Multifandom Fic Rec List
Really good stuff I've read:
Harry Potter
A Game Called Life by ninety6tears
"What the spell is supposed to require is a capacity for certain wands to recognize not only one, but two masters." (Fred & George)
This is the most beautiful examination of the friendship between the Weasley twins, magic world style. It digs deep into the special connection they share. Certainly one of the most powerful gen fics I've read in a while with some excellent world-building on the magic of wands and brotherhood and spells.
All Your Glory In Your Form by ohkaye
In the aftermath of Sirius leaving the Noble and Most Ancient Mausoleum of Black, things go a little sideways, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter think the beach will cure all ills. (Sirius/Remus)
One of the few both believable and sensitive stories about how and why Sirius ran away from home and how it messed him up for a while. Features a Remus who sees a lot but takes a while to get it, three teenagers not really being up to dealing with a friend who's acting weird, and boy kissing between two boys who're really just boys, and don't quite know what they're doing.
What J.K.R. forgot to mention... by starcrossedgirl
“Quick,” Snape ground out, “talk to me about your feelings!” (Harry, Snape)
I very rarely like crack enough to recommend it, but this is very much worth it as it's not just hilarious, but also smart. In this fine fic, Harry's Expecto Patronus stops working in the face of a Dementor attack because it's so stupid a metaphor for dealing with depression that it finally collapses. It's up to Snape to save Harry by employing more regular means of coping before the Dementors can close in.
Elysium by anon
As a Department of Mysteries employee, Hermione got to mess with some really cool time-related stuff. When it happens to send her back to the Marauder Era, it wasn't so cool anymore. (Hermione/Lily)
I've got no particular feelings towards Hermione, and the same can be said about Lily, considering she's basically an original character, and it's up the writer to make her an interesting person. So I mostly clicked on this because I was bored, but then I was blown away. This is easily the best bit of femmeslash that I've encountered. It fits into canon, but with a twist. It acknowledges the existence of sexual identity (no small thing to ask for in this fandom). It has plot. It manages to turn Lily's sacrifice to save Harry into something even more meaningful than it already is in canon. It has sex and romance and terrible amounts of heartache. I love it.
Tingle by florahart
When Lily's around, no one pays much attention to Petunia. (Petunia/Sirius)
Despite the fact that Sirius doesn't exactly come across as a nice person in this story, it's still a great look into the mind of Petunia. I'm a sucker for rare pairings, so this hit a lot of the right spots, and I love that it's Sirius' behavior that makes the readers feel for Petunia even though most of them probably clicked on it because of their like for him.
Battlestar Galactica
You all probably already know the good stuff, so I'm just gonna point out these (again):
How to live and love as an amputee, by Brendan Costanza by geekbynight
Eight months have gone by since Brendan lost his right arm and nearly his life battling with Scar. (Hot Dog, Kat)
This is a prompt ficlet, obviously written for a title I provided, and it's just such a thing of beauty. I never would have thought you could do something that lovely with that title, considering it's so particular and loaded. But Geek did! Since it's a comment fic, it surely wasn't read by a lot of people and that should be remedied. Like, right now.
The Path of Most Resistance by lizardbeth_j
When the movement fails, Sharon takes a different path. (Boomer, Anders, Barolay, Caprican Resistance)
This is a great AU gen fic wherein Boomer joins the Caprican Resistance, getting to do what Athena did before her (making a choice and sticking with it) but going all the way in a way Athena (keeping to herself that Cavil was a Cylon) couldn't. Remember everything you loved about Boomer before she descended into what-the-fuckery land? This is that Boomer. As a bonus, Sam gets to be a resistance leader, which is kind of awesome because if he'd gotten to be a resistance leader in canon, I might have loved that character instead of just not giving a damn either way until he turned into a crazy robot.
Anomalies by letterstonorah
When Felix realizes that the loud, hiccupping sobs from the neighboring cell belong to Starbuck, he thinks that the whole thing is rather... curious? Odd? (Gaeta/Kara)
Another one that I pimped at the time, but new Gaeta writer, seriously? Why wasn't all of gaeta-squee all over that one immediately? Here, Gaeta and Kara find themselves imprisoned in a Cylon cell on New Caprica, and a bond develops between them that actually makes sense. Which is quite something, all things considered.
Applying Bounds to the Transcendent, or “How Felix Gaeta Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Military” by nnaylime
Felix Gaeta grew up knowing two things-he wasn’t like other boys, and he was very smart. (Gaeta)
New Gaeta writer - see above. I just love it when a new great writer (or an old great writer from another part of the fandom in this case) comes in and looks at good ol' Gaeta in a way that the rest of us don't, because really we're all like an old married couple at this point. This story was written for the bsgficexchange in 2010 and went sadly overlooked. Also, it features geometry. Literally.
