Title: The Book of Vices and Virtues series
Fandom: D. Gray-man
Pairing: Allen/Kanda, Kanda/Alma, Allen/OMC, Allen/OFC
Genres: AU, Romance, First-time, Adventure, Drama, Historical, Prostitution, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon
Length: Super-epic (214,460 words)
Warnings: Attempted rape, past and present child abuse, child prostitution, dub-con

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: MSylvatica @ AO3

Author's Summary:
Story 1: In which Allen travels from India to England in search of Black Order Headquarters.

Story 2: "Whenever there is hatred between two people, there is a bond of brotherhood of some kind" - Oscar Wilde, /De Profundis/

Review:
This lovely and long series contains two stories. The first is an AU version of Allen's journey from India to the Black Order headquarters in England. The second is a post-canon story about Kanda, Allen and Johnny being on the run.

The series has a pleasing circular nature. All the people that Allen meets or reunites with on his way to the Order are met again by Kanda on their way from the Order. While the first story is firmly a study of Allen, his character and his bisexuality, the second story is definitely Kanda's. As he asks around about Allen's character in an attempt to understand him better, he also gains much more knowledge of himself, both as he is now and as he was before he was reborn.

I did feel it got a little too philosophical in the middle, dragging the pace down, but I'm always impatient for the happy ending to happen. And it does, in a sweet, hot, and in character way. A great read.

The Book of Vices and Virtues series

Title: The Leonardo Effect
Fandom: Assassin's Creed
Pairing: Leonardo/Ezio, Ezio/OFCs, Leonardo/OMCs
Genres: AU, Romance, Drama, Pining, First-time, Mystery, Prostitution, Historical
Length: Epic (67,378 words)
Warnings: Dub-con, prostitution, period-appropriate homophobia

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: phoenike @ AO3

Author's Summary:
To Ezio’s best knowledge, Leonardo's idea of debauchery was staying up until morning with a bottle of wine and too many sketching supplies. But why would the gondolier have lied? It was a heavy accusation. In both Firenze and Venezia, mere allegations of unnatural conduct had condemned men to be pilloried or hanged.

Review:
After overhearing gossip about Leonardo having apparently been on trial for sodomy, Ezio is tormented by the revelation and determined to find the truth. It's a familiar plot, and this is a well-written and historically minded version of it. It's well-paced, with their budding romance a very slow burn as Ezio struggles to make sense of what he's feeling while trying to uncover Leonardo's past. His preconceived notions of Leonardo as wholly bookish and naive are challenged, leaving us with a much more three dimensional character that is an awesome read to slowly find out about. This is also a fic about Ezio's own horizons being broadened as he gains some maturity.

This fic is a series, accompanied by some equally well-written flashbacks. They contain spoilers for the main fic though, so are best left till after it.

The Leonardo Effect

Title: Thistledown
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Genres: AU, Genderswap, Romance, Historical, Adventure, Cross-dressing, First-time
Length: Epic (90,547 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Violette_Royale @ AO3

Author's Summary:
South-west England, 1140. Sixteen-year old Merlin is a novice nun. One day, she finds a wounded knight, and offers to hide him from his enemies. When she falls to temptation and shares a bed with him, the consequences are more far-reaching than she could ever have imagined, changing her life forever.

Written for this KMM prompt: Arthur/Merlin historical AU. Merlin is a [nun]. Arthur is a knight who asks Merlin to hide him from his enemies. At first he is happy to sleep on the floor, then he asks to sleep in Merlin's bed, then he cuddles close to Merlin to keep warm.

Review:
This is a romance through and through. Watching Merlin and Arthur's relationship develop is a delight; they're unable to keep their hands off each other, and yet they are also still the bickering pair we know and love. Girl!Merlin, for all that she's a nun, is still completely in character. Both of them are completely clueless when it comes to sex, and the way they learn and mature together is sweet and funny, and always equal and respectful.

Most of the fic is about their pilgrimage to return a holy relic to its place of origin, and their subsequent travels through the holy lands in the period between the First and Second Crusades. Their journey is wonderfully described and just as fulfilling to read as their romance. A beautiful fic in all aspects.

