Fandom: Sapphire and Steel
Pairing: Sapphire/Steel UST and a wee bit of Steel/Silver if you squint
Author on LJ: nemo_everbeing
Author Website: ???
Why this must be read: Nemo_everbeing gives a harsh look at Steel. As is stated throughout the series they were created for a purpose. This is a fic that looks at what Steel was made for and then asks if that's all he wants. Silver was made for a different purpose and sometimes Steel may envy him for that, but Steel is Steel and his purpose is his being.

( click for snippet )


And This Gray Spirt

Fandom: STARSKY AND HUTCH
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Length: (69k)
Author on LJ: dawnebeth
Author Website: Dawnwind on the Me and Thee Archive
Why this must be read:

This story rang my bells - I loved the episode A Coffin for Starsky, and this is a fic that opts for a "what happened after" theme.

Starsky does take the vacation that Huggy booked for him, to the Virgin Islands, where all the New York secretaries go, and Hutch decides to follow him, because the feelings that had been developing for his partner over time came to a head during this life-or-death case, with Starsky's life on the line. He needs to tell him, and tell him now. But will Starsky accept what he has to say?

( Excerpt below )

Taking it Slow

Fandom: STARGATE SG-1
Pairing: Cameron Mitchell/Vala Mal Doran/Daniel Jackson, Cameron Mitchell/Daniel Jackson
Length: long series
Author on LJ: minervacat
Author Website: unknown
Why this must be read:

This starts with Daniel and Vala. It's so very inevitable that Cam gets pulled into it too. I love these stories because they're sexy and charming and sweet and HOT and heartbreaking and steadfastly in-character and confusing and rich and beautiful and full of feeling. Because ( spoiler ) Because the ending makes sense, because the ending is as inevitable as the beginning was.

You Can Buy Her Things Now But She'll Never Be Bought
There's A Girl Going Crazy About You (And I'm Not Far Behind)
And If The Answer's No, Can I Change Your Mind?
Your Misfortune And None Of My Own
Valentine The Destroyer
So If I Fell, I Would Fall Right In
With All Our Sun-Bleached History

There is also an excellent prequel set in the same universe:
Must Have Learned Them From A Million Stars

Fandom: House, M.D
Pairing: Amber/Thirteen
Author on LJ: ijemanja
Author Website: @ LJ

Why this must be read:

And sometimes you just want to read fun, awesome hatesex featuring girls who don't particularly like each other but can't seem to stay away from each other (and feel the need to proclaim their dislike of each other. LOUDLY). And when you do, there is no other pairing on the show that is as much fun as Amber/Thirteen. Post-4.09 (and now the Season Four finale), the pairing has a lot of angst potential, but this story is about the *fun* part, where Amber and Thirteen are awesome and bitchy and competitive, even as they have sex with each other. The voices are perfect; the humour incredible.

Amber really hates Thirteen.

So, naturally, she follows Thirteen to her hotel. It's kind of like stalking, sure, but it's also totally something that House would do, and Thirteen wants to work with House, so it's not like she could complain if she knew.

See, Amber's strategy worked. House did fire the women, and since she wasn't one of the women, she didn't get fired. Except he kept Thirteen and not only was that not part of the strategy, it didn't make any sense. Still doesn't.

She's pretty damn sure if she'd been the one who screwed up and killed their patient (and his dog) she would have been fired. So, so fired.

Which brings her back to Thirteen.

She really hates Thirteen.

If you, like me, cannot resist some good hate!sex, then pls to be reading this now.

Hate (to the power of 13).

Well here we are at the end of another month of driving the NCIS van. I hope you've enjoyed what has hopefully proven to be a greater variety of pairings and genres than I usually rec. I've thoroughly enjoyed myself (even if I did end up shocking my flist with my ante-penultimate rec - I'm not sure they've fully recovered yet) and who knows, I just might sign up to do it for a fourth time.

For my last rec of the month I return to my roots in two ways: one, it's back to my beloved OTP and two, it's a story written by one of the very first Gibbs/Ducky writers.

