Hi ladies and gentlemen I'm Tat, I have returned to our beloved van. Sorry for starting so late but it couldn't be helped...

Fandom: STARSKY AND HUTCH
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Length: 41.781 words
Author on LJ: ultrapsychobrat
Author Website: AO3 , Daveandkensdiner

Why this must be read:

When I decided that I wanted another ride in the crack van I had a fairy good idea for the stories that I wanted to rec including this amazing mini series that I planned to start with and another one with this specific author.

But then some days ago I discovered this story and I was stunned. Flamingo has written once that she loves Suzan Lovett's stories because she can write tension. Well this story cam match and up Suzan's story as nothing else before. I was biting my nails the whole story and it is a biggggg one. But it was so worth it. This story is raw and honest, real as fanfiction is rarely so real with the most delightful oc ever and one of my favorite Hutch's scenes near the end of all time.

EXCERPT:

Adams stopped a few feet into the room and glanced about him, checking his surroundings as a cop always did. “How've you been, Dave?” he asked without looking at him.

“What's wrong?” Starsky demanded quietly.

Adams turned at the question, meeting his eyes once more. The brown eyes bore through him, reaching beneath the surface, seeking out his soul.

“How much do you love Ken?”

The totally unexpected question short-circuited his thought processes. He stared blankly into the hooded eyes. “What?” he managed to murmur at last.

“He's in trouble and he needs your help.”

Fear leaped in his heart, snapping his mind alert again. He bounded away from the door, grasping at Adams' arm with hard fingers. “Where's Hutch? What kind of trouble?” He gave Adams a sharp shake of impatience. “Tell me!” “It's not that kind of trouble, Dave. He's not hurt. This'll be easier if you'll sit down and listen for a while.”

Starsky peered at the man closely for almost a full minute before releasing his arm and sitting down in the nearest chair. A sinking feeling of disaster weighted his body. Ever since Hutch had run out last evening, he'd been waiting for something terrible to happen. And Adams was going to tell him what it was. With a desperate kind of homesickness, he wished for Hutch, here, the way it used to be—laughing, bickering, warm and safe. He didn't want to hear what Adams had to say, wanted to deny that there was anything wrong.

“Dave, are you listening?”

He nodded, folding his arms tightly across his chest, and focused his attention on the other man.

Adams sat on the edge of the coffee table, facing him. “Do you know what Gino's is? Over on Foothill?”

Starsky sorted through his memory, but drew a blank. He shook his head.

“It's a gay pick-up joint. Ken...Hutch went there tonight.”

None of These and Nothing Else

Fandom: STARSKY AND HUTCH
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Length: 2095 words
Author on LJ: loyseofverlaine
Author Website: AO3 , Meandthee

Why this must be read:

Because it is differend and humorous and for all the different pov extremely romantic... For everyone that loves or hates Kira...

Not Precisely Cupid

I swear I am not swerving to hit first time fics just because it is my personal fav. I don't mean to find them, they just jump out in front of me like those little rodents on the old prairie highways I grew up learning to drive on.

Fandom: THE MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: Illya Kuryakin/Napoleon Solo
Length: Moderate
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Chrome&Gunmetal
Why this must be read: I can only find this one story by Mishka but I hope that there will be more. One of the partners is in trouble with a congressional committee and the other must get him out of that hot water. There is much to enjoy here including humour, banter, mock fights, first times, superlative spy skills, accurate deductions, hawt slash that is hawt, Oslo, and last but not least an idea that is close to my fangirl heart~ an understanding Alexander. I don't know who this author is or where they came from, but I hope they are here to stay and bring us more of the hawt and tasty.

The Black, White and Lavender Affair

And please remember, if you enjoy this story, a comment to the author is all the payment they get! Show them some love!

Fandom: SUPERNATURAL
Pairing: Sam Winchester/Dean Winchester
Length: 10,000 words
Author on LJ: coyotesuspect
Author Website: coyotesuspect
Why this must be read:

Dean picks up an audiobook of The Odyssey as he makes he way around the country while Sam is at Stanford and finds something of his own life in the story. Beautifully melancholy and evocative of Dean's loneliness and loss. I always pictured him more as Achilles or Patroclus, but this story makes a strong case for Dean as Odysseus and Penelope both, with Sam as his Ithaca.

He uses a picture of Sam as a bookmark. It’s one of the few photos of Sam that he has; their childhood is recorded more in scars and the Impala’s ever upward ticking mileage than in Polaroid and film. The picture’s from the July the summer before Sam left, a year ago now. Sam had bought a cheap Kodak disposable camera with a mumbled excuse about using it to remember stuff with.

Dean hadn’t been sure at the time what Sam was going to need to remember. The only change happening in their lives was that now that Sam was out of school, they’d have even less ties to a place. They’d be able to cover more ground, save more lives, and Dean had it constructed it exactly in his mind- a perfect family hunting unit.

Dean stole the camera from him one day when they’d been at a river. John had left them on their own for a few days, off working a case a couple counties over. The camera was lying forgotten in a pile with their t-shirts, and Dean took the picture on the sly. Sam had just gotten out of the water and was sitting on a rock, his hair clinging to his head and his chest bare. He was in profile. Face tilted up, eyes closed, smiling.

It’s a good picture.

Odysseus, American by coyotesuspect

Please let the author know if you enjoy the story.

~*~

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Length: 70,188 words
Author on LJ: angelfish777
Author Website: The Circuit Fic
Why this must be read:

Summary from the author: George Cowley knows a marriage made in heaven when he sees one, and he's going to arrange it even if he has to send his young recruits to hell and back. Bodie, closed off and traumatised from his experiences in the SAS, can't believe he's being partnered up with a raw ex-copper. But Ray Doyle is his last chance, and as they fight through their training together and begin their work on the turbulent streets of 1970s London, a fire springs up between them that will either be their partnership's making or its destruction.

