Attn. Drivers: Today is the last Friday of the month, which means it's time for Friday Night Drive-In, a.k.a. Fan Vid Recs. Reccers may post 1 vid rec for their fandom, formatted as follows:

Subject Line: VID REC: Fandom - Song Title

Vidder:
Musical artist:
Pairing:
Vidder on LJ:
Vidder's website:
Why this vid kicks ass:


Because the vidder community has some unique ownership issues, it’s important that reccers be extra careful when making vid recs. Depending on the vidder’s preferences regarding public access to their work, please link your rec in the appropriate manner:

1. If the video is publicly accessible, direct link to the web page the vid is linked on, or if it’s the vidder’s request, to the HTML splash page of their site.

or…

2. Link to the site with instructions on acquiring the password, if the site is protected – do not reveal the password yourselves.

or…

3. Provide contact info for the vidder if their vids are only available privately (tapes, dvd-R’s, collections, etc.).


Do not:
Hotlink, i.e. link directly to the video file rather than the webpage.
Re-upload videos that a vidder has removed from the web.
Delay in removing a vid rec if requested to do so by the vidder.

Thank you!

Vidder: fenlings
Musical artist: Sarah McLachlan
Pairing: past RayK/Stella, RayK/Fraser
Vidder's website: fenlings' vids in memories
Why this vid kicks ass:

This is a melancholy vid with a happy conclusion. It's about regret and loss and, ultimately, hope. We see some of the low points in Ray's life: his break up with Stella, his guilt over Beth Botrelle, his problems with his father and his jealousy of Ray Vecchio, and interspersed through all of it is his changing relationship with Fraser. fenlings doesn't think she did a good job, and I don't understand that at all. This vid tells a real, linear story that, by the end, feels as satisfying as some fics. The clips are perfect, the song is perfect and fenlings obviously has a great grasp of Ray's motivations. I'm so excited that I get to rec this vid to those of you who haven't seen it!

Fallen (mpeg)

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Author on LJ: sangpassionne (Retired fanfic LJ) & empty_mirrors
Author Website: Enthusiastic Amateurs
Why this must be read:

Because the characters are fantastic and 3D, human and fallible, and the madness that is their lives is convoluted and yet so simple at its heart, with a narrative which really captures the feel of CI5 and, in particular, the duo we are most interested in. It's another first time story, but I found it more hard-hitting than usual, with any angst neither exaggerated nor underplayed. To me it was a natural progression of their relationship, like a winding path, with a few surprises along the way which made me really see the characters and not what I may have been expecting to see.

I'm afraid I'm finding this one twice as hard to pitch a sale for, so I just hope a couple of extracts can convey what I apparently can't. Whilst I found an earlier rec easy to write, I'm finding this one difficult for the very same reason: it's such a good story, but this time I don't know what to say without giving too much away. (And I might also be overtired -- sorry. :() The extracts shouldn't give too much away, but, just in case, they're under this cut:

( Extracts )

Let me know if you've got a better way of describing it to a potential reader? Lol, I could do with the help. :P *blushes*

Nothing Written in Stone

Vidder: Cindy R
Musical Artist: 3 Doors Down
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Vidder on LJ: N/A
Vidder's website: Starsky & Hutch Music Videos
Why this vid kicks ass:

She gens, she slashes, she writes, she vids - Cindy R/Minnie K/Sarah Problem does it all.
I was simply stunned the first time I watched this vid because, man. It's a FANFIC IN MOTION, y'all. Many vids I've seen over the years convey a specific emotion or trace something within canon itself: a character's development, an episodic theme, a threaded story arc. Very few, on the other hand, go the extra mile to tell a completely new and original story. This is one of those brave few. It is particularly clever in its use and manipulation of footage from other works the actors starred in to create an intense, new "constructed reality" for the show and its characters. Seriously, the story in this vid is to die for.

Here Without You (wmv or avi)

Fandom: SPORTS NIGHT
Pairing: Casey/Dan
Author on LJ: lordessrenegade
Author Website: LordessRenegade's Fan Fiction
Why this must be read:

lordessrenegade is the Great [insert PC-sensitive adjective of choice] Hope of Sports Night fan writing. Her LJ only dates from August of this year, and she's already built up a body of work that would be the envy of, well, just about anyone. Certainly me. And she's signed up to write Dan/Casey for fanfic100, which means that, if all goes well, we have another 90-odd stories from her still to come. (Which will increase the canon almost 100%. And that, too, can only be a good thing.)

This, she tells us, is "… just a little ficlet I jotted down on the back of a kids' menu at work". Her jottings, as you will see, are equivalent to another person's several weeks' hard, concentrated, sweat-drenched labour. It's a short, poignant piece featuring a post-Sports Night Casey and Dan, who've both moved on, who have new lives and new responsibilities and yet are unable to give one another up; it's exquisitely crafted, perfectly characterised and utterly, utterly heartbreaking.

enough to make better people give up: Their past is in those silences, all the topics that are on the list of Things Dan And Casey Don’t Talk About. They never had to decide what was on that list, because they both knew in the beginning, right from the first morning.

Vidder: killerqueen22
Musical artist: Jason Mraz
Pairing: Gen
Vidder on LJ: killerqueen22
Vidder's website: http://www.livejournal.com/community/galactica_vids/44742.html?thread=332998#t332998
Why this vid kicks ass: Oh my gosh, choosing just one vid to recommend is so hard given all the amazing talent in this fandom but I'll give it a go with a vid I've watched more than a dozen times: killerqueen22's take on "Life is Wonderful." The irony and pain, seguing to hope and acceptance, in this song perfectly suits the dark, frakked-up BSG universe and all the characters it touches upon. This vid plays no favourites and takes no prisoners: the emotion is raw and the editing is smooth. Download link's at megaupload in the comment thread above.