Give You All by nicole_anell
On New Caprica, Lee is imprisoned by a Six. (Lee/Six, Kara/Lee)
Another one I recced at the time, as most people on my flist aren't into that pairing and so they might have missed this very remarkable story. Lee finds himself in a situation not unlike the one of Kara and Leoben, except for how Nicole's writing makes a lot more sense than RDM's. It's a gutting story, and I couldn't stop reading, despite the fact that the warnings should have made me stay the hell away from the fic, and despite the fact that Lee rarely holds my interest outside of porn.
X-Men: Movieverse
All Fall Down (have to get up again) by girl-wonder
The morning after Alcatraz, the weather was mild. (ensemble)
This is a great post-X3 fic about all the ensemble, featuring a great mutant power and the stages of mourning and great moments for all the characters (except, a little strangely, Logan). It's from 2008, so some of you might already have read it, but if you didn't, you missed out.
so say good-bye, it's independence day by handyhunter
Three weeks after Alcatraz, Warren runs away from home again. He ends up at Xavier's school and learns a few things about himself with the help of some new friends. (Warren & ensemble)
Angel is not a character who I care about in any fashion, but he transforms into a perfectly interesting, entertaining and lovable young man in this story. It features a hilarious Jubilee and a sweet Rogue and a sweet Logan, too, in his own special way, which is actually kind of amusing. Also, interesting developments concerning Warren and his dad. It's a very sweet fic that kind of makes you want to reevaluate your opinion of mankind overall, a little.
Death of the Heart by Mara
House does his old friend McCoy a favor and takes one of Xavier's students on as a patient. (Greg House, Lisa Cuddy, Beast, Jubilee & X-Men ensemble)
This is a House/X-Men crossover in the style of your typical medical investigation drama (I assume this is what House is like most of the time), except for how it's about the X-Men, set in the aftermath of X-Men 2. It's always hard to pull of such a thing as a medical investigation in a way that can stand up to canon, but this one is a really well-written example of how that can work out. It incorporates the X-Men's backstory in a great way that makes the X-Men movies feel all the more realistic, and House's glimpses at each member of the team are worthy of reading as well.
Kissable Fanatic, Unhinged Minim Artists. by Basingstoke
Our first bassist was this fucking strange guy named Toad. Can't forget him, no sir. (Toad/OMC)
In this fic, terrorist on the run Toad pays an old band-mate-gone-punk-rock-star a visit, and they catch up. It's a really old fic, which I remember reading even in my lurker days - AO3 says it was published there in 2001 (wait, is AO3 even that old? - maybe it has a date-back feature). But who knows, maybe not totally everybody knows it. It's a perfectly captivating, unusual story about an unlikely character, and yet it so much fits the spirit of the X-Men movies. It's about being a mutant with a really obvious and off-putting mutation, about being gay, about standing up for yourself. It will also teach you things about Toad's mutation that you most likely never thought you'd want to know.
Role Models by Penknife
Logan's trying to fit in with the new team. (Logan, ensemble, various canon pairings)
This fic was written even before X-Men 3, but on the off-chance that somebody doesn't know it yet, here goes. I find that movie!Logan is an incredibly hard character to write, especially as a POV character. I'd even go as far and say that he's one of the hardest characters to write that I've encountered in any fandom, period, which I think has something to do with what Hugh Jackman does with his face. Penknife makes some great choices writing him, dry and deadpan and rather aware of how the whole situation of him in a building full of kids will always be quietly hilarious no matter what he does. That said, everything starts when Rogue punches Bobby a little too hard in a training session. Things unravel, and it appears that Logan is expected to pick up the pieces. Or something.
X-Men: First Class
Self Defense by kindkit
A talk on the road from New York to Virginia. (Darwin, implied Erik/Charles)
I'm not much into First Class fic because I don't give a damn about Erik/Charles and while it's a potentially great setting for some really thought-provoking fic, that fic barely ever gets written. This is a great gen story about Darwin, after Magneto and Xavier showed up in his cab. He gets to be a black guy in the fifties, which I enjoyed. The whole fic seems really appropriate for the period in a way most fanfic doesn't.
Sports Night
Midnight, New Jersey by runpunkrun
The clock ticks over. (Dan, Casey, Dana)
This fic is set after the show at a point when Casey has moved on from Sports Night, and Dan sort of hasn't. It's achy and angsty, but it also features top-of-the-notch dialogue and characters who stay perfectly true to the canon. Also, it pulls quite the punch (in the gut).
The Plan
Casey had always known that one day they would need to talk about why Danny couldn't hold on to a woman. (Casey, Dan)
I always adore a good fic on a queer topic. This is an inconspicuous little story that I've taken a fierce liking to because of just that. Casey has his suspicions about Dan's sexuality, and he approaches his friend about it in the kindest and most sensible fashion - even having practiced the lines up front, because this is Casey. If you're into the Dan/Casey ship, it ends on an especially uplifting note, but it does that even if you aren't. It's just a great short story about friendship.
fall, fall, fall by mojokid
Everyone would remember the night Steve Sisco tried to kill Dan Rydell at a charity fundraiser. Dan, in particular, would remember it. And if he ever forgot, there would be a neat white scar across the palm of his right hand - a defensive wound, he would tell people. From when Steve Sisco tried to kill me. You probably read about it. (Dan, ensemble, Dan/Casey)
This story is hilarious in the way a story is hilarious when it just refuses to take itself seriously, although theoretically there would be nothing standing in the way of trying. The ex-husband of Dan's girlfriend decides to have a go at him with a bloody big steak knife, and then it's the ensemble to the rescue. The romantic Dan/Casey bits work here, really well actually, because they help raising the fic even a little more over the top than it already is.
