*hops into the van* *tosses the Garmin out the window* *rummages through the glove compartment for a battered, dog-eared copy of the Thomas Guide*

It's my first time driving the crack van, and appropriately I'm starting with my first online fandom, The X-Files. Mostly I'll be recommending old favorites from back in the day that haven't quite made it to this archive yet. Also, because I was always a fence-sitter, you can expect less straight MSR and more gen, UST, and alternative character pairings. And away we go!

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: (Author's Summary) Mulder realizes that he is in love with Scully. And Scully realizes that she is in love with ... a Marine.
Length: 7k (with notes)

Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: http://krycek.gossamer.org/author/11346-1.html

Why this must be read: This is one of the first fics I read in the fandom, and it's still one of my favorites. Rachel Lee Arlington is better known for her Krycek-centric stories like Rat Trap and The Rat's Tale, but in my opinion, this fic showcases her humor and hotness like nothing else. If you're a big fan of Mulder/Scully UST but not necessarily wedded to their romance, I hope that you'll give it a try. Also, the extensive beginning and ending notes are well worth your time! ;)


( Excerpt )

My Baby Just Cares... For Me (please scroll down)

Hi, I'm KrisserCI5 and I'm popping the clutch for the Professionals during the month of Sept. Half the month I'll be posting from Calif and the other half from the land of The Lads(England- squee). Every fan has their faves, but mine are more crackier than most. So clip in those seat belts and hang on 'cause we're heading into my weird world.

First up a new fave!


Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Length: 35964 words
Author on LJ: tears_of_nienna
Author Website: http://archiveofourown.org/works/113554
Warning: wingfic

Why this must be read: It's so hard to say Bodie and Doyle and wingfic in the same sentence but I just did. And in this case – wow - it really works. This AU takes place in a different space and time, but no matter - Doyle is Doyle and Bodie is Bodie. We are quickly introduced to the characters and their story, but somehow we become immediately invested in the outcome. We want vengeance and resolution. This hit more buttons than I knew I had. It moved into my all-time top-ten. Head for the nearest link and engage!


( A short snippet excerpt –  )



Of Angels and Angles

Hi, all! I'll be reccing for football RPF this month. There will be a fandom overview up soon, but I'm not quite done with it yet - in the meantime, enjoy the fic, and if you've got any questions, feel free to ask me!

Fandom: FOOTBALL (SOCCER) RPF
Pairing: Michael Ballack/Torsten Frings, Ruud van Nistelrooy/Cristiano Ronaldo, Jens Lehmann/Robin van Persie, Raul Gonzalez/Iker Casillas/Cesc Fabregas, Thierry Henry/Robert Pires, Paolo Maldini/Kaka, Jose Antonio Reyes/Ruud van Nistelrooy, Zlatan Ibrahimovic/Alessandro Nesta, Henrik Larsson/Freddie Ljungberg, Ludovic Giuly/Deco, Luis Figo/Adrian Mutu, David Villa/David Silva
Length: multiple novel-length installments
Author on LJ: guede_mazaka
Author Website: Tangible Schizophrenia
Why this must be read: Let's get the caveats out of the way: this is not guede_mazaka's best writing. It's one of her earlier works and some of the characterization rings very strangely once you get more familiar with canon. The fic is about five years old, and there's no escaping the fact that by now it's pretty outdated. That said, reading it is hands-down the best way to get into football slash. That's how I did it: I started reading and I kept going until the names started to sound familiar. You need absolutely no familiarity with the world of European football to appreciate this fic; there is no football contained within.

Hit is an AU that sort of sprawls out from the initial premise that the characters are all somehow involved in the music industry. I really do mean sprawls; from the introductory novella seven novel-length sequels were spawned. I plowed through them and I loved every last minute of it. Some of the hottest sex scenes I've ever read are contained in this fic, and even now I return to the final spin-off again and again, because I never get sick of reading about David Villa's hopeless attempts to fashion himself into a human being worthy of David Silva's love. I had no idea who any of these characters were when I started reading, but this fic made me know them. More than that, it made me love them. It will make you love them, too.

WARNINGS: contains some mentions of drug addiction and alcoholism, including a relatively graphic description of an overdose. Also, don't start reading unless you have a lot of time to spare. It took me about a week to finish, and I was good for nothing else until I did.

