Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: Justin/Lance
Author on LJ: ukcalico
Author Website: Calico's Lair
Why this must be read:

Remember your first job? Probably some greasy spoon or fast food joint after school, serving up plastic burgers to the masses.

Remember your first crush? The heat, the fear, the carbonating hormones?

In Trial, Calico beatifully combines these. Lance signs on to deliver pizzas, and discovers the joys of overtime and Justin (which are not necessarily mutually exclusive). You can practically feel the grease and smell the sauce.

Trial (by grease and rubber)

Fandom: THE X-FILES
Pairing: Mulder/Krycek
Author on LJ: Not to my knowledge.
Author Website: Necessary Whispers
Why this must be read:

In the crack_van charter, one of the things the reccers are urged to share is the controversial fic, and that is exactly what I've got for you today. During my time in XF fandom, this is the one fic I remember as sparking the most heated debate. Personally, I came down on the negative side - I couldn't see Mulder acting the way he does here, and at the time, the idea was almost offensive to me. I wouldn't have bothered to care, though, if Wild Justice hadn't been an extremely good, well-written story. This is a powerful work, and like all powerful writing, it has the guts to rub you the wrong way, to challenge your preconceptions. Whatever your opinion of the choices in characterization, this is a story that will touch you, and that you will not forget.

Consumed with desire for revenge on his father's killer, Mulder makes a deal with the devil for the opportunity to take his hatred out on Krycek any way he sees fit. The result is a nightmare of violence and sexual abuse, and a mind-game that can leave no one unharmed in the end. Dark and unflinching, daring to be realistic about the lasting nature of psychological damage, this remains a controversial fandom classic.

Wild Justice

and, if you should want more, the sequel Divine Retribution.

Fandom: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
Pairing: Tara/Willow
Author on LJ: Not sure.
Author Website: http://gatefiction.com/hth/
Why this must be read:

This story was brought to my attention by a friend of mine, who said, "I know you're not much for canon Tara/Willow, but, no, really. Give this a try." Always attempting to be open to new things, I did.

Here on crack_van, we're encouraged to rec the controversial, the seminal, and the intro-to-fandom type stories, and, obligingly enough, "Twenty-Eight Days" is all three. It was written way back when Buffy was in its fourth season, and it follows the development of Willow and Tara's relationship--which the viewers didn't get to see much of at the time--from Tara's point of view. On this count, it's an intro-to-fandom, because back then we didn't know Tara very well. The character could have evolved in pretty much any direction, and Hth picked one as likely as any other.

Which brings us to the seminal and the controversial bits. The Tara in "Twenty-Eight Days" follows a path that would later be trodden by Evil Witchy Willow, and for very much the same reasons: love, protective instincts, and, of course, that most Hellish of paving materials--good intentions. I never enjoyed Willow's character arc of Descent Into Madness (TM), but Hth, using Tara's point of view (to me, a much more sympathetic character), makes it seem an easy, almost natural progression. This is no Saint!Tara, patron of many a schmoopfest. This is the story of someone who was tempted--and the story is made all the more universal because of it.

And, most impressively of all, there is Tara's wonderfully perceptive view of Willow:

Maybe there's a little tiny bit of something true--this would insult her--to the way that some people think she's rebelling, or being in a phase. The way she smiles that too-sharp, sickle-smart little smile, the one she gets whenever she wins something...or whenever she manages to surprise someone who thought they knew her. Maybe it's not women she loves, but getting something that no one expected her to get.


Twenty-Eight Days

Fandom: THE O.C.
Pairing: Ryan/Seth
Author on LJ: beingothrwrldly
Author Website: None
Why this must be read: Ribbon bondage. Ribbon bondage, people! Who needs more?

An excerpt:

Seth’s eyes widen further, and he tugs on his hands again. “I don’t know.”

“About what?” Ryan looks genuinely puzzled, and Seth squints at him.

“About...this?”

“The kissing and touching?” Ryan starts to move away, but Seth shakes his head emphatically.

“No,” he whimpers, and Ryan looks at him, a grin in his eyes. Seth has a fleeting image of himself, ribboned to the headboard of his bed, with Ryan straddling his waist. Naked. Somehow, it always comes back to being naked. Realization dawns in Seth’s eyes. “It’s starting to make sense,” he breathes.

Ryan smiles and nods slowly. “Ribbon is hot.”

“Yes. Yes, yes, it is.”



my fingers catch the sparks at the thought of touching you

Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Pairing: Duncan/Methos
Author on LJ: gryphonrhi
Author Website:Rhiannon's Eyrie
Why this must be read:

Methos is not a nice guy. No matter how adorable he looks, how kind he acts, how obviously he falls like a brick into love. Somewhere inside, he's got a whole lotta not nice. He's got his own rule book to play by, and civilization is just a veneer. And he really doesn't like it when some snot-nosed blackmailing kid endangers someone he loves.

This is the story where you can see a little bit past the façade he's built, to glimpse the Methos that truly exists underneath, to that lower tiered level. It's the light-handed touch with this story that makes it--Methos isn't a monster…except when he wants to be, and sometimes it is the things you don't see, tucked away, that make you realize how many other things are hiding out there in the darkness.

Note: This is an AU in the author's usual universe, but can be read by itself.

( 'Law of Averages' Sampler )

Law of Averages