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Leroy Jethro Gibbs/Donald 'Ducky' Mallard
Length: 2,102
Author on LJ: feenixandashes
Author Website: None of which I am aware

Why this must be read:

Ren hasn't written Gibbs/Ducky for some time, and we all miss her lovely stories. This is one of her earlier stories and it is a lovely one. In one way it is very simple, in other ways very complex.

It is set immediately after The Meat Puzzle and is told in several parts by each of the 'children' involved at the time interspersed by Gibbs's thoughts. The thoughts are all about what happened and how close Gibbs came to losing Ducky.

Gibbs's parts are full of anguish and he doesn't hold back his true feelings for Ducky and the children's parts touch on the relationship and how they might see it as more than just good friends - indeed one of them does know it is more than it appears to be.

Ren hits the voices of the various characters perfectly; it is as though we are listening to them say the words, and she also captures the feelings or love, affection, respect and deep friendship the children have for Ducky and for Gibbs and most of all the sheer love and need and affection of Gibbs's feelings for Ducky. The intensity is there throughout the story and the movement from one character to the next's part does not jar in the slightest.

( Extract )

---

Picking Up The Pieces

Fandom:STAR WARS
Pairing:Anakin Skywalker/Ferus Olin
Length: 2238 words
Author on LJ: polymath_acuman
Website: Ficlist
Why this story must be read:

Going all the way. A phrase from the tenderest beginnings of our sexual lives, the phrase that 'having sex with' doesn't cover. And what if you don't want to go all the way? What if 'making out' is as far as you want to go with the object of your affections? This story isn't Unresolved Sexual Tension, because there is sex, sort of. It's a sparky addition to the series of Anakin/Ferus stories that this author writes involving the EU character Padawan Ferus Olin, a more-or-less agemate of Anakin Skywalker and Anakin's rival in the Temple. Nearly as gifted as Anakin, not as nearly touched by destiny, Ferus has his desires, too. I liked this story because of the descriptions of tentative touching and the sense of blundering. Just like blundering along driving the van at the end of September, reaching the end of the commute, and looking for someone else to take the wheel. Come on, it's fun and you'll like foisting explaining your choice of reading matter to all and sundry. Giving feedback to the authors is nice, too.

Some Brand Of Frozen Meat

Rec #12 - thanks, everyone, it's been fun!

Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: Jenny (The Doctor's Daughter)/Astrid
Author on LJ: vail_kagami
Author Website: fic masterlist
Length: 735 words

Why this must be read: I wasn't crazy about Jenny on the show, but this story treats her so lovingly it won me over; I already adored Astrid, and this is a perfect examination of what could be post-Voyage of the Damned. This is a beautiful little bite of a story, with Jenny learning, exploring, and running both from and toward her past, and finding an ally in an unexpected form. They are each other's centre of gravity: together they can take on the universe.

Gravity

Well guys, this will be my last rec for the month. Hope you all enjoyed the ride!!

Fandom:HIGHLANDER
Pairing: none
Length: short
Author on LJ: unknown 
Website: The Home of Eoen and Kethry
Why this story must be read:

I'm in a strange mood tonight, so my last rec this is going to be different from my usual fare. This is a death fic, though not of any of the main characters. Its a sad  fic that shows that friendships run deep. Eoen's Methos is wonderful; caring and wise in his old age.  Sad yes, but still a wonderful story.



Let Me See You Smile

Fandom: STARSKY AND HUTCH
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Length: 36k
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Charlotte Frost on the Me & Thee Archive
Why this must be read:

My last rec for the month. I've had a very good time browsing and discovering old favorites and new ones. I hope to play again in a few months! And on to the story.

Charlotte Frost has been recced time and again, but after the events of this past weekend, with the death of Paul Newman, who played Butch Cassidy in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I felt this story was worth a little recognition.

Starsky refers to this famous pair in the episode Shootout, robbing banks in Bolivia. From that has sprung many fics referencing and comparing these two partner pairings.

In this story, Starsky goes researching on the real Cassidy and Sundance, and discovers how different the truth is from the film's fictionalized account, yet still finds room for the romanticization of the duo, and how he can apply it to himself and Hutch, his lover.

( Excerpt below )

Butch and Sundance