Fandom: INCEPTION
Title: I set a fire (just to see what it kills)
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Length: 23,030
Author on LJ: pprfaith
Author Website: masterlists of fics on author's journal
Why this must be read:

(Permission to touch skin is not permission to get under it.)

This fic astonished me and just about everyone who's read it, I think. It knocked the wind out of me, stayed with me for days, and had me eager to discuss it with anyone who was as blown away as I was: reading and rereading parts, obsessing over Arthur and Eames and their gradual exhausting inward pull together. This is a story that combines at least 3 tried-and-true fandom tropes: the one where Arthur and Eames' relationship is a slow burn that lasts years, even decades; the one where they have a shared military background; and the one where one or both of them have revealing tattoos that tell us more about their lives and provide a gateway to intimacy. All of these tropes are well-trodden, but in this fic they unite to create something that feels totally fresh and unique. When military backstories are written well, they imbue the A/E dynamic with a lasting tension and mutual understanding that girds all of their interactions from then on--and this one is. As for the tattoos, well--they take on a meaning here that's unforgettable. Arthur himself is a force of nature, deadly and furious and unstoppable, and it's so easy to be swept away in him along with Eames.

Smart, thorough, and gripping from start to finish, this fic made me excited all over again for the possibilities in this fandom, and all the many ways we still have to explore the universe and the characters of Inception. Read it, read it, read it. It's amazing.

( And because he likes Arthur best off balance, he raises his left hand, shapes a gun, puts it against Arthur’s temple and says, 'Bam.' )

I set a fire (just to see what it kills)

P.S. Since it's crossover week, I can't go without mentioning that pprfaith also has written an incredible Avengers/Inception xover where Arthur and Natasha (Black Widow) are siblings. You might have seen it, oh, recced everywhere lately. ;)

Fandom:STARSKY AND HUTCH
Pairing:M/M,M/F
Length:20371 words
Author on LJ:Unknown
Author Website:http://archiveofourown.org/works/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query%5Btext%5D=Jen+Hall

Why this must be read: I loved this story so much, it's just so smartly written. It takes place after the hit on Starsky by Gunther, he's all healed and ready to start his first day back on the job, but as soon as he's through the doors, they are confronted by a new case. There's a serial killer on the loose and they need Starsky to go undercover. Hutch isn't happy about it. It's sounds like your typical SH story, but this one has a twist and a turn, and catch to it.

Starsky headed for the office, Hutch following.

'No, not you, Hutchinson,' Dobey protested. 'We want to talk to your partner alone for now.'
( Read more... )

Fandom: INCEPTION / Calvin & Hobbes
Title: Lions and Tigers; The Physiological Response to Absurdity (The Incurable Weirdness Series)
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Length: about 14k in total
Author on LJ: starlingthefool
Author Website: Author's works at AO3; masterlist of (earlier) fics on author's journal
Why this must be read: Of all the amazing fics starlingthefool has written in this fandom, this one (along with the tattoo parlor AU) sits at the top of my list. In this fic, as in all the best crossovers, Starling manages to take a completely unexpected premise and run with it until it fits so naturally into the universe, it seems like a foregone conclusion all along. Starling makes Calvin Eames so plausible and real and heartbreaking, without trading in one iota of characterization from either canon, that the idea of Eames having grown up in Ohio with a giant stuffed tiger for a best friend seems totally canonical. The results are fascinating and charming and--in keeping with all the best Calvin & Hobbes fics--more than a little poignant, heartbreaking, and profound. Arthur having hesitant conversations with Hobbes will melt you into puddles of feelings, and the sequel from Eames' POV might actually find you weeping joyfully into your hankies, as Hobbes helps him reconcile with his past and deal with the terrifying process of falling in love.


( a tiger; massive, lithe, striped orange and black in great big fuck-off stripes, paw frozen in the act of stepping towards him, green eyes fixed on Arthur's. )

Incurable Weirdness: Lions and Tigers; The Physiological Response to Absurdity

It’s time for Crack Van Collision!

This story is part of Unpublished Writer’s Spectra Series (it follows the last one recced in that post), but it can be read and enjoyed all on its own.

Fandom: Battle of The Planets/Law And Order: Special Victims Unit
Characters: Chief Anderson, the G-Force team, Zoltar, Mala, Dr. George Huang, Olivia Benson, various other characters.
Pairing: None
Length: 36809 words.
Warnings: Adult situations, explicit material, Mature Content, Sexual Situations, Strong Language, Torture.
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Unpublished Writer on the Gatchaman Fanfic Archive
Why this must be read: Chief Anderson has been captured by Mala, who chains him to a bed and publically rapes/tortures/humiliates him. After his rescue by G-Force, Dr. Huang and Olivia Benson are sent to help the team and the Chief pick up the pieces. It’s a harrowing fic, and the Law And Order: SVU characters fit into it perfectly, much to my surprise.

Due to the adult nature of this story, registration at that site is required before you can read it. Sorry for the inconvenience!

If you cannot register, you can download the entire story as a .zip archive here. I saved each chapter as a .pdf file. Please let me know if you have any problems!

Mala’s Game

There is a prequel fic to this, but it’s not really necessary to read it in order to enjoy the story: Condor In Love Word Count: 1348 Rating: PG-13 (Slash)

Enjoy! :D

Collision day!! (When crossovers are allowed/encouraged without counting towards the monthly total of recs.)

It was a very small collision with just a scratch and the two fandoms have politely exchanged insurance details. They also have a police incident number (Sam insisted) although nobody was hurt.


