Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: none
Length: 46K words
Author on LJ: dbw
Author Website: A Feast for the Senses and at AO3

Why this must be read: Because it gives us an enticing answer to the question “just how much do we really know about Blair Sandburg?”

In the tv show, it’s Jim who often keeps secrets; between his covert ops days, his memory suppression and his natural reticence, he’s full of ‘em. But, of course, since the show is titled “The Sentinel” and not “The Anthropologist”, a lot more of Jim’s background eventually gets revealed. With Blair… not so much.

In this series Blair is hiding lots of secrets and he has to do quite a bit of tap-dancing to keep those secrets from a sentinel. And it starts right from the get-go; he’s already trying to distance himself from Jim after he learns that Jim is ex-military:

( A holy grail... with a snag )

This is what fanfic does best; it fleshes out the characters through glimpses of what they might be doing off-screen.  It lets us get into their heads.  Although many of these “interludes” are directly related to the episodes, DBW warns us that it is an AU, so don’t expect exact connections.

These were originally posted ten years ago and under the pseud Deborah Wright, a name with which veteran readers might be more familiar. I find them just as enjoyable and interesting today as I did when I first read them years ago. I hope you do as well.

Secrets series

Feedback makes the world go ‘round. Giving some will make you and the author feel great!

Sorry about the radio silence, folks! The time, she got away from me this week.

Fandom: BANDOM
Pairing: Mike Carden/Kevin Jonas
Length: 2927
Author on LJ: skoosiepants
Author Website: Skoosiepants on AO3
Why this must be read:

This is a bite-sized piece of adorable, is why. It's got all the things you'd expect in a high school AU -- pining! Misunderstandings! Friends who are really not helpful! -- but listing the ingredients doesn't convey the deliciousness of the finished product. I think it's a great example of its kind, and it made me smile. It won't chnge your life, but it might make your day brighter.

( Excerpt )


Other People were Too Sentimental

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Length: 5181 words
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: http://www.zeropanic.net/fanfic/sebastian/pros/index.shtml
Why this must be read:This story is a light, fun piece by this author. I love the concept of too much alcohol, our lads, and lack of inhibitions. Yeah, another kink for me. . .so shoot me. :) This is short enough to read on your coffee, or tea break.


( A snippet that sets the stage )



Just A Kiss

Fandom: SUPERNATURAL
Pairing: none; gen
Length: 15,200 words
Author on LJ: checkthemargins
Author Website: Masterlist of LJ
Why this must be read:

Author's Summary: After Sam takes out Famine, the Winchesters aren't on very good terms. An icy road in Washingtong State might change that. It might change a lot of things.

This is a wonderful h/c piece that gives us two brothers who even though there's so much crap between them (like starting the freakin' apocolypse!), still love each other enough to do anything to save and comfort each other. Steeped in the atmosphere of pain, betrayal, and despair that is Season 5, this piece gives us bit of respite hidden among a horrifying car accident, an age old argument between our favorite brothers, and an enticing dream inhabited by Lucifer. The love that Dean and Sam have for each other is the bedrock for this fic. Despite all the issues they have with each other, they still love each other and will move giant orderlies and nasty weather aside to save and soothe the other. This fic made me smile through all the pain, physical and emotional, and it will for you too.

Crash and Learn

Fandom: DEATH NOTE
Pairing: no actual pairings, but one very disturbing attempted rape, and not between the two characters that you probably expect
Length: ~43000
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Fanfiction.net
Why this must be read:

This is the first long fanfic I'm reccing this month, at approximately novella length, and I consider it to be one of the best longer Death Note fanfics in existence. It's a gen-fic, with no real pairings to speak of. Like the canon Death Note, it has an intense focus on plot, plot and more plot! If you've been craving a big dose of gen-fic plotty goodness, with no focus on who is getting it on with who, then this fanfic is probably exactly what you're looking for.

It's a divergence AU that strikes off from the canon storyline shortly before the mid-point climax (so it's only for people who've read/watched to at least that point in canon) and it offers a completely new set of events to replace the canon's second half of the series. L uses a trick at a critical moment, and this backs Light into a corner where he's truly desperate and is willing to try things he'd never risked before. Light's new action changes everything, leading to more tricks from him and from L, to serious violence, to car chases, and to all sorts of twists and turns.

It's not just plotty and intelligent. It also contains a lot of heart, emotion and characterization insights, with a deeper look into L's personality and Light's personality, and an examination of how pitiful Misa's place in things really is. It also explores a topic that was shown in canon but is almost never explored in fan fiction: L's friendly feelings towards the task force members. Yes, L/task force friendship fics are almost nonexistent, and this fanfic does a great job of covering that topic.

DEATH NOTE: Unspoken Rules

Fandom: GENERATION KILL
Pairing: Brad Colbert/Nate Fick
Length: 15,987
Author on LJ: templemarker
Author Website: fiction archive
Why this must be read:

Brad is the quintessential Marine, so here templemarker takes us through the actuality of him deciding to retire. It acknowledges the difficulty of the decision, shows the pros and cons and how Brad evaluates them, and it's just a satisfying, believable read all the way around. And it includes some laugh-out-loud moments with Ray and Brad's mom, among others, in the fleshed-out life they've built, perhaps without Brad noticing. Both a wonderful established-relationship story and a fantastic leaving-the-Corps story.

“Wait,” Nate cut him off. “You’re saying that you got your retirement papers, and instead of throwing them out the window you waited to talk to me about it?”

Combination of States

Fandom: FOOTBALL RPF
Pairing: Pablo Zabaleta/David Silva
Length: 1800
Author on LJ:justkisa
Author Website: justkisa
Why this must be read: This one came to be via slyreflection, and I'd presonally recommend it because it has to do with football. A lot of the football RPS actually doesn't have to much to do with football, but this does. It's a refreshing change. It also shows the growing interest in Manchester City and David Silva quite well.
It's got a good handle on the narrator's voice, and the actions of the characters all seem immensely plausible, something that's not always the case.

Pablo really doesn’t mind the way Silva fights and scraps with him. He just takes it. Just rides it out when Silva digs his elbow into Pablo’s ribs or when Silva uses the slam of his body to get Pablo off the ball and out of his way. He even finds himself wanting to smile when Silva doesn’t hold anything back when he tackles Pablo. Maybe it’s because, when he’s battling away with Pablo, Silva looks so fiercely alive, in a way he only does during games and here in training with Pablo--only Pablo.

Russian Roulette Is Not The Same Without A Gun