i am just a dreamer wearing sensible shoes

Once upon a time I posted recs every Friday. Time moved along and it became every other Friday, or whenever I had a good stash built up. Eventually, I got bored/busy/tired of doing it and I just figured, if someone wants to know what I like they'll go to my delicious and see it. You all know how that ended. Why yes, I am bitter about a free service no longer existing on the internet. Yes, I realize this is my problem.

So, Pinboard, and all that yadda yadda, I figure everyone went there too. Not so much, but I get enough out my subscriptions/network to find all the best fic. Occasionally I see people asking for recs in a fandom and I drop them a link to my pinboard and go along my merry way.

I'm not an OTP person, within these fandom categories you will likely find a multitude of pairings. If you want a specific pairing you can dig a little deeper into the tags and find them.

Note: WIPs not included

all my recs

all my Avengers recs

all my Teen Wolf recs PS mosca posted TW fic yesterday, kink fill square

Firefly

Two Gorram Days and its subsequent sequels by Dyce Known as The Horseshoe Nails Series. I really can't believe I've never saved/rec'd these before because I've read them repeatedly. It's a wonderful Jayne and River and eventually Jayne/River [without being gross, squicky, or in any way wrong] wherein Jayne helps River become independent. The whole Firefly cast is featured and is brilliantly characterized. The plotting is well-paced, the dialog sounds perfect. It's feel good, funny, angsty, and engrossing. If you've a yen for firefly I highly recommend these.
Kinship
The Bank Job
Miranda
Prodigal, an unfinished WIP but it ends satisfyingly so don't be afraid to read it

"Gotta get back to the stew." He looked critically at her hair. "You know, if you tied that up, it wouldn't get so messy."

She twisted around, looking at him like he'd said something really weird. "My hair isn't a prisoner."

"I didn't mean tied up like that. Like... braided, or some such." Jayne frowned. "You don't know how to braid?" River shook her head, and he sighed. "Look, I'll do it this one time, but you get Kaylee or Inara to show you how for next time, okay? And don't you ever tell nobody I know how to do this."

"Will there be more brushing?" River looked skeptical.

"A little more. And you can take 'em out if you don't like 'em."

"More brushing." She got comfortable again, shaking her hair back.

He gave her two braids, which made her look less like a creepy drowned person and more like a normal little girl. Then he let her wash the berries and put them in a bowl (and clean out his hat), figuring she was safe enough with cold water and carved wood while he added dehydrated potato and peas to the stew, using a little more of Inara's seasonings. "Needs to cook another hour or so, then we can eat."

"Hungry now." River had her little nose almost inside the pot. "I didn't think Jayne could cook."

"Jayne can feed Jayne. And little crazy girls when he has to." He shooed her out of the kitchen. "You can have some in an hour. Patience, remember?"

"I remember." She sat down at the table, reaching for Lux, a machine-gun almost as close to Jayne's heart as Vera. "Show me the inside?"

"Not in just an hour." He took it away, offering her his LeMat instead. "Show me how good you can take this one apart. Careful-like."

"It's one of your favourites." She handled the gun gently, petting it like it was a kitten. "I'll be careful."


The Good Wife

After the Dust Settles by abvj PG Alicia

“I’ve been fighting for this marriage for the past two years, Alicia. I’ve been fighting for you since the day we met,” he loosens the tie at his neck and laughs bitterly. “What the hell have you been doing?”

She wants to argue. She wants to fight. She wants to hurt him, to draw scars into his skin that will never truly fade so they can carry these marks of failure together; so he can hurt like she does.

Instead she does nothing and the façade comes crashing down around her. Alicia’s shoulders crumble like the foundation of their marriage and the sob she has been holding in surfaces, the sound strangled as it falls past her lips.

“I’ve been trying to love you, Peter,” she tells him. “I shouldn’t have to try. I don’t want to have to try.”

They’re both quiet for a long time.

Impossible Dreams Can't Be Broken by sweetjaimeelee Alicia/Kalinda, Alicia/Will Teen

In a world where good people are rewarded and bad people are punished, Kalinda would be terrified to even get out of bed in the morning. But this isn’t the fair world that people like to believe in; here, people like Alicia Florrick get betrayal and heartbreak, and people like Kalinda Sharma get a new identity and few consequences.

This is why Kalinda never really saw the point in being good.

She would have preferred it not to end this way, because she is fond of Alicia and distressed by having contributed to her suffering. But the fact is, Kalinda was always going to lose her. Alicia’s recent discontent at Lockhart Gardner has been obvious, as has been the line of high powered headhunters eyeing her interestedly ; really, it’s been just a matter of time before she gets the better offer she doesn’t even know she’s waiting for, and takes it.

How to Fall in Love Completely and Never Be Found by mosca Alicia/Kalinda, NC-17

Was Alicia expected to match that? She worried as her breath slowed. She stood up and fixed her panties, longing to touch Kalinda but feeling like she needed lessons first. "Easy now," Kalinda said, slipping an arm around Alicia's waist and leading her to the bed. "I was just showing off. You can do whatever you're ready for. I know you don't have much experience with women."

"How do you know that?" It was a foolish question. If Kalinda wanted to know something, she found it out.

"I've met everyone you've dated since college," Kalinda said.

Alicia laughed because the truth had taken so little research, and that relaxed her enough to venture a kiss, which became a tour of Kalinda's sensitive body, the hollows and lines of her neck and shoulders, the sweet flesh of her breasts and belly. Uncharted territory made Alicia's hands shake. "It's all right," Kalinda said. "Next time."

Like a White Shocking Wire by threeguesses NC-17 Alicia/Will/Kalinda

“You’re probably the worst wingman ever,” Will says, two weeks later on the courthouse steps. “I’m just saying.”

Kalinda hands him a file, the relevant passages already highlighted and colour-coded. “Yeah.” She pauses. Shifts from stiletto to stiletto. “Did get you laid, though.”

