I'm Starwefter on LiveJournal, here and a few other places, Dark Star on Pagii and on Animated Life. I've been writing a fanfiction piece for another member of the forums on Animated Life, so I've come here to post it...

Other than that, I'm Heledd of Mathrafal, sometime herald of Schattentor, Northshield, in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) which eats way too much of my time.

I read sci-fi and fantasy, some mystery, some romance, and watch various animation/anime shows. I don't mind original characters, or even mary sues... (I think loving an author's created world so much you want to be part of it is probably high flattery and a lot of mary sue bashing is hidden jealousy based on "my bishie! I saw him first!) I do mind yaoi that has no basis in the original author's story (Come on, we're writing and reading fanfiction, the least we can do is respect the storylines of the author who created what we're fans of... If they wanted 'em to be gay they would've made 'em gay -- and sometimes they do.) I also mind lack of proofreading. We may not catch all our typos -- I don't expect perfection -- but we can at least make an effort.

I have a husband and a son.

Gee, wow, do I sound boring, and like everyone else, or what?

(Oh... you keep getting Kaiba icons because I like Kaiba. Once in a while I change it so you might get someone else for a while here...like Loki or Howl, or even Dean McCoppin. I like them too.)

I have an account on deviantART at http://starwefter.deviantart.com/ -- it includes a couple of pictures for Shawn and Mimi Bopping Through the Multiverse amongst other things...

I have a C2 community for crossovers -- in their infinite wisdom ff.net has things set up right now so that if I change my category to "misc. - crossover" it will remove 20 stories that authors haven't updated their categories for yet, even though they are crossover stories. But if I leave it in "general - all" I can't add any new crossover stories, because "this is not supported at this time..." So my community is currently frozen.

Thank you, FanFiction.Net...

In the meantime:

It's easy to favorite stories, but some just stand out above the others. And not all of the best are here on ff.net...

So my best of the best list--

Yugioh! stories:

... Yugioh, the College Years: The Different Story by Yuugi Motoh at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2640203, which continues his The Road of Souls at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1267443. A splendid and underrated, underreviewed story, one the the best I've run into. Perhaps the best explanation of Yugi as the light half and Yami as the dark half of the same soul, neither half of which is complete without the other. And a redeemed Pegasus you can actually cheer for because he's helping the good guys? What more can you ask?

... The set of stories At the End of the Day, Meskhenet (Destiny), and The One Who Inherits the Light by Karen at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1488164, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1489542, and http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2187806. What if Pegasus never freed Mokuba before he was attacked at the end of Duelist's Kingdom? What if Mokuba just ... died? What would this mean to Seto? And then Ishizu decides to teach a certain CEO about his past in Egypt... A complex story with an incredible amount of research into ancient Egypt -- and she gives you footnotes! Hopefully to be continued with another sequel...

... The Ties of Friendship by Kitt Chaos at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4239429. A slightly alternate universe version where Yugi and Seto have graduated, and one day Yugi's ESP, which he always had too much of, kicks in and he knows, KNOWS Mokuba is in trouble, and moreover, where... Oh, but that's already happened -- this is about what happens afterwards...

... Yugioh! Duel Monsters 2: Heirs to the Throne and its sequel Yugioh! Duel Monsters 2: Odyssey of a King by DarkScytheQueen at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3658373 and http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4909125. A future universe story in which Yugi, Joey, Bakura, Seto and Marik's son all are chosen to participate as a team in the new international games. So what are the spirits of their teenaged parents doing hanging out in Yuuhi's apartment? And what is locked in the basement of the Kaiba mansion, anyway? (And, trust me, Sanryo is as much of a dish as his father!)

... The set of ongoing mysteries Geheimnisse im Tanzsaal, Folgen Sie Ihrem Traum, and Eine Mitternachsstimme, as well as their prequel Not Quite Heroes, all by Crystal Rose of Pollux at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4112281, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4336463, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4586339, and http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4805200. Many write fanfiction, but few write genuine mysteries with clues, drama, danger, attacks, escapes, and eventual denouement. All this and azureshipping to boot! Don't let the German titles scare you away, the stories themselves are in English.

... Piecing the Shattered Dragon, and its sequel Scars are the Notes of Love by fika1603 which are both sequels to her Blood Brothers and Dik, all at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4711648, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4813901, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4567933, and http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4664686respectively. First she wrote about Seto and Mokuba, then about Seto and everybody else -- but she never planned on Seto and Tea falling in love... Ah, well, they had other ideas -- our characters often do. But who is this woman from out of Seto's past, as why is she hell-bent on marrying him?

Fika1603's grammar and usage are a bit rough at times, however, as she is from Singapore, I suspect she is not writing in her native tongue, but rather in English as a second language. As such, she is quite fluent, with some fascinating OC's and a story whose depth and breadth deserves more thoughtful and insightful reviews than the simple "kill the b." which she mostly gets. And she shines at keeping the sarcastic edge and smirking bite on Seto's conversation even when he's talking to people he likes.

And currently being cybersquatted by someone else on her former domain name: ...Yugioh! The Daily Trials and Tribulations of Seto Kaiba by Zahra at http://www.exnihilozahra.com/yugioh20parody.htm. Yugioh, from Seto's point of view -- an extremely well written, well drawn, hilarious strip, that can be read even by those who have no familiarity with the original story. I'm hoping she gets this back up somewhere.

