Hieroglyfics Recs

(Podfic version as edited by Lim.) Every once in a while I see a mention of this story on my flist that begins, “I know I must be the last person to read this…” so I figure I’m maybe not the last. A great action/adventure/history in an engaging and clever format, read by three dozen readers and assembled with care and skill into a not-quite-seamless but nevertheless pretty darn good whole. The variations in volume and quality of the various recordings have been mostly evened out. And I realized that I really don’t mind hearing American and Canadian (and Athosian and Satedan :-) voices as rendered in an English accent; I thought it would throw me, but quickly the accent faded into the metaphorical background, and I just heard the story.

This is a faux trailer for a nonexistent movie: McKay and Sheppard do Ocean’s Eleven. Fabulous use of a wide variety of source material, and put together really well.

Scenes from Epiphany are used to imply an AU history for John and how he met Rodney and came to Atlantis, and there’s some astonishing vid-manip work.

This is a remix of a story I haven’t read. It’s the kind of AU I like best (which is alas rare in SGA) - set in a world that is close to, but not quite, canon, in which familar canonical events (or their analogues) occur. Rodney’s still an SGC scientist, but John is a robot - except that he is not, as he claims to be, an AI sex toy, but a highly advanced and highly secret experimental model. The plot includes both standard Harlequin tropes and startlingly clever twists and revelations. There’s a bit of handwavium tossed around, but no more than in the show. A good read.

I was intrigued by the title, captivated by the first line, and entertained mightily by the rest of the story. Sort of an Aubrey/Maturin fusion in feel, if you will. The story alternates sections of Doctor McKay’s journal (written in nicely period prose) and sections of dialogue that sound like they could have come from an episode of SGA in which the team has a collective nautical delusion.

I’m generally not a fan of stories about younger versions of the characters, but this AU in which they are college friends who become something more while on spring break is lovely and hot and sweet, with well-done structure that flips between flashback and present.

I know Toft from the HP fandom, and I’m happy to see her in my new fandoms. This is a cross-dressing Sheppard story; cross-dressing is not really one of my kinks, but it’s handled very well here, and there are a lot of interesting aspects of Sheppard’s sexuality explored here - not to mention of McKay’s. Men communicating poorly is one of my story kinks.

John gets turned into a female…and nobody notices. I like this take on genderswitch because John stays very much John, with his only physical differences hidden or hideable, and the interesting part is how others react (or how John thinks they would react).

Abductions, murderous villains, and Wraith - and the occasional bomb through the window - in between all of it, let’s have an adrenaline-fueled relationship, shall we? Cute and funny McKay/Sheppard relationship development set against a backdrop of narrow escapes from certain death.

This is apparently based loosely on the movie Never Been Kissed: Rodney’s masquerading as a biology grad student in order to get close to Professor Sheppard, for purposes that I don’t want to spoil here but the cool thing is that the AU converges with canon, which is my favorite type of AU. As you might expect, he gets close to Professor Sheppard in an, er, rather different way than he was supposed to. The absolute best part is Ronon, who takes to hanging out on a college campus with unexpected zest.

This is a rec with a caveat. I originally passed over this story because a, BSDM isn’t my thing, and b, I had not read the series which the story notes say this is an “unauthorized homage” of. I read it because of Cathexys’s (locked) post in which she referred to the story as a feminist critique; this is how I read and interpreted the story, and that’s why I liked it.

I guess I’d describe this as a “BSDM AU”. For discussion that includes the BSDM aspect and the relationship between this story and its source, see Millefiori’s post here; to me, it reads as brilliant social satire on traditional views of the role of women:

Until 1941, subs hadn’t been allowed in the military at all; temperamentally unsuited, everyone said, for fighting. Much better to keep them safe at home. Subs were excellent aids and secretaries, junior engineers, kindergarten teachers, nurses, assembly-line workers, mechanics, accountants—careful, rule-following, meticulous, obedient. In the midst of World War II, personnel shortages had forced the armed forces to allow subs to enlist, but they’d been put in separate units, and couldn’t be promoted beyond Corporal. Subs had separate rank insignias until 1970 and wore an S-pin on their collars until 1982.

