Templum Bellonae

I’m not big on threesomes, but Spike/Xander/Anya is one that actually works for me.

Spike gets hit with the Gemini stick (The Replacement) instead of Xander, and it has an unexpected effect. Spike stays with Xander and Anya while the gang looks for a way to reverse the spell.

One, Two, Three by Ladycat

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

Mal and River have a difference of opinion. Spoilers for Serenity.

“I just wish everybody didn’t think I was so broken.” This time she didn’t look at him. Her voice sounded small, like it used to.

“You’re not broken,” he said, automatically.

“Tell that to my brother.”

“That’s not why he turned you down.”

“But it’s why you will.”

Mal had no words, only gaped at her.

“Go to bed,” she said, after a long minute.

And he did.

I Fall by Kass

An episode tag for Suns and Lovers. With bondage. Better yet, reciprocal bondage.

Fair Exchange by Shan

(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

So inconvenient when your practically-jailbait lust object is also a mind-reader, isn’t it, Jayne?

Drunken Revelations by Me Interrupted

One possible explanation for why Daniel (thank goodness) finally digs out that razor.

Phase Shift by el L. Bolt

Departs from canon before The Shroud, based on a spoiler of that episode with the line about Daniel being a “soft-sell” prior. As she’s dying, Prior-Daniel tries to sell Origin to Vala, but she’s not buying.

Where I End and You Begin by Sorrel Rowan

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

Vala finally succeeds in pushing Daniel past his breaking point. I don’t necessarily believe this characterization of Vala, but I like reading about her, anyway.

Downpour by Little Heaven

The aftermath of another not-a-date.

‘Not Dates’ Are for the Queen of Diamonds by Magnavox

AU where Daniel, rather than Sha’re, is taken as a host.

Diving to Drown by Tafkar

Departs from canon after Beachhead. Daniel takes Vala out to dinner.

Chrysostom by Tafkar

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

James Bond

Oh man. I’ve only ever seen one Bond film, and as all I can remember about it is that Pierce Brosnan was 007 and there was an oil pipeline that had to be blown up, or saved from being blown up, or something, you can probably guess that I’m not much of a fan.

I am a fan of Judi Dench, though. So go read this.

Queen of Spades by Shalott

Macdonald Hall forms a Gay-Straight Alliance.

“ATTENTION, GIRLS. MACDONALD HALL IS TAKING ACTION FOR SOCIAL REFORM. THEY NEED OUR HELP SPREADING EQUALITY AND HOT GAY PORN TO THE WORLD. THE LOVE THAT DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME WILL BE SILENCED NO LONGER! AND IT IS SERVING CAKE AND GRAPE KOOL-AID IN THE REC HALL. FORWARD, MARCH!”

Macdonald Hall is Fabulous by Nimori