Thistledown

Title: Cinnamon, Mint, and Smoke
Fandom: Gundam Wing
Pairing: Duo/Heero, Duo/Trowa, Quatre/OMC, Wufei/OMC
Genres: AU, Romance, Drama, Virgin, Supernatural
Length: Long (18,818 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: kaigou
Author Website: Sol1056 @ FF.net

Author's Summary:
I was twenty years old, and I’d never been kissed. Well, that’s an exaggeration, I suppose. I’d never kissed someone that I actually -wanted- to be kissing. I was also a virgin. My life sucked.

Review:
This AU is a beautifully written exploration of lonely Duo's search for acceptance. As in canon he is an orphan, though this time in a modern AU. The newest member of a gay fraternity at his university, his struggle to fit in and his sense of being an outsider are poignantly written and very relatable. It takes a deal with the devil - who is, in this case, Heero - for him to finally see that his isolation was in fact all in his head and more a product of his own insecurity rather than anything tangible.

Duo's feelings are so well explored and explained that it's easy to see him taking these extreme measures for companionship. Being a lonely orphan for most of his life who has never had his romantic needs fulfilled, I didn't actually find it very far fetched that he would make a deal with Heero. Despite the potentially angsty subject matter this is a mostly gentle fic that's more of a character study, and I found the more subtle and ordinary issues Duo was dealing with very easy to empathise with. All in all this is a slow and thoughtful fic with a lovely payoff.

Cinnamon, Mint, and Smoke

Title: Under Wicked Sky
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Pairing: Sokka/Zuko
Genres: AU, Angst, Adventure, Romance
Length: Epic (60,310 words)
Warnings: Rape

Author on LJ: N/A (There is an LJ with the same username but I can't tell if they're the same person.)
Author Website: suge @ FF.net

Author's Summary:
During a raid Zhao captures Zuko and Sokka. They escape with dificulty, but surviving the uncharted earthebender territory and each other is the real challenge.

Review:
In this AU of season one a Zuko captured and raped by Zhao after their battle escapes with Sokka, who is cuffed to him. Forced to co-operate with each other, their relationship is just as rocky as you would expect, with romance blooming very gradually between the hurt and distrustful boys. Zhao is believable as the villain; you can image that the man who thought nothing of killing the moon could be as cruel as this. It's kind of like seeing a more realistic Avatar, the behind the scenes of the more kid-friendly main story. The darker places this fic goes, as well as the politics it explores, feel like different facets of the same canon.

This story isn't without its flaws. Spelling and grammar mistakes are rife, and the comma usage makes some of the sentence structure a bit jarring. Overall though, the great characterisation and plot are more than enough to make up for these little irritations.

Under Wicked Sky

Title: Some Kind of Temporary Sanity
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Sam/Dean
Genres: AU, Drama, Smut, Prison
Length: Medium
Warnings: Dub-con, incest, voyeurism

Author on LJ: pinkwithoutplot
Author Website: N/A

Author's Summary:
N/A

Review:
An AU of Folsom Prison Blues, in this fic Sam doesn't deal as well with being incarcerated as he did in canon. Singled out by the other inmates, he and Dean have to pretend to be together in an effort to protect him - and then surprise surprise, they have to actually get together. It's smutty and wrong and ultimately satisfying.

Some Kind of Temporary Sanity

Title: Crush
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Sam/Dean
Genres: AU, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Outsider POV
Length: Epic (61k words)
Warnings: Incest

Author on LJ: sonofabiscuit77
Author Website: N/A

Author's Summary:
Five years after the apocalypse didn’t happen and Sam and Dean have settled down, or as much as the Winchesters can ever settle down. Sam is a college professor and Dean a well-respected small business owner and they’re learning how to balance work, hunting and dog-ownership while coping with the metaphorical and literal scars of war. Life’s not perfect, not for a (sort of) out and proud couple in small town USA with a lot to hide, but they’re dealing, that is, until Dean employs one sexually-confused teenager who develops an unhealthy obsession with both of them... Switching between five years earlier and now, we learn how the boys came together, how they made it through the big fight and whether they’ll ever manage to find that flighty temptress, happily ever after.