Hit

Fandom: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: None
Length: series of 5 vignettes each between 1000 and 3000 words
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2244444/Avirra
Why this must be read: Telling a story with nothing more than the characters' spoken words and surrounding environmental sounds can be a challenge. However, the author pulls off the feat beautifully here. The guys sound like the guys, the situations are wonderfully illustrated without exposition, and everything just works perfectly in tandem.

Any excerpts would just spoil the feel of discovery with this series, so simply read and enjoy. (THE 'MISTAKEN IDENTITY' AFFAIR is my personal favorite.)

The 'Heaven and Hell' Affair
The 'Not Again' Affair
The 'Cold' Affair
The 'Mistaken Identity' Affair
The 'Hospital' Affair

Hey there! I'll be driving the anime/manga van for Petshop of Horrors this month. The fandom hasn't been recced since 2008, so if you're interested, you may want to re-familiarise yourself with the overview. Most of my recs are going to be from the original run, since there doesn't seem to be anywhere near as much fic for PSOH: Tokyo. (And who knows if we'll get to read the end of it, now Tokyopop's gone under?) Anyway, on with the recs! To kick things off, here's a really old one.


Fandom: Petshop of Horrors
Pairing: Leon/D, D/OC
Length: ~22,000 words
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: FFN profile
Warnings: Uses the real historical events of WWII as a backdrop, including the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during the war. The opening scene could be read as dub-con.
Why this must be read:

( Spoilers ahoy! )

End of the Beginning

Hi, Bluewolf458 here again with what I hope are some stories that you like as much as I do. First off -

Chosen by WendyK

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Length: 14280 words
Author on LJ: Not known
Author Website: http://www.852prospect.org/archive/
Why this must be read: - Each year for at least a millenium one of the best of the inhabitants of Atlantis was chosen to become a sacrifice to the Goddess. For a year, the Chosen was nurtured, guarded, and protected by the 'Blessed Protector'. James has been Blessed Protector for fourteen Chosen; on the fifteenth year it was announced that the Chosen was the much-loved Prince Blair, nephew of the King.

And James finds himself asking questions. Asking if it is really in the interests of the land for the best of its inhabitants to die...

WendyK has built up an interesting and convincing world in a story that is a damning indictment of what can happen when a society is ruled by tradition.


Chosen

Hello! My name is cloudtrader and it is my honor to drive the Highlander van this month. I've gotten permission from the mods to do a little something different for my turn at the wheel, too. Highlander is the little black dress of fanfic... you can basically fit it into just about ANY fandom there is. In fact, I kinda don't consider a fandom to be mature until people have written a crossover with Highlander for it. So this month I'm going to feature exclusively Highlander crossovers!



Fandom: HIGHLANDER/Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman/Batman (comics)
Pairing: Clark Kent/Lois Lane
Length: 22,153 words
Author on LJ: ffutures
Author Website: Marcus Rowland's work archived on AO3
Why this must be read:

Nine Lives was written awhile back, but that's okay, all of the fandoms involved are pretty old, too. Lois & Clark was a delightful and still beloved version of the DCU for me and in this story we get to look back at the 1990's from a future perspective (I love the line about Lois wondering what eBay is). This gives the story a nostalgic feeling, but don't worry, the pacing and action of the story put you right into it. This is a very plot-driven story where you as the reader take a ride with the characters to try and solve the mystery centered around headless bodies, a Toledo Salamanca sword up for auction being bid on by powerful elites like Bruce Wayne, and a conspiracy between a newspaper social reporter and those same powerful elites. You know more than Lois and Clark do, but you still have to work out the intricacies of what is happening with them. I found the characterizations and motivations of the entire cast of this story, original characters included, very compelling. The resolution of the story fits well with all the universes involved, too. This is a fun romp and an excellent read.


Nine Lives by Marcus L. Rowland

Hi, I'm valderys and I'll be driving the Merlin van for this month. I'm a massive Merlin/Arthur shipper so I'm afraid most of my recs will be this pairing - it will also heavily feature AUs as I'm enormously fond of them too. With that off my chest, on to the recs!

