Vidder: Nicole D'Annais.
Musical artist: Duran Duran
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Vidder on LJ: ndannais
Vidder's website: Nicole's Fic

Why this vid kicks ass:

Immediately after finding this vid, I e-mailed a fellow Man from U.N.C.L.E. fangirl with just one word in the subject line: SQUEEEEEEEEEE!

This vid combines many of my favourite aspects of this TV show: two sexy men in jeopardy, intentional and unintentional hilarity, and lots of unintentional and very possibly intentional kink (it was the 1960s!). With a perfect sense of timing, Nicole sets some of the best moments to a delicious Duran Duran song about a man who's just discovered things he never suspected about his lover's tastes. By the end of this vid, you will realize why slashers do not need to resort to photomanips in this fandom, and just how sexy 60s TV could be.

Go to Nicole's youtube account and select Bedroom Toys.

Vidder: Moondroplette
Musical artist: Bare Naked Ladies
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Vidder on LJ: http://moondroplette.livejournal.com/
Vidder's website: none
Why this vid kicks ass:

I’ve been waiting about six months to rec this vid! Every time I watch it, I see something new. A Picasso, a Garfunkel, not a real fur coat, that's cruel? Genius.

Go here. The link to the vid is at the top: If I Had a Million Dollars

Fandom: Smallville
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Author on LJ toomuchplor
Author Website: Smallville Fic Tag
Why this must be read: This is a sequel to an already C.V, rec'd fic, I'm carrying my gay alien lover's child, that takes place 13 years later. A family fic that touches on so many themes (reluctant motherhood, same-sex parenting, teen angst with a side of super, etc), with humor, heart and love. This is the end of the trilogy that started with Nookie (my previous rec) and brings the reader back whole circle to the things that matter and how we choose to deal with them.


Author's Synopsis: "There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the other, wings." ~Hodding Carter.

( Excerpt )

Roots and wings

Vidder: Ma'hal
Musical artist: Stephen Lynch
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay, Sheppard/OFC
Vidder on LJ: taelonmahal
Vidder's website: Songvids by Ma'hal
Why this vid kicks ass: This song has become an anthem of sorts for slash vidders, but this is still my favourite rendition of it. We get a reluctant John Sheppard trying to explain to Rodney McKay (despite lingering looks and superb hair) that he's not gay, and he'll prove it! Look at him kiss all those women! And yet, he keeps coming back to a particular Canadian astrophysicist.

If you've never heard the song, listen just for that because the line endings are ... perfect. So much leading the listener, playing with language - it's brilliant. My personal favourite moment is Sheppard's very neatly timed, "I do." Watch - you'll see what I mean.


Watch the Vid on Youtube: If I Were Gay

Vidder: Yokiem
Musical artist: Roadrunner Theme Song
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay
Vidder on LJ: yokiem
Vidder's website: Yokiem's Fan Vids
Why this vid kicks ass: I'm sneaking this in because it's so short (one minute) and totally worth watching (over and over). You have John as the Roadrunner (Beep-beep!) and Rodney as the Coyote, who can't seem to catch a break. There's running and chasing, with the Coyote being foiled again and again, and that poor little Roadrunner never bothers anyone! (Yeah, right.) If you need a quick laugh, go find this vid.

Warning: the theme song is going to get stuck in your brain. (But that's not necessarily a bad thing.)

Beep-beep!


Download the vid or watch on imeem from the LJ entry: The Roadrunner & The Coyote

Vidder: Willow
Musical artist: Josh Groban and Lee Mead
Pairing: Leroy Jethro Gibbs/Donald 'Ducky' Mallard
Vidder on LJ: toomuchfandom
Vidder's website: Toomuchfandom's Vids

Why this vid kicks ass:

All Gibbs/Ducky lovers talk about how much the two men say without words, how they speak volumes with their eyes - this songvid shows that. Anita uses the clips from the series to superb effect, tying them in perfectly with the lyrics of the song. And it also shows how equal their relationship is; how they both need one another, how they are one another's strength, how much they rely on one another.

The vid is full of emotion, love, affection, friendship, humour, a touch of angst, memories, and also includes a few shots of other team members, as well as a few appropriate lines from the episodes. The song itself (which I happen to love) adds to the whole belief that these are two men who are so absolutely perfect for one another, are a partnership and extremely good, close friends. It is very moving and tender.

