John/rodney Fic Christmas Decorating Atlantis

christmas rec!: Christmas rec!

The Marines of Atlantis and Christmas by miss_porcupine

The Marines are from my school of Christmas decorating thought; if it is not shiny, make it shiny. If it is already shiny, make it shiner. If there is a space for more lights fill it. If there is not, make more space. Basically, the concept of taste, class, and high electricity bills must bow before the awesomeness of a full wonderland in the front yard. Which God willing one day will be mine. Oh yes. One day, I will have it.

This comes to you from she who has asked Santa yearly to bring her a giant blow-up merry-go-round snowglobe thing that Wal-Mart stocks and is yearly denied. One day. One day. *Shakes fist at sky*.

recs of times before now

: seperis; November 26th, 2007

Because Austin is finally cold, and I'm in the mood for warm, warm fic. And cheerful fic! And fic that was generally posted fairly far back and so I feel it is my duty to make sure every new SGA Sheppard/McKay fangirl reads because wow. The awesome is legion.

Fic to Make You Smile

An Aesthetic, Solitary Thing by eliade - this was posted way back and I seriously don't think you can call yourself a Sheppard/McKay fangirl if you haven't read it. It's pon-farr! Alien!Rodney! Utterly gorgeous and hot and utterly beautiful the way only eliade can really be.

"You have a mating cycle," Elizabeth said, obviously wishing in a heartfelt way that he didn't. John was right there with her.
"I just said that I don't. Except...maybe." He seemed caught by the thought for the first time, interested. "Huh. That might explain the symptoms I've been having."

You've got to be kidding, John thought, fighting dismay. Beckett seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Elizabeth pressed him. "And what exactly does a mating cycle entail?"

He blinked at her. "I need to explain procreation?"

"In this instance? Yes."

I seriously cannot, cannot emphasize the awesome enough here.

A Blue True Dream of Sky by isilya - of all AUs, this one is one of my read-several-times-a-year, because it's just that damn good. It's an original take on the AU with a strong, original plotline and wonderfully realized characteriations. The story is set in the outback with cattle, a terrible disease, a researcher looking for a way to stop it, and a world so well-built I feel like I lived there. This isn't to be missed.

"I am not okay," Rodney repeats, but he relaxes into Sheppard. Sheppard lets him lean there for a moment, which Rodney really appreciates; Sheppard is warm and strong and being inexplicably nice. Sheppard rubs his hands up and down Rodney's arms, smoothing away the goose-bumps of Rodney's chilled skin. Rodney heaves a couple of deep breaths, not failing to notice that Sheppard smells really good.
"Right," Sheppard says, stepping back and touching the cut over Rodney's eye gently. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Sheppard gets a flannel and a bucket of warm water. He wipes Rodney down slowly with careful strokes over all Rodney's bruises. "Christ," Sheppard says, "You really were almost killed, weren't you."

Rodney looks down to see that Sheppard has gone thin-lipped and frowning. Rodney shivers, and Sheppard eases down his shorts, and washes him so matter-of-factly that Rodney can't even feel embarrassed. He sways forward into Sheppard and Sheppard rinses out the flannel and wipes his forehead. Rodney feels confused, and sore, and battered almost as badly by Sheppard's soft touches as he felt by the stampeding cattle the night before. He says; "Quit being so nice, you're making feel like I'm at my own funeral," but he doesn't quite hit the tone he was aiming for–it comes out all breathy and pleading.

That's not a quote from the plot; trust me in this, you will love it.

Existence as Interesting As Possible by wax_jism - I can say with honesty that anytime there is trapped on a dying planet that I usually expect a lot more trauma. And there is! But it is minor trauma. There is a dragon and a dying planet and some goat-like things, and Rodney, and John, and it's just--marvelous. Marvelous.

McKay shucked his BDUs and threw them over a branch. His boxers weren't anything funny like Sheppard had hoped. He would have bet money on McKay being the novelty underwear type. "Mutant deerskins, beard like a biker, living on mutant deer jerky and roots, back permanently bent from sitting hunched over that crystal... Is it cold? Piranhas? Embarrassing shrinkage?"
Sheppard stopped watching him undress and instead floated in the shallow water, staring straight up. Birds flew from treetop to treetop. Would there be alien squirrels in the trees?

Loud splashing and some undignified whooping announced McKay's arrival. "It's freezing, are you insane? I'm Canadian, I know freezing."

