Fandom:  BUFFY
Pairing: Spike/Xander
Author on LJ: crazydiamondsue, fic journal herald_reader
Author Website: Beauty Effulgent
Why this must be read: 

Xander thinks that he and Spike need to slow things down a little.  Maybe spend a little more time kissing.  Spike is willing to be persuaded.  Just a short fic that will definitely warm up your day!

Xander rolled his eyes. “On the mouth.” He slipped hands free of Spike’s, reaching up to rub a thumb against Spike’s lower lip. “I like your mouth.”

Mirror Kisses

Fandom: BATTLESTAR GALATICA 2003
Pairing: Cally/Anders
Author on LJ: trajictale
Author Website: Trajictale’s Memories
Why this must be read: Dude, this story made me want more Cally/Anders fic when I had never even thought of it before – why hadn’t I thought of it? To me, that’s the sign of a great story. Any writer that can make me appreciate the idea of a pairing is doing something right.

( a little excerpt… )

So go read and leave feedback - Late Night Win

About the rating, I must warn I only know NC-17 and PG-13; so I use the one or the other and nothing else! (N-C 17 if there are explicit sexual situations or graphic violence and PG-13 for all the rest)

Fandom: MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: Napoleon/Illya (Gen)
Author on LJ: sanshalive
Author Website: Pat Foley's fanfiction Website

Why this must be read:

Notwithstanding my rather sardonic rendering of the young Illya's character in "The Red Retriever" (borrowed from Lois Balzer's universe and consistent with it), which I previously recced, Pat Foley is for me the ultimate standard of MFU gen fanfiction; I have others in high esteem, of course, but, among the writers who have their work focused on NS/IK relationship in a gen context, she is the one I feel the most totally in tune with. I positively love the way she shows their interaction, the mutual commitment and loyalty they keep in spite of their stark differences in personality and turn of mind, their indissoluble bond and their occasional fights.

"Intrinsic Natures" relates to one of these fights. It takes place at a critical moment, when Solo is approaching the time of retirement from field assignments and Waverley, already decided to choose him as his successor, is pondering about the wiseness of putting Kuriakin in Solo's place as CEA. So the story is all about leadership, responsability and oppositions of allegiances (partnership against higher interests).

It is also about U.N.C.L.E.'s morals and politics, about the ends and the means. The clash is severe and Napoleon's determination uncompromising. Illya's behaviour is ruthless, but not without motives; Waverley appears here as the sly and pragmatic mastermind he is so rarely in fanfic. As a whole, characterisation is perfect and the moral issues clearly defined:

“Jesus, Illya,” Solo said, looking at the carnage left behind on the field as the copter swung away. “Was that necessary?” He wondered how this would look in the mission report. U.N.C.L.E. agents were expected to always use the minimum of force to accomplish their goals. Sleep darts instead of killing force, and selective force when killing force was required. They took lives, but they weren’t supposed to be rabid about it, or to take them en masse, and certainly not merely to save their own. What Kuryakin had done was close to murderous and it was against every policy in U.N.C.L.E.

“You’re alive, aren’t you?” Kuryakin retorted. “The mission was a success, wasn’t it? And that’s what matters.”

Through the crisis the partnership will be strengthened and Solo's authority and position confirmed. The narrative is maybe a little austere in some parts but so clever and thoughtful it's well worth the effort. If you have liked "Partners" (one of the first stories recced in crack_van) you'll certainly enjoy this as much.

Intrinsic Natures

Happy New Year, everyone!

Supernatural is the new baby of The WB, its sole success this season. It stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers who hunt monsters and other evil creatures in the hope of finding the one who killed their mother and Sam's girlfriend.

( And now for the fun part... )