Fandom: STAR WARS
Pairing: none
Length: 3k
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: FFN Profile
Why this must be read:

Set some time during the Clone Wars, this story is a highly amusing outsider's view of some of the more unusual domestic aspects of the galaxy's monastic heroes. A simple foray into the privacy of the Jedi Temple to deliver a message is punctuated by Bail Organa's internal commentary, which is both unsurprisingly astute and humorously reflective of the rigid etiquette with which the esteemed Senator conducts himself. This is a decidedly light story that is sprinkled with somber bits of reality that serve to anchor the tale within the greater happenings in the galaxy beyond certain candid practicalities within the Temple.

Culture Shock

Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 7,564
Summary: Arthur needs a nanny for his son Gwaine. He's expecting the Albion Agency to send a woman, but he get's Merlin, who's rather sharp-tongued and wonderful.
Why this must be read: A really cute and fluffy kid-fic romance with great fluff and.banter.
Link: Not Quite Mary Poppins

Sooo sorry I've been awol, we broke down somewhere near Oxford, and getting back was hell, and... yeah, okay, bloody work, cos June is always the worst month ever for my being able to keep up with regular lj commitments. Ah well, cookies crumbling and coins falling and all that. Let's see if I can be back for the last - erk! - 4 days at least.

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: B/D
Length: short story
Author on LJ: solosundance
Author Website: Jojo's stories at A03
Why this must be read: Because it's written by Jojo. Full stop. *g* Which means that it's all about our tough lads, as hard as we see them in the eps, as in love with each other as we see them in the eps, and with a gritty sexiness that they were never allowed to show us in the eps... *g* Capitulation is set just after Fugitive, in the evening after they've gone home. They're all - even Cowley, though we only hear his Cowness via the telephone, and translated by Doyle - reacting to the near-miss that Bodie in particular had. And at the end, there is... well - go read. Short and very sweet. *g*

Capitulation

Fandom: STARSKY & HUTCH
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Length: 44 stories of varying length, most long
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: http://www.zebra3productions.org/ (additional links to individual seasons below the cut)
Why this must be read:

In 2001, long before LiveJournal spawned the "Big Bang" phenomena, a group of Starsky and Hutch fans decided to work on an ambitious undertaking: the Starsky and Hutch Slash Virtual Season. Multiple writers, editors, and artists devised a plan for a cohesive continuing series of stories that would take up Starsky and Hutch's story right after the aired series concluded. The last aired episode ended in Season 4 with Starsky surviving a near-fatal assassination attempt. So, in the Virtual Season 5, as the summary of the first story explains, "Starsky grapples with his recovery, Hutch begins working with a temporary partner, and both men face changing feelings about their relationship."
( Read more about the SandH Slash Virtual Seasons... )
Starsky and Hutch Slash Virtual Seasons
Season 5: 2001: 21 stories plus other "treats"
Season 6: 2002: 15 stories plus other "treats"
Season 7: 2003: 4 stories plus memories of Paula Wilshe and other treats
Season 8: 2004-2005: 4 stories

Fandom: Parks and Recreation
Pairing: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt
Length: 5,623 words
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: FFN

Why this must be read: In a great example of "what could've been," this fic considers Ben's media meltdown as a potentially viral video, complete with personal fallout...and a response that only Leslie Knope could engineer. Bonus points for "Dunk a State Auditor" and probably the best context one could imagine for the line, "Leslie Knope. Don't tell me you're not ready to talk solutions?"

( In the kind of miracle that could only happen in Pawnee (and Frank Capra movies, if Frank Capra had a really weird sense of humor) come morning he's become a kind of rallying cry, a folk hero of south central Indiana. )

It's All Your State of Mind

Fandom: SHERLOCK HOLMES, HP LOVECRAFT, A STUDY IN EMERALD
Pairing: Gen, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Length: 41537
Author on LJ:
Author Website: Ao3
Why this must be read:
In a world dominated by an alien monarchy, criminals Sherlock Holmes and John Watson work to take down the royal establishment while detective James Moriarty and his associate Sebastian Moran try to track them down. Also featuring by Irene Adler and Roderick Maclean, who did in fact exist. AU based on Neil Gaiman's phenomenal short story "A Study in Emerald."

And I wanted to close out the month like I started- with a Study In Emerald-verse rec. While the consulting detective and his soldier look for clues to identify and stop the revolutionists, Sherry Vernet and The Limping Doctor (Holmes and Watson) raise hell and strike blows against the creeping horror that is the monarchy. Victorian era morality may apply.

A Study in Midnight

Fandom: SUPERNATURAL
Pairing: Dean/Castiel
Length: 652,233
Author on LJ: spn_redemption
Author Website: Ao3
Why this must be read:
Redemption Road is a LJ-based virtual season – a fan-generated, large-scale AU project created by members of the SPN and Dean/Castiel fandoms.

So, for my last fic pick this month, I wanted to close out with the most epic Supernatural fic I’ve ever read, and one long enough to last you a good long while.

Redemption Road is an epic “season 7” that starts off right where season 6 ended (With Cas having absorbed purgatory souls and becoming a god) and goes through 24 “episodes” and interludes, building up through case ‘episodes’ and plot centric stories that builds up with to insanely epic big-bad. It cumulates like all good tv shows with a setup for future seasons. I don’t know how spoilers work or if you can spoil fic (you can get see the tags and the short summaries on all the chapters) but since this works like a tv season, the Winchesters must deal with God!Cas thenDean, Sam, and Bobby banishes the souls Cas absorbed but accidently sends Cas to Purgatory. Dean travels there to save Cas and eventually they get together. But a slithering evil is slowly seeping back into the world and turns out HP Lovecraft was right about almost everything and C’thulu wakes from his slumber and must be vanquished. Then maybe all roads may look like they lead to 2014, but what’s free will for? These are fic writers, not actual show writers, so there isn’t as much sadism. barely anyone you probably love stays dead

There are DVD extras/codas interspersed though that are pallet cleansers and the episode list helps show how the chapters break down if the AO3 listing is unclear. The episodic structure of the fics do allow for reading this fic chapter by chapter (or in chunks) so it won’t be like committing to all 650k+ at once if you don’t have the time.

There are dozens of authors and artists that collaborated to put all this together, and while you may be able to see differences in style (writing and art wise), it all works to blend together rather seamlessly into an epic season long saga.

This fic has everything. Great writing, pretty art, insanely evil big-bads, awesome Winchesters, #1 dad Bobby, in-universe character development, fun reappearances of old characters, the epic love story that is Dean/Cas, an awesomely cool OC love interest for Sam, epic mythology (not previously featured in the actual show), case fic, plot fic, hot smut, fun interludes, and an ending that may leave you wanting another season of this but alas.

Good luck.

Redemption Road