there will be a fish

The smack of sound as our newspaper hits the front step around this time of morning is always a little disconcerting. As is the fact that I've been awake at this time of night frequently enough that it's become a trend.

Anyway. I've read a few wonderful fics recently, so it's recs time:

The Wrong Avalon (Doctor Who/Merlin crossover; Amy/Rory, Merlin/Arthur)
This was SO MUCH FUN. The tones of these two shows mesh incredibly well, and the characterization was great -- you can practically hear Matt Smith saying the dialogue in this. Also, Amy is wonderful, Rory is sweet, Arthur is...Arthur, Merlin is extravagantly devoted, and the Doctor is cray-cray in the best and most expected of ways. I loved reading this.

Synergy (Inception/Criminal Minds crossover, pairing that I won't spoil)
This was SO GREAT. I mean, you take Inception and Criminal Minds and stick them together, I'm so there (because hey, people's minds are fascinating, and that's a double-whammy). But if you also deliver an actual plot, really excellent characterization across the board, and bonus Spencer Reid? I AM SO THERE. This was lots of fun -- an honest-to-god casefile fic; it's what my sister calls "gen-ish", i.e. gen in all of the non-romantic-plot-prominent ways. It doesn't avoid pairings entirely, but it's really not the focus. The real focus is Spencer Reid and Eames and Arthur and the rest of their teams being brilliant together, and that's always a good time. (Also, I giggled a LOT when Eames and Reid inevitably faced each other in a game of poker. HEE.)

Guerrilla (Vorkosigan series)
I am not the easiest of Bujold-fic readers on the best of days. However, this was AWESOME -- it's an AU from Diplomatic Immunity: Miles fails rsther thsn beating the odds, and the Cetagandans invade Barrayar. Of all people, Ivan Vorpatril ends up leading the rag-tag resistance planetside. This is so good -- Ivan remains essentially Ivan-ish even while growing up remarkably fast, and the action and characterization is uniformly awesome and genuinely thrilling. I can't recommend this enough. (Note: this story is a complete, resolved entity. However, the author is in the middle of a WIP sequel -- which is already awesome; she's already brought in Mia Maz the Vervani diplomat from Cetaganda back and stuck her in the same room as Cordelia Vorkosigan, so I'm really totally in favor from the start -- but fair warning if that sort of thing bothers you.)

This is what happens when I start catching up on Hawaii Five-0, Castle, and Lie To Me all at the same time, and start thinking about how endearing all their prominent father-daughter relationships are.

( the qualifications )

[Poll #1677238]

LOL. Okay, so I'm watching The Mentalist (short version reaction – Jane is intriguing and pretty but kind of a d-bag, but that's okay because Cho wins at EVERYTHING ♥), and I spotted this Middleman crossover in the background of 1.20 "Red Sauce":

( Middlefans, be with me now )

Indeed, folks, that IS the machine for Gut Wrencher I ( cut for vague MM 1.09 spoilers )

I am not surprised, since they're both ABC Family productions, but I was SO THRILLED to see it again! *clutches Middleman DVDs*

(The really important question is, does this plus the throwaway reference to a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster in "The Clotharian Contamination Protocol" thus connect The Mentalist and The Middleman to the Hitchhiker's Guide universe, and thus to Doctor Who, and thus to the Tommy Westphall Multiverse [also here]? I THINK IT SHOULD. Oh my god I am such a nerd...)

OMG YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was spinning around on my chair and clapping my hands, that's how happy I am.

( spoilers for Doctor Who; mostly The Eleventh Hour, but also the whole New Who series in general )

I have one question for the more informed Who-fans out there: has the Doctor ever met Sherlock Holmes? I know he's a fictional character, but that's never stopped the Doctor before. It would be awesome, wouldn't it?

Fuck. I forgot that Doctor Who can make me cry like very few other things can.

Because I've been hormonal and antisocial the last few days (thanks, ovaries!), I've finally spent some time catching up on old TV; namely, watching the end of S3 Veronica Mars and all of S2 Doctor Who.

( VMars spoilers through end of series )

( DW spoilers through 2.13 Doomsday )