July 1st, 2008 
12:00 am Something New and Informative, by shadow-cat720 (G, crossovers)
Fandom: ACE LIGHTNING (mini-crossovers with Bleach and Star Trek)
Characters: Ace (Something New), Dirty Rat (Informative)
Length: 525 words, 215 words
Author Website: Fanfiction.net

Why this must be read:

In Something New, there's a strange creature called a Hollow spotted in Conestoga Hills. I know zilch about Bleach, but I thought this was a fun, brief fic. In fellow crossover Informative, the Dirty Rat makes an interesting discovery... Likewise, this was an amusing drabble.

Something New, Informative
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12:24 am Roleplay Trailer, by scarab_dynasty
Vidder: ScarabD/Scarab Dynasty
Song: 'Justice' from Superman Returns (I think)
Pairing: Hinted: Sparx/Lord Fear, Ace/Lady Illusion
Vidder Sites: Fanfiction.net, [livejournal.com profile] dynasty_fic

Why this vid kicks ass:

The video was made as a 'trailer' to a roleplay that went on, though it's not concerned with injokes but the dramatic effects. I love the song to this vid, and I really love how it was used here. It's strong, intriguing, and does something thrilling with the fierce, emotional parts of the show.

The game has always followed the rules.

Do right and fear not. Never trust a villain. When in doubt, fight your way through.

But rules only work in videogames.


Roleplay Trailer
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12:50 am You Have No Idea, by lightningflash8 (G)
Fandom: Ace Lightning
Pairing: Unrequited Sparx pairing
Length: 204 words
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] lightningflash8
Author Website: Fanfiction.net

Why this must be read:

I could summarize this as "angsty poetry from Sparx's view"--and that would turn you away. But this is beautiful, and Lightning Flash makes it work. More poetry from the fanauthor is located here, including an Anvil!Angst.

You Have No Idea
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12:57 am In Production by Reccea (NC-17)
Hi, I am [livejournal.com profile] partners4life and I'll be driving the RPS van this month. I've recommended CWRPS before (Tom/Mike), but since then I have discovered a new OTP - Jared/Jensen. While Tommy and Mike still hold a very special place in my heart, I'm afraid the Supernatural boys have taken over my mind these days. *g*

Because I am an OTP girl, most of my recs will just feature the Jared/Jensen pairing although you may see a side of Tom/Mike or Steve/Chris in there too. Anyway, for my first rec....


Fandom: CW RPS
Pairing: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki, Jared/Sandy (briefly)
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] reccea
Author Website: None

Why this must be read: This story is brand new. It is one of the gems that has come from the [livejournal.com profile] spn_j2_bigbang. It is set 10 years after Supernatural. Jared's marriage to Sandy is ending and Jensen invites Jared to Paris to get away from the press. The boys reconnect and fall in love.

The pace of this story is slow, steady and measured, which matches perfectly with the overall texture of the piece. Truly an amazing fic that explores the idea of second chances and Jared and Jensen as older, wiser men determined not to let love escape them this time.

In Production
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06:07 am Fight the Tides, by hyperpsychomaniac (PG-13)
Fandom: ACE LIGHTNING
Pairing: Sparx/Random Virus
Length: 7415
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] tech_head
Author Website: Fanfiction.net, old Geocities page

Why this must be read:

I'd be remiss if I didn't slip in this 'shipping example sometime just before the end of the month. Well-done Random/Sparx, by an author who really likes the characters and does them very nicely indeed.

Fight the Tides
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06:15 am Heretic, by scarab_dynasty (PG)
Fandom: ACE LIGHTNING
Characters: Lord Fear, Sparx, ?
Length: One-shot
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] scarab_dynasty
Author Website: [livejournal.com profile] dynasty_fic, Fanfiction.net

Why this must be read:

It is the time of the Twelfth Dimension (amongst others) and an overlord rules with an iron fist, to yet be overthrown. If the Lord of the ascendant be Lord of the twelfth, and Combust, you must observe of what house the Sun is Lord, and in what Signe and quarter of Heaven he and the Lord of the ascendant are, and judge the Witch liveth that way...

High drama set in the Sixth Dimension. [livejournal.com profile] scarab_dynasty writes an amazing fic in a dystopian world, with twists and plans laid inside plans, in a world where Lord Fear gained control. A rebel they call the Witch has been captured...