I’m not generally a fan of BSDM, but here I don’t think it’s intended to be either particularly realistic or even titillating, so for me it works more as a metaphor, the absurdity of which is what makes the satire work. Helen also pokes fun at some canon and fanon elements (such as Sheppard’s frequent defiance of orders). The characterizations are fairly loose, as usual with her stories. The writing is beautifully invisible and just pulls the reader along.

I don’t actually like the song much, and at nearly 5 minutes it’s (IMHO) far too long, but the clip choices (and, er, partner choices) for each verse are brilliant, and the storyline is fabulous and funny. I mean, John/Kolya! John/Zelenka! John/Bimbo Of The Month! There’s even a flash of John/Hermiod, for crying out loud!

Sheppard/McKay, Sheppard/Dex. Rodney’s got a crush on John, and he’s jealous of Ronon. The Ronon section was just yay.

This story, written for the sga_flashfic school challenge, is reminiscent of a certain other SGA story (which was written later, btw - this story was written last November) in which a post-Atlantis McKay is teaching at a second-tier school, but it’s less complex, bleaker, and at least to me more compelling, perhaps because it’s so short and punchy. [The story I’m referring to is Synecdochic’s Freedom’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose, another good story.] Excellent structure and pacing. People who dislike character death should probably not read this one.

Rodney’s a brilliant conductor who’s written a violin concerto, and John is the erratic but talented violinist trying to escape the shadow of his famous father. There are a few nods to canon - “think of where we are in the solar system”, the coin flip, flying metaphors - but mostly this is an entirely different world. Yet Rodney and John are both distinctly their canon characters and simultaneously perfectly translated into this world, and their individual faults and problems are transcended by what they can do together - just like in canon.

As I’ve said before, I have difficulty following vids unless they have clear narratives, and this one is actually a constructed narrative, with bits of text superimposed on images both from SGA and other sources, including the vidder’s own shots. Interesting and well-done.

The Opening (McKay/Beckett, Sheppard/various implied, R)
Balancing Act (McKay/Beckett, McKay/Sheppard, NC17)

Series of short stories. Atlantis is a Manhattan restaurant, and McKay is the chef, a demanding and neurotic diva with a crush on the bartender, Sheppard. This AU reminds me a bit of Lalejandra’s publishing AU, except it has fewer in-jokes and is therefore more accessible. Well-written and witty, with clever casting choices. The stories read more like parts of a WIP than as separate stories; in particular, the first story doesn’t really end but just trails off at an odd point, with a suggested plot that doesn’t materialize in the second story (but the author promises more of in the future). The canon allusions are wonderful, and I wish there were more of them.

McKay/Sheppard (and Zelenka-ship that gave me a giggle that I won’t spoil!) screencap comic. Zelenka’s greatest skill is as a yenta. Screencaps and other illustrations are used to great effect - if this doesn’t make you at least smile, you are beyond hope.

As I recently saw the movie Last Night, this made me think a bit of Craig Zwiller: John figures that with the Wraith coming (end of season 1), he’d better get in all the sex he can. He’s pragmatic about it, figuring that he can get sex without emotional involvement from a guy, and hey, he likes Rodney, and Rodney’s probably desperate. But of course Rodney is the poster child for emotional involvement, so things get a little out of control. I liked it a lot and thought the characterization of John as emotionally closed-off was very canonical, but there are some very interesting comments from people bothered by John’s behavior. This comment by hth_the_first comes closest to how I see it.

The combination of sad music and lots of shots of Rodney looking wistful is wonderful.

Rodney/John, John/Chaya, angst, humor. This was made for the Lord King Bad Vid contest - it’s all overdone earnestness and angst, which somehow makes it absolutely hilarious.

Ensemble humor. West Side Story retold in the SGA-verse. Hilarious.

