Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
length: 5,683
Author on LJ: miriam_heddy
Author's website: http://miriam.heddy.home.comcast.net/~miriam.heddy/
Why this must be read: Take this premise: – Jim is writing fantasy porn featuring Blair. Blair comes home drunk and catches him at it. Now that ought to be cracky smutty fluff but it isn't. This is Miriam Heddy and it's sharp, biting and edgy, smutty fluff. Read and enjoy!

writing off his clothes

Fandom: HOCKEY RPF
Pairing: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin
Length: 17,385 words
Author on LJ: oflights
Author Website: Author page on AO3
Why this must be read:
You should read this because these two dorks are awesome together. TBH, Sid seems lovably high maintenance, and Geno seems grounded enough to deal with his idiosyncrasies. This story is a good intro to Sid/Geno as a pairing, and it would work for readers new to hockey slash, as well. The Sid POV feels emotionally truthful, and the focus on hockey and lack of introspection yet acceptance of his own needs seem in character.

between your heart and mine

Fandom: WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE
Pairing: Station Management/Cecil Palmer (unresolved)
Length: 883 words
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: malacophilous on Tumblr; works on AO3
Notes: set during “Station Management” (ep. 3)
Why this must be read:

Because sometimes even Lovecraftian abominations need a little love.

The show was over. Cecil was huddled underneath his desk, microphone clutched tight, its cord wrapped several times round one perfectly ordinary hand. He held his breath, but wasn't very good at that and ended up letting it out in quiet little puffs, still trying to hold in as much as he could anyway.

Please don't, was the phrase which materialised in Cecil's mind, but not in the tone with which he usually thought. Please don't be, and then there was a sense-memory of a very young, small fear, the fear a child knows at the top of the tall slide at the playground for the first time, too scared to move forward but too embarrassed to admit defeat, climb down, and be laughed at by the other children. It was precisely not the sort of fear Cecil felt for Station Management, and the misunderstanding was disarmingly quaint, a creeps-up-on-you sort of charming.

'H-hello,' said Cecil, blanking on what else he should possibly say as he laid eyes on Station Management for the first time, possibly the only time anyone had. 'You don't look like what I had expected.'

“That Lies in Wait” on AO3

Fandom: HOCKEY RPF
Pairing: Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews
Length: 15,454 words
Author on LJ: svmadelyn
Author Website: Author page on AO3
Why this must be read:
Because I have no doubt that Patrick Sharp and his super hot, super mean wife are capable of a scheme this brilliant. *evil grin*

We Should Get Jerseys ('Cause We Make a Good Team)

Fandom: QUANTUM LEAP
Pairing: Sam and Al
Length: 4,000
Author on LJ: Author has regrettably passed away.
Author Website: Confessions of a Fannish Butterfly
Why this must be read:
As you're probably figured out by now, I'm extremely fond of h/c gen, and this one has the best of Al helping Sam cope with dire situations. The fic is short and sweet, and manages to hit all the right character notes for episodic gen. Plus is pretty scary in places, especially if you're afraid of water.

Thinking Inside the Box

Fandom: JUSTIFIED
Characters/Pairing: Ava Crowder/Boyd Crowder/Raylan Givens, Loretta McCready
Length: 17,840 words
Author on LJ: norgbelulah
Author Website: at AO3

Why this must be read: A Justified meets the zombie apocalypse fic needs no- er- justification.  I should mention that this isn't strictly an A.U., but rather a well thought out 'What if'- what if the next thing to happen to these characters was the end of the world- plus the undead?

It's a wonderful Loretta-centric fic, with some equally wonderful third party POV Ava/Boyd/Raylan development.  The author strikes the perfect mix of chilling horror and odd sweetness in this story, and never more so than with this OT3.  Because really, this is one of the happier endings they could reasonably expect.

The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree
  

Fandom: due South
Characters: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Length: 3,147 words
Author on LJ: http://spuffyduds.livejournal.com/
Author on AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/users/spuffyduds
Why this must be read: Because you will never read more perfect angst than this.

It was hard to choose which spuffyduds story to rec, but as I personally am incapable of writing anything other than schmaltzy happy endings (look, it's a coping mechanism, ok? I told you this already) I especially admire writers who can lay on the angst this effectively. And plausibly - if it isn't at least a little bit plausible, it doesn't stay with you, but this one? Whoa, is it ever plausible. Horribly, canon-perfectly plausible. I choose not to believe it because then I might cry - Ray and Fraser sled off into that sunrise and live happily ever after GODDAMMIT la la la I can't hear you if you try to tell me otherwise. But it's so heartbreakingly poignant and in character, and perfectly, brilliantly, insightfully, word-perfectly written (you will not find a heinous string of adjectives like THAT in this fic, that's for damn sure) that I had to share it here. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, OK? DON'T COME CRYING TO ME ABOUT HOW SAD THIS FIC IS.

(oh and I'm only allowed to rec one story but really you should read everything by Spuffyduds. Probably you have done already, but why don't you go and read it again, just to be on the safe side? I mean be honest, were you REALLY going to get anything done this evening anyway if you're here on LJ checking on the crack_van recs? Of course you weren't. And that's what I'm here for, to help you waste time in the best possible way!)

This is a story that I tell myself