Hi, I'm partners4life and I'll be your Smallville driver for this month (and if you read The Sentinel, I'm driving that van too *g*).

Smallville was my main fandom for the past three years, I've recently stopped watching the show on a regular basis; but I still love the fiction and always will! So, I have to warn you upfront, I am a Clark/Lex OTP'er. I don't do other pairings in this fandom. I believe 'The Rift' is a myth. *eg* If you love the CLex, then you will hopefully enjoy my recs this month. I am going to try and rec many different types of stories, some I hope you haven't heard of before.

Onto my first rec...

Fandom: SMALLVILLE
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Author on LJ: suzvoy
Author Website: Suz's Fiction

Why this must be read: Suz is a recent convert to SV fandom and I adore her stories. Most of them have great comedic timing, but others are full of angst and hot monkey sex between the boys and this one is no exception.

Faking It was purposely written as cliche fic. Premise: Clark and Lex pretend to be gay and of course, then fall in love. Some authors cannot pull this tried but true plot off, but Suz does it flawlessly and with great style and flair. So, in this case, I say bring on the cliches!


Faking It

Greetings!

My name's Faith, and I'll be your LOTRIPS van driver for this month. Hopefully I'll be able to shed some light on new fic, or bring you back to some old favorites. ;) Personal favorite is Viggorli, but I've got some other pairings up my sleeve... so don't worry, variations are a plenty. Like the icon. :)

Now? Our Rec:

Fandom: LOTRIPS
Pairing: Viggo/OFC, Orli/OFC, Viggo/Orli
Author on LJ: _cee / earthmagik_fic
Author Website: cee @ slashcity [dot] com
Why this must be read:

Cee writes gorgeous fic. Plain and simple. The words she uses and where she decides to use them paint images you could barely imagine. I read this story... and it just blew me away. This is how *my* Viggo and Orli would interact with eachother. Vig's married with a baby on the way, and Orli takes care of his wife. There's jealousy, anger, love, hurt... and it's all WAY too real just to be on paper, or on the screen if you haven't printed it out like I have. It's a gorgeous story.

( Excerpt. )

She

I will be your Sentinel driver this month (and Smallville, if you like the pretty boys over there too). I really only do Jim/Blair pairings in this fandom and my tastes in Sentinel fiction are varied. I love bonding stories that explore the Sentinel/Guide relationship, but I also happen to enjoy a good A/U in this fandom. So many different potential plots to delve into with so many talented authors, it will be hard to choose what stories to rec this month.

First up will be an A/U...

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Author on LJ: therentgirls
Author Website: RentGirls Multimedia

Why this must be read: This is a new story and delightful original. Jim is a cowboy and Blair is following the rodeo circuit as a grad student. However, despite this very different locale, each are in character and believable. It is an A/U that even the most die-hard Sentinel fan will love.

The author did her research, Jim as a bull rider is fascinating and compelling and Blair cannot help but fall for this brash, hot cowboy -- and you will too! Tie me up and brand me, baby.

Rodeo

Hi, I’m Mere, and I’ll be manning the due South crack sled for the month of March. Just to let you know what to expect, F/K is my OTP, but in this fandom I’ll read just about anything. (Except F/V, sorry.) So you guys can look forward to some gen fics and Ray/Ray thrown in. Also, I’m relatively new here, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to rec a few more recent authors along with the classics. Classics like this one:

Fandom DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Author on LJ: resonant8
Author Website: in medias Res
Why this must be read:

RayK: You ever feel like you don't know who you are? Like if you weren't around somebody, or that someone wasn't around you, then you wouldn't be you, or at least not the you that you think you are. You ever think like that?

Thatcher: Never.

RayK: Me either.
-Call of the Wild

That quote is one of my favorite moments from Call of the Wild. I really think it captures so much about Ray and RaynFraser and due South in general.

Also, it works well as a summary for this story.

When I first got in this fandom (actually thanks to the crack_van), you know, still hesitantly poking around, I came across this fic. It was one of the first F/K fics I’d ever read, and somewhere in the course of reading this, the pairing just clicked. I got it. I loved it. I had to find more. And thus, another notch on Mere’s bedpost of multi-fandom whorishness.

