Fandom: TEEN WOLF
Pairing: canon (female-centric)
Length: 3 000 circa
Author: eena
Why this must be read: I love all the characters and quite all the ships in TW. I really liked this females!centric (Lydia, Allison, Erica POVs) fic, TW has some great gilrs (and women) in it!

( Excerpt )

So wise, so young, they say do never live long...

Hi there! I'm sekrit_omg, and I'm really really excited to be reccing South Park fics for you this month. I have a fandom overview in the works, and was waiting to get that completed before posting recs, but I can't help it, I'm too excited. I've been in the SP fandom for almost five years now, and man, it is a weird fandom. But I think it's amazingly fun and, just by coincidence, the second half of season 16 happens to be airing right now. I am an unabashed Stan/Kyle shipper, so I'll try to break things up, but I'm clearly biased and have to start here:

Fandom: SOUTH PARK
Pairing: Stan/Kyle; Cartman/Wendy
Length: 7K
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: here on FF.net
Why this must be read: The single most basic Stan/Kyle plot goes as follows: Stan has been dating Wendy since elementary school, much to Kyle's great annoyance. Stan and Kyle struggle through their sexual tension, and things come to a head right at the end of high school, when everyone's about to go off and leave South Park for college. "Writing on the Wall" doesn't do anything new, but it does it so well that in a fandom with about 100 takes on this plot, it really stands out for excelling overall.

A good SP fic will show you the characters you know, just grown up. This story avoids the obnoxious cliches while improving upon others. South Park itself is often compared to a character, in how sharply it impacts the people who inhabit the town. This story keeps the integrity of that idea while really making you get the closed-off, tiny, hopeless dead-end feel of a small rural town where a high school senior would feel trapped. It also serves every character a measure of dignity. No one's overfeminized or unsympathetic. They're all a bit pathetic, but you want to them to get what they want. Combined with some extremely vibrant imagery, it makes for one of the most memorable stories in the fandom, one of the few that everyone can point to as an example of a satisfying Stan/Kyle high school first-time oneshot.

I wanted to start with a story that demonstrates what you can do with these characters while keeping the setting recognizable. This would be that story.

Writing on the Wall

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Length: Short story
Author on LJ: solosundance
Author Website: Jojo's Fanworks
Why this must be read: A Kind of Praise is one of those perfect little fics that just stays in the back of your mind, just the right flavour of bitter-sweet dark chocolate. It's a third-person story, which is an odd rec for me really, because I usually like to be tightly involved with at least one of the lads (*g*) but Jojo manages to capture our boys beautifully, even whilst she's writing through someone else - her third person adds to Bodie/Doyle rather than the other way around. At the same time there's a tragedy here for our third person that tugs and worries as you read, and the ending seems somehow inevitable...

And how can you resist a fic that begins with this line:
You come across them happily sinning under cover of a sticky summer night.

A Kind of Praise

And we're back to fic. Naruto fandom is fair bulging with stories that take a second run at the Uchiha clan and either try to derail the massacre, or rescue something from the aftermath. This is the first of two in that vein which I'll be reccing this month.


Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: None
Genre: Gen, Action/Adventure, Angst.
Length: About 115,000 words.
Author on LJ: bizzylizzybee
Warnings: Some imagery.
Author Websites: Fanfiction.net.
Why this must be read: Summary: Itachi's just died...and woken up thirteen again. The only problem is his thirteen year-old self doesn't like the idea of sharing his mind and body with his clan's killer. How hard would you fight to save your family from yourself?

Unlike quite a few 'fix-it' fics, this one doesn't attempt to make excuses for Itachi's actions the night he slaughtered his clan. It puts them in context, yes, but also suggests that he could have made better, more intelligent decisions. Of course twenty-twenty hindsight a wonderful thing, and if there's one thing we know about the Uchihas, it's that their eyes don't always see things the same way as everyone else.

I found this a galloping good read. Itachi's relationships with his family, especially Sasuke and Shisui, are wonderfully portrayed and at the end of the day we're left wondering where the lines between possession, memory, dreams and foresight lie and whether being true to yourself is ever simple. Remember to feed the author if you enjoy the story.