5 Things Sorkin Never Got To Steal From Sportcenter by scrunchy
Five Things Sorkin Never Got to Steal from Sportscenter (But Probably Would Have, if Sports Night Hadn’t Been Cancelled) (Casey, Dan)
This sounds like meta from looking at the title, but it isn't actually. Ignoring for a moment that the writer knows nothing, and I mean nothing about soccer, and somehow managed to put, like, five different errors into the two paragraphs focused on soccer, this is a great read and a fic that stays true to the show in a way few fanfics manage. It puts the sports back in Sports Night, after all. Centered around Casey watching snippets from old broadcasts, it also makes a beautiful nostalgic point that Sorkin surely would have made himself if Sports Night had managed to survive for seven or so seasons.
Torchwood
Angels in the Architecture by ignipes
Sometimes she thinks she can still hear them, even after the pendant is gone. (Tosh)
(Oh look at that, it's by ignipes! I'd saved that fic in my memories ages ago and now she's on my flist! Who knew? Small world. :D) This is a coda to the episode "Greeks Bearing Gifts" in which lesbianism granted Tosh the power of mind-reading. It's a great epilogue for that episode, showing all the little ways in which Tosh started looking at the world in different ways after her stint at telepathy.
Exhibit by mirrankei
Owen, Toshiko, and Ianto find themselves kidnapped to the future. Stuck on an asteroid, thousands of years from their time, they become research subjects and part of a 21st-century Earth exhibit in the station museum. But the time travel portal that brought them there is malfunctioning, and the whole situation stinks of a trap to a visiting Time Lord... (ensemble, Owen/Tosh, Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Amy/Rory)
This massive Torchwood/Dr. Who big bang is certainly the meatiest and most plotty Torchwood fanfic that I've read. It features great references to Dr. Who, a lovely backstory for Jack, time travel and lots of twists. Also, Tosh meets the Doctor. Read it just for that.
Masks by libraryofsol
The state of trust in Torchwood was shaky to begin with. (Ianto, ensemble, Ianto/Jack)
Trust is such a major part of the show that never got properly explored in the last consequence. libraryofsol uses a great device to explore that: There's a polymorph impersonating one of the team, but none of them can be sure who it is. It's a dark story, that will leave you feeling more creeped out by Ianto and Jack than by the shapeshifter in the end.
If You Pass Go, Do Not Collect £200 by paperclipbitch
Ianto is sent to rescue Owen from 19th Century London, but he’s less than impressed by what Owen has been doing to survive. (Ianto/Owen)
This is another story that plays with the Torchwood theme of trust, though in a much more subtle manner. Owen is lost in 19th Century London, which is not an altogether nice place to be, and as he doesn't much consider the option that his team might come to save him, he starts adjusting - ensuring his survival by whatever means necessary. I like this because it's a gritty tale, in that way Torchwood is gritty, showing you the uglier shades of gray, and characters when they really aren't at their best. It's a meaty fic of 12,000 or so words, successfully mixing plot and slash.
It Creeps Up On You by Pocketmouse
She finds it hard to flat-out ask, out of nowhere. It reduces her to stammering and stuttering, and she hates that. The easiest way is to just trick herself into saying it, make herself believe it’s something casual, when really she’s going to say “I want to see you in a skirt.” (Tosh/Owen)
I dig a good story about crossdressing, which I'm sure comes as a surprise to absolutely nobody. So I had to click on this just because of that summary. However, after I'd satisfied my curiosity, I was delighted to find that this story took the kink and went to lovely rich, complex places with it, mapping out all of Owen and Tosh's relationship bit by bit and finally merging with canon in all kinds of satisfying ways. It's a great character study.
Inception
any eventuality by starlingthefool
People assume that Eames likes to be in perfect control of everything: how he presents himself to the world, how others see him, how an extraction goes down. That's true, mostly. Sometimes. The reality is more complicated. (Arthur/Eames)
This is frankly just a really good bit of porn. What with my being a hater of clichés and a connoisseur of both BDSM and stories of kink negotiation, this worked for me in every way.
dream a dream (and what you see will be) by Mizzy
Eames has always said Arthur has no imagination and should dream a little bigger. The problem is, Arthur's dreams might be the most dangerous place to be on the planet. And when their latest job forces them to recreate Fantasia, and Arthur's secret past unravels alongside it, Cobb's team might be about to find the answer to the Neverending Story... (Ariadne, Arthur, Eames, Bastian Balthazar Bux, Arthur/Eames)
This is an Inception/Neverending Story crossover. How is that not cool? No seriously, what other reason can one possibly need to read that? But okay. The really great thing about this big-bang fic is that it doesn't just deliver. It goes way past this, and it's everything you could expect from a story. It'll give you a perfectly sound incorporation of the Neverending Story 'verse into the Inception 'verse, it features an Arthur/Eames that doesn't just idle around but actually serves a purpose for the plot and makes the story all the more compelling than it would otherwise be. And it ends on a twist. A great, unexpected, creepy twist. It's a really remarkable fic.
