Title: Vala Alphabet Soup
Author's LJ/DWJ: n/a
Categories: valuable Vala, ep related, character study, friendship, humor, angst, drama, pre-series, post-series
Warnings: none
Author's Webpage/Fic list: n/a
Link to story: Vala Alphabet Soup

Why this should be read: It might be cheating a little to rec the Soup as a whole, especially since I organize the Soups and have actually written one of the fics. :) But here's a chance to read twenty-six great Vala fics at once, by 25 different authors! These are funny and painful and insightful and fluffy and thoughtful in turns, and you'll enjoy every last one of them. Don't forget to follow the links to the authors' individual journals and leave them feedback!

Title: Fair Play
Author's LJ/DWJ: penknife
Categories: character: cameron mitchell, character: daniel jackson, character: samantha carter, character: teal'c, character: vala mal doran, era: season 9-10, friendship: teal'c and vala, humor, theme: awesome women, theme: teal'c friendship, theme: valuable vala
Warnings: none
Author's Webpage/Fic list: fic tag @ LJ
Link to story: Fair Play

Why this should be read: This is an excellent look at Vala's early time spent with SG-1, complete with not really fitting in, but even that pales in comparison to the sheer humor running rampant through this fic. Vala cheats. Teal'c lets her cheat. In fact, Teal'c encourages her to cheat and comes up with thieving plans of his own to cheer her up and invents the Tau'ri Right of Gel'a'tin. If anyone can bring out Teal'c's inner troublemaker, it's Vala.

( two snippets of fic this time... )

Title: The Present is All You Have
Author's LJ/DWJ: lyl_devil 
Categories: Crossover
Warnings: none
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Writing Blog, Non-Crossover Masterlist, Crossover Masterlist.
Why this should be read:

It's an interesting vignette about Vala, and how she's been changed by her time on SG-1, and what she would do if she found herself in another universe in the future and having to start from scratch (in this case, the Vorkosigan universe from Lois McMaster Bujold's excellent series of books, which I cannot recommend highly enough).  Very short, this suggests more possibilities than it deals with, but I find it interesting to read and think about.
( snippet of fic... )

Rec Category: Episode related
Pairing: none
Categories: episode related, gen, character study, Teal'c, Vala, Teal'c and Vala friendship
Warnings: none
Author on LJ: sagetheory
Author's Website: p-h.org
Link: Because You Are Also a Tortoise

Why This Must Be Read: This delightful ficlet, with its light surface and multi-layered levels of complexity and depth, is very difficult to excerpt, because I want to quote the whole thing.

As Vala struggles with her psychology testing in Morpheus, Teal'c appears to offer her advice, as one alien to the other. The dance of dialogue that follows is fascinating, as Vala tries to fence verbally with Teal'c and discovers that for all his brevity, he always, always manages to get the last word.

Marvelous characterization, thoughtful observations, and appreciation for both Vala and Teal'c: Because You Are Also a Tortoise is an excellent character sketch that you're sure to enjoy.

( snippet of fic... )