Dawson's Creek: various by Laura Smith (various)

[field_reports]

Laura Smith is the reigning queen in the fandom, both in terms of numbers and writing ability. Sometimes her stories get a little too pulpy for me, but I found such an intense sort of realism in This Year's Kisses -- a wonderful and welcome surprise, considering the source material. It's an alternate Season Five, with Pacey and Joey figuring out their relationship again by helping each other through some hard times. Blessing in Disguise is a much shorter but equally interesting (and far more believable than canon) look at how Joey deals with Pacey and Audrey. And Running to Stand Still takes all of the characters into such dark and evil places -- especially Dawson *snerk* -- that I lost all notion of soap opera and instead held on tight for a wicked cool ride.