"You're a sad, pale, indoor Canadian, though," Sheppard said, turning his head to see McKay not far away, looking less disgruntled than he sounded. His arms were covered with goosebumps.

"It's not good to swim so soon after eating," McKay muttered.

"The water is three feet deep!"

"Sure, sure, we can risk our lives, I mean, what's the use of trying to be careful when the universe hates us? They all think we're dead, back on Atlantis. We're dead to them, we're lost in space. 'Oh, the Major and Doctor McKay, did you hear, so sad, eaten by a dragon. Now we must make do with Bates and Zelenka.' Good luck with that, by the way. They won't come looking for us. And if they did, what are the chances they'd look here? And if they did by some miracle look here, the rescue party would be stuck too. This planet is a galactic pitcher plant. Ergo, the universe hates us and wants us to die. I might as well swim now."

Jam Every Other Day by arionchan - two parts, linked. I'll quote my rec originally, because it kind of encapsulates my feelings on the story:

The author said Wonderlandish, and yes, surreal as hell, but it's so damn *good* and easy to follow and just--wow. I loved everything--the virtual environment, the ship, the way Rodney has to succeed and the way that he really needs to move on from that water related death thing--it just works in every way.

Pinched the bridge of its nose and actually, that is a familiar gesture and one he seems to provoke fairly often. Hell, sometimes he does it on purpose, just for the fun of it. "You're not immersed in a virtual environment. You're getting a direct feed of my system data which your brain is interpreting in whatever way is most intrinsic to you. And may I add that I hope you have some kind of psychological training, because that really helps when it comes to being an engineer on the good ship Protection. He, on the other hand, is essentially in here. With me. Which, actually, isn't the way the interfaces are supposed to work, and God only knows how he managed to do it. So what this means is that instead of having to just separate the virus from me and kill it, you now get the fun job of trying to separate it from both of us. And may I add that the odds the virus will still be trying to kill him, specifically, are very high? Or did you get that on your own, genius that you are?"
Okay, now. The formatting is not standard for reading, and it can and does get a little--*see-saws*. I just cut and paste to word and double lined everything to read it and that worked fine for me since I save fic I like anyway. Just--move beyond the formatting, find zen in how seriously cool this is, with a truly interesting plotline.

And...yeah. I am so avoiding work and I don't even care.

randomly reccy - fic to make you smile. or snort soda, as the case might be

: seperis; November 20th, 2007

Happyfic.

Neither a Ocelot Nor a Raccoon Be by basingstoke

"We'll be here. Hanging out. In the tree." John settled his shoulders against the trunk, stretching out his legs and crossing them casually at the ankle. The branches were relatively thin, but they seemed to take their weight well enough.
Beside him, Rodney was straddling his branch and clinging desperately to the trunk just above John's head. "Seriously, did you take classes in this, or did you just have your fear surgically removed as a child?" Rodney snarled.

John shrugged. "I like to save it up for bad first dates and visits with my father."

For some reason, that part always makes me snicker.

Euler's Jewel by basingstoke

John stood up and finally caught sight of Rodney, mouth open. Looking like he'd seen God, or maybe figured out how to make chocolate from simple polymers and mud. "You... okay there, Rodney?" John asked.
"Would you marry me? I'd have the sex change," Rodney said.

One day, I'm going to do a rec post that is nothing but my favorite lines from my favorite stories.

Operation Think of Atlantis by liviapenn

"The soft sciences are so easily traumatized. I mean it's not surprising, since they obviously don't have even the basic mental fortitude that would enable them to become experts in, say... astrophysics, or anything else that's a real science. The kind of grit and determination that enables a man to forge bravely on and do what's absolutely necessary in the pursuit of, oh for example a hidden ZPM underneath a penis temple."
"Please don't say penis temple," John said, squinting up into the perfectly blue sky. He made himself do the mental mission assessment. Good news: possible ZPM. Bad news: possible public sex. With McKay.

Never in the history of time will anyone ever top 'penis temple'.

It's Not Citrus by daydreamer

John figured taking a nibble of Rodney's doughnut of Great Personal Significance had less potential for diplomatic disaster than a continuation of Rodney's very loud and kinetic freak-out, so he shot the priestess/baker what he hoped was a sufficiently apologetic look before taking a small bite.
Which he then had to fight very hard not to spit onto the ground.