(In the dark, whenever Will closes his eyes: Alicia’s breasts and hands and mouth. The line of her back and the shape of her calves in his palms, looping on the projector screen of his eyelids, a constant reminder.)

“Point.”

Kalinda smiles. Will remembers the taste of her lipstick.

Over by the courthouse door, Alicia waves at them, gesturing to something in the medical examiner’s report. They turn towards her automatically; instinct, gravity, sunflowers to the sun.

The Vampire Diaries

Vid

strange and untrue by crickets An amazing, gorgeous, and incredible ensemble vid.

Fic

Life In Plastic by unoshot PG-13 character study, Caroline (Matt, Stefan, Damon, Elena, others)


She knows she's supposed to be able to flip some switch, just turn all her emotions off, but she doesn't know how and she's never tried. Caroline doesn't know what she'd be without feelings. She thinks there'd be nothing left.

She's half an hour late for school because she can't decide what to do with her hair -- because she spent three hours going through old Cosmo issues to find every hairstyle Angelina Jolie ever had, wondering if she could pull it off, wondering why the mirror was so shiny, wondering why she was so fixated. She had scissors in her hand before a text from Bonnie said hey where r u and that was it, she was out the door to math class and the quiz she likely failed.

High school is louder than before. She registers the heartbeat of everyone who brushes past her in the hall. She hears all the whispered conversations in corridors -- her gossipy heart can home in on who kissed whom or who's breaking up or who's being reamed out in the principal's office. It might even drive her a little nuts except she loves it too much.

She's seventeen and so are all her friends.

"Black and silver?" says Grant Norris, dubiously, at the third meeting of the dance committee. Caroline has to suppress the completely irrational urge to yank his entire lower lip over his face but thankfully Susan Fletcher chimes in with, "I think it's classy!" and they are agreed.

"Okay." Caroline spreads her papers across the table; she sets down her pink highlighter and picks up the green instead, making careful colour-coded notes. "So we have the DJ and the gym's booked, but we still need flowers and streamers, and -- I'll do the decoration sub-committee if Susan can get the money from the student association. Gina, how are ticket sales?"

She is the general and they are her glittery taffeta army.

Later, Susan says, "Oh my god, Caroline, you should be, like... a party planner when you graduate."

Caroline chirps, "Thanks!" She puts her markers away -- a rainbow in her pencil case -- and studiously ignores the pulse in Susan's throat.

I can not believe I haven't posted recs since August. What happened to when I did them every Friday? Also? This has some self-pimping in it, 'cause I'm not ashamed to do shit like that.

Crossover
Burn Notice/Supernatural

Smoke On the Water by ratherastory Gen.

Whoever these two guys were, they weren't FBI. They were doing a pretty convincing imitation of Feds, but there was something about the way the two of them moved that belied the act. They moved in synch with each other, which pointed to a long-standing partnership, but if they were Bureau then they wouldn't have been together for more than a year, maybe two at most, and that wasn't nearly enough to account for the unspoken communication I could feel coming off them. Besides, the FBI isn't in the habit of pairing up new agents: it's one rookie and one experienced agent, to prevent screw-ups.

It was Page who gave them away, although I doubt anyone other than a trained operative would have spotted it. Plant was the decoy, all swagger and good looks and loud-mouthed questions, but Page was sizing up the room, sizing me up, and within about ten seconds I saw he'd planned all their escape routes and spotted the pistol I was carrying.

Fake!RPS/Merlin

Pairing Pendragon/Merlin meta-fic, *hysterical* and quite moving too. 80K. Merlin pursed his lips. It was a lot, but he’d read White (fuck he loved White) and it wasn’t like he was actually going to do his coursework. Well, he’d do enough, but the lure of fic was way too much. And it was technically practise. Can’t do a degree in editing without editing something, and he’d much rather edit the sexy adventures of his fictional namesake than his actual Uni work, which had rather different mistakes, a lot less romance, and definitely no porn.

He dismissed the idea that he was ignoring Pendragon’s comment (and if he could surround it in little hearts, he would. He’d already screencapped it for posterity.). He wasn’t avoiding, or ignoring, or anything else -ing. He was participating (shit, that was an -ing) in fandom. And meeting people. And stopping being such an NNF that he got seven responses to anything he posted if he was lucky. Guinevere80 wrote hot knights slash and got a decent comment count; he was fortunate

The Vampire Diaries/Supernatural

untitled by ignipes Gen. Meta-fic Dean fills Sam in on why they can't go to Mystic Falls. HYSTERICAL

Fringe

13 Ways of Looking at a Betrayal by rivkat Olivia, Olivia/Peter. I bet you I've read this half a dozen times already. "Liv," her sister says, and Olivia closes her eyes, wishing that she could cross the distance between Boston and Chicago as easily as she can (now) swap realities. "Are you trying to excuse him, or condemn him?"

Rachel only vaguely understands what's happening, but she seems to have accepted 'identical replacement' for now.

Olivia sighs. "A little bit of both?" she says, missing the old telephone cords that you could twist during your uncomfortable conversations. "Anyway, I should go. Give Ella my love."

"Always," Rachel says.

Harry Potter

The Best Revenge by Arsinoe de Blassenville Teen. Gen. One of the most enjoyable HP fics I've read in years. The author goes right back to the beginning and asks the question, 'what would have happened if Snape saw Harry's Hogwarts letter addressed to the cupboard under the stairs. In this fic, Harry is HAPPY. Adults take care of children. The Heads of House are intelligent, witty, capable, and AWESOME.


