Hi! I'm brynnmck and I'll be driving the van for due South this month. I'm only about six months old in this fandom, and I've never been at the wheel of the Crack Van before, but what I lack in experience, I'm going to do my best to make up for in enthusiasm. Of which I have lots, both for this wonderful show and the fantastic writers who seem to be drawn to it. I'm a devoted Fraser/Vecchio shipper, so you can expect to see a fair amount of that this month, but I am also massively fond of Ray/Ray and Fraser/Vecchio/Kowalski, so I'll be giving all three of the boys some love in the coming days. (Or, you know, letting them give each other some love. Whatever.) And I plan to throw a couple of secondary characters in there to spice things up, too. So. Let's get this show on the road, shall we?


Fandom: Due South
Pairing: Fraser/Vecchio
Author on LJ: merryish
Author Website: Any Road

Why this must be read:

I am actually stunned that no one has recced this yet, and thrilled that I get to. This fic fills me with sheer delight; when I first read it, I literally left the browser window open for about a week on my laptop at home—I couldn't bear to close it and not have this story instantly accessible. I have six words for you: the Inuit made them do it. If that's not enticement enough, Merry's Vecchio POV is probably the best I've read, dry and world-weary and absolutely hysterical, with genuine feeling shining underneath. And her Fraser is equally wonderful, repressed and passionate and infuriating and sweet and Fraser, and it is a trial to try to choose a section as an excerpt because the entire thing is just filled with narrative gems. Here's a sample:

( Read more... )

See what I mean? Fantastic. Funny and sweet and very hot, with the perfect touch of dS wackiness. Not to be missed.

Find it here: The Eskimo Thing

If you enjoy the story, don't forget to leave feedback!

Hello! I’m usomitai and in May I’ll be delivering for the House fandom. Be forewarned that the vast majority of fic I'll rec will be related, in one way or another, to House/Wilson. I also love me a good gen piece, so look forward to that. There won't be any particular theme behind the fic I chose, like bironic did, but I do plan to not repeat authors already featured in the crack_van's memories list.

Fandom: HOUSE, M.D.
Pairing: House/Wilson/Cuddy
Author on LJ: rageprofrock
Author Website: Glitterati
Why this must be read:

If I had a gun pressed to my head and was forced to declare a favorite House fic, this would be it. Pru here just nails everything, from a narrative that crackles, to a humor that kills, to characterization that leaves no survivors. This fic makes me happy because it takes impossible situations and makes them utterly possible. It never fails to leave a big, sloppy grin on my face.

Set towards the end of season 2, Cuddy gets House to father her baby and once Wilson finds out, he starts pushing the two of them to become a couple. House does not appreciate this, as it pushes him away from Wilson. But everything works out in the best way imaginable.

( An Excerpt: )

Fandom: STARSKY AND HUTCH
Pairing: implied Starky/Hutch
Author on LJ: peg22
Author Website: http://shslash.kassidyrae.com/fiction.html
Why this must be read:

Hi, Audrey here, taking over the driving for Starky and Hutch this month. No themes, just some slightly more obscure stuff that I like. Today it's "Memento Mori", a PSR snippet by Kaye that is so much more. An excerpt:

Enkidu took twelve days. They were now going on sixty three.

He sat as silent sentinel, lost in his own misery, until an unexpected movement shattered the Shivah. He watched the pale, bruised hand tug at the edge of the blanket. He blinked. He saw the hand slide up toward the tubes, fingers moving, touching, exploring. He couldn’t get his brain around the action. Around the movement. Around the implication.

He stood. His eyes remained transfixed on the hand that now patted the blanket. First slow, then faster. Emphatic. He moved forward, mesmerized. When he got close enough, the hand reached out, touched his shirt. He stepped back. Recoiled. Confused.

Enkidu had touched Gilgamesh’s heart for courage.

Memento Mori

Hi, I'm Kate and I'll be driving the Farscape van for this month. I'm really excited, because there really is some wonderful Farscape fic out there. I am a huge John/Aeryn shipper, so a lot of the fan fiction will be of that variety. That won't be everything I rec, though. This is an example of that.

Fandom: FARSCAPE
Pairing: John/The Princess
Author on LJ: simplystars
Author Website: stars_fic memories
Why this must be read: Posted as a remix of sugargroupie's Gilded Cage, Ivory Tower is one of the most intruiging and interesting pieces of Farscape fan fiction that I've ever read, and certainly one of the most unusual. The story is from the perspective of the Princess from the season four episode, John Quixote. It is so unexpected and, frankly, just plain awesome.

( Excerpt )

Ivory Tower

I'm lillyjk and I'm driving the SGA crack van this month. I'm a huge slash reader, so most of my recs will probably be McKay/Sheppard, but I wanted to start off with something a little different. *drumroll*

Fandom: STARGATE ATLANTIS
Pairing: Weir/Sumner
Author on LJ: smittywing
Author Website: One to Let Go

Why this must be read: That's right folks, I'm reccing het fic! Weir/Sumner is one of those pairings that doesn't get a lot of play, but definitely should. smittywing's story shows you just why this pairing works. There's just the right mix of humor and heartbreak (because we all know what happens to Sumner *gulp*) and hotness and just the right amount of awkwardness between the characters. This fic is set shortly before the expedition to Atlantis and puts a focus on a side of Weir that most of us haven't explored before. This is the fic that made me like Weir, and think about her as more than just what's portrayed on the show and it made me absolutely love Sumner, because, well...read it and see for yourself. Don't forget to read smittywing's notes and check out the picture that inspired the fic.

