Recent Entries 
15th-Sep-2009 10:18 pm The Sentinel/The Pretender (NC-17)
Title: The Sentinel of Peru by Elaine
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] cross_stitchery
Author Website: Elaine's stories on Artifact Storage Room 3
Why this must be read:

First things first - this is probably barely a crossover, more like a drive-by insertion, blink-and-you'll-miss-it nod to the characters of The Pretender fandom. But The Pretender universe forms a major and important part of the backstory of this AU, and for that reason (and also because it's so hard to find crossovers for TS that aren't SG-1 or Mag7) I'm reccing it for Crossover Day.

Elaine writes some of the best AUs I've ever read, and this is no exception. Blair Sandburg, doctor of anthropology, goes to Peru and, through a series of unfortunate events, finds himself a Sentinel, one who has been with the Chopec since he was a young child. Blair can hardly wait to tell the world about his discovery - because, surely, nothing could go wrong with that plan. Right?

I love this story for a lot of reasons, but first among them is that Elaine does a fabulous job writing a Jim Ellison who has a VERY different history than in the series, and yet her Jim is utterly recognizable as the Jim Ellison we know and love. She manages to find the essential aspects of Jim's character and bring them out, and at the same time recast them in a different light.

The Sentinel of Peru
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15th-Jan-2009 04:00 pm Shaped By Our Futures by astrogirl2 (G)
Fandom: DOCTOR WHO/THE PRETENDER
Pairing: None, characters are Jarod and Jenny
Length: ~250 words
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] astrogirl2
Author Website: Memories
Why this must be read: This is a short, but very sweet, look at Jarod and Jenny meeting up during an alien invasion.

Shaped By Our Futures
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28th-Feb-2007 09:29 pm Sleight of Hand by Athena (NC-17)
Fandom: LFN and The Pretender
Pairing: Madeline/Paul, Madeline/Ms. Parker
Author on lj: unknown
Author's website: unknown

Why this story must be read:

I missed the cross-over posting window, so I know this may be lost - but if I had to choose just one crossover to recommend, it would be this one. Athena captures so much of what I love about two wonderful women, Madeline and Ms. Parker, and then she tosses them together to see what happens.

Sleight of Hand
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31st-Dec-2006 07:58 am Chasing Cars by Ness (PG)
Fandom: The Pretender
Pairing: Jarod/Miss Parker
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] anr
Author Website: angstnromance.net
Why this must be read:

The relationship between Jarod and Miss Parker is always fraught with possibilities; with the thrill of the chase and Miss Parker's knowledge that he could leave at any time, that he only allows her to follow him.

This is what happens when he stops.

An Excerpt:

"Things are different now," she says. "It's no longer just you run, and I chase. Raines and Lyle have changed that."

He is silent for too long; she can hear him pacing. Finally, he says, "I'm not worried."

She is.



Chasing Cars
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29th-Dec-2006 09:58 pm VID REC: The Pretender - Sexy Back
Vidder: Stuck Here With No TV
Musical artist: Justin Timberlake
Pairing: Gen
Vidder on LJ: unknown
Vidder's website: unknown
Why this vid is awesome:

Because The Pretender is here on [livejournal.com profile] crack_van as a small fandom, I knew that the vid choice was important. This vid is the only one that will ever be recced here for The Pretender, and yet there are so many awesome vids to choose from. The problem was finding a vid that demonstrated many of what I feel are the important elements of The Pretender. The bizarre relationships, the wackiness of The Centre, and the underlying fun in every adventure were the things I thought were important in this single vid.

There are maybe two or three people currently making Pretender vids: I recommend every single one of Stuck Here With No TV's vids. This vidder has an amazing sense of timing, and always selects the best clips for the vids. As a result, picking just one vid was incredibly difficult, though I narrowed it down to two.


Sexy Back



If you're interested, the other one I really really wanted to rec was Everything About You, by the same vidder.
crack_van: (Default)
21st-Dec-2006 07:51 pm Little Girl Lost by Perri Smith and CL Kamnikar (PG)
Fandom: The Pretender
Pairing: Gen
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: seanachais

Why this must be read:

Years ago, 'the Centre steals their DNA and makes amazingly talented little Pretender babies' was an original, thought-provoking concept. Now it's a bit of a stock-standard cliche, but that doesn't stop some stories from taking this idea and shaping it so it's fun, interesting and thoughtful.