Yugioh! crossover stories:

... Shuffle by Ysabet at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2812426. A Kaitou Kid/Yugioh! crossfic. Poor little thief. All he wants to do is steal the jewel that hides the real magical gem in order to destroy it before the man who killed his father uses it to further his own greed and power. Of course, he has to find it first... Not his fault that a possible target stone is being shown at the same convention hall that's hosting a gamers tournament -- oh, make that Duelists... And he didn't mean to run into the short guy with spikey hair and spill his cards all over the place. Or the tall guy with the trench coat and bad attitude, for that matter... And he certainly didn't pocket one of that guy's cards on purpose, it just happens sometimes, you know, when the hands are used to moving faster than the eye... But he had hours to kill before his heist, and by then he was curious, so he picked the short guy's pocket to get a look at the cards, meaning to put them back, only the guy and friends discovered the deck was missing before he could slip it back. And then he was out of time, he has a schedule to keep after all...

The pharoah really hates thieves. If he'd just let the poor guy explain...

This is possibly the best story I've read on ff.net. Too bad the author hasn't finished it -- maybe we can prod her...

But giving it a run for the money is:

... Seto Kaiba of Pern by Lucidscreamer at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3704519. Well, obviously a Pern/Yugioh! crossover. It's not just that it's a great Yugioh story -- it's that it is a perfect jewel of an extra-short Pern story. If Anne McCaffrey had written Kaiba -- well, this is probably what she would have written... Absolutely wonderful with not a word wasted. Enough said -- just go read it!

... Doctoring the Blue Eyes, and Something Blue with their prequel Kaiba Conversion and spinoff The Duel that Never Was: Seto Kaiba Vs Ianto Jones by KaibaGirl007 at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4512279, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5058914, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4297422 and http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4781637. A Dr. Who/Torchwood/Yugioh! crossfic. You wouldn't think this was possible, would you? KaibaGirl pulls it off, in a much darker, more adult story that most Yugioh fics are. Kaiba gets a chance to fix a his past, not realizing that by so doing he will destroy what matters most to him in his future. Dr. Who could have warned him, but Jack -- well, Jack understands what it's like to lose those who matter most, and he tried to help, to make it better -- he really did. But playing with time is a dangerous thing.

... It Never Happened by Sekhem at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2854580/1/It_Never_Happened. A collection of extra short oneshots, part of which are crossovers. Sekhem describes it far better than I can: "Another series of shorts, these dealing with things that never did, and most likely, never would happen to the characters - anything from the Pharaoh getting skunked at cards to Seto Kaiba acting his age."

Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok stories:

... When the Gods Have It Out to Get You by Alea Seikou at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3724304. Bad Loki! No Doughnut! But that's why we love him...

... Love Drabbles by Earth Star at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2684282. Silliness, but so often MaLoki is silly... Who knew Mayura could play checkers?

... Paradox by screwordplay (aka dimantrien) at http://screwordplay.livejournal.com/3446.html, also posted at http://dimantrien.livejournal.com/1461.html. And from silliness to seriousness. I don't usually like yaoi, most of it is simply gratuitous, and totally OOC; but this, oddly, made sense. Heimdall, depressed. Someone has to help him...

Torchwood stories:

KaibaGirl007 got me hooked on Torchwood -- it's all her fault -- like I didn't have enough to read... So, tag -- you're it!:

... Ianto Jones' Diary by Torchwoodfour at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4454169. His girlfriend gives him a diary. She expects him to write in it. What's a shy Welshman to do? He loves her after all -- so hesitantly, slowly Ianto Jones starts to record his daily life. Lost reports and annoying supervisors at Torchwood 1. Camping with Lisa. The disaster of Canary Wharf. Running out of money and getting turned down for work at Torchwood 3. And then he got hired...

Episode by episode, Torchwood through Ianto's eyes, with his thoughts and feelings about each adventure, about his coworkers, about Jack -- but also some with original material interspersed. Torchwoodfour has written a fascinating account, for instance, of what happened between the end of season one, when Jack left, and the start of season two, when he returned, making sense of Ianto's (reluctant) move from office boy into field operative. For instance:

"So there I’d been, sitting all alone, probably trying not to think about being there, all alone, when there’s a knock at the door. The team knows it’s open... Lots of evil scary things would just appear, or burst in… So whatever evil is lurking behind the door, ready to kill me… at least it’s polite. Okay. So I answered the door and a giant beast didn’t swallow me whole, or even in little chewy bits. No, I open the door to: ‘Hi, I’m Jason from TAPS. We’re here to investigate.’ Yep, standing there outside the door to the spooky Rift-active castle just past sunset… the entire production team of “Ghost Hunters,” come all the way from America. Brilliant. Hi, yes. Nice to meet you. I. Ummm. Hmmm. I’m the acting caretaker. Can I offer you a cup of tea?"

Torchwood crossover stories:

... again, Doctoring the Blue Eyes, Something Blue, and The Duel that Never Was by KaibaGirl007 -- the descriptions and links are listed above in the Yugioh! crossover section.

... The Doctor and Mr. Jones by Sam the Storyteller at http://sam-storyteller.livejournal.com/122875.html. Torchwood/Dr. Who crossover. With all the things Torchwood comes up against -- who'd ever think Ianto'd die by simply getting run over by a car? So why's he back? And looking different? And what's he doing with a second heart? But he's still as shy as ever...