A Muggle-born Magic Draco/Hermione Regency AU. Hermione Granger finds herself in need of a way to pay off her father's debts after his death. Draco Malfoy, retired from the politics of the Isolationists, a group of pure-bloods bent on separating 'true' magic from lesser folk, finds himself in need of a tutor for his son, Scorpius, who appears to be incapable of magic and must learn to survive in a world without it. Draco also needs a wife and mother for Scorpius, to satisfy a promise to his unwell father. After she saves his son from an attack by Isolationists, Draco hires the Muggle-born Miss Granger for the former, and after a riot in Vauxhall Gardens and a scandalous discovery made by his mother, weds that selfsame Muggle-born for the latter. While making the best of her marriage of (in)convenience, Hermione discovers that Scorpius' history of wild imaginings and dreams is more than just imagination.
Luther

Single White Female Alice Alice lived at home during university and grad school. Her parents weren’t as smart as her, but they weren’t stupid enough to let their child live with a bunch of coeds and no real adult supervision. So by the time she turned eighteen, Alice was desperate to get out. She found a flat and grad student to share it with and told her parents she was moving out. They could pay for it. Or they could pay for it. Their choice.

They chose to pay for it.


Make It Or Break It

by escritoireazul Also for me for Yuletide, also perfect. Emily, Payson, Gen. Sort of, Emily agrees, and she nods. But sort of, too, she thinks Payson is wrong. Because sometimes, what happens off the mat, that’s such a huge deal too. Like, she’s good and she’s getting better, but would she have been good enough for the Rock if she’d come out of another elite gym and not from the Y? How much of her story is the reason she’s here now, struggling to make the National Team? Can she really separate that from whatever talent she has?

Her story makes her Emily, and Emily is the one with that all-important skill. If it’s just about the moves, just about the technical skill, is Emily all important too?

Those thoughts make her head hurt. She puts them aside to deal with later.


RPS

The Doors of Time by felisbalnco Jensen/Jared ultimately NC-17. This is without a doubt, one of the finest AUs I have ever read, if not the best. The world building is truly astounding.

Sons of Anarchy

A Study of Courtly Love in Leather and Chrome by escritoireazul This was written for me for Yuletide. It is Tara and Tig and Courtly Love and it is perfect. Picture, if you will, the tableaux: The dark-haired beauty who will inherit the throne and rule beside her prince; all who cross her shall look on her and despair. Kneeling before her, head bowed, the knight who cannot bear to stand one moment more now that he has returned to his most beloved. Her hand, so delicate, outstretched to brush her fingertips against his hair.

She is no princess, this woman, but a doctor brave and true, and he no knight in shining armor.


The Good Wife
Vid

Shove It by bop_radar Kalinda Character study. Bop Radar is one of my favorite vidders and this vid is exceptional even by her standards.

Fic

Justitia's Hermes by turnonmyheels Cary character study I wrote for Yuletide. What? I think it's awesome. Life hasn't worked out the way Cary planned. He is going to rectify that as soon as he can. Spoilers through 2.08



The Vampire Dairies

Vids

Addicted by butterfly Damon gorgeous vid, beautiful visually. it can't help it though, because the actors are so fucking stunning

Dot Dot Dot by silviakundera Damon and Stefan awesome. funny. shiny

Run Fast by gigglemonster Caroline Forbes from beginning through the last aired episode, my notes read: fucking awesome, just like Caroline

Fic

Don't Hold It Against Me by smc_27 Adult. Caroline/Tyler "Stop avoiding me!" she hisses. He rolls his eyes like she's just the needy girl she was...until recently. "Tyler, this is..."

"Look, you saw me cry, okay?" he whispers, looking around to make sure no one can hear them. There's not even anyone else around. "It's not cool."

"It's fine!" She smiles and he narrows his eyes. "I cry all the time."

"You're a girl."

"So? Who cares? I just...I could...We could help each other." She shrugs one shoulder and looks at him, and he tilts his head and shakes it just slightly.

Yes, she's just given him the admittedly adorable look that has always, always gotten her her way.

"You're evil," he tells her. She actually laughs and he cracks a bit of a smile. "Fine. Whatever."

He walks away and she texts him before he's even at the end of the hall. She hears him whisper, "Goddamn," and laughs. When he turns to look at her, she just taps her ear and giggles when he looks totally confused.

She'll have to explain all that to him later.

The Fine Art of Poisoning by turnonmyheels NC-17 Damon/Katherine, Stefan/Katherine, Stefan/Katherine/Damon. In the Spring of 1864, Katherine Pierce poses as an orphan to gain entry to the Salvatore estate in Southern Virginia. She captivates the household with her beauty and charm. She has everyone under her thumb with one exception, Stefan Salvatore. Determined to seduce him without using compulsion, Katherine decides to use Stefan's only obvious weakness against him—his brother. Pitting the brothers against each other quickly becomes more than a game, turning into full-on obsession as Damon requires no compulsion and little seduction to corrupt his younger brother. As the triangle shifts and the body count rises, no one will remain unscathed.

Lame Ducks Don't Do Well as Parental Figures by badboy_fangirl. Jenna Sommers. The next time Jenna sees Andie, she's got this beautiful silk scarf tied around her neck in this abnormally stylish way and Damon Salvatore's hanging on her arm. Jenna gives herself a silent high five as she watches them nuzzling each other in a booth; that is until she turns around and sees the look on Elena's face.

Some days she'd rather be lame than parental at all, really. It's only on this day that she realizes she's both.

Like a Dog With a Bone by eenaangel PG-13 Caroline/Tyler “Tyler Lockwood is following me,” she says in lieu of a greeting, or an apology. She glares at Damon like this is his fault-because even though they get along a bit now, she still likes blaming shit on him. It’s easier than having to find the actual responsible party and it soothes her ego to slap him around when the memories of his abuse resurface and she’s trapped in a haze of anger and bloodlust.

Stefan and Damon share an ominous vampire look that must be something they inherited from their father, because she can never look that serious/frustrated/amused/worried without also looking constipated (so she’s trying out her vampire looks in the mirror-she doesn’t really need to sleep as much and sometimes she gets bored). Stefan wanders over to the windows, peers through the blinds, and then gives Damon a grave nod.