He supposed he was quite used to her disobedience by now.

Heretic
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07:36 am Not Your Ordinary Romance by Mickey M (R)
Hi, I'm SnarkyLlama and I'll be driving the Popslash van this month. I've been reading slash for years, but I'm pretty new to Popslash. One of the biggest surprises for me was how quickly the sparkly dancing boys lured me into reading all sorts of stuff that I would have never tried before. In honor of that, I'm going for a kink theme this month.

I read mostly *NSYNC fic. This month, I'll focus on newer fics and authors, but I'm going to start with an older one. This one is special because it's the fic that convinced me to take more chances on what I thought I was willing to read.

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: Chris/JC
Length: 10,700 words
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] mickeym
Author Website: Mickey's Musings
Why this must be read:

Today's pop-kink is water sports/golden showers. For a long time, these were on my "won't read it, won't write it, don't want to think about it" list. But not anymore. This fic helped me see the appeal of the kink. It shows it as being:

Sexual, but not. No, more than sexual. Intimate.

On top of that, the characterizations are wonderfully done. Chris is his funny, snarky hedgehog self, but he's also more of a real person than we sometimes see him as. He has some vulnerabilities, uncertainty and confusion that make him very appealing. And JC, whoa, there's something a little strange and alien and maybe even remote about him, but at the same time he's incredibly there and sweet and luring Chris into greater intimacies.

All in all, the fic is funny, sweet, and a little kinky. What more could you ask for?

excerpt )

Not Your Ordinary Romance
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09:22 am First Time by gelfling8604 (PG13)
Welcome to The Boondock Saints Tour!

Quick Driver's Note: As irony has it, two fandoms I requestd to rec in came due the same month! No worries! I shall do my best to do a good job with both fandoms!

Check out the Boondock Saints fandom overview if you need a refresher (although it looks like the pictures are gone, which is sad. The boys are hot!).

My personal preferences tend towards the Gen in this fandom, but I'll be reccing a little bit of everything. ;)

**************************************

Fandom: BOONDOCK SAINTS
Pairing: The author says it's vaguely Connor/Murphy, but you really have to squint to see it.
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] gelfling8604
Author Website: Fanfiction Profile and Memories
Length: Short
Why this must be read: Because this fic is everything that is intense about Connor and Murphy. It's beautiful and heartbreaking. In a fandom most clearly marked by its violence, this is the story of how the men we see in the movies grew up to become those men, and what they were like as boys.

Author's Summary: Has nothing to do with sex. Has much to do with blood and murder. Twins at age 11.

Excerpt )


First Time
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09:30 am Hard Candy, by aerye (R/NC-17)
Hello, I'm Esme, your Due South driver for July. I'm first and foremost a Vecchio fan and a slasher, so I'll be giving you a mix of Fraser/Vecchio, Vecchio/Kowalski, and Fraser/Vecchio/Kowalski. I hope you enjoy.

Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Fraser/Vecchio
Length: One-shot
Author on LJ: [personal profile] aerye
Author Website: Aerye's website
Why this must be read:

In this story, aerye gives us a glimpse of life in a big family, in a city, in a neighborhood, and in a relationship. It's short, nicely paced, and has a really appealing rhythm to it. It will only take you about twenty minutes to read, and it will make you happy.

Plus it's a Halloween fic, so maybe if it's hot and sticky where you are you'll find the thought of red serge in October refreshing or something.

Hard Candy
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11:39 am The Year Wilson Died by Nightdog_Writes (R)
Hi. This is Dee, your crack hearse van driver for House this month. My goal was simply to bring you excellent fics for your enjoyment, but in reviewing my list, I was surprised to see a theme emerge: coping with loss and grief.

If this topic is sensitive for you, I apologize. I'm not a wallowing angst-hound, I swear! But when looking at the fics out there, these were honestly the best, most powerful ones to bring you. (Interspersed with a few non loss-related fics to relieve the pressure.)

Grab your tissues and let's start with:

Fandom: HOUSE MD
Pairing: House-Wilson (could be friendship or slash), House/Cuddy
Length: 545 words
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] nightdog_writes (also known as [livejournal.com profile] nightdog_barks)
Author Website: Fic list on LJ
Why this must be read:

Of all Nightdog's considerable talents, the way she can build entire worlds in such a small number of words is the most astonishing. Here, in only 545 words she vividly, memorably portrays the journey of grief for House in:

The Year Wilson Died
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12:17 pm Spitfire by Kayla Shay (FR13)
Hi, I'm Adrianna and I'll be driving for NCIS this month. I personally write mostly (and hence read mostly) Gibbs/Ducky stories so will probably be recci'ing a good number of those, but I do like to read around as well so there should be something for everyone as we go along.