Review:
Full of tension, both dramatic and sexual, this fic really kept my attention. The relationship between Sam and Dean is at its incestuous best here - fucked up and weird and yet intense and compelling. The fact that for half of the fic we're viewing Sam and Dean's relationship through the eyes of a formerly-straight, hair-triggered teenager really adds to that intensity. His inner monologue and his huge crush on Dean are very well written, perfectly portraying the all-encompassing nature of teen infatuation and sucking the reader into his at times awkward and funny longing.

The fic switches between his and Sam's POV as it shows us what happened between Sam and Dean before their current domesticity. Their story is both an interesting character study and a scorching hot sexual journey, as we read about their relationship developing both sexually and romantically, and how it has changed them and those close to them.

This author has also written plenty of other long and well written Supernatural fics - I highly recommend checking them all out if you haven't already.

Crush

Title: Courtship
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Genres: Romance, Humour, Crack
Length: Medium
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: N/A

Author's Summary:
N/A

Review:
A hilarious and heartwarming prompt fill from kinkme_merlin. A presumed dead Merlin returns to the kingdom, helps Arthur make peace through 'a little demonstration' of his magic to their fearful neighbours, and attempts to court him through the means of magical gifts; the most notable of these being a bunch of sparkly flowers with a lovely personality. Just pure fun.

Courtship

Title: January Girl
Fandom: Supernatural/Harry Potter
Pairing: Dean/Luna
Genres: AU, Crossover, Pre-Canon, Romance, Action
Length: Long (33,438 words)
Warnings: Minor character death

Author on LJ: parenthetical
Author Website: parenthetical @ AO3

Author's Summary:
With Sam trying out normal life at Stanford and his father working an undercover gig across the country, Dean is on his own and getting reckless. While investigating a series of mysterious deaths, he runs into a strange witch called Luna Lovegood, who is searching for what she calls a 'Horcrux'. (Seriously?) Suddenly Dean finds himself dealing with evil wizards, broomsticks, Bat-Bogey Hexes, Dementors, mirrors which order him to wear a pointy hat, and much more - all the while trying not to think too much about Luna's last name and whether it's accurate.

Review:
In this AU of the Deathly Hallows, Luna and some other members of the Order are in America tracking down a suspected Horcrux. Dean stumbles across her in battle, and her separation from the rest of the group results in her and Dean working together to track the Horcrux down. Luna is delightfully in character, and that results in an unusual - and all the more sweet for it - romance. Despite the dark subject matters that are Death Eaters and Horcruxes and Dementors, this is a light fic and an easy read. I don't quite believe that a Season 1 Dean would accept that there are good witches quite as quickly as he does, despite his protective instincts. Nevertheless, the fic is still a lovely read featuring a surprisingly compatible rare pair.

January Girl

Title: Bend All Your Notes for Me
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Genres: AU, Fuck or die, Romance, Drama, Slavery
Length: Long (15,793 words)
Warnings: Dub-con (fuck or die), period accurate homophobia

Author on LJ: littlesleepfic
Author Website: halfhardtorock @ AO3

Author's Summary:
From the Kinkmeme prompt:

Merlin is given to Arthur as a pleasure slave (or somehow makes his way unwillingly? into Arthur's possession). He has been enchanted (cursed?) so that he must have Arthur's (or whoever owns him) seed within him at a regular basis or he will start to get sick and eventually die.

They start off disliking each other, and with Merlin resenting and fighting the situation, but somehow they end up falling in love with each other (and eventually breaking the spell?).

A d/s relationship would be preferred and bonus bonus points for collared merlin! I definitely would prefer, despite the situation strong Merlin though and hope for (eventual) BAMF Merlin.