“And you led him here,” Damon rolls his eyes, but doesn’t lose that amused light in his eyes. “Thanks Blondie.”

No Claim On You by summerstorm Gen. Caroline Forbes This one time they're having coffee together outside, a couple of weeks into spring weather, and Bonnie says, "So how are you dealing with, you know, the cravings?"

She's halfway through a sip so that it looks almost casual, the way her voice is soft and she looks all concerned and stuff, so Caroline spouts off some crap about the tricks she's learned to quell her thirst when it gets dangerous, and thanks Bonnie for asking.

It's kind of awkward, because she doesn't want Bonnie to freak out or think Caroline thinks Bonnie supports vampirism as a rule now, which means she can't say what she actually means, which is Thanks for asking like you're concerned about how I'm doing instead of like you're a criminal profiler trying to predict a serial killer's next move.

But it's not glaringly obvious in a bad way, she doesn't think. She just points out that what she's saying is kind of personal, as an apology, but Bonnie reads it as an accusation and says, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

Not Your Rosalie Hale by iphignia939 Gen. Caroline Forbes

”Because it was safer if you didn’t know,” Elena says.

”But I wasn’t,” Caroline says – not rude or anything, because she gets it, now. She still thinks people messing with her head, like, once a week is messed up, but there are some things you don’t remember and stay the same. Like that nurse at the hospital. No one wants to remember being someone else’s salad bar. “Damon used me like a salad bar that gave blowjobs, and there was this dark-haired lady, and Stefan made me forget that night when he slipped me vervain to mickey Damon. I wasn’t safer. I was just stupider.”

And oh, man, now Elena’s crying. “I’m sorry!” Caroline says, waving her hands. “I mean, I’m not, really, because I’m not wrong, but I’m sorry I said it that way—“

”No,” Elena says, sniffling. She wipes at her eyes. “You’re not wrong. And – it’s kind of nice, actually, to know you’re still you. Only Caroline Forbes could say that that way.”

“Well, duh.” She shrugs. “I’m still me. I’m just bitey.”

The Pitchfork Play (Not) Its Part Well by havocthecat PG. Liz Forbes The vervain clears its way out of Liz's system in three days.

Throw Yourself From Skin to Skin by turnonmyheels Adult. Damon screws (with) Mystic Falls, episode by episode. Damon is a vampire. There will be death, rape, torture, sex, bloodplay, etc.

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Alaric regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. He’d known better than to make small talk with Damon since the moment he met him.

“I’m sure Isobel is all ‘My darling girl, I can’t believe I let you go. Please come closer so I can drink your blood.’” Damon rolled his eyes and stared at Alaric. “And then Elena says, ‘No! You can’t drink my blood, but I’d like to get to know you, you’re my mother after all.’”

Alaric leaned back against Damon’s car and kept his eyes on The Grill. “Forget I said anything.”

“Generally speaking, I can’t even remember you exist much less your inane excuse for banter.”

The absurdity of the statement forced a chuckle from Alaric. “You are so full of shit.” Damon huffed out a noncommittal sound. “Seriously, you’re always, ‘Let’s go kill something, teacher!’ You can’t keep your hands off my weapons, you stalk me through town at any given opportunity, and now that my not exactly dead vampire wife is in town you’re shadowing every step I make.”

Damon kept his eyes on the entrance to The Grill and didn’t speak.

“I think you like me.” Alaric didn’t bother to hide the dopey grin on his face. “I think you want to be” -- he nudged Damon with his elbow and clasped both hands together in front of his heart -- “friends.”

Crossover! Friday Night Lights/Gossip Girl

All that shimmers in this world is sure to fade by lexiesloan Blair/Tim

“Texas?” Her mother’s nose wrinkles in the same manner and Blair has to bite down on her bottom lip to keep from laughing. “But… I thought we were all going to Paris this summer.”

“Mother… I really need something different,” she tries to explain even though she doesn’t know if she can. She isn’t sure that even she fully understands it.

Eleanor stares at her for a moment and Blair holds her breath. “You’re already so different, Blair,” she says, standing up, coming to her and Blair tilts her chin up so their matching dark brown eyes could meet. There is a moment of silence and then Eleanor sighs. “Texas?” She says again and Blair laughs.

Glee

‘Cause You’ve Got An Awfully Long Way To Go by paperclipbitch Puck/Kurt, Finn/Kurt, PG-13

“Or be banged by Finn, whatever, I don’t know what gets you off,” Puck shrugs, “I mean, you look like you bottom, but-”

“Oh my God,” Kurt says helplessly and it sort of comes out as a whimper. He must still be asleep, this cannot possibly actually be happening. Puck cornering him by his locker and discussing his sexual preferences is just too unlikely and ridiculous, even after all the other weird shit that’s gone down recently.

“Hey,” Puck says, “for all I know you get all animalistic and bossy in bed and that’s cool too, you know, if you want to top the shit out of Finn. I kind of doubt it ‘cause you’re carrying a girl’s purse and also you make that chick in Legally Blonde look manly, but whatever works for you, I guess.”

Iron Man

Concession by obsession_inc Gen. Incredible what-if fic. Pepper Potts [and Tony Stark] have disappeared and Christine Everhart, Vanity Fair reporter investigates

There are thousands of available pictures of Pepper Potts and she is out of focus in every one of them. Every one features some combination of Tony Stark, weapons manufacturing mogul, foreground; Virginia Potts, personal assistant, background. If it wasn't so infuriating, it would be damn near poetic. Christine resigns herself to having to request Pepper’s employee badge photo from Stark Industries, fighting their (understandably less-than-forthcoming) H.R. department for a picture that will end up looking more than a little bit like a mug shot. Which, under the circumstances, is a tasteless bit of irony that Christine could do without, regardless of her editor's opinion to the contrary.

Star Trek

A Member of the Nightshade Family** savoytruffle Adult. Mirror!verse. Spock has a plan for dealing with the new captain. McCoy agrees to take one for the team. Kirk hasn’t quite learned the meaning of “too good to be true.”

