Unfit for Society Recs

Spider-Man/Daredevil

The Devil and the Unknown by phoenixyfriend
The boy doesn't approach him as Daredevil. Not at first.

"Hello, Mister Murdock, you don't remember me, nobody, um, remembers me—no, no, that sounds dumb."

"Hi, Mister Murdock! I'm Peter Parker, and I kind of stopped being a person, a few months ago, and you helped me once and I was hoping you could help me find out if I still have a social security number? No, that's worse."

"Hi, I'm Peter Parker. You don't remember me, but you helped me once, and I know you help people who are in… weird situations. There was a wizard involved. I don't know if I'm legally a citizen anymore, and… no, that doesn't… heck." This works really well. Oh Peter.

*

Inception/Batman

Eidolon by oxymoronic
When Arthur and Eames agree to a job on Bruce Wayne, they have no idea just how completely it will go wrong. Heavy, melancholy, but compelling read.

*

Crossovers

Leverage/Inception

Born for Adversity by katiekins22
It's been awhile since Eliot saw his little brother. Staring down the barrel of Arthur's gun was not exactly how he'd hoped a reunion might happen, but he has to admit the odds had been better than even.

"What's up with your hair?" he asks curiously.

Arthur's jaw tightens like he's chewing on his first response, his brows furrowing in a way that Eliot can admit looks pretty badass.

"My hair?" Arthur finally growls, and Eliot smirks and does the Revlon hair toss, using the motion to conduct a quick visual survey of the hotel room his baby brother is guarding. hee! Eliot and Arthur as estranged brothers works surprisingly well in this adorable crossover.

*

Captain America/X-Men: First Class

Lab Rats and Tin Soldiers by dancinbutterfly
Bucky's not the only one Steve saves from that HYDRA facility. Erik Lehnsherr joins the Allied war effort, as well. Lovely and sad and hopeful all at once. (could use another beta pass)

*

DCU/Firefly

Made Perfect Sense by runespoor7
A slip of a girl is standing there, pale-faced and with dark hair - longer than Cass. He blinks, and tenses his muscles in anticipation of the fight.

She can't be older than Tim. It's not, as he well knows, any kind of testament to her skill-levels; when Bruce was younger than Tim is now, he was already one of the most dangerous fighters on Earth. Without even going into the likes of Cass or Damian.

Or she could be meta. In which case, of course, all bets are off. Bruce feels his lips set into a thin line. All considered, that is still preferable to magic.

But she doesn't attack him, simply looks at him, solemn and unafraid. Something deep in Bruce's chest shifts. Batman finds himself in the future with only River Tam for company. Awesome. Excellent at showing how good Bruce can be with damaged kids. And River is, of course, amazing.

*

Sports Night/BSG

We're Replacing Segment 12 by miabicicletta
"I don't get it," Dan said.

"I still don't get it," Casey agreed.

Dan looked at his co-host. "This amazes me. I am wonderstruck with amazement. I can grasp the fundamental purpose of pretty much any sport there is."

"Football."

"No problem."

"Badminton."

"Piece of cake."

"Jai-alai," Casey said with gusto.

"My alai," Dan replied with emphasis, and Casey gave him a dubious look. "Yeah. That's something I'll never say again. You know what I was going for."

"Sadly, I do."

"I don't get Pyramid man. Help me, Sam. Help me understand." hee! This is awesome! Sam Anders visits the set of Sports Night. Dan and Casey are bemused. <3

~*~

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.

~*~

Inception

Incipit by thehoyden
"I'm going to die," Eames tells him, sprawled on his living room sofa like a Victorian maiden with the vapors, complete with one arm flung over his eyes. His laptop is sitting on the coffee table, and the cursor does not appear to have moved in Arthur's absence.

"You can die after you finish this draft," Arthur says, and places a cup of coffee on the table that he picked up from the shop down the street.

"Have mercy, darling," Eames moans, and then cracks open an eye. "You brought me coffee?"

"Drink it, stop whining, and finish that draft, or I swear to god, Mr. Eames, I will strangle you and enjoy it thoroughly." AU where Eames is a novelist and Arthur is his editor. Wonderful banter and pining.

j'veux ton amour, et je m'en fous après by hackthis
"Sorry," Eames says. "That was –- that was Arthur."

"Of course it was," his mother says. Eames doesn't like that tone in her voice.

It's somewhere between tolerance and amusement. Parents shouldn't laugh at their children. Unless they share the joke.

"I have to go, Mum," he says apologetically. "Work calls."

"No, darling," his mother says. "Work didn't call, Arthur called."

"It's the same thing," Eames says.

