Fandom:  STARGATE ATLANTIS
Pairing:  Sheppard/McKay
Length:  30K
Author on LJ:  copperbadge 
Author Website:   His fanfiction journal
Why this must be read:  Because Sam is one of the most consistently compelling writers I know.  Because it's not just good fiction, it's good science fiction.  Because John Sheppard is a goddam ROBOT.  Yes, a robot.  And it is amazing.

The Difference Engine

 

Hi there! This is my first time behind the wheel of the van. Anyway, I'm driving for House this month, and seeing as I'm a House/Wilson fangirl, you can expect lots of recs with that pairing. Here goes!

Fandom: House
Pairing: House/Wilson established relationship
Length: 42k
Author on LJ: ignazwisdom 
Author Website: ignazwisdom 
Why this must be read: 

One of the classics of the House/Wilson fandom is A Modest Proposal (yes, I'm sneaking in a double-rec here), and as a sequel, Involuntary Commitment lives up to (and possibly exceeds) its predecessor's brilliance. The two fics are an alternate take on the Tritter arc way back in season three, and Involuntary Commitment begins with House in a rehab facility. However, there're no music box miracles here: House has to claw for every inch of progress he can, while trying to hold together his life and his relationship with Wilson at the same time. The setup is similar to "Broken," but this fic is unfettered by a two-hour time limit and instead meticulously picks House's flaws apart and examines them in a way that "Broken" never did. Of course, hot phone sex never hurts, either. XD

Involuntary Commitment @ AO3

Merry May to all! I'm Stasha and I'll be serving up the Torchwood-y goodness this month. Starting with...

Title: And Indeed There Will Be Time
Fandom: TORCHWOOD
Characters/Pairing(s): Team(s), Martha, Mickey, Jack/Ianto
Length: ~43 000 words.
Author on LJ: kaydeefalls
Author Website: fallen leaves / LJ masterlist / AO3 / Teaspoon
Why this must be read:

This is a delicious mixture of action, adventure, mystery, and intrigue, all wrapped into a hugely enjoyable, intricately plotted, and well-characterized case story. The time-travel plot is quite possible the neatest, most sense-making one that I've read in the fandom.

Summary: In 1919, Harriet Derbyshire was killed while investigating the disappearance of Torchwood Four in Dublin. In 2009, UNIT pulls a dying man out of the Irish Sea with a one-word message: Torchwood. Martha joins up with Jack's team in Cardiff to track down the errant branch of the organization -- before a time-traveling race of aliens can change the course of history as we know it.

And Indeed There Will Be Time on AO3
And Indeed There Will Be Time with art on the Tardis Big Bang site.

Happy May Day! I'm Kayla and someone gave me the keys to the NCIS van. I'm not sure I should be driving, but I think I'll do better than Gibbs and Ziva can. I'll try not to kill anyone.

Tony is my favorite character, so most (if not all) will feature him heavily. Tony/Gibbs is my favorite pairing, but I'm open to a lot and will try to spread the love. I go for threesomes a lot too. So we will see what I come up with.

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Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: Tony/Kate/McGee (main); Gibbs/Abby (secondary)
Length: 147,503 words (4 sections; multiple chapters)
Author on LJ: xdawnfirex
Author Website: Fic Journal Link

Why this must be read:

I usually skipped over fics that had a heavy dose of Kate. Not that I didn't like her, I just didn't get much out of reading her character. Then I came across xdawnfirex's fics and fell for the way she writes Kate. House of Cards is my favorite of her fics because it shows a natural progression of how a serious relationship can begin and flourish. In this case, the relationship is between three people. It handles things from meeting the family (to various reactions), dealing with friends, raising children, dealing with sexual identification and religion.

It is a very nice and long read. And it starts as an AU to Hiatus where Kate lived.

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( Click for excerpt... (with an R rating on the excerpt) )

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Link to House of Cards Series

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Hi there! I'm bookaddict43 and I'm driving the van for Firefly once again this month and I'll be trying to point you towards some of the excellent fic from our fandom :)

Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: None, Gen
Length: 2791
Author on LJ: 2ndary_author
Why this must be read: This is a finely written piece of gen fiction. Although Mal & Zoe's time during the war and straight after is the focus, all the crew are there and beautifully in character.

The story starts with a tale that Mal tells to distract the crew from their bad days; and ends with a glimpse of Mal and Zoe at the end of the war. I like the banter, both spoken and un, that the author provides us with and love level-headed Zoe.