“I’ll bet he has…” McCoy skims through Kirk’s file, shaking his head as he goes. “So, this…kid fucks a paraplegic a few times and calls him ‘Daddy’ and he gets command of the flagship?”

“Positions in the Empire have been awarded on less logical bases.”

“Ain’t that the truth.”

“It would hardly be in my interest to construct a strategy based on falsehoods,” Spock notes. “And this conversation would proceed more quickly were you to curb your habitual use of redundant human idioms.”

McCoy rolls his eyes. “This conversation would proceed more quickly if you’d stop using three times as many words as you need to make your goddamn point, but you don’t see me holding my breath, now do you?”

Spock raises an eyebrow. “I will assume that question is rhetorical.”

The Vampire Diaries

Buddy Ficlet!! by rivkat

At least he was here, with her, instead of trying to fend off five werewolves all by himself. Elena wondered if it was something about being over a hundred years old, or at least about not growing up with the macho ideal so many guys her age seemed to obsess over: when Damon looked at a situation that he couldn’t handle, he actually showed some realism.

Well, sometimes.


But It Can Be Won by silviakundera Stefan/Elena/Damon OT3
The first time Elena Gilbert thinks she fell in love was a wince-bright sunny day. The memory is vivid, stained glass clear:

The grass smells freshly cut and the necklace he fastened is warm from the sun (but she’d thought it was his palms, so large when they’d settled on her shoulders). It singes the front of her throat as she smiles at him. He is so mysterious and new, and she likes that, likes the impossibly perfect way his mouth fits over hers. He said he wanted her to have this.

It's nothing like Matt and his sandbox, stole-your-toys grin. It's like running away from home, convertible top down, the wind in your hair.

He thanks her for pushing him; she’d always wanted to push somebody.

oh, this is it, she hums in her head. this is what I’ve been waiting for.

**

She’s wrong.

The Quick brown Fox by entangled_now Damon/Alaric NC-17

He's careful not to slice into the skin because Alaric is already a heady combination of sex and rage and guilt, and adding blood to that would be too much like chumming the water.

Damon only has so much self-control after all.

Vid

All the Same to Me by SilverVintage82. Fantabulous Damon character study vid.

Battlestar Galactica Vids

*3* amazing Starbuck centric vids to set Pink songs. by dualbunny You can NOT miss these \o/ I'm Not Dead, God is a DJ, Cuz I Can

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Better Luck With Girls Adult, Buffy/Faith by shrift.

"Ever had sex with someone who had superpowers?" Buffy asked.

"Not yet, but I hear it's wicked awesome," Faith said.

"It's a perk," Buffy said, and kissed her.



Chuck

I Hate This Part (Right Here) by seperis Chuck, Casey, Sarah, gen-nish Rating: PG-13. there's nothing in the world like finding Seperis has written fic in a fandom you're desperate to read. A mission goes awry and Chuck is ... hurt. Casey and Sarah take care of it.

Null by nightfawkes PG Chuck/Casey. I'm a sucker for 2nd PPV fic. You’re shaking again, and you don’t dare stop to think about why. You whisper, “Is the whole more than the sum of its parts? Am I nothing but a lie?”

“You are not the lie, Chuck. You are the truth. You are real.”

“But who am I? If no one knows me, then do I exist?”


Only You by daria234
Chuck goes back over later to help Casey get rid of the bodies. He forgets when this stopped being a horror and started being a nice thing to do as a team player.

Casey is fussy. About everything: all the details of the cleanup, doing things right, leaving no trace. Chuck's used to it by now, but it had taken him a while to understand how all that fussiness could co-exist in a man whose fists and guns and angry eyes could make him seem like a wild animal. Eventually Chuck figures it out, and it doesn't seem so crazy.

It seems like being good at a job.

Crossover! Battlestar Galactica/Star Trek

Rising Sign by ninety6tears Adult. Kara-centric. When Kara Thrace flies through the wormhole near the end of Season Three, she finds Earth-- but not the Earth that Galactica's been searching for. Instead she finds herself hailed by a ship calling itself the USS Enterprise! And yet it's so much more than that. Kara and Kirk are practically hetero life mates, she and Spock don't see eye to eye and she fraks nearly everyone on the ship. Her relationship with McCoy is beautiful

Crossover! Firefly/Star Wars

by vaznetti Gen River Tam and Yoda. There aren't enough words to express the genius of this fic.

"Hmpf," says the gnome. "Not wise at all." It turns and walks away from her; when River stands she can feel her feet squishing into the damp ground. Leaves brush her head as she walks around the trees in her path; small insects buzz against her ears as she follows the hobbling gnome. There's dirt between her toes now and a twig in her hair, as if the world was trying to prove itself to her.

She catches up with the gnome at a small round building. "I'm not real," she confides.

"All is not illusion," it tells her. "Learn you must." It invites her in and gives her a bowl of things grown on this very planet; she takes each piece out, one by one, to memorize texture, shape, color, before she tastes it. Earth-that-was had this wealth, she thinks. Maybe it was easier to believe in things, when there were so many of them.

Gossip Girl

Yes, I may have quit the show, although the surprise casting of Billy Baldwin may lure me back, I'm still reading some of the fic

when I have fears that I may cease to be by artemis_sparks Chuck/Blair Chuck's never been so pleased to misjudge someone.
Harry Potter

The House That Cedric Built by King's Cross Rated R. Wonderful Draco POV of an 8th year and a 5th house. Goes back and forth in the timeline. Lovely, lovely voices. Astoria -- or Asteria as the author has chosen to spell it -- is a wonderful character

Leverage


Plot Devices by entangled_now PG-13, Eliot/Hardison Crackish, amnesia themed fic
in which Eliot is not Brian Westwood, or Jason Bourne.


