Shortlist: Prompts, Table 3

01. Benevolent Sibling (Various) [Battlestar Galactica] {Voyeur}

My favorite BSG fic and one of my favorite voyeur-fics in any fandom. Surveilling the Galactica becomes soap-watching for Cylons.

02. Impossibly Delightful Flesh (Various) [BtVS] {Lesson}

The first genderswitch story I ever read, and one of maybe five Spuffy fics I've ever been willing to read. The burgeoning of the Spike/Buffy relationship was actually pretty good, but I loved the Willow/Tara and Xander/Anya bits. They were amazingly in character and wonderful.

03. Pieces Tossed Aside (Mal/Simon) [Firefly] {Alone}

This story killed me. There's this horrible sense of inevitablity to it all.

04. Mismeasured Ingredients (Harry/Draco) [Harry Potter] {Subtlety}

A Harry/Draco story where Draco is not only competent, but very much a Slytherin. This fic is pretty much beyond awesome.

05. Game (Various) [PotC/Horatio Hornblower/Other Fandoms] {Not a Crowd}

The most massively-poly polyfic I've ever seen. The main pairing-whatever is a fivesome and then there are the various threesomes and foursomes. And yet it's not crackfic; the relationships are about more than just sex. The whole thing's long and gorgeous and hot and wonderful and it made me fall in love with Jack/Norrington/Will/Elizabeth/Anamaria. Also, spy!AU!

For more, go here.

Shortlist: Prompts, Table 1

01. and the moon in their net (Pete Wentz/Patrick Stump) [RPS] {Glory}

Pete's part-fairy. There are wacky hijinks. And a magical-sex hangover. Basically, it's the story I never knew I always wanted, except better, because come on, magical-sex hangover.

02. any which way you can (Sam/Dean) [Supernatural] {Fight}

Incest fic, FYI. It's also the best SPN fic I've ever read. I love the style and I love the story and there are phrases in here that fucking kill me, every time I read it.

03. Price of Wisdom (Percy/Various) [Harry Potter] {Conquering Hero}

This is Gryffindor!Percy, as full of damn-the-torpedos courage as he is of duty. I love this story. And there's incestuous overtones, but they're pretty understated.

04. Apparent Horizon (Bates/Sumner) [Stargate Atlantis] {Powerless}

Oh my god. Amazing explanation of Bates and Sumner's reactions to Sheppard.

05. Kailash, When It Rises (Harry/Draco) [Harry Potter] {Countdown}

Quoting my previous rec of this story: This is one of those stories I'd never read until I started doing [rec50] and wow, this one fic makes the whole thing worth it. It's...wrenching, to watch Harry slowly drive himself crazy like this. The uncertainty and tension and fear are so well-written you practically feel them along with him. The whole thing is flat-out amazing.

Want more? Go here.

Shortlist: Prompts, Table 2

Wow, this is kinda going to look like it's the Table o'Angst. What with the massive character death in the first two stories, the Angel S4 angst of the third story, the creepily plausible existential angst in the fourth, aaaand the fifth's love that dare not speak its name lest there be regicide, again. But it's not! Really! There's also porn, and crackfic, and...more porn? See for yourself!

01. Descent (Sam/Daniel/Jack/Teal'c) [Stargate SG-1] {Drown}

Aliens/the Apocalypse make them do it. Jesus, people. Very few stories do "impending and inevitable doom" this well.

02. Reads (Harry/Draco) [Harry Potter] {Scars}

This fic hit me like a fist to the face. Gorgeous and horrific.

03. Gamesmanship (Wes/Gunn) [Angel] {Games}

Oh, I love this story. Gunn struggles to reconcile New Wes and Old Wes, with mindgames.

04. Uncanny Valley (gen) [Stargate Atlantis] {Intangible}

This story explains how Sheppard manages to be everything to everyone so well. And it's. Well. The Ancients are kind of bastards, aren't they?

05. A Deeper Season (Gregor/Miles) [Vorkosigan novels] {Hands}

This sold me on Gregor/Miles! Which, y'know, wow, what with Miles's extremely explicit heterosexuality. But this story works, and brilliantly. Plus, its plot feels like the novels.