It's that time of year again! Time to spread seasonal joy and eat too many mince pies.

In that spirit, I'm presenting an array of Songvid Oddities this December for your delectation. These are awesome vids which are unlikely to otherwise be recced on the Van, because they are: a) in tiny fandoms; b) multi-fandom; c) putting the 'odd' back into Oddities. I don't know about you, but category 'C' are my favourites. :)

I'm kicking things off with a week of dancing, because who can resist dancing!

Vidder: Buffyann
Musical artist: "Starlight" by The Supermen Lovers
Pairing: Various
Vidder on LJ: buffyann
Vidder's website: Vid Tag
Why this vid kicks ass: This vid is a tour de force of editing to the beat (and whoa, those are some seriously toned beats). I defy you not to end up clicking your fingers and jiggling in your seat, and probably earwormed as well. Go, and behold the dancing!

Starlight

Fandom: EUREKA
Pairing: Gen
Length: One-shot
Author on LJ: slashy_me
Author Website: The TenthMuse1 FanFiction
Why this must be read: There's no better way to start a set of recs than by blowing up the entire canon. This story comes from the apocalyptothon, the Post-Apocalyptic Multifandom Ficathon, which describes itself as thus:

No matter how perfect or wonderful a fandom might be, I think we can all agree that one thing that can improve any mythology is to blow it right the fuck up. Or, you know, kill everybody. That can be fun, too. Nuclear attack, asteroid collision, world-altering pandemic that kills off pretty much everybody but a select, angst-ridden few . . .

Jack Carter really should have known that, if *he* was having a perfectly quiet day, it *would* be a sign of Armageddon--specifically, in the form of "a long, gray-blue laser bolt" from the sky. I really like this story, especially the truce that develops between Jack and Stark during the end of the world:

Casting a darkly ironic look his way, Stark pointed out, “Between overpopulation and pollution, the earth was going to be unlivable in about fifty years no matter what we did. The attacks certainly made the overpopulation problem null and void.”

Under normal circumstances, Jack would have done more than just give Stark a matching bruise on his other cheek. It wasn’t normal circumstances, though, and he abruptly realized that dark humor and bitterness were Stark’s method of coping. With that new insight, Jack flashed a sharp grin at the other man and suggested, “So we should give them a thank you card instead of offering an apology?”

Also, I'm glad the author chose to have Zoe survive, because Jack could *not* cope if something happened to her. He'd probably end up falling into any remaining bottles and then turning into Nathan Ford.

Apologies

Hi there! I’m aurilly and I’ll be reccing Lost this month. It hasn't been in regular circulation since halfway through season two. So much amazing fic has been written since then, and how canon has progressed! :) I read pretty widely, so there will be het, slash, and lots of ensemble gen---pretty much everything except the usually popular canon pairings. Hopefully you'll enjoy these!

Fandom: LOST
Pairing: Sayid/Shannon
Length: 1018 words
Author on LJ: anitchka
Author Website: Her Journal
Why this must be read: Shannon is one of those characters that, oddly enough, is much more likable in prose form than she was in the show. The writing here is gorgeous, and Shannon’s POV is this heartbreaking balance between shallow and insecure and laugh-out-loud funny. Her thought processes are of a real girl. But my favorite aspect are the fantastic little details about the uncertainty of living on the beach that go into it, like having to steal toothpaste and how to keep your secrets in a camp where there’s no alone time. I have to admit that this is my favorite canon pairing. They never would have had a chance to get to know one another in normal circumstances… but island life is like summer camp. Two good-looking people with nothing to do all day end up finding out that they can and do have a connection. It’s random, but it works (at least, for me). And they were very sexy together onscreen. The fic captures that, too. :)

Excerpt:
Sayid earns Brownie points - not that he or Shannon were ever Girl Scouts - for not making a comment when she goes into her bag for a condom and three boxes fall out.

(Later, when she's over-analyzing everything, she realizes that if he had even seen them, he probably thought she bought them from Sawyer, or something. There's everything else on the damn plane, why not a million condoms?)

Evanescent

Fandom: LOST
Characters: Sawyer and Walt
Length: 631 words
Author on LJ: eponine119
Author Website: Her journal
Why this must be read: This is a short but very satisfying look at two characters we rarely got to see interact in canon. The characterization of both is pitch-perfect. It’s a great (and amusing) look at how lonely it must be like to be Walt---the only kid in the camp. And having people like Sawyer (even despite their hidden soft sides) around doesn’t really help.

Excerpt:
"You know how to play any games?" Walt called after him.

"Not the kind you're thinking of," Sawyer allowed.

Sharing

Hey there, spastic_visions here to be reccing you all Dark Angel fics for the small fandom month. For those of you interested, the fandom overview is here. I'm a gen fic fan first and foremost but I have a soft spot for Max and Logan and will read just about anything.

Fandom: DARK ANGEL
Pairing: Max/Logan
Length: 3680 words
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: Rach_L's ff.net profile
Why this must be read: This was the story that got me hooked on fanfiction. A golden oldie. It's an AU wherein Max never escaped Manticore and she's sent on a mission... to kill Logan Cale. The Max in the story is colder then we're used to and the Logan is the same way but you can still see the ones we know. The climax of this story is heartbreaking and unexpected and stays with you for a long, long time.

( (Excerpt) )

The Ice Palace

Fandom: PRIMEVAL
Pairing: Claudia/Ryan (het, with hints of slash and other het)
Length: Three-parter (6,640 words all-in)
Author on LJ: fififolle
Author Website: None – check LJ masterlist for stories
Why this must be read:

Fififolle is one of those writers with the ability to pull you straight into the universe she creates. Time After Time has a rare pairing, even in a fandom where virtually every combination under the sun has been tried! But her premise that Claudia and Ryan knew each other prior to the series launches us into a gorgeous, slightly poignant story. The story is in three parts, and there's a link to the next bit at the end of each part.

Time After Time

Vidder: Jescaflowne
Musical artist: "Can Delight" by Master Blaster
Pairing: None
Vidder on LJ: jescaflowne
Vidder's website: Elefantpaw
Why this vid kicks ass: Look, all I really have to say about this vid can be compressed into just three words: dancing, cheer-leading superwomen. I KNOW, RIGHT! And it's even more awesome than it sounds.

Can Delight (scroll down)