Fandom: KUROSHITSUJI
Pairing: Sebastian/Ciel
Length: 833 words
Author on LJ: incandescens
Author Website: Fanfic Page
Why this must be read:

This story is the whole reason I'm here making these recs.

I read "and take my soul to rest" when it was first posted, before I knew anything at all about Kuroshitsuji; and it was so rich and haunting that it stayed with me, lurking around the edges of my mind. Enough so that weeks later, when I unexpectedly had some free time (and when I had naturally forgotten its title and the name of the fandom), I went combing through weeks of entries on the comm where it had been posted to find it and read it again. It was just as stunning as I had remembered on second read, and I found myself wanting more, and to know what had inspired it. So I checked out the anime, and then the manga, and the next thing I knew I was all, hello new fandom.

(This is the second time incandescens has done this to me, by the way. My headlong tumble into Yami no Matsuei is attributable in significant part to her gorgeous “Final Destination,” which I also read before knowing the relevant canon, which I still re-read at least once a year, and whose final line still makes me shiver. She's just that good.)

This short piece shows us one potential future for Ciel and Sebastian. It's not exactly a happy shiny future: just a gorgeously rendered one that feels exactly right.

And, okay, one that I will deny forever, but I'm glad to have this portrait of the two for all of my denial.

And Take My Soul To Rest

Fandom: KUROSHITSUJI
Pairing: Sebastian/Ciel
Length: 3656 words
Author on LJ: wo_xi_huan
Author Website: Sanpizil
Why this must be read:

Sebastian and Ciel think about each other, with surprising and gratifying results.

This is almost a palate-cleanser sort of a fic, in the best possible way: if it were a dessert it would be a champagne sorbet. For all the popularity of the Ciel/Sebastian pairing in the fandom, it's rare to find stories where the relationship between them develops an erotic component while remaining, recognizably, the relationship we know from canon. This story manages the trick in high style: Ciel and Sebastian are utterly themselves, and the result is an episode that could be canon, if only canon went to the sorts of places fic can go.

Bubbly, cold, funny, and convincing, it's a perfectly delicious piece.

It's the Fault of the Kid in the Dress

Fandom: THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Pairing: Mark/Eduardo
Length: 30,000 words
Author on LJ: justbreathe80
Author Website: At AO3
Why this must be read: Whore!fic. Always delightful with the hot sex and the potential for angst and misunderstanding, and this is a great one.

Eduardo is a high class hooker (based on Secret Diary of a Call Girl) specialising the the Total Boyfriend Experience (TBE) for wealthy clients. But, Mark, that doesn't actually mean he is your boyfried...

Eduardo, you should probably try and remember that, too...

Eduardo, you know that you’re my favorite employee and Zuckerberg is paying both of us crazy money for this, but I feel the need to remind you that YOU ARE NOT HIS ACTUALFAX BOYFRIEND. Kissing him like that at a public event probs not best for career longevity. Lay low, call on Monday.

Thursday, 9:30pm, Fairmont Hotel, Mark Z. – TBE

Fandom: INCEPTION
Pairing: Arthur/Eames (non-explicit), Dom/Mal (background)
Length: ~ 21,400 words
Author on LJ: cobweb_diamond
Author Website: Fic Masterlist on LJ ; Fic on AO3
Why this must be read: Because it's a BALLET Alternate Universe story. Ballet. Just when you think you can't contort these characters into some other world, you read a ballet fic that is so utterly perfect you start to wonder if you missed the tutus and dance sequences in the actual movie.

In this story, Mal and Eames are principal dancers for the Royal Ballet troupe, and Arthur's just been cast as Oberon in a version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, suitably titled Dream. (Mal is Titania, and Eames is Puck). This Arthur has all the grace and reserve of the film's Arthur, and the same fears about making a mistake considering his last major performance ended with an embarrassingly public ankle injury that took him out of dancing for months. Now, ready to make a comeback, Arthur faces trying to fit in with an established pair of dancers who have their own rhythm and chemistry, as well as tamping down on his feelings for Eames as a measure of self-preservation.

Cobweb_diamond writes engaging stories with a lovely balance of humour and tension. She perfectly captures the quirks of people in the arts and I love Eames and Mal's peculiar brand of friendship. Even if you know nothing about ballet, give this one a chance. It's creative, compelling, and the characters are still recognizable even in a setting far removed from canon.

( At the end of the second day of rehearsals, Eames comes to watch. )

On LJ: I bet Nureyev never had to deal with this shit

On AO3: I bet Nureyev never had to deal with this shit

It doesn't matter how old or new or (how popular) a story is, authors love feedback!

Fandom: Musical Theater / Rent
Pairing: Mark/Maureen, Roger/April, Benny/Alison
Length: <4K words
Author on LJ: thinkatory
Author Website: At AO3

Why this must be read: Rent is an amazing show, and the world and characters it builds feel real, whole, and complete. But because of that, and because the show only documents a year in their lives, there are so many unanswered questions about what came before.  How did they get here? In "Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor," thinkatoryconcocts what's more or less my headcanon, starting with April's suicide and following our boho boys (and Maureen) as things start to unravel and set the stage for Mark's deciding, "From here on in, I shoot without a script." The characterizations are spot-on, from Maureen's larger-than-life presence, to Collins' role as the lone adult in the room, to Benny's fading out. And the Mark-Roger (though not Mark/Roger, in this story) relationship is every bit as unyielding and intact as it needs to be for Roger to muddle through the hell of addiction, withdrawal, and recovery. The story isn't always pretty, but it may as well be true.

( He set up the reel. He turned the projector on. )
Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor

Fandom: BIG TIME RUSH
Pairing: Mama Knight-centric gen (Mama Knight/OC)
Length: ~4,700 words
Author on LJ: kasuchi
Author Website: Fic tag
Why this must be read: Two seasons into the show, Kendall's father has never been mentioned directly -- and his absence is conspicuous. Kendall has unstated but oh-so-present daddy issues, and it's been said in canon that Mama Knight hasn't had a date in at least seven years. On the one hand, it's kind of awesome to have a show that features a happy, functional single-parent family; on the other, basically everyone who watches wants to know what, exactly, happened to Mr. Knight. This is my favorite fic that takes a stab at answering that question, as it paints a history for Jen Knight in her pre-Mama days. She has a complex relationship with Kendall's father that feels very real -- and the fic shows how she grows and finds the strength we know she's got in canon.

( excerpt )

Discography

Fandom: Wilby Wonderful
Pairing: Duck/OMC, Duck/Dan
Length: 2300 words
Author on LJ: isiscolo
Author Website: hieroglyfics.net

Why this must be read:

This is a lovely character study about Duck MacDonald.  It's one of the first Wilby fics I ever read, and even now, three years later, I'm stunned at how perfectly the author has managed to capture Duck and his inner voice.

Ten Things About Duck MacDonald

Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire
Pairing: Sansa Stark/Daenerys Targaryen
Length: 10764 words
Author: sophiahelix
Author Website: sophiahelix on AO3

Why this must be read: ( Spoilers up to the end of A Feast for Crows )

Stones in the Mountains