Title: Sufficiently Advanced Magic
Characters: Romana, Hermione, Snape, Harry, Ron
Author on LJ: lizbee
Author Website: Mirrordance

Why this must be read: A note-perfect crossover. Everyone involved is written spot-on, and it's absolutely hilarious to boot. Romana shows up at Hogwarts as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher: Hermione is sceptical, Snape is put-out, and Harry and Ron find out something about Romana that leaves them in a bit of a tizzy (and in particular, I love that Harry and Ron are written so true to self, somewhat clueless but never getting bashed). There's vampire hunting, school saving, and lines of sheer brilliance for all involved, such as In Potions, Harry scribbled, alien!!!!! in his textbook and passed it to Hermione under the desk.. This is just marvellously done.

Sufficiently Advanced Magic

Title: The Holes in the Ground by Fahye
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: fahye
Author Website: mercurial_wit
Why this must be read:

More challenge fic, from Multiverse 2007. Excellent Rodney voice. Excellent Doctor, and I think both of those things are hard to do. There is lots of twisty time-travelling excellence out of this year's batch of stories, but this is the only one in which the Doctor's singular approach to...well, everything, is forced to deal with Rodney McKay, as difficultly intelligent at age eight as he is at 38 and beyond. Like the TARDIS, the story goes smoothly through time, backwards, forwards, and round and round. Bendy.

And makes me think of this. What year *is* it, anyway?

"McKay," Sheppard drawls, his face adopting the petulant expression that means he has come across something that he cannot charm, threaten, fly or blow up, and he fully intends to blame Rodney for it, "why is there a telephone box in front of my jumper?"

Three words into this sentence, Rodney has already opened the rear of the jumper and is crawling out, calling for Zelenka. The telephone box -- Police Box, proclaim the white letters, but Rodney has never trusted labels and he sees no reason to start now -- doesn't seem to be going anywhere. It has settled neatly in front of the stargate and, inasmuch as a blue wooden box can, is giving off the rather smug impression that neither hell nor high water nor the violently obstinate nature of one Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard is going to budge it a single centimetre.

The Holes in the Ground

Title: Charm City
Pairing: Sam Winchester/Tim Bayliss
Author on LJ: hth_the_first
Author Website: http://hth.gatefiction.com/
Why this must be read: When I read this, I'd just barely begun watching Homicide and I really didn't like Tim Bayliss. Well. Me and Tim are still not great friends. Nonetheless, I adore this story, which should be a strong indicator how good it is. I "knew" Hth pretty exclusively from Stargate fandom, but I was deeply excited to see her venturing into Supernatural and the specter of Tim Bayliss was not going to keep me from reading the story, thank goodness.

There are so many things I really enjoyed about this story; Sam's attraction to Tim (a considerably older man, at this point) is cute, sweet and oddly hot in all the ways that first flustery attraction to someone IS, complicated by Dean's "help" and sarcastic, older brothery commentary. Her Dean, though largely not physically present, is very much part of the story and is embarrassing, profane, nosy and interfering in all the ways we know and love. And, despite my dislike for Tim, Hth has captured his voice and mannerisms with eerie and loving accuracy, transforming him into a character that is still recognizable as canonical and yet tips over that bulwark into someone I actually liked and cared about by the end of the story.

(I can't emphasize enough what an accomplishment that was.)

( Excerpt. )

There's a very palpable sense of two travelers finding succor and comfort in the all-too-brief eye of a storm here; a Zen-like moment of time when all that exists is the now and it is beautiful.

Tim would approve. And so do I.

Please, if you haven't already, go read this story. You really don't have to be exceptionally familiar with either fandom to take pleasure in it.


Charm City

Er...Tomorrow is Yesterday was the 15th of the month, which means Crack Van Collisions, a.k.a. cross-over day.

Drivers, you may rec one fic that crosses over your fandom with another (no, this does not count against your maximum). Please post crossovers in the following format:

Subject: Fandom/Fandom (Rating)

Title: Title by Author
Pairing: (no abbreviations, please)
Author on LJ:
Author Website:
Why this must be read:

(link to story)

Thanks, all!

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Author on LJ:http://lit-gal.livejournal.com/
Author Website: http://litgal.brinkster.net/
Why this must be read: I love this AU. Jim’s in Vice. Blair’s a grad student, doing sex work on the side. They meet over a case and well, off they go.

