Templum Bellonae

The Silmarillion

And its sequel, Thrice for Honour.

Starlight is actually gen, though rated R for violence and mature themes; on a winter night, strangers arrive seeking shelter at Maglor’s camp. Thrice for Honour is slash, and contains graphic BDSM sex, as Elrond is initiated into a set of Noldorin sexual rites.

Starlight by Tyellas

Okay, Annakovsky is totally doing what I thought couldn’t be done, and making me really like Dawn.

There had been a Scooby meeting, sans Willow, after the whole Willow-going-evil-and-trying-to-destroy-the-world-and-kill-all-of-them thing. Not that Dawn was bitter about that. No, Willow threatening to revert her to green energy had rolled right off her back.

Everyone else had made all the decisions already, of course. Giles was taking Willow back to England with him, so she could get help or whatever.

“So she tries to kill us and she gets a free trip to England?” Dawn had said dryly. “I shoplifted, does that mean I get a weekend in LA?”

“Dawn,” Buffy had said warningly, and she shut up while the rest of them talked details. She was sick of never having a say in things, of having everyone concerned about taking care of her. It was stupid and boring and she felt useless. Besides, if this was them taking care of her, they did a sucky job. It was time she took care of herself.

Umad Learns Sumerian by nnakovsky

Clark meets a guy in one of his classes who kind of reminds him of Lex, and who helps him to figure out some thing about his relationships with Chloe and Lex.

Learning Experience by Kat Reitz and Perryvic

And its sequel, Visiting Hours.

Two very long, very good stories told from the perspective of Lex’s son, Conner Clark Luthor. Extremely well-written, cute without being too sappy, and with great original characters. And her portrayal of Lex makes me love him even more than I did already.

Conflicts of Interest is mostly gen, since the main character is only nine years old.

Conner almost always understood things when his dad explained them nice and slow, with big hand motions and lots of pictures. For the Masturbation Is Just Fine And A Preferable Option To Premature Sexual Experimentation Or God Forbid Intercourse But Please Don’t Let Me Ever Accidentally See You Doing It Because I Will Die speech, his dad made a PowerPoint presentation, complete with pictures of locks on doors.

Do click on the link to Lex’s masturbation PowerPoint presentation. It’s too funny.

Conflicts of Interest by Prufrock

Also Clark/m.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you for a sci-fi geek.”

“Geek?” Lex sent Clark a smoldering look. “You do know who you’re speaking to, don’t you?”

“Lex Luthor, sci-fi geek?”

AU with Clark as rent boy. Some things may change, but Lex is just as fucked up in any universe.

As the Night the Day by Alax and Dana

Clark hates his intro to psych course.

“So, Clark, I assume you believe that True Love is forever?”

He nodded.

Having established himself as an enormous geek as far back as freshman year left him very little face to lose at the beckoned point of junior year; social death had occurred already, post-mortem loserdom was remarkably freeing. Lex said that he was being morbid, but Clark thought those were pretty big words coming from a guy who liked to let an entire town think he was just the crazy brat prince from the Scottish castle in the middle of Kansas.

She laughed, and the sound was bright. “Well, good for you, Clark. I don’t look forward to the day you realize that it isn’t true.”

Psychobabble by Prufrock

Short story set in the same universe as the marvelous A Deeper Season (see my rec), but far in the future. This is only one of the snippets available from this universe; see E.E. Beck’s livejournal for more.

Responsible by E.E. Beck

(Link is to GWA main page)

Also Quatre/other.

A Quatre-centred fic, miracle of miracles. You may have realised that 1×2 is my OTP, but I like all the pilots, so this story is a refreshing chance of pace.

Feeling stifled and trapped in his role as businessman, Quatre takes a year off to go to university.

Nothing Like The Sun by Sol 1056

Victor Krum asks Professor McGonagall for permission to take Hermione to the Yule Ball. After reading this, my love for Krum knows no bounds.

There are several stories in the same universe:

• Sneaky: Victor asks Hermione to the Ball.
• Eloquent: Victor follows Hermione after her fight with Ron.
• Winterwhere: A winter picnic.
• Lucky Crookshanks: A lesson in lack of subtlety.
• When Bulgarian Eyes Are Smiling: His eyes are doing it again.
• Practical Magic: Hermione is in dire need of some practical guidance, but Victor doesn’t want to be a bandit.

Chivalry, Eloquent and Practical Magic are my favourites, but they’re all really good.

Chivalry by Rozarka

AU. Xander and his family move to L.A. after his freshman year of high school, but you know Xander is a demon magnet in every world.