Simply put it needs to be seen to be fully appreciated.

And even if you aren't a Gibbs/Ducky fan, this video can be enjoyed as a deep, close friendship video - because all it consists of is what we see on the screen week in week out.

You Raise Me Up

Fandom: Magnificent 7
Pairing: Chris/Buck, implications of Buck/Vin and Chris/Vin
Authors on LJ: charlottechill       and               maygra
Authors' websites: most of Charlotte C. Hill's Magnificent 7 stories are at Drinking n' Fighting; most of Maygra's Magnficent 7 is at Assignations.org
Why this must be read:

Back in September of 2006, true-enough did us the awesome favor of rec-cing "Fractured", a story that that might be considered the founding story of a new Magnificent 7 universe called the Skip Trace universe.  In this universe, Buck and Chris are together as a couple and own and operate a bounty-hunting agency, and most of the others are in their employ.   The month before, in August of 2006, hermitsoul rec-ced a story in that same universe but set much later called "Keep on Keeping On", in which Chris and Buck now have added Vin to their relationship, their lives, and their business.

The time between these two works, the story of how Vin became the seventh and, for Chris and Buck, the third, was started several years ago in the novel-length work, "The Big Score".  I was surprised to find that it hadn't been rec-ced here; it does stand on its own, but it is also obvious that it is not the complete story, so I suspect that it has been avoided because of the "no WIP" clause in rec-cing - one that I whole-heartedly stand behind.

That said, I'm going to rec right here to you "The Big Score" - now revised, for those of you who have read it in the past, and its sequel, "Waiting Games" - which is, yes, the middle section of the story, this making it still a WIP - *but* - the third part is being posted as I type this, and I plan to rec it before the month is over.

Part one is the tale of how Buck and Chris and company are are hired to find "The Big Score" (the title of the first part of the trilogy), one Vin Tanner.  "'The Big Score" starts the story of how Vin becomes a part of the seven in this universe, how they end up tracking him over the western half of the United States - and how they all get to know each other.

Part 2, "Waiting Games" continues it.  Together, the novels are a mystery, thriller, action-adventure, and romance, and for those of us who found "The Big Score" a while back, "Waiting Games" is both a relief - finally - the next part! - and a torture - part TWO of THREE???

But so very very well worth it.  The characters are true to the ones from the series, true to the way they were in the first part, and just wonderful together and apart.  It's Buck and Chris - but Vin is an equal presence throughout, building to what many of us know will be a long-term relationship.  The authors have done a phenomenal job of putting this very complex plot together and keeping it moving, while still finding time for the men to interact.  While I have been most impatient in my own demand for the story to continue, if they produce more stories of this caliber and this wonder, I would gladly wait another - several years. . . . fortunately, part three is, as promised, being posted.  I could wait and post all three together - but it seems unfair given their length and intensity not to let you get a head start on what will be an awesome weekend of reading.

"The Big Score", as mentioned, has been slightly revised, and you might want to read it again before undertaking "Waiting Games".

"The Big Score"

"Waiting Games"

Vidder: Fabella
Musical artist: NSYNC cov. Janet Jackson
Pairing: Justin/JC
Vidder on LJ: wistful_fever
Vidder's website: Her songvid tag.
Why this vid kicks ass: I don't know much about vidding or art or any of that, but what I do know is that Fabella tells stories with her vids in a way that I've not seen other vidders do. She's really captures the spirit of this song and tells a story through the music and the footage she chooses. Her use of brushes and text is really gorgeous and something I haven't seen done much in the vids I've seen. And there's a sense of musicality to her vids that makes the footage she's chosen seem natural. This vid in particular is like watching a really really good music video. Someone who didn't know who Justin Timberlake is (do those people exist anymore?) would think this WAS a music video depicting a very emotional (and pretty) relationship between these two men. I think this is what vidding should always look like. I just love it.

link: That's the Way Love Goes, by Fabella (links to the vid page; you can download from there or watch it streaming on Imeem.)