( Read more )


The Witness

Title: One Yu Bun Duh Planet, by Ana
Pairing: Jayne and Helo gen
Author on LJ: ana_grrl
Author Website: Ana's Fiction

Why this must be read:

Well the summary (Jayne hates this stupid planet and its stupid gorram robots.) should grab you immediately for its sheer brilliance. The premise of this is that Jayne meets Helo while on Caprica trying to evade the Cylons. Then there is talking about Reavers and Cylons and also shooting Cylons and discussion of naming guns. It's funny and perfectly in character for both Jayne and Helo, and well grounded in both shows' canon.

( Excerpt )

One Yu Bun Duh Planet

Fandom: THE MAN FROM UNCLE
Pairing: Napoleon/Illya
Author on LJ: evan_nicholas
Author's Website: the closest I know of is this
Why this must be read:

Trying to pick out which one of evan_nicholas's stories to rec is like asking a mother who's her favorite child - you love them all for different reasons, but there are still a particular few that really, really appeal to you, and you feel guilty for having favorites because they're all amazing in their own ways.  I am unofficially married to all of his fics.

if I didn't know any better, I'd swear that Illya and Napoleon stepped out of the show and into this story - the banter is sizzling, and I really love the "will they, won't they" tension inherent in their exchanges.  Our author brings out their serious sides so beautifully in the way they use their absurd wit as a shield.  But Evan has a delightful cast - I love his portrayal of subtle, hard!assed Waverly - and OC Susan makes for a great foil for our spy guys as their strong, realistic female counterpart and Illya's friend.  Napoleon's terribly endearing jealousy about Susan and Illya and those surprisingly believable, sweet moments of friendship between them.  The adventures outside of HQ (yes, there's a plot, and a delightfully zany take on the fanon blackmail cliché at that) are no less entertaining or fascinating - it would be criminal not to mention McLean's and the very, ah, New York atmosphere; think Breakfast at Tiffany's but more working class.  The professional and private lives of our spy guys are constantly jumbled together, but the crossover between these personal boundaries can bring about something even more satisfying.

But enough of my rambling - you should read the All's Fair Affair now!

Title: Old Country, by shalott
Pairing: Dean/ Sam
Author on LJ: astolat
Author Website: Fanfic by Shalott
Why this must be read: The Winchesters go to Hogwarts, is all I'm going to say about the plot, because I don't want to spoil you. It sounds ridiculous, like the premise for a really bad crackfic, but somehow it isn't. It's clever and funny, mostly, but it's sad and sweet in places, too. Like Hogwarts, like the canon for both Harry Potter and Supernatural, there's more there than you expect. And the road is even more satisfying than the destination.

They'd driven four hundred and twenty-three miles that day by the Impala's odometer, pulled off the interstate at exit 298 and stopped at the third motel they found, a handful of run-down cabins scattered around a big gravel parking lot. They were paying with a brand-new card and they hadn't called anybody for two weeks, and no one in the world knew where they were but them and God. So when the knock came on the door, just after dark, Dean's hands went from cleaning the gun to sliding it back together, smooth and quick and easy, loading even as they got up from the beds and crept to the door.

"Yeah, who is it," Dean called, thinking. There was a window on the far side of the room, in the kitchenette; if it was the Feds, maybe he could stall long enough to give Sam time to get out that way—he could toss a little flashpowder in their eyes if they had guys back there too, and then it was dark woods for a good mile, going by the road they'd taken to get here.

But there wasn't an answer, just another rap-rap-rap, and Sam cautiously peered through the eyehole and then backed off again and hissed, "There's nobody there."

Dean looked down: their salt line inside the threshold was solid; he reached to flick aside the curtain and see about the windows. "Holy shit!" he said, jumping back.

The owl glared at him with giant yellow eyes from under its scowling feathery brow, and clacked its beak against the window again, insistently.

"Check it out, it's a freaking rabid owl," Dean said, holstering his piece and peering out at it.

"Do owls get rabies?" Sam said, dubiously.

"You're not gonna tell me that's normal," Dean said, pointing at it. The owl was getting more agitated, fluttering up from the sill and clawing at the window with its talons.

Sam squinted and leaned closer to the window. "Is that—does it have a note tied to its leg?"

"Dude, don't open—"