Fandom: BIG TIME RUSH
Pairing: None; Carlos-centric gen
Length: ~1,200 words
Author on LJ: figletofvenice
Author Website: addandsubtract
Why this must be read: Because Carlos is adorable and sweet and there's not nearly enough fic about him out there. Carlos canonically wants to be a superhero and this fic is just the cutest, most fun look at that ever. It's very much in the tone of the show, playful and fun, and Carlos is dead on perfect in it. And really, I can not stress enough how adorable this is.

( excerpt )

Don't Touch That Dial!

Fandom: KUROSHITSUJI
Pairing: Sebastian/Ciel
Length: 2900 words
Author on LJ: white_aster (DW feed)
Author Website: White Aster at AO3
Why this must be read:

In Ciel's dreams, Ciel and Sebastian remember the beginning of their contract, and contemplate its ending.

"Lucid Dreaming" is extraordinary for its rendering of the experience of dreaming, in all its sensuality and immediacy, its irrationality and simultaneous, paradoxical sense of inescapable reality. Ciel and Sebastian are both terrifying here, each in his own way; and their story carries the intensity of dream and the terror of nightmare, blending sweetness, pleasure, and horror.

This one comes with warnings: for an underage character and lack of meaningful consent. But if those elements aren't a barrier for you, this is a story you won't want to miss. And if you read it now, you might get to it before AO3 is hammered into temporary inaccessibility by Yuletide uploads. Which might not happen this year, but why take the risk?

Lucid Dreaming

Fandom: THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Pairing: Mark/Eduardo
Length: Long - completed in 17 parts
Author on LJ: Anonymous, alas, but posted on the tsn_kinkmeme
Why this must be read: I have to rec this. I physically cannot NOT rec it because I love it too much even though it was never de-anoned or reposted so you have to look at it in comment-sized chunks. It doesn't even have a proper name. 'Kept boy' was the prompt, but the author called it angsty mini-fill, and then angsty fill when the mini became increasingly inaccurate!

Sean finds his golden goose in Mark and wants to keep him happy. He brings along his favorite happy-making young ladies, but they get no response from Mark, then he brings along Eduardo... and definitely gets a reaction. Eduardo stays and uses Mark's credit cards, and worries Chris (who is not saying he's a gold-digger, but...) but is the perfect kept boy. The relationship between them develops fantastically: Eduardo is beautifully broken and Mark is brilliantly characterized here.

( Spoilery warnings from the author here. )

This is sexy as all hell, complex, well-constructed and above all perfectly characterized. A+++++, anon.

Anyway, Mark's family knows about Wardo, but they have never met or talked to him and they always sound vaguely disapproving when Mark mentions him during one of his phone calls home. This lasts until Mark's mother comes out to Palo Alto to visit ("Because if I left it to you to see you again, it would probably be at my funeral, Mark." No one guilt trips like a Jewish mother.), and Wardo squires her around San Francisco (because there is pretty much nothing to do in Palo Alto unless you are as good as surgically connected to a computer), and apparently they go dancing, or something, Mark doesn't even know, just when they get back that evening his mother looks about ten years younger and is flushed and laughing, and she calls Wardo sweetheart, and Wardo looks adorably sweetheart-like in return, like he hadn't just last night been on his back moaning Deeper, god, harder, ah, ahn, Mark, Mark.

Fandom: Musical Theater / Chess
Pairing: Freddie/Florence, Anatoly/Florence
Length: 262 words
Author on LJ: find_rightbrain
Author Website: Maybe There's a Light That's Always On

Why this must be read: As with yesterday's recommendation (and actually by the same author), this fic deals with the ongoing magnetism between Freddie and Florence even as she pulls away. "In the Blue Light of the Flame," an old favorite of mine, deals with the aftermath of Anatoly's departure, and considers how Florence deals with what comes next for her. It's a short entry but a headcanon-worthy one, and the author absolutely nails both characters.

( It would be so easy to go back... )

In the Blue Light of the Flame

Fandom: INCEPTION
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Length: ~ 40,000+ words (series total)
Author on LJ: whiskyrunner
Author Website: Inception Fic Masterlist
Why this must be read: When I started reading in fandom, I had no idea what was out there. Who knew that turning characters into cats or giving them feline characteristics was a thing? At least the number of werewolf stories wasn't a huge surprise, but I think this is the first story I've read that successfully combines the two individually cracktastic tropes into one.

In this series of stories, Eames is a werewolf and Arthur is "slightly feline." They both have backgrounds they don't like to talk about--Arthur abandoned by his mother, Eames at odds with his pack--but they find in each other the kind of belonging they're looking for. Of course, nothing can be terribly easy for characters who are at the mercy of lunar cycles and heat cycles and instinctive mating urges, but somehow they manage to make it work.

This series may have a cracktastic premise, but the stories themselves have heart. Yes, there's a ridiculous amount of filthy, explicit sex (and I mean that in the best possible way); but there is also protectiveness and trust, love and playful affection, jealousy and possessiveness. And in the end, there are possibly mutant baby werewolf kittens! (If you can resist that, you're a stronger person than I am.)

( 'There's something you should know about me, Eames,' he says, opening his eyes again. 'Before we get any more serious.' )

Series on LJ:
Pavlov's Bell I
Pavlov's Bell II
All's Fair in Love and Werewolves (3 parts)
What Happens in Reno
The Werekitten Chronicles (currently 3 parts) with bonus fan art!

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

Fandom: BIG TIME RUSH
Pairing: OT4 and nearly all variations within
Length: ~7,850 words
Author on LJ: jannika
Author Website: theborogoves
Why this must be read: I would be an absolute failure as a reccer if I didn't point people towards some OT4 this month, because Big Time Rush is a show about four boys who love each other very, very much. This is my favorite OT4 fic because it tackles the really hard part of how the heck they can actually get there. Because sometimes on the show, it doesn't seem like much of a stretch… but they're also four teenage boys, dealing with lots of confusing emotions, and relationships are tricky even when everyone loves everyone. I love this fic for letting them break a little bit, and letting things be raw and painful while everyone figures out what they want and how to make it happen.

( excerpt )

A Series of Really Poor Choices