Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Unrequited Benton Fraser/Ray Vecchio
Length: 1305 words
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: On Ao3

Why this must be read: This is a different sort of take on the way that Fraser and Ray might confess to possibly having something for each other. Fraser, still guilt-torn over Victoria, tries to offer atonement through Ray's zipper. Ray takes charge and tells him why they can't do it this way. Over all, it leaves one hoping they find a way, somewhere down the distant road.

An Attempt of an Act of Atonement

Fandom: GENERATION KILL
Pairing: Brad Colbert/Nate Fick
Length: 12,828
Author on LJ: lunasky
Author Website: Perchance to Dream
Why this must be read:

Brad runs into the Fates; it goes about as well as you'd expect. lunasky rips your heart out with this one. For about 10k words I kept repeating, 'no, it can't go like this.' But in the best kind of way. It's wonderfully structured, intertwined with Brad's childhood fairytale anecdotes, all done in this perfect, bone-dry Brad narration. His internal monologue is gold: no-bullshit, hilarious, highly observant, while also being oblivious to the important things. Namely, Nate. But hey, that's what the Fates are for.

Brad whipped around, clutching his helmet in one hand, off-balance and confused. There were three old women, dressed in mismatched rags, sitting there cursing and swearing because he’d tripped over them. He could have sworn they weren’t there a moment ago.

All the King's Horses

Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairings: Benton Fraser/Margaret Thatcher, Ray Kowalski/Francesca Vecchio
Length: 29,363 words
Author on LJ: tanyareed

Why this must be read: An oldie, being nearly if not more than ten years old, this story still manages not only to give a fun, competent and interesting romp to both Meg and Frannie, but it also sums up something of an era in dS fanfic, presenting an imaginitive plot that has some of the same tone and feel of the show itself. In a fandom where het is rare, it also has two het pairings in it. The writing is competent, the story's enjoyable and the author put a good deal of heart into it.

Frannie's Lament

Fandom: SKIP BEAT!
Pairing: Kyoko/Ren, Kanae/Yashiro
Length: 15 chapters, 42,572 words
Author on LJ: none that I can find
Author Website: Fiction Press profile
Why this must be read: This is a sweet almost-epic about the fandom's favorite couple, along with an amusing dash of Yashiro/Kanae, and a healthy dose of Koo. The author does make a few mistakes with honorifics and the movie business, but the fic was enjoyable enough that they can be overlooked. [Set after the Happy Grateful party.]

A Wink, a Poke, a Gentle Shove

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Length: 31838
Author on LJ: esteefee
Author Website: author on Ao3
Why this must be read:

Any story where Jim suffers from his senses without meeting Blair is good. Well, as long as he eventually meets Blair. In this case, Jim's senses don't go dormant after his return from Peru. Arrow's summary says, Two years later, Jim is a burned out vet working in a soup kitchen. A certain grad student shows up to do research on a paper about homeless culture.

Arrow's writes with a light, realistic touch, capturing the voices of the characters perfectly. This story is long and meaty, even having a crime story that Jim helps solve, despite his not being a cop.

Unable to deal with his senses, Jim lives in a homeless shelter where he works in the kitchen. Oridinary sounds and sights plague him, from the loud garbage trucks to the smell of food cooking. He has a small room, where he's installed room darkening blinds to help keep out the light. The story opens the day he got bad news from the doctor following his latest round of tests. Since the V.A. doctors can't figure out what's wrong and medication doesn't help, they suggest electroshock therapy and while the idea is repellant to Jim, he's actually starting to consider it.

Then, some volunteers from the university come to help serve dinner at the shelter that evening. One of them is Blair Sandburg, overly friendly to the point of being pesky and pushy. He notices Jim's senses seem "enhanced" and Jim growls that they are out of control. Knowing something about enhanced senses, Sandburg keeps at Jim until he can begin to help him with his out of control senses.

The POV switches between Jim and Blair from scene to scene and there is also an array of original characters that are as real as the canonical ones, homeless people, other vets and victims of the violence that has begun to affect the entire neighborhood. We also meet the detectives from Major Crime, Simon Banks, Henri and Rafe. Jim begins to help them as they investigate the murders and muggings. It's my favorite kind of AU, with recognizable characters and situations that could have been if just one thing happened differently than in canon.

Blair starts helping Jim and he starts feeling as though he's getting his life back. Eventually they become friends and more. Everything about this story satisfies, especially since Jim is moving toward becoming the detective we know him to be from the series.

Somewhere to Be

Fandom: SHERLOCK BBC
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Length: 1373 words
Author on LJ: kaeorin
Author Website: kaeorin on AO3
Why this must be read:

Sherlock expresses his emotions with his violin. Before the Fall John was often annoyed at being kept awake by Sherlock's playing. After the Fall, he missed it.

The strings cried out in the night and while John had never been all that good at picking out the "stories" that classical music told, this one might as well have had lyrics. It was slow and mournful, practically hesitant, building into a crescendo of notes, a frenzied whirling mess culminating in a series of plucked strings. Then it was slow again. This was the Fall.

Sonata