Chuck
Off The Clock by seperis
Twenty-four hour gaming tournaments have predictable ends, and Casey doubts Chuck's eaten anything without processed sugar since Ellie brought him dinner last night at work. (Chuck/Casey)
This is actually some old-ish fic from way back in 2008, but I think that's why quite a lot of folks might have missed it when it's really, really good (and steamy! with the porn!). If there's one thing I know about Chuck/Casey, it's that it's goddammed hard to pull them off in a completely believable and in-character fashion. This is one of the few fics that I think have managed to do so perfectly.
dialogue as a diagram of a play for blood by slybrunette
They break things, they don’t fix them. Walls and bones and rules and resolve; it all crumbles the same. (Sarah/Casey)
I've got a weakness for Sarah/Casey, and I've started to think I might have a weakness for fic written by slybrunette in general - don't know her much, but she's got yet to let me down as a writer. This is beautiful, and very lyrical, and gritty. It sort of leaves you wondering why you ever thought that Sarah/Chuck could work out, not because Sarah and Casey are meant for each other, but because they live in this one world and Chuck lives in another.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Parallel Evolution by mosca
Seven ways nature solves the paradox of high-level sentience and the reproductive instinct. Or doesn't. (various canon pairings (including Garak/Bashir), ensemble)
If you only ever read one ST:DS9 fic, it's gotta be this one. It's a beautiful examination of sexual interaction across the species in the DS9 ensemble, Klingon and Trill and Cardassian and Ferengi and what have you. You should mind the warnings, but if they don't propose any real problems to you, you shouldn't let them stop you.
Standardized by babel
Snapshots from Julian Bashir's life, from three to thirty-two.
This is a rather heartbreaking look at the ways Julian Bashir's genetic enhancements did and didn't change him. It's also a great portayal of his family that expands their little appearance on the show in a very believable fashion.
Stargate: Atlantis
I'd Do It Again If I Could by jendavis
It always starts the same way, and almost always ends the same way, too. (Ronon, John/Ronon)
Ronon is stuck in a time loop, again and again trying to stop Atlantis from being destroyed in a Wraith attack. It's awesome. It's suspensive and smart, and Ronon gets to be way more interesting than in canon. You shouldn't read (or not read) it for the slash, because the ways in which it is awesome are the ways of action/adventure. Though the slash definitely is a bonus.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Distractions by dollsome
Five times Giles notices Jenny before "I Robot You Jane." (Giles/Jenny)
Aw, this is great. Not a pairing that attracts a big audience, I know, but this is light and entertaining, and also sweet and hilarious and some other stuff I probably forgot. If Joss had managed to portray these two characters with that much swerve, they'd be rivaling the Buffy/Angel shippers in numbers.
The Ones Not Kissed by Snickfic
He's not sure why he came or what to say now that he's here. 'Sorry my girlfriend was making out with your boyfriend'? (Oz, Cordelia)
Oz and Cordelia aren't two characters who we've ever seen interact much on screen, which is interesting, considering their respective partners went and cheated on them with each other. I do love the idea that Oz would decide to visit Cordelia after she was hurt in that episode. Both of them are perfectly in character, and the strong Oz POV prevents this from slipping into teenage angst.
ER
Cicatrices by blu4vr
Everything is so routine and comfortable that some days Ray almost forgets to wonder when Neela is going to change her mind and bolt. (Ray/Neela)
I know there are barely any ER fans on my flist, but I know some of you expressed an interest in Ray and Neela when I wrote my epic ER/X-Men crossover. So if that interest is still in existence, this is a great fic for you. A year after Ray (canonically) lost his legs in a car crash, Neela eventually moved to live with him in Baton Rouge and they fell into that relationship that had been on the move for four seasons. Starting at that point and exploring that bumpy relationship, this is easily the greatest fic I have found in that fandom overall. It's full of heartache and love, and there are great characterizations and beautiful descriptions.
Babylon 5
Sic Transit Mulier by Selena
The deepest secret Vir ever kept had nothing to do with Londo. It was his own. (Vir Cotto, Londo Mollari, the Cotto family)
This is 7500 words of how Vir had been born in the body of a woman. No seriously. It was written for the recent queerfest and it features a great exploration of the Vir/Londo friendship, beautiful complex world building, great characterizations and the Centauri's stance on transgender. And really that's pretty much all you can ask for in a story. Especially since it's Vir. How can you not love a story about Vir?
