Fandom: BANDOM (MCR)
Pairing: Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Lindsey Ballato/Gerard Way
Length: ~3500 words
Author on DW: theladysnarkydame
Author Website: snarkydame on AO3
Why this must be read: It's rare that you come across a story that's so unique and different that it blows your mind away. This is one of those stories. The prompt was post-apocalyptic or cyberpunk detective agency and the author chose to go with both to stunning effect.

Frank Iero is an AI living in a virtual world, the only world he's ever known. He takes great care to present the appearance of a film noir detective, and is more than willing to take on Gerard's missing persons case.

I love how theladysnarkydame weaves in little details and creates a lush, desperate universe. I would happily read more of the world she's created.

( Read more... )

Frank Iero, AI

Fandom: WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE
Pairing: Cecil/Carlos
Length: 8,160 words
Author on LJ: neveralarch
Author Website: works on AO3; Dreamwidth; Tumblr
Warnings: Mild body horror, swearing, explicit sex, and canon-typical weirdness.
Notes: D/s
Why this must be read:

This is one of a spate of fanfics posted in September/October 2013 featuring Cecil as a service top who decides that Carlos needs looking after. I picked this one to recommend because it seems seasonally appropriate, what with the leftovers and the big birds. Well, not exactly birds...

At some point Carlos promised Cecil that he wouldn't pull any more all-nighters. He agreed that all-nighters were a game for teenaged undergrads with a paper due and not for thirty-something researchers who had eight months left on their latest grant. The science would be there in the morning.

That was before the crane cough hit.

The crane cough wasn't deadly, not directly. You just started coughing, and then sprouting feathers, and then talons, and then you started trying to peck everyone who came near you with your brand-new beak. The fatalities were all pecking deaths.

Gripping as the race to find a cure for the epidemic is, what really grabbed me were the delicate negotiations between Cecil and Carlos, as they figure out how far Cecil can go and how much Carlos can take.

“Tupperware” on AO3

Fandom: due South
Characters: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, past Benton Fraser/Ray Vecchio
Length: 1,444 words
Author on LJ: http://hth-the-first.livejournal.com/
Author on AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/users/Hth
Why this must be read:

This is everything I look for in fanfic. A detail that takes you right to the heart of a character (two characters, in fact) and builds a whole life of loneliness around a throwaway detail because it's just that well-observed and psychologically convincing. And a bit of a knife in the heart at the same time - I wouldn't call this angst, exactly, but it's not happy, either. I need another word for loneliness so as not to repeat myself, but since there isn't one I'll just say that this bleeds loneliness. From RayK, ("Ray can't tell if the wildness in his voice is anger or sadness or -- or whatever you call that, that thing that you feel when your wife leaves you and you're completely alone and blaming yourself"), from Fraser, just - this picks a thread that illuminates everything important about Fraser and RayK. Need; jealousy; vulnerability; wanting to know somebody and for them to know you. Every word is poignant and perfect and I am once again piling up the adjectives so you should just read the fic and then I'll stop.

As he's in it

Vidder: tlabresh
Music: “Radioactive,” by Imagine Dragons
Length: 3:18
Vidder on LJ: unknown
Vidder's website: tlabresh on YouTube
Why this must be viewed:

How do you make fanvids for a podcast? One approach is to repurpose footage from other canons. This vidder has cleverly set clips from films (Thor, The 2nd Horseman, Constantine, Hellboy, The Lone Ranger, Dogma), television (Dead Like Me, Supernatural, Carlos,* The IT Crowd, Suits, Monty Python’s Flying Circus), and videogames (Dragon Age: Origins) to a cryptic yet catchy alternative rock song, thereby creating a trailer full of action, intimations of apocalypse, and black comedy.

* Carlos, or Carlos the Jackal, is listed on IMDb as a television miniseries, but it received a limited theatrical release.

