Title: Time for other things by Jintian
Fandom: Everwood
Pairing: gen; mentions of Amy/Colin, Amy/Ephram, Amy/other
Author on LJ: hesychasm
Author Website: http://thedoublehelix.org/jintian/index.html

Why this must be read: Amy Abbott is a difficult character in some ways -- she can be funny or smart or cool, or she can bitchy and rude and deluded; it all depends on what's going on in her life. Quite a few people dislike her because of her behavior in the second half of the first season, when her focus on Colin as the most important and necessary in her life became stronger, to the detriment of everything else.

And, of course, *now* the issue is that the thing in her life more important than anything else is gone.

Time for other things was written directly after the season two premiere, and explores the effect of the loss on Amy. The characterization in this story is phenomenal -- it's by far the best Amy I've ever seen, and it manages to portray the same Amy we see onscreen in a way where we can see her with poignancy, understanding, and a certain sadness.

Small Soldiers
Fandom: LotR
Pairing: None. Boromir and Farmir, pre-books
Author's page: http://members.aol.com/CoriLannam/fanfiction.html
Author on LJ: marzilla

Why this must be read:
Much of Boromir's and Faramir's personalities - their strong sense of duty, their devotion to each other - were shaped by the death of their mother at a young age. Cori paints a sweet and sad picture of the two young boys, primarily dealing with the emotional impact of their mother's death, but with just a few words here and there also saying a great deal about their status in Gondor, their relationship with each other and with their father, Denethor.

Title: Thin Air by Janis Cortese
Fandom: Stargate SG1
Pairing: Jack/Sam/Daniel (slash and het)
Author on LJ: cortese
Author Website: Janis Cortese Fanfiction

Why this must be read: Quite frankly? It's the only Threesome fic I've read so far that really works. There's no focus on any single character. It's about Sam wanting Jack and Daniel. It's about Jack wanting Sam and Daniel. It's about Daniel wanting Jack and knowing that Sam, his co-conspirator in everything, is his cohort in this as well. And it's about Teal'c, the outsider, the voyeur, watching over his friends. This story is hot as hell, well plotted, well written.

( PS: This is for those people who were right about the last pic I posted for the SG1 Summary . . . )

i'm hoping moms, shaggirl and stopawhile, don't mind. "late" is my middle name.

Title: Scavenger Hunt by DL Witherspoon
Fandom: SG1/The Sentinel
Pairing: None
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: TV Lit 101

Why this must be read: Because it's one of the best SG1/TS xovers out there. Wonderfully funny, wonderfully well written. It is the embodiment of a crossover: DL combines the two shows without it being a story about Jim and Blair with SG1 haphazardly thrown in for good measure. While a reader can tell that her greatest love is Jim and Blair, SG1 is written to perfection. As for the story? Funny as hell, action packed . . . and really, I have only two phrases for you:

Jack and the exploding dragon. Sam and her baby wipes.

{snicker}{snort}{cackles}

Post a comment below to take a turn pimping the LotRiPS fandom. A week in advance of your assigned month you will be notified with a reply to your comment. During that time, you agree to post a minimum of 1 fic per week in the following format:

Subject: Title by Author (Rating)

Fandom: YOUR FANDOM
Pairing: (no abbreviations, please)
Author on LJ: (if applicable)
Author Website: (author's fics, if available)
Why this must be read:

Emphasis should be on fics that you feel are especially outstanding and accessible examples of your fandom, e.g. it plays on a repeated theme in the show, it's a fandom or a personal favourite, it was a controversial fic, it's good smut. Whatever.

Warnings are not required beyond what the author has posted on their own stories.

Thanks for playing and remember, kids! Without you, the crack_van will run out of gas!!

(snerk)

Previously on Popslash: "'Didn't Trace tell you? She killed her husband last night, then chopped him up and carried his body out in a suitcase,' Chris says."

Today on Popslash: Jailbait Street (NC 17)

Fandom: Popslash
Pairing: Justin/JC (JuC)
Author on LJ: flambeau
Author Website: The Flambeau Factory
Why this must be read:

This past Monday, JC appeared on MTV's The Wade Robson Project to simulate on-stage sex with a microphone stand, a number of dancers, and himself. Well, the official word was that he was there to promote his upcoming solo album, but I think it's safe that argue that that may have been lost amidst the thrusting, licking, fingering, writhing, leather...uh...stuff that occured. Not that I'm entirely complaining, mind you.

Anyway, absorb that information quickly, because I'm here to present a challenge: reconcile the JC described above with interview!JC who raves about his love for home improvement shows and buying candles online. It's tough. Definitely not impossible, but at least a little odd. It's these widely varying views of JC that we, as fans, get that makes him such an great character in popslash fics. Is he a cracked sex maniac? Is he a Martha Stewart-esque, dish-towel collecting design maven? Is he even sane at all?

Set during *Nsync's first German tour, Jailbait Street gives us one wonderful interpretation of JC. This is a JC who is young, almost successful, and very, very stressed. He's got Lance's accidental hangovers and Chris's boundless energy to cope with, after all, not to mention Justin's relentless come-ons and requests for sex. This is a JC for whom life? Is hard, man.

flambeau wrote this story to be energetic, fun, hot, partially in very broken German, and with a JC is who is so hapless and a Justin who is so precocious that it makes me laugh just to think about it. It's all completely loveable.

( Additional Information )

Monday on Popslash: "Bass laughed. He threw his head back and showed his glossy white teeth. They looked sharp."

Fandom: Star Wars
Pairing: Luke Skywalker/Darth Vader
Author Website: http://members.tripod.com/elizstuart/
Warnmings: Incest.
Why this must be read:

This is a very different story. In this, Luke doesn't get over Bespin as quickly as he seems to in the movies. Here the knowledge of his paternity is consuming him. When Vader offers him a second chance, he takes it, leaving the Rebellion for his father and the Force.

The progression from establishing a teacher-student relationship to parent-child to lovers is handled well, and seems to flow naturally.The main quibble I have is the consistant painting of Luke as a half-trained child instead of the man of 22 that he is.

Luke bowed his head. Here was the Darkness - and it was no less than he'd expected. Pain and pleasure, love and hate. He'd always known there were no vast differences between them; now he saw they were inexorably linked. Power was with them, too, and he wanted that more than anything else.

Except for his father. And even that once-simple desire had become complex.

"My little Shadow Jedi."

Luke looked up questioningly.

"Neither Dark nor Light.... Go now," his father said gently. "Amuse yourself. There is a gift - Akita will show you. I must attend to my duties.

Fandom: Blakes7
Pairing: Denotationally, Avon/Cally; connotationally, Avon/Blake

URL:
http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7/Library/DispStor.cgi?DD=0&ST=0303&COUNT
Author on the Web: http://www.mannazone.org; Mindswap is also available there at http://www.mannazone.org/zone/b7fic/mindswap.html

Why This Must be Read: Because it's an astonishingly brilliant reinterpretation of the series events after the episode "Ultraworld." Manna assumes that it was NOT possible to reverse the aliens' transfer of Avon's and Cally's minds. This has fascinating and beautifully worked-out implications for the pre-existing Avon/Cally relationship that Manna posits. This gloriously paced, beautifully written story with great dialogue and a bit of Manna-TM Of-the-Hot sex (with a fascinating admixture of understandable awkwardness) really gives a better explanation for late-series episodes than TPTB ever managed.