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"What is it? One more shot, and salud?" -Joe Dick Thanks for riding with me on this wild and crazy trip. Remember to leave feedback for the authors - they all are amazing and really deserve to know how much we appreciate their talent and skill and love of the Billy 'n' Joe trainwreck. Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: 3,075 words Author on LJ: spuffydudsAuthor Website: at AO3 Why this must be read: because it's an awesome read, filled with two things that spuffyduds excels at: angst and OMG hot sex, which are staples in Billy and Joe's world. spuffyduds shows us flashes of their lives, from hormonally charged teenagers to grown men with handcuffs, the love-hate dynamic between them, and the climatic destruction of Hard Core Logo's chance at fame and fortune. ( brief excerpt )Who the Hell You Think You Are? | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/OFC, Billy/Joe Length: 167 words Author on LJ: belmanoirAuthor Website: web siteWhy this must be read: because it's short, to the point and funny as hell. Funny HCL stories are hard to find, well-written funny stories are even rarer. Think with your Dick | |
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Title: return the favor/bitter reward Pairing: Joe Dick/Jerry Bines Length: 277 words Author on LJ: veruska70Author Website: web siteWhy this must be read: because it's an painful look at Joe without Billy - the need and the loss - as he meets up with a man more desperate and lost that he is, a man who looks at Joe and thinks safe. Bitter and bleak, veruska70 spins a tale of absolute despair and hopelessness. return the favor/bitter reward | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: 800 words Author on LJ: rubberbuttonAuthor Website: fic listWhy this must be read: because it's believable backstory for Billy and Joe, filled with hard times and anger, with an underlying current of exapserated affection between the two of them, regardless of poor impulse control and groupies. ( brief excerpt )November 3, 1979. | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Characters: Billie, Joe Length: 1,000 words Author on LJ: llassahAuthor Website: fic tagWhy this must be read: because pretty much anything that llassah writes is awesome. She has a way with words that transcends storytelling and moves into the realm of art. Here she writes of Billie, daughter of Mary-the-Fan. Billie, who is often suspected of being Billy's offspring, or possibily even Joe's. Billie, who grows up haunted. ( brief excerpt )Echoes | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: none Length: 299 words Author on LJ: spuffydudsAuthor Website: at AO3 Why this must be read: because Spuffy can take the premise of zombies, add them to the Hard Core Logo universe, give everything a brisk shake and produce this - a simply amazing story of terror and blood, fear and ZOMBIES, all under 300 words. Personnel Changes | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe implied Length: 1,230 words Author on LJ: belmanoirAuthor Website: web siteWhy this must be read: because sometimes you just have to do what the dream zombies tell you to do. Plus, the idea of Joe giving tax advice is hysterically funny. This disturbing and blackly humorous story is a loose sequel to New Suit, Cufflinks, and a New Tie but stands on its own. ( brief excerpt )Ain't Nobody Listenin' | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: around 2,000 words Author on LJ: brynnmckAuthor Website: web siteWhy this must be read: because sometimes there is a point in which the universe holds it breathe, caught at a crossroad. The moment is full of potential - the potential to continue downward into a painful, bloody trainwreck strewn with body parts or to turn left and forge a new path into the light. This is Billy and Joe, though. It can't end well, no matter how much we'd like things to be different. Brynn shows us their choices, and drags us along to watch as Billy and Joe teeter on that knife's edge... ( brief excerpt )Nothing But Distance and Skyline | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: 6,260 words Author on LJ: sagenessAuthor Website: web siteWhy this must be read: because Sage is one of the best writers in any fandom and this is a well-thought out, well-researched, perfectly conceived and excuted fix-it story, a totally believable what-might-have-been. This is one of the first stories I ever read in the HCL fandom, and remains one of my favorites for its skewed but perfectly realistic view of the events of the movie. ( brief except )The Secret Life of Joe Dick (or, The Big Con). | |
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Vidder: KC Musical artist: 30 Seconds To Mars Pairing: Billy/Joe Vidder of LJ: cricketsVidder's Website: Stupid Happy or maybe Lens Flair, Inc. Dunno. Why this vid kicks ass: because watching Billy and Joe hurts, and crickets paints that hurt in sharp relief with music and clever editing and a grunged-up lens. This is a sort-of spirtual companion piece to gigglemoster's Blurry and both of these videos show how awesome the art of fanvids can be. Both are technically brilliant and inspired. The Kill | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: 300 words Author on LJ: sionnainAuthor Website: fic journalWhy this must be read: because it's hot and wrong and raw and OMG, did I mention hot and wrong? A fucked-up, knotted tangle of need and want and domination and lust. Perfectly wrong, but perfectly in tune for Billy and Joe. hindsight | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: 700 words Author on LJ: umbrella_halfAuthor Website: none Why this must be read: because umbrella_half has written the most creepy and sensual Hard Core Logo story, ever. And really, creepy and sensual shouldn't go together, but somehow, umbrella_half makes it work. Billy is hypnotized by this Joe, this new Joe, a Joe with wings and black, black eyes...*shivers* ( brief exerpt )The Taste of Smoke. | |
