Fandom: MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: None
Length: about 4600 words
Author on LJ: selyndaep
Author Website: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1262920/Selyndae
Why this must be read:

This one isn't a "here is how they met" story. Here they have been paired as field partners for some years. They are U.N.C.L.E.'s top field team and they are already friends. But a mission that presents of ton of obstacles makes them realize it is their very friendship which keeps them at the top of their game, that pushes each of them to be "there and more" for the other.

A hurt/comfort story, this one has a definite impact and yet doesn't run into maudlin territory. And both the guys come off as extremely competent in their jobs, neither one's abilities sacrificed in favor of the other's, something that often happens in fanfic. That equality as partners was something I really appreciated in this tale.

( an excerpt... )

Redefining Friendship

Fandom: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Pairing: Chris/Ezra
Length: 1, 117 words
Author on LJ: randi2204 
Author Website: Author's stories on AO3

Why this must be read:  Because we get a wonderfully characterful narrative voice, highlighting what I find one of the most “obvious” of the M7 couples - dysfunctional and probably hopeless, but obvious nonetheless (if a constant and delicious crackle of tension is anything to go by).

Of the many potential povs in this fandom, I think that the voice of the mystery narrator in this story might be my favourite.  He is a man of great mystique as well as great heart, and the canon facts of his life make his thought processes and language particularly fascinating somehow.  In this story we watch a telling moment between Chris and Ezra, as seen through this man’s eyes.  The moment is theirs, but the love, in a way, is the narrator’s.

“Ezra?” Chris’s got a bellow that carries easy over gunfire.  You can’t spare a look at him, but you know he’s crouchin’ behind a barrel on the other side of the street, just in front of the building where the enemy has taken cover.

“Still present, Mister Larabee!”  Relief floods you, ‘cause he sounds all right, and your finger squeezes the trigger like it’s connected to your heart, not your head.


Not Quite Sure

Fandom: TORCHWOOD
Pairing: Jack/Ianto/Gwen
Length: ~4000 words.
Author on LJ: xtricks
Author Website: fiction & fic tags / X-Tricks / Xtricks on AO3
Why this must be read:

Gwen, Jack, and Ianto celebrate a case gone well, and the feelings of accomplishment and camaraderie lead to a hot, sexy threesome.

A warm and a bit melancholy story with wonderful characterization and a great Gwen-POV.

Excerpt:

"Come home with us," Ianto blurted, looking as startled as Gwen felt. But he didn't stammer out an excuse or apology when Gwen leaned around Jack to stare at him.

"With you?" she asked. "With you?"

"I'm not actually from the 1950's," Ianto complained, "I just dress like it."

"You're not from the 51st either," Gwen glanced up at Jack who was motionless between them, arms around them both and strangely without a quip, or a joke or even a leer when Gwen looked up to his face. "And neither am I."

"It's not for Jack. Not just for Jack," Ianto amended. "You're my ... we are ...."

Best mate, Gwen silently supplied the words Ianto couldn't say, closest friends, bound together by blood and fear and courage and so much more. She'd had her hands in Ianto's guts, last month, trying to hold him together and never told Jack that he'd cried while she fought for his life, terrified to die. Last week, Ianto had stepped in front of a Nixi blast with nothing but a bit of Tosh's theory pinned to his jacket, to save her life. Old soldiers, she thought again, yes. Tonight they had a bit of victory in their hands and Gwen wanted to hang onto it a little longer.

Wonderful Life

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Length: Novella
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: UKJess's Omnium-Gatherum
Why this must be read:

That’s a real gem of a story, which – surprisingly - has never been recced in crack_van though unanimously considered as a classic of the “Pros” fanfiction heritage, as hagsrus observed when she pointed it out to me in a private message . Of course, it has been recced elsewhere and not so long ago at The Reading Room by jaycat92

I found this presentation, and the subsequent discussion in the thread of comments so thorough, so thoughtful, so enlightening and enticing for the reader that, frankly, I don’t see what I could add, and why I should strive to say clumsily what has already been said perfectly.

What struck me the most while I was reading, besides the concise, elegantly sober style, was the consummate author’s writing skill, her ability to lead her reader smoothly from a point of view to another, through turns, loops and meanders, following with devilish subtlety the lightest variations of moods and feelings of her characters, especially Bodie's, making credible situations that aren't so given the premises, like the seduction scene or Bodie's complete change of mind at the end (I was expecting an open ending, with some remaining misunderstandings).

I'd like to give examples but they are too many, each one better than the other and I couldn't choose among them. Just go to: Spring-Heeled Jack and enjoy!