Fandom: THE HUNGER GAMES
Pairing: Peeta Mellark
Length: 1059 words
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Author on AO3 | Author  on FFN | Author on Tumblr
Why this must be read: Mellark family dynamics are an interesting thing. Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins doesn't tell us too much except that as a young boy Peeta's mother would use abuse as discipline and that his father gave cookies to Katniss before she left for the Capitol. In some segments of the fandom that has translated into the kindly Mr. Mellark married to an evil witch of a woman who beats her children. What I find interesting about this story is that it shows how the individual enabling the abuse is just as responsible for the abuse as the one inflicting it. Peeta's father is not a bad man but in this series of short vignettes Mr. Mellark's complicity has far reaching consequence on the Mellark family as a whole.



( Excerpt )


Teamwork by swishywillow

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing/Characters: Fox Mulder & Dana Scully
Length: short story
Author on LJ: onpaperfirst
Author Website: see above
Why this must be read:

This was one of her first stories and while it never got the attention of her shippier fic, I think it's one of her best and most original. Set during season six before they got the X-files back, the characters sound just like the Mulder and Scully from the show I adored, bought on DVD, and have watched obsessively ever since, but with a fresh interpretation. Yes, Mulder wants to go off and investigate X-Files off the books, but through negotiation, Scully is a full participant, not merely his reluctant side-kick. I like that. Best of all, it does not read like a mediocre romance novel waiting to have the serial numbers filed off for publication. This writer is great at the little details that make a story come alive.

Read Letters Lost in the Fire

Fandom: SUITS
Pairing: The author has Mike/Harvey listed as a pairing, but in my opinion the story is a straight gen story.
Length: 3533
Author on LJ: matchsticks_p
Author Website: Fic masterlist, AO3 profile

Why this must be read: Trevor sends Harvey emails. Sounds simple, right? But matchsticks_p gives us little snippets of Mike's life as well as his own. Even though it's headcanon, it's still fascinating to read.



The email, in full, reads "remember that hot chick i told you about? i finally got up the nerve to ask her out and get this: turns out she's a lesbian and she has a steady girlfriend. guess that's not gonna happen. but on the bright side, i met her girlfriend yesterday and she's smokin. at least i have something nice to think about when im jerking it. the weather hasn't changed, and there isn't a whole lot to do other than jerk it. my boss put me on two twelve-hour shifts next week cause he's a dick, but i get paid time and a half for overtime so i can't complain. i went to the bar with a few co-workers but they were boring as shit and most of them are married so no one even wanted to be my wingman. wish you were here to look completely lame next to me so girls will notice how much cooler i am in comparison."

There's nothing whatsoever to indicate why Harvey needed to know any of that about Trevor's life in any detail. He scrolls up again to check the email header, and sees that it's actually sent to Mike and BCCed to him. So Trevor wants Harvey to know that he and Mike are keeping in touch, then. Maybe it's a power move, to show how Trevor's still in Mike's life even though he's in Montana and nothing Harvey can do can tear them asunder. Or whatever.



Ars Dictaminis: LJ, AO3

Fandom: THE OFFICE
Pairing: Pam Beesley/Jim Halpert
Length: 5 chapters; 15,300 words total
Authors on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: MTT
Why this must be read: This absolutely is my headcanon for all of the inside joke tokens that were in the teapot Jim gave Pam for Christmas in Season 2, particularly because each installment feels just like a missing scene from a episode. Just read it.

( Cheesy business metaphors? Really? )

Inside Jokes

Fandoms: UNCHARTED
Characters/Pairings: Nathan Drake/Elena Fisher
Length: ~2200 words
Author on LJ: rionaleonhart
Author Website: unknown
Why this must be read:

This is a simple but fun story about Nate and Elena's tendency to get into adventures/trouble no matter what. A bit of action and a bit of comedy, with requisite banter, make this an amusing read.

It's All There in the Relationship Contract

Fandom: White Collar
Pairing: Neal/Peter and Peter/Elizabeth
Length: 21k
Author on LJ: sahiya
Author Website: Sahiya’s Works on AO3
Why this must be read:

This is simply one of the most romantic stories I have ever read in this fandom. It’s an AU, it’s a ghost story, it’s a romance, it’s hurt/comfort at its very finest.

The story features our heroes in a situation completely outside the setup for the show, but not too far off the mark: Peter Burke is the police chief of a small town dealing with the pain of having lost his beloved wife Elizabeth; Neal Caffrey is an artist recovering from a brutal attack, renting a house from Peter for the summer. That the two men find each other is inevitable; what happens along the way is truly remarkable and will make you cry and smile and cry some more. I won’t go into it any more, for I do not want to spoil it. JUST READ IT, OK?! Then read all of Sahiya’s stories, and when you come up for air, send me a note of thanks, because you will agree with me that she is amazing.

