Fandom:  Smallville
Pairing:  None
Length:  Approx. 1,300 words
Author on LJ:  

stopawhile                              
Author's website:  doesn't have one

Why this story must be read:

Chloe is one of my favorite characters on the show.  Since I am such a fan of Clark/Lex fics, I don't often get to read about her, except as a secondary (usually minor) character.  This fic is a nice spotlight for her and captures her personality very well.  The story is a coda for "Rogue," when Chloe gets fired as editor of The Torch.  This is her way of purging her anger at what happened.  Anyone who has ever gotten frustrated about events in their life, and has devised elaborate schemes to go after the people responsible, will enjoy this.  The story is funny, light, and I do enjoy the people she focuses her anger on - it tells the reader a lot about Chloe.  My personal favorites are plans 5 and 10.  To find out what I mean, read all about it at Level Three.

 

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: Chris/Lamp (yes, it's a lava lamp)
Length: 2,600 words
Author on LJ: puszysty
Author Website: fluffyfic
Why this must be read:

I was going to rec a different fic by Steph, but this one is a brilliant example of several things peculiar to the Popslash fandom. It's a remix fic from the sixth year of the Pop Remix Challenge. It's also an extremely cracky pairing. I tell ya, I never read such odd things before I got into Popslash.

Beyond that, it's a great fic and remix. It took a story that creeped me out a bit (and made me never want a Lava Lamp of my own) and totally redeemed the lamp. I was rooting for the lamp, y'all.

And if you have any sort of bondage kink or leaving-marks kink? There's a surprisingly sexy element in the fic, too.

( excerpt )

Also Includes Wax, Water, and Evil: The Bubbling Inside Mix

Vidder: Hithah
Musical artist: Jonathan Coulton
Pairing: House-Wilson friendship
Vidder on LJ: hithah
Vidder's website: Vid, fic, and clip song list on LJ
Why this vid kicks ass:

I had a really hard time choosing which of Hithah's fanvids to recommend. She's made some of the funniest I've ever seen ("House Is a Daytime Talk Show" among them), and some poignant serious ones as well ("Bloodshot Fanatical" was an amazing re-telling of the two-part Season 4 finale).

But luckily I didn't have to choose between light-hearted and serious, because she's got one that cleverly, subversively, brilliantly combines both, to explore how House needs Wilson, and what that means. (No clips past 4x03, "97 Seconds"; the focus is on early Season 3.)

Take Care of Me

Vidder: Vysila (yep - she's on LJ but the site's forgotten about her temporarily it seems)
Musical Artist: Frank Sinatra
Song: Something's Gotta Give by Johnny Mercer
Pairing: Napoleon/Illya
Vidder Site: YouTube Vysila 

Why this vid kicks ass:

Yay! It's Friday night drive-in! It's a tough job watching MFU vids but somebody has to do it :o)

We're really lucky in this fandom to have some excellent vidders, and Vysila's up there with the best. She hasn't been doing it for long but has a real vidder's eye. For those of you who haven't yet discovered this one, you're in for a treat. 

It begins with Napoleon eating oysters and concludes with the boys stripping off - well - almost. Hard though it is to believe sometimes, this was family entertainment in the sixties you know. If you aren't already having a bit of a dribble at Sinatra's voice then the joy of IK and NS exchanging smouldering looks and inadvertent (yeah, right) touches should have you more than damp by the end.

Find it here

BTW check out Vysila's scintillating icon too - completely fab :o)

Vidder: pavlowsdog (yep, she's on LJ but the links are misbehaving)
Musical Artist: Tom Lehrer
Song: The Masochism Tango
Pairing: Napoleon/Illya
Vidder Site: YouTube Account Pavlowsdog

Why this vid kicks ass:

Pavlowsdog is a bit of a star when it comes to vidding and has produced a wealth of glorious MFU vids. This is the latest in a long line of them that range from cute through cool to outrageously funny. She's worked before in loose collaboration with the bluemeany sisters (thebigbluemeany and dreamybluemeany) and does so again on this one. They were the providers of some of the clips.

Tom Lehrer's classic is a joy in itself. The song's a clever choice for the fandom as there's a huge choice of appropriate clips to go with it. Given the various adversaries panting to do unspeakable things to the boys (er... well perhaps they weren't all adversaries) the choice is almost unlimited. Pavlowsdog's skill is in matching the clips so perfectly to the lyrics (my heart's in my hand *g*) and producing something that's LOL funny. I know that humour's a very subjective animal but I confess (mea culpa) that I'm not a huge fan of slapstick. This is poles apart from slapstick so it suits me just fine. Oh and the ending beyond the credits is sniggerworthy too.

Find it here...

Vidder: Pavlowsdog
Song: Grow old with you
Pairing: Napoleon/Illya
Vidder Site: YouTube Pavlowsdog

Why this vid kicks ass:

Along with her cool (see her Steve McQueen Affair) vids and funny (Masochism Tango) ones Pavlowsdog produces sweet "aaah, bless..." vids. This is one of them. It's kick-started my working day on many occasions when a little early-morning video balm helps soothe the pain of working for the NHS (that's the health service in the UK for all you non-Brits). It's a real sentimental delight and always makes me smile.