Welcome to Night Vale Trailer on YouTube

Fandom: TEEN WOLF
Pairing: listed as one-sided Peter/Stiles, Peter/Lydia, & Peter/Isaac, but reads more the first pair imo
Length: 1107 words
Author on LJ: none, as far as I know
Author Website: http://archiveofourown.org/users/joanses/pseuds/deerie
Why this must be read:

First, I have to apologize for the ridiculously late start. I'm just now clear of a nasty sinus infection that led me to keep putting this off due to general misery. The upside is that I noticed a huge dearth of Peter Hale recs on crack_van and I am here to remedy that. I love Derek/Stiles as much as the next guy, but I am constantly frustrated by the challenge of finding well-written yet still enjoyable (to me) TW fics that revolve around a pairing that isn't that one. Aside from Stiles, Peter is my faaavorite -- which I'm sure says a lot about me. He's kinda like my TW Krycek (the little black dress). I'll read him paired up with pretty much anyone. I'm gonna have to spam you guys some with the TW recs, but it's all in the interest of not depriving you of a full quota.

On to the rec: "paint a vulgar picture" is a deceptively simple concept of Peter Hale dabbling in digital photography. Some cultures have feared the danger of the soul being captured by the camera lens, but it seems deerie manages the reverse (inverse?) as well here. Every time Peter takes another series of photos, more of his soul is revealed. "paint..." is a Peter POV, which is a POV I could happily exist in for a long time. I guess there's something wrong with me, 'cause I wasn't nearly as creeped out by his/her Peter as (s)he was, judging by the author notes. This was a beautifully (gorily, at times) written set of character studies of both Peter and the people he studies. There are fascinating pyschological insights sprinkled throughout that show how perceptive a creature Peter is. He may be arguably insane, but his insanity is a clear-eyed, self-aware kind that he is just as capable of aiming at himself as well as the world. Which makes him uniquely dangerous.

( Read more )

Fandom: LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD'S VORKOSIGAN SAGA
Pairing: Ivan Vorpatril/Byerly Vorrutyer
Length: 2.408 words
Author on LJ: cest_what
Author Website: Index of Fanworks on Dreamwidth
Why this must be read:
Ivan is everyone's favorite stalking goat for scandal in fandom, just as Miles is everyone's favorite for trouble. In this short gem, Byerly carries out a mission with unexpected consequences for them both. Lovely!

A Fine and Public Place by cest_what

Fandom: TEEN WOLF
Pairing: Chris Argent/Peter Hale
Length: 592 words
Author on LJ: none that I know of
Author Website: http://archiveofourown.org/users/postcardmystery/pseuds/postcardmystery
Why this must be read:

Chris Argent has become one of my favorite TW characters; every season he just gets more and more complex. It is fascinating to watch his ever-evolving, ever-shifting allegiances onscreen. Besides Allison, he's the only Argent with a true moral compass. It is that dark-but-honorable mentality that has always separated him from Kate, Gerard, and Victoria. "guns & drums" expresses these traits in a way that feels like Chris gradually coming to terms with who he is in his heart-of-hearts. Which leads to a fantastic, thrilling perspective on Peter. Peter and Chris rightly regard each other as the truly dangerous ones to watch out for, rather than the "kids" of Teen Wolf. A scarily competent, complex Chris Argent is in full force here, especially when slashed with Peter Hale. Basically, two great vicious tastes, that taste even better and more vicious together.

postcardmystery's fic has a rhythm that is almost poetic or musical, which is fitting, given the title. Its blunt, but not heartless style suits the Chris POV perfectly. I won't spoil the ending, but will just say it is delightfully fitting.

Read "guns & drums and guns & drums and the enemy never slew you":
You watch and you wait and you sharpen your axe, and if someone’s afraid of the big bad wolf, it sure as shit isn’t you.

Vidder: lastonthelist
Musical Artist: "Hysteria" by Muse
Length: 3:45
Vidder on LJ: unknown
Vidder's Website: on Youtube
Why this must be viewed:

I am biased when it comes to the features of this vid - I love Muse and I obviously love Fringe too, with the featured Season 3 that is the focus of this also being my favourite Fringe season too. Ultimately this vid feels like an action packed trailer for the season, the energy of the song fitting so well for the wonderful madness of everything the season packed into it. The lyrics too are very appropriate for the themes of the season - change, control, faith - and it feels like an emotional rollercoaster of a vid.

P.S. In case anyone is sensitive to it, there are many very fast cuts in this vid.

