Templum Bellonae

He’d been courteous and polite–the very picture of chivalry, at least for the few moments before she’d apparently determined that his behavior was masking some sort of nefarious plan. He wasn’t exactly sure whether to feel flattered or insulted by this reaction.

Well-written and funny.

Making It Personal by Lilycat

Peter has been hiding his feelings for Egon for a long time.

Have You Never Been Lonely, Have You Never Been Lied To? by James Walkswithwind

Superman helps Lex take down Lionel Luthor.

Demarcation by Livia

TOS

Chapel/f.

Chapel encounters an old acquaintance at the dedication of the Kirk Memorial Library.

I have no idea how much of this is cannon, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s a great story, and you don’t need much background to understand it.

Riverside by Ellen Fremedon

AU. Smallville, Noir-style.

He wasn’t a blond. Or a brunet or a redhead, he was bald. Bald as a billiard ball, bald as the lies a dime-a-dance girl tells you on lonely Saturday nights, and he wanted my help. Everybody did, I was the answer man, the fix it man, sometimes the garbage man, but for the uncreative, the uninitiated, they just called me Superman. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and after a busy day of playing knuckle music on the coconuts trying to make trouble in my city- able to leap tall buildings in a single bound to make it home in time catch the game on my trusty radio set.

Metropolis Confidential by Hope

Ron has amnesia. Short.

Aphasia by Rhoddlet

For those of you who don’t know it, or for those who, like me, keep forgetting it, www.archive.org is the home of the Internet Archive, which has a very special and wonderful tool called the Wayback Machine.

The Internet Archive is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public.

The Wayback Machine allows you to search for archived copies of particular pages; it’s kind of like the google cache, but without a time limit.

It means that I can post links to stories that have disappeared without warning, but I’m not going to do this if it’s clear that the author has removed the story herself and doesn’t want it to be available anymore.

So, if you read a rec that has a broken link, look for the link to the Wayback Machine for an old, archived copy of the story.

If any authors have taken their stories offline on purpose, let me know and I’ll take down the link.

The plot doesn’t work for me as well as I would like it to, but there’s so little good Sherlock Holmes fanfic out there that I’m going to rec this anyway.

Watson comes face to face with his own prejudices.

A Medical Man by Fabula Rasa

Follow-up to my recommendation of The Administration.

The following is part of another Administration novel, Good Citizens. This is set in the Administration, but has an entirely new cast of characters, taking the spotlight away from the corporate world, and the offices and I&I, and turning it onto citizens at the other end of the Administration’s social scale. There is no guarantee it will be finished, and may be revised or removed at any time—read at your own risk. At the moment I’m not working on any Administration stories, so Good Citizens is unlikely to be finished in the forseeable future.

Even though it isn’t and may never be finished, Good Citizens is an incredible read. When I read The Administration, I had a hard time really feeling the resister point of view. I understood it intellectually, but not viscerally.

But now I get it.

I fervently wish to see this story finished, although I’m afraid it probably won’t be. It hasn’t been updated since late 2003, anyway, so don’t look forward to new material anytime soon.

ETA: Seems to have been removed from Manna’s site, although I couldn’t find anything there saying why.

Good Citizens by Manna

Think RPS is icky? Want to complain about people writing it? Read this first.

Frequently Made Objections Against RPS v2.0 by Armelle Amaya

Orlando gets into some trouble on a date.

ETA: Seems to have disappeared from Tricia’s site.

Taking Advantage by Tricia

Other pairings implied.

This story is based on the cast interview with Ian McKellen that appears on the Fellowship of the Ring DVD, in which Sir Ian, in discussing Orlando Bloom, makes the rather horrid remark that “the old lion had to smack down the young cub a bit.” This is the product of my fevered imagination on the subject.

The Old Lion by Fabula Rasa

A short essay on the RPS phenomenon and its strengths and weaknesses from an author’s point of view.

And they all moved away from me there on the bench… by Fabula Rasa

If Severus can’t convince Draco not to join the Death Eaters, who can?

Salvation by Isis

This is set in the aftermath of Stephen’s escape from prison and torture in H.M.S. Surprise; those who know the books will recognize at once where I have fudged, and those who know only the movie will be completely lost, so I think I may have managed to confuse everyone. Huzzah! My apologies to Mrs Beeton and the Bard.

Actually, I didn’t find the story at all confusing, although I’m one of those who hasn’t read beyond Master and Commander, mostly because I can’t find Post Captain in any of the 8 used bookstores I visit on a regular basis, and I owe the public library $70.

A Slender Knowing by Fabula Rasa

Even when an Elf and a Dwarf become friends, misunderstandings are bound to happen now and then.

Also, this is probably the only good story where Legolas says ‘fuck’. You wouldn’t want to miss that.

Lords of Misrule by Fabula Rasa

Wilson is having a bad day. House makes it - more complicated.

ETA: Seems to have been deleted.

Tumor by Wintertime

This story starts out as a PWP, but about halfway through it takes a very sudden turn and becomes rather dark. The writing is good, although I wish the author had used a better beta reader.

Jared is the son of the king, and he knows that nine of the men who wear the uniforms of his father’s guard are not what they seem to be.

ETA: Removed for eventual publication.

Learning to Serve by Delilah deSora

And its sequels, Shutting Doors II, Shutting Doors II: Gratuitous Sex Scene, Shutting Doors III, and Silent Passage.

Much less dark than most Batman stories. Charts the development of Robin’s relationship with Batman. I really like the Dick voice. And Davy is a great OC.

Wherever You Stand A Hundred Shall Fall is an AU of the Shutting Doors universe, a crossover with The Sentinel. Also Jim/Blair. Its sequel is Castoff.

Shutting Doors by James Walkwithwind

The Iliad/Greek myth

My other favourite Iliad story, because Gloria Mundi is just so talented.

“I will avenge you, when you’re dead,” he’d said to Achilles once.

“You think even Death can part us?” Achilles had murmured, pretending surprise. “Surely I will find my way back to your arms.”

“And leave me waiting for you?” Patroclus had said, laughing. “No! I’ll come to Hades, and bring you out with me.” He’d sealed the vow with a kiss.

Achilles had kissed him back, and let the kiss seal his lips. That was not the fame he had been promised.

The death of Hector, and Achilles sends a message to Patroclus.

Messenger by Gloria Mundi