Templum Bellonae

This is a Spike/Xander story, continuing in Blue-Eyed Boy, with a Spike/Buffy epilogue, Some Scenes from the Later Life of Two Heroes (which continues in the in-progress Waiting Around.) I was just looking for some light, snarky, S/X fun when I stumbled across this, like fishing for trout and catching a shark instead.

After Not Fade Away, Spike is living with Illyria, mourning Angel and the rest of the gang, and isn’t really prepared when Xander, back from Africa and profoundly damaged, shows up in LA.

Over and above some really great writing, there are a few things I think this story does really well. Most S/X stories, profoundly as I love them, tend to gloss over Xander’s attitude toward demons in general and Spike in particular. This one doesn’t, while offering a plausible reason why Xander would get involved with him. I like that the story doesn’t take the easy way out, making Spike the answer to all of Xander’s problems. There’s also a certain amount of humour, even absurdity, which helps to lighten some of the darker moments.

The best thing about The Approved Mode of Payback and Blue-Eyed Boy is that they take a hard look at what the outcome of Chosen might have been, and sadly, their predictions seem all too plausible.

The Approved Mode of Payback by Herself

Oh my god, I love this story! John is a robot.

SGA fandom kicks so much ass.

The Difference Engine by Sam Starbuck

Wow, it seems like such a long time since I’ve read any really good HP slash. And this story is awesome.

A plot by Voldemort’s forces leaves Harry without his magic, unable to defend himself from any attack. In an attempt to keep him safe, Dumbledore has him move into a London flat, with Snape as his only contact with the wizarding world.

I categorized this story as “humour”, even though it really isn’t, because I found Snape’s thoughts about Harry’s new neighbourhood hysterically funny.

Potter’s hallway resonated with the same rhythmic, primitive thumps he’d heard the week before. Perhaps it wasn’t music at all, but some sort of debased communication between the tenants. Snape stood outside the door and knocked.

There was a lengthy pause, during which he was able, to his chagrin, to make out a semblance of lyrics accompanying the din–an invitation to slump my hump, humpy hump, slump my dumpy hump, it seemed–and then, just as he was raising his hand to knock again, the door opened a crack. Potter stood behind it, eyeing him warily.

For the most part, though, the story is contemplative and a bit sad, but a wonderful read.

Sanctum Sanctorum by Witling

(Link is to the first story in the series.)

This is one of my favourite Firefly fanfics. The whole cast is perfectly themselves. The plot goes AU sometime between Objects in Space and the Big Damn Movie. This story is a good example of how a few small changes can change everything, and it’s also total wish fulfilment for me, changing everything about Serenity that I didn’t love, and leaving all the parts I did. (Not that I would have preferred to see the movie happen this way, exactly, but I’m happy to see it explored in fic.) There are five stories in the series:

1. Two Gorram Days: while the others go off on a rescue mission, Jayne, laid up with a broken leg, is left to look after River. He finds this less difficult and more enjoyable than he expects.
   
2. Kinship: Simon and Inara become friends, River and Jayne get closer, and Mal is in a bad mood.
   
3. Bank Job: an alternate version of Serenity: Those Left Behind, featuring a girls’ afternoon in and the end of the Hands of Blue guys (Say what you like about Joss Whedon, the man can create some seriously creepy villains. Note to self: never watch Hush alone late at night ever again.)
   
4. Miranda: alternate version of the Big Damn Movie, with enough changes to keep you on the edge of your seat, even when you think you know what’s coming.
   
5. Prodigal: after Miranda, they all get to meet the family Jayne left behind many years earlier.

I don’t like Prodigal as much as the others, and there’s some squabbling at the end of Miranda that kind of annoys me (but much less than it would in another fandom, because Joss Whedon’s characters totally would intrude on each other’s private lives in just this way), but overall it’s an awesome series, set in a fandom that doesn’t have nearly enough fic. Dyce hits the characters’ voices perfectly, too.

Horseshoe Nails by Dyce

This goes AU after Season 3. Aeryn leaves Moya, and returns, but she’s a little fuzzy on what’s happened in the meantime. When they finally figure it out, she and John attempt to retrieve something from Grayza’s command carrier, with less-than-ideal results.

I like this story, but I’m not sure I’d have bothered to recommend it if it weren’t for the awesome follow-up fics, all of which I liked better. Here are all the stories in the series:

• The Future or Something Like It by Officersun524
• Future’s End by Kernezelda
• Future Interruptus by Kernezelda
• Days of Future Past by Officersun524
• A Shared Future by Kernezelda

Future’s End recounts the beginning and end of John’s time with Grayza. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say that I like the original characters, especially the most important one, and I like getting to see a bit of Braca’s point of view and feelings about Crichton, something that will continue in the other stories.

Days of Future Past and A Shared Future are alternate versions of the same basic events, both set after John’s rescue from Grayza.