Harry Potter
A Game Called Life by ninety6tears
"What the spell is supposed to require is a capacity for certain wands to recognize not only one, but two masters." (Fred & George)
This is the most beautiful examination of the friendship between the Weasley twins, magic world style. It digs deep into the special connection they share. Certainly one of the most powerful gen fics I've read in a while with some excellent world-building on the magic of wands and brotherhood and spells.
All Your Glory In Your Form by ohkaye
In the aftermath of Sirius leaving the Noble and Most Ancient Mausoleum of Black, things go a little sideways, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter think the beach will cure all ills. (Sirius/Remus)
One of the few both believable and sensitive stories about how and why Sirius ran away from home and how it messed him up for a while. Features a Remus who sees a lot but takes a while to get it, three teenagers not really being up to dealing with a friend who's acting weird, and boy kissing between two boys who're really just boys, and don't quite know what they're doing.
What J.K.R. forgot to mention... by starcrossedgirl
“Quick,” Snape ground out, “talk to me about your feelings!” (Harry, Snape)
I very rarely like crack enough to recommend it, but this is very much worth it as it's not just hilarious, but also smart. In this fine fic, Harry's Expecto Patronus stops working in the face of a Dementor attack because it's so stupid a metaphor for dealing with depression that it finally collapses. It's up to Snape to save Harry by employing more regular means of coping before the Dementors can close in.
Elysium by anon
As a Department of Mysteries employee, Hermione got to mess with some really cool time-related stuff. When it happens to send her back to the Marauder Era, it wasn't so cool anymore. (Hermione/Lily)
I've got no particular feelings towards Hermione, and the same can be said about Lily, considering she's basically an original character, and it's up the writer to make her an interesting person. So I mostly clicked on this because I was bored, but then I was blown away. This is easily the best bit of femmeslash that I've encountered. It fits into canon, but with a twist. It acknowledges the existence of sexual identity (no small thing to ask for in this fandom). It has plot. It manages to turn Lily's sacrifice to save Harry into something even more meaningful than it already is in canon. It has sex and romance and terrible amounts of heartache. I love it.
Tingle by florahart
When Lily's around, no one pays much attention to Petunia. (Petunia/Sirius)
Despite the fact that Sirius doesn't exactly come across as a nice person in this story, it's still a great look into the mind of Petunia. I'm a sucker for rare pairings, so this hit a lot of the right spots, and I love that it's Sirius' behavior that makes the readers feel for Petunia even though most of them probably clicked on it because of their like for him.
Battlestar Galactica
You all probably already know the good stuff, so I'm just gonna point out these (again):
How to live and love as an amputee, by Brendan Costanza by geekbynight
Eight months have gone by since Brendan lost his right arm and nearly his life battling with Scar. (Hot Dog, Kat)
This is a prompt ficlet, obviously written for a title I provided, and it's just such a thing of beauty. I never would have thought you could do something that lovely with that title, considering it's so particular and loaded. But Geek did! Since it's a comment fic, it surely wasn't read by a lot of people and that should be remedied. Like, right now.
The Path of Most Resistance by lizardbeth_j
When the movement fails, Sharon takes a different path. (Boomer, Anders, Barolay, Caprican Resistance)
This is a great AU gen fic wherein Boomer joins the Caprican Resistance, getting to do what Athena did before her (making a choice and sticking with it) but going all the way in a way Athena (keeping to herself that Cavil was a Cylon) couldn't. Remember everything you loved about Boomer before she descended into what-the-fuckery land? This is that Boomer. As a bonus, Sam gets to be a resistance leader, which is kind of awesome because if he'd gotten to be a resistance leader in canon, I might have loved that character instead of just not giving a damn either way until he turned into a crazy robot.
Anomalies by letterstonorah
When Felix realizes that the loud, hiccupping sobs from the neighboring cell belong to Starbuck, he thinks that the whole thing is rather... curious? Odd? (Gaeta/Kara)
Another one that I pimped at the time, but new Gaeta writer, seriously? Why wasn't all of gaeta-squee all over that one immediately? Here, Gaeta and Kara find themselves imprisoned in a Cylon cell on New Caprica, and a bond develops between them that actually makes sense. Which is quite something, all things considered.
Applying Bounds to the Transcendent, or “How Felix Gaeta Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Military” by nnaylime
Felix Gaeta grew up knowing two things-he wasn’t like other boys, and he was very smart. (Gaeta)
New Gaeta writer - see above. I just love it when a new great writer (or an old great writer from another part of the fandom in this case) comes in and looks at good ol' Gaeta in a way that the rest of us don't, because really we're all like an old married couple at this point. This story was written for the bsgficexchange in 2010 and went sadly overlooked. Also, it features geometry. Literally.
