August 26th, 2008 
12:03 am Forty (Or Solid Gold) by Astrid Keynes (PG)
Title: Forty (Or Solid Gold)
Fandom: The Man From UNCLE
Pairing: Napoleon/Illya
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Her stories on CAGM
Why this must be read:

This story's deviously kinky in a relatively innocent way, playing around with retirement as the golden years for enforcement agents. Or not. Headquarters, humor and Illya's scathingly sarcastic but genuine manner as he consoles Napoleon on his 40th birthday and retirement from the field shouldn't be missed. Did I mention banter in spades? I only wish we could all leave our jobs in style like this.

Forty (or Solid Gold)
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12:43 am The Shortest Partnership On Record Affair by Mustang (G)
Title: The Shortest Partnership On Record Affair
Fandom: The Man From UNCLE
Pairing: gen
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Check out the File 40 gen page
Why this must be read:

I could seriously swear this story had been previously rec'd. If you haven't guessed by the title, this is a first time meeting story, and much in the line of Kate D.'s previously rec'd "In the Beginning," the road to true partnership never did run smooth. Mustang's Illya walks the fine line between canny wunderkind and cautious newcomer, while her Napoleon is confidently curious without being unbearably brash or presumptive. No excessive paranoia or red-baiting here - just a fun look between traded barbs of how two highly independent men of different backgrounds finding a working rhythm.

The Shortest Partnership On Record Affair
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11:01 am The Muse by Jesse (R)
Fandom: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Pairing: Elizabeth/Darcy
Length: novel-length
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: N/A
Why this must be read:

The Muse combines two of my favourite things: Pride and Prejudice and ballet. Lizzy is a corps de ballet member and Darcy is the hotshot ex-principal dancer turned renowned choreographer. The tension and passion of the original novel take a more visceral, physical form in this retelling. Rather than a comedy of manners, or a social critique, Jesse writes an elemental story about the link between creativity and desire amidst the often-petty politics of professional dance. Darcy is haughty and brilliant, Lizzy is stubborn and talented, and they definitely take the long, winding, and thorn-ridden road through romance. Jesse’s ability to both describe dance and infuse it with eroticism is enviable.

There is one element of this fic that's often viewed as its main flaw: the characterisation of Georgiana. It’s not my favourite thing ever, I’ll be honest, but neither is it enough for me to disregard the rest of the work. You’ll have to judge for yourself.

This is the only modern I’m recing this month because – I’m sad to say – the other I had planned to offer has been removed at the author’s request. So I hope you'll enjoy this one enough for two.


The Muse
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07:49 pm Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy by Meletor (Adult)
Fandom: Bandom
Pairing: Mikey/Pete
Length: ~2000 words
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] meletor_et_al
Author Website: [livejournal.com profile] thexyboombang is her fic journal

Why this must be read:

This story just fills me with glee every time I read it. It's the Summer of Like and Pete makes it his mission to convince Mikey Way of his own awesomeness and it's just so Pete, sweet and a little off-center and hopelessly endearing. I love how Mel writes Mikey and Pete's relationship here and also the way she sketches out Pete's relationship towards the rest of Mikey's band. But mostly I love how she gets inside Pete's head and his desperate need for Mikey to understand how beautiful he is.

Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy
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08:18 pm A Little Finesse by Adellyna (R)
Fandom: Bandom
Pairing: Gabe/William
Length: ~7800 words
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] adellyna
Author Website: frilly things

Why this must be read:

Midtown-era first time Gabe/William fic that just captures the characters and their developing relationship perfectly. I love how richly fleshed out this story feels. It's full of so many perfect, subtle little details about their lives and touring and the world these two guys inhabit, that it feels much longer than it actually is. Adellyna does a wonderful job of writing both Gabe and William and the way they play with and off of each other. Gabe especially has such a larger than life persona, it can be easy for him to become more of a caricature than an actual character in stories, but Adellyna never lets that happen.

A Little Finesse
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10:31 pm Ceiling: Unlimited by Bone (NC-17)
Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Length: 31K
Author on LJ:  [profile] thisisbone
Author Website:  http://www.mrks.org/~bone/

Why this must be read:    Because sometimes you just get a hankering for a classic, don’t ya?

Bone’s were some of the first stories I read in the TS fandom. Hers are also what I would classify as “best loved” – they’re the ones I’ll never tire of re-reading. Apparently I’m not alone, since her stories have been recommended here and on every list I’m a part of. Still, it’s been a couple of years since someone recced her here, so it’s time to remind everyone just how good her stories are. 
 
Bone’s hallmarks are getting Jim and Blair’s “voices” to ring so true and writing scorching “first time”sex scenes. In Ceiling, she also shows the tender side of the guys after they have been a couple for a while. They are still hot for each other, but also do the day-to-day things that reveal a loving couple. Neither is the designated caretaker – both are equally strong and equally yielding, as it should be. Here, Blair recognizes Jim is experiencing burn-out. He plots to fix the problem and Jim sees right through Blair but appreciates him at the same time:
 
"What do you want me to do?" I ask him. "Tell Simon to take over our caseload for a few days so we can go commune with nature?" I think that's a reasonable approach-make him see we can't just drop everything because the planets have aligned, or whatever. He's new to all this cop shit-maybe he just doesn't get how different it is from cutting a class.
"Carpe diem, man," he says.
"Seize the day," I translate.
"Fuck me now," he says dreamily.
"Excuse me?"
"I always thought the practical idiomatic translation of 'carpe diem' was probably more along the lines of 'fuck me now,'" he says. "Either that or 'another round on me, bartender.'"
 
Why doesn't that surprise me?
"So come on, live a little," he says, popping me on the shoulder with the flat of his hand.
Wheedling. He's moved from whining to wheedling.
"Live a little? Why didn't I think of that?" I tell him. "Let me write a memo to all the crooks out there and tell them we're taking a few days off because there's an unlimited ceiling."
"Works for me," he says. God, he's got a smart mouth on him.
The sad part is that I want to do it. Getting out of Cascade sounds amazingly good. Getting away from buildings and asphalt and assholes sounds even better. I can see us up in the woods, on sleeping bags under the stars, stuffed with marshmallows and turkey dogs. I can see him seizing the day and I can see me fucking him now.
I'm almost forty and I'm giving serious consideration to playing hooky for the first time.
 Yet one more life mutation to lay at the feet of Blair Sandburg.
 
Jim and Blair trade off POVs, and besides Blair’s description of sex with Jim, we get his opinions on the Boy Scouts and using Skin So Soft as lube. Jim’s observations are just as much fun. Bone shows us an old married couple who are still lusty men *and* tender, considerate partners. In other words, Blair and Jim to a tee.

Ceiling: Unlimited 
 
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