ATS/BTVS: Glass Shard Substitution and Cutting Room Floor by Nicole Clevenger (Wesley/Faith, Willow)

I had a hankering to read some Wesley/Faith recently, what with Angel the Series ending. Last season's Faith arc had some great moments between the two, but overall it left me unsatisfied -- I didn't need resolution for the characters, per se, but there's a way of resolving the need for "more" by giving us just enough non-resolution, if you will. Glass Shard Substitution by Nicole Clevenger addresses that need with a dark encounter in a dark motel room just before Faith leaves L.A. It's not the tour de force of Wes/Faith that is Roseveare's Return (recommended previously here, and which I mention because I think Wes/Faith kind of demands "tour de force") but it hits all the right notes even so. Cutting Room Floor, by the same author, deals with Faith's lingering dreams of Angelus during the car ride from L.A. to Sunnydale. The ending, a brief exchange with Willow, is particularly strong.

PB: various by Cinnabari (Riddick, Jack, OCs)

Recently, I saw Pitch Black for the first time, and of course went looking for some fic. Luxuries by Cinnabari is a dark what-if set soon after the credits roll, carefully extrapolating from what we know of Riddick at the end. There is a prequel/companion called Joke which satisfies the need for roughness from the character, and a sequel to both called Solitary [dead link] which takes Riddick out on his own, with a different cast of characters.

TSG: Letters Home by penknife (Colin, Dickon, Mary)

Letters Home by penknife makes me ache for characters most of us grew up with. The timing of The Secret Garden is such that Colin and Dickon most likely went to war when they got older, and this story gives us that scenario. The snippets of letters between them and Mary are sad and lonely, the fractures and distances and desperate closeness between the characters even more so.

Lotrips: Dustsceawung: Five things... by sheldrake (Sean Bean)

sheldrake's Dustsceawung: Five things that never happened to Sean Bean. The short sections are dreamy and atmospheric. There's a subtle theme of death winding through the prose, so you're sort of holding your breath the whole time you read, and the end is like a delicate release.

HP RPS: Perils, Pitfalls and Puberty by missdeviant (Dan)

I'm gonna stick my neck out and recommend Perils, Pitfalls and Puberty by missdeviant. This is Daniel Radcliffe RPS, with a little of Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. It's about sex, and it's especially about what young teenagers think of sex (which is to say, a lot you may not want to think about). Possibly squicky as hell for some, but the writing is damn good.

HP: Spark by Jane St Clair (Molly)

Yesterday I read Jane St Clair's Spark, and I just -- you know, if you hate Molly Weasley, or if you think she's got hidden depths (or that those depths are not so hidden), or if you're just curious to see a secondary character written well, you need to read this fic. It's Molly during the first war, thinking about blood and family and doing her part to keep those safe. Every line is so carefully crafted; I got shivers reading this.

HP: various by Helen (Harry/Ron/Hermione, Draco/Ron)

Last time around I recommended Helen's Close Enough (Harry/Ron). Now I want to point out a couple of her LJ-only snippets: things she hadn’t ever known to ask for a harshly-realized Trio ficlet set during the war, and Do Better, a Draco/Ron set at Hogwarts. Helen's writing is so...visceral, from the choppy dialogue to the descriptions that hit you like a fist to the stomach, and her Ron characterization is always so much darker and more complex than the usual crap fandom tosses him.

HP: Third Wheel by switchknife (Harry/Ron)

Third Wheel by switchknife is a Harry/Ron (with some Harry/Ron/Hermione) from Ron's perspective which is excellently, devastatingly done. It's a short future fic in which Harry and Ron have just lost Hermione, and all they have left is each other.

HP: Ghost, Descending by Wrack (Remus)

Lately I've been in the mood for Remus grieving, so I was thrilled to discover Ghost, Descending by Wrack. Mostly the grief is for Sirius, but the story remembers that Remus is the last of his friends alive, outside of Peter of course, and that's something to grieve about all by itself. This one's very short, but it hits hard.

HP: Roundabout by arakne (Draco/Hermione)

Roundabout by arakne is a story with a Draco/Hermione pairing that's mysterious and surprisingly affecting, mostly because Draco is allowed to be mysterious, his allegiances unexplained. This story got to me: it's a fantasy, but it's a fantasy in which the characters don't get what they want. Reality runs through the sex scenes, in the sexual awakening of a girl who thinks too much, the careful and detailed Hermione characterization, Ron's and especially Harry's reactions, the ending I could see coming yet which still, as I said, got to me.

ETA: The author has removed her fanfic from the Internet.