Fandom: SHERLOCK BBC
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes & OFCs
Length: 54,596 words
Author on LJ: magicbunni
Author Website: AO3, FF.net
Why this must be read:

I've been trying for days to come up with a description of this story that will do it justice and make you want to put it at the top of your reading list. The story deserves it. You, the reader, deserve it. Alas, it makes me all too aware of why I read fanfiction and make recommendations, instead of writing stories myself.

"The Witch's Heart" is a complex story, interweaving action and insight. Magicbunni's crisp prose and sharp observations mirror Sherlock's turbulent mind.

It's a story of seventeen-year-old Sherlock at a vulnerable, transitional time in his development into the adult we know - disoriented by the attentions of girls and by the desires of his own adolescent, still growing body.

It's a story about music, Sherlock's soul, and his violin.

It's the story of a case that draws Sherlock in almost without volition.

It's the story of Sherlock trying to find a place for himself in the shadows of a harsh father and a 'perfect' older brother. Arrived underage at Cambridge, he is too brilliant, too abrasive, and too pretty - irritating his peers, and arousing the suspicions of police.

It's the best young Sherlock story I've read and one of the best Sherlock stories, period. I've loved it even more each time I read it.

( Try a sample... )

The Witch's Heart

Fandom: AVENGERS
Pairing: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton/Phil Coulson
Length: 94,000 words
Author on LJ: myrmidryad
Author Website: Author's AO3 Page
Why this must be read:

The author's summary begins this way: "Clint's life is a steady progression from point A to point B, but it's everything that happens between those points that make the story interesting." All true. This is a wonderfully long, smart and often touching look at Clint Barton's life from childhood on, which incorporates many elements from both comics and movie canons, and still succeeds in feeling original.

If you'd like to read a bit from Clint's early days at S.H.I.E.L.D.(  click here )

The characterizations in this story are excellent, the action sequences work extremely well...basically, this is just a really engaging, long read.

A small warning note, which you can ignore if you - like me - would rather encounter the story with no particular foreknowledge: ( Spoilers...although mostly mood spoilers )

Just Another Guy With A Bow