Hi, bluebrocade here, driving the Sentinel van this month. I'm going to try something a little different this time, my 3rd time driving this van -- I'm only going to rec stories by authors who haven't been recced before on crack_van in this fandom. No offense to all the wonderful, well-known TS writers -- Lemon Drop, Resonant, Legion, Francesca, etc. -- but we all know about them already, right? So, I've been compiling a list of fabulous fics by less well-known authors. Let's support them and encourage them to write more! (Also, if you have any suggestion for authors not recced here before, please drop me an email.)

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Author on LJ: janedavitt
Author Website: Jane's Stories
Why this must be read: Jane's a relatively new Sentinel writer, whose fics I've been devouring lately. She's got a great style, a beautiful way with words, and she's great at writing pitch-perfect bantery dialogue for the boys. It was hard to pick just one story to rec. She has several short stories that I adore -- especially Don't Say A Word -- but I've chosen one of her longer fics here. In this fic, Blair makes a passive-agressive move on Jim a week after he forbids Jim from using his senses on him. Jim's not sure what's going on, what to do -- and he's not allowed to use his senses to figure it out.

( Excerpt )

This fic is essentially one long, really hot sex scene, but it's not a PWP. Jim and Blair are talking the whole time, slowing figuring things out. Read and enjoy...

Reaching Out

Fandom: HOUSE, M.D.
Pairing: House/Wilson
Author on LJ: costarring
Author Website: Fiction tag on LJ
Why this must be read:

What’s a fandom without the occasional S&M fic? Sometime during the Tritter arc, Wilson’s patience snaps and he finds himself trying out something on House he’s always wanted to—and is surprised to get a positive response.

I love this fic because it doesn’t shy away from the darker feelings and thoughts. This is desperation, this is shame, and this is, in a way, accepting that those feelings are a part of us—but are they really accepted?

Be prepared for an intense read. And did I mention that this is hot like a hot thing? Because it is.

( An excerpt. )

Never Let Me Down Again

Material Boys by Arsenic (PG-13)

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: Howie/Kevin
Author on LJ: arsenicjade
Author Website: Most Dangerous Poison

Why this must be read: It starts with a purple shirt on Howie's twentieth birthday and ends with an eight-by-eight feet quilt six years later. In between are the Boys' journey to stardom and the evolution of a special relationship between two of them. I love Arsenic's stories, they're intelligent and lovely in a quiet, understated way and the characterisations are always first class.

( Excerpt )

Material Boys

Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: Strood/OMC
Author on LJ: ionlylurkhere
Author Website: none
Why this must be read: I love fic that explores the minor one-episode characters in the show, and here's an excellent fanfic about a really minor character- Strood, one of the Big Brother contestants in Bad Wolf. He gains a whole backstory, the Big Brother house is given some grim little details, and Lynda-with-a-Y is in it. It's terrific.

( Excerpt )

Eviction Night

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: Chris/Lance
Author on LJ: bard_mercutio
Author Website: Mercutio's Stories

Why this must be read: This is among my favourite Lance stories because it's understated and quiet and one of the few D/s stories that resonates with me. I love the interplay between Lance and Chris while they're both trying to figure out what this is all about.

( Excerpt )

Getting It

Fandom: STARSKY AND HUTCH
Author on LJ: troyswann
Author Website: http://salieri.bonuspoints.net/
Why this must be read:

Remember Eddie, the rummy, sad simpleton from Gillian and Bounty Hunter? Well, Salieri remembers him, and after you read this story, you won't ever forget him again either...

The Apostles Mission smelled like wet wool and beets and, over in the corner, piss and bleach, and each smell seemed to move through the low-ceilinged dining room in its own way, the wet-wool like a heavy-shouldered man with a dog, the others like pickpockets through a crowd, turned sideways and insinuating so that you couldn't evade them even if you stayed out of the corner or faced the open doors. Eddie didn't mind the man-and-dog, but the pickpocket stench made him fidgety. And thinking about the man-and-dog and the pickpockets made things confusing, put shadows where there weren't shadows and extra people at the trestle tables. He stood between the rows of benches and counted the hunched shoulders of the men and tried to make beets into beets and wet-wool into wet-wool again. After awhile there were just regular men at the tables and he couldn't smell the place so much anymore.

And yes, the boys make a guest appearance too....

The Naming of Parts