::waves:: Long time watcher, first time writing, blah blah blah blah...I'm at the wheel of the Buffyverse van this month, so expect a bunch of Buffy/Angel fics coming your way, with a sprinkling of other fun things to boot.  I'll kick off with one of my all-time favorites and go from there.

Fandom: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER / ANGEL: THE SERIES
Pairing: Buffy/Angel
Length: ~2,550 words, one-shot
Author on LJ: thenyxie
Author Website: Archive

Why This Must Be Read: I stumbled onto this beautiful one-shot even before I started watching Buffy, and I was transfixed. The setting is simple and beautiful, and so is the writing. It captures the happy ending that these two so desperately deserve, and it hones in on the why of it--they are happiest together. That thenyxie keeps them fighting the good fight makes it all the sweeter: part of what makes the pairing so interesting is that the two have always had higher callings keeping them apart, but when you take the barriers away, they still want to do what's right, for themselves and for the rest of the world.

( It’s something he’s still getting used to, having time. )

Something Like Summertime

Hi, I'm victoria p. and I'll be driving the van for Supernatural this month. I plan to rec an assortment of gen, het, and Wincest, mostly focused on Sam and Dean.

Fandom: SUPERNATURAL
Pairing: gen, with incidental Mary Winchester/John Winchester
Length: 7000 words
Author on LJ: britomart_is
Author Website: britomart_is
Why this must be read:

This is a fantastic, heartbreaking story about the Winchesters' lives after Mary doesn't go into the nursery on November 2, 1982, and how tenacious Sam and Dean's love for each other is, regardless of circumstance.

Mary could have the best help in the world the moment the name Campbell passed her lips – hunters don't forget their martyrs – but the last thing she needs is bearded NRA enthusiasts on her doorstep saying just this once and it's local and two, maybe three stitches. So Mary Campbell stays in hiding, and Mary Winchester flips open the White Pages.

Mary squeezes her eyes tight shut and thrusts a pin in the phonebook. She's skeptical of the results; she needs a psychic, not a state.

Most people answer the phone with hello. The psychic answers with, "I was wondering when you'd get the courage up, honey. How are those boys of yours?"

"I only have one son," Mary answers.

"Oh," the warm voice says, sounding honestly stunned. "Oh, Mary. I'm so sorry."

Three foggy mornings and one rainy day (will rot the best birch fence a man can build) by britomart_is

Please let the author know if you enjoy the story.

~*~

Hello! I'll be reccing for Watchmen this month, and I'm very excited to be reccing for the first time. There's a ton of great fic in the fandom and I've had fun picking out just a few to rec. :) Enjoy!

Fandom: WATCHMEN
Pairing: Nite Owl II/Rorschach
Length: ~1200 words
Author on LJ: sleep_learning
Author Website: Fic list: http://sleep-learning.livejournal.com/8504.html
Why this must be read:

The style of this one stems from a meme rather than traditional fic, but the style is a large part of why this fic is wonderful. The story covers all of Nite Owl and Rorschach’s relationship, from their partnership days to the split over the Keene Act to the reunion and events of the graphic novel, tracing the long span of time by zooming in on specific thoughts or scenes. There is a ton of emotion packed into each little flash and with a large range too, from longing to lust to joy to despair. Each line is beautifully written as well. Together they create a full picture of Dan & Rorschach’s relationship and everything that’s happened in it without getting bogged down in a long narrative.

8. Between burning houses and capturing a serial killer, Rorschach can feel Dan’s eyes, trapped behind his goggles, filled with the worst kind of yearning.

9. The ink is constantly changing shape, like the ageing lines of a face, and Dan is the only one who can make it slide upwards, like a jack-o-lantern, a mockery of a smile.

10. The boundaries were broken by a single leathered glove, unzipped pants and voices strained into distortion.

Never Compromise

Hello. I'm Kat and I'm driving the van for The Professionals this month. 2010 brought the first ever Professionals Big Bang to Live Journal at ci5_boxoftricks and a wealth of great stories. I'll be reccing some of these gems, as well as a few others. Plus I get St. Valentine's Day! I know romance will be in the air. I'm so excited to be able to point out fabulous fic in this classic fandom.