Hysteria

Fandom: WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE
Vidder: LyProductions5
Music: “This Is Halloween” cover by Panic! At the Disco
Length: 3:26
Vidder on LJ:
Vidder's website: thebronkel.tumblr.com; LyProductions5 on YouTube
Why this must be viewed:

Here’s another way to vid for a podcast: use fanart. In this case, dozens of fanworks expertly shot and edited together to a wonderful cover of a fantastically appropriate tune. This fanvid really captures the feel of Night Vale: jaunty, terrifying, and unexpectedly sweet.

“This Is Halloween” on You Tube

Fandom: WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE
Pairing: Cecil/Carlos, refs to Carlos/OMC
Length: 1,051 words
Author on LJ: almostnever
Author Website: cesare on Dreamwidth; codenamecesare on Tumblr; works on AO3
Warnings: Unsafe sex
Notes: Set sometime after “First Date”
Why this must be read:

This is an introspective, retrospective look at our favorite scientist that stretches from his adolescence to his life in Night Vale, and takes an amusing twist towards the end. I really like this version of Carlos, with his awkwardness, his stubbornness, his dedication to his work and his occasional lapses in judgement.

You received a scholarship to your first choice college and stuck with your books and your graphing calculator til a boy asked you if you wanted to hang out sometime, and then if you wanted to come over and watch a movie, and then if you'd mind if he put on some porn, and then if you wanted to trade handjobs. The experience retroactively clarified a lot of the nebulous conflicts of your adolescence.

The next few months saw every rushed shower of your teenage years paid back, and then some, as you discovered clubs and casual sex and codified your taste in porn. You almost endangered your scholarship (or so it felt at the time, though all that really happened was that you got your first ever C.) You caught two minor STDs despite your near clean-room levels of precaution in the bedroom, because you seemed to have some sort of odd mental block that made you forget that sex outside the bedroom also required protection.

“You Are In My Vision” on AO3 and on Tumblr

Fandom: WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE
Pairing: Cecil/Carlos
Length: 5 chapters, 21,611 words
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: on Tumblr; works on AO3
Warnings: Body horror, non-consensual body modification, hurt/comfort, bondage, third eye, clairvoyance, tentacle sex
Notes: set after “One Year Later (ep. 25)
Why this must be read:

After a solo expedition to the Whispering Forest ends badly, Carlos realizes that although he managed to escape, he didn’t get out unscathed.

“Carlos,” says the Forest from the voice recorder. “We love what you’ve done with your hair.”

He moves fast enough to surprise himself, grabbing the device and throwing it across the room with a startled, choking yell. The recorder bounces off of the far wall by the window and lands on a table covered in paperwork.

Carlos exhales, stunned at his reaction. And then he hears his own voice speak and he knows that the recorder still works and will continue to play. He knows he cannot stand to hear the Forest’s voice right now and he propels himself out of his chair to retrieve it.

“You are a really good scientist, Carlos. Hello,” the Forest says. Carlos, in the dim lighting, stumbles over one of the wheely chairs and is grateful for his shoes. He snatches up the recorder and punches it open, silencing it. He’s breathing quickly. His mouth is sandpaper.

Carlos gently puts the recording tool down and finds his hand trembling. He’s not sure if this is from rage or fear. He brings his hands to clasp the openings of his lab coat. He is not a good scientist. He is supposed to be impartial. Analytical. Emotionally removed.

In the kitchen, Carlos pours himself more water from the tap and drinks quickly. He carries his cup back to his laptop. He will take something for sleep and decide in the morning if he wants to follow through with the report.

He is starting to shut down his computer when he sees the screen for the first time. The word document is full of: “I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone I’m alone…”

This was one of the hardest Night Vale fics for me to read, and one of the most rewarding. Dangersocks does a gut-churningly good job of depicting Carlos’s alienation, terror, and mounting despair as he feels himself succumbing to an irrational (or perhaps all too rational) compulsion. Luckily, while his loneliness is real his sense of isolation proves false, and even when he’s most desperate he can muster a flash of humor — “I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT THERMALS AND AIR PARCELS SO HELP ME GOD THE TEMPERATURE OF THE DEW POINT WILL ALWAYS BE SIXTY FAHRENHEIT...”