His mother makes what he can only describe as a mocking noise. "Hardly." Really lovely, meditative look at Eames and Arthur and their relationship. Also, Eames's mum FTW!

let the fun shine in by angelgazing
Ahahahahaha! The Inception team as CareBears *dies* With adorable artwork.

Like I Wanna Live Now by angelgazing
"Oh, Christ, no. Arthur, it was many, many things, but it was certainly never that. I can list all the things it was, if you'd like. I know you enjoy your lists. Frustrating, infuriating, maddening—"

"Those all mean the same thing."

"I won't lie to you, darling, I'm beginning to think they're all synonyms for 'Arthur.'" Warm, schmoopy Arthur/Eames full of pining and banter and Arthur wearing Eames's ugly but comfortable clothes. *happy sigh*

OH&S by fahye
"She should probably go to hospital, just in case she has a bad reaction to it. It would be safer."

"Oh, wonderful," says Arthur. "And what do we tell the doctor? She just happened to be self-infusing a substance synthesized by a friend?"

"Ariadne," says Saito. "Do you have a favourite hospital?"

She blinks. "I -- had my appendix out at the American Hospital of Paris. They were fine."

"Excellent. I own that hospital."

"You do not," says Eames.

Saito is pulling out his phone. "I will own it by the time we arrive there," he amends. Ahahahahaha! Yusuf is long-suffering and Saito is a BAMF and there is hilarity about cannulae. *dies*

PASIV/ACTIV by jibrailis
"It's not like we have a choice anyway," Eames said. "Unless anyone here is volunteering to walk up to Saito and say, thank you for this gift but no thank you? Oh, and can we have back the PASIV that you took from us, because that would be lovely."

They all shuddered.

"...Cobb could take off his clothes for Saito," Yusuf offered.

"What?" Cobb said, sounding like he was choking. "I have children!"

"I can't be the only one thinking it!" Yusuf said. "All those smoldering looks!"

"Good lord, man, don't bring your children into your striptease," Eames said. "That's just filthy."

"There will be no striptease," Cobb said between gritted teeth. "No stripping of any sort. No teasing of any sort. And I do not smolder at Saito. I don't want to know what drugs you're tripping on right now, Yusuf." *dies laughing* Utter cracktastic hilarity.

put down all your weapons by imogenedisease
"[Y]our name isn't Arthur."

"Yours isn't Eames," Arthur shot back.

"Oh excellent," Mal said, delighted. "You know one another."

"When this job is over, I am going to punch you in the face," Eames said. Enjoyable backstory for Arthur/Eames.

A Thing Not Necessary by marina
Hot hot hot Arthur/Ariadne/Eames porn.

Untitled Ariadne/Arthur/Eames Regency AU by [anonymous]
"Though I cannot deny," she continues, tilting her head and smiling up at him, "that Mr. Eames is proving himself essential to my future happiness."

"And how is that?" he asks, finally. "Has he promised you the finest equipage in the the town, or ten country houses, or a retinue of pretty abigails to serve you?"

"On the contrary," she says, and swallows. With Eames boldness is easy, but with Arthur there is always so much more at stake. "He has promised me you." Nicely done. I like all the simmering tension between them, and enjoy picturing them in the clothes of the era.

~*~

Inception

autoimmunity by fahye
The rules of forgery are these:

1) As the name suggests, forgery must always be an act of copying rather than an act of creation. It differs from dream architecture in this regard. Minor aspects of the forged individual may be adjusted or omitted, but it has proven impossible to appear as an individual who does not exist and has not been carefully observed by the forger.

2) Any forgery carried out by the DREAMER therefore consists of a precise memory rather than an original construction, and so puts the DREAMER at severe and immediate risk of attack from the SUBJECT's projections.

3) Forgery should under no circumstances whatsoever be attempted by the SUBJECT of a dream. Eames, before and after. I enjoyed this a lot.

the democracy of sleep by smallacts
Heartbreakingly lovely origin story for Arthur. In those early days, he learns more from Mal than he thinks he ever will from Dom. Dom is the one who teaches him how to steal the secrets from other people's dreams, how to flit undetected in and out of a foreign consciousness. Dom teaches him all that, teaches him how to feel at home in dreams, but Mal is the one who teaches Arthur how to fit inside his own skin while he's awake.

Dull Boy by sparky77
"Can I ask you a question?" Eames says when there is nothing left on Arthur's desk for him to destroy.

"No." Arthur has no hope that his answer will dissuade Eames from asking.

"Why do you do it? I mean, Cobb does it because he's out of his mind. I do it because it's fun. You're not crazy and you never seem like you're having any fun."

Arthur looks up from his notes. "Are you implying that you're sane?"

Eames laughs. "You're avoiding the question." Highly enjoyable Arthur/Eames.

Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed by someinstant
She liked the sharp angles in the bar. It felt clean and crisp, minimal with luxury, the kind of bar where the son of a billionaire industrialist might sit and have a drink and brood about the future. The light was good, too: she wanted lots of windows, and diffused white sunlight. Drinking in the dark was a sad bastard activity, and Robert Fischer seemed like the type who'd say he was melancholy, rather than depressed. That sort of refined brooding required light, and space, and openness.

Overall, it wasn't the sort of bar she'd ever visit on her own--she wasn't in the tax bracket that could afford this kind of no-price-on-the-wine-list atmosphere. Ariadne didn't think she ever would be, even after Saito's check landed in her shiny new account in the Caymans. But she was pleased with it: Cobb would blend in here, and Arthur would like it, she thought. Sharp look at Ariadne as she learns the job; good Arthur/Ariadne UST. And I really love the explanation of Arthur's totem.

Five Times Eames Was (Shockingly) A Gentleman by deepsix
Five times Eames was (shockingly) a gentleman and ignored Arthur's sloppy-drunk advances, and the one time Arthur finally got fed up enough to just jump him sober. exactly what it says on the tin, with some lovely pining and imagery.

je ne veux pas travailler by syllic
Slow, gorgeous, utterly heartclenchy Arthur/Eames, using one of my absolute favorite relationship dynamics. Arthur had thought he was giving away only a small thing, only for a little while, doing the logical thing, retreating in order to advance, but what did he think they'd been doing [...], doing all this time, how could he tell himself he'd been playing a strategic game when his chest felt like something caught in a vice [...], when he could see that what he had thought would be finite, contained, logical, was everything but: one long sinuous curve of change, of endless uncertainties, and how had he not seen it before, lined up like that, a pattern rather than a moment, a foundation stone rather than a façade, building a life rather than negotiating a ceasefire.

Kobayashi Maru by hackthis
It takes Arthur a while to figure out what he's got with Eames. Really nicely done.

the new world order by vinylroad
Arthur won't fuck her inside their dreams. Eames won't touch her outside of them. Achy, lovely, intense Arthur/Ariadne/Eames.

Perfection in Design by kellifer_fic
"Why do you guys always make everything so complicated? If you wanted to see me, you could have picked up the phone," Ariadne says. She holds her hand up to her ear, thumb and pinkie extended to make a handset and sets her face in a stern expression. "Hey Ariadne? Want to have coffee with me?" she says in a lowered voice.

"Do I actually sound like that?"

"I don't know. How about you try?" she prompts, holding her hand phone out. Arthur smiles and leans down, mouth and ear at her fingers.

"Hey Ariadne, want to order room service on Cobb's tab?" Adorable Arthur/Ariadne story.

Réclame by recrudescence
Really well done Yusuf and Eames backstory. For the right price and the right people, you can make a man do anything. But overambitious amateurs are not your clientele. "Let me see what you can do," you demand, and when you look at him again he's wearing your body the same way he had been wearing his slouch and his neatly combed hair. When he walks, it's with a gait that isn't yours, and when he smirks it looks foreign on your face. It's still some of the best work you've ever seen.

"This is what I can do," he tells you, in your own voice. His hand mirrors yours, sliding into a coat pocket that contains something he can't possibly know about. "Will you help me or not?"

And you do.

remember how you got here by kellifer_fic
Ariadne thinks maybe she does know the reason why Arthur appeals to her. She's a worldbuilder and he's a strong foundation. Lovely bit of Arthur/Ariadne + Eames.

seaside by owl_vs_dove
Lovely, achy Arthur/Eames. "Clearly, you wanted to fuck me," he bites out through clenched teeth, trying to think past the distraction that is Eames's cologne, the one that makes him want to curl up in Eames's old shirt and roll around. "You got that."

"Yes," says Eames, looking from Arthur to Ariadne like the answer is hidden somewhere between them. "Yes, I did."

"So, I don't see why we're still doing this," he waves his hand around, all-encompassing, "All of this. You – you got what you wanted."

sense memory by vinylroad
Tense, gorgeous Arthur/Ariadne. "How do you know we're not in a dream right now, Ariadne?"

"If this was my dream," she says, leaning closer to him so she can steal the last piece of chapati off his plate before she shifts back again, "we'd be eating thai."

Thank You for Your Interest by moonythestrals
Eames reaches for the PASIV machine, and gets punched by Arthur and hit in the head by Ariadne's shoe, at the same time.

They end up holding Eames at real gunpoint until he has wisely taken three shots of tequila and one of whiskey. Then they try to roast marshmallows in the electric fireplace.

Apparently the locked iron gate has been placed there for a reason, and hotel management declines to agree with their justification that the suite is much warmer with the couch on fire. Hilarious team fic featuring some cute Arthur/Eames interaction.

~*~