Just in case you skipped by this one because of the mpreg warning - go read it, because it’s lovely and very thoughtful. Rodney’s near death, and John makes the decision to save him in a way that is both sweet and heartbreakingly hurty.

n this very cool story, written for the sga_flashfic “this is not happening” challenge, Rodney activates an Ancient artifact…and nothing happens. Or does it? As reality begins to warp and change, only Rodney remembers how things were supposed to be. This hits my story-kinks of both unexpected consequences of ancient technology as well as alternate realities, and the slash relationship, which seems a little out of left field at first, is unexpectedly poignant.

This hits my total love for time travel stories very hard, hard enough to cancel out my general dislike of rentboy stories. John goes back in time and discovers teen-age Rodney whoring to pay for college - yes, it’s a whacked-out premise, but the story is well-structured and clever.

Ronon/John, Ronon/F, John/Rodney. An incredible Ronon character piece written for the Seven Deadly Sins challenge at sga_flashfic, this consists of 7 pairs of vignettes, each pair dealing (sometimes elliptically) with one of the deadlies in one year as a Runner and the corresponding year in Atlantis. Overall it builds up a remarkably deep portrait of Ronon and his relationships with others. The other characters are all beautifully drawn as well. Very highly recommended.

Rodney and John slowly connect with each other while back on Earth. As usual for her stories, this is well-written, and I like that the characterization of Rodney comes through without him being obnoxious or rudely arrogant. I also liked her emotionally distant John. The one bit that continually nagged at me, though, is that this story depends on Rodney’s relative dislike of and ignorance of football, and I can’t buy that, based on Hide and Seek. Speranza tries to rationalize e.g. Rodney’s mention that Flutie went to Canada, but this particular point really did interfere with my enjoyment of the story. On the other hand, she deserves full credit for getting the Colorado (and other! I love authors who research!) details right. Although the CU Buffs are probably better than the Denver Broncos.

The true story of the well-known rock band, The Puddlejumpers! How they formed; how they found a manager; about the replacement of their bassist Aiden Ford. Little canon details are translated cleverly to this AU. I don’t see the point of it being McKay/Sheppard, really - it would have been a fine gen story, which lately is my complaint about a lot of SGA fiction, which is part of my recent meh-ness about fanfiction, but I digress. It’s worth a read - and a look at the art - and a listen to the song (!). Multimedia, woo!

Aliens make them do it, and other aliens make them do it, and then, aliens make them…. It’s funny and very hot.

This is a really good gen story, made into an okay established-relationship slash story by the requirement of a pairing (this was written for the Urban Legend Slash Challenge). Aliens are harvesting their organs; what I like about it is the contrast in the way Teyla and Ronon see things, and the way the Atlanteans from Earth see things.

Radek/Elizabeth, John/Rodney. An action/adventure story that reads almost like an episode: an Ancient spaceship is found, and it has a sentient brain which develops an attachment to Rodney. The Zelenka POV is nicely done, and the characterizations of him, Elizabeth, and Laura Cadman seem so canonical to me that I can hear their voices in my head. Beautifully plotted and paced, with clever incidental details and references.

AU, crossover, romance, humor. I have no idea how to characterize this fic. John is a figure skater and Rodney’s on a curling team with Carson Beckett, Neil Bucyk (from Men With Brooms!), and Callum Keith Rennie. My brain hurts from all my fandoms crazily slamming into each other on the ice. Mostly what appeals to me is the wacko premise, but there is cute banter, and a few clever canon references.

Rodney is a spy…for Canada. Evil universe-domination schemes ahoy! This is hysterically funny. Features Chuck the Canadian gateroom sergeant and a few nods to due South and James Bond movies.

SGA/Good Omens - I’d call it a sort of a pastiche. It’s really a Good Omens story starring Sheppard and McKay as Crowley and Aziraphale; the characterizations are beautifully clear, even though no names are used at all. My favorite bit is the almost throwaway parallel of Sheppard’s “black mark” and Crowley’s fall.

