Fandom: INCEPTION
Title: The Labyrinth - PG-13
Pairing: Gen
Length: about 10,000 words
Author on LJ: eustacia_vye28
Author Website: masterlist of fic on author's LJ
Why this must be read: My friends and I have been talking about a House of Leaves/Inception crossover since about 2 seconds after we all saw the movie, and we were enthralled when we finally got our wish. If you're familiar with Mark Danielewski's meta-textual postmodern horror masterpiece, then you know how well the stories of Inception and The Navidson Record fit together. You also know exactly both how unbelievably cool and how incredibly difficult such a crossover would be to pull off--for reasons both literary and stylistic.

Eustacia Vye has more than pulled it off. In this fic, she's managed to weave the insidious, permeating dread of the house, with its ever-expanding layers and endless mazes, seamlessly into the world of the dreamscape--with Ariadne as the leader of her team, the only one who can help them escape the minotaur. Just as in House, the textual effects spiral out of control along with the plot. Along with innumerable horrors, numerous formatting tricks lie in wait for you in this fic, including textual codes, meta-references, subliminal hovertext, and more.

Even if you're not familiar with House of Leaves, "The Labyrinth" is a mesmerizing experience. This fic is an amazing feat of worldbuilding, suspense, and meta that everyone should read.


( The darkness around them seemed hungry and waiting. Eames was the only one afraid. )

The Labyrinth

This is my last recommendation this month. It's been quite a riding, driving two vans -- I hope that I've done okay with both The Lord of the Rings and Sherlock this month and that you've enjoyed at least some of the stories I've recommended.

Fandom: THE LORD OF THE RINGS
Pairing: Legolas/Gimli
Length: 11,961 words
Author on LJ: cimness, but the journal is no longer in use and cimorene can now be found on DreamWidth at cimorene
Author Website: cimorene's sordid fancy, on AO3
Why this must be read:
Cimorene has been recommended here before, for good reason. This is a nostalgic fic for me, and one that I've loved to read for a decade. The story is set in Lothlórien, while the Fellowship recovers from Moria and the loss of Gandalf.

Lovely interlude where Legolas broods on his affections for Gimli and finally decides to act.

Promise by cimorene

It's been fun, but it's time to turn the wheel over to the next driver. I leave you with this month's video rec, which is a cross-over between Man From UNCLE and Mission Impossible

Vidder: dearratboy
Musical artist: Was (Not Was) - "Spy in the House of Love" 
Pairing: Napoleon Solo, Illya Kuryakin, Cinnamon Carter and Rollin Hand
Vidder on LJ: drworm
Vidder's website: dearratboy's channel

Why this vid kicks ass: This snappy video mixes short clips from the two spy shows of the sixties. It's fast-paced and the montage flows together really well. For example, we may go from a shot of a woman removing her stocking for Napoleon and Illya to a shot of Cinnamon Carter's stocking-clad leg. 

Spies n the House

Fandom: INCEPTION
Title: the new world order (pinboard cache); public mirror here
Pairing: Arthur/Ariadne/Eames and all the permutations thereof
Length: 7,070 words
Author on LJ: vinylroad
Author Website: N/A at the moment - some fics on AO3; with the author's permission some inception fics have been mirrored here
Why this must be read: Calling this fic a head trip is like calling Inception mildly complicated. Slow, inexorable, inevitable, awful, incredible, Vinylroad's writing weaves layers of reality and fantasy and Arthur and Eames and Ariadne over and over each other in permutations that wrap around your heart and just squeeze. It's an unforgettable, irresistible mindfuck, one I've been carrying around with me since the first time I read this fic. Told from Ariadne's POV after Inception, there are surprises and lingering questions here that will break your brain and leave you breathless with each readthrough. This is a total must-read.

( arthur won't fuck her inside their dreams. eames won't touch her outside of them. )

the new world order

Okay, before I run out of gas, I'd better drive back and hand over the keys to the NCIS crack_van. I did thoroughly enjoy taking another ride with you all, and I hope you found some old classics or maybe new favorites you liked.

