Random Recz
Talk About the Weather by Viridian5
Vir writes my fave Andromeda stuff: Beka & Harper almost bro/sis interaction, pre-series. The contrast between bred-in-space Beka and Earth-in-the-blood Harper is never more obvious than in this short little slice of life on an alien planet.
Let Down by Pares
Due South: gen, short & snarky. Two Rays. One overly-polite Frasier, per usual. Dief. And a hotel fire. Heheheh. Dawn wrote one of my fave X-Files fics; this is also going on my fave Pares picks.
Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing... Rat? and epilogue by Maya
Okay, first? It's fluffy. Fluffity fluffity fluff fluff fluff. Don't expect anything else, appreciate it for what it is. Second? It has Fanon!Draco, just this side of DracoStu, or maybe I mean Draco!Stud. Draco as interpreted by Elvis? Maybe. And third, it's Draco/Hermione. Ack! And yet, I still enjoyed it, because the snark is there, and the silliness is plentiful, and there are big surprises on occasion. Draco gets turned into a rat, gets adopted by unknowing Gryffindors, and it only gets stranger from there. Try it, it might be your kind of insane.
Family Issues by Marcus Rowland
He finally finished it. Yayyy! Buffy/Men in Black crossover; although to be fair, it's more like "extended guest appearance by the MiB". They're integral to the plot, but they exit stage left at about 3/4 of the way in. It still works, though. Set during S6, pre-"Dead Things" through "Hell's Bells", the MiB have some concerns in Sunnydale that end up effecting Willow, Spike, Warren, Buffy, and the rest of the Scoobies. One of the better AU's for the Depressing Season, with plenty of humor, action, and characterization that reads better than parts of canon. Parts of the timeline are hard to follow, but if you hang on, it all gets sorted out in the end.
Five Things That Never Happened to Anya by Elisabeth
Oh, I adore this AU challenge. It gave us such good stuff. Summary: "Two deaths, three men, and five ways Anya's life could have unfolded." Funny, painful, ironic, sweet. Made me miss Anya all over again.
Winter Night Phantoms by Jennifer-Oksana
Ow, ow, ow, ow. Wes - and Lilah - after she died, before & after she came back. "Or: we are defined by our desires, not by our memories." JennyO rips on your heartstrings again, as Wes is haunted (or is he?) by what he had to do in the Hyperion basement. (Damnit, I *need* to see more of them in Season 5!).
Where Fools Go: Happily Ever After by Lizbeth Marcs and Sydney Taggart
Interesting AU, based off a previous story, that asked "What would happen if Willow's actions in "Grave" had long-lasting consequences for Xander?" This AU is set post-Chosen; Faith & Xander friendship; the beginning of an ongoing series. I like the characterization of our main two protagonists, as well as the Angel crew, and there is some eerie, creepy stuff happening that plays off the dangling plot threads of S7 very well. On the other hand, I don't like the Buffy characterization at all (but I don't think we're supposed to), and the rest of the Scooby gang doesn't exactly stand out either - although I think there may be plot reasons for that which will get explored in the next story, I assume. Anyway, definitely worth a look, and I'm happily waiting for the next one.
And now, zzzzzzz....
Vir writes my fave Andromeda stuff: Beka & Harper almost bro/sis interaction, pre-series. The contrast between bred-in-space Beka and Earth-in-the-blood Harper is never more obvious than in this short little slice of life on an alien planet.
Let Down by Pares
Due South: gen, short & snarky. Two Rays. One overly-polite Frasier, per usual. Dief. And a hotel fire. Heheheh. Dawn wrote one of my fave X-Files fics; this is also going on my fave Pares picks.
Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing... Rat? and epilogue by Maya
Okay, first? It's fluffy. Fluffity fluffity fluff fluff fluff. Don't expect anything else, appreciate it for what it is. Second? It has Fanon!Draco, just this side of DracoStu, or maybe I mean Draco!Stud. Draco as interpreted by Elvis? Maybe. And third, it's Draco/Hermione. Ack! And yet, I still enjoyed it, because the snark is there, and the silliness is plentiful, and there are big surprises on occasion. Draco gets turned into a rat, gets adopted by unknowing Gryffindors, and it only gets stranger from there. Try it, it might be your kind of insane.
Family Issues by Marcus Rowland
He finally finished it. Yayyy! Buffy/Men in Black crossover; although to be fair, it's more like "extended guest appearance by the MiB". They're integral to the plot, but they exit stage left at about 3/4 of the way in. It still works, though. Set during S6, pre-"Dead Things" through "Hell's Bells", the MiB have some concerns in Sunnydale that end up effecting Willow, Spike, Warren, Buffy, and the rest of the Scoobies. One of the better AU's for the Depressing Season, with plenty of humor, action, and characterization that reads better than parts of canon. Parts of the timeline are hard to follow, but if you hang on, it all gets sorted out in the end.
Five Things That Never Happened to Anya by Elisabeth
Oh, I adore this AU challenge. It gave us such good stuff. Summary: "Two deaths, three men, and five ways Anya's life could have unfolded." Funny, painful, ironic, sweet. Made me miss Anya all over again.
Winter Night Phantoms by Jennifer-Oksana
Ow, ow, ow, ow. Wes - and Lilah - after she died, before & after she came back. "Or: we are defined by our desires, not by our memories." JennyO rips on your heartstrings again, as Wes is haunted (or is he?) by what he had to do in the Hyperion basement. (Damnit, I *need* to see more of them in Season 5!).
Where Fools Go: Happily Ever After by Lizbeth Marcs and Sydney Taggart
Interesting AU, based off a previous story, that asked "What would happen if Willow's actions in "Grave" had long-lasting consequences for Xander?" This AU is set post-Chosen; Faith & Xander friendship; the beginning of an ongoing series. I like the characterization of our main two protagonists, as well as the Angel crew, and there is some eerie, creepy stuff happening that plays off the dangling plot threads of S7 very well. On the other hand, I don't like the Buffy characterization at all (but I don't think we're supposed to), and the rest of the Scooby gang doesn't exactly stand out either - although I think there may be plot reasons for that which will get explored in the next story, I assume. Anyway, definitely worth a look, and I'm happily waiting for the next one.
And now, zzzzzzz....