Title: As Time Goes By
Author: Yahtzee
Pairing: Buffy/Angel, Angel/Cordelia, Wes/Fred
Spoilers: early S3
Summary: The world has gone to hell, and a disillusioned Cordelia may just hold the key to saving it, but whose side is she on?
Link: As Time Goes By
Why: You know those fics where someone takes the plot of a classic movie and rewrites it using characters and settings from another fandom? Yeah. This is one of those. Quite possibly the best one ever written--a post-demon-apocalyptic version of Casablanca with Cordy in Rick's shoes.

Title: Destination Unknown
Author: Yahtzee
Pairing: Buffy/Giles, Angel/Cordelia
Spoilers: S6, possibly 7
Summary: When Buffy comes to England, ostensibly to get Giles' input on a mysterious crystal, the two are forced to confront some difficult truths about their relationship.
Link: Destination Unknown
Why: Because this is quite literally the ONLY Buffy/Giles fic I've ever read that made the pairing work for me, and considering how much I generally don't like them as a couple, that says a lot about the fic.

Title: Gilead
Author: Yahtzee
Pairing: Mulder/Scully
Spoilers: the show's over--does it matter anymore? ;-)
Summary: Two people find each other again in a broken world, but can they save each other too?
Link: Gilead
Why: Because while I would never have thought of this crossover, it works so well it's scary and the result is one of the best apocalyptic XF fics ever not to include aliens. *g*

Title: Wild Honey
Author: Sanj
Pairing: Idgie/Ruth
Spoilers: movieverse
Summary: Even a bee-charmer can be charmed by someone she loves.
Link: Wild Honey
Why: Because every character's voice was so pitch-perfect it took my breath away, and because it brought back the love story that the movie left out.

Title: Companion
Author: Bangles
Pairing: Sidonie/Imriel, Sidonie/Maslin, Imriel/other
Spoilers: Kushiel's Scion
Summary: Since the day Sidonie was born, Imriel has always been part of her life.
Link: Companion
Why: Kushiel's Legacy is one of the most sweeping, most elaborate and elegant alternate history (*extremely* alternate) series of novels ever written, and it's a rare fanfic author who can capture the archaic language and undercurrent of sensuality of the series as well as Bangles did here.

Title: The Bridal Path
Author: Vyola
Pairing: Joel/Wednesday, Gomez/Morticia, Fester/Dementia
Spoilers: Addams Family Values
Summary: Couples who vow only 'til death do them part lack ambition.
Link: The Bridal Path
Why: Another absolutely snicker-worthy glimpse at Joel and Wednesday's possible future together. Man, now I want to go rewatch the movie.

Title: The Last of the Winnebagos
Author: trinityofone
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Spoilers: nothing specific that I noticed
Summary: Atlantis is not for the elderly, but that doesn't make leaving any easier.
Link: The Last of the Winnebagos
Why: I don't read a lot of McShep, but when someone steals the title from one of my favorite authors ever? I had to make an exception, and I'm glad I did. The relationship is very low-key, so that it feels like a given. And the story is beautifully bittersweet and melancholy.

Title: Written on the Body
Author: Alizarin
Pairing: Mal/Inara
Spoilers: set after "Serenity" (the movie, not the ep)
Summary: Inara discovers the power of permanence.
Link: Written on the Body
Why: This story has a fantastic extended metaphor in Inara's attitude towards writing and how it changes. And I don't want to say more than that lest I ruin it. :-)

Title: A Swell Party
Author: Claire
Pairing Grouping: Nine/Rose/Jack
Spoilers: all of Nine's run, just to be on the safe side
Summary: Take Bertie Wooster's life, add three time travelers hot on the trail of a stolen alien artifact, a healthy helping of chaos, scandal and romantic entanglements of all sorts, and what do you get?--a mess it will require all of Jeeves' incomparable wits to unravel.
Link: A Swell Party--chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Why: For Doctor Who, 1920s/30s England is practically in the back yard, but it's a lot trickier to introduce a crossover believably into Jeeves & Wooster's world, especially a science fiction one. This one manages amazingly, though, managing to be true to the tone and characters of both mediums, and make you roll on the floor laughing too. *g*

Title: Applied Psychology
Author: rebecca
Pairing: Gibbs/DiNozzo/Abby
Spoilers: up to and including "Hiatus" as of the latest installment
Summary: They need each other--it's as simple and as complex as that.
Link: Applied Psychology
Why: Part of me honestly doesn't know why I keep coming back to this series--yes, I have a threesome kink, but the other kinks in the series are things I would usually avoid. (Though I've never tested that theory *g*, I strongly suspect that my sexual style will be about as vanilla as they come. *g*) But all I can say is...in a way I can't quite explain to myself, it works for the characters. Especially the way rebecca writes them all so beautifully in character. Oh, and ZOMG *HOT*! (That reminds me, keep the kiddies away from this one--it's *very* NC-17!)

