This week, I'm gonna do older boys fic. I'm a sucker for the genre, so it's a personal joy;)

Fandom: Starsky/Hutch

Pairing: Starsky/Hutch

Why this must be read: So the fact that it's older boys isn't enough for you? How about the fact that it's older boys who still take time for the quiet, simple things in life. They're at a hotel, the jazz music is playing outside, and Starsky's in the mood to dance. Hutch isn't so sure, but Starsky's really good at convincing.

"Listen, either you dance with me, or I dance by myself. And then you'll be the fool trapped in the room with the crazy person who's dancing by himself."

"...'m already the fool trapped in the room with the crazy person, dancing or no," Hutch said, under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"I thought not. Fool."

Starsky nor Hutch can remember his undercover name when he was a dance instructor (Ramone). And why should they? This was one tiny event in their lives, filed away and not used again, so of course they'd forget. But what they'll never forget is the love. That will always be a part of their lives. It's the little things, the quiet moments, that mean so much. Two lovers dancing in a hotel room.

Could I Have This Dance?

Fandom: Starsky/Hutch

Pairing: Starsky/Hutch

Why this must be read: This is a sequel to Gadgets and I just love peeking in on the guys in this universe. This story is about their modes of transportation. Starsky, of course, has another beautiful car and Hutch has...a bike. But it's not just any bike and it even has a special name.

Hutch never grew out of the healthy eating and exercise stage, despite plenty of encouragement from yours truly, and as he got older, he got more and more involved in all the environmental stuff too. So a couple years ago, when his last crapmobile finally gave up the good fight, he decided he wouldn't get another car and bought a bicycle instead. Now, knowing Hutch, you'd figure he'd get some broken down wreck from a garage sale or a sad second hand thing from the police auction. Not this time. I swear he dragged me to every bike shop in Bay City, surfed the net for hours, bought catalogs and magazines by the armload. What he finally ended up with was a pretty nice mountain bike, with Shimano brakes, front-end shocks, and some seriously badass tires. Looks like it could climb straight up a cliff. He calls it the Millennium Falcon, which makes no sense, far as I can tell. Hutch doesn’t even much like Star Wars, and sure, it's a nice bike, but it ain't the fastest piece of junk in the galaxy by a long ways. I think it's supposed to be one of those Hutchinson jokes.

They're growing old together and remembering the little things that make life worth living. It's the ability to ride your bike to go get groceries. It's the ability to argue with your partner over the food he eats because he's still around to do it. It's the ability to make love in the garage just because you feel like it. Growing old together, it's a good life.

Wheels

Fandom: Starsky/Hutch

Pairing: Starsky/Hutch

Why this must be read: This comes from the SHarecon 2004 zine and is a slice of life look at the boys on a Sunday morning. Hutch wants them to go to a concert, Starsky does not, the discussion of give and take comes up.

"How come I hafta go?"

"Because this is a partnership, and where I go, you go," came Hutch's reply from the bedroom.

"I don't remember signing up for that," Starsky said, joining Hutch in their bedroom and festooning himself across the unmade bed.

"It was in the small print, Starsk. You should have checked it before you moved in with me."

"You moved in with me, and I don't make you go places you don't wanna go."

"Oh, tell me you're kidding," Hutch said with a laugh, then removed his credit card from the wallet he'd found, and sat down next to Starsky.

"Name one place!"

"The monster-truck rally last week, the pool tournament the week before that, the chili cook-off in the park—where you also made me sample some of that mess—that space movie—"

"Okay, okay, you made your point, but you had fun at all those places," Starsky said, wearing a slight pout on his face.

"I had fun 'cause I was with you, and you'll have fun at the Helen Reddy concert 'cause you'll be with me," Hutch said logically, the grin on his face saying he knew this argument was in the bag. He leaned against the headboard, stretching his long legs out in front of him, grabbing Starsky by the waist to pull him close. "Won't you?"

"You know, Hutch, I really hate it when you try and sucker me this early in the morning. Haven't even had a shower yet." The pout went full-bloom, then softened into a resigned smile. "Okay, so I'm goin' to Helen Reddy."