Fandoms: THE PROFESSIONALS/LIFE ON MARS
Pairings: Bodie/Sam, Bodie/Doyle, Gene/Sam
Length: 3591 words
Author on LJ draycevixen
Author website/archives Draycevixen
Why this must be read: This is a short and amusing crossover. The two shows cover a similar period, both in UK, so the idea of the guys meeting is perhaps inevitable but the startling thing here is that Sam ‘remembers’ the TV show of Pros... Everyone ends up with the right partner and even an Indian meal. There is a small prequel/sequel ficlet (294 words) called Sammy’s Crush, all written in dialogue between Sam and Gene which is worth reading after the main fic, even for Pros fans. Draycevixen tells us in the comments on the Hatstand version (Three Men Walk Into A Bar) of the longer fic that: John Simm said during an interview that he modelled Sam's look and haircut on Bodie. A collision of real and fictional worlds as well as of fandoms!



Three Men Walk Into A Bar

Sammy’s Crush

Fandom: COMMUNITY
Pairing: Ensemble
Length: 5559 words
Author on LJ: htbthomas
Author's Website: At LJ, At AO3
Why this must be read: This story reads exactly like one of the show's parody episodes. Britta bumps her head in the library and ends up as Dorothy in the Wizard of Greendalia, traveling to the Emerald College and hilariously meeting up with everybody you'd expect, in just the perfect roles (because of course the Dean would be obsessed with Britta's shoes).

Riddle and Rhyme (The Yellow Brick Road remix)

Why this must be read: This is quite simply a delight from beginning to end. The costume selections are brilliant, the characterizations is spot-on and just the idea of Tony Stark and Harvey Specter facing off makes me giddy.

In a nutshell, Tony is at his new home in New York hosting a big Halloween party and Jessica wants Harvey to sign him to the firm. Mike manages to convince Harvey to take him as his plus one. Once they arrive, Harvey notices that Tony and Steve are a couple and decides that's his in with Stark and easily convinces Mike to pretend he's his date for the evening. The sparks inevitably begin to fly.

It's just a fun ride full of snappy dialogue that never fails to make me smile. Don't you deserve to treat yourself to a smile too?

( A tiny taster... )

Special Hell

Fandom: THE LORD OF THE RINGS/DOCTOR WHO (and kinda RPF?)
Pairing: Arwen/Aragorn, Éowyn/Faramir
Length: 12,844 words
Author on LJ: torn_eledhwen
Author Website: on AO3
Why this must be read:
Because the Doctor kidnaps (as he is wont to do) a young soldier named Ronald Tolkien from the trenches of World War I and takes him to visit another world... a world named Arda and a kingdom named Gondor where the people are getting used to their new king and recovering from a desperate war...

Highly enjoyable crossover. ^_^

Through the rain curtain by Eledhwen

Look! Both crossover recs I'm making for both fandoms I'm driving this month happen to be crossing over with the Doctor Who universe! Which I recommended here just a few months ago~!

Fandom: SHERLOCK/TORCHWOOD
Pairing: John Watson/everyone who is willing with a pulse, Jack Harkness/everyone EXCEPT John's conquests, John Watson/Sherlock Holmes, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Length: 5,612 words
Author on LJ: cyerus
Author Website: on AO3, on LJ
Why this must be read:
This author writes FANTASTIC crack. No, really, don't just read this one, read the others by cyerus, too. I was all set to recommend the story where John is a bomb detection dog turned human or the one where John and Lestrade have an Epic Bromance(tm), but then Crack Van Collisions Day came along and I realized that this story NEEDED to be recommended. This story is funny and awesome. John Watson? Yeah, he's Jack Harkness's son. LOL Certainly explains the whole John "Three Continents" Watson thing that fandom has embraced, eh? Also, pheromones.

Captain John Watson, Genetics, and Other Crazy Things by cyerus
alternate link to the story

Okay, it's collision time today, and I must have driven the NCIS crack van way too fast without looking where I was going, because I collided with a fandom that...nobody probably thought would be possible to write a crossover with. Which makes the whole thing even more awesome.

Fandom: NCIS/The Simpsons
Pairing: hinted at Ziva David/Ned Flanders and Jenny Shepard/Seymour Skinner
Length: about 2,000
Author on LJ: unknown
Author website/archives: NFA
Why this must be read: This has got to be one of the crackiest stories I've ever read, and it's so hilariously funny, you'll laugh until you cry. The premise is, obviously, completely ridiculous: Ziva and Jenny having to deal with Ned Flanders and Seymour Skinner from The Simpsons as their respective Valentine's Day dates...and yet, that's why it actually works! Go ahead and give this fic a try -- I dare you! *g*

(Blind Diddly Date)

Fandom: Bandom/Stargate Atlantis
Pairing: Spencer Smith/Brendon Urie, Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz, Bob Bryar/Joe Trohman, Ryan Ross/Jon Walker, Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Maja Ivarsson/Ray Toro, Victoria Asher/Jesse Lacey, William Beckett/Gabe Saporta, Alex DeLeon/Alex Johnson, Mike Carden/Kevin Jonas
Length: 102,287
Author on LJ: skoosiepants
Author Website: Pants to Match
Why this must be read:

Do you know what today is? It's Rex Manning Day! Crossover Day! My favourite day of the month for crack_van. And Bandom is just a mix match of crossovers, mostly in itself with various bandom boys going all over the place.

But not today! Today Bandom has been Crossovered [is that even a word?!?! It is now! ;)] with Stargate Atlantis!

There are 9 stories in this series and while the series is not complete, the stories are and can be read on their own. But this entire series, it's like Bandom exploded!

How can you not enjoy bandom boys out in outer space? There's aliens, getting zapped by alien tech, body switching and even getting changed into a giant cat! And that's only the tip of the iceberg!

Give it a read, enjoy the stories and you won't be disappointed.

( Excerpt )

Supersaturation 'Verse