Hello, I'm tygermama and I will be driving the Magnificent Seven van for September. Most of what I plan to rec this month will be light-hearted, split pretty evenly between the Old West and the ATF verses, but there's also so action and angst that I want to share. I hope you enjoy the recs.

And if you're interested, the crack_van needs more drivers for the Magnificent Seven. It's only a minimum of one rec a week, so please consider grabbing the keys.


Fandom: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Pairing: none
Length:3,951 words
Author on LJ: quietcontrary
Author Website: quietcontrary's magnificent 7 tag
Why this must be read:To be completely honest, quietcontrary wrote this fic for me, from the following prompt: Chris has to act Ezra-ish, dressy clothes, impeccable manners, the whole schmear." And she kept Chris and Ezra perfectly in character and gives them both a depth of emotion that you won't expect, given the premise. It's just plain funny.

Excerpt: Diplomacy was all well and good, Chris thought, but brute force was usually more effective - not to mention a hell of a lot more fun."

And I still think Nathan was in on the whole thing, but you be the judge.

An Exercise In Deception

Happy September everyone! I'm Cindy, a.k.a. wintermoon3 , and I'll be driving the SG-1 crack_van this month! I'm an avid Sam/Daniel 'shipper, but will do my best to include a variety of 'ship and non-'ship fics to interest everyone here. I hope you enjoy them. For now, I'm starting with one of my faves...

Fandom: STARGATE SG-1
Pairing: Sam/Daniel, Sam/Pete as in canon, implied Sam/Jack. NOT for Sam/Jack fans.
Length:  18 chapters, estimated 40k?
Author on LJ:  amaranthtraces 
Author Website: http://www.amaranthtraces.com/amaranth.php, http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1191236/
Why this must be read:

This is one of the most amazing behind-the-scenes, episode-tag, untold-story type of fics I've read, especially in the SG-1 fandom. Amaranth Traces takes the sometimes unpopular (though my favorite) Sam/Daniel 'ship, and the Season Eight episodes Threads, Moebius Part I, and Moebius Part II, and shows us what was happening before the trip in time, and what's different in the very altered and slightly altered (no fish vs. fish) realities that come of it.

Additional note: I learned, through the dedication in one chapter, that Carmen Argenziano, who played Jacob Carter/Selmak, is a Sam/Daniel 'shipper as well - a fact I just think is cool as hell. :)

Ouroboros

Over 500 Highlander stories have been recommended on crack_van. This month I will rec stories that were originally posted during the last 12 months to give you a taste of what's happening in HL fanfic now. Some of the stories are by familiar authors, but quite a few are by new voices. Please encourage these writers. We still thrive!

Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Characters: Methos, Duncan MacLeod
Length: 1,548 words
Author on LJ:juniperphoenix
Author Website: The Purple Lagoon
Why this must be read:"Rate Your Students" is a good story to read this time of year as our students head back to school. A funny, friendship based story.

Rate Your Students

Hi all, I'm driving the Merlin van for September! You can expect a fair amount of Arthur/Merlin, but I'm also a big fan of Morgana, Gwen, Gwen/Morgana, and OT4 fic.

Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: (Arthur/Merlin)
Length: (4,274 words)
Author on LJ: dsudis
Author Website: Words Words Words
Why this must be read:

Perhaps the most popular trope in the Merlin fandom is the reveal of Merlin's magic and Arthur's reaction to it. This story does it beautifully, in a charmingly unexepected way. Arthur's reaction is 100% dead-on in my mind; it also serves as a brilliant commentary on the show which, rather like its main character, is occasionally silly but all the more lovable for it.

Millions of Peaches manages to be funny, heart-warming, and unaccountably lush all in under 5,000 words. Mmm. Go read it now.

Millions of Peaches

Hi everyone! I'm perdi and I'll be driving the van for Heroes this month. I'm a massive multishipper, and I'm going to be reccing a nice mix of slash, het and gen. Hopefully there'll be something for everyone!

Fandom: HEROES
Pairing: Sylar, Luke (gen)
Length: 5k
Author on LJ: jaune_chat
Author Website: Fic Masterlist

Why This Must Be Read: In a canon where weird and wonderful superpowers are very much the norm, it should come as no surprise that wing!fic is a common trope. That said, it isn't one that's done well very often. Since Heroes has two characters who can canonically fly without wings, wing!fic has to work that much harder to get me to suspend my disbelief, and often that groundwork isn't there.

Where this fic excels is that jaune_chat has clearly done her research, and draws on a lot of avian physiology to plausibly explain Luke growing wings. The changes to Luke's body are a little gory (hence the rating) and the description throughout is wonderfully visceral. Add to that excellent Sylar characterisation (he's driven by jealousy and a need to understand how Luke's new ability works, not love), excellent Luke characterisation (remarkably resilient in the face of being experimented on, bantering to cover his pain) and some fast paced action scenes, and jaune_chat has given us a wing!fic that is so much more than just a common trope. This fic never fails to leave me breathless and on the edge of my seat.