Title: To Serve a Queen
Author: Tielan
Pairing: Ronon/Weir with a dash of Sheppard/Teyla
Spoilers: umm...sortof for S2--AU version of some events
Link: To Serve a Queen
Why: I think I'll just let the fact that I devoured this--even though I don't 'ship either of the main pairings and had no knowledge, at the time, of the universe it was crossed over with--and then went out and bought the Black Jewels Trilogy to get to know that world better speak for itself. It's one of the best Atlantis AUs out there.

Title Through the Looking Glass
Author: Amara_M
Pairing: Daniel/Sam
Spoilers: early season 8
Summary: All she wanted was to find a safe home for their child.
Link: Through the Looking Glass
Why: A deliciously angsty little Sam/Daniel AU that I'd forgotten about. Nice to know somewhere out there is a mirror universe where Sam is with Daniel, even if only in fanfic! ;-)

Title: The Rules of the Game
Author: Sloane
Pairing: Cameron/Vala
Spoilers: season 9 through "Beachhead"
Summary: Vala gets under Mitchell's skin.
Link: The Rules of the Game
Why: I probably really should start watching Farscape, so I can see these two actors play characters in a *canon* relationship, but in the meantime I'll just have to enjoy nummy fic like this. *grin*

Title: The Royal Consort of Oz
Author: ravenbell
Pairing: Dorothy/Ojo, Trot/Button-Bright, Ozma/?
Spoilers: for all the Baum books, just to be on the safe side
Summary: Something really has to be done about all Ozma's suitors!
Link: The Royal Consort of Oz
Why: I requested a fic where the Oz characters *do* grow up, with a romance for Ozma involved, and ravenbell delivered better than I imagined!

Title: Separate Salt from Sand
Author: Rachael Sabotini
Pairing: Beckett/Cadman
Spoilers: "Duet" but probably not in the way you think
Summary: Kate Heightmeyer has to conduct a rather distasteful interview after a horrific firefight leaves a friend crippled.
Link: Separate Salt from Sand
Why: Gives a couple of the background characters on Atlantis a chance to shine, including one of my favorites--Kate Heightmeyer--and I just love seeing the regulars through their eyes. Oh, and did I mention the plot is like a suckerpunch to the gut?

Title: Indistinguishable from Magic
Author: kieyra
Pairing: Zoe/Wash, Mal/Inara UST, Simon/Kaylee
Spoilers: Serenity
Summary: River knows more secrets than she's revealed, and she's going to use one of them to set something right.
Link: Indistinguishable from Magic
Why: The beauty of the Firefly/Serenity 'verse is that it's strikingly realistic in its advances and limitations; the only problem that poses is it makes it harder for fans to go back and "fix" certain canon events, but kieyra found a way that is perfectly in character, both for the 'verse and for River.

Title: Shekan
Author: CJ and Susan
Pairing: Trip/Hoshi, Hoshi/Malcolm
Spoilers: nothing after season 2
Summary: An alien device transports Trip and Hoshi to a mysteriously peaceful world from which there is no apparent way home.
Link: Shekan
Why: This is, at least IMO, the crown jewel of Trip/Hoshi fic, and one of those brilliant pieces of writing that can make a fic cliche feel fresh and new.

Title: Dividing of the Ways
Author: Tasha Duncan-Drake
Pairing: Richie/OC, OC/OC, Duncan/Amanda (I think), mentions of Methos/Alexa
Spoilers: umm...goes wildly AU, so no major ones I can think of
Summary: A startling truth about Richie sets in motion events that will change the Game forever.
Link:
Dividing of the Ways
Discoveries
Disclosures
Why: Another fantastic mythology-bending epic, and to tell the truth that's why I really love it, although the fact that Richie is at the heart of the change doesn't hurt. But seriously..."there can be only One"? How fair is that in a 'verse with so many great characters!

Title: Lay Down Your Sword
Author: Sandra MacDonald
Pairing: umm...Duncan/Amanda, Richie/Felicia are the ones I remember
Spoilers: not sure--written during S4 or early S5, I think
Summary: Events begin to fall into place that will set the final Gathering in motion and reveal a surprising truth about Immortality to the winner.
Link:
Lay Down Your Sword
Share the Disaster
Come to Dust
(Note: it's not necessary but definitely wouldn't hurt to also read Epilogue: Studies in Light, Seeds, You Don't Know Me, Epicenter and Choices After Evil for some background on the universe Sandra has set up.)
Why: I FOUND IT! This is probably my favorite Highlander fanfic series of all time, which still leaves me in awe of Sandra's ability to give the HL mythology depth and scope it never had on-screen, but back when I rec'ed "Seeds" I thought it had been taken permanently off-line. Glad I was wrong!

Title: The Magician
Author: Suzanne Bickerstaffe and Jennifer Lyon
Pairing: Mulder/Scully
Summary: Investigating the appearance of a "gargoyle" at a DC lab sends Mulder and Scully on an interdimensional odyssey, to a realm they are fated to save, a realm that is fated to change them forever.
Link: The Magician
Why: You know that epic I've been working on forever? The fantasy AU Stargate one? This is, ultimately, the root cause of it, and its magic hasn't faded since I stopped being a M/S 'Shipper, which should tell you something. *g*