You'll find it here.

Enjoy...

Fandom: TORCHWOOD
Pairing (s): Jack/MOC
Length: 1700 words
Author on Lj: troyswann
Author Website: Outside the Box
Why this should be read: Yes, I've already recced a story by Salieri, but her work is well worth reccing repeatedly. This is a fascinating take on Jack, before we meet him in the Empty Child/Doctor Dances. Jack as Salieri writes him is gorgeous and rich and full of longing. It's perfect Jack, and the musing of space and time and morality when you're a time agent is chilling.

"At some point things came loose, seconds from seconds, minutes from clock-faces, faces from places, places from time. ...

Once the thread snaps, consequences cease to matter."

Flashing Into the Dark

"YOU SHOULD HAVE RAISED A BABY GIRL, I SHOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER SON!"

Omg, this rec is going to be so much fun.

Vidder: _audrey
Musical artist: My Chemical Romance
Pairing: None
Vidder's website: http://d0wn-on-paper.livejournal.com/ (though it's not quite up to date)


Okay, so this takes a little explaining. But it's WORTH it. You'll enjoy this, trust. SO. MCR are theatrical dudes who make grandiose videos with amazing universe-building ideas, and this fanvid interacts with the stories the band make up about themselves (because they make up stories toooo!) and twists it to make it even better. The first was a video the band did for the song "Welcome to the Black Parade" [the Black Parade being a kind of underworld/afterlife/circus/death... thing] and the second was the video for "Ghost of You" [a WW2 story]. Go watch those two, okay? THEN watch what Audrey made, which is a storyboard animation of a story that is half-sequel, half-AU of the two stories the band made. It's so clever, and so sad, and at the same time so wonderful because... because it breaks down the fan/source boundaries we're used to and just makes it about the interaction of art and narrative and dreams, one idea speaking to another and making something new. Oh, it's gorgeous.


"Mama" Animated Storyboard, by Audrey

Vidder:  littlehollyleaf 
Artist:  David Bowie
Vidder's website:  Unreckoned Universe at Greenlady's Bower (This is not a website for her vids, but for a story she is posting.  However, it is the only one I found.)

Why this vid kicks ass:

This is a very new vid and uses many clips from season 7 of Smallville, as well as some older ones.   One of reasons that I liked this vid so much, besides the fact that I love the song and singer, was that I was impressed with how well the chosen images went with the lyrics of the song.  It was also a well told story of the deterioration of Clark and Lex's relationship and of Lex's downward spiral as well.  

As the World Falls Down

Vidder: Obsessive24
Musical artist:  Linda Perry
Pairing: Mal/Simon
Vidder on LJ:  obsessive24
Vidder's website: Obsessive24's Website

Why this vid kicks ass:

This video is beautiful and gritty in black and white. The edits hit just right on the beats of the music that captures the tension between Mal and Simon. This vidder captured the underlying violence, tension and angst (dare I say, mutually co-dependent relationship in a freaky, hot sexy lash out and I need you, but I hate you, sort of way?) between the two men seen from the very first episode. Remember the punches and fight scenes? Yep. This is good stuff, set artisticly to music.

And, while I'm at it, I also adore her "Post Blue" Vid which explores the strangely close relationship between River and Simon.


KNOCK ME OUT

Vidder: Mary Van Deusen
Musical artist: James Taylor
Pairing: Holmes/Watson
Vidder on LJ: maidavids
Vidder's website: http://www.iment.com/maida/tv/songvids/hwsong.htm
Why this vid kicks ass:

The hardest part of deciding to recommend a vid by Mary Van Deusen is not recommending the rest of them. She's got an amazing eye for detail, visual and musical, and has made a fine art of blending lyrics and images to convey new meaning. So I'll admit it, I picked one of the two she's named as her favorites among the Sherlockian collection. Auld Lang Syne is not only a memorial to Jeremy Brett -- it also brilliantly captures the friendship and love reflected in the performances that he and Edward Hardwicke gave of Holmes and Watson. She's also got it in two versions, one of them a high quality rendition that can be played on the television as well as your computer.

Fandom: STARSKY & HUTCH
Pairing: Starky/Hutch (slash) , Starsky/Rosey (het)
Length: 825K
Author on LJ: flamingoslim
Author Website: http://starskyhutcharchive.com/stories.php?genre=slash&authid=47
Why this must be read:

I decided today would be a bit of a theme day for me. As some of my Me & Thee listsibs know, I've got the episode I Still Love You, Rosey Malone on the brain. This story takes the canon character of Rosey, and returns her to Bay City two years after she left a heartbroken Starsky behind to accompany her father south of the border.

This novel is set post-SR. In this universe, our two heroes confessed their love after Starsky regained consciousness from the shooting, and they've been blissfully happy ever since. Seven months have passed. Starsky is well on his way to getting better. One night, they go out for Mexican food.  All is right with the world, until Rosey Malone stops by their table unannounced. Her father is dead and she's back in Bay City. She doesn't know the guys are an item, and makes tentative overtures towards rekindling a relationship with Starsky.