Review:
Merlin, living under the rule of a foreign prince, is given to Arthur as a prize after a victory. Being stuck with a servant he didn't want is bad enough, and then he finds out that Merlin is bespelled. It's a fuck or die situation, where Arthur must have sex with Merlin despite his conflicted feelings about his sexuality and his moral outrage. This could easily have turned into an extremely dark and angsty fic, but Merlin and Arthur's growing regard for each other and Arthur's efforts to be as kind as possible during the situation keep it from going down that road. It's a scorching hot slow burn, with well-written sex scenes that are some of the most sensual I've ever read.

Bend All Your Notes for Me

Title: Suspicious Behavior
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Naruto/Sasuke
Genres: Romance, Humour, Crack
Length: Medium (3,754 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: saucykate @ FF.net

Author's Summary:
In which Naruto trips over Sasuke, Sasuke turns various different colors, and there is a lot of arguing over the size of crushes. Now with 40 percent more insults!

Review:
Oblivious!Naruto slowly notices that Sasuke seems to be everywhere, turning up in his apartment, giving him weird looks, and acting strangely when Naruto exits the shower. This is a super-cute and funny get together fic with no canon-related angst in sight, containing a pining Sasuke who is miraculously still in character!

Suspicious Behavior

Title: Tear A Way In
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Dean/Castiel, Sam/Sarah/Jess, Gabriel/Balthazar
Genres: AU, Omegaverse, Werewolf, Angst, Drama, Romance, Virgin, Family
Length: Epic (41,813 words)
Warnings: Implied past child abuse, implied attempted rape

Author on LJ: lady_deathangel
Author Website: lady_deathangel @ AO3

Author's Summary:
Omega wolves are so rare Dean Winchester never thought he’d meet one in his lifetime, let alone end up involved with one. But when the strange, enigmatic Castiel comes to Jackson Springs, one instinctive act of kindness throws the two of them together. Bound by instinct and something that runs much, much deeper, Dean finds himself torn between family, duty, and the stranger who's already burrowed deep under his skin.

Review:
I've read this fic so many times. The prose flows so nicely, it has a great balance of drama and romance, and it's not over the top or shoddily written as Omegaverse can sometimes be. It's a fun read with a satisfying resolution. Yes, this is a fic where omegas go into heat and alphas seek them out, but it focuses on Dean and Castiel's journeys to happiness rather than their sex life. There's no healing alpha cock in sight, and in fact Dean is the one who's the most unsure about his path in life.

Castiel is entirely himself in this fic. Though it's implied that he's had a rough or at least very isolated past, he's nowhere near a damsel dreaming of the strong arms of an alpha - he's already made his escape into the wider world and is living happily with Gabriel and Balthazar. It's Dean's issues with pack politics and his struggle with being an alpha that are the main focus of the fic, particularly his relationships with an asshole John, the usurper Azazel and a rebellious Sam who wants to get away from pack life. Though this isn't a groundbreaking fic, it's a solid, easy read that always makes me feel good.

Tear A Way In

Title: the postulate child
Fandom: Dishonored
Pairing: Gen
Genres: Pre-Canon, Drama
Length: Medium (14,732 words)
Warnings: Child neglect, bullying, non-suicidal self harm

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: CaliforniaStop @ AO3

Author's Summary:
Treavor and the Outsider.

Pendleton doesn't seem at all fazed by Corvo's use of black magic, and even gifts him a whalebone rune for killing Shaw; so perhaps it's not his first encounter with the Outsider...

Review:
A creepy and sad little fic about poor young Pendleton. Tormented by his horrible brothers and ignored by his parents, he decides to call on the Outsider for help after stumbling upon a bone charm. With the aim of killing his brothers, he tries to conduct his own blood rituals. His interaction with his family, his servants and the Outsider all feel nicely in character, and the tone and setting are suitably creepy for the content of the fic.

the postulate child

Title: The Week The Sassy Pose Came To Camelot
Fandom: Merlin
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Genres: Humour, Crack
Length: Medium (3,500 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: magog_83
Author Website: N/A

Author's Summary:
N/A

Review:
The author bases a Merlin fic on the illustrations in one of Enid Blyton's books, and it results in glorious crack. It's like a fic version of a Kate Beaton strip. I love it.