That said, I cannot believe this has never been recced here before. (In fact, I’d bet good money it was and just never made into the memory section.) The only reason I can think of is that it might be redundant, since if you’re in the fandom and you haven’t read everything Resonant’s ever written yet- dude, what’s wrong with you? Still, it’s definitely worth a reread.

Post-CoTW. Ray has returned to Chicago alone. Initially, Broadway Hotel seems to be about Ray adjusting back to life in Chicago, and trying to figure out just who he is now. Naturally, there’s more going on than just that. And, as this story brilliantly unfolds, we discover what’s happened to bring Ray to this point.

Of course, it all leads back to Fraser.

Broadway Hotel is just genius, to my mind. I love the characterizations, the details, the pacing- a slow, angsty build-up leading up to an ending that will knock you on you arse. It remains one of my favorite dS stories ever. In fact, it has so many great lines I couldn’t pick just one part to put in an excerpt. I love it so much it’s saved on my computer; it gets reread all the time, and the ending still makes my breath catch. I honestly could not recommend it more highly. Yeah. Just read it.


Broadway Hotel

Fandom: WEISS KREUZ
Pairing: Nagi/Omi
Author on LJ: daegaer
Author Website: none, but all stories are linked in her memories.

Why this must be read:

I thought I'd have to pass over recommending anything for this pairing, despite the fact that it's quite popular - I can't stand the characterizations in most Omi/Nagi stories. But then I saw this story, and oh! Now *this* is how I can believe that particular relationship. Ok, technically, it's Mamoru/Nagi, and you should know Glühen (or read the quick summary I added to the fandom overview) to understand what exactly is going on, but still.

Progression

***

Daegaer has written quite a few nice stories, but the one think I *have* to point out are her WK mpreg crack drabbles. No, stop running away! These really *are* brilliant: she manages to impregnate all 4 members of Schwarz, in believable ways (ok, "believable" for this crack universe, but still), and just when you're laughing so hard you're about to pass out, she manages to twist your heart over some of what's going on.

They're all mixed with her other WK stories she's written, so I've put all the posts so far in my LJ memories for easier access.

Honestly, these stories are absolutely brilliant, and anyone who has the faintest idea of Weiß Kreuz must read them.

Also brilliant is the "5 things that never happened to Nagi Naoe" story - the 3rd part broke my brain, and the 4th trampled all over the remains.

***

And that ends my Weiß Kreuz month. I hope you enjoyed the stories - I've tried to give a good overview of what's available in the fandom. The only pairing I wanted to rec but didn't is Aya/Ken. It's a pretty common pairing, and I tried looking for something to rec the whole month, but I couldn't find a story that I liked enough to feature it as a stand-alone rec (Aya/Ken and Omi/Nagi are just 2 pairings that don't work for me).

I have edited the main Weiß Kreuz entry, so that it now also contains summaries of the WK OAV, the Glühen series, links to the official WK music videos, links to MLs and LJs, and a list of other stories I considered for recommendation, but that didn't make it. There is also a link to a list of Aya/Ken stories recommended by someone who is a fan of that pairing, for those of you who want to give it a try.

Lost: An Overview

First off, huge thanks to shaggirl for her patience. I was supposed to have this up forever ago. The overview was my metaphorical boar or something.

And big huge thanks to all my fabulous NSPs for patiently answering all my random questions that came up while writing this. You all rock!

The overviews contains spoilers up through the most recent episode aired, … In Translation. Lost is bit hard to summarize, so if I left out anything that people think is important, please let me know and I’ll try to fix it.

---

( A Brief Summary: Lost in less than 325 words )



In order to help you all understand the complex world of Lost filled with hot men getting wet and rolling around the ground intrigue, mystery, and bunnies. I present Craphole Island: Your Guide to Island Adventure.



( Island History )

( A Spotters Guide to Island Residents )

Fandom: Blakes 7
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: vilakins
Author Website: Breaking Orbit
Why this must be read:

Well I'm bound to like this one, because Nico wrote it for me as part of a ficathon, which is why it contains my favourite characters plus a bit of h/c. But in an interesting twist, the person who gets physically hurt is not the one who needs comfort. This revolves round the "limiter" implant in Gan's head which prevents him from killing; he freezes up when trying to defend a colleague and ends up questioning his usefulness to the crew. But he is not the only one with inbuilt limitations.