Hutch is stunned and horrified. But, because he doesn't quite trust what Starsky and he have, and because he doesn't ever want Starsk to resent him, he encourages his partner to go out with Rosey, just to see how things stand. Part of him hopes Starsky will say no. And indeed, Starsky is still hurting from Rosey's abandonment, and distrustful of her, so he's reluctant to even give her the time of day. Yet Hutch is so persuasive with his argument, Starsky ultimately sees no recourse but to agree to a get-together.

Much to everyone's surprise, the magic between Rosey and Starsky is still there. Without understanding quite how it happens, Starsky begins to fall for her again, even while he's still deeply in love with Hutch.  At a loss, he turns to Hutch, who refuses to tell him what to do. Before he knows it, Starsky is in a relationship with two people he cares about deeply. While Hutch stands alone on the sidelines, watching as everything he's ever wanted is threatened with extinction.

I adore this story. Though I realize, after talking to some other S&H readers, that the feeling isn't quite universal. The way I see it, for this story to work, you have to believe Starsky is utterly and honestly bewildered by his conflicted feelings, not actively trying to wound Hutch. Regardless of his actions, you have to buy that he's hurting just as much as Hutch, only in a completely different way. I thought Flamingo took great pains to make that apparent. However, I could see how many fans are not going to want to read about Rosey coming between our guys.

To them I say, "Reconsider!" :-) If you stick around, you get the epic love scenes Flamingo is known for (the way she writes them, Starsky & Hutch are never going to need Viagra), angst out the yin-yang, hurt/comfort, a fabulous and well-earned reconciliation, and two guys who are achingly in love, even though they can't seem to stop hurting each other.


Do I Still Love You, Rosey Malone?

 

Vidder: Shalott
Musical artist: Dandy Warhols
Pairing: McShep
Vidder on LJ:astolat
Vidder's website: Intimations
Why this vid kicks ass:

What's not to love? Bohemian is a top notch entertaining vid. Has everything from a wonderful bouncy ‘feel good’ song choice to speed, pace and cuts. Then there's The McShep luv that I just can't resist--not too mention Ronon's entrance. Whenever I hear this song on the radio, and hear, 'Wait… Whose that guy...' I'm grinning like an idiot, and always associate it with SGA. IMO it's a keeper to be watched over and over again--and I do. For me, even after countless times watching it, it never fails to make me smile. Again an entertaining feel good vid that shouldn’t be missed--if you did, go check and it out!


SGA_bohemian like you

Vidder: Mirien
Musical artist: The Calling
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch (it's listed as gen, but you can read in slash without breaking a sweat)
Vidder on LJ: DNA (I don't believe)
Vidder's website: http://starskyhutch.kassidyrae.com/shgen_vids.html 
Why this vid kicks ass:

This is such a hard choice to make. Being a vidder myself, I've paid close attention to the amazing work being done in S&H by folks like lauramcewan, shfan, giandujakiss, and enednoviel  (among others), and have counted myself lucky to be in such company.

I went with this, Mirien's only S&H vid (and possibly only vid, period--it's the only one I know of), because it's the very first S&H vid I ever watched, and one I've played over and over again.

I've explained before, in other venues, that part of my reaction to this vid comes from how I link it in my mind to the lives of the actors playing these two roles. Mirien captures plenty of gorgeous shots of David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser. They're young, seemingly happy, together, at the height of their careers, with their whole lives ahead of them. Both would go on to face such tough challenges. I can't help but look at their bright and shining faces, listen to the lyrics being sung, and think, 'I wonder if you guys had any idea what lie in store.'

I know I'm reading more into the vid than Mirien no doubt intended. But that's what I bring to it, just like any audience member brings their own POV to any artistic endeavor.   Even if you don't see it the way I do, Mirien includes some wonderful fun, exciting shots that really capture the energy and joy of the show, and--most importantly--the unique and lasting relationship between these two men, both in real life and on the screen.

Cause these are the days worth living
These are the years we're given
And these are the moments
These are the times
Let's make the best out of our lives
 

Vidder: Tallulah71
Musical artist:PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, Bjork and Massive Attack
Pairing:Multiple women/Scary destiny
Vidder on LJ:tallullah71
Vidder's website:fascinationstreet.com
Why this vid kicks ass: To borrow from one of the comments; this is like an interpretive dance between six women showing how how they come together to form Hera, who is both an innocent child and (sinister?) "shape of things to come" within the show's universe. It draws connections between these characters (Athena, Roslin, Maya, Boomer, D'Anna, and Caprica-Six) that I had never quite perceived - Roslin = D'Anna? Who knew?! Now I'm convinced! Superb editing and sound mixing combine to make this one of the more disturbing and thought-provoking vids I've yet seen. It might not make as much sense to those unfamiliar with the first three seasons - who will still watch with a sense of bone-chilling horror - but for those who are? It will break your brain.

Hera Has Six Mommies