Fandom: HOCKEY RPF
Pairing: Jordan Eberle/Taylor Hall/Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Length: 2210 words
Author on LJ: grim_lupine
Author Website: Author page on AO3
Why this must be read
Jordan Eberle/Taylor Hall established relationship, which turns into the OT3 of my dreams. ;) Vampire Ebs is obsessed with Ryan's neck. For good reason, as you will see if you look at this GIF. RNH has the prettiest neck in the NHL.

show me your teeth (On AO3 - locked to registered users)
show me your teeth (On LJ)

Fandom: SUITS
Pairing: Gen (Harvey, Donna, Dana Scott)
Length: 1109
Author on LJ: not that I know of
Author Website: AO3

Why this must be read: It's pretty much what the summary says: "Donna and Dana meet for the first time." It may not be a pleasant meeting, but it's not a meeting that's wildly out of character or filled with character bashing. For Not Yet Primetime.



Donna huffed and sat back in the rotating chair with her arms crossed. “If it’s not on my calendar it’s not work related. Do you have a date, Harvey? Oh you do.” She held up one hand to stifle protest. “I see it now. It’s in the hair. All…combed back like that.”

“I don’t have a date. But I do have court in...one hour. So I better go.”

She gave him a little wave and spent the next few minutes wondering what was going on.



Over Coffee

I meant to post this yesterday on GP Day, but ran out of time...

Fandom: BLAKE'S 7
Pairing: Blake/Avon, with background Avon/Servalan
Length: Pretty long - about 10k
Author on LJ: I have suspicions as to whose pen name this is, but I don't know if they want their journal linked to this fic, even if they are who I think they are
Author Website: more on Hermit (N.B. the bit of 'As Time Goes By' posted here is only a third of the actual story)
Why this must be read: It's the year 2000 and the sixth edition of Blake/Avon-only zine 'Fire and Ice' has been published - it ends with this story. Quick discussion of the zine before we move on: I find it bizarre that there weren't more single-pairing-only zines - in B7 the only other example I can think of is the .75 editions of 'Southern Comfort', which are all Avon/Vila. I don't think of myself as a 'slash' fan, or even as a 'non-gen' fan - I'm a gen and B/A fan, who occasionally reads other pairings. Unfortunately, the practicalities of getting enough stories together to make a print zine mean that you can end up purchasing a whole 300-page zine for 30 pages of your pairing. So, I'm grateful for the existence of F&I, particularly because (in my experience) it's mostly excellent from edition 3 onwards.

'Touching Life' (which, like 'All in the Mind', is a PGP where Avon has to choose between beautiful Servalan+power+security and Blake+danger+uncertainty) is pretty much my favourite Blake/Avon fic of all time, although there are some other strong contenders, some of which I can't rec because they have been recced already. Alas.

The Avon of 'Touching Life' is about to marry Servalan and has done terrible things under the pretense of not feeling anything, even after knowing Blake, but the fic makes it clear that he's worth redeeming and can be redeemed. And whatever he's done, I still feel sympathy for him. That's some fantastic and compelling characterisation. And then there's Blake - who is old and weary (which is notable because I love that Avon still fancies him, and that we are shown through Blake's actions how strong and attractive and desirable he still is, even if he is not physically desirable), and still fighting and angry and so innately good. I love the plot and its themes. And, as I've intimated, I think this is one of the best depiction of both characters to be found in the fandom. Cracking dialogue, too. Very, very strongly recommended.

( Excerpt )

Link: Touching Life

Fandom: BLAKE'S 7
Pairing: Vila and ensemble
Length: Very long
Author on LJ: vilakins
Author Website: Breaking Orbit or (and I'm not sure how much crossover there is) Nicola Mody on AO3, Vilakins on Ao3
Why this must be read: I am shocked this hasn't been recced before...

Blake's 7 from Vila's POV (as related to his mother) with various other emails coming in from other members of the Liberator and Scorpio crew, as well as other luminaries such as Servalan, Travis, Carnell, etc. Firstly, it's a very funny take on the series as shown, but also - vilakins is a strong believer in the Avon-Vila (the dash implies strong platonic relationship, rather than sexual or romantic) friendship and it shines out as the primary concern of this fic. The silly, fun email format allows us to get another layer of 'what Avon is OK with saying in a public and private space' (this is - in addition to the show) and the way Vila responds to that - both to Avon and around Avon.

Also - on a historical note... I think this may be the first fic I've recced that is only available online, rather than in a zine, although B7 fandom has been online since 1992 and this fic was written in 2002. vilakins, who I will talk more about later, is one of (for me) the primary figures of internet-only B7 fandom, having started up most of our LJ comms, one of the two major internet archives (Hip Deep in Heroes, closed as of this year). She's also written a huge amount of very good fic about Vila. This is one of the most iconic.

( Excerpt )

Link: Vila's Emails

Fandom: ONE DIRECTION
Pairing: Louis/Zayn
Length: 2,150 words
Author on LJ: lazy_daze
Author on AO3: lazy_daze
Why this must be read:

Because there's no way these idiots aren't getting high in this van. As a commenter on the story noted, "I'm just going to assume that this will actually happen, or has already, because if it doesn't, then it's a waste of the van." I couldn't agree more.

Zayn and Louis get high and have sex in the back of their ridiculous brand new Mystery Machine.

Fandom: CRIMINAL MINDS
Characters/Pairing: Emily Prentiss/Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia
Length: 7500 words
Rating: NC-17 or FRAO
Author on LJ: l3petitemort

Why this must be read: This is a bit of a strange pick. It's a Christmas fic but it's also almost entirely pr0n as well. The basis of the *cough* story is that Prentiss loathes Christmas and it turns out that Reid isn't very fond of the holiday either. A haphazard plan ensues in which they can share their Scrooge-like misery together. While I tend to like more 'plot' in my porn-with-plot, there is something touching about how two people with legitimate reasons for hating the holidays get together over it. Both Prentiss and Reid tend to stay in character throughout this (which makes the smut all the more surprising), and if the ending doesn't make you smile a little, you might want to check your chest to see if your heart is missing. If nothing else, it's a nice break from all of the toothache-inducing cheer of the season.

The Season of Miracles by l3petitemort

Since escape from the holidays is impossible for me, this is my last rec until December 27th (I've been told that ignoring family in lieu of posting fanfic recs is considered "rude". Who knew?) Happy Festivus/ChristmaKwanzakuh to you all!

Did you enjoy this selection? Give the gift of reader love - it's always the right size and colour!

Fandom: Fairy Tales: The Princess and the Pea
Pairing: Princess/OMC
Length: 6K words
Author Website: at AO3

Why this must be read: What's a princess to do when she must marry to assume her rightful throne and all the potential suitors are totally unsuitable? Aunthe explores this question as she takes us through a peaceful kingdom that's about to be thrown into chaos because the heiress presumptive is the wrong gender. Enjoy.

The Prince and the Pease

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