Title: North by North East
Fandom: CI5: The New Professionals
Pairing: Chris Keel/Sam Curtis
Categories: action, case, slash (optional), first time, hurt/comfort
Length: Long (gen version: 32,000 words) or Epic (slash version: 46,000 words)
Warnings: Minor character death (mostly off-screen), murder investigation; nothing unusual for the genre.

Author on LJ: alyse
Author on AO3: Alyse
Author Website: Unconscious Mind

Summary:
Following the mysterious death of a government MP, Curtis and Keel are sent north to investigate.

Review:
I ought to declare an interest: Alyse is one of the women who dragged me into fanwriting lo! these many years ago. She's still a friend, though our fannish interests have drifted apart, and I still have a high regard for her writing ability. In other words, I may be a tad biased here. By way of compensation, you get two reviews for the price of one here; North by North East exists in two versions, one gen and one slash, hence the peculiar rating above.

The plot has about the right level of complexity for its source material; Our Heroes are sent to investigate a suspicious death, uncover the plot behind it and avert a disaster, with the requisite number of twists, turns and arguments with the local police. It's over-long to be an episode, but the structure is familiar and fits nicely. It works as a mystery too; all the information is there, just well enough hidden that you aren't sure until the right moment quite what is going on. The slash version necessarily goes further into the thoughts and feelings of Curtis and Keel, but the gen version doesn't sacrifice character for action either.

The flaw in this diamond is that it was written for a challenge, which was to work sixty particular words into the story. Mostly this is seamless, but one or two of the words are peculiar and at least one of them stands out as just plain odd. There's an entire scene which appears to have no purpose in the story other than to provide a place for one of these words to sit without sticking out too far, and I did find that quite annoying.

That said, sixty words out of 32,000 do not make that great an impact on the story. On the whole it's a very good read for action enthusiasts, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

North by North East (gen version: PG-13)

North by North East (slash version: NC-17)

Title: Phases of the Weaker Heart
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Gen, pre-Derek/Stiles
Categories: Friendship, Character Study
Length: Long (16,197 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ:  calrissian18
Author Website:  calrissian18

Summary: She’s still standing, and it’s a weak thing to count her successes by, but she’s building up to being strong. Maybe for the first time.

Review: After season two, Allison is a mess of conflicted feelings, still reeling from her mother's death, angry with Derek, and conflicted about Scott. The last thing she needs is to get paired for a school project with Stiles, who is still sporting bruises from his encounter with her grandfather. Allison hasn't spoken to Stiles since the finale, and didn't particularly like him even when she was dating Scott. After some initial awkwardness, Allison realizes that she and Stiles make a good team -- she just didn't realize that being friends with Stiles meant she would need to spend time with Derek.

Those looking for the Derek/Stiles pre-slash will find enough solid interaction to satisfy them. But the meat of the story is Allison's developing friendship with Stiles. I loved the way both of their hard edges clashed against each other before they finally found their fit. The characterization in this story is brilliant all around. But my favorite thing about "Phases of the Weaker Heart" is watching Allison work through the pain and anger of her mother's death and finally begin to heal. calrissian18 really digs into Allison's emotions, and she isn't afraid to face up to the more difficult ones. The result is a complicated and engaging character study. Readers can relate to this Allison, even when they don't agree with her actions. It's the kind of nuanced treatment Allison deserved in season 3, but never got. I'm glad this story finally does her justice.

Phases of the Weaker Heart