Launch a Thousand Ships on AO3

Fandom: Fairy Tales: The Goose Girl
Pairing/Characters: canon characters
Length: 1347 words
Author Website: at AO3

Why this must be read: This is a clever re-telling of the tale set in the far future and revealed through newspaper articles covering the trial of the Goose Girl's servant. The headline reads "GUILTY!" and from there we learn the circumstances of the crime.

We also learn bits and pieces of this future society. It's comforting to know that trial by jury has survived the years, and that there's still a place for newspapers (and editorials). Enjoy.

The Goose Girl, a Retelling in Space!

If you like this, take a moment to tell the author. Feedback is precious and appreciated!

Fandoms: CRIMINAL MINDS
Characters/Pairings: Aaron Hotchner/Emily Prentiss
Length: 2363 words
Rating: 14A or FRT
Author Website: Author on AO3

Why this must be read: Epic fics are all well and good but sometimes you just want something refreshing and savory that makes you think about the blank spaces between lines of prose. This is one of those fics. The writing is sparse and non-linear, and the subject matter is less about a relationship as it is about the cavernous darkness that is Hotch's emotional landscape. This really fits in with what we know about the level of Hotch's control from the show, and yet the author paints it in a desperate way - not as the heroic stoicism that most fans have come to expect. It is a beautiful piece - more art than fan fiction - and completely worth the confusion that the story might instill in you when you are done. Check it out.

another apple to slice into pieces by arbitrarily on AO3

If you enjoy this story, why not make the author's day and let them know? It's also excellent fandom karma ;)

Fandom: THE OFFICE
Pairing: Pam Beesley/Jim Halpert
Length: 7,471 words
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: MTT
Why this must be read: As perfect as the proposal scene and the ensuing JAM goodness was in canon, I’d kind of like this to be the real version. Jim visits Pam throughout her summer in New York, sending mix CDs and lots of love. They resolve that wedding business, bond with her lovely old-Jewish-lady neighbors, and charge forward with a vitality and lightness that I think the show lost after Season 4. (Incidentally, I was not aware that Halpert is a Jewish last name despite being Jewish myself and having excellent Jewdar, but I love that the author made it relevant.)

( It's my New York City disguise. I seem to be fooling everyone. Shhh. )

A Better Version of Me

Fandoms: UNCHARTED
Characters/Pairings: Nathan Drake/Harry Flynn, Nathan Drake/Talbot
Length: 2657 words
Author on LJ: alexb49
Author Website: on Ao3
Why this must be read:

Slash is particularly rare in this fandom, as is fic featuring anything much of UC3 antagonist Talbot. This fic combines both, with some oh so angsty parts regarding Nate/Harry, that you wouldn't expect given the setting of this within UC3 as essentially a missing scene, which are very well teased out using in-game character appropriate explanations that also make for dubious and yet intriguing Nate/Talbot interaction. The interplay of Talbot's mind games with the intense smut makes for a very well done scenario.

blankeyed in the rain

Fandom: BLAKE'S 7
Pairing: Blake/Avon, Avon/Servalan
Length: Long-ish. Probably about 10K+
Author Website: Some more on Hermit.org
Why this must be read: Another of my favourite B/A fics (this one was written/published in 1997), and the first fic that I've recced thus far that it's going to be difficult to talk about without talking spoilers. Nevertheless, I shall attempt it...

It takes place after the end of the series - a time period B7 fen generally call PGP (if you don't know what that stands for, don't look it up), and it deals with one of the many fan-crack ideas that B7 casually introduces and then forgets about. In this case - the idea of memory erasure and implanting new memories into a person. The first canonically happens to our hero and it's something he has to deal with a lot in fic. The latter is less common, but still a reasonably persistent theme.

This fic does something quite unusual and interesting with the memory erasure/implanation idea, and what it is does is essential to the two major relationships explored in this fic: B/A and A/S. They're far more complex than this as characters (particularly Blake, who makes some spectacularly grey decisions), but in a way (while getting on with their own stuff) Blake and Servalan also function as Avon's shoulder angel and his shoulder devil. And this fic, which depicts the relationships simultaneously (sex in both), plays into that negotiation between Avon's best and worst instincts in a very plausible and compelling way. I'm not that keen on the ending, but I'm keen enough (i.e. very keen) on the rest of it to strongly urge you to read it. I also recommend Gemini's other work - particularly 'Identity Crisis', which, as you may guess from that title, plays on a similar idea, but in a very different way.

( Excerpt - contains major spoilers for B7 )

Link: All in the Mind