Vidder: Versaphile
Musical artist: Right Said Fred
Pairing: None
Vidder on LJ: versaphile
Vidders website: Versaphile.com
Why this vid kicks ass:

It's funny. The music is 'I'm Too Sexy' and out of all the characters you would associate with those words, this one is about Gandalf. It's quite old, so only has clips from Fellowship but still, Versaphile has managed to pick out some funny people/things that Gandalf is too sexy for.

It's the ending that sticks most in my mind because it's just brilliant.

I'm Too Sexy

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: JC/Nick, Howie/Nick
Author on LJ: nopseud
Author Website: nO PsEUD aTTACHED
Why this must be read: Companion story/sequel to Don't Waste Your Money, but all you need to know from it is that Nsync and Backstreet both participated in a charity 'slave' auction, with JC 'buying' Howie for a day. Nick has issues with this. It's scorchingly hot, funny, sweet, in character and a fantasic read.

"You don't have to go through with this," Nick said. He'd showed up at Howie's house first thing, without any excuse. Howie hadn't asked for one, of course.
Howie sat cross-legged on his hall floor, relacing his sneaker, the lace having snapped in his hand a couple of minutes earlier. He looked up, to where Nick was sitting on the stairs.
"Go through with it?" Howie chuckled. "You're making it sound like a chore, man. JC's cool. I thought it was gonna be some middle-aged woman with poodles. Do you know JC's got a new studio in his house? Brand new." Howie paused, lace poking into a hole. "Hey. What am I gonna do if he asks me to record something? Is that in the contract? Could they use it on the album?"
Stupid, stupid, oblivious Howie. With an effort, Nick refrained from saying that anything recorded at JC's house today was in no way gonna be suitable for a teenie audience. Nick had seen JC's face at the charity auction.

( pictures )

Get Your Money's Worth

Vidder: LithiumDoll
Musical artist: Tom McRae
Pairing: John Crichton/Aeryn Sun
Vidder on LJ: lithium_doll
Vidder's website: Alter-Idem
Why this vid kicks ass:

Lith's vids have been recced in many fandoms, due to her technical expertise and uncanny knack for matching lyrics to plot and emotion without descending into banality or schmoop. Setting Tom McRae's haunting A & B Song during Farscape's third season angst o'rama - spoilers for 3.06 Eat Me and beyond - showcases a cruel twist of Fate that dogs John Crichton throughout the Uncharted Territories and forever changes his relationship with Aeryn Sun.

Scroll down to right-click save as. Lith's other vids are listed immediately below the download, and can be accessed by clicking each link. Her most recent Farscape vids can be found at her website, Alter-Idem.



A & B Song

Vidder: Isla
Musical artist: Baha Men
Pairing: none
Vidder on LJ: n/a
Vidder's website: Backstreet Media
Why this vid kicks ass: It's a well-made celebration of one of my favourite things about the Backstreet Boys - what complete and utter dorks they all are, and what great funny footage there is of them. Even if you find the song too irritating to deal with, it's worth watching muted for the clips she uses.

Note - they host a few songvids at that site, it's about two-thirds of the way down the page. It's stored on rapidshare (a free filesharing site), so you have to go through a few pages and waiting time, but the link is still valid and it's a fun video, worth the effort.

Backstreet Dorks (wmv)

Vidder: Rakshi
Musical artist: Stephan Lynch
Pairing: NA everyone/no one, a fan vid
Vidder on LJ: rakshi
Vidder's website:SANET
Why this vid kicks ass:'’Teh Gay’ is the title of this wonderful vid, and IMO a must see. First, Lotrips vids are far & few in-between. Second, in Lotrips it’s difficult for a vidder since you're not dealing with an entire movie, or TV show base, but with pairing real actors. The PR phenomenon of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and the extended editions thankfully created enough material for someone talented like rakshi to work with. This vid, is a wonderful celebration of the actors in various pairings (or no pairings since their was no manipulation of the still pictures—just the actors being themselves)—and some people wonder why we want to slash them—They do it themselves. Go; laugh at the hilariousness of ‘them gay?’

Teh Gay (wmv)

Vidder: suzvoy
Musical artist: Thomas Newman
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Vidder's website: n/a
Why this vid kicks ass: It's one of the coolest songvids I've seen in a while. It uses not only clips from SGA, but also from the movies Farewell to Harry (with Joe Flanigan) and Century Hotel (with David Hewlett) and the way suzvoy puts everything together is just amazing. So beautiful.

The Writer (wmv)

Fandom: FARSCAPE
Pairing: John Crichton/Aeryn Sun
Author on LJ: sugargroupie
Author Website: sugar-water.com
Why this must be read:

Porn... with a capital P that rhymes with T which stands for torrid. In this fantastic fourth season fic, Shunda writes blazing, desperate, sneaking-around reunion porn that cleverly weaves the serious unresolved issues between John and Aeryn into the storyline, rather than turning a blind shipper's eye. Her blunt adherence to canon (in what is usually considered escapist fic) elevates the story above ordinary PWP - her characters are real, flawed and bruised, and willing to risk everything for a chance to reconnect.

There's humor and hope and did I mention, it's hawt? :)

( Excerpt )


Unrefined

Fandom: LOTRIPS
Pairing: Elijah/Sean Bean
Author on LJ: blackkoda
Author Website:Den of Shadows
Why this must be read: First this is hot, very hot. Blackkoda balances kink (cross-dressing) with hot sex mixed with a plot. Not only does she gets points for melting my keyboard, but for the intriguing way she turns the tables on Bean. Just a down right hot enjoyable read that I have literally read and re-read a again and again.

( excerpt )

Satin Series