Templum Bellonae

I think I’ll just quote from the author’s summary, which pretty much says it all:

So, you wanted more details on what Xander did on his summer vacation … Think Catcher in the Rye meets gay vampire porn.

No Power on Earth by Circe

A crossover of Nero Wolfe and House may sound strange at first, but it works amazingly well, as this story proves.

Wilson is accused of murder, and House hires New York’s best private detective to find the truth. Hwshipper does a good job of bringing Wolfe and Archie into the 21st century while keeping the fundamentals intact.

“I’ll google Dr. House, shall I?” I asked innocently.

Wolfe glared at me. “Don’t goad me, Archie. You know perfectly well that word is not a verb in this house.”

A Distorted Genius by Hwshipper

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

John and Rodney go on a vacation which doesn’t turn out quite as planned.

“Oh, shut up,” Rodney said, panting, when he climbed out after five laps and dropped back into his chair. “We don’t have much of a swimming season in Edmonton. I bet I could kick your ass ice skating.”

“Sure, and if that were a real sport instead of something teenage girls do, maybe I’d care,” John said, tipping the bag back for the last crumbs.

“A man who uses as much hair gel as you do should not be casting aspersions on teenage girls,” Rodney said. “You want to take a walk along the beach?”

“As long as you don’t ask me to hold hands,” John said.

Ordinary Life by Shalott and Speranza

The Wraith capture John and make him a Runner.

Acidimia by Cate

Rodney has a crush.

I think this may be the first SGA fic I ever read, back before I knew anything about the show.

Close Encounters by Amireal

There’s a show in Jayne’s bunk, and Mal’s invited.

Like Describing the Alphabet by Mosca

Simon helps Jayne. Jayne helps Simon. There’s helping. And sex.

“Just don’t think it’s right that I’m running with a guy don’t even own a weapon.”

“Yes, I imagine it’s horrifying,” Simon said. “Do the other mercenaries talk behind your back about it?”

“No,” Jayne said. “Oh, that’s a joke.”

Reconciliation by Inalasahl

Jayne wants a gun he can’t afford. Simon’s awfully good at planning heists.

Sometimes, things just go down smooth by na

AU. Vala Mal Doran crash-lands on a world where she can’t communicate with the natives. Luckily, there’s a man with amnesia who seems to speak her language. In fact, his immense skill with languages makes him a valuable parter in the treasure-hunting business. Long, fun, a little too sappy at the end for my taste, but overall quite enjoyable.

There are two short companion pieces: Honor Among Thieves: Points of View, showing the reactions of some of the people Daniel and Vala meet during their adventures, and Honor Among Thieves: First Christmas, the title of which is fairly self-explanatory.

Honor Amongst Thieves by Cleo the Muse

The Moyans are asked to investigate the murder of a man they had rescued from a damaged ship. Crichton has some Maltese Falcon-esque fun.

Male from Home by Bob Hutchinson

A straightforward summary won’t do this story justice, but it’s all I have to offer. John and Aeryn are captured and forced to work in a mine. While Aeryn takes care of them both, John has an identity crisis.

I was a little frustrated with the writing style as first, but by the end I knew it was the right way to tell this story.

Fiction in the Space Between by Scapekid

An alternate Season 9. In need of Daniel’s expert assistance, Vala kidnaps him while on a mission. There are things about this story that disturb me, but I like it anyway.

The Crown of Janus by Lady Grey

The Pretender

I’d forgotten how much I loved this show. Too much happens for me to give any kind of summary, but the stories are a lot like the show itself, with more focus on the relationship between Jarod and Miss Parker. The series is a WIP, but each of the stories is self-contained.

In Dreams by Julie Fortune

Daniel and Vala find themselves stranded on a viciously misogynistic planet, with time to kill before they can make it to the stargate.

He said nothing. She smiled slightly, turned on her side, said, “I’m going to sleep. Wake me if you feel an uncontrollable burst of lust.”

If he did, he was grimly determined not to let her know about it.

And the last two lines are perfect.

Lucky by Julie Fortune

John’s immune system destroys his translator microbes, leaving him unable to communicate directly with any of the others.Set after Different Destinations but before Eat Me.

Voices of Reason by Kernil Crash