Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: None
Characters Jim Ellison, Blair Sandburg, Simon Banks
Length 2512 words
Author's Warning Gen
Author on LJ:rhyo
Author's website: Her page on AO3
Why this must be read: Two reasons. One: sometimes you only have a limited amount of time to indulge in reading about your favorite characters, and this is a short, well written story. Two: It's in Simon's POV, and his concern and protectiveness about his injured and unconscious friend Jim Ellison is strongly shown. What also makes it interesting is his reactions when Jim's flaky new little buddy shows up at the hospital and challenges the medical care Jim is being given. Simon and Blair became friends on the show, but they didn't click right away. With this story, we see how Simon started changing his mind about that long-haired hippie kid that Jim lets hang around him.

Summary : Originally published in 2003. Jim's first visit to the hospital on Blair's watch. Except that Simon has the first watch and is not particularly inclined to pass it on.

( Blair shows up at the hospital )


Earned by Rhyo

Fandom: INCEPTION
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Length: 9k
Author on LJ: http://spylace.livejournal.com/ 
Author Website:
Why this must be read:

Cobb rationalizes that his actions are allowable because they are for his children but the truth is he knowingly and recklessly endangers the lives of everyone on his team.  He risks their sanity, bribes Yusuf to drug them without their knowledge and shows no remorse when his projection tortures Arthur.  A big question the movie does not entirely answer is why does Arthur remain his loyal Point Man?  The author offers a very plausible and horrifying explanation.  This story has a truly BAMF Eames, a heartbreakingly broken Arthur and the immoral actions of Cobb are scarily believable.

The Anarchists

There are two short companion fics that can be found listed on the author's Master Fic List

Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Author on LJ: pen_rabbit
Author Website: AO3
Why this must be read:

Oh, this story was so bloody gorgeous. pen_rabbit's descriptions were beautiful and breathtaking. Her Merlin experiences the world in a way only a few people in the world will ever be able to: through the harmonia mundi, the music of the world.

Not only is there artwork for this incredible big bang fic, nineteen original pieces of music were composed and recorded for this story by Gfeather. Not only can you read the fabulous story, you can hear the individual melodies that make up Merlin's world. It is AMAZING.

Excerpt:

From the slow, deep thrum of the earth to the bright, high chiming of sunlight, Merlin’s world had never not been full of sound. Indeed, it was hard for him to understand that other people lived their lives almost entirely deaf to the world. When Will had first told him that no, he couldn’t hear the trees singing about the coming spring, Merlin hadn’t believed him. How could anyone not hear it? It was there, as it had always been, the sound that filled Merlin’s every waking moment and flowed through his dreams as well. A touchstone of his reality, the extra dimension to every living thing and to every not-living thing too. It was like learning that Will was blind, to think he couldn’t hear the rocks or the birds or the ripening of the harvest.

Author's Summary:

Music has always been the centre of Merlin’s reality, and the idea of silence is unimaginable. But when Camelot is deafening, Arthur is distracting and the dragon is utterly unhelpful, will his gift turn out to be a blessing or a curse?

Light your imagination, treat your ears to a delight, go read Harmonia Mundi by pen_rabbit.

And don't forget to leave feedback!

Fandom: THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Pairing: Mark/Eduardo
Length: 3354 words
Author on LJ: abriata
Why this must be read: One of the recent one. From a tumblr challenge for "Letter", it's very sweet and with a good Eduardo POV.

( Excerpt )

Reform Without Practice

Fandom: LIFE ON MARS (UK)
Pairing: Sam/Gene
Length: 358 + 510 + 1300
Author on LJ: http://fawsley.livejournal.com/
Author Website: http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=lifein1973&keyword=fawsley&filter=all
Why this must be read:

These three fics (an ongoing story so I reckon they fall in the "series" category and may be recced together) are just beautiful... Fawsley is a master/mistress of words! It's Sam/Gene, beginning relationship/first time, and yes, one (or rather three) of those fics I come back to again and again.

Who could resist lines like:

‘You take the bed,’ says Sam. ‘I can sleep ok in the chair.’
But he can’t, and having watched a grey dawn slip its melancholy way across the city’s skyline he gives up trying...

The short winter day struggled so hard to find some identity but eventually gave up, sinking back into nondescript grey.

I'm not gonna cite some of the best dialogue there is because I don't want to spoil the experience of reading these but believe me, the two are absolutely in character! And the third part is hot!!

So enjoy, these three little gems are so worth it!

The immediate jewel of his soul
Parmaceti for an inward bruise
A tide in the affairs of men

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: None
Characters Jim Ellison, Blair Sandburg, OMC
Length 12700 words
Author's Warning None. Gen
Author on LJ:bluewolf458
Author's website: Bluewolfen's Bothy | Her page on AO3
Summary: Written for Give & Take, for the prompt 'Jim is in Search & Rescue with his guide. Then a new helicopter pilot, Blair, arrives.'

Why this must be read:I enjoy AU's where Jim and Blair meet under different circumstances. Jim is kind of heartbreaking in this, as he's learned to settle for contentment, not happiness, and for a guide who is friendly, but not friends. There are small things that say a lot about this Sentinels Are Known universe, such as Sentinels are forbidden to drive because of zones, much like people with seizure disorders aren't supposed to drive after having a seizure. Jim chafes under that rule but accepts it, as he accepted switching careers from Police work to Search and Rescue, and expecting to be alone the rest of his life.

