the poor are getting drunk

Crossovers

Battlestar Galactica/Firefly

Pillars of Salt and Pillars of Sand by lls_mutant
While scouting for Earth, the Demetrius comes across Serenity dead in the water (aka, during Out of Gas); they rescue Mal and discover that maybe they've found what they're looking for. Enjoyable crossover; Mal, Zoe, and Kara together will never not be awesome.

~*~

Inception

The Wrath of The Whatever From High Atop The Thing by amazingly_me
West Wing fusion, where Arthur is Sam and Eames is Danny (sort of). "When you are a robot," Eames says, "and are approached by-- oh, I don't know, let's say a really evil microwave-- with a rudimentary outline of the machines' plans to take over the world, promise that after you have risen up to become their great and terrible and incredibly efficient leader, that you'll tell them not to kill me."

"Is it possible that you're just drunk all the time?" Arthur asks.

"It's certainly possible," Eames says, "but it isn't actually true."

"I won't let the microwaves get you," Arthur promises. "I'll probably want to kill you myself, anyway."

"Good point." Utterly adorable.

~*~

Fringe

This Side by phrenitis
Really good look inside alt!Olivia's head. There are a few tense moments, times where lies and facts fill her head and it takes a second to spin the right story. But she's really really good, and failure means a lot more than her life, so those incidents are few.

~*~

Harry Potter

The Way Back To Daylight by trailingoff
Remus travels to the underworld to bring Sirius back. Really nicely done, full of mythological references. "Are you sure this is the quickest way?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" she asked, sharp and brisk, without sparing him a glance.

"Sirius...my friend, he fell through a veiled archway in the Department of Mysteries. I assume it leads directly to the Underworld."

"No one can pass through the veil and remain alive; not even with the bough," said Sybill. "There are seven entrances to the Underworld, scattered around higgledy-piggledy, and the veil isn't one of them. It's just a short-cut, or an open window; a passage straight to the final judgement."

Remus followed her across the grass, his eyes on the Tor, but all he could see was Sirius falling backwards through the archway; that split-second, that knowledge of loss.

~*~

we are under the guillotine trying to fix our hair

The Losers

día de los muertos (or, fifteen things the losers gave to the dead) by storm_petrel
Short, sharp exploration of ways the Losers grieve.

~*~

MASH

Sonata in C Major by prudence_dearly
Charles discovers a musical prodigy at the orphanage, and wants to do something about her. Oh, my heart. (Could use another beta go-round, but nothing too egregious.)

~*~

Sports Night

The Late Greats by scrunchy
The Sports Night gang at a Halloween party. Wonderful. "Frankenstein," Casey bowed to her.

"The doctor. Not the monster, of course," Jeremy grinned. "Cunning."

Casey looked crestfallen.

"Just saying, if the whole reason you decided to be Victor Frankenstein was to get people into a situation where you could give them a little speech about how 'Frankenstein' refers to the man and not his monster, Casey, then I'm sorry, but you won't get me."

"Dan told you."

"Dan told me," Jeremy said.

~*~

you better cool it off before you burn it out

Hawaii Five-O

Five People Who Realized Catherine Is Fucking Awesome (and one person who already knew) by leupagus
"So Steve had a goat in his room? Is he -- that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"Yes!" Catherine crowed, looking triumphant. "That was my reaction too! But whenever I tell this story, I'm always telling it to crazy people and they think it shows dedication to the school or something."

"There was a goat in his room. For how long?"

"Oh, the whole week. It ate his towel at one point. And I think a pair of shoes."

"Oh man, I wish I had a tape recorder for this," Danny said. I enjoyed this a lot.

It's a Matter of Pride by samanthahirr
When Steve and Kono fail to get Danny onto a surf board, Chin comes up with a cunning plan. This is adorable.

~*~

you say want diamonds and ring of gold

The Good Wife

Once More Into the Fray by abvj
Really lovely, meditative look at how Alicia moves from being married to Peter to being in love with Will. In the end, it doesn't matter how much they once loved each other, how happy they were once upon a time even though she had spent the better part of the last two years of her life trying to convince herself otherwise. There's no argument, no lie told or final act of betrayal that was the final straw, no epiphany to be had.