First out of the box is:

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Length: 32,265 words
Author on LJ: moth2fic
Author Website: http://www.moth2fic.com/ OR
http://archiveofourown.org/users/moth2fic/pseuds/moth2fic
Why this must be read:

Summary from the author: Cowley lends Bodie and Doyle to the authorities in Germany to help counter possible neo-nazi terrorism. Hints of the supernatural hinder and help their efforts but not everyone believes... During their time in Germany the lads discover new feelings for each other.

I love supernatural stories and I particularly like vampires, occult and werewolves. Heck, I like 'em all! Moth has given me something a bit different in Pros with her werewolf story. I think it was well researched. She gave me the feeling of being in the German countryside with her descriptions. Her lads were tough and spot on.

Here's a little teaser:

The name of their destination intrigued them both: Wolfkammer, a room or chamber of wolves. What were they getting themselves into? Cowley had given very little in the way of explanation, just saying that the Bonn authorities had requested their aid and expertise in catching some particularly nasty terrorists in the Wolfkammer area. Their experience with the IRA would, it was thought at the highest levels, be helpful. A German liaison officer would meet them at Dieringhausen station and brief them more thoroughly.

“I'll leave the details to the Germans,” said Cowley. “You'll be better off getting all the facts when you're in the location.” And that was all he had really said about the matter.

Now they could, and did, speculate.

“Wolfkammer,” said Ray. “Sounds like a hotbed of trouble but it's probably a semi-urban area with a highly respectable population.”

“Might have had a colourful history.” Bodie grinned and they spent a few minutes playing with the idea.

“Little Red Riding Hood probably lived down the road,” said Doyle.

“And the three little pigs built the first brick house in the region,” Bodie agreed, laughing.

“On the other hand, it might have been a den of robbers and bandits who terrorised everyone in the Middle Ages. Some of the old fairy tales are based on real incidents with human villains.”


Wolfkammer

I'm 823freckles and I'll be driving the LOST van this month. I tend to be a one-shot kind of girl, so most of what I rec will be one-shots. I hope you enjoy my recs. Feel free to comment here, but be sure to comment on the fics themselves if you enjoy the reads!

Fandom: LOST
Characters/Pairings: Miles; Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Jack; Sawyer/Juliet, Jack/Kate
Length: 4,059 words
Author on LJ: valhalla37
Author Website: Fic Masterlist
Why this must be read:

Oodles of fic was written about what could have happened/what ultimately happened after 'The Incident.' This is one of the most unique takes on the fallout, and valhalla37's world is fully-formed, well thought out, replete with awesome details, and features a spot-on Miles voice. This dark horror piece ends on a hopeful note, and will stick with you long after you're done reading.

Slow Death in the Badlands

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Length: 3527 word count (it is a short story sequel to a completed three part novel)
Author on LJ: briarwood
Author Website:http://www.morganbriarwood.net/


Why this must be read: It is a glimpse beyond the ending of a fascinating graphic dark AU novel that grabbed me by my imagination and took me places I never would have thought I wanted to go - but I did!

Persistence

Predator Trilogy link : http://archiveofourown.org/series/186

Hello and Happy 2011 to all the Mag 7 fans out there! I'm EJ and I have the honor of driving for M7 this month. This year has already been pretty rough on some of us weatherwise so I'm going to try to start us off with something warm and cozy.

I'll drive us into some of the darker areas of M7 land sooner or later and I'm going to try to bring you some old favorites as well as some new stories that are too good to miss.

Fandom: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Pairing: Chris/Buck,
Length: 2,500+ words
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: http://dnf.slashcity.org/viewuser.php?action=storiesby&uid=13&offset=0 This is Stan's index on DnF.
Why this must be read: Stan Lee is an excellent writer, first and foremost, so anything written by Stan is a treat, but I particularly love this one because it is a fun story of a relationship that is already well-established and accepted and it features some wonderful Vin and Ezra snarkiness as well. It makes me smile when I am feeling down and I hope you will enjoy it just as much as I do.


The Visitors

Hi all,

My lj handle is hardticket and I will driving the Star Trek Reboot Van for this month. I am a complete Kirk/McCoy shipper so my rec's will mainly deal with them. Enjoy!

