Fandom: SUPERNATURAL
Pairing: Castiel/Dean, refs to Alastair/Dean (sorta)
Length: ~10,500 words
Author on LJ: architeuthis
Author Website: Architeuthis on Dreamwidth
Warnings: Wangst. Language. Violence. Consensual power exchange. Moderate-core S&M, including light CBT and brief, incidental breath play. References to actual torture; references to past threats of rape. Schmoopy aftercare. In roughly that order.
Why this must be read:

I apologize for my extremely late and short lap in the Impala this month — it’s crunch time at work, plus I had to deal with a loss in the family.

This astounding fic is set soon after 4.16, “On the Head of a Pin” (in which Dean interrogates Alastair, the demon who was his (tor)mentor in Hell), and prefigures 5.18, “Point of No Return” (in which Dean learns that you do not want to piss off the nerd angels). I like to think this is how the latter episode might have played out if Supernatural were on HBO instead of the CW.

( “What is this?” he asked again, holding Dean down with one hand and running the other across Dean's hairline and down the side of his face, half rough, half tender. “Is this a mercy, Dean?” )

This immediately became one of my favorite SPN fics. The writing is sharp and vivid, whether it’s describing the desolate desert road where the story opens or the tangle of fury, guilt, and need in Dean’s head. I also like how this story addresses the fact that Dean has actually spent more time in Hell than on Earth; architeuthis put a lot of thought (probably more than the show’s writers) into how that might affect Dean, and the problems he would have readjusting to human life. And lest I forget, the sex is incredible; possibly the only thing better is the conversation, both during and after, as Castiel and Dean figure out what they can ask for and expect from each other.

“Except Thou Bless Me” on Livejournal and Dreamwidth.

this is my last fic rec for crack_van! it's been a blast, thank you to the comm for giving me the chance to do this!

Fandom: FOOTBALL (SOCCER) RPF
Pairing: Zlatan Ibrahimović/Paolo Maldini/Alessandro Nesta, Alberto Gilardino/Gianluigi Buffon, Luís Figo/Zinedine Zidane, David Villa/David Silva
Length: multiple novel-length installments
Author on LJ: guede_mazaka
Author Website: Tangible Schizophrenia
Why this must be read: it's my favorite footie fic. Possibly my favorite fic of all time. It's hilarious, it's moving, it has a brilliant plot and even more brilliant characters, and it takes the "angels and demons" premise and somehow makes it not cheesy. Really. (Mostly.) Just read it.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Fandom:STARSKY AND HUTCH
Pairing:Starsky/Hutch
Length:one shot
Author on LJ:kassidy62
Author Website:http://kassidy62.livejournal.com/71129.html

Why this must be read: This story is so fun, it just has to be read. It's set during MOONSHINE, right after Hutch and Mr. Drunk As Hell Starsky leave the bar. This is one HOT story!

His head rolled over my lap and his face pressed into my stomach and nuzzled in. He snickered, voice muffled from the moonshine and my shirt, and I grinned down at him—just something about that muzzy little laugh of his. I put the car in drive and pulled away fast, a cloud of dust and light rising around and then behind us in the dirt parking lot. The road slipped under the wheels in a gray blur as I sped up.

“Dancin’, goin’ dancin’,” he sang tunelessly into my stomach, and kept singing.

I shook my head—yeah, right. The only fancy steps he’d be taking in the next few hours would involve a fast scramble to the nearest toilet bowl. I mean, yeah, I’ve seen him dance drunk before, but this—

He squinted up at me. “Hey, I can see up your nose. D’ya know it?”

“Moron.” Sometimes it’s the only word that’ll do. I looked down at the moron in question. My partner’s eyes were reddened and half-shut in the bright, hot light of the afternoon and a silly-ass grin decorated his face.

“Looks clean as a whistle from here,” he said.

“I’m relieved. I was wondering.”

“You were—” he began, his brow wrinkled in a frown that changed like lightning as a big grin spread over his face. “That’s funny, Hutch—ha! Good one,” and he snickered some more, admiringly, as if I were maybe Steve Martin cat juggling. (Starsk thinks Steve is the future of comedy. I think he’s the end of it.) He struggled to get up on an elbow, the upholstery crinkling as he dug in, and somehow his face ended up pushing deeper into my stomach.