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Vidder: R.B. Musical artist: DeVotchKa Pairing: none, or all, depending on the viewer Vidder of LJ: rubberbuttonVidder's Website: none Why this vid kicks ass: because R.B. chose a somewhat unusual slow and melancholy song for her vid, and then edited together the perfect clips to show us the band's journey through Canada, the good times and the bad, the laughter and tears and anger. A bittersweet view of the movie, and of the band. How It Ends (current dl link available at the end of comments to the post). | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: none Length: 900 words or so Author on LJ: buzzylittlebAuthor Website: The Leisure HiveWhy this must be read: because it's a lyrical and twisted view of Billy, broken and psychopathic, schizophrenic and wrong. It's an insightful story, showing us glimpses of Billy's mind among the shards of a broken mirror. ( brief excerpt )Wind Them Up And Let Them Go | |
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Vidder: Dayln Musical artist: Puddle of Mudd Pairing: Billy/Joe Vidder of LJ: gigglemonsterVidder's Website: Lens Flair IncWhy this vid kicks ass: because Dayln has an extremely deft hand with timing and editing, bringing them together to create this slow, downward spiral of Billy and Joe's disintegrating relationship. She manages to perfectly capture the love, the hate and everything in between, and set it to music. Blurry | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: 200 words Author on LJ: nos4a2no9Author Website: fish out of waterWhy this must be read: because Nos is the queen of angst and she totally lives up to her reputation with this short post-movie snippet. Nos has a delicate touch with words, excelling at painting a description with few words, setting the stage and letting the characters live and breath on their own. Wash Cycle | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: ~2,000 words Author on LJ: brynnmckAuthor Website: web site. Why this must be read: because it's a perfect example of how fucked up the relationship between these two is, how full of lust and love and hate and need and jealousy. Brynn nails the characterizations perfectly, and reading this is like watching a train wreck about to happen. ( excerpt )The Sun Will Rise From Here | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: 238 words Author on LJ: verushka70Author Website: web siteWhy this must be read: because Verushka is an terrific writer who manages to capture the heart and soul of the fucked-up relationship that Billy and Joe have. Here she manages to capture a rare moment of not-anger between them and it's real and believable. Necessary Velocity | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: 334 words Author on LJ: belmanoirAuthor Website: websiteWhy this must be read: because it's a short but powerful glimpse of Billy post-movie, Billy sans Joe, Billy trying to hold things together only to have everything slip away the tighter he grabs. ( tiny excerpt )New Suit, Cufflinks, and a New Tie | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: 5,000 words Author on LJ: rubberbuttonAuthor Website: fic listWhy this must be read: because RB gives us a hard and fast look at the some of the backstory behind Billy and Joe - as teenagers reinventing themselves, young punks just starting out. We see Joe's fixation on Bucky Haight and Billy's utter disdain of Joe's idol. RB shows us the aftermath of Joe's grand fuck-you gesture in New York, and closes the story with a brief view of Joe and Billy on the reunion tour just before the movie spirals out of control and smashes everything to glittering shards of glass. A Tragedy in Five Acts | |
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Title: There's a Leak in Every Boat, by Exeterlinden Pairing: Joe/Duck Length: ~2,700 words Author on LJ: exeterlindenAuthor Website: Linden at AO3Why this must be read: because the idea should be wildly improbably, but isn't. Linden does an excellent job of creating a close, claustrophobic atmosphere between Joe and Duck, with both of them running from their lives, their hopes and their dreams. This is a raw, painful story, so true to both of their characters. Both Joe and Duck are young and hurting, on their own and lost. For one brief moment, they manage to find a rough kind of solace in each other before going their separate ways. ( brief excerpt )There's a Leak in Every Boat. | |
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Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: ~2,300 words Author on LJ: troyswannAuthor Website: Outside The BoxWhy this must be read: because Salieri is another author who is amazingly talented. She has this sublime way with words, something that moves beyond the mundane telling of a story into art, and beyond. ( brief excerpt )Looking Into The Sun | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe implied Length: 1000 words Author on LJ: llassahAuthor Website: Her HCL tagWhy this must be read: because llassah is an absolute wonder with words. HCL isn't a fandom that produces a lot of lyrical works; HCL is usually more about rough-and-tumble bathroom sex and bar fights and Billy and Joe and their eternal struggle for dominance over each other. But llassah has a way with words no matter what fandom she is writing and this story is no exception. It's a beautiful post-movie tale, sketching in the lives of the band after Joe's final "fuck you" gesture, tracing their paths and the choices they make, the lives they live. It's sad and powerful, and one of the most stangely satisfying HCL stories I've ever read. And it remains my favorite for the way it moves me. Four Men in Three Boats. | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: 240 words Author on LJ: dugrivalAuthor Website: none Why this must be read: because it's all about Billy's control, or lack of it. This amazing little snippet shows the contrasting