SouthLand A show I've watched since the beginning and have recced in the past in case you're new and want something to read

A Little Mental Yoga by Dsudis. Cooper/Sherman, Adult. Telepathy fic that isn't crack. That's right, in a non-sci fic/fantasy fandom. Should be impossible, but totally isn't


Star Trek

Little Shadow by hollycomb Adult, Chekov/Sulu Phenomenal story of Chekov's years in the Academy. He falls desperately in love with his roommate Sulu. The breathtakingly sharp teenage angst is stunning.

You wanna stand by my side? Darlin', Your heads not right. by xsaturated Spock/McCoy [my secret favorite ST ship] Starts with Spock getting de-aged and only allowing Bones to be near him. Ends with a crew against crew baseball game and Spock learning to heckle. Too awesome for words.


Orange Crush and Cream Soda this morning

::cracks knuckles::

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Less Than Real by Zulu Faith/Dawn, Explicit. This fic is gorgeous, just gorgeous. It begins with "When Dawn was real ... " and goes from there. The voices are sublime.

Crossover
Leverage/Veronica Mars

Four Times Parker Got Away from Veronica, and One Time She Didn't by ScintillaIo Veronica/Parker. Exactly what the title says it is, also short, simple, and perfect. Veronica always catches her mark. Parker only gets caught when she wants to.

Friday Night Lights/Sons of Anarchy/Supernatural

Not Because You Should, But Because You Must by devilc Adult Tim/OFC, Jax/Tim/Dean. This is So. Much. Fun. Seriously. If you're familiar with the fandoms [and even if you're not] this is a blast.

Dark Angel

Rage Against the Dying of the Light by lyl_devil PG-15 Species study. Fascinating look at how the X-series self-governs and the implications [non-porny] of heat.

Dune

This City, The Ruins in Its Heart by bantha_fodder Gen. Alia character study that nails it so hard I bet Frank feels it in his grave.

She is preborn, adult before her time, and the children of the sietch are not her friends. Abomination, they declare, harbinger, coan-teen, words they can barely pronounce, let alone understand, and if she were on any other planet her eyes would well with tears, and she would leak water for her childhood.

She is Fremen, though, and she conserves her water.

Cultivates her anger.

Gossip Girl

Charlie Foxtrot by artemis_sparks R Dan/Chuck, Dan/Blair, Chuck/Blair. Future fic, Dan POV he finally gets Blair and Chuck. And himself. Just perfect.

I would like to pause at this juncture and make this an overall Author rec. After reading Charie Foxtrot I was so impressed with how she got the characters and their language and their motivations and skillfully wove together what was great with the books and what was great with Season 1 and ran with it that I read every single fucking thing she has ever written.

Let me tell you, she's good. Other outstanding GG fics include: On How to Be Lovely; A History of Waldorf and Hepburn, 11.27.08, and All the Girls We Could Be

In Harry Potter

try
L'Effet and Secretary/Assistant

Little Red Corguette by blamebrampton PG Draco/Harry I love every single thing I've read that Blamebrampton has written and this - is spectacular. Draco works for the Department of Standards. This years corguettes aren't up to European standards. Viva La Revolution!

RPS(f)

The Remedy by moosesal NC-17 Chad Michael Murray/Kenzie Dalton; Chad/Jensen Ackles; Jensen Ackles/Danneel Harris; ultimate Chad/Danneel/Jensen Warnings/Enticements: het, slash, and threesome sex; cunnilingus; rimming; felching; pegging; double penetration; and one bestiality joke.

Seriously, this is some funny, FUNNY stuff. It's also got amazing voices, wonderfully hot sex, and an ease of reading that makes it fly by and you wish there were more.

Sons of Anarchy

Vid

So Cold by almostgaby Seriously the best vid I've ever seen for the song. The story it tells from Sons will make your breath catch.

Self Pimpage

Friday Night Lights: How to Be a Team Leader in One Easy Lesson Pre-series Saracen/Riggins/Street/Williams Adult

Better Late Than Never PG Tyra, Lyla

Crossover FNL/SoA
Riggins Won't Fear the Reaper Gen. Humor, Crack.

---

Please, if you read something and enjoy it, let the author know.

Crossovers

DCU/TFaTF

Faster Than a Bird of Prey by merfilly and ilyena_sylph

Black Canary goes undercover in the street racing world. Pre TFaTF

Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Torchwood

My Immortal by elisi Buffy/Jack. NC-17 Jack *is* the Immortal and he and Buffy set out to have a fun, romantic, no-strings relationship while he is in Rome.

This links to the epilogue but there is a link there to take you to previous chapters. EXCELLENT characterization. Cameos by Buffy crew.

Burn Notice/Bandom FOB

People Say A Lot Of Things They Don’t Mean by scribblinlenore NC-17. OMG DUDE THIS IS SO AWESOME and I had to google to see what band Pete and Patrick are in because I'm THAT clueless. Of course, Michael is that clueless too so I don't feel *quite* so bad.

He peers out the peephole, and standing there is a dark, skinny mess of a soon-to-be-dead man, covered in tattoos, wearing yesterday’s makeup. Apparently, it’s not early for him, so much as very, very late. Michael considers the possibilities, black ops maneuvers for hiding bodies that involve duct tape, cuticle scissors and a bag of quick lime. The banging gets even louder, the soon-to-be dead man really putting his back into it, and Michael flings open the door. Pistol-whipping in broad daylight, he figures, will work just as well as stealth.

The soon-to-be dead man blinks at him, all big, dark eyes of doom and quivering lip.

“I lost Patrick,” he says mournfully.

Michael sorts through all the code phrases he’s ever memorized, not that they’d be current anymore, not that this guy looks like anybody’s idea of an agent. Old habits die hard. He comes up with nothing.

He crosses his arms over his chest. “Nice eyeliner.”

“Guyliner, dude,” is the automatic answer, as if the subject has come up before. “I’m looking for Patrick. Have you seen him?”

