Well, here goes! Hoping that this is the kind of thing you have in mind, I hereby submit the following - definitely 'my favourite story' in any universe.

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Title: Henry's Journey
Author: hyarrowen
Rating: I don’t know how to rate this; there's nothing explicit in the text
Fandom: Henry V (Branagh version)
Pairing: Henry/Montjoy (slash with plot or plot with slash, YMMV)
Category/genre: action-adventure, au, hurt/comfort, post-canon, romance
Length: Long (21,000+ words in eight installments)
Warnings: AU if you're particular about history, Shakespeare, Branagh etc.
Author on LJ: http://hyarrowen.livejournal.com/

Summary: Henry is deposed and cast adrift from everything he knows, and has only a tenuous friendship with the former Herald of the King of France to rely upon.


Review:

I should start by declaring an interest in that the author is one of my best friends and we share a fascination with this tiny fandom.

Henry's Journey is a well-crafted and carefully thought-through account of a three-year period in the life of Henry V when he is thrown very much onto his own resources and those of his one and only faithful friend. Deposed and sent into exile he escapes by the skin of his teeth, seriously ill, in the reluctant company of a man he hardly knows - Montjoy, formerly the herald of his enemy Charles VI. Faced with the need to hide, and eventually to earn a living, they wander further and further east, their travels taking them to Jerusalem, to Africa, to India and finally into China to the Great Wall. Along the way there are lessons for them both to learn; for Henry, the consequences of his actions and the value of trade in establishing peace; for Montjoy - now Jehan - the strength of his own character and the depths of his feelings for the exiled king.

Hyarrowen handles the relationship with delicacy and draws the background to their adventures with such skill that it is difficult to imagine these things didn’t really happen. This is a love story on an epic scale, made all the more remarkable for being intertwined with actual and believable history. The characters are built with care, and it is impossible not to be drawn into the world they inhabit.

Hyarrowen has written other stories for the same characters and is still adding to her canon, so if you enjoy Henry's Journey there will be plenty more to explore afterwards.

Henry's Journey Part One (http://hyarrowen.livejournal.com/2581.html#cutid1) can be accessed here; other parts of the story are on subsequent dates in the author's LJ.

I'm not sure I'm the best candidate for this as I read Heroes fairly exclusively, but I do enjoy writing recs, so I thought I may as well do one. :)

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Title: Improvisation
Author: stainofmylove
Rating: PG-13/R
Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Luke/Elle
Categories: AU, Romance, Action/Adventure
Length: Medium (~9,000 words)
Warnings: Underage (Luke is 16, Elle is in her early 20s)

Author on LJ: stainofmylove
Author Website: Fic masterlist (http://rawkry.livejournal.com/26072.html) at her fic journal, rawkry

Author's Summary: Pre-"Villains," Elle has a seemingly simple bag and tag mission that quickly goes awry.

Review:

As rare pairs go, Luke/Elle is pretty darn rare. The two characters never met in canon (Elle was killed off before Luke came on the scene), but isn't hard to see the appeal shipping them together. In the Heroes 'verse, they were two of the most broken people we were introduced to: openly sociopathic with sadistic tendencies, childlike in the way they treated other people as toys and incredibly sheltered in their world outlooks (outwardly sarcastic but ultimately naive). Moreover, their relationships with Sylar seemed mirror each other. They both looked to Sylar for the acceptance and understanding they never found in their own families, both trusted him and were betrayed. They were lost and lonely, and one can't help feeling that if they'd found each other, maybe they could each be what the other needed.

Most fics that delve into the 'what could have been' between them, take Sylar as the point where their lives intersect, and use their shared betrayal, or shared obsession with him, as the impetus to get them together. Where Improvisation is different is that it is a pre-Villains AU. In this fic, Sylar and Elle have never met, and Luke and Sylar have never met. Sylar has been removed from the equation entirely and without him and his influence there, stainofmylove weaves a romance that is as much about friendship between two people desperately in need of a friend as it about what it is to fall in love for the first time, one where, through excellent characterisation, she shows us that Luke and Elle never needed Sylar in their lives to have so much in common.

There's a lot in this fic, the action/adventure of the missions Elle is ostensibly on, the exploration of how fundamentally lonely these two are, the blossoming romance and sexual tension between them, and it is all is written in a compelling and realistic way. Luke is always age appropriate in his speech, his actions and his motivations -- one of my biggest pet peeves is teenage characters who don't act like teenagers, and this fic never falls into the trap of having Luke think more maturely than his canon characterisation makes believable. Elle is the Elle of S2 that I enjoyed the most: sexually aggressive while at the same time emotionally very immature and inexperienced; her interpersonal skills are stilted because of her upbringing but she's smart, and certainly isn't helpless.

This fic is a wonderfully bittersweet ride that draws you in and makes you really believe alongside Luke and Elle that maybe they can do everything they dream about.