( Excerpt )

Hatchling

We've got the Impala revved up and ready to go, Metallica in the tape deck, and a certain angel in the backseat. This month we're bringing Castiel front and centre for a set of recs that will reflect some of my very favourite Dean/Castiel pieces, as well as some gen stories. Also, with the Season 5 premiere coming up fast, I'm open to the flood of new fic that's sure to follow new episodes. So hop in - we're (hell)bound for an exciting month!

Fandom: SUPERNATURAL
Pairing: Dean/Castiel, Sam/Ruby (mentioned)
Length: 38,000 words
Author on LJ: pandarus
Author Website: Pandarus's Master Fic List on LJ
Why this must be read: Here's the author's summary: A story in fifteen parts, in which the angel Castiel finds himself put in an untenable position, and consequentially loses his grace. In which he goes on a roadtrip with a demon, discovers the delights of tequila and french fries and pie, plays a starring role in a virgin sacrifice, is deflowered by his favourite Winchester, and then gets some very unpleasant news indeed.

You need more convincing? Okay, it's got a great Ruby voice. Even if she's not your favourite character, you might like her here. She's got spirit, and her roadtrip with Castiel is worth the price of admission. There's a lot of humour, a tremendous dose of angst, and a lot of insight into the angel's character. It's absolutely one of my favourite stories featuring Dean/Castiel, and I can't give it a high enough recommendation.

( Read an excerpt )

Read the story and feedback the author: The Consequences of Falling (link to Part 1)

If you prefer, a link to the final part (with links to all other chapters) can be found here: Consequences of Falling Tag

There's also an audiobook version read by the author that can be downloaded here

Hello! I'm citruslover, back to drive the Popslash van for September. And I bring more BSB recs!

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: Howie/Nick
Length: short story
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Lose Yourself
Why this must be read: Nick Carter has an amazing mouth. Is it any wonder we're so inspired by it? This story is just perfect, in so many ways. Fantastic characterizations of both Nick and Howie, beautifully poetic narration, and sex that is sweet and sensual and delicious. A wonderful read.

Howie decided that he liked Nick's mouth.

He liked how, when it was closed or in a pout, it was like a perfect, pale strawberry. But more often than not, his mouth was moving -- stringing along words as quickly as they could be thought....

Kiss Me with Your Mouth

Hi! I'm paperflowered and I'll be driving a Small Fandom van this month for the wonderful Syfy miniseries Tin Man. I have not finished a fandom overview yet (I had forgotten all about my offer to do Tin Man recs), but hopefully it will be finished in just a few days. For now, let's start with the recs!

Fandom: TIN MAN
Pairing: none; gen
Length: ~900 words
Warnings: none
Author on LJ: tvashti
Author Website:
Why this must be read: It's a short piece, which I wouldn't usually recommend, but despite a few spelling errors, I really love it. The plot of the story is Cain observing Azkadellia after the miniseries ends, and I love how the focus is on the aftermath, how Az's possession by the Witch has affected her, left her different. There are dark undertones, too, which is a welcome contrast to how the miniseries ended.

( excerpt )

what we know we do well

Hello! =) I'm Mac and this is the first time I'm driving the Starsky & Hutch van. So if I make any mistakes like author on LJ or authors website or anything, feel free to tell me! I've done my best to get everything right. And I've also tried to check so that I won't double-rec a fic, but if I do I apologize for that now. ^^;

Fandom: STARSKY & HUTCH
Pairing: Starsky/Hutch
Length: 19k
Author on LJ: eveningblue
Author Website: HERE
Why this must be read:

Well, I’ve always found the first scene in “Captain Dobey, You’re Dead!” a bit odd and I’ve wanted to know what had happened the night before. Then I found this fic for quite some time ago, and I thought it was a cute idea for an explanation. =)

About Last Night...

Sequels:
Starsky and Hutch Take a Vacation (NC-17)
TKO (Boxing Day) (NC-17)

Hi, I'm imaginer8614, and I'll be driving the NCIS van this month. I'm personally a Tony/Ziva shipper (but I'll do my best to include some gen) and just a general Ziva fan. I'm also not very tech-savy so excuse the lack of amazingness with links and what not. 

Fandom: NCIS
Note on Rating: The author did not give this piece a rating, so the rating is mine.
Pairing: No pairing, just Ziva-centric
Length: 1,850
Author on LJ: delgaserasca 
Author Website: community.livejournal.com/tja_rama
Why this must be read:  Everything delgaserasca  writes should be read and I know by the end of the month I'll have recced more of her stuff. ( longish explaination )( snippet )

community.livejournal.com/tja_rama/117867.html

Hi there! I'm Vae, and I'll be your driver for Firefly this month. Firefly was my first fandom, I'm still deeply in love with it, and most of the recs you see from me are likely to be slash. My pairing of choice is Mal/Simon, which makes this rec a particularly good starting point.