Give You All by nicole_anell
On New Caprica, Lee is imprisoned by a Six. (Lee/Six, Kara/Lee)
Another one I recced at the time, as most people on my flist aren't into that pairing and so they might have missed this very remarkable story. Lee finds himself in a situation not unlike the one of Kara and Leoben, except for how Nicole's writing makes a lot more sense than RDM's. It's a gutting story, and I couldn't stop reading, despite the fact that the warnings should have made me stay the hell away from the fic, and despite the fact that Lee rarely holds my interest outside of porn.
X-Men: Movieverse
All Fall Down (have to get up again) by girl-wonder
The morning after Alcatraz, the weather was mild. (ensemble)
This is a great post-X3 fic about all the ensemble, featuring a great mutant power and the stages of mourning and great moments for all the characters (except, a little strangely, Logan). It's from 2008, so some of you might already have read it, but if you didn't, you missed out.
so say good-bye, it's independence day by handyhunter
Three weeks after Alcatraz, Warren runs away from home again. He ends up at Xavier's school and learns a few things about himself with the help of some new friends. (Warren & ensemble)
Angel is not a character who I care about in any fashion, but he transforms into a perfectly interesting, entertaining and lovable young man in this story. It features a hilarious Jubilee and a sweet Rogue and a sweet Logan, too, in his own special way, which is actually kind of amusing. Also, interesting developments concerning Warren and his dad. It's a very sweet fic that kind of makes you want to reevaluate your opinion of mankind overall, a little.
Death of the Heart by Mara
House does his old friend McCoy a favor and takes one of Xavier's students on as a patient. (Greg House, Lisa Cuddy, Beast, Jubilee & X-Men ensemble)
This is a House/X-Men crossover in the style of your typical medical investigation drama (I assume this is what House is like most of the time), except for how it's about the X-Men, set in the aftermath of X-Men 2. It's always hard to pull of such a thing as a medical investigation in a way that can stand up to canon, but this one is a really well-written example of how that can work out. It incorporates the X-Men's backstory in a great way that makes the X-Men movies feel all the more realistic, and House's glimpses at each member of the team are worthy of reading as well.
Kissable Fanatic, Unhinged Minim Artists. by Basingstoke
Our first bassist was this fucking strange guy named Toad. Can't forget him, no sir. (Toad/OMC)
In this fic, terrorist on the run Toad pays an old band-mate-gone-punk-rock-star a visit, and they catch up. It's a really old fic, which I remember reading even in my lurker days - AO3 says it was published there in 2001 (wait, is AO3 even that old? - maybe it has a date-back feature). But who knows, maybe not totally everybody knows it. It's a perfectly captivating, unusual story about an unlikely character, and yet it so much fits the spirit of the X-Men movies. It's about being a mutant with a really obvious and off-putting mutation, about being gay, about standing up for yourself. It will also teach you things about Toad's mutation that you most likely never thought you'd want to know.
Role Models by Penknife
Logan's trying to fit in with the new team. (Logan, ensemble, various canon pairings)
This fic was written even before X-Men 3, but on the off-chance that somebody doesn't know it yet, here goes. I find that movie!Logan is an incredibly hard character to write, especially as a POV character. I'd even go as far and say that he's one of the hardest characters to write that I've encountered in any fandom, period, which I think has something to do with what Hugh Jackman does with his face. Penknife makes some great choices writing him, dry and deadpan and rather aware of how the whole situation of him in a building full of kids will always be quietly hilarious no matter what he does. That said, everything starts when Rogue punches Bobby a little too hard in a training session. Things unravel, and it appears that Logan is expected to pick up the pieces. Or something.
X-Men: First Class
Self Defense by kindkit
A talk on the road from New York to Virginia. (Darwin, implied Erik/Charles)
I'm not much into First Class fic because I don't give a damn about Erik/Charles and while it's a potentially great setting for some really thought-provoking fic, that fic barely ever gets written. This is a great gen story about Darwin, after Magneto and Xavier showed up in his cab. He gets to be a black guy in the fifties, which I enjoyed. The whole fic seems really appropriate for the period in a way most fanfic doesn't.
Sports Night
Midnight, New Jersey by runpunkrun
The clock ticks over. (Dan, Casey, Dana)
This fic is set after the show at a point when Casey has moved on from Sports Night, and Dan sort of hasn't. It's achy and angsty, but it also features top-of-the-notch dialogue and characters who stay perfectly true to the canon. Also, it pulls quite the punch (in the gut).
The Plan
Casey had always known that one day they would need to talk about why Danny couldn't hold on to a woman. (Casey, Dan)
I always adore a good fic on a queer topic. This is an inconspicuous little story that I've taken a fierce liking to because of just that. Casey has his suspicions about Dan's sexuality, and he approaches his friend about it in the kindest and most sensible fashion - even having practiced the lines up front, because this is Casey. If you're into the Dan/Casey ship, it ends on an especially uplifting note, but it does that even if you aren't. It's just a great short story about friendship.
fall, fall, fall by mojokid
Everyone would remember the night Steve Sisco tried to kill Dan Rydell at a charity fundraiser. Dan, in particular, would remember it. And if he ever forgot, there would be a neat white scar across the palm of his right hand - a defensive wound, he would tell people. From when Steve Sisco tried to kill me. You probably read about it. (Dan, ensemble, Dan/Casey)
This story is hilarious in the way a story is hilarious when it just refuses to take itself seriously, although theoretically there would be nothing standing in the way of trying. The ex-husband of Dan's girlfriend decides to have a go at him with a bloody big steak knife, and then it's the ensemble to the rescue. The romantic Dan/Casey bits work here, really well actually, because they help raising the fic even a little more over the top than it already is.