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Jethro Gibbs/Shannon Gibbs
Length: 5 drabbles in one
Author on LJ: [personal profile] kaylashay81
Author WebsiteKayla Shay: Fanart, Fanfiction & More

Why this must be read:
One of the more unusual NCIS stories. (I do enjoy something a little different ;) Like a few people when they read this story, it completely sidelined me - I wasn't excepting the effect it had on me at all.

I do enjoy Kayla's drabbles and this time Kayla writes from Spitfire's POV (Kelly's horse). This
bitter sweet series manages to be both humorous and emotionally charged, taking us through Spitfire's time before, with and after Kelly.

Despite being a drabble series (I'm normally a long story type of gal) 'Spitfire' is now one of my personal favourites.

Extract )

Spitfire
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06:35 pm The Best Day of Our Lives by Valerie_Z (PG-13)
Look, my favourite story of all time is the one where Pete Wentz, Gabe Saporta and Bert McCracken, the bad, bad men of bandom, all get together and take over the world and all the h8rs sob themselves to sleep in their prison cells. Except Gerard Way, who Bert decides to keep as a pet.

But that story hasn’t been written yet, so this month I’ll be recommending stories that, in whatever beautiful way, best approach that same sense of the sublime.

Fandom: Bandom (MCR focus)
Pairing: Gerard/Frank friendship, Gerard/Eliza, Frank/Jamia
Length: 6,400 words
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] valerie_z
Author Website: HERE

Why this must be read:

There are those who search, in their fanfic reading, for a rendition of the closest possible approximation of the "truth" about the characters they play with, and it's no different in RPF fandoms. I am not one of those people, and in this story, [livejournal.com profile] valerie_z is not one of those writers. No, in this story, Gerard plans his perfect princess wedding.

"Good riddance," Gerard said once they'd left and he was sitting at the kitchen table with Frank.

"Yeah," Frank said. "We don't need those crazy girls."

"Now that they're gone we can do cool guy things."

Frank opened his binder and turned to a page of text samples. "Let's talk about fonts."



So it's lolarious and ludicrous but somehow, in the end, weirdly moving. Which, actually, is a pretty accurate depiction of MCR, overall.


The Best Day of Our Lives
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07:25 pm Eggplant by astolat (NC-17)

Hi.  I am twinsarein, your Smallville driver for the month.  I stumbled into the fandom several months ago and have mostly read Clark/Lex stories, so that is where the majority (but not all) of my recs will center.  Beyond the pairing, I don't have any theme for the month; my goal is to rec stories that I believe readers will really enjoy, but that I haven't seen recced before.

I will start the month with:

Fandom:  Smallville
Pairing:  Clark/Lex
Length:  9,318 words
Author on LJ: 

[personal profile] astolat
Author's Website:  Here

Why this must be read:

Red!Clark stories are a staple of the Smallville fandom, but many tend to be darker and/or filled with drama.  No so with this story.  It is a much more lighthearted look at Clark on Red K.  While maintaining two different personalities for Clark (on Red K and off), the author takes us on a humorous journey through Clarks realization that yes, he might be gay and have feelings for Lex.

Excerpt: )
  
Eggplant Link
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07:54 pm Passing Time by Debbie L. (PG)
Hello!  I'm Ancasta and I'm your Starsky & Hutch driver for July.  I read both gen and slash, so I plan on sharing recs for both.  I don't do het, so if you're hoping to find stories about the guys settling down with the women of their dreams, I'm sorry to say you're doomed to disappointment.  At least during July.

I really enjoying rec'ing fic, and while I in no way want to pull readers away from Crack Van, I should probably mention I also have Starsky & Hutch fic recs on my website, www.ancastascorner.com.  I wouldn't bring it up, except that I just added more than 20 recs a week or so ago, many of them never having been highlighted on Crack Van.  I don't want to repeat those here, so just know additional recs are available if you're interested.

Anyway...

