crack_van | The Stockholm Syndrome series, by thieving

Fandom: THE MIGHTY BOOSH
Pairing: Howard/Vince, ref to Howard/OFC
Length: Seven parts, plus bonus chapters
Warnings: AU, criminal violence, domestic violence, gun!kink, references to drug use, discussion of suicide, supporting character death
Author on LJ:

thieving_gypsy
Author Website: Jazz Maverick
Why this must be read:

In 2003, British big beat electronica act Mint Royale released a video, “Blue Song,” in which the getaway driver for a bank heist (Noel Fielding) gets his groove on while waiting for his accomplices (Julian Barratt, Nick Frost, Michael Smiley) to make their exit.

Not surprisingly, this has inspired a fair amount of outlaw!fic in what is known as the Mint Royale AU. Since the characters are left unnamed in the video, this gives writers leeway in deciding who they are: some use the actors’ real names, others pick and choose among their roles.

thieving_gypsy opted to give us a version of Vince and Howard seen through a glass, darkly. Despite the dysfunction of their relationship — there’s a reason this series has the name it does — an essential Howard-and-Vince-ness shines through. Take Moon’s recollection of how they became acquainted:

He's clearly wasting time, Moon thinks, like he was eight days ago when they first met outside that jewellers in Kent, when he thought he was about to get shot in the head. He'd wrapped his arm tight around the kid's waist to hold him still there in front of him, a skinny pointy little human shield between him and the police - even so, the little shit managed to bruise all up and down Moon's shins, kicking out with his Cuban heels in a panic until Moon shoved the end of his gun right in his ear and told him to stop, and then he went limp like a cotton ragdoll and started babbling madly about the t-shirt he was wearing, an old Roxy Music shirt, and how Bryan Ferry wasn't always a pop star, he used to live in a forest in a treehouse made out of bus tickets. He couldn't shoot him after that. You can't blow out a brain mad and beautiful enough to come up with something like that at the point of death. He just didn't feel right shooting someone who'd made him crack up laughing in the middle of a botched robbery.

This story is not a comfortable read (note the warnings), but it’s undeniably gripping, often funny, sometimes very hot, and unexpectedly touching.

The Stockholm Syndrome series

At the Boosh Slash Haven (table of contents with links to individual chapters)

On Livejournal:

Bonus chapters

"Armed Robbery" (prologue) — on LJ (friends locked) and at the Boosh Slash Haven.
"Play" (set after chapter 4) — at the the Boosh Slash Haven.
"Just Below the Surface" (set after chapter 5) — at the Boosh Slash Haven.
"Save the Day" (set after chapter 7) — at the Boosh Slash Haven.
"Desperanto" (happily [mostly] ever after epilogue) — on LJ and at the Boosh Slash Haven.

Note: Ratings for individual chapters range from PG to NC-17. The overall series rating reflects the most common rating.

The Stockholm Syndrome series, by thieving_gypsy (R)