Fandom: Fairy Tales: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty aka Briar Rose, The Princess and the Pea, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Beauty and the Beast
Pairing: canon pairings
Length: 1820 words
Author Website: at AO3

Why this must be read: This is a lovely, slightly cracky story of what has happened post-fairy tale to many of those women who've become princesses. Told through the eyes of Cendrillon (Cinderella), we see the ladies settling into their new lives, baggage and all. On the night of a ball that's being given in Belle (Beauty) and the Beast's castle by her daughter-in-law Rapunzel, another fairy tale begins.

This is a delicious tale of women who survived what was thrown at them and thrived. Enjoy.

Real Princesses

If you like this, take a moment to tell the author. You will absolutely make her day!

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing/Characters: Knowle Rohrer/Shannon McMahon
Length: novel-length
Author on LJ: deslea
Author Website: Literatti: Fiction by Deslea
Why this must be read:

Eschaton is a four-part novel-length fic told from Knowle Rohrer's POV that provides a coherent and compelling backstory for the supersoldiers: why he and Shannon were created and by whom, how the other supersoldiers came to be. Deslea tells their story against the backdrop of the larger X-Files universe. Strange as it might sound, she humanizes these inhuman creatures, allowing us to understand and even empathize with them. In the process, she also makes The X-Files mythology appear better written than it really was.

( Read an excerpt )

Read Eschaton. The link is to part one, links to the other sections are at the bottom of the page.

Fandom: SUITS
Pairing: Harvey/Donna
Length: 1249
Author on LJ: alinaandalion
Author Website: Fic and fanvid masterpost, FF.net profile

Why this must be read: I feel like I'm very selective when it comes to Harvey/Donna fics. A lot of them don't grab me because of various criteria I don't want to list here to avoid hurting any feelings. But this fic? I can't resist this fic. The premise is simple: a late night on the job turns into a will they-won't they kiss situation. But for a short read, it's very gripping. I can't not rec this fic.


Donna moves around him quietly, gathering her heels from the corner of the room where she had flung them earlier, pulling her jacket off the back of Harvey’s chair. His fingers itch as he watches her from the corner of his eye, and when she reaches across him for her purse that was dumped on the far side of his desk, he grabs her wrist without thinking.

They freeze almost at the same time. A few seconds pass, and he breathes. She starts to pull away, and he tightens his fingers on instinct. His thumb rests on her pulse point, feels the thrum of her blood right underneath her skin; he looks down at where he holds her.


Nothing to Lose: LJ FF.net

Fandom: ONE DIRECTION
Pairing: OT5 (Harry/Liam/Louis/Niall/Zayn)
Length: ~17,500 words
Author on LJ: cyclogenesis
Author on AO3: cyclogenesis (addictedkitten)
Why this must be read:

My first rec is a canon-compliant fic set during the Judge's Houses' portion of The X-Factor, when the boys are preparing for the audition that will determine if they advance to the live performance shows. It has a sweet end-of-the-world quality, as Niall and the others begin to acknowledge the unique bond that they're forming, and that getting through isn't just about competing...but about staying together, and about what they could be to each other.

Who knew what secret gay feelings might be lurking about in the hearts of boys?

Fandom: CRIMINAL MINDS
Pairing/Characters: Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid
Length: +80,000 words
Rating: NC-17 or FRAO. This is a 'hard NC-17' for various elements. Please heed any author warnings.
Author on LJ: kuriadalmatia
Author Website: CM Fiction on LJ, CM Fiction on AO3, CM Fiction on fanfiction.net

Why this must be read: Okay - full disclosure here: Kuria is a pal of mine, but I didn't know her at all when I came across this series the first time. When I first read it, I was also a het-only 'shipper in this fandom. THIS story changed all of that for me. It is a powerful, complicated look into a relationship between two men who are desperately fighting for a slice of normality when their idea of 'normal' is plumbing the darker side of humanity. The prose is fractured and explicit (for example, the reader is dropped into an explicit adult scene in the first chapter - it is initially jarring), and the characters' developing relationship is difficult, anxious, and revelatory by turns. Kuria manages to move her characters through the ups and downs of their personal strife alongside canon elements and cases, giving the whole enterprise the illusion that this could have actually happened to them if we looked harder. And the smut is so hot and dirty that you'll feel wrung out afterwards. Basically, this one is dark and packs a real punch that'll leave a mark - there's a reason why it's a fan favorite and has been nominated for a bunch of fan awards.