Angelfish is a fabulous writer. I enjoy her style, although sometimes the angst factor is a little too much for me. However, she can drag you deep into a story and hold onto you. Written in first person, one of my favourite styles, we meet a Bodie walking the edge. Cowley gives him one last chance to stay in CI5 and to stay, he must partner with Doyle. I rank this as one of my favourite Angelfish stories.

A little taste: ( Read more... )

Painted Angels

Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Gen, no pairing
Length: 4700
Author on LJ: florahart
Author Website: Flora's fanfiction
Why this must be read:

This is a quietly chilling, non-maudlin little story demonstrating that a certain moral blindness exists in Severus from a very early age; and why, even when his intentions originate in a desire to protect, he is capable of committing unforgivable acts. No motive can be entirely pure in a boy with so little experience of being wanted.

There are no ancient outside forces descending upon him here, as in the previous rec; the twisting of his destiny is all Severus' own doing, although this fic makes it touchingly clear that he's not a monster. He's a child insufficiently loved, accustomed to finding his own solutions and fighting his own battles, attempting to shoulder adult responsibilities. It's this isolation that leads him astray (with a little help from Slughorn, the only adult privy to his dilemma). He broods and thinks (which I find incredibly endearing) and copes with being left on his own, but an adult intelligence coupled with a child's limited moral resources can be a terrifying and heartbreaking thing.

Even Severus suspects this, by the end; but he can't let himself grasp the implications of what he has just done. Which is his tragedy in the series, too, and this perceptive fic traces a pattern he will spend his life trying (and failing) to unlearn.

( A sample )

A Nice Symbol of the Relationship

Fandom: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER / ANGEL: THE SERIES
Pairing: Buffy/Angel
Length: 32K+ words
Author on LJ: (Unknown)
Author Website: It's defunct

Why this must be read: The Angel episode "I Will Remember You" has spawned endless questions of "what if," fics examining those questions, and an excellent annual marathon. This, though, may be my favorite take, wherein Buffy doesn't quite die at the end of "The Gift," but passes into a parallel dimension with a slightly different timeline. It's heartbreaking to realize, after reading this, that maybe these two could have been happy together, earlier, without bringing the world to an end. In the meantime, Felicity tugs at your heart as the Buffy we know tries to navigate the life of the one we never got to.

 

( "It's a miracle that you're here," Giles murmured. "I don't quite understand how the portal healed you."  )

 

In This World

Fandom: STAR WARS
Pairing: Gen; Luke Skywalker
Length: 2,360
Author on LJ: deaka
Author Website: Profile at FF.net
Why this must be read:

This is a powerful piece with Luke in the aftermath of The Empire Strikes Back dealing with the revelation that Darth Vader is his father. He dreams of his family, of Anakin Skywalker, and Tatooine; he see's the face's of Qui-Gon and Shmi, Obi-Wan and Padmé. And they all tell Luke the same thing, that all is not lost, that his father can really be saved. One of my favorite Original Trilogy stories, and one everyone should read.

He feels raw, stretched thin, bloodied and battered. He feels deeply and strangely bereft. He feels alien in his own body, uneven, off balance.

"Vader," he whispers. He didn't expect it, but somehow the memories are there. There is no jolt of realisation, no shock of discovery. Fighting… his hand… father… The knowledge, somehow, is too great and terrible to forget even in unconsciousness.

"We're back at the base, now," Leia says. "Vader's gone. You're safe, Luke."

"I know," he says softly. "I know."

He's Falling Again

Fandom: STAR TREK REBOOT
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy (with background Spock/Uhura, McCoy/Jocelyn and Kirk/Gaila)
Length: 15,000 words
Author on LJ: atomicskull
Author Website: http://atomicskull.livejournal.com/
Why this must be read: Yes, this fic uses a Taylor Swift song for inspiration but what she does with it is epic. Truthfully, it kind of made me a fan of Taylor Swift.. A high school au where Jim and Bones grow up together and are basically destined to be together from the beginning. I love this fic to piece and have reread it multiple times.

( intrigueing snippet )


Never Know Your Story Like I Do

Fandom: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES
Pairing: Jeremy/Vicki, Jeremy/Damon
Length: ~1730 words
Author on LJ: nevacaruso
Author Website: LJ Memories
Why this must be read: This fic explores Jeremy's state of mind after having his memories altered by Damon. The author artfully weaves in memories and dreams of both Jeremy's parents and the shared past of the Gilbert and Donovan children. A little sad and very lovely.

Nothing But What Came Before

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: Skinner/other
Length: 33k
Author on LJ: mustangsally78
Author Website: Gossamer page
Why this must be read: Because "Belle Dame" is, for my money, one of the best Skinner fics out there, and Skinner doesn't get nearly enough love. "Belle Dame" draws on the canon material relating to Skinner's marriage and its (presumed) dissolution, and on the legacy of his experiences in Vietnam - or, perhaps, his reluctance to acknowledge that legacy. These are issues that the show brought up in the episodes "One Breath," "Avatar," and "Unrequited," but they remained largely in the background. MustangSally does a superb job of bringing them to the fore, drawing the settings and characters in a dark relief that very much fits with the original. She provides a well-constructed, believable background for his career with the FBI before his days in charge of the X-Files, structured around one (albeit utterly unsupernatural) case that he tracked for years, starting when he was a field agent and continuing into the X-Files era. The story unfolds in three acts, set respectively in 1987, 1991, and the "real time" of The X-Files, 1996.


( excerpt )
The full story is available at the Gossamer archive.