Fandom: GRIMM
Pairing: none ; gen
Length: 19,111 words
Author on LJ: luthienberen
Author Website: Fanfic.net, AO3
Why this must be read:

Author's Summary: A mysterious death in Forest Park leads to Monroe going missing. Nick races to find his friend.

Another suspenseful action/adventure fic that draws on the unexplored side of the Grimm world (at least in canon) as Monroe disappears in the woods and Nick needs to help him. I loved how drawn into the story the reader becomes. We become eased in with some wonderful Nick and Monroe banter (rockin' character voices!). Then a case arises that gets weirder and weirder until we have a missing Blutbad and a Grimm who would push the limits of his tolerance and patience to save his friend.

I've really got to shine a light on the Nick-Monroe friendship in this piece. Luthienberen has made it so strong and vibrant. Not that it isn't already in canon, but she's really bitten into the meat of their relationship. Monroe's deep faith in Nick's ability to help him and Nick's determined efforts in getting that help to him are all amazingly portrayed. Two men in a strong bond who would do anything for each other, what else is the true definition of friendship?

Unbreakable Bond

Fandom: STAR WARS
Characters: Hondo Ohnaka, OCs, Obi-Wan, Anakin
Length: ~37000 words
Author on LJ: laloga
Author Website: Profile with stories
Why this must be read:

Because it is a whopper of a plot, laced with engaging OCs in the form of a Jedi General and her squad of hyper-efficient clones. Moment not to be missed: when Hondo sees what a clone looks like underneath his helmet. Then another clone. Then another. Well-plotted and exciting, a real find.

Warriors of Shadow

Fandom: AVENGERS
Pairing: Clint/Natasha
Length: 7,092 words
Author on LJ: sullensiren
Author Website: @ AO3
Why this must be read:

Sharp and evocative look at Clint and Natasha and their relationship before, during, and after the movie, with a really great Natasha voice.

( an excerpt )

Out of the bone white afternoon by lorax

If you enjoy the story, please let the author know!

*

It's Christmas in August as the first catalogs come in the mail, and my red-and-white Toyota Tercel bypasses yet another gas station to bring you another fine piece of Starsky and Hutch fiction.

Fandom: STARSKY & HUTCH
Pairing: Starsky, Hutch
Length: 6,314 words
Author on LJ: nickygabriel
Author Website: Nicky Gabriel on the Starsky Hutch Archive

Why this must be read:

Nicky Gabriel is a writer whose work is complex and unique. A native of Poland, she writes in Polish then translates her stories into English. It's hard enough for me to find the right words in my own language, so I am awed by anyone who attempts to write about another culture (American) in another time (1970s) in a language not their own. I'm an unabashed fan of her work, finding it touching and beautiful and very very different. You may find phrasing that is not idiomatically correct, but look past that; it's a minor issue. Because her stories are about human emotion and the human heart, and all the different ways humans find to define and express love. These significant themes shine through issues of language and culture, bringing a diversity of views on love to our fandom that are worth exploring.

( Read more about Angel in the Snow... )

Angel in the Snow by Nicky Gabriel

Fandom: STAR TREK REBOOT
Pairing: Gen
Length: 1473
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: DW or AO3
Why this must be read:

For her amazing Vulcan characterization and description of Vulcan culture.

This is a short but exquisitely written fic on Vulcans adapting to their new planet as well as Spock dealing with the loss and change on the Enterprise. It so rare to see Vulcans being written as being alien and different from humans rather than just another strange version of humans. And LauraJV does it incredibly well. The style and language works adds beautifully in capturing the tone of the fic and there is some great subtle details in referencing TOS and profic novels.

The Word for World Is---

Fandom: GRIMM
Pairing: Nick/Monroe
Length: 2,826 words
Author on LJ: carlough
Author Website: AO3, Fanfic.net
Why this must be read:

Author's Summary: For the prompt: "A domestic Monroe/Nick, where they move in together for the first time and set out some rules. Monroe has all these small, ridiculous rules that makes Nick want to laugh."

I loved how domestic this piece was. Two guys integrating their domiciles and habits into one household. Little things like how best to load the toilet paper dispenser or how to squeeze the toothpaste tube made Nick and Monroe so down to Earth and real. I know that toilet paper thing was a ongoing source of amusement in my household with my Dad agreeing with Monroe, 100%. XD

And then there's the hilarity. I swear I had a grin from rule one, and it stayed on my face the whole way through. Carlough has a way with using a solely dialogue driven piece and making us just visualize Monroe's creepy Precious Moments collection (evil clown and dead baby figurines! XD) and the crisp lines of his hospital-like-folded bed linen. And you can just picture Nick's eye rolls and sighs of patience at Monroe's OCD rules. They're there to help with wolf control, but egads... Just some hilarious stuff!

The Care and Feeding of Your Blutbad (In Ten Easy-To-Follow Rules)

I've been haulin' ass all over this information highway, workin' hard for the stories, and now I'm ready to have a good old fashioned joyride! What, you thought I was some kinda literary major, or something? Get real. So buckle up, buddy, we're hittin' the gas now.

Fandom: STARSKY & HUTCH
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Length: 6,162 words
Author on LJ: keri1006
Author Website: Keri T on the Starsky Hutch Archive

Why this must be read:

Keri T's The Stuff of Romance was first published in the Las VegaSH Con zine. I was lucky enough to be the editor of that zine, and I remember when Keri sent me this piece. It had not been a good day, but all of a sudden it got a whole lot better. The boys are in an established relationship, and we get to be a fly on the wall while they spend a mundane evening turning a mundane dinner into anything but. It all takes place in and around a quick meal – Hutch's ubiquitous eggs, the ones Starsky promised never to talk him out of again – after Starsky's been to the dentist. No hurt/comfort here -- unless you count an icepack Hutch has waiting for Starsky, and the omelet he's whipping up in case Starsky can't chew anything tough -- just lots of perfect this-is-really-them-talking banter.

While waiting for his time in the dentist chair, Starsky gets caught up in a magazine in the waiting room, and steals it so he can finish the test he started to fill in while waiting. The magazine is Cosmopolitan, and the test is a romance test. A "boyfriend" test. The mileage Keri gets out of that one word should be used as a class in humor writing. The boys are nothing if not competitive, and even though Hutch was derisive about Starsky reading Cosmo, his competitive streak makes it very important that he score well on this test. Which will be hard to do when Starsky won't tell him what half the questions are.
( Read more about The Stuff of Romance... )

The Stuff of Romance by Keri T