Harry Potter/Supernatural

January Girl by parenthetical Luna Lovegood/Dean Winchester. PG-13 and absolutely delightful

With Sam trying out normal life at Stanford and his father working an undercover gig across the country, Dean is on his own and getting reckless. While investigating a series of mysterious deaths, he runs into a strange witch called Luna Lovegood, who is searching for what she calls a 'Horcrux'. (Seriously?) Suddenly Dean finds himself dealing with evil wizards, broomsticks, Bat-Bogey Hexes, Dementors, mirrors which order him to wear a pointy hat, and much more - all the while trying not to think too much about Luna's last name and whether it's accurate.



Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Bring It On/Heroes

VID

Can Delight first vid at top of page by Elefantpaw. It may be because I love cheerleading so much, or it could be because this is fucking genius but you CAN'T miss this vid.


Leverage

VIDS

Start the Commotion by danegen Fun, funny, Alec centric but features the whole crew.

Money by lapillus Parker Centric and SO awesome. She's my favorite little ball of psychoses on tv today.

Deliverance

The Promise of Other Things by moosesal Ed/Lewis, PG-13. A year later. Gorgeous language, perfect tone.

Gossip Girl VID

Hooker by bop_radar Featuring Jenny Humphrey. I LOVE hating on Jenny. This is perfect.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles VID

Army of Me by halcyon_shift Stunning both visually and with the storyline.

Crossover Battlestar Galactica/Sarah Connor Chronicles Vid

Video Title: Unnatural Selection
Song Title/Artist: Pussycats Gone To Heaven (Pixies vs Pussycat Dolls) - DJ Lobsterdust by charmax Creepy, chill bump inducing, stunning.

Fast and Furious

land meets water meets sky by Carla. Beautiful Letty fic. Letty scoops up a handful of sand; it dribbles through her fingers, chafing her skin as it falls. It should be so easy to release her thoughts. Usually she can; she’ll tip back a beer and stand with her feet shoulder-width apart and smirk in the light of the bonfires. She’ll shove Dom up against one of the cars, their bodies tight together, and she’ll swallow the past in their kisses.

Gossip Girl

A Little Pomp and Circumstance Blair/Dan PG-13 My not so secret fandom shame. If Chuck was a puzzle – an enigma – then Dan is a straight line.

It was just one kiss in that café in New Haven the summer after graduation, the smell of coffee in his hair. But she remembers how his hands dropped to her waist so that she could hold his face, how he tilted his head to welcome the press of her nose against his cheek. He kissed her like it was the first time he had kissed anyone, with the wonder of a pianist learning a score, his mouth and tongue and fingers pouring over her with nothing but reverence and adoration.

And she felt the shift. Heard the scratch of a line being drawn behind them, separating then from now. As though her past was something she could discard like a too-tight pair of shoes at the end of the evening. As though her future wasn’t a red carpet that had unfurled in front of her the moment she was born; she could do whatever she liked with it.

So if Chuck stood in her way, then Dan stepped aside to let her stand next to him.

These Things She Keeps Behind Her Eyes by kymess_jr Serena/Blair, Serena/Georgina, Serena/Nate, Serena/Random Guys, hinted at Serena/Chuck. Dark and what I believe realistic look at the characters pre-series. By the time Serena and her guy (ugh.) sit next to the other two, Georgina is already snorting up two lines. Two more lines, cut perfectly, stare up at Serena. It’s kinda hard to see them, the white powder on the white coffee table, but Serena knows they are there, she knew they would be even before she sat down.

Serena grabs the rolled up hundred-dollar bill—‘cause it’s always a hundred—from Georgie’s fingers. Within two seconds, she is feeling the sting. And it’s not like the first time; it never is. That first time when Georgie told her it would be the best rush she ever felt, better than any orgasm, and fuck was she right. That first time in the cramped washroom stall with impatient club-goers banging on the door, and Svetlana squeezing her throat slightly as she ran her tongue along Savannah’s jaw before handing her the hundred to use as a straw.

No, it’s not like that. But it’s getting the job done, and Serena is so caught up in it she doesn’t notice the hands fumbling along her body or the lips scraping along the column of her neck, rushing to her mouth. She just lets herself get caught up in all the sensations, lets it wash over her skin.

A mixture of tingles and rough strokes replace her thoughts. It’s nice; there’s a distinct, familiar pleasure in losing herself in movements—the movements of his fingers; their tongues; her blood.

But tonight there is something else. The pleasure is there, kind of, and then gone as fast. She’s left empty (maybe emptier?). She can feel his hand slide under the hem of her skirt and dart at an awkward angle under the elastic of her underwear. And fingertips brush in a way that makes her moan, but not because of the reasons it should. She moans, Serena realizes, because she has become aware of what she is doing, of what she is expecting to happen. She is moaning into his mouth because it is an integral piece of pretending to be Savannah the innocent southern girl who gets fucked by strange men.

Harry Potter

Glass Half Full by pir8fancier Ron/Pansy R. Ron's an alcoholic. This is painful to read, especially if you know alcoholics but it is a beautiful, amazing, well-crafted, perfectly characterized piece of fiction that EVERYONE should read.


Riddles and Rhymes by bewarethesmirk Snape/Draco, NC-17 "I believe Draco suffers from bloated arrogance. He envies the power of his superiors, but he does not yet know what it means to yield to that power. His condition necessitates that he be taught to subject himself to those more powerful, and by extension, yourself."

Draco's mind latched onto the word "arrogance" and he fought the urge to clench his fists. Belatedly, he tried to work through the muddle of words.

The Dark Lord chuckled and Draco was struck with a horrible suspicion that some insinuation in Snape's words had eluded him.

"How intriguing." The Dark Lord chuckled again as if he couldn't contain himself. "Intriguing, indeed, Severus. Am I to assume you would like to be the one on whom these responsibilities are bestowed?"