5 Things Sorkin Never Got To Steal From Sportcenter by scrunchy
Five Things Sorkin Never Got to Steal from Sportscenter (But Probably Would Have, if Sports Night Hadn’t Been Cancelled) (Casey, Dan)
This sounds like meta from looking at the title, but it isn't actually. Ignoring for a moment that the writer knows nothing, and I mean nothing about soccer, and somehow managed to put, like, five different errors into the two paragraphs focused on soccer, this is a great read and a fic that stays true to the show in a way few fanfics manage. It puts the sports back in Sports Night, after all. Centered around Casey watching snippets from old broadcasts, it also makes a beautiful nostalgic point that Sorkin surely would have made himself if Sports Night had managed to survive for seven or so seasons.
Torchwood
Angels in the Architecture by ignipes
Sometimes she thinks she can still hear them, even after the pendant is gone. (Tosh)
(Oh look at that, it's by ignipes! I'd saved that fic in my memories ages ago and now she's on my flist! Who knew? Small world. :D) This is a coda to the episode "Greeks Bearing Gifts" in which lesbianism granted Tosh the power of mind-reading. It's a great epilogue for that episode, showing all the little ways in which Tosh started looking at the world in different ways after her stint at telepathy.
Exhibit by mirrankei
Owen, Toshiko, and Ianto find themselves kidnapped to the future. Stuck on an asteroid, thousands of years from their time, they become research subjects and part of a 21st-century Earth exhibit in the station museum. But the time travel portal that brought them there is malfunctioning, and the whole situation stinks of a trap to a visiting Time Lord... (ensemble, Owen/Tosh, Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Amy/Rory)
This massive Torchwood/Dr. Who big bang is certainly the meatiest and most plotty Torchwood fanfic that I've read. It features great references to Dr. Who, a lovely backstory for Jack, time travel and lots of twists. Also, Tosh meets the Doctor. Read it just for that.
Masks by libraryofsol
The state of trust in Torchwood was shaky to begin with. (Ianto, ensemble, Ianto/Jack)
Trust is such a major part of the show that never got properly explored in the last consequence. libraryofsol uses a great device to explore that: There's a polymorph impersonating one of the team, but none of them can be sure who it is. It's a dark story, that will leave you feeling more creeped out by Ianto and Jack than by the shapeshifter in the end.
If You Pass Go, Do Not Collect £200 by paperclipbitch
Ianto is sent to rescue Owen from 19th Century London, but he’s less than impressed by what Owen has been doing to survive. (Ianto/Owen)
This is another story that plays with the Torchwood theme of trust, though in a much more subtle manner. Owen is lost in 19th Century London, which is not an altogether nice place to be, and as he doesn't much consider the option that his team might come to save him, he starts adjusting - ensuring his survival by whatever means necessary. I like this because it's a gritty tale, in that way Torchwood is gritty, showing you the uglier shades of gray, and characters when they really aren't at their best. It's a meaty fic of 12,000 or so words, successfully mixing plot and slash.
It Creeps Up On You by Pocketmouse
She finds it hard to flat-out ask, out of nowhere. It reduces her to stammering and stuttering, and she hates that. The easiest way is to just trick herself into saying it, make herself believe it’s something casual, when really she’s going to say “I want to see you in a skirt.” (Tosh/Owen)
I dig a good story about crossdressing, which I'm sure comes as a surprise to absolutely nobody. So I had to click on this just because of that summary. However, after I'd satisfied my curiosity, I was delighted to find that this story took the kink and went to lovely rich, complex places with it, mapping out all of Owen and Tosh's relationship bit by bit and finally merging with canon in all kinds of satisfying ways. It's a great character study.
Inception
any eventuality by starlingthefool
People assume that Eames likes to be in perfect control of everything: how he presents himself to the world, how others see him, how an extraction goes down. That's true, mostly. Sometimes. The reality is more complicated. (Arthur/Eames)
This is frankly just a really good bit of porn. What with my being a hater of clichés and a connoisseur of both BDSM and stories of kink negotiation, this worked for me in every way.
dream a dream (and what you see will be) by Mizzy
Eames has always said Arthur has no imagination and should dream a little bigger. The problem is, Arthur's dreams might be the most dangerous place to be on the planet. And when their latest job forces them to recreate Fantasia, and Arthur's secret past unravels alongside it, Cobb's team might be about to find the answer to the Neverending Story... (Ariadne, Arthur, Eames, Bastian Balthazar Bux, Arthur/Eames)
This is an Inception/Neverending Story crossover. How is that not cool? No seriously, what other reason can one possibly need to read that? But okay. The really great thing about this big-bang fic is that it doesn't just deliver. It goes way past this, and it's everything you could expect from a story. It'll give you a perfectly sound incorporation of the Neverending Story 'verse into the Inception 'verse, it features an Arthur/Eames that doesn't just idle around but actually serves a purpose for the plot and makes the story all the more compelling than it would otherwise be. And it ends on a twist. A great, unexpected, creepy twist. It's a really remarkable fic.