"Oh my God, it IS citrus," McKay was warbling, and John really, really just wanted to lie and say that it was orange marmalade, because the reality was... quite a bit more unpleasant.

The texture was wrong, sure – it would have made more sense as a cream filling, if you'd set out to do such a thing – and yes, he'd only ever tasted it second-hand, but there was a certain flavor that a guy just knew.

The greatest. Donut. Ever.

everything

: seperis; October 11th, 2007

I always have a faint suspicion that Child and I sleep on some kind of linked cycle--if one of us sleeps badly, both of us sleep badly. And for some reason known only to the universe, we can and do end up out of our extremely comfortable beds, one of them (mine), pillowtop and soft and marvelous, to sleep on the couch.

It is not, I have to say, a very large couch. My back? Is not amused.

Child had award presentation, where he made the A/B Honor Roll and Perfect Attendance. It was both very boring and disturbingly cute. I just can't get over all these little people in their little uniforms.

I keep being tempted to do a list of Everything in the Universe That Annoys Me, but it starts with the fact that McDonalds never salts their fries nearly enough and they also now taste funny and I'll never get over the fact that they no longer have dark meat chicken nuggets.

So instead.

Raiders of the Seven Systems, Part 4 by ltlj - SGA, gen. More action and adventure and excitement. Happy.

(no subject)

: seperis; October 9th, 2007

I have an unworthy suspicion that Amazon is deliberately holding my DVDs like, an hour from my house for the next week while I frantically check tracking due to the fact I refuse to get Amazon Prime.

Recs

The Second Terrace of Purgatory by miss_porcupine - SGA, gen. I keep circling back to the point and flail and rescue Sheppard! Which is almost my favoritest thing ever. There is plot and traps and complexities and of course, rescuing. And Lorne, being awesome. And so good.

On third re-read, because any time that everyone is cool and competent and escaping things and with urban warfare? So much win. Per usual.

I shall now occupy myself with work. Or poking things randomly. Both seem like fun.

rec - there's no such thing as daniel jackson by eleveninches

: seperis; October 1st, 2007

There's No Such Thing As Daniel Jackson by eleveninches

SGA/SG1, AU, Sheppard/McKay. Easily followable for anyone who doesn't know SG1. I've seen like, maybe less than a full season and everything I know about Cameron Mitchell I learned from reading Sheppard/Mitchell slash so--yeah. You'll have fun with this one.

I am going to cut tag my squee.

( oh there is squeeCollapse )

rec - junk cheap by devildoll

: seperis; September 17th, 2007

I swear I had to have recced this, but there's always the chance that circa May, I had some kind of sad hallucinogenic break with reality--though I remember writing the rec. but I can't find it, and it took me ten minutes to remember more about the story than "there was junk. And John fixed things for older people. And something about a casserole".

This is how we get summaries from sga-storyfinders. Right there. Junk and old people and casserole.

Anyway.

Junk Cheap by devildoll - SGA, Sheppard/McKay, and very, very, very funny. And fun! And John fixes things! For pastry!

(mmm. pastry.)

(also, I don't think the story actually contains casserole. That's so sad.)

instarec - the pegasus device by liketheriverrun

: seperis; September 14th, 2007

The Pegasus Device by liketheriverrun - I--in so many ways I love this. It's noir--well, noir-light, romantic and adventurous and freaking sci-fi with World War II and did I mention the romance? Because nothing makes good noir-light like romance. Detective John Sheppard in Seattle and his brilliant criminologist best friend, Dr. Rodney McKay, and they fight crime! Really!

Complete with mysterious nightclub singer Teyla Emmagen, Nebraska detective Ronon Dex, semi-mob boss Kolya Acosta, a murder, a mystery and intrigue and just--so much damn fun I feel in a better mood reading it.

And people? My mood was good before. It's stratospheric now.

Go. Shoo. Feel the happy.

(I still need to leave feedback. I'm just not sure ewhat to say other than whee!)

(God, I havent' done my hoemwork yet. I feel so *bad*. But in a good way.)

( quick, brief spoilersCollapse )

Go forth! Have fun! Live the madcap adventure.

Also, now I really want someone to do a romance-cover blurb of this one, like the type you'd find in teh back of a romance novel. Hmm. I'm thinking.

mmmfiction

: seperis; September 13th, 2007

"I take it your indirection means you figured a relationship with me would be less complicated if I weren't actually involved?"