Supernatural

The Consequences of Falling by pandarus A story in fifteen parts, in which the angel Castiel finds himself put in an untenable position, and consequentially loses his grace. In which he goes on a roadtrip with a demon, discovers the delights of tequila and french fries and pie, plays a starring role in a virgin sacrifice, is deflowered by his favourite Winchester, and then gets some very unpleasant news indeed. NC17.

If you haven't read this and you like Castiel you're missing a fabulous treat.

I fell in love in Hell, and it is simply so distressing by rivkat Dean/Castiel R Castiel tilts his head. “When will I earn your trust, Dean? Will you require me to Fall?”

Dean struggles in silence for a minute. It is nothing for Castiel to wait, but Dean’s face is tight with discomfort. He blinks rapidly and his mouth twitches, half-formed protests discarded before they can be spoken. Even when he tries to close himself off, Dean is so open. His brother considers it a weakness, which is perhaps the primary reason that Castiel does not expect this cycle to end well for Sam. At last, Dean sighs. “You told me how to save Sam from Lilith. I—I appreciate that.”

Castiel shifts his weight, coming half a step closer. “Is that all that you feel for me?”

And Dean’s earlier shock is a faded echo of his stunned expression now, as if Castiel has knocked his world flat and built it up into a completely new configuration.

Castiel is going to have to do the hard work here. It is not work to which he is accustomed, but he has an idea of what is necessary. “I would like very much to know that you … return my regard.”



Star Trek XI

How to Avoid Kicking Puppies and Other Valuable Lessons in Leadership by sparky77 Gen. Humor. awesome. The banter between Bones and Kirk and Spoke and Kirk = \o/

from the kink meme Spock/Uhura, humor, crack!fic. Can best be summed up with: do Vulcans *really* have tentacles down there?

super hot Spock/Uhura also from the kink meme NC-17 Kirk as voyeur. Excerpt

He imagines it's all very formal - please, may I, would you be so kind as to put your leg on my shoulder, Lieutenant. The thought of Spock's cool formality extending to the bedroom makes Jim smile. The first few times the thought invades his morning jerk-off routine, it's more funny than hot. Does she holds on to Spock's pointy ears while he's eating her pussy?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Battlestar Galactica Crossover

Bug on the Cosmic Windscreen by missmurchison PG. Spike, Starbuck, Roslin, the whole gang. This is brilliant. It's funny and heartwarming and heartbreaking and so very, very satisfying. It's canon compliant with Buffy through Chosen and BSG through Pegasus.

Friday Night Lights

Burn Up Hard and Bright by inlovewithnight College fic. Read the spoiler warnings at the top of the fic, please. Matt Saracen/Brian Williams. This is truly wonderful. TRULY the Matt voice shines and Brian's voice does too.

Iron Man Movie Vid

Butterflies and Hurricanes by humansrsuperior Gorgeous vid, chillbump inducing.

Leverage

The Hole by darkeyedwolf Adult. Hardison/Elliot. Great Hardison voice, good show feel. Very funny.

Supernatural

Better Than Wine by mirabella Sam/Dean/Castiel, NC-17 From Castiel's POV, outstanding voice. Best SPN fic I've read in a while

Castiel is not a stupid person. Angel. Whatever. He knows what drunkenness is, for yea, there have been fruits of the vine for all the long years of Creation and it wasn't long before Man looked on them and found them good. And there was wine in the temple, wine in the Sacrament, making glad the heart of Man, causing the lips of those who are asleep to speak. He's pretty sure there was something about breasts being as clusters of the vine, except he always feels a little uncomfortable looking too closely at that part of the Holy Writ. The point being: wine. So he knows what drunkenness is. Better than these children do. He's just… out of practice.

I can't believe I nearly let December get away without recs. What was I thinking? Some Yuletide recs, but not all. I've barely begun my Yuletide reading.

300

Lessons NC-17, speechless from the hotness.

The Breakfast Club

The Tender Things That We Were Working On Brian/Bender. Future fic, a reunion invitation comes in the mail. Completely and utterly satisfying.

Crossover
Friday Night Lights/Sarah Connor Chronicles

The Lost Art of Keeping A Secret by devilc Characters: Derek Reese, Tim Riggins, Landry Clarke, Matt Saracen. Derek POV. Left me with chillbumps that wouldn't go away.

Dexter

A Motherfucking Roly-poly Chubby-cheeked Shit Machine Debra Morgan, Rita Morgan, Dexter Morgan.

Oh, what the hell. At the very least, Dexter was bound to do something goofy she could hold over him for the rest of his life. "Can I swear?" she grinned.

Rita hesitated, then smiled back. "I'm kind of counting on it."

"Deal."

Fan Tribute Vid

An a Capella tribute to John Waters.


Harry Potter

Beautiful by shocfix Ron/Hermione, PG-13 and perfectly perfect in its perfection.

Recipe - Chocolate Ganache Tart

I made this for Christmas dinner. It took way longer than 15 minutes, why do these things always lie about length of prep time?

Game plan: The tart can be made up to 2 days ahead. Store covered in the refrigerator.

The cherry-vodka sauce can be made up to 4 days ahead. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use.

( cut for recipe )

Rome

Sic Semper Tyrannis Brutus, Brutus/Antony, Antony/various. *phenomenal*

You do know that Caesar has spoken Latin all his life?" Brutus asked, reading. "I mean only that you probably won't be able to cow him into submission with your mastery of syntax alone, much as you enjoy trying."

"Oh, very droll."

"Is it not the purpose of language to communicate clearly?" Winding Cicero up was inexcusably entertaining. He prickled so easily, a blustery hedgehog of a man, delightful in his insecurity.

Young Guns

Tally All Antecedents Doc and his various relationships.

Billy smiles back just a little. Still wild, still free, but heavier now, weighted down by his own inevitability. Words ring through Doc's head, a million stanzas learned and lost over the years coming back to him. Doc was no poet. But he was a hell of a verse.