Hi! I’m quettalinde and I’ll be driving the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle Danny Phantom van for June. My tastes tend toward crack, angst, and "revelation" stories where people find out Danny’s secret, so my picks will probably be slightly biased. I’ve got a few romances coming up as well, but I can’t promise slash. Maybe, if I find a good one. (There's a lot of unfinished stuff.) 

Anyway, on to the first rec…

Fandom: DANNY PHANTOM
Pairing: none
Length: ~16,800
Author on LJ: marsdejahthoris
Author Website: here, here, or Fanfiction.net
Why this must be read: Because the insight into the characters is genius, and it’s an outsider’s perspective to boot. Because every fan seems to have read it (and then tells everyone else to). Because there’s snark, and sneakiness, and villain baiting, and psychology, and multi-layered chess games.

Outside Looking In

Fandom: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
Pairing: Helo/Athena
Length: 1388 words
Author on LJ: ninamazing
Author Website: planetbarcelona 
Why this must be read: For some reason, Helo/Athena seems to be a pairing that isn't seen nearly enough in BSG fic. I have no idea why, when their relationship is so rife with possibilities. This beautiful story explores what it means to be human and what it means to be Cylon. The writing is spare and every word is carefully placed, like diamonds set in a beautiful ring.

Please note that the story is set just after the Pegasus arc and it may be a little triggering for some, although nothing is graphic.

( Dreams were another thing humans claimed. )

Do Cylons Dream of Electric Helos?

Fandom: YAMI NO MATSUEI
Pairing: Hints of TsuzukixHisoka, TerazumaxWakaba
Length: About 2,000 words
Author on LJ: squirrelarmy
Author Website: squirrelly_bits (Fic journal) and fanfiction.net profile
Why this must be read:

Because it's hilarious, clever, and a great use of minor characters. Terazuma and Wakaba are great characters, but they're not included very often. This fic shows just why that's such a shame. Terazuma has to call tech support to deal with a possessed copier, and he's as happy about it as you imagine. Everyone is perfectly in character, which only makes the humor better. The ending is the best part, but I'll let you discover that for yourself.

( Excerpt )

Copy Woes

Fandom: MARVEL COMICS
Pairing: Cable/Wade Wilson(Deadpool)
Length: ~2,000 words
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's website: Cable/Deadpool kink meme
Why this must be read:

Continuing in my series of lesser known Marvel title recs, before I get down to the main reason I'm here (Steve/Tony fic), I'm going to rec a fic starring one of my favorite crackier Marvel slash pairings: Cable/Deadpool.

Deadpool (Wade Wilson) is probably familiar to many of y'all at this point from the Wolverine movie. Cable is an X-Men character who's backstory is so complicated that I'm not even bothering to explain it beyond the following soundbite: He's a mutant messiah from an apocalyptic future! He's the psychotic motor-mouthed product of secret military testing! Together, they fight crime will take over the world have lots of gay subtext!

In this fic, from an anonymous author on the Cable/Deadpool kink meme, Cable, during one of his numerous jaunts through time, meets up with pre-Weapon X Wade Wilson. Cable/Deadpool is Marvel's pairing of crack, insanity, and gleeful fouth wall breaking, but there are moments when it can break your heart, and this is one of them. Because Wade is clearly Wade, but he's also clearly not Deadpool. Yet.

This Wade is coherent. This Wade is (reasonably) sane. This Wade is also going to die before Cable ever gets the chance to meet him in 'normal' time, unless Weapon X intervenes.

And Cable, who knows what's coming, has to decide whether to interfere in Wade's timeline or not.

Samaritan

Secondary link: Cable/Deadpool kink meme index of completed fics (Samaritan is the second fic listed)

Fandom:DUE SOUTH
Pairing: Ray Kowalski/Benton Fraser
Length:81K
Author on LJ:cimmerians
Author Website: Please let me know if there is such a site!
Why this must be read: As I was rummaging through my list of stories I didn't have time to recommend last August that hadn't been recommended here, I was, once again, flummoxed to find the name of this story. About a month after I read it the first time I was devoured by a great desire to read it again; the first place I checked was crack_van and I was startled not to find it here. It's a well-known story in the fandom, and is often recommended at ds_ficfinders or ds_recsredux but every time I run across a recommendation for it, I reread it with great enjoyment. In the spirit of completism, I hereby enter it on the lists (tags, memories, delicious bookmarks) of certified in every way classic Due South stories.

This is another quest fic, and one with certain points of resemblance to my first recommendation, but it has its own life, and makes its own points about the personalities and strengths of RayK and Fraser. And it has some of the funniest descriptions in any Due South stories, as well as snarky dialogue and, well, hot sex scenes, although they are not the whole story by any stretch of the imagination.

( There's a storm on the way, Fraser said, but I won't be long. Diefenbaker and I will be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail. With dinner, if our luck holds out. )


Haven

Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Jack/Ianto, Team Torchwood, and The Doctor
Author on LJ: sam_storyteller 
Author's Website: Unknown

Why this must be read?:

Simply because it is captivating. And, dear Lord, it dares to have plot!

I believe there is something more to Ianto Jones than we see. Some of the best stories out there are those stories that explore that concept. This story is also great because it also involves The Doctor and well written. Wonderful characterization.

