Ann E. Berry, C is for Cordy

Let no one say I'm not open-minded. Giles/Cordelia is a pairing in which I have less than no interest, but this is a slow, sexy, messy story of considerable charm. The narrative voice is sometimes a little shaky and there are occasional small characterization lapses (Giles calling anyone "my lady?" I think not), but, oh rarity of rarity in these sorts of stories, Giles comes across as a mature adult and Cordelia as something intriguingly not quite there yet, but still attractive.

The Spike, Asymptotes

A vivid little post-"Gang" piece about the distances between people. Wesley neither a whiner nor a victim, but rather a man learning some important lessons of life and struggling to do things in a way that will give him a future.

Livia, Crux

Well...see above. This one is a nicely blasphemous drabble in which every word counts, with Lex's thoughts full of ominous promise.

Te, Project

Ah, the beginning of a series. When the show is an infinite swirl of possibilities, no years of canon and established characterization and backstory to narrow the options. I usually find this phase dull, because it's the bending of canon to the writer's will that's the most interesting part of slash to me. However, sometimes the stories are just too sizzling to ignore, and this series, though touching practically none of my own hot buttons, is rendering me (and half the slash world, judging from the blogs) nonverbal. Cool, Machiavellian Lex getting drawn in by the sweet charms of naive but strong farmboy Clark...okay, it does sound like bad porn when you put it like that, but who cares?