Fandom: Magnificent 7
Pairing: It's gen, but very focused on the friendship and love between Chris and Vin
Author on LJ: well, yes, but - I'm honestly not sure.
Author website: Most of her Magnificent 7 stories are at Blackraptor
Why this must be read:

JIN is one of the most subtle and emotive riders in the fandom - but oddly, one of the lesser known.  In September of this past year, the_hobbet rec-ced one of my favorite stories by her, "Not a Love Story", which is set in the ATF-verse.  But to me, not only does she write the complexity of the Chris-Vin relationship, she writes it best in my favorite setting, The Old West.

And more amazingly, at least as far as my preferences are concerned, she writes gen that I just adore.  She also writes adult - and she recently wrote a wonderful piece called "Heat of the Moment" that is posted on Blackraptor Adult, which I won't give the link to here as the webkeeper has asked it not to be posted (go to Blackraptor itself and click on the link for getting the adult stories; you have to e-mail an age statement but the webkeeper will e-mail you back the link.  She's usually very quick and she's one of the most awesome archive-handlers I've ever had the pleasure to deal with).  JIN manages to convey the subtlety of the two men - both of whom are taciturn by nature and experience - yet also the depth of their affection for each other, in every thing she writes.  In this particular piece she plays on one of the fandom's fanons, the fact that Chris and Vin do speak little, their actions saying more than words.

But sometimes, as this story suggests, things need to be said to be known.  And know that while I link you to this one story, her others are equally as wonderful.

Just Words

Fandom: SPORTS NIGHT
Pairing: Natalie Hurley, Dan Rydell
Author on LJ: inlovewithnight
Author Website: Exaggeration and Blank Verse

Why this must be read: There are other relationships in the Sports Night universe, besides Casey/Dan, that are worth exploring from time to time. Dan and Natalie quite clearly share a close bond that could easily turn into something more. Here we're several years post-series, post-Sports Night, at Dana's wedding; but Dan is still the same Dan we know, sweet and gallant and fraying a little at the seams, while Natalie is, to a great extent, his female equivalent – except that, being a woman, she hides it better. This is an incisive look at our characters' future through the eyes of two of the most perceptive of them all. Oh, and it has a Springsteen title; that's just the cherry on the cake.

Waitin' on a Sunny Day

Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Pairing: Duncan/Methos
Author on LJ: junoesk
Author Website: Cinel's Snuggery
Why this must be read:
Short. Funny. Extremely HAWT.

( A Taste: )

Not Merely Projecting

Vidder: tinka1482
Musical artist: Disney (various)
Pairing: Xena / Ares; Xena / Gabrielle
Vidder on LJ: Unknown
Vidder's website: Tinka1482's YouTube Channel
Why this vid kicks ass:
I watched a whole bunch of Xena/Gabrielle vids, and even some Xena/Ares vids, while trying to find something to recommend, but they all started to blend together after a while. If you want video proof of Xena and Gabrielle's neverending love and devotion to each other, just poke around on YouTube for a bit and you'll find plenty of fodder. Heck, just watch the show and you'll find plenty of subtext that's less and less hidden as the series goes on!

So I decided to recommend something a little different. This video, "Xena Screws up Disney", is hilarious. It casts Xena as the princess, cast out of her house by a stepmother "Because if she does not, there would be no story". She encounters the beast, Gabrielle as a baccae, and is saved by Ares, the handsome prince. But not all is right in this fairy-tale world, and soon Xena realizes that it is the beast, truly, who has stolen her heart...

This video is well-edited and is set to an array of your favorite Disney melodies, which are often surprisingly appropriate. The subtitles are just hilarious, and the whole thing is disturbingly funny, down to the note at the very end about a beast's hair-length. Give it a try and I think you'll be amused.

Xena Screws up Disney

Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski
Author on LJ: bertybertle
Author Website: http://www.origin.popullus.net/

Why this must be read:

I've recced very angsty fic so far, this is a bit more light-hearted. Ray returns to Chicago and he and Fraser chat. Until Ray lets something slip...

This is so much fun with a little bit of angst and a happy ending. The voices of the characters are very distinctive, and I believe their characterizations. There isn't too much schmoop, or extensive over-the-top angst. Very real, and very fun.

I enjoy this story every time I read it, and this is a quality I value highly.

( Snippet )

How to be articulate when you don't know an apostrophe from a rat's ass