Sometimes you hear someone called the kind of gen writer slash fans like. I think that just means slash fans are perceived as liking a lot of intense emotion, which you don't get from some gen writers who are more into plotty stuff and folk rushing from A to B zapping things. Nico is definitely an intense gen writer. But she also has a sense of humour and, as usual, she does a great Vila voice:
( extract )

And happy St David's Day, btw.

Limiters

Hello! I’ll be your Alias driver this month and as those of you interested in the fandom know I really do sort or cling to Sydney/Sark stories but I am going to attempt to rec other pairings this time around. Although not the first rec. [i couldn't help myself]

Fandom: ALIAS
Pairing: Sydney/Sark
Author on LJ: becca_radcgg
Author Website: Memories of Alias fic
Why this must be read: Sark tends to be one of the hardest characters to write and when done wrong very hard to read. This is a story where Sark is written so tragically, beautifully that you partly feel for his masochistic ways.

He’s cold and his loyalty can always switch depending on what’s in it for him. In season three Sark finds himself working with Lauren who he feels is incompetent and seeks out Sydney’s help to get rid of her. The latter of the story involves Sydney searching for revenge with Sark’s help. I think some of the best Alias fiction is that of which Sydney is very dark. Sarks always dreams of death, his death and it leaves you with a little insight into his twisted mind.

The writing is superb, bringing every little detail to life.

( Excerpt )

Le Cauchemar

Fandom: OZ
Pairing:  Beecher/Keller
Author on LJ: mandysbitch
Author Website: http://www.mandysbitch.com
Why this must be read:

One of the best things that's happened to Oz fandom in the past year is the decision by Australian television to broadcast Oz in, er, Oz. We've suddenly had an influx of fabulous new writers with wonderful new perspectives on the show and its characters, and one of my favorites from our little "Aussie Invasion" *g* is cgb.

"Fantastic" takes a look at both Beecher and Keller through solo sessions with Sr. Pete. The result is a skillfully intertwined narrative that creates sharply insightful moments of confluence and divergence as each man reflects on the relationship through a series of fantasy scenarios. Sr. Pete, in her supporting role here, also shines with subtle and spot-on characterization.

A taste:

They go to a hotel because they both have wives. Toby pays cash and the desk clerk doesn't blink.

And there will be a point, somewhere between the lobby and the room that Toby will say, "I've never done this before," and Chris will smile and kiss him again, hands either side of his neck, thumbs brushing against his lobes. He'll say, "I know," and it will make everything all right.

"Tobias," Sister Pete says, wearily. "At what stage in this fairytale romance does it dawn on you that this man is dangerous?"

The image of he and Chris alone in a hotel room disappears and he is replaced by and image of Chris and Schillinger in the gym waiting for him, killer whales waiting for the krill to swim into their jaws, laughing the whole time.

Sister Pete leans her head to the side trying to catch his eyes. "Toby?" she says. "What happens then?"

Read Fantastic

Hey all!

I'm T.W. Lewis, and I'll be your Highlander driver for March. Highlander was my first fandom back in the day, so you can expect plenty of really good vintage fic, mainly gen with some quality adult and slash mixed in.

Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Pairing: Connor/F, briefly.
Author on LJ: merryish
Author Website: Anyroad
Why this must be read:

Last Call is probably the best, funniest and most plausible explanation for how a bunch of sequels and a whole six-season TV show could be set after a movie in which Connor MacLeod supposedly became the last frikking Immortal and gained the prize.

Last Call

Hiya!  I'm Vi, and I will be your AtS driver for this month.  *waves*

Fandom: ANGEL: THE SERIES
Pairing:  Cordy/Gunn UST
Author on LJ:  doyle_sb4
Author Website:  exitseraphim
Why this must be read:  This isn't a pairing I've ever really thought of, but Doyle makes this work.  Not only does Doyle have an incredible grasp of dialog and insight into the relationships between the characters, but she also has an engaging writing style that immediately draws me into her scenes.  This fic has plot and humor and I love it so very much. 