Bitter and my heart

Happy May Day, everyone. I'll be your Crack Van driver for this month. So buckle your seat belts and lets get going.

Fandom: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Length: 4139 words
Author on LJ: lasergirl
Author Website: Stories are at www.archiveofourown.org
Why this must be read: After The Fifteen Years Later Affair our favorite spies again went their separate ways. A year later they meet for dinner and a long talk. Lasergirl captures the voices very well. This is mainly dialogue but it's believable dialogue. I can really hear this conversation. The story is slash but nothing explicit. Give it a read.




The Sixteen Years Later Affair

Hi, everyone! I'm [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] your Band of Brothers reccer and over the next month I'll be introducing you guys to some of my favorite stories featuring the boys of Easy Company.

Fandom: BAND OF BROTHERS
Pairing: Gen; Frank Perconte, George Luz
Length: 5,403
Author on LJ: [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]
Author Website: Masterlist of Fanfiction
Why this must be read:

I'm a sucker for a good back-story, and this author does an excellent job contrasting Perconte's past and his family back home with the realities of war along with his friendship with Luz. Perconte is such an underrated character, and it's great to see such an excellent portrayal of him in this piece.

( Excerpt )

Running in Circles

Hi, everyone! I'll be driving the Veronica Mars van this month. It's been a while since this fandom went for a ride, so I'll do my best to make it a good one. There will probably be a Logan/Veronica bias to my choices, but I'm going to try to get a nice spread of pairings and genres so there should be something for everyone. (Also, I vehemently deny the existence of a third season.)


Fandom: VERONICA MARS
Characters/Pairings: Veronica, Logan, some Lily/Logan.
Length: 17k
Author on LJ: wily_one24
Author Website: VM Fic Masterlist

Why this must be read:

As much as I adore LoVe fics, many of them tend to gloss over just how horrible Logan was to Veronica after Lily's death. This one story more than makes up for all of that sugar-coating. It perfectly covers the gap between Lily's death and the start of the show. Even though it's from Logan's point of view as he maliciously wears Veronica down with cruelty, it's still very much a story about Veronica learning to get tough (and get even). That, combined with the brutally unapologetic exploration of Logan makes this a must read.


( Excerpt )


Breaking the Girl

Hi, everyone! I'm lucifuge_5 and I'll be driving the due South rec van for this month. While I didn't go with a particular theme while selecting the fanworks I'll be reccing, I will say that they will be either F/K or genfics. I might point out a random rare pairing for some variety. Hope y'all have a good time, don't feed Dief any more donuts and please post a comment to the authors if you dig their stories. Thank you kindly. :)


Fandom: DUE SOUTH
Pairing: (past) Victoria Metcalf/Benton Fraser, pre-slash Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Length: 6,736 words
Author on LJ: wistful_fever
Author Website: Her LJ
Why this must be read:
This is an older (5 years to be exact) fic that I have just finished reading and I'm totally surprised it hasn't been recced before.

In this AU marvel of a story, wistful_fever has switched Victoria and Fraser's places. As a result, Fraser is the ex-con AND murderer back in Chicago to exact his revenge on the one Mountie who apprehended him. The Fraser in this story is inky dark, with all the cunning and charm of regular canon!Fraser pushed down for the majority of the story. That is not to say that he's a brute or especially violent. What I mean by this specific dark!Fraser is that he's broken in ways that cannot be easily resolved. He's gone through great lengths to construct a facade that can help him slip under Mountie!Victoria's radar. As the story opens, you get the sense that he's close to achieving his goal. That is, until the Ray swicheroo happens and all the dormant (one could say 'good') parts inside Fraser stir awake. Even as he begins to fall for RayK, Fraser is always aware that things can only end one way.

What got me both crying (because, for some strange reason, this dark!Fraser made me feel sad for him and all the lost opportunities in his life) and exhilarated while reading this is that it reads like a film noir. There is a sense of fatality enmeshed in the beautiful (because it is gorgeous) prose.

FWIW, I'm not in the habit of reading dark!Fraser stories because very, very, very few authors have been able to keep him from becoming either a generic villain or behave in a ridiculous OOC way. wistful_fever's sole due South story is a testament to what a truly talented writer can do.



( An excerpt )

Duplex: A House with Two Faces