It's a partnership and sometimes you play dirty pool to get your way, but in the end it all works out. They do these things because they love their partner. Simple enough reason and works everytime.

I Am Man

Fandom: U2
Pairing: Larry Mullen, Jr/The Mermaid, Larry Mullen, Jr/Adam Clayton
Author on LJ: bartle_by
Author Website: Love Is Blindness
Why this must be read:

U2 fandom kicks up a considerable number of AU fics, and this one is quietly remarkable among that genre. It's very well-known and is often just referred to as "the mermaid fic". Bartleby's story is rare in that it is based within the universe of a music video, this one for their slightly surreal, haunting song, Electrical Storm, which features Larry having a short yet intense romance with a mermaid. Bartleby's taken it a step further - something's happened, something which ended the world as we know it, and none of the few scattered survivors is sure exactly what it was, what their lives used to be like or even who they are. Larry and the mermaid get along quite well, in a lonely sort of a way, until one day a strange, lost-looking man shows up on the beach, and Larry starts to remember.

This is a short piece, but all the more remarkable for that. Bartleby, obviously inspired by the video, has managed to inject a great deal of mood into the story, and the overall impression is one of sadness and loss, although unfocused, because nobody is really sure what he is sad about, or what he has lost.

( excerpt )


Like It Was the End of the World

Fandom: U2
Pairing: Adam Clayton/The Edge
Author on LJ: occula
Author Website:Love Is Blindness and u2slash. Please note to join u2slash you must have your birth year on your LJ profile.
Why this must be read:

I'm bunching my recs a little, here, because I am sort of chasing a certain band to three concerts in two states this week and am going to run out of time if I don't! Your patience is appreciated :-)

You always have a fondness for the first story you read in a fandom, don't you? Thing is, how often can you go back after that first honeymoon flush is over and find that the shine hasn't worn off? Crush is one of my favourite stories in U2 fandom, and it's not even my preferred pairing. (That happens to me a lot, LOL).

The title is self-explanatory, Adam develops a wee crush on Edge and sets about seducing him. Gradually - one thing about Occula is that nothing ever happens so quickly as to defy belief. He eventually gets him into bed, where they have some damn hot sex, not to mention an emotional epiphany. Next morning, however, Adam is overwhelmed by it all and in some misguided fit of self-protectiveness, he plays it cool and pretends he doesn't remember what happened, shattering Edge into a million pieces.

What follows is good old fashioned slash angst, as Edge and Adam hurt and withdraw into themselves and Bono and Larry worry and scold and comfort and give the kind of exasperated support only old friends who've known you forever and love you unconditionally can give. Part of why I love this story so damn much is that that's a bit of a kink of mine, but the Larry and Bono of this story, though limited by neccessity, are wonderfully characterised. There's plenty to like even if you aren't an angst-fan.

( excerpt )

Crush

Fandom: U2
Pairing: Adam Clayton/Bono
Author on LJ: clandestine269
Author Website: u2slash. Please note to join u2slash you must be over eighteen years of age and have your birth year on your LJ profile.
Why this must be read:

For a Bono girl, I seem to have been reccing an awful lot of Larryfic ;-) Time to change that with Moroccan Heat. Take note of the title, the word heat is there for a reason! Clandestine writes some pretty hot sex, and one of the things I like about her is that she doesn't tend to mince words - I come across so many euphemisms in slash it's nice to just sometimes hear an unvarnished term, you know? Pr0n aside (just for a moment), what makes this story more than just a PWP is Clandestine's delineation of character and interaction - the band are all irritated and snappish with one another at the beginning, thanks to the heat, which I thought was a nice, domestic sort of a touch. Even more, I love how she touches on the reasons someone like Bono could be driven to be a rock star: hunger for love, need for approval, gnawing insecurity that can make one overcompensate. All this is drawn in a few deft lines that you could miss if you were too caught up in the hotness of the story, but that's where the pleasure of re-reading comes from.

( excerpt )

Moroccan Heat