Chuck
Off The Clock by seperis
Twenty-four hour gaming tournaments have predictable ends, and Casey doubts Chuck's eaten anything without processed sugar since Ellie brought him dinner last night at work. (Chuck/Casey)
This is actually some old-ish fic from way back in 2008, but I think that's why quite a lot of folks might have missed it when it's really, really good (and steamy! with the porn!). If there's one thing I know about Chuck/Casey, it's that it's goddammed hard to pull them off in a completely believable and in-character fashion. This is one of the few fics that I think have managed to do so perfectly.
dialogue as a diagram of a play for blood by slybrunette
They break things, they don’t fix them. Walls and bones and rules and resolve; it all crumbles the same. (Sarah/Casey)
I've got a weakness for Sarah/Casey, and I've started to think I might have a weakness for fic written by slybrunette in general - don't know her much, but she's got yet to let me down as a writer. This is beautiful, and very lyrical, and gritty. It sort of leaves you wondering why you ever thought that Sarah/Chuck could work out, not because Sarah and Casey are meant for each other, but because they live in this one world and Chuck lives in another.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Parallel Evolution by mosca
Seven ways nature solves the paradox of high-level sentience and the reproductive instinct. Or doesn't. (various canon pairings (including Garak/Bashir), ensemble)
If you only ever read one ST:DS9 fic, it's gotta be this one. It's a beautiful examination of sexual interaction across the species in the DS9 ensemble, Klingon and Trill and Cardassian and Ferengi and what have you. You should mind the warnings, but if they don't propose any real problems to you, you shouldn't let them stop you.
Standardized by babel
Snapshots from Julian Bashir's life, from three to thirty-two.
This is a rather heartbreaking look at the ways Julian Bashir's genetic enhancements did and didn't change him. It's also a great portayal of his family that expands their little appearance on the show in a very believable fashion.
Stargate: Atlantis
I'd Do It Again If I Could by jendavis
It always starts the same way, and almost always ends the same way, too. (Ronon, John/Ronon)
Ronon is stuck in a time loop, again and again trying to stop Atlantis from being destroyed in a Wraith attack. It's awesome. It's suspensive and smart, and Ronon gets to be way more interesting than in canon. You shouldn't read (or not read) it for the slash, because the ways in which it is awesome are the ways of action/adventure. Though the slash definitely is a bonus.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Distractions by dollsome
Five times Giles notices Jenny before "I Robot You Jane." (Giles/Jenny)
Aw, this is great. Not a pairing that attracts a big audience, I know, but this is light and entertaining, and also sweet and hilarious and some other stuff I probably forgot. If Joss had managed to portray these two characters with that much swerve, they'd be rivaling the Buffy/Angel shippers in numbers.
The Ones Not Kissed by Snickfic
He's not sure why he came or what to say now that he's here. 'Sorry my girlfriend was making out with your boyfriend'? (Oz, Cordelia)
Oz and Cordelia aren't two characters who we've ever seen interact much on screen, which is interesting, considering their respective partners went and cheated on them with each other. I do love the idea that Oz would decide to visit Cordelia after she was hurt in that episode. Both of them are perfectly in character, and the strong Oz POV prevents this from slipping into teenage angst.
ER
Cicatrices by blu4vr
Everything is so routine and comfortable that some days Ray almost forgets to wonder when Neela is going to change her mind and bolt. (Ray/Neela)
I know there are barely any ER fans on my flist, but I know some of you expressed an interest in Ray and Neela when I wrote my epic ER/X-Men crossover. So if that interest is still in existence, this is a great fic for you. A year after Ray (canonically) lost his legs in a car crash, Neela eventually moved to live with him in Baton Rouge and they fell into that relationship that had been on the move for four seasons. Starting at that point and exploring that bumpy relationship, this is easily the greatest fic I have found in that fandom overall. It's full of heartache and love, and there are great characterizations and beautiful descriptions.
Babylon 5
Sic Transit Mulier by Selena
The deepest secret Vir ever kept had nothing to do with Londo. It was his own. (Vir Cotto, Londo Mollari, the Cotto family)
This is 7500 words of how Vir had been born in the body of a woman. No seriously. It was written for the recent queerfest and it features a great exploration of the Vir/Londo friendship, beautiful complex world building, great characterizations and the Centauri's stance on transgender. And really that's pretty much all you can ask for in a story. Especially since it's Vir. How can you not love a story about Vir?