Part 1 (http://rawkry.livejournal.com/28312.html)
Part 2 (http://rawkry.livejournal.com/28658.html)
Part 3 (http://rawkry.livejournal.com/34248.html)

Shameless Self-Pimpage: Hey! I actually read a lot of fandoms not covered here, and the fandoms listed that I *do* read I usually prefer different pairings. I'd add a lot of diversity to this comm. Also, I'm a snob for fic-length, I admit it! If it's not strictly a drabble or not over 10,000 words, I don't want to read it! XP I'm so silly. But I'd make a GREAT reccer! I've got bunches of them saved up, even. But here's one of my favorites:

Title: A Forfeit of Dreams
Author: K L Morgan
Rating: PG
Fandom: Labyrinth
Pairing: Jareth/Sarah
Category/genres: Post-canon, romance, action/adventure
Length: Seriously Freaking Epic (130,000+ including Epilogue)
Warnings: Some dark themes, exploring emotional abuse
Author's Website: A Forfeit of Dreams is housed several places, but I prefer the page formatting of Fanfiction.Net in comparison with those websites. The author has no personal webpage for her fic.

A Forfeit of Dreams (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/429100/1/A_Forfeit_of_Dreams)
The Epilogue (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1516813/1/A_Forfeit_of_Dreams_Epilogue)

Author's Summary: If you had a second chance, would you take it? If you had a choice, would you do the right thing? And if you had a dream... what would you give to make it come true?

Review: I used to LOVE "Labyrinth" fic. Then I went and read this little gem, and was ruined forever -- nothing else could compare. This fic is post-canon fic as it SHOULD be written.

The story is familiar, run-of-the-mill post-canon: Jareth brings Sarah back into the Labyrinth to continue his own personal vendetta, and she finds herself falling once more through the rabbit hole to save someone she cares about. Pretty much the same rules apply, but now that Sarah is older, the Labyrinth has changed to reflect her age, becoming darker and more sinister.

Part of the reason that I love this fic so much is that K L Morgan really delves into and explores themes that the original movie just touched upon (being primarily a kid's movie). One of those themes is Jareth's patterns of emotional abuse, how he uses that to create his persona as the Goblin King, and how he struggles with it when he finally falls in love with Sarah. Sarah, for her part, is wonderfully and beautifully written. She fights her attraction to Jareth, refusing to let him bully, coerce, and blackmail her into loving him. This ultimately becomes the impetus for Jareth's emotional growth.

It's obvious through her writing that K L Morgan really knows and LOVES these characters inside and out, spending plenty of time (OVER 130,000 WORDS, OMG) exploring their personal journey... but including so much action and adventure that naturally comes from the Labyrinth setting that the reader is spared from endless "deep character searching"! The characters grow organically as the plot progresses, which is an incredible gift that K L Morgan brings to this fic. ALSO, her Original Characters are FANTASTIC. They are so well-rounded and beautifully written that by the end of the fic I'd forgotten that they weren't part of the original movie and had started SHIPPING them together! ^_^;;

Plus, it's got a happy ending. A really, really happy ending (via epilogue) that is actually one of the best and most satisfying I've ever read. This whole fic has become my own personal canon, and I can't give any higher praise than that.

...Except by maybe saying that I have literally printed this fic out and put it on my bookshelf so, if it falls off the internet, I will still have a copy. >.>

I know exactly what you mean! Labyrinth is definitely one of those fandoms where people think they have a good grasp on the characters... but they really don't. -_-;; K L Morgan's Jareth dialogue is absolutely freaky in its accuracy to his character, I can literally hear David Bowie saying the lines at some points. I hope you enjoy the fic, let me know if it lives up to your expectations! ^_^

Title: Duo’s Friendship Arc
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Pairing: 01/02 implied 03/04
Categories: angst, pre to post series
Length: Epic
Warnings: suggestive themes, angst, violence, language, implied slash

Author on LJ: dynadee.livejournal.com

Review: Under no circumstances should you read this series if you need to be somewhere soon. It has a nasty habit of sucking in your brain and as it is over 240,000 words in length it won’t give it back for a while.

This was Dyna dee’s first fanfiction and still one of my favorites. It is made up of a series of 28 virginettes that follow the lives of the Gundam Pilots as they get to know each other and deal with the war. While I usually find Slice of Life stories boring, that wasn’t the case with this series. The manner in which she changed POV’s and main characters between the virginets, and intersperses action in with their more mundane lives, keep it fresh and memorable. I also appreciated that she was not afraid to address PTSD, and while I sometimes found the descriptions extreme, I definitely approve of the fact that nothing “miraculously” got fixed. People are still messed up after they get better and they don't always want to be helped.

If you’re not a fan of slash do not despair. The series is gen up until the epilogue, which I found to be the weakest part of the series, so don’t be afraid to take it for a whirl.