*Readers should note that this story is very angsty and features many triggering elements (such as addiction, spousal abuse, drinking, PTSD, graphic violence etc.). The author has usually posted warnings per section, but I'm not sure if those warnings appear on all platforms.


Triggers & Ties by kuriadalmatia
(For the sake of my sanity, I'm not going to provide a story link to every platform. If you don't want to read this fic on AO3, use the general site links listed above for your venue of choice)

If you enjoy this story, please take the time to stop and give the author some love!

I've been reading and reccing here for years and I realized just in time that there was one must-do fandom for which I hadn't yet taken the wheel! Enjoy what will mostly be a boatload of Jim/Pam recs (because who are we kidding) over the scant few weeks remaining to us :)

Fandom Category: The Office
Pairing: Pam Beesly/Jim Halpert, Pam Beesly/Roy Anderson, Katy/Jim Halpert
Length: 11649 words
Author on LJ: obsession_inc
Author Website: AO3

Why this must be read: Set in the summer between Seasons 1 and 2, this fic has got to be canon. It's the only way to explain the perfectly balanced dynamic between Pam and her life with Roy. Reading this, you leave with a strong sense of exactly why Pam stayed with him for so long. It's comfortable, if incomplete. It's really all she knows. He's really all she knows. Her frustration with her life and her loneliness are on full display here alongside her failure to do anything about them. Her interactions with Jim are as subtle and sweet and fraught are they are in canon, and you'll long to tell this Pam that there is and will be so much more to her life.

( Pam senses, on some level, that there's a detail missing, but she can't quite put her finger on it. )

Nothing Better

Fandom: HOCKEY RPF
Pairing: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malki, Maria Kirilenko/Alexander Ovechkin, Paul Martin/James Neal
Length: 61,262 words
Author on LJ: twsomething, pentapus
Author Website: Author page on AO3 & Author page on AO3
Why this must be read
A historical romance AU with magical elements is not the most likely thing to run across in the Hockey RPF fandom, but twentysomething makes it work. This is a sweet story for fans of historical romance.

Thou and You

So here's a Shakespeare rec from yours truly, hopefully I'll remember to do these a couple times a week now.

Fandom Category: Richard II/The Hollow Crown
Pairing/Characters: Henry IV/Richard II, Aumerle/Richard II
Length: 3011 words
Author Website: AO3

Why this must be read: Richard/Henry is a doomed ship within the confines of the canon, and as I have many ships that are similarly doomed, every once in a while, I just want to read something where people survive at the end and are happily ever after. This fic uses the trope of soulbonding to great effect and with no small helping of humour (and a shipper on deck). The way it fits with the canon and explains a lot of things is lovely. It is a somewhat cracky piece but there is real emotion underneath, and the resolution left me smiling.


Soulbonds between men and women are the most romantic form of marriage in the known world. Soulbonds between men and men make bards and poets salivate with the prospect of terrible, epic tragedy. Richard and Henry think that bards and poets are assholes.

Fandom: THE HUNGER GAMES
Pairing: gen, Peeta Mellark, Haymitch Abernathy
Length: 1907 words
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Author on FFN
Why this must be read: Regardless of fandom, fic that can easily slip into canon are my personal favorites, and this story is no different. It's the morning of Reaping Day for the 74th Hunger Games and while Katniss and Gale spend time in the woods, Peeta mans the storefront of the Mellark family bakery.  Reaping Day means different things to different people. For most, it's a day to dread while for the more opportunistic minded, it's a way to make a quick buck. This story is peppered with subtle details that resonates with anyone who is familiar with the books. We know where these characters will be by the end of the day and that makes the story even more poignant.



( Excerpt )

Breaking Bread by Danny Bailey