Fandom: MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: withheld
Length: 2903 words
Author on LJ: jessebee
Author Website: jessebee on AO3
Why this must be read:

We all have secrets we want no one else to know; what kinds of secrets must Napoleon and Illya have, living the lives they live. And what happens, when suddenly the one person who does matter to them, sees what should have remained hidden.

jessebee's writing is tactile; a series of sensory fragments that make the scenes live, the emotions immediate and clear. There's darkness in this story: two scenes, two secrets revealed--but there's strength also. The strength of a friendship that deepens to keep the darkness at bay.

Napoleon's fingers tightened spasmodically around the glass. He tilted back and took a swig and then another, and then banged the empty glass down on the coffee table as the alcohol – whisky, he identified with very little interest – burned its way down his throat. He coughed once, then looked at his partner, whose expression gave nothing away. "Say what you came to say, Illya."

Illya reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled something out, tossed it onto the table between them. A reel of tape.

Hints and Allegations

Fandom: SUITS
Pairing: Harvey/Mike
Length: 10,026 words
Author on LJ: brilligspoons
Author Website: AO3 profile
( Why this must be read )

Make Me Nervous

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/OFC
Length: 36K words
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Sue’s Filing Cabinet and at AO3

Why this must be read: A well-fleshed-out OC, an unusual twist on a Sentinel trope, and (gasp!) TS het!

When Jim drops off some paperwork to Blair’s new Head of Anthropology, he and she establish an immediate rapport. While Blair finds her increasingly unreasonable, Jim finds her increasingly fascinating. Is this simply a case of pheromones, a la “Attraction”? Or is there a different explanation?

Forbidden Fruit by Sue Kelley (Teen)

--magician’s mantra: make an author’s day. Send feedback if you like her stuff!

I'm slacking. You've had two whole days without my undivided attention. That'll never do.

Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Genre: Gen. Hurt/comfort.
Length: About 25000 words.
Author on LJ: edenfalling
Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence.
Author Websites: LJ Masterlist
Author's Summary Madara lied about the eye transplant's effects. Captured and brought back to Konoha, Sasuke must adjust to blindness and his unexpected survival. Remix of "Put a little fixing on it," by megyal.
Why this must be read: Sasuke being redeemed and brought back to Konoha is a common theme in Naruto fanfic. Rarer are those stories which bring him back to Konoha and then redeem him. In this one, despite the magical work around for Sasuke's disability, there are no easy answers for any of Sasuke's problems. He is a traitor to his village, he caused a whole lot of pain and suffering and, at the beginning of this story, he still feels like he was justified in doing all of it. This is a tale about redemption the hard way, through work and the commitment of friends and time. Personally I love it. I hope you do as well. Remember to feed the author.

What Isn't Broken (Can Still Be Fixed) by Elizabeth Culmer (edenfalling).

Fandom: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Pairing: Chris/Vin
Length: 10, 600 words
Author on lj: veronicaluv
Author website: oooh, shiny

Why this must be read:  This is one of those lovely rounded stories, very rooted in canon basics, that leaves you feeling satisfied with your reading experience, and happy at how the characters are living their lives.  I'm not sure, perhaps that's a characteristic of 'one-off' stories written by authors who are more prolific in other fandoms?  Anyway, shame as it is that veronica hasn't written more Magnificent Seven stories, we are lucky to have this one!

We begin in a suitably windy, unsettled town with a storm gathering.  Chris is fretting over his feelings for Vin, his desire for commitment as yet undeclared.  Central to the story is Vin's "Wanted" status, the lengths Chris and the others would go to free him from it, and what the future might hold.  At heart it is a romance.  We have a Chris conflicted and in love, off on the search for the missing Vin, and a Vin strongly and sympathetically drawn as both laconic and honourable.

( Larabee stuck his boot in the stirrup and lifted himself into the saddle. "Speak your mind, Buck." )

I'm very fond of stories where the focus on one pairing's relationship is backed up by the loyalty and solidarity of the rest of the seven.  (Actually, I'm very fond of stories that posit the opposite, too, but that's for another day...).  In the meantime, this is warm, well-written feelgood fic to cheer us up as the gusts of Autumn blow in off the desert M4.