One day Alicia just wakes up and she is exhausted and her reserves are exhausted and the fight just doesn't seem worth it anymore. Always, she has been a practical woman. Pragmatic to a fault and every single part of her gives way to the fact that it is ridiculously impractical to stay in a marriage that is never going to work again. (couple minor issues, e.g., using 'that' for 'who' and 'discrete' for 'discreet')

without any sense of strategies by mardia
Lovely, quiet look at Will and Alicia once they're together, from Will's POV. His entire life, Will Gardner has never been the guy who cared more. He's never been the guy who fell first, fell harder or sooner than the other person did. But Alicia isn't like anyone else he's ever met, so it makes sense in a way that she'd be the exception to the rule in this too.

you can like the life you're living (you can live the life you like) by mardia
Things aren't going to become simpler because Alicia wants them to be, or because she's made a decision. In fact, they're just going to become much harder. Everything she does from this point on is going to affect so many people. It's going to be hard, and long, and there are absolutely no guarantees about much of anything, going forward. AU of 2x01 - Alicia holds onto her phone and hears both of Will's messages, and makes a decision. Lovely. (also, major points for using lyrics from "Chicago" as a title)

~*~

you've got to have yourself an alternate plan

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Escapee by lizbee
Highly enjoyable AU where Mai and Ty Lee escape Boiling rock with Sokka and Zuko.

Let the Buyer Beware by ArtemisRae
Toph and Iroh deal with a patron who tries to run off without paying his tab. Adorable.

Stormbenders by Fandomme
AU in which Katara and Zuko get captured/infiltrate the Fire Lord's palace to discover a secret weapon he's been developing; while I wasn't thrilled with how Mai is handled (and how the stormbending thing kind of fizzles out completely, no pun intended), I really did like the slow development of Katara's feelings for Zuko and his pining for her.

~*~

i don't mind other guys dancing with my girl

DCU

Adventures in Solitude by riseupwithfists
Utterly wonderful story of how Jaime slowly starts to find a place with the Titans, and also his slow-blooming relationship with Tim. Hilarious and heart-breaking and bittersweet in the best ways.

Close To Home by iesika
To be perfectly honest, I only really know Kon (and Tim) from reading Smallville fic back in the day, but he's wonderful in this story and makes me want to give him a lot of hugs and cookies. A kid gets murdered at Smallville High, and Kon does everything he can, including calling Tim in for backup, to find out who did it. Of course, complications ensue. Long and engrossing read, really well done.

Escape Artistry by hradzka
"What do you think I should do?" she said. "Train," he said. "There are skills. Ways to escape from ropes, to pick locks. Look into it." "Will you teach me?" she said. Batman teaches Wonder Woman escape artistry, and she learns a couple of other things she probably wishes she hadn't. Nicely fraught with UST, but the inevitable ending is a heartbreaker.

A preliminary examination of potential significant others (last saved by T. Drake) by Betty, Petra & Zee
My exposure to Tim Drake has been minimal, but this made me laugh and say, "Oh, Tim." It really is complicated!

Satin and Split Lips by merelymine
Dick is getting into disguise to help Jason out, and then there is super hot kissing. Dick is almost too tall, and his shoulders are a little too broad. Not as broad as Jason's, and that's unfortunately the reason he's here, but broad enough that his wardrobe for this evening had to be picked with careful consideration.

Big leather jacket, old and torn and a size bigger than he would normally wear so that it covers his shoulders and hides the sharp angles of his body. There's an incredibly short dress underneath it, bright blue (to go with your eyes, Jason says, grinning) and cheap satin, so that all the attention is on his legs.

He'd had to shave everywhere.

~*~

there's a heaven above you

Supernatural

The Greatest of These by wanttobeatree
He can't quite remember now how he managed, or what he even saw, when he couldn't decipher a person's face.

That Sam, that soulless Sam, feels so far away now. He isn't entirely certain that the real Sam feels any closer.

"Be sure to tell us when you've got the whole spectrum of emotion," Dean says. He's only half joking.

"I will," Sam says, not joking at all. Aw, boys. Sam gets his soul back. It just takes him a little while to adjust is all.

Live for small horizons by dotfic
Dean takes some measures, just in case they can't get Sam's soul back. *sniffle*

Old Magic by delanach
Lovely AU in which Dean takes a different road to getting Sam out of hell.

Seven Warning Signs Your Brother is Having a Midlife Crisis by debbiel66
Dean is acting weird(er) and Sam is concerned enough to read ladies magazines for answers. Absolutely adorable futurefic. "You want me to drive your car?" Absurd as it might be, Sam almost hoped the car wasn't listening. Going way back to Gabriel's games, Sam remembered what it felt like to be the Impala…and damn, that car loved Dean.

"No, I don't want you to drive my car, but I think you're right. You shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a Harley. It would be fucking scary. Think about what would happen to your hair."

Sam glared. Dean knew perfectly well all he had to do was tell Sam he couldn't do something, and no matter what it was, Sam would end up begging for the thing by the time they were through. He couldn't let himself fall for it. He was thirty-eight years old, damnit, not ten.

Hating himself for his lack of self-control, Sam said, "Fuck you. I could ride a Harley."

*