duality of Billy: professional musician in L.A. and punk rock legend in Vancouver. dugrival manages to capture some of the forces that drive Billy to the extremes of his life. All in less than 300 words. Here are rules for a man who refuses to follow them. 12 Rules | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: about 3,000 words Author on LJ: sionnainAuthor Website: sionnain_ficsWhy this must be read: because at the heart of every Hard Core Logo fic is another set of pairings that we don't see very often: Joe/drugs and Billy/alcohol. This story explores Joe's relationship with drugs: speed, coke and now, heroin. There's an ugly kind of beauty in this story, in Billy finding Joe on the floor of a filthy bathroom eyes wide open but vacant, the iris of his eyes a thin band of blue around black, in Joe sitting on a crappy couch, works spread out on the coffee table in front of him as he struggles to stay conscious. sionnain explores a little of Joe's life on heroin, a bitter foreshadowing of the uncontrollable spiral his life will take years later, swirling around the drain. I said nothing lasts forever (and I meant it) | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Billy/Joe Length: 800 words Author on LJ: spuffydudsAuthor Website: at AO3Why this must be read: Spuffy is one of my favorite authors in this fandom, and it's no surprise why. This little gem is so true to Joe's personality that it hurts in the most painful way, like a knife to the eye. It's a post-movie story; Joe's gone and Billy's trying to find his footing in a world that he can't connect with anymore. Until Joe shows back up, smirking and laughing and so real, and Billy finds something worth living for again. Sorta. Mind the warnings on this one. Destination | |
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4 guys - 5 nights - 3000 miles - 764 gallons of gas - 987 bottles of beer - 3457 cigarettes - 1 last shot Hard Core Logo hasn't been recced here on crack_van since October 2006 and in the more than three years since then, the fandom has undergone change, as fandoms tend to do. Some of the writers from back then have moved on to other fandoms, new writers have appeared and I'm going to try to highlight some of the excellent stories and amazing authors that have accompanied the passage of time. If you're new to the fandom, consider watching the movie before reading any fic. Most of the stories written are spoilerish for the ending. For futher info, check out the fandom overview or the write up at the_ckr_files. The main communities for new fic are groupsession, ds_snippets, and c6d_universe. Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: implied Billy/Joe Length: 4k words plus pictures Author on LJ: exeterlindenAuthor Website: Exeterlinden on AO3Why this must be read: this was exeterlinden's entry into last summer's midsummer2009 c6d fic exchange and it is brilliant. Written and illustrated as a nine page Rolling Stone article, it coolly and dispassionately analyzes the events leading up to the movie and after, deconstructing the band, the music, and the intense dynamic between Billy and Joe, all laid out neatly in the pages of a slick magazine. It's the fame that Billy had always sought. Rock 'n' Roll Suicide | |
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I'm a little late with the crossover, but I hope it's still all right to post it. Title: Don't Look Straight At It Pairing: Fraser/Kowalski, Fraser/Billy Tallent Author on LJ: verushka70Why this must be read: This is a long story from Team Angst in last year's due South Match. Fraser and Ray's friendship is balancing precariously on the edge of becoming something more, and Billy comes into it like a sort of catalyst. The story has an interesting structure, starting with a section in omniscient POV that I found particularly intriguing--it's set after the ending of the story, but manages to reveal exactly enough to draw you in without spoiling you for the plot. The rest of the story alternates between Ray and Fraser POV, but the sections jump back and forth in time. This may sound confusing, but it's really not--I found the story hard to put down! Don't Look Straight At It | |
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This was the second fic I added to the list of stories I wanted to recommend, back in April- then, within a couple of weeks, the archive it was on was taken down and the story, I assumed, disappeared. So I spent the next couple of months looking for another crossover to recommend which I liked as well, which had not already been recommended here. Then, in a conversation at ds_ficfinders, akamine_chan pointed me to the author's lj and there it was! D'oh! Fandom: DUE SOUTH/HARD CORE LOGO X-over Pairing:Benton Fraser/Billy Tallent Length: about 1500 words? Author on LJ: zoetropeAuthor Website:none, alas Why this must be read:Because anomy and dysthemia are rarely shown to such good purpose, because Fraser's assumptions about his own identity and understanding of the world get shaken to their foundations, to good effect, because Billy Tallent gets to be sane and competent and more virtuous than is often assumed. ( He waits on the top step of the staircase for Billy to get home, and the longer it takes the more worried he gets; what was he thinking? )The Simple Life | |
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Fandom: HARD CORE LOGO Pairing: Joe/Billy Author on LJ: sister_wolfAuthor Website: Fanfiction by Sister WolfWhy this must be read:Alex has a great ear for dialog, so that's one reason I dig her writing in any fandom, but especially appreciate her skill in this fandom. But the real reason I wanted to end the month of recs on this story? This is as sweet as Joe/Billy gets, and I want to leave you with this one because Joe/Billy is still the reason I fell for this fictional universe, even as messed up as those two deeply flawed men are. Snow Falling | |
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