Multi-fandom recs because the fannish fun needs to have more prominence in my journal right now.

Smallville:

misstressace wrote Long Live the King for the Smallville Flash Fiction Challenge. It's beautiful and angst ridden and just gorgeous. Seriously, everyone should go read this because it's wonderful.

Also for the SVFF Challenge, svmadelyn wrote Ten the Hard Way, wherein Clark and Lex meet after not seeing each other for many years. Because the rift really, really needs to go something like this.

visszater has written The 0100 for the SVFF challenge. It's very well written and the premise is fascinating, I love it when people apply true sci-fi ideas to the Superman universe, this is definitely a good read.

The West Wing:

andrealyn wrote Sam/Josh! Which is exciting enough but the story is great. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Sam/Josh! Well written Sam/Josh! Go read!

Some Sam/Josh recs for anyone who is interested:

s.n. kastle's Sam and Josh stories. Good author, good stories, but most are pretty short, happy endings not guaranteed. Nowhere is an amazing Take This Sabbath Day story. Amazing. Commentary on some of the stories is here.

Sabine's Statesmen series. Recced by s.n. kastle, it's Josh/Sam but the first story in the series is Josh/Mandy. I read this last night and it's good. Like really good. Sabine cones very very close to actually capturing their voices, and her plot has politics to boot. Very exciting. Spoilers for most of season 2.

Jane St. Claire's The Thinner the Skin. Spoilers for Season 2, pretty short, a little schmoopy, interesting take on Josh and Sam's history pre-west wing.

August's Three Times. Good writing, another Josh/Sam creation myth story and honestly how on earth could you resist lines like this:

The first time, the very first time, was two months after they had graduated from college. He had thought, at the time, that it was perfectly Sam to wait until after college to experiment. And he tried not to think too much about being the experiment.

Luna and K's Boys of Summer it's pretty good, but I'm not sure they really nailed Josh and Sam's voices. Never the less it's worth a read.

S.N. Kastle recced Jae Gecko whose stories can be found here. And they're probably good, because I have faith in recs from good writers but half Jae's stories are written in first person pov so if you can stand that let me know how they are.

Punk and Sabine wrote You and me in a Rowboat to Rio wherein Sam takes Josh to Florida for vacation. First time fic, good but not particularly great.

The Time and the Fates of Men series by Marguerite is really good. Spoilers for the first two episodes of Season 2: In the Shadow of the Gunmen 1 & 2. It's a general story, no pairing but the characterization is good and she's added a lot of interesting depth to the events post-shooting.

mcee used to write west wing fic, she's got some really good Josh/Sam. Fun and Conversation VS Good Ol' Fashion Lubrication is my favorite but all of them are good. Her stories are here.

Things To Do In Cleveland When You're Overcoming Denial by Candle Beck is, I think, going to become one of those stories that I go back and reread when I need to read something that's happy without being too sugary-sweet. The tension! I just wish it was longer, this one is good.

Um, and before? When I said that I really like that last story I just wished there was more? There is. It's a completely different story, but the same author. The Best idea Ever is long, and funny and hot and it sort of reminds me a bit of zarah5's Natural Progression (lotrips Viggo/Orlando) because that's what this story feels like. A natural progression. Plus, Candle Beck's Sam is stunningly accurate at times.

Josh was lying on his side, and when he blinked his eyes open, he saw Sam lying on his back beside him, staring up at the ceiling, emitting a remarkably intense aura of panic for someone not moving or speaking.

That, right there, that's my Sam, a guy who is fully capable of panicking at the drop of a hat and having Josh be able to pick up on it no matter what. Candle Beck has more stories here which I haven't yet read.

You and Me of the 10,000 Wars by Violet & Ellen M. is good, it's long it has a politically driven plot and a good amount of angst and confusion. It also has some Josh/Amy and even less Sam/Ainsley so if the het really scares you then stay away.

Indiscretions by Jori won 3rd place in 2001 for Outstanding Josh/Sam in The Jeds West Wing awards, and as far as I can tell it isn't linked anywhere on Jori's main site but it's still up, the only thing I can figure is that she's decided not to publicize her slash? Either way, it exists I read it and while I've got some issues with it I did like it. It's first person pov (Josh's), but Jori has created so much create background for her Josh and Sam that I can't help but like this story.

Abigale's Bodies In Motion. Fascinating Josh/Sam perspective. I really like these two incarnations of the guys, they're interesting and confused and I like that we get to watch them take this whole journey of figuring things out. Abigale has a lot more stories here.

I think that's it for now, I will probably rec more later on, once I've read more. But I've got to say, I was pretty intimidated by the low quality WW fic I first read, but now I'm convinced that there is hope. Sorkin is a genius and honestly, it's impossible to expect people to live up to his record all the time. The West Wing has got to be a daunting fandom to write in because canon is essentially, everything on the West Wing and the entirety of US and foreign politics. And the show is really fast paced and really dialogue driven, and all of the characters have very particular voices. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill, but some of the stories I've read have come pretty darned close and I think that's got to be good enough for me. Either way, I'm hooked.