A post-CotW story in which Fraser and Ray each push a little and give a little; the tension lies in how much pushing and giving each man is willing to do, and things unfold slowly but inevitably. Fabulous structure: each short section is headed with a book title, and relates (sometimes tenuously) to that book, and bits and pieces from Dief’s POV punctuate the angst with bits of humor.
This story reminds me, in an oblique way, of AJ Hall’s HP story Lust Over Pendle. The stories themselves have nothing in common, but what both share is a sort of trancendence of genre, in which the world of the story is utterly original, surpassing canon, yet reasonably derived from it. Hall’s story is a comedy of manners, while M’s is cyberpunkish SF; both have action-adventure plots which bring the authors’ worlds into a collision with the more familiar canonical ones.
In this story, John, Teyla, and John’s son Ben - whose mere presence raises questions in the reader’s mind, and who is really at the heart of this story - are refugees on a planet called Bajan, which is somehow protected from the Wraith. To be allowed to stay, John must give up one memory at a time to the Bajan authorities. Slowly the strands of detail weave a story, and we learn who Ben is, why John has left Atlantis, and what has happened to other refugees from the Wraith.
I remember being confused by the combination of “gen” as a descriptor with NC17 as a rating. After reading the story, I have to agree that this story is essentially gen. However, it is most definitely about relationships: John’s friendship with Teyla, his somewhat off-balance relationship with his case officer Ekatarin, his prickly detente with other characters I shall not mention here, and most of all the fierce love between John and his son. (The NC17 is for explicit het sex, John/OFC; it is not a romantic relationship, more of a convenient outlet between military comrades.) I really like the action-adventure component of the story; the bits of John’s parents and life on Earth didn’t work for me as well, although some repeating themes I thought were beautifully done. The thematic structure is fantastic, really well done, with interesting parallels drawn between events of various episodes and the events of the story. The writing is evocative without calling attention to itself.
This was written between S2 and S3, so the events of S3 have made it AU. I strongly rec this story for action-adventure fans and John Sheppard fans in particular.
Dawn Summers, Jeannie Miller gen, SGA/Buffy the Vampire Slayer crossover. This is billed as a crossover with Night of the Comet (which I haven’t seen), but it’s really more of a fusion or even a pastiche, based on the movie summary. The passage of a comet reduces everybody on Earth to a pile of dust, except for Dawn, Jeannie, and Jeannie’s daughter and nephew. Post-apocalyptic roadtrip fic ahoy! I persevered through the confusing-to-non-BtvS-people beginning and was rewarded with good stuff later on, as Dawn travels through the eerie wasteland of empty Midwest strip malls and convenience shops, and meets up with soccer-mom-on-a-mission Jeannie. Oh, and McKay’s cat. Really well written.
Tim Bayliss/Billy Tallent. This is a rewritten version of Shell’s first fanfic, and as someone who tried but failed to read the earlier version, I can say this is a bazillion times better, with tightness and focus and pacing that was missing from the first attempt. Bayliss is undercover, posing as a member of a Utah polygamist cult that is clearly based on the Fundamentalist LDS church. This is the element that originally attracted me to this story; I saw a documentary about the FLDS, Banking on Heaven, at a film festival earlier this year, and I can say that as horrifying as the elements of this story are, they’re not very far removed from the reality.
Just before going undercover, Bayliss meets Billy Tallent, who while in Arizona to play a concert meets a young escapee from the cult, who is subsequently murdered. The two men feel an instant connection. In fact, for me, it’s a little too instant - not the immediate sex, but the closeness of their relationship afterward - and because of this, the story feels more like an established-relationship story than a first-time, to me. (By the way, if I were rating this story I’d give it NC17, because the sex scenes are explicit.)
If you, like me, don’t know anything about Homicide, skim (or ignore) the prologue, which will only baffle you. (Interestingly, I discovered after reading that Bayliss is canonically bisexual.) If you don’t know anything about HCL, don’t worry. In fact, IMHO the characterization of Billy is a long stretch from canon, even given the passage of time and the way the events of HCL (which this story does spoil) might have affected him. But actually, this Billy is a far more sympathetic and even heroic character - to the point that I felt as though some of his actions (and some aspects of their relationship) were unrealistic for anybody. But, you know what? I didn’t care. It was still a great read, and hurt/comfort fans will sigh happily.
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.
In Mountie on the Bounty, Ray tells Fraser he can’t swim. This beautifully-written story consists of a series of tiny snapshots of Ray’s life which show us why - and then take us forward, to a sweet and fitting future.
Oh, I am a sucker, a total sucker, for stories which have the characters meet by chance pre-canon. This one’s set during Pizza and Promises, while “Billy-Bob” Fraser is working at Tex Markle’s used car lot, and maybe I like it so much because I just saw the ep recently, but it just made me feel warm and fuzzy to see Ray, on the outs with Stella, flirting with this cute car salesman.
Benny’s got a thing for Ray’s neck; Ray figures it out, and provokes him. The dialogue is snappy and funny and really seems true to the characters. I think I’ve got a thing for Vecchio’s conversation.
Sharing a hotel room together, Fraser catches Ray masturbating. The pacing is just right, and the emotion, and I love Fraser’s POV. One thing I really like about this story is the way little details from the show are included in a subtle way which grounds the story in canon without seeming like it’s retelling everything we already know. And oh, the sex is so hot.
An absolutely brilliant Eliot pastiche. What I think is the most genius about this pastiche is the way that she has cleverly combined the formal language of the original with Ray’s slangy speech - and also combined serious imagery and playful humor, which is really much like the show. The particular plays on the original (like malingers/lingers!! grow old/cold!!) are inspired.