The Week The Sassy Pose Came To Camelot

Title: Five Districts, Five Drugs
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Sam/Dean, Sam/OMCs, Sam/OFCs, Sam/Jess
Genres: AU, Pre-Canon, Angst, Drama, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Hooker, Dark
Length: Super!Epic
Warnings: Incest, drug addiction, prostitution, underage, dub-con

Author on LJ: rei_c
Author Website: N/A

Author's Summary:
Dean goes to pick Sam up from Stanford and ends up finding more than he bargained for.

Review:
The clue is in the title - this is a series of five fics, set in five different parts of San Francisco, wherein Sam is addicted to five different drugs. Instead of finding his brother at Stanford as we see in canon, Dean finds him in all sorts of places facing different challenges, both mundane and supernatural. Every fic has the same beginning paragraph and the same summary - and it's awesome to see how different the direction of each is despite this. The common theme of the fics is that Sam is taking drugs to deal with his psychic powers and their effect on his psyche.

rei-c's worldbuilding is amazing. The fics feature a wealth of different mythologies, and the author does justice to every one, despite how different they are. Hindu, Chinese, Vodou, Irish, Norse, and Wicca mythologies are all written with confidence, and if rei-c isn't an expert on all of them I certainly can't tell.

The other common theme of the series is Wincest, and healing brought to Sam by the arrival of Dean. Their relationship is definitely always a welcome comfort after the hurt, and there is a bit of the old being saved by true love trope - though the fics are too well-written to be called anything near saccharine.

Though drugs are a big part of the series, they are never glorified or portrayed as glamorous, and we clearly see that they aren't doing Sam any good. I wouldn't describe this series as depressing despite the heavy theme of drug addiction - because thankfully, there's always a Dean-shaped light at the end of the tunnel.

The warnings apply to the whole series rather then all of the fics, so make sure to look at their individual warnings.

Five Districts, Five Drugs Masterpost

Title: Long Way for a Shortcut
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: Gen
Genres: AU, Humour, Friendship, Fix-it
Length: Short (1,914 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: netgirl_y2k
Author Website: Netgirl_y2k @ AO3

Author's Summary:
"I'm a human being with the brain of a Time Lord and he's a Time Lord trapped in a human body. Which isn't nearly as kinky as it sounds."

Review:
Donna and the Ten clone steal the TARDIS and go on a romp around the universe together, conveniently fixing their biological problems along the way. Their banter is hilarious and I always love a Donna fix it.

Long Way for a Shortcut

Title: Skywalkers
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts/FF7/FF8/Advent Children
Pairing: Leon/Cloud, Sora/Kairi
Genres: AU, Crossover, Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Sci-Fi, Wingfic, Action
Length: Epic
Warnings: Attempted suicide, past non-con, past abuse, past torture, body horror, past major character death

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Lady Karai @ Adult-FanFiction.org

Author's Summary:
Leon was used to living alone and going through the motions of his easy but dull life. Then, one night, a strange blond crashed into his bushes from out of nowhere, and he was drawn into a world no human ever dreamed of.

Review:
Leon, going through the motions as he writes trashy romance novels and mourns the death of Rinoa, his only contact with the outside world his little brother Sora (of KH fame), has his lonely life shaken up by the abrupt entry of Cloud. Damaged physically and mentally, Cloud is a fallen soldier bearing unwanted enhancements in the form of wings and superhuman power, and embroiled in a war he has never wanted any part of. A lot of this fic is about his slow recovery and the equally slow development of his and Leon's relationship. The hurt/comfort is a balm against all the horrors that Cloud has been subjected to - which are all thankfully offscreen, keeping this story from being pure angst despite its dark themes. The other half of the fic is devoted to the action, with Sephiroth and his three clones the antagonists, Clouds former torturers who are eager to claim him back. Leon's protection of Cloud is definitely satisfying, but best of all is that even when Cloud is understandably fragile, his bravery and compassion still shine through, and he fights at Leon's side.