There are a few things that really bother me about this story, but there are also a lot of things it does right, and make it a very worthwhile read. I’m really not a fan of any mystical plotlines that use words like ‘childer’, and the abusive aspect of Spike and Xander’s relationship turns me off. On the other hand, I loved the scenes at the club, and Spike’s initial interrogation of Xander was great.

There’s a sequel, Musical Wars, but it doesn’t live up to Second Verse. There’s less plot, and more mystical mumbo-jumbo, which interests me not at all. Still, it does sort of tie up some loose ends. I wouldn’t recommend it for it’s own sake, though. Although I liked some of the scenes with Angel.

Second Verse by Lit Gal

There’s a Xander/Andrew vibe, but no real pairing.

Andrew, post-Chosen, living with Xander and trying to live with himself.

summertime, and the living’s easy by Twig

The Mountains of Mourning is a short story that was originally published (along with two other short stories) in Borders of Infinity, which is part of the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. It’s a really fantastic series; I recommend every book in the series highly. This story makes most sense if you read it as part of the series, but I think it stands very well on its own, too.

Miles grinned wolfishly. “Oh, Karal, I’m a one-man band, I am. I’m a parade.”

“As you say, just so. Ordinary people need extraordinary examples. So they can say to themselves, well, if he can do that, I can surely do this. No excuses.”

“No quarter, yes, I know that game. Been playing it all my life.”

“I think,” said Karal, “Barrayar needs you. To go on being just what you are.”

“Barrayar will eat me, if it can.”

“Yes,” said Karal, his eyes on the horizon, “so it will.” His gaze fell to the graves at his feet. “But it swallows us all in the end, doesn’t it?”

The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold

Arthurian legend

The trouble with Arthur, I thought as I came forward to help him sort the books into order, was that he rarely offered me time enough to scold him; he usually ended up chastising himself before I had a chance to do so. Sometimes I wondered whether he really had need of a tutor, or whether he simply tolerated me as a friend of his father, to be given respect when I was nearby and to be laughed at when my back was turned.

O Most Unthankful by Dusk Peterson

A while ago, this author wrote Family Business: Five Things That Never Happened to Dick Grayson, which I recommended. I loved the third story, Hanging Work, and thought it would make a great jumping-off point for a longer AU.

Well, apparently the author came to realize the same thing, because she’s written a series of stories in that universe. Bruce Wayne doesn’t adopt Dick when his parents are murdered, so eventually, someone else does. Excellent, amazing, fantastic AU. I love it.

Hanging Work by Lucy Gillam

Officially my third-favourite Harry Potter story. Great characterizations, intriguing plot, fantastic writing.

This story branches off after GoF, which is fine by me since I didn’t enjoy OotP much anyway. Draco, after having left to join the Death Eaters, abandons Voldemort and returns to Hogwarts. Unsurprisingly, none of the students who are left are overjoyed to see him back again.

Draco is his usual obnoxious, caustic self, but his inner thoughts and vulnerabilities give him a measure of charm. Neville is perfectly wonderful, and very cute.

Invisible to See by FayJay

Draco helps Hermione hide from the Death Eaters, and they become closer. A much better story than that makes it sound. Hermione in particular is very believable; the Witch’s Own Companion is a very nice touch.

Roundabout by akne

My favourite of the three stories I’ve read by DomLuka.

This is the story of seventeen-year-old Quinn Moore. He has a loving family, good friends and a girlfriend he’s deemed as perfect. Quinn’s also gay, not that he’s about to admit it. He likes things just the way they are, thank you. But then he meets Jude Landon, and everything in Quinn’s comfortable world is turned upside down.

Quinn is a really great character. I think I like him so much because he’s very human; he’s always panicking and doing silly things, and making his life a lot more complicated than it needs to be.

The Ordinary Us by DomLuka

Voyager

Two possible universes where Chakotay and Paris get together: one where Paris lies about Caldik Prime - and one where he doesn’t.

Don’t worry about reading the two sides simultaneously; they aren’t meant to be read both at once like a double-pov story.

Parallel Lines by Ruth Devero

The Breakfast Club

This is the second Breakfast Club fanfic I’ve recommended recenty. This surprises me, since it never would have occurred to me to slash that movie. But I’ve seen two authors do it excellently well; shows how much I know.

Higher Education by Resonant

Fairly short, but funny and good. Bonus points because the author used one of my favourite poems in the story.

Belloc’s Amphibiary, ha!

The Familiar by Resonant