( excerpt )

One to Let Go

Hi, my name is DC and I'll be handling Tour of Duty for this month. This is my first turn here so hopefully we can handle this with as few casualties as possible. :) Although we are a small fandom, we have some amazing writers and lots of material to pick from. You can find the fandom overview here: Tour of Duty Overview

Fandom: TOUR OF DUTY
Pairing: Myron/Zeke (preslash)
Author on LJ: None
Author website: Notes From the Underground
Why this must be read:

Anyone involved in the A-Team knows emmastark and what an amazingly gifted writer she is. This is a missing scene from the episode Sleeping Dogs where she takes us through Myron's mind as he watches Zeke bring back the body of a fellow soldier he'd been forced to kill. Every time Zeke stumbles and falls Myron tries to help only to have Zeke refuse him. It's an agony for both men.

The Animal Part

Hey everyone! I'm fiercynn, and I'll be driving the Smallville van for May. I've only been in the fandom since last summer, but I fell hard and I'm excited to share some of the amazing fic I've read since then. Though I'm definitely a Clark/Lex fan, I will be including some great non-slash stuff, but today I'll be starting with a fic that I think should be classic in terms of love stories between Clark and Lex.

Fandom: SMALLVILLE
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Author on LJ: slinkling
Author Website slinkling’s LJ
Why this must be read:

Like perhaps many other Smallville fans, the Season 3 episode “Shattered” and its partner “Asylum” are among my absolute favorite episodes of the show. “Shattered” was the first episode of any serial drama show that made me cry, and I have vivid memories of how I literally wailed and shrieked the whole way through, especially at Lex. As an impartial (yeah, right!) viewer, I marveled the way the episodes were done; as a Smallville fan and a Clark/Lex fan, my heart ached for the boys and their troubles, especially when the problems of “Shattered” couldn’t be solved in “Asylum”.

“I Shatter” is part of slinkling’s 69 Love Songs project, which are a series of Clark/Lex fics based on songs by the Magnetic Fields, and most of the stories stand alone. The fic is an AU that takes off where “Shattered” finishes with a slight twist on the ending, one that many fen would have preferred – instead of Clark running away when Lex sees him stop the car, Clark rescues Lex and takes him away. What follows is a heartbreakingly sweet story about Clark caring for Lex that has all the emotion and longing of a hurt-comfort fic, along with the drama and tension of any interaction between Clark and Lex, and finally with humor and lightness to make you fall into it and love it. I’m also awed by the way slinkling shows Lex’s perspective during his bouts of insanity, exposing his vulnerability and his fears.

But the best part is that not only does this fic involve comfort and caring between the characters, but it provides comfort for me when I feel too emotionally upset about what happens in Smallville. It’s the perfect story to come back to again and again, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels so.

( An excerpt )

I Shatter

Hello, I'm sileya, and I'm your driver for Lord of the Rings Real People Slash this month. I've been in the fandom a few years now, reading, writing and rec'ing. I actually tend toward more unconventional pairings, so most of my recs will be along those lines. Keep in mind there's a HUGE memories list of LoTRiPs already, so there's tons of fun for everyone.

To kick this month off, I'll start with one of my most beloved LoTRiPs fics, one I can read over and over and it never gets cold.

Fandom: LOTR RPS
Pairing: Karl Urban/Orlando Bloom, Karl/Harry Sinclair, Karl/Orlando/Harry, Sean Bean/Dominic Monaghan, David Wenham/Harry, other permutations and minor pairings
Author on LJ: Jo - idiosyncratic and Brenda - azewewish
Author Website: Jo - fadedink, Brenda - broadwriting
Why this must be read:

If I am a sucker for anything, it's vampires. If I am currently obsessed with anything, it's Karl Urban. If I'm long-time enamored of anything, it's LOTR RPS. This story has all three, very clean writing, well-crafted characters that reach out and grab you, a sly humor, interesting angst-lite plot, a hell of a supporting cast (I adore Elijah as the token straight guy) and mind-blowing UST and sex. YUM of the highest order.

Even if you're not much for the whole vampire thing, this series is vamp lite. I highly recommend it for the passion, for the yearning, for the blasting hot sex. It's long, 30 chapters in part one alone, but oh so worth it.

There's a prologue series of stories called "Chosen". Then Claimed, for which the series in named. And then the Epilogue series, "Captivated," is icing on the cake. There have also been some one shots written since, including Orlando/Harry/Jake Gyllenhaal. (gah)

( To whet your appetite: )

Claimed series

Hi! I'm Turlough and I'm your popslash driver this month. I'm going to try and rec a little of everything, new and old, Nsync and Backstreet.

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: Nick/Brian, Nick/Justin, Nick/Mandy, Nick/AJ, Nick/Kevin
Author on LJ: allecto
Author Website: The Wall

Why this must be read: I can't believe that this story hasn't been recced before! It's a classic among Backstreet stories, and deservedly so. We get to follow Nick from the start of the group and see how he grows and changes, how the group's career influences his growing up, and how his friendships and crushes and relationships affect the other Boys. It's a wonderfully well-written, compelling story that only gets better upon re-reading.

( Excerpt )

And The Painted Ponies Go Up and Down

Hey, everybody. I'm Sarah, and I'll be driving the Doctor Who van this month. Alas, I am a n00b who has mostly just seen the new series, but I will try and make sure I rec something for everyone. :D

Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: None, although I think you could read Doctor/Rose into it
Author on LJ: tenebraeli
Author Website: Fan Fic Annex
Why this must be read: This was written just after New Earth, and yet Tenebraeli nails one of the central themes of the series. It foreshadows the end of the series before the show even does, and has lovely characterization of both Rose and the Tenth Doctor.

( Excerpt )

Pomegranate Seeds