Sometimes, bravery means holding on until rescue arrives ... and then letting down your guard so you can be helped.

“Solitude is the Soil in Which Genius is Planted” on AO3 (link to first chapter)

Vidder: Luminosity
Music: "Henry Nearly Killed Me" by Ray Lamontagne
Length: 4:15
Vidder on LJ: sockkpuppett
Vidder's Website: unfortunately no longer available

Why this must be viewed: Of course, for my vid rec I have to do a Boyd Crowder character study, and this one is gorgeous, haunting, and extremely well put-together.  The build of it is magnificent.

It's a Shame
 

Vidder: Obsessive24
Musical Artist: "Va Va Voom" by Nicki Minaj
Length: 3:06
Vidder on LJ: obsessive24
Vidder's Website: Here
Why this must be viewed: After the Merlin finale, there's been a lot of great vids that pay homage to the series.  Many of them have been pretty angsty or melancholic, but among my favorite is this wonderful vid that just premiere this summer at Vivid Con 2013.  obsessive24 manages to capture all the hilarious and amusing aspects of the show, especially Merlin and Arthur's relationship, that I loved and makes it into this brilliantly edited vid.  It's a great song choice and the vid is super fun, tongue-in-cheek at times, chock full of innuendos and such a great look at Merlin and Arthur's dynamic.  I can't tell you how many times I must of seen this and just how happy this vid makes me. If you ever loved watching Merlin, definitely check this out!

Va Va Voom

Vidder: He1vetica4ever
Musical Artist: Pierre Foldes
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Length: 2 mins
Vidder on LJ: helvetica4ever
Vidder's Website: at AO3
Why this must be seen: This is a hauntingly beautiful video that tells a story and is a delight to watch. Blair leaves and Jim is searching for him. The music fits the piece perfectly conveying a sense of loss and longing. I especially love the ending where we see Blair's face .

ETA I hadn't realised there was a story by Mab inspired by the video: Restoration



Lost

Whoops! After a bit too long away (thanks to holidays and a really shitty memory), I am back with another rec! And will be doing my best to make up for lost time today and tomorrow.

Fandom: MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE
Pairing: Clint & Natasha, Clint/Coulson
Length: 40k words
Author on LJ: daroos
Author Website: daroos
Why this must be read: If you've been following my recs this month, you will have noticed that I like coffee shop/restaurant AUs. I have absolutely no shame about this, because I think that the best ones take the essence of the characters, distill them down to the best bits, and then make them better. (And then add food porn.)

This fic is one of the absolute BEST aus for that. It's mostly about Clint, and Clint & Natasha, and how they run their unlicensed coffee truck in New York while building a small family, and then fighting (and later definitely not fighting *wink*) "the man" in the form of NYC Dept of Health inspector Phil Coulson. Basically, it's team!fic with food and coffee and a liiiittle bit of a mystery in the form of some comic!Hawkeye nods. (Bro.)

They had been at it for eight months, through the smothering heat of summer and the deep snows of winter. It was their first spring, each day dawning with more promise and beauty than the last, and Clint was excited to roll out their mixed hot/cold menu for the thirsting crowds. They had been so busy (and so successful) that the little matter of a food truck permit and food safety inspections had never been given their proper weight. They hadn’t been in operation three months, zipping around the city and dispensing caffeine to the ravening masses, when an unassuming man in a suit had sidled up to them in the financial district asking about their letter grade.

Clint had gotten out of the truck to talk with the stuffed suit while Natasha surreptitiously closed up shop. In a coordinated move which couldn’t have been better if they’d practiced, Natasha backed down Stone Street three blocks going the wrong direction at almost forty and zipped out of sight while Clint had made a break for it through a fake Irish pub and into the mid-day crowds of tourists around Wall Street. Since then they had been wanted by the city food inspectors - caffeinated fugitives from the law.

The Coffee Bandits of Greater Manhattan

After 10 years and nearly 25,000 recs, it is with mixed feelings that I announce crack_van's permanent closure in January 2014.

I know that this community has different meaning and purpose for many of our members, but I have always tried to stay true to its original purpose, of providing an easy introduction to new fandoms. This has become increasingly challenging with the migration of fandom to other platforms: many of the largest and most active new fandoms have limited visibility on LJ, and a good number of even our longest running fandoms have empty or near empty sign up sheets month after month.