Fandom: FIREFLY
Pairing: Mal/Simon
Length: 6,308
Author on LJ: lyrstzha
Author Website: Just her LJ
Why this must be read: lystzha is one of my favourite Firefly writers, and this fic is a great example of the best of her writing. She has a wonderful delicacy with language that paints vivid scenes with just a few details, and perfect character voice. Companion Simon is always interesting, and Lyr's take on it includes a wonderfully uppity Atherton Wing, perfectly brittle Tam sarcasm, an unexpected talent from Jayne, and one of the best, most lyrical descriptions of a kiss I've read in any fandom.

( Excerpt )

Tramping Out the Vintage Where the Grapes of Wrath Are Stored

Hi! I'm turloughishere and I'm driving the crack van for bandom in September. I'm a total My Chem girl so you can expect most of the stories I'm going to rec this month to be centered around MCR. The story I'm starting with has equal amount of My Chem and Panic though.

Fandom: BANDOM
Pairing: Gerard/Bob & Jon/Brendon
Length: ~119,000 words
Author on LJ: mahoni
Author Website: The author's bandom fic tag
Why this must be read:

Jon is a crook who tries using his shady skills to do good things for a change. Gerard is stuck on a pirate ship, looking for a way off.

This is one of the most captivating, beautiful, and terrifying stories to ever come out of bandom. It has pirates, magic, ray guns, evil robots, dragons, and many other things besides, and it's an incredibly rich story with several interweaving plotlines, spectacular worldbuilding, and absolutely first class characters and character development. It's not a easy story to read though and I often ended up feeling completely twisted up inside. It deals with several troubling themes and the warnings in the header are there for a very good reason. The story might be taking place in a fantasy universe but the characters and what happens to them feel terrifyingly real. I know this is a story that's going to stay with me for a long, long time.

( Excerpt from the story... )

The Uncharted Sea

Drivers are needed in a bunch of fandoms for October, November and beyond, including , , , , , , , , , , , and .

Sign-up sheets are HERE.

Hi! I'm amonitrate and I'm excited to be here reccing Marvel Comics fic this month. I'll be posting a mix of comics and movieverse works, heavy on the Iron Man, and if I had a theme it might be dark Alternative Universes, because I love them, and experimental writing styles, because I love them too.

Starting with this first fic, which is both!

Fandom: MARVEL COMICS -- X-Men comicsverse
Pairing: various
Length: novella
Author on LJ: d_benway 
Author Website: http://home.att.net/~lubakmetyk/list.htm
Why this must be read:

This is a truly horrifying AU, and yet it works. As Dr. Benway writes in the notes, Just because someone is a hero or a villain in the real books doesn't mean that they are a hero or a villain in this story. If any fic has earned a warning this one has: be aware that just about anything you can think of that could be triggering is in this fic. The author's warning is: It is not for the young, the sensitive, or the easily perturbed, and has parts that should not be read after a heavy meal. She's He's not kidding.

It's bleak, and it's brilliant. The fic takes the form of one character watching a documentary that slowly fills the reader in on just what happened at Charles Xavier's school. It's hard to say more than that without giving it away. Just don't blame me if you can't sleep after reading!

I sold the house to the man who called himself Xavier in the spring of '68. I don't know where he came from. He had money, he paid in cash. Said he wanted to set up a school.

X-Manson

Hello All,

This is Turtle, back for another drive in the Crack Van.  I love me some dirty wrong, some hot smut, and some crushing angst, and all will be on tap this month.  But first for something completely different.


Fandom: LIFE ON MARS
Pairing: Sam/Gene
Length: 1380 words
Author on LJ: dorsetgirl
Author Website: Fic Master List at her LJ
Why this must be read: Sam/Gene is a pairing often full of stress and angst.  This is for many good reasons, and I love them that way, I really do.  But so much has gone wrong for friends of mine the last few months, that this piece struck the perfect chord with me. This is the Sam and Gene we don't get to see enough. These are two people who can celebrate the choices they have made, and know that they were the right choices for them.

Start the month of September off on a positive note, read this story, you won't be sorry.

Past Imperfect

Hullo! Name's fearlessfirefly and I'm driving the Bleach fan this month! I'm sorry I can't write an overview at the moment (work load way too much) but Bleach is a great anime/manga filled with soul reapers, talking plushies, hot lads and ladies, and a fantastic fandom to boot! I hope you enjoy the variety of recs I will be bringing to you this September ♥

Fandom: BLEACH
Pairing: Aizen/Hinamori
Length: 737
Author on LJ: incandescens
Author Website: Tag for fanfic on her LJ
Why this must be read: Have you ever wondered what would happen if Momo had crossed over to the Arrancar side? She is rather loyal to Aizen, it wouldn't be a stretch to see it, but it would take some skill to make it work.

incandescens makes it work, and makes it work well. This is about love of a darker deeper flavor; the poetic nature of the story will keep you glued to the screen until the final lines, which are by themselves worthy of a rec.

to die a little