Little Girl Lost is a series of fics that split off from the Pretender canon after Flesh and Blood (3.08). It starts slow but it becomes a great gen, character-driven piece. Some of the turns of phrase are not as smooth as they could be, but in a piece this long and this fun, such minor quibbles can easily be overlooked in favour of the chase and the mystery.

an excerpt )


Little Girl Lost
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15th-Dec-2006 10:09 pm The Pretender/Desperate Housewives (R)
Title: Play Pretend
Pairing: Gen - Lyle.
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] melanie_anne
Author Website: on ff.net

Why this must be read:

I know there's not been an anouncement made but the fifteenth is almost over here, so I thought I should get this in.

Set after Island of the Haunted, Lyle hangs out on Wisteria Lane, and his sister pays him a visit. It's a really simple premise, assuming that Mr Lyle is Mike Delfino (both played by the same actor), and a really great look at the Parker-Lyle dynamic in a situation that is both different and yet the same.

an excerpt )


Play Pretend
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14th-Dec-2006 10:00 pm untitled by juliefortune (PG)
Fandom: The Pretender
Pairing: gen; Broots.
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] juliefortune
Author Website: n/a

Why this must be read:

I never rec untitled fic, and I rarely read it, but this is so brilliant that the lack must be overlooked. This is an amazing look at Broots and the people in his life: at the way he loves his daughter and the things he admires about Miss Parker. And it's about the things that people are willing to do for Broots because he's Broots.

It starts light-hearted but it ends serious and it's perfect Broots and brilliant Pretender.

If I were introducing a person to The Pretender for the first time, I would point them in this fic's direction and tell them to love Broots.

an excerpt (contains a spoiler for something that happens early in the fic) )


untitled
crack_van: (Default)
10th-Dec-2006 08:02 am Child's Play, by Ness (R)
Fandom: The Pretender
Pairing: Jarod/Miss Parker
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] anr
Author's Website: angstnromance.net

Why this must be read:

Ness has been writing Jarod and Parker for years, all about their sharp corners and the ways they clash, and always displays how fabulously they work together (when they both have the same goals in mind), even as they hate one another.

An Excerpt:

He's sitting on the floor in her kitchen when she gets home, his back against the pantry door.

"I swept," he says. "The house is clean."

"So domestic." Her suit is worth more than a small car; she doesn't join him on the floor.


Child's Play
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3rd-Dec-2006 09:05 pm Push the Bruise by zeplum (R)
Fandom: The Pretender
Pairing: Jarod/Miss Parker
Author on LJ: [livejournal.com profile] zeplum
Author Website: [livejournal.com profile] saintstreet

Why this must be read:

A recurring motif on The Pretender was always the competition between Miss Parker and Jarod, that race to finish first and to beat the other. This is often reflected in fiction by agressive sex and teasing, tantalising hints left behind. They want to work together but they're so used to fighting that they can't.

[livejournal.com profile] zeplum writes them hard against the wall and with their guns on the floor, and I thought that bruises in the places where no one can see was an appropriate spot to start this introduction to The Pretender.

an excerpt )



Push the Bruise
crack_van: (Default)
2nd-Dec-2006 06:55 pm fandom overview: the pretender
The Pretender ran from 1996 until 2001, encompassing four seasons and two tele movies. Its story arcs spanned episodes and months and years, and though the continuity could occasionally be choppy, you can still see hints of the first ever episode in the final episodes.

The premise of the show (and the opening title on the credits):

There are pretenders among us. Geniuses with the ability to be become anyone they want to be. In 1963 a corporation known as the Centre isolated a young pretender named Jarod and exploited his genius for their research.

And then one day, their Pretender ran away.


The Centre is a think tank filled with psychiatrists and geniuses and people with money. The Centre is a ruthless organisation made up of people who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals: perfect simulations, and perfect(ly controllable) young men and women.



The Centre wants him alive / Preferably )


Please note that this overview contains some spoilers.
crack_van: (Default)
15th-Jul-2005 09:26 am Wheel Has Spun by Kathe [G]
Fandom: BattleStar Galactica 2003 x The Pretender
Pairing: Miss Parker/Jarod
Author: [livejournal.com profile] zeplum
Author's Website: ladifreakingda.com
Why this must be read:

There's this way of writing in the new BSG fandom, where you take characters from another show and insert them into the BSG universe. Not by magic, no surprises, just as if they'd always inhabited it. And you weave the histories of the two shows together. And I LOVE this format. If I could, every rec I made this month would be a crossover.

Kathe does this so well. She weaves the history of The Centre, the conspiracies and the plots, as well as Miss Parker's personal history, into the post apocalyptic world of the Colonies so well. And just.

Wheel Has Spun
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