Fandom: MERLIN
Pairing: Merlin/Arthur
Length: 24,576
Warnings: Age difference
Author on LJ: suntipped
Author Website: On lj
Why this must be read:

I'm starting out this with this particular gem because it typifies a lot I love about Merlin/Arthur. In this modern AU Merlin is Arthur's best friend's younger brother. Arthur is massively repressed and struggling to express the overwhelming feelings he's developing for Merlin, who is tenacious and loyal and brattish and utterly heartbreaking. Actually, they both are, come to think about it :) But that is one of my favourite things, that punch you get under the breastbone from the best fic - before the happy ending, of course. This is one of the greats, imho. It makes me wish I had a pillow to hug all the way through...

Where I End and You Begin (The Sky is Falling In)

Hello, my name is Nancys_soul and I'll be your crackvan driver for the month of September. I'm excited to take you on a Starsky and Hutch trip that will be fun and entertaining, I guarantee you. So buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Fandom:STARSKY AND HUTCH
Pairing:Starsky and Hutch
Length:one shot
Author on LJ:smudley
Author Website:http://www.starskyhutcharchive.net/index.php


Why this must be read: KAM wrote it, enough said! But I'll tell you the story takes place after Starsky is given the clearance that sex is ok, after being shot by Gunther. The guys have figured out that they're IN LOVE, but all they've been able to do is Kiss. Can you guess what happens next? No one can write M/M sex and make you laugh and hot at the same time like KAM

A touch of pink livened up Hutch's cheeks, and he halfway smiled. "Yeah, I do. I just--I guess I wondered if...hell, Starsky, even a man who doesn't go for peanut butter can work up an appetite for PB&Js when that's all--"

"Stop!" Starsky snapped, then softened the yell with a smile of his own. "If that's a joke, your sense of humor's more twisted than I thought. If it's not a joke, then I can't figure out whether you're saying I'm a big user or just pathetic, and where does that leave you?"

"It was neither; I mean, I meant neither. I--Oh, for God's sake." Hutch left his perch on the sofa and took Starsky into his arms.

Clearance

Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Pairing: Ten/Jack/Rose, but the central characters in this fic are really Donna and human!Ten
Length: ~10k
Author on LJ: canaana; her master list is here.
Author Website: Canaan on AO3
Why this must be read:

This is a rewrite of the ending of the season four finale Journey's End in which Donna does not accept that she'll have to lose everything she learned and tries to find a different way to solve the metacrisis. But that's even harder than it sounds.

canaana handles the rather large cast of characters (Donna, 10.5, Ten/Jack/Rose, Martha, Jackie, Mickey) extremely well – everyone's voice, emotions, and actions are spot-on. Her prose is beautiful, and the fic is a delicate mixture of angst, humor, and adventure. Furthermore, the ending is very satisfying – much more so than what we got in canon – and yet this is so much more than a "fix-it fic."

The Sea Maid, Rewritten

Hello! I’m Helen hsv_fangirl back with more Star
Wars recs featuring Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan.

Fandom: STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE
Pairing: Qui-Gon Jinn/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Length: Novella
Author on LJ: N/A
Author Website: N/A but her stories can be found here: Master and Apprentice
and: Kugeljedi Temple
Why this must be read: Qui-Gon’s decision to train Anakin
forces Obi-Wan to make a painful decision of his own. Angst and drama are
plentiful here in this alternate re-telling of TPM. Beautifully written,
thoughtful, long and satisfying. One of Qor Ynn’s best.

Excerpt:
But Obi-Wan just couldn’t shake the feeling of dread; in fact it only got
stronger. His flash right now while tapping into the Force confirmed the
source of his disquiet right inside that all-connecting-power, the itch in
the back of his mind warning him of something hovering behind them, ready to
strike.

And the boy from Tatooine was the reason, the hub, the eye of the storm.

He blinked up at Qui-Gon and saw him lost in thought, oblivious to his
padawan’s turmoil. The warm red light illuminated the older man’s face,
rinsing out shadows and lines and Obi-Wan’s heart twitched again,
whispering: How I love you; and the feeling was agony. As if he had heard,
his master turned to him and his soft eyes locked with Obi-Wan’s. But
whatever Qui-Gon saw in the younger man’s features it obviously wasn’t the
naked love and boundless devotion Obi-Wan felt.

“You still have much to learn, my young Apprentice.”



Walking on Broken Glass