Ascendant

Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
Pairing: Chris/Vin
Length: 6,051 words
Author on LJ: todeskun
Author website: todesengel on AO3

Why this must be read:  Because it's gorgeous - an un-idealized and unsentimental look at Chris and Vin, full of the gritty romance of the old west. 

The story takes us through the random, episodic nature of their initial relationship, based at first on a raw sexual attraction that will not be denied.  Chris is taciturn, grimly humorous, almost predatory.  Vin, whose pov we are in, is quietly frustrated at the lack of something more permanent on offer.  And then Vin's former brotherhood with the Comanche calls, and he makes discoveries about where home really might be and what could be on offer for him there.


( excerpt )

I like the style of this piece very much: the pared-down but crystal-clear characterizations of the two men, and the unembellished presentation of the unique "spark" there is between them.  The writing is elemental and sensory, full of weather and mud, sweat and mess.  Oh yes, and the story features a truly wonderful last line!

Dreams of Hope

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Length: 32K
Author on LJ: saffronhouse
Author Website: Sweet (slash) and Good Morning, Sunshine (gen)

Why this must be read: Because it covers an under-explored bit of the sentinel’s life: zoning for pleasure.

Martha calls this “an afterwards (of sorts) to… The Portable Jack Kerouac ”, her story in which Blair discovers that zone-outs might not always be bad. That story was gen, but “Something” finds the guys in bed as Jim is given free rein to experience their love through a sensuous golden haze. The love and trust they are building gives him the courage to let go…and to tell Blair more than he normally reveals.

Martha is often remembered for her gothic tales; horror told with intelligence that enthralls. This is a tender and complicated tale, which true love should be, shouldn’t it? Enjoy

Something or Other by Martha (NC-17)

--magician’s mantra: make an author’s day. Send feedback if you liked their story!

Fandom: MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: none
Length: 2232 words
Author on LJ: kleenexwoman
Author Website: Kleenexwoman on AO3
Why this must be read:

The same thing happened to me last time. I recced another of kleenexwoman's stories, then flailed madly trying to describe it. All I can tell you is that we're in another world now; spooky, beautiful, scary. Yet it's anchored in MFU. Napoleon and Illya are completely themselves, but they're lost in a strange underworld maze: solid as the rock walls they touch to reassure themselves, insubstantial as the people only Illya can see.

Vivid, evocative language; witty, heartbreaking, unique. Go read please, you won't regret it.

"You idiot," Illya hissed, "what do you think you're doing? What if one of them saw you?"

Napoleon risked a glance over his shoulder. The cavern seemed devoid of people; still, sometimes Illya could detect snipers or spies hidden in places Napoleon wouldn't think to look. "Who? Where are they?"

"Everywhere! Crowds of people, walking round in a ring. They must have all come in while I was bringing you here."

The Pomegranate Affair

*waves*  I'm mithen and I'll be driving the Crack Van for DC Comics this month!  I tend to lean toward stories that are both short and sweet, but will aim to include some longer stories and smutty fun as well. 

Fandom: DC COMICS
Characters:  Tim Drake/Conner Kent (pre-reboot)
Length: around 100,000 words 
Author on LJ: She prefers Glymr on Dreamwidth.
Author Website: Glymrs.com
Why this must be read: "Perennial" is long, detailed, satisfyingly romantic, angsty and hot in equal measures.  It starts off as a simple "what if" question:  what if Tim Drake's parents had moved to Smallville when he was young?  Then it follows the events of the comics universe over the course of a tumultuous time in Tim and Kon's lives, describing how they meet, fall in love, and deal with tragedy.  A detailed knowledge of the comic events of the time isn't necessary to enjoy the slow burn of this story, which shouldn't be missed.

Perennial

Fandom: SUITS
Pairing: Harvey/Mike
Length: 98,686
Author on LJ: thatotherperv
Author Website: AO3 profile
( Why this must be read )

needs must