January 20th, 2005 
06:39 am Sand and Flame by Tehta (PG)
Fandom: SILMARILLION
Pairing: Feanor/Nerdanel
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] tehta
Author Website: Tehta on ff.net
Why this must be read:

I thought I'd round off my whistlestop tour of the First Age (& before) with some humour. There's quite a bit of Silmarillion-based humour, but much of it requires the reader to have poked around in the more obscure corners of canon in order to really get the jokes. 'Sand and Flame', a cunning retelling of a well-known fairy tale, should make sense without much more than a smattering of Silm knowledge.

There are many things to enjoy in this short tale: the angst-lite characterisations of Feanor & Nerdanel (they get more than their fair share of angst in canon, but many ficcers insist on doling out still more), the clever way that Tehta's used the fairy-story framework, the incongruous flickers of Jane Austen (I kept picturing Feanor as Mr Darcy), the guest appearance by just the right Fairy Godmother ... not to mention one or two one-liners to die for.

(Set in Aman so watch out for the Quenya names. Most of them are obvious, but Feanor's young half-brothers Nolofinwe & Arafinwe are Fingolfin & Finarfin. Oh, and Laurelin is one of the two Trees: an early lighting system for Aman, they operated on an overlapping shift system.)

A snippet )

Sand and Flame
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09:26 am Window by Katya Baturinsky (G)
Fandom: Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] katyabaturinsky
Author Website: This is Katya
Why this must be read:

A beautiful little portrait of Illya as observed by an old Russian woman living in his apartment block. Through her sharp eyes, we see him first arrive, the attention he attracts, as well as some of the trials of being an U.N.C.L.E. agent. The setting is so vividly realised, from the cigarettes to the music to the news on the radio - reading this is as good as being there in person.

Wait for the revelation in the final scene - it's extremely moving and memorable.

Window
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12:28 pm Diversionary Tactics by Shrift (PG)
Fandom: SPORTS NIGHT
Pairing: dan/casey
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] shrift
Author Website: Shrift’s Fanfic
Why this must be read:

This story has it all. It’s set near the end of season two as Dan and Casey are attempting to rebuild their friendship. It has angst, tension, romance, and the wit & conversations that make Sports Night what it is. Most of the conversations seem trivial at times, but it provides little insights into how each characters acts and thinks.

Yes, there is Dan/Casey romance at a point, but what I love most about this story is the emphasis on their friendship and how, fighting or not, they are there for each other.

an excerpt from the story… )

Follow the link to read this fabulous story and provide wonderful feedback to the author: Diversionary Tactics
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06:24 pm In Extremis by Abundantlyqueer (PG-13)
Fandom: LORD OF THE RINGS
Pairing: Aragorn/Legolas
Author on lj: [livejournal.com profile] abundantlyqueer
Author website: Unknown
Why this must be read: I love the carefully captured interaction between Aragorn and Legolas, how their hesistation to just speak their minds results in confusion and anger. It's a perfect glimpse into some of the despair that we rarely get to see Aragorn exhibit but that you know boils just under the surface.

They don't understand; because they walk and talk and breathe, they think they still live. Aragorn has seen the black tide of Saruman's Uruk'hai army, and he knows the truth. They are dead ... the old men and the young boys, the woman and the little children... all dead. In his mind's eye, their bodies already choke the narrow, high-walled streets of the Deep; the twisted corpses lie so thick upon the stair that Aragorn can scarcely find a place to set his foot.

In Extremis
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