Each kiss snippet highlights one of the five senses; beautifully structured and surprisingly hot.

This is a rec with caveats: there are a few canon errors (such as ‘Kavanaugh’ and planet designation formats), and I kept stumbling over missing words in sentences, and the occasional tense jump. I also don’t care for the use of present tense. However, what this story does have is an interesting alternate-reality plot, in which John and Rodney (who are in an established sexual relationship, the details of which seem somewhat gratuitous) end up on a version of Atlantis where things have gone very slightly differently. The fleshing out of this alternate reality is well done and plausible, and that’s what shines in this story.

Sheppard and McKay in a bar back on Earth, coming to a sort of understanding. Nice John characterization.

Rodney is called away from his teaching job for his father’s funeral, where he meets Captain John Sheppard of the Air Force and learns his family may have some hidden secrets. Entertaining but not exceptional until the second half, when some of those secrets turn out to involve alien devices and Area 51, and the story begins to converge with canon. I particularly like Rodney’s characterization and the jealousy he can’t hide that John got to spend his childhood with the very scientists Rodney idolizes. Note that one aspect of the AU (which might be guessable from this summary) may be squicky for some (and push kink buttons for others).

Sheppard/McKay, a touch of Dex/Weir. Apparently Atlantis is just like a Major Publishing Corporation - who knew? I probably missed half the in-jokes, but this is a funny and well-written romp in which Dr. McKay (”My doctorates are, in chronological order, Middle English morphology and syntax, applied linguistics in North America, and the history of punctuation in the Canadian novel”) runs the production department and Ronon Dex managed to leave Sateda LLC just before their takeover by Wraith Alliance.

There are sequels. I don’t like them as much as the original story.

It’s kind of the old “aliens made them do it” cliche - or rather, aliens expose their existing relationship. Gentle and subtle, and made more interesting by being Ronon’s POV.

After the team finds a mysterious crystal on a long-dead world, they begin to be haunted by ghosts from their pasts. This is a cool and clever story, well-written and with super characterization, particularly of Teyla and Ronon. The various story threads aren’t really tied together well - the resolution leaves a lot of questions hanging, and some guns were hung on the wall that weren’t used - but overall it’s an enjoyable read.

This SGA retelling of A Christmas Carol had me alternately grinning and going “awww.” The dialogue is wonderful and the characterizations are well done - and the choice of spirits and what they show Scrooge!Rodney is oh-so-apt. Really a great story.

Spoilers for Grace Under Pressure: Rodney has disturbing dreams after he’s rescued by John and Radek. Nice imagery as Rodney tries to reconnect with his life.

Novella-length WWII-era AU. Elegantly conceived and beautifully written, with spot-on characterizations (and excellent casting choices in most cases) and scorching sex. I love this story so much. Easily my favorite of the 2005 sga_santa stories, and a strong contender for favorite SGA story ever. Seriously. Go read it.

Hermiod/Novak, Sheppard/McKay. Hermiod asks John to help him woo Lindsey Novak. This is a wildly entertaining and witty romp that really deserves a read despite the rather odd pairing and incomprehensible title. I also enjoyed the podfic of this story as read by Temaris, which can be found here on her site.

A cute, hot and well-done PWP.

An intricate and interesting plot that could have come out of an episode, with a nice exploration of Trinity repercussions. I also liked the characterization very much. However, for me the sex is a little dissatisfying because it doesn’t really seem to be related to the plot. Also, there are quite a few grammatical errors which I think are just proofreading goofs - irritating, but not insurmountable.

ALost Boys-based enzyme story. This one is well-written, hot and sweet.

What if, in Lost Boys, Kanayo had taken both Rodney and John to steal the C4 from the Genii? This is an action-adventure to sink your teeth into; the characterization of enzyme!Rodney is magnificent. And it’s got Kolya, the villain I love to hate.

I am a sucker for comedy-of-errors stories that hinge on a misunderstanding. In this one, John thinks Rodney’s broken up with him, and goes out to drown his sorrows at a bar.