, Athur/Molly)

Fandom: DC COMICS
Characters: Dick Grayson, Koriand'r, Joey Wilson, Raven, Donna Troy, Gar Logan, Vic Stone, Wally West, Garth, Roy Harper, Lian Harper, Danny Chase
Length: 5015 words
Author on LJ: shiny_glor_chan
Author Website:Ficlist
Why this must be read:

Though today, March 13th, is not the holiday of this story, it is the Monkey Festival at Japan's Kasuga Grand Shrine and a certain parallel may be drawn: like all holidays, it involves extra work. The work is entirely worth it, naturally, as it involves people you haven't seen for a while and you want everything to be perfect. And if it's for the appreciation of children, you try even harder. So it's natural, too, that the ending of this story comes about as told. Everyone in the character list above has a good time and a gentle family fic like this one would not be complete without humor, even funny visual images as those Garth projects. Garth escapes to the bottom of a pool, fortunately.

A Holiday Party

Fandom: WATCHMEN
Pairing: Dan/Rorschach
Length: ~12k
Author on LJ: n/a
Author's website: n/a
Why this must be read:

It's mysterious, not in that it's driven by the characters solving mysteries, but because they understand basic things about their world that are never made explicit to the reader. It's set in an alternate future after some unknown catastrophe, where Dan and Rorschach are two survivors carrying out a meager existence among ruins. Rorschach's lost his memory - we don't know how - and Dan keeps him just barely in touch with reality.

As a Dan/Rorschach story, the fic is both understated and intensely poignant. The characters are divided by Rorschach's loss of identity, as in the canon, and their interaction is full of an unspoken sense of bereavement. There's a great volume of emotion conveyed with economy, and I think that takes a lot of skill.

This fic is also hugely enjoyable as a post-apocalyptic story: it's wonderfully spooky, with a strong atmosphere of emptiness and foreboding. We get the sense of the bereavement of the world as well as of the primary characters, and also occasional chilling hints that whatever did the bereaving has not gone away:

The sky is darkening outside, dark grey hush falling over the horizon. There is something wrong with this place, streets only in shadow when the lights come on, red pools of light scattered as far as the eyes can see.

Remember Me As A Time Of Day, parts 1-9
Remember Me As A Time Of Day, parts 10-11

Fandom: LIFE ON MARS
Pairing: Gene Hunt/Chris Skelton
Length: 1,391
Author on LJ: drunkenfop
Author Website: lifein1973 memories
Why this must be read:

I like rare pairings. :) My immediate reaction is one of curiosity - just how would you make that work?

This is an interesting coda to 1x07, provides a wonderful perspective on Gene's protectiveness towards his team. Shy, forlorn Chris is incredibly endearing and Gene's affection for him really shines through.

He even needed him bringing round the soddin’ biscuits, because when Chris wasn’t doing any of these things there was no one else to do them, and no antidote to Ray’s arrogance and Sam’s madness, and no silver lining on the cloud that hung over the station.

Almost but not entirely unlike Gene