Future Interruptus is a companion to Future’s End, filling in the details of the time John was with Grayza, from her point of view. I suggest that this be read last, even though chronologically it takes place earlier, for a couple of reasons. The most important is that it’s simply a better story than any of the others, and I think the later stories suffer a bit in comparison. Unlike the others, Future Interruptus is a character piece; although it has a plot, the real focus is on Grayza and the relationship she (thinks she) has with John. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ll take a good character-driven story over an equally good plot-driven one any day, and as an exploration of Grayza’s character, Future Interruptus is more than good; it’s superb.

(I’ve come to have more of an appreciation for her since I watched Rebecca Riggs, the actress who plays her, talk about Mele-On Grayza in clips from the Season 4 DVD on Youtube.)

The Future or Something Like It by Officersun524 and Kernezelda

This is a multi-part, in-progress AU spinoff from Unrealized Realities, exploring how John Crichton might have come to be a Peacekeeper Captain. Although it’s unfortunately not finished yet, the first two seasons (up until When the Chips are Down) are complete, and the latest update (The Devil You Know) was posted March 22, 2008, so it’s still being updated!

In Unrealized Peacekeeper, Tauvo Crais manages to avoid a collison with John’s module, so the escaping prisoners on Moya don’t bother to recapture John and Aeryn. Instead, John is put to work on wormhole tech by Captain Crais.

I love this story so much. The characterizations are wonderful, and so is the plot. It manages to be faithful to the big events of Farscape canon, while still telling its own story. If it’s ever complete, it may rival In the Company of Ghosts as my favourite Farscape story.

Unrealized Peacekeeper by OneEye

A long, sprawling AU, and definitely one of the best Farscape fics ever written. The prowler that collides with John’s module in the pilot is Aeryn Sun’s, and Tauvo Crais is the one swept along on Moya’s starburst. A Moment to Ourselves is the NC-17 coda.

KoddiakkeMax does such a clever job of re-imagining Farscape canon. All the details are perfect; everyone is so perfectly in character, because we can watch how different events change them from their canon selves. There are lots of well-drawn original characters, too, and a brilliant plot.

In the Company of Ghosts makes my top ten list, because it does what the very best fanfic always does to me: makes me wish it was canon.

In the Company of Ghosts by KodiakkeMax

An alternate ending for Out of Their Minds. John, Aeryn, and Rygel don’t get switched back right away, so John has time to do some (more) exploring. On his own, and with a partner.

His laugh is hollow and nervous. When did he become such a tittering virgin? Oh yeah, about the same time Aeryn Sun got a dick and started sniffing for his cherry.

Scientist, Astronaut, and Nymphomaniac: the Nine Lives of John Crichton by Feldman

In late Season 3, sometime after Fractures, an old acquaintance of Crichton’s meets up with the crew of Moya and tries to pursue her own agenda. Despite her Disruptor training, Jenavian Chatto is not as successful as she anticipates.

Aeryn Sun - now she was subtle. An outsider would be hard-pressed to tell whether she was even aware that Crichton was on the same transport. But I remembered her protectiveness of him on the Royal Planet. Then, she’d cared enough about him to openly assault two members of the ruling family. Now, she hardly spoke to him, barely looked at him, mostly kept her back to him, but her movements were an eerie parallel to his, moving away as he moved closer, always keeping the same distance between them. To mirror your target that perfectly, I knew from experience, you have to know where it is at all times.

Disruption by Huzzlewhat

I am not a fan of most pregnancy stories, even the ones that aren’t mpreg. Luckily, Little Acorns isn’t so much about Aeryn’s pregnancy as it is about her and John’s relationship. It’s long, well-plotted, and really, really good. I don’t know enough about the fandom to know if it’s in-character, but I liked it a lot.

And yes, I have succumbed to yet another fandom. This time, I actually saw the show first! I’m working my way through Farscape Season 1 as fast as I can download the episodes, and I am totally in love with Aeryn Sun. She’s so awesome. I can’t see this becoming one of my favourite fandoms, but I love the show and I’ll recommend a few John/Aeryn stories I’ve enjoyed.

Little Acorns by Feldman

Okay, it has become apparent that SGA genderfuck fics are my favourite stories ever, so it’s no surprise that this long (the first part rings in at 668k), two-part WIP exploring the consequences of an inadvertant sex-change is going straight onto my Top 100 list. Don’t be put off by its in-progress status, because it doesn’t end on a cliff-hanger and would be well worth anyone’s time even if it were never finished.

Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronon accidentally volunteer for sex-reassignment in an attempt to gain valuable technology from an advanced Pegasus world. Although Rodney isn’t directly affected, all four struggle to find some kind of balance. Meanwhile, they still have to deal with the challenges presented by the Pegasus world they visit.

Although the story is technically slash, there isn’t actually any male/male sex at all so far, and the sexual relationships, although important to the plot, don’t dominate it.

(And if you’re anything like me, girl!Sheppard will be enough to convince you.)

Ardhanarishvara by Auburn and Mona

Atlantis

I have a long queue of other stories waiting to be recommended, but sometimes a story comes along, so wonderful that it sweeps you away, and this is one of those.

