See. I told you that I could rec gen, you didn't believe me did you?

Fandom: THE MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: no pairing, Illya and Napoleon present and accounted for
Length: a short sweet little general piece
Author on LJ: wishfulaces
Author Website: you can find more of her work on Archive of Our Own under the name aces
Why this must be read: I have a bit of a weakness for 'moments in time' fics, little bits of fic that give us just a little glimpse of the everyday in the lives of our boys. I like this one, it shows the humour and the balance that Napoleon and Illya are for one another. They don't always agree but they are always there.

Conversation Piece

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Fandom: LOST
Character: Ben
Length: ~1000 words
Author on LJ: augrah
Author Website: Fic Masterlist
Why this must be read:

augrah writes Ben's story in the vein of "See Spot Run." The result is charming and funny, full of spot-on observations of Ben's (and others') story. This is overall a completely unique and delightful read.

( excerpt )

See Ben Run

Fandom: DC UNIVERSE (sub category: The Titans)
Pairing: Bette Kane/Roy Harper (aka - Flamebird/Arsenal)
Length: just under 4,000 words
Author on LJ: unlovablehands
Author Website: Love Set Fire and FanFiction.Net page
Why this must be read:
First of all, I love this era of the DCU, when Argent and Jesse Quick and Damage were on Nightwing's team and they were just called THE Titans. Secondly, I love Bette. She is such an underutilized character for someone who was Bat-girl (pre-Crisis). Most authors tend to reduce her to a joke, but in this intimate study of the character (set just after the Beast Boy miniseries) Ang brings her to life as someone separate from her once-obsession with Nightwing, her team, and even her superhero identity. Bette is a real girl in this story. Also, there is hot sex with Roy. I feel I should also mention that this story was written for me, so I might, possibly, be a bit biased. Anyway, enjoy!

Little Wing

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: Skinner/Doggett
Length: 101k in three parts
Author on LJ: jimpage363
Author Website: JiM's personal archive, DitB page, reconstituted ex-Geocities page, and Gossamer listing.

Why this must be read: John Doggett was one of the few things I liked about the last seasons of The X-Files; Skinner's increased presence was about the only other one. The two share a lot of background: both are former Marines with combat-related PTSD that they really, really, really don't want to talk about; they tend to fall into line with respect to authority but will break that pattern for good cause if necessary, and stay under the radar doing it; both have failed marriages; both are goal-directed and taciturn, and sort of alpha-male.

The "Dreams" series (named for a Yeats poem, FYI) is set in the timeline of S8, and bases itself around some major events (for Doggett and Skinner) from . What it does from there is incredibly; for my money, it's one of the best fics out there, period. This is a bit of gushing about it from my personal journal:

      ...more of the focus is on where Doggett is mentally (as opposed to where Mulder is physically), something that in canon is necessarily an aside to the narrative. And where Doggett is mentally is not at all a pretty place to begin with, much less after everything he encounters (and experiences) when he's assigned to the X-Files. The fic takes his state and his taciturn refusal to deal with it and puts it in conversation with Skinner's parallel situation and similar disposition, again drawing on Skinner's care for the agents under his authority and (very sublty implied) his psychological need to fill the troubled-agent-to-watch gap that Mulder's absence has created.


JiM is one of those rarest of creatures, a writer who is a natural with good summaries, good enough to be worth quoting here:

In Dreams (PG): "After the episode 'Via Negativa,' Doggett's insomnia blurs the lines between Real Life and the world of dreams."
Begins Responsibility (PG): "After the events of 'Existence,' Skinner needs someone to talk to. Or not."
In Common Hours (R): "Mulder points something out to Doggett, who thinks about buying flowers."


( excerpt )


In addition to the above links to JiM's page, you can also find them at DitB:  In Dreams/Begins Responsibility/In Common Hours.

Fandom: SUPERNATURAL
Pairing: none, it's gen
Length: 9715 words
Author on LJ: dollarformyname
Author Website: dollarformyname
Why this must be read:

After they get out of the pit, Adam can't get away from Sam and it's driving him crazy. Sam's not doing so well, either, but he refuses to go see Dean, choosing instead to be an inept mother hen to Adam. Funny and achy, with a great Adam voice. (Written prior to 6.01)

Sam thinks Dean is happy where he is, doesn't want to ruin it. Adam is still wondering how they ever got this far if Sam was the brains of their outfit.

He knew Dean for five whole minutes and even he knows Dean is likely drowning in a bottle to escape the gaping chasm where Sam should be. Probably to escape the burbs too, because Dean really struck him as the type who'd go slowly insane in a place like that, maybe even become the recluse neighbor that 'always seemed so nice', according to the interviewees on the six o'clock news after a garage full of mutilated bodies are discovered.

Yeah, Adam's pretty sure getting those two back together is not only crucial to his own sanity, it's a goddamn public service.

Before Your Time Has Run Astray by dollarformyname

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