Wild Kingdom

Well, this is my last rec except for the vid rec tomorrow. . . this has been great fun, not having to stop for red lights nor pedestrians. I figure I must be leading the parade . . . there have been those blinking red lights following me, can't catch me though. . .

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Length: 6750 word count
Author on LJ: n/a
Author Website: http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/18/bulletwith.html
Why this must be read: JGL captures the feel of the show with a minimum amount of words. Most all readers will find their Bodie and Doyle on the page. It's in a look, a gesture, the voice, all the layers our lads have can be found. Best of all, one can't wait to see where it all goes.


( Excerpt: This shows their character in a paragraph – brilliant work. )


Bullet With Your Name

Fandom: STARGATE ATLANTIS
Pairing: Gen; John Sheppard, Acastus Kolya
Length: 2,355
Author on LJ: abyssinia4077
Author Website: Masterlist of Fanfiction
Why this must be read:

Because this piece feels so gut-wrenchingly real; there are no easy answers and you can't help but feel for John in all of these possible alternate universes that the author shows. This story is so perfectly structured, and is a wonderful exploration of the shades of gray during war.

The Air Force had taught John the proper way to fold his sheets, the importance of early morning runs, and the awesomeness of flying at two hundred miles per hour. But the most important lesson it taught was that war wasn't personal. A soldier didn't hate, didn't know the name of the soldiers he shot at, who shot at him. He was only a cog in a giant machine fighting for ideas, for countries. That was what made killing in war different from murder. It wasn't personal.

Like everything else, Pegasus had turned this idea topsy-turvy. Kolya taught John what it meant to be personal, and John had always been a quick learner.

Each Bullet Screams Your Name

Fandom: STARGATE SG-1
Pairing: Daniel/Vala
Length: ~2,300
Author on LJ: 6beforelunch
Author Website: N/A
Why this must be read:

Vala driving Daniel completely crazy is my favorite part of this pairing. This story is sweet and hilarious with a little bit of angst thrown in for good measure; it's an absolute much read.

"So."

Vala raised an eyebrow.

This had been so much easier the first time. Of course, the first time he hadn't actually had to do anything except sit there like an idiot and decide to let a scared woman sleep next to him to spare her a completely irrational societal chastisement. The falling in love part had come after and he'd thought that was the scary part.

This time he'd done the scary falling in love part only to find that this part was scary too.

Five Ways Daniel Proposed to Vala

Finishing up my month of The X-Files recs with a Friday Night Drive-in crossover vid from my current fandom. It's been fun, folks!

Vidder: KatrinDepp
Musical artist: Groove addicts - The beast at our door
Pairing: Ensemble
Vidder on LJ: katrindepp
Vidder's website: KatrinDepp on YouTube
Why this vid kicks ass:
The House MD episode "Cane and Able" had all the hallmarks of an X-Files episode minus Mulder and Scully, so it was only natural for someone to create a crossover vid. And since KatrinDepp made it, it's practically seamless and really cool.

Resist or Serve - streaming on YouTube

Fandom: Petshop of Horrors
Pairing: Leon/D
Length: ~10,000 words
Author on LJ: rexluscus
Author Website: Author's fic at AO3.
Warnings: Transphobic language.
Why this must be read: Because rexluscus's Count D is one of the most convincingly non-human I've ever seen in fic, and Leon is just as emotionally incompetent and prone to foot-in-mouth disease as you'd expect, and they miscommunicate something awful, and their relationship is complicated and thorny and downright nasty at times. But, reading this, I still ended up rooting for them to work it out.

This series doesn't shy away from portraying the characters warts-and-all (D's contempt for and occasional incomprehension of human emotion, for example, are doubly infuriating because of his conviction that he knows it all), and does so with biting black humour. It's no downer, though; the rays of hope that do appear are all the more precious because they illuminate a realistically messy place.

( Excerpt )

Series Index