A selection of passages from scholarly works treating the events following Atlantis’s break from the SGC and Earth, interspersed with the story of those same events. My mind boggles at the amount of work that must have gone into this, over and above the work of conceiving and creating such a marvellous tale.

“Yeah, I like it,” John said, sitting back.

Rodney jerked a sharp look at him. “You mean, I actually get to name something?”

“Just this one thing.”

“Oh, well, fine. So an electronic identity card that serves as a provisional IDC, situates its owner within a trust network, and can be used to effect trades in units of Mars Bars?”

“Exactly,” John said. “It beats the fuck out of Amex.”

Although there’s McShep, it’s really mostly a gen story.

Written by the Victors by Speranza

Containing an assessment of the intellectual and moral advancement of Master Connor Angel, late of Quartoth, in various subjects appropriate for the refinement of a gentleman; in seven parts

Best Connor fic ever. I mean that.

“This is so goddamn boring,” Justine says.

Connor doesn’t agree. Hunting is the principal pleasure in life, at least so far as he has yet discovered, and waiting is an inseparable part of hunting. However, arguing with Justine is as useless as discussing history with her. “You don’t have to wait, if you don’t want to. I can take care of it.”

Justine looks over at him, and he can see the battle very plainly in her eyes. She wants to leave, to go do something else — most likely, hunt something else, something that will be quicker and easier to kill, put up more of a fight. So far as that goes, Connor can sympathize.

On the other hand, Justine feels that she should stay with him. For whatever unfathomable reason — Connor knows it has to do with Holtz, but still hasn’t tied together the connection — Justine seems to think it’s her job to take care of him.

Connor doesn’t think he needs much taking care of.

You know, I so rarely have this kind of love for a character, in any fandom. I don’t know that I’ve ever actually wanted to read genfic before. I mean, I read it when I find it, and sometimes it’s amazing, but I don’t think I’ve ever gone looking for it before now. Even among my Top Ten favourite fics (of which there are eight, at the moment), there’s only one genfic, and only two other stories that would be just as good if they were gen (Freeport and Talking Stick/Circle, if you’re curious.) Love, love, love Connor. Why don’t more authors write him?

On the Education of a Young Man by Yahtzee

Lex has finally found a woman he may be serious about. Clark is less than thrilled.

“What do you want to do?”

“Not be so glad you skipped out on a date. Lena’s leaving tomorrow too, isn’t she?” Clark’s forgotten that until now, and it’s another kind of warmth when Lex smiles and shrugs.

“I’m going to New York in a few days. She understands.” Of course she does—women that don’t get it don’t make the cut. Clark is Lex’s Best Friend. Priorities are set. And Clark’s gotten so used to that, so used to being Lex’s priority, first and foremost and all of that.

Excellent writing.

Three Impossible Things by Jenn

Ten years after Endless Waltz, Duo and Trowa are forced into therapy together. A large part of this story’s awesomeness comes from Trowa’s internal voice, which is perfect and funny. I have a weakness for mental illness fics, and the GW universe has some of the best justifications for that kind of story.

Rattlesnakes by Trixie

After the war, Heero is sent back to live with his birth family. Hands is told from the perspective of his sister, and is an amazing picture of what it might really be like for an ordinary family to live with a Gundam pilot. Excellent characterizations.

My brother is a Gundam pilot. I know, I know, what I should say is that my brother was a Gundam pilot, but once you ever saw to way he prowls into a room, upright and with his shoulders thrust so far back that you thought his back curved the wrong way, you’d see what I mean.

Hands by Oedipus Tex

Oh. my. God. How much fun did I have reading this story? Kon is injured, bringing Clark and Lex closer together…and this story is so much better than that makes it sound.

“I don’t care! What I care about is you’re the biggest jerk in the history of the universe,” Tim said.

“Yeah, okay, but dude!” Kon said. “They were best friends! That’s freaking insane! That’s like, if you went evil someday!”

“If anyone is going to go evil, it is totally you, you asshole!” Tim yelled.

Crossover between the DC and Smallville universes.

I’ve borrowed a bunch of DC comics characters for this story; the one that I feel needs some real explanation is Kon, aka Superboy, who is the test-tube baby of Superman and Lex Luthor. (No, I am seriously not making this up. I would have, but the writers at DC generously smoke crack so we fans don’t have to.) Tim Drake is the current Robin.

There’s also a short sequel, Vacation. Tim gets jealous, and Kon gets a clue.

Reconcilable Differences by Shalott

TOS

A mindmeld during an exercise session has unintended consequences for Kirk and Spock.

unintended by Cimorene

TOS

A wonderfully well-crafted argument between Kirk and Spock. Lovely—I want to savour every word.

In Check by KSal

TOS

And its sequels, New Minglewood Blues and Morning Dew.

A fabulous, sprawling AU that splits off about three years into the first five-year mission. Some pretty awful things happen to Our Heroes; not for the faint of heart.

Deep Elem Blues by Greywolf the Wanderer