Important Announcement

[twigged.livejournal.com]

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.

Comments

[milady-dragon.livejournal.com]

Oh wow. I'm going to be so sorry to see the comm shut down, but all good things and all that...

Still, this place has gotten me into other fandoms I wouldn't have normally read, so I have to thank you for that. It's going to be a sad day when you finally close up shop, but I certainly understand the reasons.

Hate to see this go, but good luck in the future!

[a_starfish]

:( Thank you to you and your co-mods for running it for so long. Thank you to everyone who has contributed over the years. I've found some wonderful fics and new fandoms via the comm.

[celeste9]

Thank you so much for keeping this comm running for so long! I have found an unbelievable amount of amazing fic because of it over the years. I will be sad to see it go but can understand. Thank you for leaving it up for future perusal as well!

[elise-wanderer.livejournal.com]

Very sorry to see it go. Thank you for all your hard work in keeping the van puttering around, covering so much diverse and intriguing territory.

I've mostly just watched it rolling by, amused and amazed by the diversity of writing out there and fascinated by the cheerful, informative recommendations from so many readers of so much work. While I've rarely dabbled beyond that, I have deeply appreciated all the enthusiasm, goodwill, humor, delight, wonder, commitment, and love that
crack_van has represented so well over the years.

Thank you for so many excellent adventures and wondrous journeys!

[turnonmyheels.livejournal.com]

Dear god but this makes me feel old and numb and very, very sad.

WHERE WILL THE RECS GO? With the dissolution of delicious and its users going here, there, and everywhere in between it's hard to find multi-fandom recs.

Thank you for all of your hard work.

[pir8fancier.livejournal.com]

You've done an amazing job. Thank you all for all your time on fandom's behalf.

[madame-mary.livejournal.com]

What a loss this will be! Thank you so much for all the dedication and hard work you have given to this community. I hope there will be a way to keep this community in deleted. Xxx

[igbc.livejournal.com]

I will miss the Van tremendously. I've enjoyed it so much for so long. Thank you, thank you for this wonderful resource.

[kathyh]

I shall be very sad to see this community go. Thank you so much for all your hard work in keeping going for so long. It's led me to some amazing fic and been a fantastic resource. I'll really miss it.

[ninamalfoy]

I adore this community and have stumbled onto lots of fandoms that I didn't know of previously just because of crack_van and its very dedicated reccers - kudos to everyone! :-)

I'll miss you a lot but I'm thankful that I could tag along here for quite some time! ♥ ♥ ♥

[raktajinos.livejournal.com]

OH NOOOESS!! I've gotten so many wonderful reccs from here! It will be sad to see it go. Thank you so much for the hard work over the years everyone.

Question: will the community be purged or left in tack? If its getting purged, I've got 10 years of posts to sort through asap

[nenya_kanadka]

Check page 1 of the comments, mod says they're leaving it intact. :)

[kat-lair.livejournal.com]

So very saddened by this, though I appreciate the reasons. This community has been an important part of my fandom experience since the very beginning. Thank you so much for your contribution and for facilitating hours (days, possibly years) of fic reading.

[saucydiva.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I loved this place, and have for about the last year, ever since I was introduced to it by a fandom friend. Truly, I will miss this place. Best of luck to those who worked hard to mark this place great.

[glasshouses.livejournal.com]

I've enjoyed the van for years now. When I'm thinking of reading in a new fandom I view summaries here first. I know DW has taken many away from LJ but where ARE new fandoms going these days? I use Tumblr for pretty pics not stories. I see a lot of Sherlock on LJ so I'm really curious.

Thank you for maintaining a wonderful comm for so long. 10 years is just wow.

[luthien82]

I'll be sad to see this comm go. Thank you for all the years of hard work, I've discovered quite a few fandoms through this comm, and I could always rely on quality fics whenever I dipped my toes into a new one and didn't know where to start finding the good fics. You'll be greatly missed.

[(Anonymous)]

This was always the first place I came when looking for a way into a new-to-me fandom. Thanks for so many years of work.

Teaphile

[cloudtrader.livejournal.com]

This community has been an institution in fandom and I am sad to see it closed, but I do understand. I am eternally grateful for all the hard work and dedication of the mods and for all of the time and effort put in by the reccers. This community will be sorely missed. Thanks for the ride!

[i-amthecosmos.livejournal.com]

Fandoms I never would have read or written in if it were not for crack_van:

Big Wolf On Campus
Boy Meets World
High School Musical.

Not to mention the wonderful fics I found in fandoms mine and not. I will truly miss it.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your years of wonderful service to fandom. I do understand, things change. I enjoyed my times as a reccer and it was always a thrill to see something I'd created rec'd here. Best wishes!

[lilly-the-kid.livejournal.com]

I'm very very sad to read this, but I'm also very grateful for everything this community provided me with. I've found great things here and reccing some stuff myself has also been so much fun.

Thank you for all of this!

[nenya_kanadka]

Oh, sad news! I completely follow your logic, but sad news.

I've found some great stories here over the years, and the one month I recced was unmitigated delight and ended up helping me make friends in a fandom that was new to me at the time.

You are awesome. Thank you. Ten years is forever in Internet time! *salutes*

[alassenya]

Like many others I'm sad at the news, but also very grateful that you've kept it going as long as you have. Thank you for all your hard work over the years.

[khek.livejournal.com]

I've found so many new authors and fics and fandoms through this com. Thank you for keeping it up and running for so long!

It would be interesting to know what other platforms people are migrating to though. I know about Tumblr and AO3, but I still think LJ is the best place to incorporate a straight-forward storytelling/response format. Oh well. Progress.

[oreouk.livejournal.com]

I am so sad to hear this news. Thank you so much for all your work on this site over the years - I have made extensive use of it and found untold numbers of excellent fics here.

[finlaure.livejournal.com]

I am sooo sorry to hear this. Thank you for starting and keeping this going for as long as you did! I will miss being able to post on here!!