Fandom: Heroes
Pairing: Peter/Nathan, Peter/Claire, hints of Nathan/Claire
Author on LJ: limmenel
Author Website: Imperial Fiction and pornybits
Why this must be read:

Post-apocalyptic Petrellicest FTW!

... you need more than that? How about that the prose is so beautiful that I could seriously read her write forever? How about limmenel's AMAZING ability to play with preconceptions of characters to break and shift any and all opinions held previously? This piece is just gorgeous and chilling and the last line will stick with you for a long time after you read.

( Short Excerpt )

Somber Resplendence

Fandom: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: none, gen
Author on LJ: no
Author website:The text for some of the Ace novels can be found at Pulp Fiction
Why this must be read:

Before the term "fanfiction" was coined, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. had it.

By the time The Man from U.N.C.L.E. came along in the mid-1960s, novelizations of films and tie-in novels for television series were nothing new. I remember my mother reading a YA-type novel based on the western series, Maverick to me when I was about seven.

What was new for U.N.C.L.E. were the authors who were contracted to write them. Ace Books, Inc. was one of the first companies to be signed as a licensee of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. tie-in merchandise at a time when the television series was not doing well in the ratings. Nevertheless, an assistant editor at Ace, the later SF legend, Terry Carr, thought a U.N.C.L.E. inspired novel might successfully cash in on the Bond phenomenon. At first, he hired professional suspense writers like Michael Avallone. Over in the U.K., Ace’s counterpart, Souvenir Press, recruited authors John Oram, Peter Leslie, John T. Phillifent, and Joel Bernard, some of whom were experienced genre writers with scientific backgrounds.

But many of these writers just couldn’t get the ‘feel’ of MFU, so Carr turned to the SF community to recruit talented amateurs ---ie: fans. One of the first and, arguably, the best, was David McDaniel who wrote six published novels and one unpublished for Ace(The Final Affair is still available within the fandom as a zine).

McDaniel became interested in U.N.C.L.E. and was particularly fascinated with the concept of Thrush. He’s the one who came up with “The Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity,” an acronym that the producers began using in interviews.

Many fans count McDaniel’s The Vampire Affair as their favorite (it has been recc’d here previously), but for me, it’s his first book, The Dagger Affair that’s best. In it, McDaniel is at his creative and light-hearted best exploring a situation in which U.N.C.L.E. and Thrush actually have to work together to defeat a loose cannon nutcase scientist.

Solo and Kuryakin go to San Francisco where they are introduced to the powerful and erudite Thrush chief, Ward Baldwin and his equally fascinating wife, Irene. The Baldwins were based on the real life Dean and Shirley Dickensheet, well known in LASF circles. The characters give McDaniel an opportunity to construct a more elaborate history for Thrush and to present it from an entirely different perspective.

For example, here’s the Baldwins interrogating a prisoner by handcuffing him to a moving cable car:

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I’d recommend that anyone writing MFU fanfiction, particularly if it deals with Thrush, to read this witty, clever and thoroughly enjoyable book, the first piece of MFU fanfiction to reach a wide audience.

The Dagger Affair

Fandom: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Pairing: James Norrington/OFC
Author on LJ: dreamlandburns
Author Website: Livejournal memories
Why this must be read: I hate soppy, sappy whore fics. I *really* do. Thankfully, this isn’t one of them. dreamlandburns creates an OC prostitute who isn’t all about the wangst. She usually has no problems with or shame about her profession. So, her encounter with James-in-Tortuga is rather jarring to her. Used to a clientele of pirates and lowly sailors—those from the same class as herself, she is unprepared for the subhuman treatment she receives from a “respectable” man like James. Sprinkled with black humor, this fic explores the nature of decency from the interactions of two people who had very different expections in life.

Huzzah!

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: Lance Bass/John Rzeznik
Author on LJ: ghettogreta
Author Website: http://www.a-thousand-words.org/absolutdesires/
Why this must be read:

Popular culture has pretty much passed me by, so I still have no very clear idea who the main character of this story is in Real Life, but I don't care, because the man in this story is so utterly real I don't need to know anything else about him.
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Prelude to a Kiss

Fandom: TORCHWOOD
Pairing: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Author on LJ: wildestranger
Author Website: Author's memories by fandom
Why this must be read: Subtitled Or, five people Ianto slept with after Jack left, this fic is about Ianto dealing with Jack's leaving in the series 1 finale. But it's no "magical healing power of sex" story: Jack's presence is felt throughout like a missing center. The whys of who Ianto sleeps with is the more important element than the hows.

I love this complicated, sexy Ianto, the humor throughout--capturing Ianto's quiet snark is no easy thing--and any fic that has Ianto/Doctor gets an automatic win from me.

( excerpt )

You might have laughed if I told you: Or, five people Ianto slept with after Jack left

Hello! I'm Malabud, and I'm back to rec Harry Potter once more. I'm also the lucky person who gets the to drive the HP crack_van the last time before canon is closed forever. So, relish these fics, my friends, because who knows? Once Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out, you may never want to read HP fanfic again! (Let's hope not.)

Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2,200 words
Author on LJ: rowen_r
Author Website: Unknown

Why this must be read:

The real name of this fic is "The Most Grievous and Lamentable Tragedie of The Death of Lord Voldemort: A Small Play in Three Acts," but I couldn't fit it all on the subject line. The title is probably the best summary of the fic you'll find.

Do you enjoy Shakespeare? Do you like Harry Potter? Then this fic is for you! Even if you have only a passing familiarity to Shakespeare's works, this fic is hilariously funny. There are innumerable allusions to Shakespeare throughout the fic, and it works surprisingly well. I cannot do it justice in this brief plug. Though this fic was written pre-HBP, it still is a fun read. Read the excerpt below and then go read the whole thing.

* * *

( Excerpt )

The Most Grievous and Lamentable Tragedie of The Death of Lord Voldemort: A Small Play in Three Acts

Fandom: ER
Pairing: Luka/Abby
Author on LJ: none (I think)
Author Website: ff.net profile
Why this must be read:

I meant to post this earlier last week, as a flipside of the coin that was C. Midori's Carter/Abby story. This is Luka and Abby, written years ago before the reconciliation. My favorite thing about the story is the way Abby's recovery from her addiction (remember that?) and Luka's ties to his past form such an integral part of the reasons why their love story unfolds the way it does. There's also a pretty pungent characterization of Carter that plays up his childish, petty side -- but the pungency is also warm and forgiving.

Don't be fooled by the typos, this story is as rich and aged and flavorful as a good red wine. It is also full of heart and wit and warmth, and a genuine understanding of human error. Mrs. Eyre's Abby is especially masterfully characterized, prickly and tough and vulnerable and very much an alcoholic. This is classic Luka/Abby.

( Excerpt )

Reconcilable Differences

Fandom: SHERLOCK HOLMES
Pairing: Homes/Watson
Genre: Hurt/comfort
Author on LJ: pandapony
Author Website: none, but archived at However Improbable and Adult Fan Fiction

Why this must be read:
Pandapony has given us a story that begins with a case and ends with one of the slowest, most sensuous seductions I think I've read in a long time.

The first part wraps around the Doyle story “The Crooked Man.” When the Major asks Watson about his time in Afghanistan he has a nervous attack and nearly faints.  Holmes realizes something is wrong and starts questioning Watson about his past.  What he learns of Watson's time in military horrifies him.

In the follow-up (Old Scars) the two men have solved the case and are back at Baker Street.  The men are alone when Holmes asks Watson about his scars.  Fairly soon Watson finds himself doing things he had never thought of before, and it's all done with love and affection.

Old Wounds and Old Scars