Whatever the Course

Fandom: SHERLOCK BBC
Pairing: Sherlock Holmes & John Watson
Length: 31,858 words
Author on LJ: lindentreeisle
Author Website: AO3
Why this must be read:

Major Pieces is an exciting casefic with a wonderful Sherlock/John dynamic and a nail-biting, almost erotic, Sherlock/Moriarty standoff. There's nothing I like better than a long fic that leaves me wanting more. This one delivers.

Read it or listen to the podic, skillfully read by diane_mckay, or do both (I did).

( A little taste... )

Major Pieces
Major Pieces podfic

Fandom: STARSKY AND HUTCH
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Length: 4,628 words
Author on LJ: sstormc
Author Website: SPowell at AO3
Why this must be read:

Author's summary: Huggy decides to take matters into his own hands.

Huggy Bear: the coolest dude to walk the streets of Bay City. Oh, I do so love Huggy. Our boys could not ask for a better friend. He's shrewd and loyal, funny and compassionate, and I really enjoy stories that showcase these qualities, as SPowell does in this lovely fic.

It is one year post-SR, and Starsky and Hutch are back on the streets. They are doing well; better than they had been prior to the shooting, in fact. It would seem that everything is back to normal. But Huggy, in his infinite wisdom, knows that "back to normal" isn't where the boys need to be. So he... helps matters along. And how does he do this? With a game of "Truth or Dare."

( Read more... )

Trust me, the questions (and answers) only get more interesting. I'm not gonna give it away, go read it for yourself :)

Huggy's Game

Fandom: SOUTH PARK
Pairing: Stan/Kyle, Craig/Thomas, Pip/Damien ("others are secret, or minor")
Length: 70K
Author on LJ: imaginaaation
Author Website: Here on FF.net
Why this must be read: I no longer find this to be that great a story. I hate recommending stories I don't find that great because, well, what's the point? But I think this is essential reading because it looms so large over the SP fandom as it is today. It's a mystery in the mode of a police procedural, and features meaty cameos for basically every character. Most of them are written out-of-character, and I take real offense at how the story purports to be about Stan and Kyle but, instead, follows Kenny's investigation into the mystery of who murdered Eric Cartman. Kenny himself, though the narrator through whom the plot flows, is barely a presence, affecting little and characterized as having no life or internal working of his own. I've had friends tell me that they're annoyed by how hard the story works to shoehorn in other characters, or annoyed with how sensationalist and impossible the story's main injustice feels.

But -- and this is the enormous but that makes me want to rec this story -- when it was first published, in early 2008, nothing like this had been done. Lex Talionis is an insanely ambitious story, often cited as the best of the fandom. It's the only SP fanfic with its own page on TV Tropes. It's missing a promised epilogue, though the main plot is concluded and it reads complete. Is, for all intents and purposes, complete. This is the story that, for many, changes opinions on what SP fanfic is or what it can do. It is, in that sense, a game-changer. People still speculate about Foodstamp, wondering what happened to her. The myth of this story is insurrmountable. In a certain sense everything that's come after has been a kind of response to this fic. So I think the only right thing to do is to rec the thing and put it out there.


Lex Talionis

Fandom: BANDOM
Pairing: Bebe Rexha/Gabe Saporta
Length: 14,5K
Author on LJ: inlovewithnight
Author Website: On AO3
Why this must be read:

A feelgood fic that goes from zero to 100 without telling anyone. While the pairing is not one I'd call common the way Gabe and Bebe get together in this story is very believable. A relationship built on secrecy is usually destined to end in a spectacular way but here they manage to navigate their way through without any major disasters.

Pin Your Heart On My Sleeve

Fandom: TEEN WOLF
Pairing: Derek/Stiles
Length: 5 900 circa
Author: hito
Why this must be read: Stiles decides to get a puppy. There will be problems. hito is quite famous in the fandom with some very popular stories (read "last night's dress") and I really find this one adorable!

( Excerpt )

Be here in the morning just to hear me say