Last but definitely not least I'm leaving you with one of my personal favorite stories, which I hope you'll enjoy just as much as I do whenever I re-read it! :)

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing: according to the author, it's Gibbs/Tony, though I'd categorize it as gen with heavy UST
Length: about 16,750 words
Author on LJ: little_ozzo
Author website/archives: unknown
Why this must be read: This story features a several of my favorite things: It focuses on the Gibbs & Tony dynamic/relationship. It's a "Five Times..." fic. It's a "what if" scenario explaining the Gibbs/Tony (or Gibbs & Tony, as it were) background in pretty inventive yet still very plausible ways. It features both Jackson Gibbs and Tony DiNozzo Senior. It's incredibly in character. It's charming and sweet and funny and angsty. And it proves once and for all that Gibbs and Tony were meant to be together (be it as lovers, friends, team mates, whatever)--Fate is on their side! :)

(Ginger Snaps)

Fandom: INCEPTION
Title: It's Automatic
Pairing: Arthur/Eames
Length: 5,164
Author on LJ: weatherfront
Author Website: author's fic journal
Why this must be read:

I began my month at CV with my favorite fic in this or any fandom. I'm ending it with my other favorite fic, version Arthur/Eames.

When I first recced Weatherfront I said her fics speak for themselves, and they do; the fics I've recced by her this month are a cross-section of her amazing abilities in worldbuilding, meta, and romance. This last one combines a bit of all three, but above all, it's the fic that encapsulates, in just 5,000 words, everything that I love about this pairing: their BAMFery, their push and pull with each other, their fear and hope and trepidation and fierce devotion to each other. Their faith in what they are together.

"It's Automatic" contains beautiful moments and imagery, and lines that are inscribed permanently on my heart. But even more, it contains fucking in a bathtub full of money a kind of active address to the whole fandom, with its fixation on this pairing that has managed to fuel endless amounts of creativity, speculation, and love for the last two years. It's a sort of template for how to believe, how to throw caution to the wind and love recklessly, fully. "I may not be any good for you, but I'll promise I'll be worth your time," says Arthur--and that's the voice of the OTP addressing all of us shippers, clutching our hearts the way Eames clutches his Taiwanese metro token.

It's Automatic
__________________________
If you want more inception recs:
- Mementis' rare slash recs are a great source of non-A/E recs: Part 1 and Part 2, as her inception tag generally is for Arthur/Eames
- I am the last person to go to for Cobb/Arthur recs, but if that's your thing, aliunde_recs has a whole slew of them
- I have like 1,200 or so on my pinboard account
- Phenylic's enormous Arthur/Eames rec list currently has over 600 fics
- All of the rec lists mentioned in Lacey's crack_van Inception overview are great

Thanks for letting me drive the Inception van this month (like Yusuf! :D)! I had a blast.

Hello, all!

I’m going to have to turn in my keys soon, so I wanted to end on a humorous note.

Fandom: Battle of The Planets
Characters: G-Force, Chief Anderson, others.
Pairing: None
Length: 3000 words
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author Website: Jane Lebak on the Gatchaman Fanfic Archive
Why this must be read: Mark, Jason, and Tiny can’t agree on pizza toppings. So they decide to settle it with a contest: whoever can get Anderson to say “I have never been so mortified in my life!” gets to choose the toppings. Hilarity ensues!

( Eventually, the Chief had to keep the door to his office shut. )

Monstermech Pizza $9.95!!

Enjoy! :D

Well, as I hand in my keys for this month, I hope you've all enjoyed the recs. Whoever is reccing for June, that dent in the bumper, totally not me. ;)

Fandom: BANDOM
Pairing: Mike Carden/Michael Guy Chislett/Naomi Chislett * Sisky/Butcher
Length: N/A
Author on LJ: colouredmango & sullen_hearts
Author Website: Sullen Hearts Fic is archived at likeitscool
Why this must be read:
There was a point in The Academy Is... history where the bassist, Adam T. Siska AKA Sisky, hurt his finger and had to have surgery on it. He ended up recovering, but this fic explores the 'what if he didn't recover'.

The band ends up going their seperate ways and Mike ends up in one of Michael Guy's many bands.

This fic is a wonderful read, it explores a threesome relationship and finding your way.

( Excerpt Here )

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