Fandom: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Pairing: Chris/Vin
Author on LJ: sara_merry99
Author Website: see above
Why this must be read: I have a bit of a theme going on this week, with all stories inspired by lines/exchanges from the series.

In the opening scenes of One Day Out West, we learn that Chris definitely does not like being called a 'Cowboy'. No way. Absolutely not.
Cut to the next time we see Chris, brooding over a shot of whisky in the saloon. Enter Vin with the cheery and so damn flirty greeting of "Hey, Cowboy"...and getting away with it, because he's Vin and Chris lets Vin away with things he'd shoot other folks for. Cue C/V fangirls' hearts going *swoonflailboom!* And when Chris spells out his plans for "Whisky, a bed, more whisky" with a glint in his eye...well, the slash could write itself, although I suspect it wouldn't make half as good a job of it as Sara does with Cowboy.

Taking the above exchange as her starting point, Sara has Vin take Chris's words as the clear invitation we C/V slash-gogglers hope it is. He follows Chris out of the saloon with plans to take the whisky (and himself) to Chris's bed - but Chris has other plans, pulling Vin into the livery to show him that he hasn't quite let Vin get away with calling him Cowboy...what follows is a hot, saucy and best of all, completely in character encounter.
This really does seem like it could be a missing scene from the episode (if only in C/V fangirls' dreams), because Sara's writing and understanding of character really is that damn good.

( excerpt )

Cowboy

Fandom: FIREFLY
Pairing: crew, gen
Length: about 3000 words
Author on LJ: slipstream_chan
Why this must be read:

Because laughter is good for the soul. The one where Jayne is a god. No, really! This has the airy freedom of the best crack, where once the initial wildly improbable premise is hurdled, the story unfolds neatly within the confines of the characters and logic of the 'verse.

( an excerpt )

Happy Ruttin' Valentine's Day

Fandom: BABYLON 5
Pairing: John Sheridan/Jeffrey Sinclair, Sheridan/Delenn/Sinclair
Length: Long Story
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: http://members.aol.com/XFWRITER/stories.htm
Why this must be read: This story starts off with Londo being an ass, which is perfectly believable and has Sheridan and Sinclair enlisting the help of their friends to get back at him. This story is funny, has fun characterization, and is also totally hot. The Centauri apparently have an incredibly strong taboo against same-sex couples, so Sheridan and Sinclair decide to play a practical joke on him by pretending to be a couple. It all kind of snowballs from there...

I re-read this story often, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Balance of Power

Fandom: X-FILES
Pairing: Mulder/Scully, Scully/Other
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Links from IOHO Stories Archive
Why this must be read:

You wouldn't think that a casefile about sheep/human hybrids would be anything but satire, would you? I mean, would you? While humorous and charming, this story is so much more than that. I love Kel's writing. She always offers wonderfully quirky casefiles with excitement, well-developed original characters and a surprising amount of subtlety. This story proves that experimental subjects are people too.

What Mulder wanted more than anything was to find a two-legged sheep monster so he could bring it back to the slimy creeps in Forensic Anthropology and let it stomp them to death.

And he would watch and say, "Tough luck, fellas. I guess it can walk."

Bone of Contention, Part One
Bone of Contention, Part Two

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: JC/Justin (anyone sensing a theme, here?)
Length: short
Author on LJ: foxmonkey
Author Website: Giddy!
Why this must be read: I had a really hard time picking my favorite of foxmonkey's stories, but for some reason I always come back to this one. It's in the "JC and Justin BOTH figure it out" area of the Popslash kingdom. It doesn't matter how many times I've read it, I have to fan myself every time, and it's not even that graphic. You'll probably be seeing more foxmonkey before the month is up.

Crunch

Fandom: THE MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: gen...OK, with hints of slash
Author: zellieh
Author Website: Zellieh's MFU-tagged fanfic
Why this must be read:

The closest we viewers will ever get to Thrush torture is the inability to breathe and the soreness in our abs from laughing so hard at this piece - yes, this memo from Waverly is just that funny. Headquarters might come across as a chrome and gunmetal madhouse to outsiders, but I love how this fic portrays the UNCLE NY staff as the hilariously dysfunctional office family you wish you had. Though UNCLE's self-proclaimed "sentimental grandmother of the year" is generally portrayed in both canon and fanon as UNCLE's stern, strategic mastermind, we get a welcome glimpse at his endearingly dry wit and avuncular indulgence for his staffers that inspire such loyalty on their part. Who says you can't have fun and save the world at the same time?

( Excerpt )

50 Things (UNCLE staff are not allowed to do)