Duo’s Friendship Arc
http://1x2x1.org/fiction/dyna_dee.htm

I do hope this is alright...

Title: Lives by Breaking
Author: Lady Sarai
Rating: G (according to the author)
Fandom: The Chronicles of Narnia
Pairing: Gen mostly, Peter/OFC
Category: Angst, h/c
Length: Short (1600 words)
Warnings: angst

Author on LJ: http://lady-sarai.livejournal.com
Author Website: http://www.freewebs.com/lady_sarai/

Story Link: http://www.freewebs.com/lady_sarai/livesby.html

Author's Summary: "The heart lives by breaking;" 8 ways Narnia can break a heart. The Pevensies, in and out of Narnia.

Review: It's a short read, packs eight punches, and can slide into canon like a hot knife through butter.

In all of the Narnia fics that I have read so far, I have yet to find one that deals with the inherent tragedy of the Pevensies' story - the loss of childhood - as well as Lives by Breaking does. The fic is set during the family's years as the rulers of Narnia and before the Prince Caspian storyline.

Here are four siblings who saved, loved and ruled a country called Narnia for 15 years, more than half of their lives; the eldest, Peter, is only 13 when they become the Kings and Queens of Narnia. At the end of The Witch, the Lion, and the Wardrobe, all four suddenly return to their own world and revert back to the ages they were when they first entered Narnia as children.

But the tragedy doesn't start when they leave Narnia; it starts when they stay as Narnia's rulers. Because although the first movie just skips through those 15 years, it was in those 15 years that Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy became leaders and adults. They had lives in Narnia, with the ups and downs that aren't completely worked out/mentioned in the movie-verse or the book-verse.

Lives by Breaking gives 8 scenes that readily could have happened; 8 moments that show what the Pevensies lost when they gained Narnia and when they lost Narnia.

Title: Doubt The Curve of the Earth
Author: kalashnikov
Rating: T (according to the author)
Fandom: The Drangonriders of Pern
Pairing: F'lessan/jaxom
Category: romance, gen
Length: Short (758 words) [but it's a work-in-progress]
Warnings: slash, AU
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: http://www.freewebs.com/lady_sarai/

Story Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5351008/1/Doubt_the_Curve_of_the_Earth

Author's Summary: A color changes. And so does everything else. slash. AU. collection of snippets

Oh yay!

By the way, here's the right author website.

http://www.fanfiction.net/u/829954/

I hope I'm not too late for this! It would be fun to rec if you still want someone to do one every so often.

Title: Life Is But a Dream
Author: brix
Rating: R
Fandom: Alias
Pairing: Sydney/Sark, but with the entire cast
Categories: AU, Romance, Action/Adventure
Length: 50,000 words
Warnings: Miscarriage (but happens before the story)

Author on LJ: shadesofbrixton
Author Website: Alias Fanfiction (http://www.angelfire.com/band/whatdoyoubelieve/alias.html)

Author's Summary: Sydney’s life is a bad dream – and then she wakes up. She spends a lot of time in the kitchen. Caught in a world where everything is different, she must untangle Rambaldi’s Prophesy and realize that the only important thing in life is choice.

Review:
How do you write believable, happy ending protagonist/villain in a way that a) doesn’t sweep the bad things under the rug and b) doesn’t completely lose the love/hate dynamic that made the pairing interesting in the first place? This fic creatively solves the dilemma by putting Sydney in an AU while allowing her to retain all of her memories of canon. It sounds insane, but the show's already established Rambaldi mumbo-jumbo makes this a relatively plausible development.

There are so many fantastic layers to this fic. The suspenseful and intricately plotted detailing of how Sydney unravels the mystery of what the hell is going on is only one of the joys of this story. Another joy is the way all the other characters have sort of switched roles (it’s also fun and hilarious, which is good, given how angsty it gets at times) and yet the characterizations still manage to be fantastic. Holding the entire thing together is the perfect characterization of Sydney. She's her strong, snarky, brilliant, vulnerable self, and her bewildered thought processes as she navigates this AU are a hoot even while you feel her confusion and pain.

The best part, of course, is the relationship between Sydney and Sark, who live together in this universe. Sydney is understandably wary and freaked out, but Sark, who is a darling in this world, slowly wins her over with the same kind of charm and intelligence that make him so much fun in canon. However, it never gets too fluffy, because she comes to see that even in the AU, everyone, including Sark, has the makings of the versions of themselves we know from the show. Can Sydney get back to her own world? After spending time in this other universe, does she really want to? And what will she do if/when she gets back? The choices she has to make are complicated, heartbreaking, and philosophically fascinating.

Life Is But a Dream (http://www.angelfire.com/blog/shadesofbrixton/dream.html)

Edited 2009-09-04 11:01 pm (UTC)