Bluewolf writes in a very matter of fact style, and yet I found some lovely lines. My favorite phrase is at the end of the following sentence.

“What happened - or didn't happen - before that is spilled milk, water under the bridge... life on the mountains of the moon."

The way the story is structured also subtly emphasizes Jim's isolation, as the two times he goes out with his guide, Mark, for a rescue mission, we are only given glimpses into the lives of the people they are searching for in the woods. They drifted into his life, they drifted out of it. There's very little real human connection, until a new helicopter pilot reports for duty.

( A glimpse into Jim's life )

One True Guide by Bluewolf

Fandom: HAWAII FIVE-0
Pairing: Gen - Steve and Kono
Length: 5k
Author on LJ: kristen999
Author Website: On AO3
Why this must be read:

Summary: Octane fuels Kono’s blood, the same untamed rocket fuel in McGarrett's. That's why Kono asked her boss if he’d train her as a sniper.

This gripping, insightful fic explores how Kono became the expert marksman we've seen on the show - from Steve! It takes place early in season 1 and slides very easily into canon, fleshing out their relationship in a very believable way. kristen999 always puts in a lot of time and care researching her fics, and it really shows here. The little details give the story a lot of depth and a real sense of authenticity. I really enjoyed the characterizations. Steve is an excellent teacher: skilled, patient, and professional. Kono is perfect as the student who wants to be the best and make him proud.

To give you a taste for the fic, I've included an excerpt under the cut.

( Excerpt )

Protégé by kristen999 (or read it on AO3)

Fandom: INCEPTION
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Length: 16k
Author on LJ: http://canyousayhot.livejournal.com/
Author Website: none found
Why this must be read:

As an antidote to the darker nature of the last rec, this one is light and airy and pure entertainment  The setup is Eames uses texts and photos to gain Arthur's attention.  There are photos included in the story, which adds a nicely salacious touch.  A few photos are NSFW.  I am easily embarrassed mixing the real actor with the fictitious character (I acknowledge the contradiction that allows me to enjoy deeply depraved writing but cringe reading Entertainment Weekly - what can I say, I am writ large and contain the multitudes).  Which makes this an unusual fic for me to enjoy.  The photos are central to the plot and are used in such a way that they do not make me immediately blush.  But the real enjoyment here is Eames being gentle and considerate while coaxing Arthur out of his shell.  Actually, the true enjoyment is in a gentle, considerate Eames combined with enthusiastic phone sex.  Enjoy!

Words not enough

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: Jeffrey Sinclair
Length: 1200 words
Author on LJ: deborah_judge
Author Website: Deborah’s Stories | fic masterpost at LJ

Why this must be read:

"Forgiveness means giving up all hope of a better past," someone once said. I’ve always been fascinated by Sinclair’s journey from war veteran and torture survivor to Valen, the greatest spiritual and military leader of the very people who nearly wiped out humanity. What happened? How did he do that?

Here, Jeff has a moment of truth, as he contemplates in the chrysalis just what he could do, or not do, to change the past. He doesn’t go to his destiny merely because it has been fated, but as an active participant. This is a Jeff who has "no hesitation, no doubts" not because he never wrestled with those things, but because he found a way through.

Excerpt:

( You could make them all go away )

Transformation

Since I'm so horrendously late in getting started, I'll skip the introduction and just get straight to the fic.

Fandom: STAR WARS
Pairing: Gen – Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, Jar Jar Binks, mentions of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and Padmé Amidala
Length: first story ~4224 words and second story ~1721 words
Author on LJ: fernwithy
Author Website: http://humongousbighead.homestead.com/
Why this must be read:

The morning after the end of RotJ, Leia is trying not to deal with the knowledge that Darth Vader was her father, when suddenly Jar Jar Binks shows up on Endor. He's there to pay his respects to Anakin's remains – and to tell a story to Anakin's children. It's not unusual to see stories in which Luke and Leia meet people who knew their parents, or for such meetings to help them come to terms with their heritage, but “Old Friends, Long Gone” and its sequel are the only ones I've seen in which the twins encounter Jar Jar. In fact, I don't know whether it's because of his (undeserved, imo) unpopularity or because he's difficult to write, but these are almost the only fics I've seen featuring Jar Jar at all. They're worth reading for that reason alone, but all the more so because FernWithy is such an excellent writer (though, to give fair warning, the first fic was written before AotC and RotS came out, so a few of the details are wrong). And no, Leia doesn't actually come to terms with her heritage after hearing one story about Vader's past – that would be unrealistic – but it's a start.

In the sequel “Learning To Fly,” Luke and Leia are on Coruscant rebuilding the Jedi Temple when Jar Jar comes to see them again. There's an interesting dynamic in that after their last meeting, Leia considers Jar Jar an Imperial sympathizer and doesn't entirely trust him. Jar Jar thinks they shouldn't reject everything that came from the Empire out of hand just because it came from the Empire, and illustrates this by telling them a story about Padmé just after the Battle of Naboo. As a Jar Jar fan, I love these two stories for portraying Jar Jar in a non-trivializing manner, but all of the other characters, in both the framing and interior stories, are treated with equal thoughtfulness and insight.

Old Friends, Long Gone
Learning To Fly