Fandom: X-MEN COMICS
Pairing: Monet/Jubilee
Author on LJ: alestar
Author Website: one more strange island
Why this must be read:

Ah, Jubilee. Depending on the writer, she can be a total Mary Sue or she can be one of my favorite characters in the X-men universe. It's definitely the latter case with this story.

This is just... quintessentially Jubilee and Monet. Alestar manages to convey so, so *much* with the simplest dialogue, and by the end I was head over heels in love with her Jubes and Monet. This story is sexy, clumsy and sweet, and always gives me the total warm fuzzies without being 'fluffy' at all. Despite the fact that the plot isn't very romantic or joyous, it's one of those fics that I always come back to on rainy days when I'm feeling down.

( excerpt )

Hey

Title: In The Depths of Silence by JB
Fandom: STARGATE SG-1
Pairing: None
Author on LJ: None that I know of.
Author Website: The Tablet
Why this must be read:

For starters? It is odds on one of the best Daniel pieces I've ever read.

One of my favorite, most impactful moments, of season 5 is the moment Daniel looks at Jack, after Jack has killed Reece, in Menace and says that "you stupid..." It's not so much that he'd say it to Jack that hits me. (Though that does factor in) as it is the fact that it's Daniel saying it. That somewhere in him, something has broken and he just can't take it anymore. That's what JB plays on in this story. The story takes Daniel to a very dark place in himself, the place where he's been storing up every pain, every broken promise, and every wound he's experienced, both from before the SGC and from his time there and, like every vessel, that place has finally fulled to overflowing and it flows out in an amazingly lyrical fashion in this story. It's heartbreaking to watch Daniel flounder and struggle and to watch the others not know what to do or how to reach him. To watch Jack try...

Friendship is an underlying current in Stargate and is used to perfection here as well in that fashion. The friendship is there but...in the end, this is another of Daniel's many battles and it's amazing to read.

In The Depths of Silence

Fandom: MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Author on LJ: not that I am aware of
Author Website: http://www.angelfire.com/nb/annehiggins/index.html
Why this must be read:

This is an interesting series-- it has to be considered an AU because it has been brought forward to more or less the present day from its original mid-1960's setting, and she has changed some aspects of the UNCLE organization, but the characters are definitely recognizable and the plots are interesting.

In the first, Our Intrepid Heroes are ordered to pose as lovers and perform on camera in order to entrap a mole within UNCLE HQ. Somewhere along the line they come to realize that they're not entirely acting. The second story is set in the same universe, and shows how they've integrated that new aspect into their partnership, while once more saving the world.

Probably because I have a soft spot for 'established relationship' stories, I actually prefer the second part of the series to the first, it's the one that stuck with me to the point where when I couldn't find it again to rec (because I didn't remember it being part of a series) I went asking around until someone recognized the story I was talking about and pointed me in the right direction.

Sex, Lies and UNCLE part I: The Affair Affair
http://file40.net/file40s/SLU.html
Warning: Some noncon, not graphic, and not between the slash pairing. (Note that there is a large visual gap in the story about midway through-- a coding error I assume, just keep scrolling down and you'll find the rest of it)

Sex, Lies and UNCLE part II: The 8x10 Glossy Affair
http://file40.net/file40s/SLU2.html

NOTE: There is a third part of this series linked at the end of the part 2, but unless you've seen the A-Team episode "The Say Uncle Affair" which featured Robert Vaughn and David McCallum it may not make much sense to you, because it's a crossover. I know I had no clue what was going on until after someone sent me a copy of that ep. If you decide to read it anyway, be aware that there should be a noncon warning on it as well, and it's slightly more graphic than the first story.

Fandom: seaQuest DSV
Pairing: Bridger/Lucas
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: I've only found her on the Britslash site
Why this must be read:

The classic of sQ slash, this story is well-characterized, beautifully written, and actually goes to the trouble of delving into the...complications inherent in the Bridger/Lucas pairing. This story also makes good use of the Noyce-Bridger friendship, plus Bridger's undying love for his late wife. It's always nice to see former spouses and love interests acknowledged and dealt with believably in any pairing-centric story.

The Colour of Freedom

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: Mulder/Scully
Author on LJ: revely
Author Website: Revely

Why this must be read: Not only does Revely write some of the best magical realism around, but here she even manages to explain why, exactly, Scully's shirts got so damned tight in the later seasons. Rev's stories are rich with atmosphere and emotion, and dusted lightly with magic, like a perfect bedtime story.

Mulder rises from the couch, the careful, self-possessed unfolding of a tall man to his full height. Every time Scully has had occasion to watch him get out of a car it has stirred something in her. No matter what the situation, her desire is born again when he moves from chairs.

He doesn't say a word, just nods at her and studies the floor. She makes a quick retreat into the hallway and down to the elevator, conscious of some part of him following her.

"Go home," she tells the air around her, but he remains, getting into the car with her. She sits behind the wheel, but he seems to take up the rest of the empty space.

In the Night Season

Fandom: The West Wing
Pairing: CJ/Carol
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Kansas Sky
Why this must be read:

'The West Wing' is filled with characters that live on the periphery, their backstories never as fleshed out as the main characters. And I often wonder what Margaret's story is? What does Ginger do with her time? These stories answer some questions about one such character: Carol, CJ's assistant.

Kansas creates a wholly realized, fleshed out character, and gives her a very believable love jones for CJ. (I say that not just because I have a sneaking suspicion that everyone on the show wants to sleep with CJ. It also has to do with the way Kansas presents it, capturing what it feels like to love someone that you think you can never have.) But, eventually, Carol does 'get' CJ, and we see the ups and downs of the relationship from her eyes, see Carol deal with coming out to her mother, and discover what makes her tick.

Proximity.
Back Roads.

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Author on LJ: I don't believe so.
Author Website: I couldn't find a site devoted soley to JM's fiction, but this is a link to all of JM's Sentinel stories as they appear in 852 Prospect. It also appears that this author now writes StarGate fiction, which can be found at Area 52.

Why this story must be read:

As you may have been able to tell by my previous recs, I really enjoy AUs. This particular AU has Blair as a literature professor teaching at Rainier. Jim is working undercover and the boys meet under less than ideal circumstances. But even so, there is an attraction, a bond, between both of them that neither can deny.

What I like about this particular story is the mood. You can feel Blair's loneliness, his longing for something more. The story starts out with Blair grocery shopping when he comes across two men shopping, whom he assumes are having a relationship. Their affection, their love for each other only serve to emphasize what he's missing from his own life.

I adore how the author ties the ending of the story in with the beginning.

While there are some technical flaws to the story, the emotion makes it well worth reading.

An Ordinary Life

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