The Snow Queen

Fandom: SMALLVILLE
Pairing: Clark(Kal-El)/Lex
Author on LJ: seperis
Author Website: Indulgence

Why this must be read: In looking over what had already been recommended for Smallville fandom on crack_van, I was surprised to see Jenn's "A Handful of Dust" and it's sequel, "Calm in the House" hadn't already been posted.

This is the story that got me into Smallville fandom in the first place after watching the Pilot and Hourglass episodes, I watched them right before second season started. It also caused me to write Jenn the longest piece of feedback I've ever sent an author. Yes, it's that kind of story.

First up, people who like Clark wide-eyed, innocent and saving the world as Superman, you probably won't like this story; but give it a chance. However, fans who love 'Lex as a hero' stories and like their Clark a little a lot dark will love it!

Basically, Clark has followed Jor-El's plan and he has conquered the world, he rules his loyal followers and destroys his enemies. The switch in this is, Lex is still Clark's enemy, but instead of being 'evil,' he's working for the good guys: the Resistance. They want to defeat Clark.

In the past, Lex and Clark had been lovers and very happy, but then Clark changed and decided he wanted to rule the world. Lex wanted no part of it, so he leaves Clark, as do all of Clark's friends and yes, family. Lana, Pete and Lex are each running a resistance cell when the story starts. It has been many years since Lex and Clark were lovers, but Clark continues to hunt for Lex and Lex evades him. Why? Because Clark kills the people who resist him, including his family and friends.

But, it seems Lex days of freedom are numbered and Clark catches Lex and takes him back to their penthouse in Metropolis (which is beginning rebuilt by Clark's followers who believe he is more or less a god). There Clark starts to seduce Lex into being his follower -- and lover.

The beauty of this story is Lex's conflict. He still loves Clark, but hates the Alien. Jenn is able to weave Lex's pain, feelings of loss, and betrayal effortlessly into the tale while also not making Clark a 2-D villain. The reader feels sympathy for Lex and yes, for Clark because in the story all Clark wants is Lex's love and loyalty. Clark doesn't know how to exist without Lex by his side.

It is a battle of wills and who wins in the end? You must read this amazing story to find out. It will tear your guts out and make you weep.


A Handful of Dust

Calm in the House

Hi, my name is cinderlily and I am driving the CSI bus this month. I am known to veer to the whole Nick/Greg persuasion, but instead I am going to try my best to drive safely and fairly through other pairings. :) That being said, I start the month with one of the first fics I read in this fandom, and one of my favorites. It is by geekwriter143, and here it goes! Any comments, concerns or questions feel free to leave them.


Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Author on LJ: geekwriter143
Author website: http://veggiegrlaz.tripod.com/
Why this must be read: Sweet lord, what can be said about this fic? It consists of 19 parts, and believe me when I say that when you get to part 19 you don't want it to be over in the least. One of the first fic's I found with the Nick/Greg pairing, I was so instantly hooked I can't explain it. Some of the best characterization I have seen, and delving into the background of Greg in a way that makes things so much clearer. Sometimes I actually have to remind myself that some of the things in this fic are not true. I forget, and when I picture his parents, these are it. Fantastic.

I don't want to summarize, cause I doubt I would do it any justice in the least, so instead I put a little snippet, to show how this fic is.

( ”One )

One Good Man

Hi! I am snooboostoo your O.C. Driver this month. I am a huge fan of all things Ryan/Seth so I most of my stories will involve them, but to be fair I will stick a few other pairings in there to spice it up a bit.


Fandom: The O.C.
Pairing: Ryan/Seth
Author on LJ:thinkpink20
Author Website: None listed
Why this must be read:

This is one of my favorite pairings in fandom and I just love how the author ages both of the characters. Seth is still Seth but less awkward. The story has him meeting up with Ryan several years after they have broken up and it isn't long before repressed feeling bubble to the surface.

It is a great sad love stories that breaks my heart into pieces before healing it.

( excerpt )

Hallelujah

This story also comes with a sequel to it: To Be Alone With You part one part two