No, not that Panama. :)

Fandom: STARSKY AND HUTCH
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Length: 804 words
Author on LJ: romankate
Author Website: Fanfic tagged at her LJ
Why this must be read:

I’m always excited to see a new story from Kate, because I know I’m in for a treat. I especially adore her future!fic: Starsky and Hutch may be older, but in her skillful hands they are still quintessentially them, still the men we fell in love with. The future she gives them is the one I want them to have, because they deserve it. This lovely short story is a perfect example of that.

( Here’s a bit~ )

Sweet but not sappy, moving but not maudlin. I already said “perfect," didn’t I? :) Go read.

Goodbye, Panama

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Length: 11,900 words, 66k
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: None known, but there is a list of Maggie Hall's Pros stories at Palelyloitering.com (mostly published in zines or on the paper circuit, but not all)
Why this must be read: This fic was originally published in the 1993 Manacles Press zine Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink, and I was just incredibly happy when it came online a couple of years ago, available to everyone. The story is really in three parts - the night before Bodie is sent up north on an op, the day that he returns, and in between - well in between there is a flashback to a visit the lads made to Amsterdam, one that seems to have changed their lives to a small but incredibly erotic extent, and the story circles around this change. What I particularly adore about it are the proofs the lads give each other, not always deliberately and when they are deliberate rather embarrassedly, that the other is loved. There's a vein of comfort running through it somehow, and that's what I take away with me every time. At the same time, it's not overly sentimental, not in the least bit soppy - Doyle's acquiescences are "Just to shut you up, Bodie", and Bodie's matter-of-fact view of life, even when he's acknowledging his feelings for Ray, seem entirely canon to me.

We first come across the lads relaxing in Doyle's flat - the weather is autumn-wild outside, but we're drawn inside with the lads, to a lazy, sated and sensual evening. There are a couple of Americanisms right at the very beginning ("holiday season", "Merseyside County"?!), but they're otherwise relatively few, and it's worth getting past them for the gorgeous story - and especially for Bodie's return, and the time they have to spend waiting for Cowley... *g*

( Excerpt... )

Facets II: Stolen Moments

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Pairing: Stefan/Damon
Length 3900 words
Author on LJ: summerstorm
Author Website journal's fanfic tag
Why this must be read:

Because it's hot. Like really, really, really hot. But if porn isn't a good enough reason, the characterization is also fantastic. The story is set up as a missing scene from 2x01, before Damon has gone to see Elena and kill Jeremy, he tells Stefan about his run-in with Katherine. I love how Stefan looks at his brother, how he wants so badly to help Damon but really doesn't know how, doesn't know if Damon even deserves help. The author draws a picture of Damon who is at his most vulnerable, at his most open, at his most desperate and needy. It's the kind of story that can really only exist if it happens immediately after Katherine broke him in 2x01 because he really isn't ever this emotional again.

( excerpt )

too restless to unwind