Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers/Fanfic Recs

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Proof that the remaining 10% is worth dying for here:

These are recommendations made by Tropers for Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers Fan Fics, all of which have to be signed to stay on the page. Feel free to add a fanfic of your own to the list, but remember to use the template found here.

Do warn when a fanfic may head into slash or non-canon territory. (Though both are heavily Inverted Tropes in the fandom so far)

Shipping may be Serious Business, but Ship-to-Ship Combat is heavily averted in this fandom. Some of these recs have elements of Shane Gooseman/Niko, Zachary Foxx/Eliza Foxx (It's called "post-rescue" in the fandom), and "Doc" Hartford/Maya of Tarkon. The fandom is exceedingly rare in that the ships are taken as a given.

The fandom itself takes a dim view of outright Plot What Plot, especially as several of the show's writers lurked or still lurk on the fandom's mailing list.

The fanfic writers, especially on stories written early in the fandom's history, almost qualified as a writing staff unto themselves. They took the handle of "The Evil Writing Crew," a dozen-odd writers beta-reading and contributing to each others' stories. As a result, there are some cohesive elements of Fanon in GR fic. Another unusual element to this fandom is due to Germans Love David Hasselhoff - as the show was better received in Germany, about half the fanfic comes from German writers.

You can also add to the current recommendations if you want. Refrain from posting Conversation in the Main Page though; that goes in the discussion page.

Authors and Websites

  • Ann-Kathrin Kniggendorf: When you realize English is not her first language the fics get even more amazing. Most of these are very dark, very cold, and ring very true. She's prone to portraying Gooseman as True Neutral and playing up the fact that he's a teenager designed as a killing machine and is just learning how to open up to his humanity. Notable for "The Lie," "Initiation," and the ultra-brutal "Raumjager." Not all of it is Grimdark, however, as evidenced by her Possessor fanfics, where Goose is given an adorable little kitty with a big attitude.
  • Bruinhilda: Where Ann-Kathrin goes pitch black drama, Bruinhilda goes for wry comedy. Her style is irreverent, her characterization spot-on, and her plotlines range from Doc getting mistaken for a burlesque dancer ("I'm Too Sexy") to Goose getting a case of the flu and failing to deal gracefully with being sick for the first time in his life ("Supertrooper Flu").
  • Red Witch: Prolific and full of ideas, she will literally throw the kitchen sink at you, making use of the show's Loads and Loads of Characters to great effect, even throwing a few of her own in like Commander Cain and Cheyenne Gooseman (yes, related...). For having several things that usually make the "don't even try it" list for fanfic, "Waterlogged" manages to not only pull them off, but come surprisingly close to Original Flavor in the process.

General Fics

"The Lie" by Ann-Kathrin Kniggendorf (Rape as Drama, Cold-Blooded Torture, Medical Squick, Double Standard Rape (Female on Male) is Averted hard)

  • Synopsis: After the Queen captures Zachary in "Psychocrypt," she decides not to throw him in the Crypt straightaway, but to humiliate him first. The fic is told post-episode, as Zach is attempting to process his ordeal.
  • Comments: One of the show's head writers, Christopher Rowley, made the mistake of coming onto the list and cracking some jokes about The Queen's sex life. Don't joke about those things around Fanfic writers. As some of us were chatting about the topic, the chilling idea came up about what she might have done to Zach once she had him powerless and in her clutches. No one, save AKK were willing to touch it with a 10-meter cattle prod, though.

"I'm Too Sexy" by Bruinhilda

  • Synopsis: Doc stumbles into the wrong kind of bar when chasing a suspect.
  • Comments: After noticing the song-fic challenge was veering hard into angst territory, Bruinhilda decided to whip out the comedy card. This is classic Bruinhilda from opening to close.

The Trouble With Tortuna by Bruinhilda

  • Synopsis: A reporter decides to go to Tortuna and get a first-hand look at the "wildlife."
  • Comments: Bruinhilda attempted to imitate P. J. O'Rourke and write up a snarky, wild trip through the eyes of someone who is an outsider to the series. The humor here comes from not only the adventures of the Too Dumb to Live reporter and his wry observations, but from the fact that the reader will fill in the gaps that "Davy" can't.

"Waterlogged" by Red Witch

  • Synopsis: Shane's biodefenses break down, trapping him in a merman form. While he is waiting for the effect to wear off, the Rangers are assigned a mission to retrieve a mysterious artifact from the ocean floor.
  • Comments: This is surprisingly close to Original Flavor. A fair amount of action-adventure is woven in, the characterization is solid, and the wry sense of humor shows up. The real surprise is when it's revealed that the Supertrooper project was much older than suspected, and the team encounters one of its survivors.

Oh Brother by Red Witch

  • Synopsis: Stranded on a frozen asteroid, Doc and Shane try to keep their minds off the frosty conditions by talking about their brothers.
  • Comments: In any other fandom, this would be an automatic setup for Slash Fic. The isolation, the cold conditions, the fact the two "heroes" end up sharing a blanket...But this fandom smiles, subverts it, and goes for the fraternal route. It's lighthearted through the flashbacks. It then veers into Tear Jerker territory when it's revealed that both "brothers" died in childhood.

Doc: (to Theodore's headstone) "Now I have a new little brother to watch out for..."

"Pairbond" [dead link] by fatima (capitalization is deliberate)

  • Synopsis: Outnumbered by three renegade Supertroopers, low on ammo, and unable to get backup, Shane and Niko must resort to a unusual tactic to survive.
  • Comments: With these two characters, Ship Tease is pretty much a given. It's barely touched here, however. The surreality and discomfort of the situation and the circumstances involved borders on Deconstruction Fic of the Mindlink Mates trope.

"Ghost Story" by the Evil Writing Crew

  • Synopsis: Trapped in the Tortuna desert, the Rangers and Ambassadors find that the ghost town they've taken shelter isn't as deserted as it looks.
  • Comments: More an example than an actual fic, this is a chat log from one of the EWC's late night sessions as a story is built of whole cloth, each member pitching out lines as inspiration hits.

Shipping Fics

"Initiation" by Ann-Kathrin Kniggendorf

  • Pairing(s): Shane Gooseman/Niko
  • Synopsis: "Missing Scenes" for "Scarecrow" and "Scarecrow's Revenge"
  • Comments: True to her usual style, there is little that is sweet or romantic here; an almost-feral seduction, and some painful fallout ensue. Saving it from complete darkness is a gentle moment where the pair link minds and Niko shows that Shane all but saved her life.

"Isn't Life Strange" by Lady Niko (Rape: both Physical and the Mind Rape variety, violence)

  • Pairing(s): Shane Gooseman/Niko
  • Synopsis: Daisy O'Mega (a fairly sympathetic member of the show's Rogues Gallery) attempts to inform the Rangers of an impending invasion and is captured. The Rangers go out to try and retrieve her, but it ends with Shane and Niko captured by the Queen - and completely at her dubious mercy.
  • Comments: It's novel-length, and one of the first in the fandom. It also established some interesting elements of series Fanon, like Doc being Catholic and the Queen having plans for Niko that don't involve the Crypt. This was also the fic mentioned in Oh Crap, There Are Fanfics of Us.
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