Real Folk Blues by Lady Jaida. Rated R. Slash (S/R)
Fandom: Harry Potter
Slowly going mad in Azkaban, Sirius remembers those who were most important to him.
This is, quite frankly, the best "Sirius in Azkaban" fic I've ever read. The author gives Sirius a personal history (the muggle-born child of a coal miner) that resonates beautifully with his current imprisonment, and the old folk song about the dark depths of the mine that runs through the narrative adds the perfect eerie touch. It's a bit disjointed at times, but since Sirius is holding onto sanity by his fingernails, that's only to be expected. And yes, the title does come from the Cowboy Bebop song.
"The Real Folk Blues" can be found at http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=703296
When You Gonna Learn? by Yuki Scorpio. Rated R.
Fandom: Weiss Kreuz
Seperated from his teammates, Yohji goes under-cover to take on a job that threatens his health, life, and sanity. Cut off from all contact with the rest of Weiss, he must infiltrate the inner circle of a vast drug ring, acquire inside information on their organization, and somehow keep himself in one piece until the rest of Weiss can take the dealers out.
Brace yourselves--this is actually not slash. It is however, a very gritty and realistic picture of loneliness, guilt, and addiction, told in a wonderfully effective first person voice. The R rating is there for a reason.
"When You Gonna Learn?" can be found at http://www.at-the-crossroads.com/ under "Fanfiction: series."
I'm Scared by Mieko. Rated PG. Slash (S/R)
Fandom: Harry Potter
The second war against Voldemort is in full flower, and things aren't looking good for the light side. The forces of darkness are overwhelming their beleaguered opponents, and one man has discovered that the darkness inside himself is much deeper and stronger than he thought.
Yes, this is the same author who wrote the "Fairy Boys' series, however, this dark little ficlet is not at all in the same vein as her Glitter-verse stories. There's no smut, for one thing, and no make-up or music, either. What there is is a seriously creepy look into the dark side of being a werewolf, along with a generous serving of character death. Fans of warm n' fuzzy Nice Guy!Remus should steer clear.
"I'm Scared" can be found at http://www.snitchfiction.net/cgi-bin/stories/story.cgi?id=693
Grau by Chalcedony Cross. Rated NC-17. Slash (Schuldig/Aya NC, Yohji+Aya)
Fandom: Weis Kreuz
When a mission goes badly wrong, Aya and Yohji find themselves prisoners of Schwartz's telepath, and some emotions that were never meant to see the light of day are brought out in the open. Between black and white lies the gritty, twilight area of grey.
First of all, anything by Chalcedony Cross is pretty near guaranteed to be good (go read all of her fics, now!) but this one is particularly creepy and suspenseful, without being quite as disturbing as some of her other offerings. And what's more, it's been made into a doujinshi by P.L. Nun (go check it out at http://www.bishonenworks.com/ and encourage this English-language dj trend). A warning, though, there is both torture and non-consensual sex involved, and serious fans of Schuldig may not like this one.
"Grau" can be found at http://www.yotan.com/fanficchal.html
Archangel Redeemed by MacGeorge and V. Watts. Rated NC-17 for violence (more of a hard R, really, as there�s no sex). No Ships.
Fandom: Highlander
Duncan, Methos, and Joe must defeat a demon bent on world destruction. Oh yeah, and Richie�s dead.
A far superior rewrite of the Episode That Must Not Be Named, adding some Methos angst to the oceans of gratuitous Duncan angst and providing a much more satisfactory resolution, as well as enough violence to satiate the most bloodthirsty of souls. The authors also do a wonderful job of portraying the deep friendship between Methos and Duncan (at least one of them doubles as a slash writer, and it shows).
�Archangel Redeemed� can be found at http://wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/boardwalk.html
Games by Marith. Rated R. Hints of Yohji+Aya
Fandom: Weiss Kreuz
Yohji loves games, and getting Aya to pay attention to him is the best game of all, because even pain is better than being ignored. But sometimes games go a bit too far, and sometimes missions go wrong. Just another couple of reasons as to why it sucks to be Kudou Yohji.
Like Yuki, Marith writes a beautiful first person Yohji, sarcastic and acid-tongued and liberally sprinkled with black humour. And depressed. Seriously depressed. She also does a good job of weaving plot and action into the angst. And the image of Yohji playing with a yoyo is priceless.
�Games� can be found at http://www.idiom.com/~marith/weiss/index.html . There�s also a nice selection of Weiss recs there.
Study by Lady Jaida. Rated R. Gojyo/Random Woman, Gojyo+Hakkai.
Fandom: Gensoumaden Saiyuki
Gojyo thinks about his traveling companions, his past, and how difficult it is to climb walls of glass.
The goddess of �ListenToMyAnguishedMentalScreaming!Sirius� has written Saiyuki fic! Bow down and give thanks. It�s light on action and heavy on contemplation, but fans of everybody�s favourite red-headed half-youkai should approve.
�Study� can be found at http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=553698
Breathing Sorrows by Rachel Sabotini. Rated NC-17. Methos/Duncan, Other/Duncan NC.
Duncan is captured by a crazed immortal and Adam Pierson resurrects a long-buried part of his personality to bring him back. The scenario has been done to Death, I know (forgive the pun), but this version of it is one of the best I�ve seen.
If you want to break a character, bloody well break him. Do it slowly, do it in detail, and above all, do it gradually. No one as strong as most of the characters I like to read about falls apart at the first blow. And when it�s time to put them back together, make sure there�s something left to fix. This author follows all of these rules, and the result should be a textbook piece for beginning slash writers. This is how hurt/comfort should be done; just as heavy on the mental anguish as on the physical, and with plenty of pain for both characters involved. I personally feel that the rape bit was unnecessary, but everything else is wonderful.
�Breathing Sorrows� can be found at http://www.mediafans.org/rachael/index.html . Go to �Highlander� and then to �Stand Alone Stories.�
The Serpent's Tooth by Eleanor Tramaine. Rated R. New
Fandom: Magnificent Seven (Old West)
Ezra. Snakebite. Flashbacks. Fredericksburg.
Nobody does Ezra torture and h/c like Eleanor can--and what's more, she does it using correct grammar and punctuation, with an eye to historical accuracy. And to put the filling in the Lindt truffle, this little gem, (which won an Ezzie Award) makes fantastic use of the fan supposition that Ezra fought with the Confederate artillery, when his snake-venom induced flashbacks give some of the other peacekeepers a very un-romantic little glimpse of the war. The bit about the boots made my blood run cold.
�The Serpent's Tooth� can be found at http://www.m7bedlam.com/storytooth.htm