This has not been an easy decision; over the past couple of years I've considered revamping the community in various ways, moving to another platform, etc., but ultimately I think any such change would only result in more fragmentation.

I want to thank everyone who has participated in any way over the past decade, especially those who have recced again and again, and pimped this community to others in their fandoms. There are too many of you to try to name individually, but your dedication has not gone unnoticed by anyone who frequents this community.

I would also like to thank my co-mods, past and present, stopawhile and arsenicjade. I could not have asked for better partners and friends.

Fandom: WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE
Pairing: Cecil/Carlos
Length: 2,389 words
Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: softgrungececil and scibfs on Tumblr; works on AO3
Warnings: Anal Sex, Sex Toys, Fingerfucking, Strap-Ons, Trans Character, Embarrassment, Mountains Being Real; Bottom Cecil
Why this must be read:

This smoking hot story was inspired by a post on Tumblr: “*whispers into the night* someone needs to write a fic where Cecil gets all sexually flustered by Carlos’ badboy behavior like eating toast, believing in mountains, and using pens.”*

Bearprincess chose to use her headcanon!Carlos, who is genderqueer, to fill the prompt, and since he and Cecil had the Coming-Out-as-Transgender conversation in another fic, that aspect is treated with a wonderful matter-of-factness as the scientist shows off his collection of “unauthorized items” in the bedroom.

Carlos mostly hadn't gotten his packers approved because he, for some crazy reason, had never thought of them as contraband. He still isn't sure that he needs forms for them--and he knows the rules front to back, actually--but it's the fun and thrill of it that matters.

“Loose Cannon” on AO3

* This post also inspired a widely reblogged comment, “oKAY WHAT THE SHIT IS NIGHT VALE”

Fandom: BANDOM (MCR, with guest appearances from other bands)
Pairing: Frank Iero/Grant Morrison, Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Frank Iero/Grant Morrison/Gerard Way
Length: ~137k over 9 stories
Author on DW: tuesdaysgone and fleurdeliser
Author Website: tuesdaysgone on AO3, fleurdeliser on AO3
Why this must be read: Because no one brings the OT3 like tuesdaysgone and fleurdeliser. This is a story about a young man, a Craigslist ad, and a sex shop. Who knew that accepting a job at Strange Artefacts would lead Frank into the world of kink and BDSM. Frank learns about the scene, experiments with what he likes, and slowly falls in love with his boss Grant. It isn't until later that they meet Gerard, and have to re-evaluate their relationship.

The pacing of this series of stories is slow and perfect, building the UST to the breaking point, and then satisfying with romance and sweetness. The authors have a deft hand with the story and characters, and this series remains one of my go-to favorites. It's the perfect combination of my favorite elements: kink and commitment and negotiation and love and lust.

sceneverse - also available as awesome podfics by accrues here

Sorry, guys. LJ's upgrading has been preventing me from posting and so the crackvan has not travelled far. I shall try to sneak a couple more in before I hand over the keys. (On which note, Pros fans: sign up! There look to be only two months of the crack_van left - see this announcement for details, and it would be awful to miss the final runs.)

I think that after the week that Pros fandom has had (for readers who see this in the future, I post this the week the death of Lewis Collins was announced), the only sort of story I want to rec is a gentle one, a wistful one, a warm one. And so here we are.

Fandom: THE PROFESSIONALS
Pairing: Bodie/Doyle
Length: 6,700 words
Author on LJ: not on LJ
Author Website: not online
Why this must be read:

I have liked this story since first I read it, and then something happened to me that made me think of it with a new appreciation. I am afraid the story is not online - well, not in the sense of being on the web. It is available via the Proslib mailing list, either by looking in the long stories section of the archives, or by obtaining the archives on CD.

For those currently subscribed to the proslib mailing list, they will also find it in the the long stories section at the moment (thanks, owner-proslib!)

( So why am I recommending stories that require an extra step to get hold of them? )
To read it:
Details on Proslib are here: http://hatstand.slashcity.net/proslib/intro.html
Details on the CD are here: http://hatstand.slashcity.net/proslib/cdindex.html