The characters are all either their KH or Advent Children versions. There are some Organisation X cameos and the KH trio of Sora, Kairi and Riku are main characters, but as long as you know those three you hopefully won't be too confused. Leon is pretty much an older and less bratty Squall. Cloud is definitely his angstier Advent Children self, as is Sephiroth.

Skywalkers

Title: Men of Legend
Fandom: Merlin/Supernatural
Pairing: Gen
Genres: Crossover, Action, Friendship, Casefic
Length: Long (33,957 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: hells_half_acre
Author Website: hells_half_acre @ AO3

Author's Summary:
When a sorcerer summons monsters from another world, Merlin must summon heroes from another world to help save Camelot. Meanwhile, Dean and Sam Winchester didn't even know they were summon-able.

Review:
A gen fic full of great characterisation and realistic interaction between the two groups. The rapport between the main four and the knights of Camelot is all great, with no greater emphasis on either fandom - though obviously the setting does lean towards Merlin. All characters strengths and weaknesses are portrayed equally, with neither fandom being 'stronger' than the other, all wrapped up in a case fic and supernatural drama. Pretty much everything you'd want in a gen crossover.

Men of Legend

Title: Unsettled
Fandom: Sherlock BBC/His Dark Materials
Pairing: John/Sherlock
Genres: AU, Fusion, Sci-Fi, Drama, Angst, Romance, Hurt/Comfort
Length: Long (33,879 words)
Warnings: Past child sexual abuse, torture

Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: AxeMeAboutAxinomancy @ AO3

Author's Summary:
Sherlock's dæmon hadn't settled. Once John realised that, so much made sense. Though so much else didn't, because it practically wasn't possible.

Review:
I absolutely love daemon!fic. Seeing what reasons different authors give for their decisions about what daemons characters should have is something I find interesting in and of itself, and daemon-related angst and hurt/comfort pleases me even more. The presence of daemons gives an extra dynamic to any drama, being an obvious physical avatar to look at matters of the psyche and the soul through.

It's HDM canon that intense trauma can cause a daemon settle early, or in this fics case not settle at all. John struggles with his growing feelings for Sherlock as he finds out just how strange the man and his daemon are. As expected, Sherlock's daemon is far from normal, even aside from being unsettled, and the gradual revelation of all their idiosyncracies was a compelling read. I loved all the daemons in this fic, and thought that the authors 'casting' decisions for them were fitting and well-reasoned. The inclusion of a daemon-specific crime to solve adds a new avenue for drama, and is just as tense and horrifying as it should be when we're talking about toying with peoples souls. The romance is gradual as Sherlock's past and with it the reason for his daemons unsettled form are revealed. The author is careful to show that not all wounds can be fully healed, and the ending is all the more heartwarming for its realism.

Unsettled

Title: Twice Shy
Fandom: Star Trek Reboot
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy
Genres: AU, Angst, Romance, Soulmates, Creature, Supernatural, Pining, Friendship, Bonding
Length: Long (20k words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: sarkasticfics
Author Website: N/A

Author's Summary:
Written for the following prompt, over at part eight of the StarTrek XI Kinkmeme:

Bones is a werewolf.

The moment he meant James Kirk, got a good whiff of his scent, he knew he was fucked.

He had thought those stories about werewolves scenting their mate were all bullshit.

But the stories about mating for life have got to be fake, right? Right?

Review:
Werewolf!Bones, his species a secret, finds out Jim is his soulmate the first time they meet during their training. Cue angst and pining, as Bones has to deal with the fact that his mate is a slutty commitment-phobe who has no idea werewolves exist. The dynamics between the rest of the crew are also a feature here, giving more depth to a familiar trope. The friendship between Bones and fellow werewolf Uhura is lovely, as is the rallying of the crew as a whole around their non-human members. This is first and foremost a great romance fic that doesn't fall too deep into melodrama, as well as a great retelling of the growth of friendship between all crew members.

Twice Shy