Fandom: FIREFLY/DEAD LIKE ME
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2860 words
Author on LJ: valiant
Author Website: just her lj
Why this must be read: It is a rare Browncoat who can watch the Big Damn Movie without making tiny meep noises of distress at one particular part---and I think you likely know which part I mean. Valiant takes that pain and transmutes it into something that retains its sadness, but still has the seeds of something new for Wash---something that is oddly not entirely unlike what he must leave behind. On top of all that, Valiant does all the voices and characterizations exquisitely, and her dialogue is wonderfully sharp. She does right by both canons, and even uses their convergence to make both even richer than they were before.

( read an excerpt )

Dead Like Wash

Title: Dead Like Them by Forcryinoutloud and Laytoncolt
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay pre-slash; hints of Jack/Daniel
Author on LJ: forcryinoutloud and laytoncolt
Author Website: mad_gaters
Why this must be read: I haven't seen a single episode of "Dead Like Me" and I still love this fic because the authors nail the characters. They also give enough explanation that it all makes perfect sense, and although perhaps I'm missing some of the subtleties that a DLM fan would get, I can't help but love the story. It works and it's by turns poignant and hilarious.

The premise: Rodney dies, but instead of passing on to the great beyond, he ends up being a reaper, someone who eases the souls of the soon-to-be-dead on to the next life. His fellow reapers are Jack, Daniel, Ronon (who enjoys his job a little too much), and John. This story is all about how Rodney adjusts to his new life (or lack thereof), and in typical Rodney fashion, he flails along insulting the people trying to help him and somehow still manages to endear himself to John.

It's the first story set in this universe, and although it will have you craving more, it certainly stands alone as a story. At the moment there are three additional stories, and plans for at least one more. (Easily found through the tags on mad_gaters).

( 'The coffee's great,' the cute guy said, apparently looking right at him. 'You're just feeling a little weird because you're dead.' )

Read the Story / Feedback the Authors: Dead Like Them

Thanks to miss_lurker for rec!

Fandom: Queer As Folk US/Dead Like Me
Pairing: Brian/Justin
Author on LJ: wrenlet
Author Website: A Wren's
Hangout

Story: Reaper
Boy

Why this must be read:
This was pretty much exactly what Rube had wanted to avoid. People grieve their own deaths much as they grieve the deaths of others, and that was doubly true if you were destined to hang around as one of the undead. It was all a process, and if Justin could have started that process without tangling it up in someone's grief for -him-, it would probably go smoother. But here they were, and Justin didn't look likely to pay any attention to Rube just then so... the hell with it. He decided to let the kid get his goodbyes in while he could, and hoped for the best.