My first rec comes from a new writer to S&H (although apparently she was highly prolific in another fandom before turning her attention to the Bay City boys).  She's currently working on her new opus (her word, not mine).  But this is her first S&H story:

Fandom:  Starsky & Hutch
Pairing:  None (gen)
Length:  17K
Author on LJ:  [personal profile] debbiel66
Author's Website:  Right now, her stories are only available on her LJ
Why This Must Be Read:  Debbie captures a day in the life--or more to the point, an afternoon in the life--of our two favorite cops.  They're in the middle of a stakeout, trying to capture a serial killer who preys on children.  Nothing is happening.  Both are bored, so they talk.  She has the characterizations down to a T.  The dialogue is funny, yet not forced.  And most memorably, amidst all the idle chat, she manages to sneak in a little zing of emotion that has you not knowing whether to sniff or smile.  I love the way she writes the guys.


Passing Time

 
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09:21 pm Evenings Bright and Fair by Paula Stiles (Teen)

Hi, I'm piloting the van for Highlander this month. Highlander has been a full-time Crack Van fandom since the beginning in 2003 with over 350 recs! Being an older fandom many wonderful stories are tragically disappearing from the web, so I'll be concentrating mainly on previously unrec'd tales for which I can find links.

Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Pairing: Methos, Joe
Length: Short
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: The Snowleopard's Lair
Why this must be read:

When I signed up for Highlander, I did so out of a desire to rec Paula's fabulous Armed Intervention series, but Ishafel beat me to it in May (here). So I decided to rec another favorite by her. Unlike Armed Intervention, this one is short. It is also a heartbreaking story about the ultimate expression of friendship.

Evenings Bright and Fair

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10:43 pm On Afghanistan's Plains by Pompey (PG)
Hi, I'm rabidsamfan and I'm taking the reins of the crack hansom cab for Sherlock Holmes this month. Holmes was one of my early fandoms, many many mumble years ago, and I've dabbled now and then since, but one of the kids who comes into my library has a huge crush on Basil Rathbone, and her enthusiasm has relit the fires. I'm a sucker for hurt/comfort, but I'll read just about anything -- gen, slash, dark or funny, long or short, and have even been known to poke my nose into an occasional obvious Mary Sue long enough to see if it's by a young writer worth encouraging. (Hey, I wrote them, too!)

With that kind of eclectic taste, it won't surprise you to learn that when I started hungering for Holmes fanfic I wandered over to the Pit of Voles to see if I could find anything salvageable, only to discover that there's been a recent resurgence in the community of writers there, which has resulted in a somewhat higher proportion than usual of fics worth the time to try. And a few of them are brilliant... (not that I mean to limit myself to one website -- there's some lovely smut on my list too!)


Fandom: SHERLOCK HOLMES
Pairing: none
Length: 22,000 words
Author on LJ: not that I know of
Author Website: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/107193/
Why this must be read:

As remarkable as Sherlock Holmes might be, we'd never have heard of him if it weren't for Watson, and I'm always happy to read a story which tells us more about his background. Pompey has done the research to fill out our scant knowledge of Watson's misadventures in Afghanistan, from the battle of Maiwand up until that meeting with Stamford. Strong original characters and vivid details made me glad that this was one of the first stories I'd stumbled onto. And there are footnotes! (I am a librarian, after all.)

Onward they went, step after step, )




On Afghanistan's Plains
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11:08 pm Roman Holiday by Anna (M/Strong R)
Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canucks! (at least it's still the 1st here)

I am [personal profile] fragmentpieces   and I shall be your crack broom driver for the month of July. I hope to bring you a variety of fics of all ratings and pairings so we'll all having something to enjoy. So let's get this show on the road!

Fandom: HARRY POTTTER
Pairing: Primary: Snape/Hermione, some Draco/Hermione
Length: Novel-length (at least)
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Anna at Witchfics
Why this must be read:

To be honest, this was the first story that got me hooked on fanfiction. My friends handed me a print copy of the first chapter 6 years ago (god it was that long ago?) and got me hooked.

It's well written, hot and very very believable. To make a long story short without giving any details, Hermione goes to Rome for summer hols and sets herself free of her bookish mask and certain people take notice.

 



This is the first in a trilogy, all with titles from classic movies. The last one is a WIP and likely to remain that way but Roman Holiday (at least) stands on its own.

I feel I should warn you that while most of the fic is PG-13, there are parts with graphic sex so I upped the rating just in case.

Enjoy!

Roman Holiday

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