Fandom: STAR TREK REBOOT
Pairing: Kirk/McCoy
Length: 150,085 words
Author on LJ: inell
Author Website: http://inell.livejournal.com/tag/all%20my%20fanfiction
Why this must be read: This is the story that made Kirk/McCoy my OTP. I wasn't even in this fandom till I read this fic. It grabs you and draws you in and doesn't let go.
I was very surprised to find it hasn't been recced here before so I decided to rectify that omission. Ship defining pretty much explains this fic.


Author's Summary:

One of the few constants in James Kirk's life the last three years has been his best friend, Leonard McCoy. After saving Earth from a bunch of crazy time-traveling Romulans, Jim & Bones find out what happens when best friends cross the line between friendship and something more after a late night ride on Jim's motorbike. There are good times and bad times, and times that are just plain complicated.


Two Men and a Motorbike

Hi! I’m bachlava, and I’ll be your driver for The X-Files this month. In fannish terms, I tend to be a big fan of seasons 1-5, and of Doggett later on. I gravitate toward MSR or gen (UST-y or otherwise), but I’m not exclusive about it, and there are some slash pairings I like very much. In fic, I also tend tend to prefer character-driven pieces over casefiles, but there are some exceptions to that rule too. Having hung out a bit in fandom as a young'un, before the days of LJ or anything, I will tend to rec a good number of older fics that might not be familiar to the fandom's relative newcomers, or that have gotten lost amidst the deluge of excellent, more recent fic.

So with that in mind, let’s start at the very beginning...

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: none
Length: 27k
Author on LJ: athene1121
Author Website: Fic archived at author's LJ and Gossamer page
Why this must be read: There is, understandably, plenty of fic that gives Scully's perspective on her first meeting with Mulder: her reaction on receiving the assignment, what her expectations and fears might have been, whether she knew more (or less) about Mulder and the X-Files than she let on in her initial meeting with Blevins, what things were like in the rest of her life at that point. But there isn't nearly as much fic that explores Mulder's take on the situation. The relevant scenes in the pilot episode are crucial, but also are primarily exposition, leaving any number of blanks to be filled in. Subsequent canon lets us know, in bits and pieces, that Mulder had a major personal and professional relationship fall apart and that he wanted to work alone. This fic, I think, does a great job of imagining how Mulder in those circumstances might have taken the news that he was being assigned a partner who seemed inexperienced and incompatible. Athene brings out all the difficult aspects of Mulder's personality - his stubbornness, his self-absorption, his nasty streak - without making him into the villain of the piece. His sense of justice is just as strongly present, along with his tendency toward self-reproach and the keenness of his observations. For windows into early!Mulder, in my reading, this fic doesn't have many equals.

( Excerpt )

Read the whole fic here or at the author's Gossamer page.

Hiya, I'm cloudtrader and I'll be driving the van for DC this month. I'm much more nervous driving for this fandom than I was driving for Sherlock two months ago because it is so huge and has so much history behind it. Forgive me if I mess up and re-rec something that has already been recced, but I shall try my best not to. This is one of my oldest fandoms and one of the very few that I've actually written in myself, but I still feel I don't know it as well as I should, so please feel free to recommend to me stories you think I should recommend to this community. All that said, yay superheroes!

Fandom: DC Multiverse (subcategories: Teen Titans, Gotham)
Pairing: none (maybe a little Cassie/Kon if you squint)
Length: just under 5k words
Author on LJ: marag
Author Website: More of this authors work can be found on her website, Diversions & Digressions.
Why this must be read:
I love me my comics angst, but I also adore the zany side of modern comics. This story is a Teen Titans-era fic that has the flavor and feel of Young Justice. This author has a clever and witty style of writing that made me literally giggle out loud in several spots.

This is Cassie, Bart, Kon, and Tim going on a night on the town as regular teenagers. Said town being Gotham, it doesn't cooperate.

A Night on the Town

Fandom: STAR WARS
Pairing: Gen; Leia Organa
Length: 1,250
Author on LJ: ladylisse
Author Website: Profile at FF.net
Why this must be read:

Because it's such as intriguing question, what would have happened in a galaxy far far away if Bail had chosen Luke instead of Leia? The author's characterization of Leia in this alternate universe is just perfect with the canon personality we know and love from the movies but also with an added edge that comes from being raised on Tatooine. This piece is wonderful look at this particular what if and is a must read for any and all Leia fans.

"I'm Leia Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you."

Inversion