( Excerpt )


THE DOCTOR AND MR. JONES

Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Severus Snape/Remus Lupin
Length: 7,300
Author on LJ: maelipstick
Author Website: If there's a site for her Potterfic, I couldn't find it
Why this must be read:

I'm extremely fond of this fic's dry, droll tone and unsentimental but strangely wistful portrait of its two natural outcasts. No one but Severus and Remus appear in the story. Well, actually, that's not true; Spinner's End is so pungently detailed that it rises up to share the stage and imbue the fic with its own distinctively grotty air. Here, twenty-something Snape is an educated lower-class oddball with shocking manners and a combative mind. He manages to be both pervy and priggish at once. Lupin's an ailing leftover from the war's end, grasping at straws and not exactly keen on Snape's company, but willing to make a last-ditch effort to survive. The fic's essentially a character study; even the smutty bits illuminate the pair's barbed, sardonic yearning for something more from life than this used-up melancholy. Snape's wish is primarily erotic while Lupin's is literally for more life, but the way their desires overlap is a source of both ache and amusement.

Two caveats: the fic was written for a Christmas exchange so you'll notice holiday references scattered about, but they're really not the point. Slightly more distracting are the typos and occasional use of epithets, but roll with them. The fic is more than worth it.

ETA: I wasn't aware the com flocked its NC-17 material. Evidently you need to join lupin_snape to get access to the fic.

One last random bit of praise: I adore the title because, yes. Shouldn't we all.

( A snippet of conversation )

We Should Have Loved More and Feared Less

Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Length: ~4600 words
Author on LJ: lyra_wing
Author Website: lyra_wing's writing
Why this must be read: Every fandom seems to have a version of "aliens made them do it" and Merlin's is "mythical creatures and/or magic made them do it." In this story and the next rec, we've got water creatures with magical seductive powers, which of course, transfer to Merlin and Arthur. Except as with most good fic, it's not just the magic that's making our boys lust after one another, and the two must discover that those feelings have been there all along. That's the real magic.

This story is both lyrical and passionate, and although it's lyra_wing's only Merlin story (so far), we can hope there will be more like it.

( A water nymph made them do it. No, really. )

Read the story: How Many Miles to Babylon

Hi, I’m idella, and I’ll be driving the Star Trek: The Next Generation van this month.

perclexed did a great overview of TNG in 2003, and to quote Leonard Cohen, nothing much has happened since. We may not have a shiny new movie, but we have lots of shiny fic! (Not nearly enough shiny new fic, mind you, but we have lots of shiny classics that haven't been recc'd here yet.)

You can expect me to showcase mostly canon het, with occasional forays into gen, femslash, and fic that focuses on TNG's female characters. I'm also into angst, plot, and Trek's deliciously twisted Mirror Universe.

On to the recs!

Fandom: STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
Pairing: Troi/Worf
Length: one-shot
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: You can find more of Kaite's fic here (scroll down)
Why this must be read:

This is one of several stories from Kaite that breathes new life into one of TNG's most underused and underdeveloped characters. (She gets bonus points for taking on one of the show's most unpopular pairings, too.)

Here, Deanna Troi has personality to spare, and she sees through everyone, especially herself. If she were ever to publish a monograph on the sex lives of her colleagues, this would be her snarky brainstorming session.

( excerpt )

Too Many Stars and Not Enough Sky

Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Length: ~6400 words
Author on LJ: dotfic
Author Website: dotfic's Merlin stories on LJ
Why this must be read: Since my Irish pronunciation is a little rusty, I tend to think of this fic as "the one with the selkie." Oh, those naughty water spirits who just can't stay away from Merlin and his addictive magical self. The selkie, though, is only a small part of the story.

The heart of the tale is Merlin and Arthur's habit of saving one another, and how frustrated they get with one another when the other is in danger. They're not ready to call it anything beyond friendship and duty, though, until a mysterious stranger lures Merlin away, and Arthur must declare the truth of his heart in order to save Merlin once more. Don't think this is all hearts and flowers, though - it's very much in character for the boys and their banter, and the other characters are present and well-utilized.

( He slipped and fell so suddenly that his mind had only started to grope for the right magic phrase before he hit the water, icy cold with the fresh thaw. )

Read the story: slán sábháilte

Fandom: STAR TREK: REBOOT
Pairing: None
Length: 1,000 words
Author on LJ: chaletian
Author Website: The Fanfictional Efforts of La Squeen
Why this must be read: This is technically third in a series of stories set in the same 'verse, but it stands alone brilliantly. You see, Chekov and Sulu run the ship's betting pool. Think about that for a minute... a stir crazy crew, stuck together for years, all knowing each other's business. Oh, yeah, they bet about exactly the things you're now imagining. *g*

Faites Vos Jeux // Rien Ne Va Plus

Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: gen
Length: 2600
Author on LJ: glinda_penguin
Author Website: Fic masterlist
Why this must be read: The original story, De Librorum by woejelah, made me squee. A Martha and Ten missing adventure set in a malevolent library with dialogue from a Borges story? Hells yes. The remix made me squee even more because it tells the story from the POV of the TARDIS, who is clever and brave and wonderful. Like all good remixes, Deus Ex Librorum takes what is recognizable from the original material and makes something new, compelling, and fantastic.

The Library of Babel exists in many dimensions, she knows. Most of those dimensions are not real in the sense that most sentient species in the universe understand it. She, however, is not most species. Myths and legends are her travelling companions, she has gained something of their essence on her spinning path.

Deus Ex Librorum (The Circle Has Six Sides Remix)

Fandom: STARGATE: ATLANTIS
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Length: 8,200 words
Author on LJ: deltacephei
Author Website: It's kind of therapeutic
Why this must be read: A delightful remix of the episode Brain Storm, but this time Rodney takes John with him instead of Jennifer. I love the way the relationship unfolds in this, combined with a bit of action and lots of snark in the best McKay/Sheppard style.

The Pleasure of Your Company