Unfit for Society Recs

Captain America

i've been in your body and it was a carnival ride by postcardmystery
Tony starts to laugh, says, "You think Steve Rogers would fuck you without puppies and hearts and rainbows, are you out of your tree, dude?"

"I-" says Bucky, and tangles his metal hand in his hair, says, "I, he's Steve, and I'm me, I just, I didn't, um."

"Look," says Tony, sitting down cross-legged on the floor next to Bucky, "even I can tell that if you want to ride that bronco, you have to buy a ticket, wait, no, that's a terrible analogy, er, Pep, I need a hand, here-"

"He's in love with you," says Pepper, "and you are the only person who has ever met the two of you, I should imagine, who is in ignorance of that. Go home, Sergeant Barnes." This isn't really how I see Bucky, but this story pushes a lot of my buttons and it is both hot and sweet and has pining and unrequited love that is actually requited, so, yes. Also, Pepper remains the actualfax best.

Like Oxygen When I Breathe You In by sparklyfiend
The author says it's five times Steve had a panic attack, but mostly it's about how much Steve and Bucky love each other. *happy sigh*

my heart on a trigger by stardustcities
"Hey, come on. You know I won't let you fall."

"Heh, yeah." Bucky leans into his hand, then away to set the bottle down by the side of Steve's bed. After, he sidles unsteadily closer to settle over Steve's lap, close and warm with the dozy, familiar smell of alcohol on his breath. "I know you won't." Oh my heart. Bucky doesn't like heights. Steve promises to take care of him. And then what happens in the movie happens. Oh, Bucky. Oh, Steve... *sniffle*

paralyzed down both sides by stardustcities
Steve scrubs a hand back through his hair, leans into his desk. He's exhausted, because it's exhausting trying to investigate a case when he's sleeping with the man he's supposed to be hunting down. Bucky is there in an instant, so light on his feet that Steve doesn't know he's next to him until Bucky's touching his arm, up to his neck, finding pressure points and dipping his fingers into them, massaging until Steve is loose with his touch. "Bucky," Steve mumbles, feels like it's all he can say, a mantra that he can't bear to stop repeating. He's not supposed to know Bucky's name; he's not supposed to know anything about him.

Except he knows everything about him. Non-powered AU where Steve joins the NYPD when Bucky ships out. And then Bucky comes back and he's... different. It's short but it made me say Oh, Bucky and Oh, Steve a lot. I wish it were longer.

To Have and to Hold by necchan
This is some really lovely Steve/Bucky from childhood through the movie.

Trembling on with steady aim by gloss
He trained as an assassin. He was, they said, a natural.

They gave him a knife, a pistol, and a mask as well as a dumb yellow-haired pretty boy partner.

They didn't need to say, Kill. Kill 'em all. Be sneaky, and mean, and inscrutable. Kill 'em.

That much was understood. AU where Bucky is Nisei. Brilliant and clear-eyed and painful. Highly recommended.

you've been acting awful tough lately by postcardmystery
Steve leans in and kisses him, hard and long, and says, "I'm in if you are."

"We don't have to, you know, give this a name," says Bucky, still staring at the floor, and Steve says, "Why not? Let's not be stupid this time."

"Let's not go hopin' for too much," says Bucky, and Steve pulls Bucky into his side, and says, "Yeah, maybe not." Pining, snark and porn, which is pretty much what I want from these two.

~*~

Thor

Can't Go Back the Same Way You Came by Pell
Loki falls to earth and tries to make amends for the damage he's done. This is really lovely. I like how Loki's sense of melancholy and regret is threaded through it, even as he makes friends with Jane and Erik and Darcy.

Fleet-Footed and Caught by Memlu
"You love me," he said. It was a question.

"Is it so strange?" she asked.

"It is to me," said Loki.

Sif said, "It should not be so," and she reached for him. Lovely.

Indulgence by Peripeteia
"You don't believe me," she said and opened the door.

"You're drunk," he said. Then again, to make it stick: "You're drunk."

The curve of her sneer was heartbreakingly familiar.

"Loki Silvertongue who thinks everyone a liar like him," she spat.

"Sif-" he began, though he did not know what he would say. It didn't matter because she disappeared into her room.

"Don't worry," her voice floated back. "In the morning, I won't believe me either."

The door laid open. Loki turned away and did not follow. mmm...deliciously palpable mutual pining.

~*~

DCU

As If In Jubilation by Rubynye
Ridiculously hot Babs/Dick pegging fic.

Between the Shadow and the Soul by Cinaed
When Aphrodite strikes Batman with one of Eros's arrows, Wonder Woman goes on a quest to cure him, because even though they are totally in love, she doesn't want him to finally admit his feelings just because he's been whammied. Really nicely done.

Common Knowledge by K_dAzrael
Damian reflected that given that he had spent his life jetting between exotic locations – having the best of everything – it was strange that Steph's apartment (which was small and filled with flat-pack furniture) should seem like a refuge. It was so ordinary... so civilian. Even Steph herself was incredibly ordinary – a healthy, all-american girl with cornflower blue eyes and thick blonde hair, who talked too much. There was no rational reason that he should feel comforted by her presence or at home on her couch. After sleeping with half his team (clearly following in Dick's footsteps), Damian finally ends up where he wants to be, with Steph. Nicely done.

Minutes and Protocols by quipquipquip
As Tim's best friend and partner, Conner had an unspoken list of responsibilities. It was a role that he took happily and willingly, even though it wasn't one that he got to play outside of their apartment. Tim wasn't comfortable with anyone knowing that they were a hell of a lot more than just roommates, and Conner understood—-he wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of the media blowout that would follow Red Robin and Supes flying out of the closet. Touches were reserved for the most private section of their private lives, and that was just the way it was. Even with masks on, they had an image to uphold.

But Conner did his best to be a good boyfriend, and that meant carefully handling Tim's semi-annual breakdowns. Adorable Tim/Kon goodness.

~*~

Kings

Cuius Regio by k8andrewz
Jack wants to know this David before the crown leaves its inevitable mark. He's going to love that marked David, and until the second he thinks it, Jack hadn't really thought of this in terms of love. Though, to be fair, it's not as if it's a familiar sort of thought. It's a sure one, though, one that fills him with an excitement he can't recall feeling. The sort of first-taste high you chase but can never again catch.

He's going to love that David. But this one, he thinks as he smiles, this one Jack owes it to himself to know. Deliciously tense and hot first kiss for Jack and David.

Epilogue by miarr
Really good epilogue to the series finale, following Jack, Michelle, and David as they start off in their new directions and begin learning how to be the people they're becoming.

i was trying to describe the kingdom by postcardmystery
"You are my brother and I love you," says Michelle, "no matter who you are or what you do."

Jack's sixteen, now, and he knows what he is and what he cannot be, says, "It must be nice to think that you have that luxury, sister." Sharp, bitter look at Jack's life.

Sacrifice by ChristyCorr
"Jonathan Benjamin," Nathan all but roared, in that same thunderous voice Samuels used when he got really pissed, "I am here on the Lord God's orders, and you will listen."

Jack swallowed dryly, intimidated. It was pointless to play games when talking to a prophet of the Lord, so Jack said honestly, "I just don't see why He'd bother with me, that's all. I'm not cut out to be one of His men; my father reminds me of that at least once a day." He thought of the righteous anger in Samuels's voice: You are not the one he wants. Certainly, if Jack hadn't been sure at the time whom God wanted, he had no such doubts now. "I'm no saint, you know, and I'm definitely not David Shepherd."

"You may not be David, and you may have betrayed Silas, Jonathan, but the king betrayed the Lord; you are more in His favor than your father ever will be again. The Lord has a plan for you; all He needs is for you to stop struggling against it and open your eyes. There is nothing in David's destiny you should envy."

Jack could imagine the hardships Shepherd would face: how easily the damned Boy Scout would sail past them; and how impossible they would be to anyone lacking David's anointment.

"No, I don't suppose there is," he admitted. Jack grows up during his imprisonment and finds a place at David's side.

a time to refrain from embracing by Pouncer
Really lovely look at Jack and David in exile, planning to take the throne from Silas, and how Jack grows and heals.

~*~

Crossovers

Criminal Minds/Harry Potter

In Darkness by Mhalachai
(It's only because Aaron Hotchner is a very good profiler indeed, that he can tell the man (early to mid thirties, medium build, dark hair, wearing corrective lenses) is:

a) nervous (shifting of the weight on the balls of his feet, glancing around the room in the moments between staring at Aaron);

b) not local (European law enforcement badge hanging from the man's belt)

(on second glance, the badge is from the British Auror's department, and Aaron slows his step because. Really. Today?); and

c) a wizard.

Even if the Auror's badge hadn't given it away, the clothing would. Not quite out of fashion, just different enough, and with materials that no normal person would ever wear.

At no time in his life have British wizards ever meant anything good to Aaron.) Hotch is a squib, but Jack can do magic. Shot through with melancholy.

*

Criminal Minds/Psych

I Know You Know (But You're Not Telling the Truth) by windscryer
"Mr. Spencer—"

"Call me Shawn. I think it would be awkward for us to remain formal considering we almost entered into an extortion agreement just now."

"Shawn," Reid said, testing it out. "Okay. You can call me Spencer then, I guess."

Shawn made a face. "Yeeeeeah, that's kind of weird too, considering it's my last name. It kind of has a," he waved his hands between them, "sort of estranged cousin feel to it." hee! Reid calls Shawn on not being a psychic. Nice little scene. Wish it had been longer.

~*~

The Big Bang Theory

The Paladin Protocol by SpaceAnJL
Long, satisfying, if a little overly repetitive (and full of unnecessary emotional exposition) story that takes what Leonard and the others did to Sheldon's research seriously, as a cruel "joke" that had serious consequences, and melds that with a lovely, believable burgeoning Penny/Sheldon romance.

~*~

Parasol Protectorate

Corps-a-Corps by violet_quill
Biffy and Lyall fence. Nicely subtexty.

~*~

Fringe

Olivia... In the Bathroom... With a Razor by ziparumpazoo
Peter's always fancied himself as a smooth-talking ladies man with a 'Sweetheart' thrown in here or there to either charm or provoke, depending on his target, but he's starting to suspect Olivia prefers more of a James Garner over his Humphrey Bogart act. I enjoyed this a lot.

~*~

MASH

these are the days of miracle and wonder by raven

There are women everywhere on the Mall, camped out and lined up and standing holding their signs: Women Need Constitutional Equality Now; Say Yes to the ERA. Hawkeye's stuffing ballot boxes for it up in Maine now. When they first started organising he sent her a cheque with an obscene message on the back; Margaret cashed it for the VA and sent him a note, put that damn mouth where your money is, Pierce. She misses him. *sniffle* Hawkeye et al, before, during, after. This is like checking in with old friends to see what they've been up to while you've been apart. Lovely.

~*~