Reality by resonant8 , SGA, Sheppard/McKay

No matter how many times I read this fic, that line makes me giggle hysterically every time.

feeling

: seperis; September 10th, 2007

I have never felt so lazily content in my life. Well, at least lazy. I have this intense desire to find somewhere with sun (or just turn on my lamp and point it toward some kind of surface), curl up, and nap.

There should be a specific mood for this. Lazy just does not cover it.

Er. To make this relevant, let me find something to post....

Call Soft Enough by flambeau . It totally matches the mood here. SGA, Sheppard/McKay. Lazy-warm-content-comfortable-hot.

ETA: Languorous, I believe, is the word you want. "A dreamy, lazy mood or quality." -- justascream

I thin there will be purring soon.

rec - transference by semivowel

: seperis; September 6th, 2007

Ronon had an energy pistol and was as big as a small horse, so he was essentially useless as a role model in scenarios such as this. Sheppard would have threatened to destroy their kingdom, their families, their domesticated pets and their entire stone age subculture, sow the ground with salt and make sure no life ever surfaced on their planet again. But Rodney lacked the edge of insane conviction to pull that one off.

That is possibly my favorite partial paragraph in the history of fandom. Because John totally would. With insane conviction.

Transference by semivowel . eleveninches recced it to me and was like YOU WILL ENJOY HERE IS THE LINK which is second only to svmadelyn 's charming habit of pasting bits of fic into my AIM window to make me read something.

Though granted, eleveninches sends me good fic and svmadelyn sends me stuff that's like "and then he slid his thickly ridged emerald shaft into the blond man's slick brown flower while his wings beat a steady rhythm of sexual innocence into the thickly scented air above him. The dark-haired man thought lustfully, he smells like porridge."

(If that is an actual fic and I just randomly plagiarazed, please just shoot me. It would be kinder. I do not want to know this exists.)

ANYWAY.

Fic (the recced one!) is awesome and funny and *Fun* and I just don't think there are enough big gay planets. Not nearly enough. God, SGA. You shock me.

rec - written by the victors by cesperanza

: seperis; September 5th, 2007

*thoughtful*

So the best part of homework is the part where you blow it off to read fic, right?

Right.

Written By the Victors by cesperanza

Totally worth the fact in class tomorrow I will have to totally fake my way through writing up algorithms for how to calculate pay rate.

...seriously. Awesome.

rec - raiders of the seven systems

: seperis; September 4th, 2007

Okay, now that I have time, leisure, my lunch hour, and um. Caffeine.

OH
MY
GOD
SPACE
PIRATES!!!!!

Raiders of the Seven Systems - WIP
Part 1
Part 2

It's like Easter, really. If you are really really good, then God tells ltlj to post more fic.

(this makes as much sense as the Easter Bunny)

Space pirates! Which let's face it, we all have been pretty much waiting our entire lives to read. Or maybe that's just me. Waiting for John. The Space Pirate.

That--seriously never stops getting old. Space Pirate!

AU, gen, action and adventure, spaceships, kidnapping, Genii, John has a knife, Ronon and Teyla and a different universe that sometimes feels a lot the same. It makes me happy. I think it could literally bring world peace.

Maybe. If only more people would read. Still in progress, but being awaited with bated breath and very large, very liquid eyes of hope.

rec - second skin series

: seperis; August 25th, 2007

On my list of Seriously, these are comfort recs because I don't know why they soothe me--they shouldn't, but totally hit this--it's not a kink place. It's the deeply romantic place. And not just the deeply romantic place. It's all--mixy. Um. Awesome. It is awesome.

And comfort. These I tend to come back to get my comfort and Sheppard/McKay fix.

Second Skin, Skintight, Flesh Wounds, and Posture by toft_froggy

( yes, the number thing; it's just easier for meCollapse )

In conclusion--I should make brownies today.

belated rec - Qui Habitat by miss-porcupine

: seperis; August 24th, 2007

Qui Habitat by miss_porcupine - a Stargate'verse what-if; Ori win control of the Milky Way, and Atlantis houses the refugees.

It's--wow. I started reading at work and kind of didn't *stop*. The casual mix of humor and daily Atlantean life with wartime, the various character pov's, the expansion of the universe, the interesting hints of a possible future-- miss_porcupine uses words deliberately and the word 'dominion' in reference to Atlantis and its planet(s) was interesting when paired with use of imperialism. Like ltlj , she really *buils* her worlds right down to the floors and the OCs, each one recognizable and more complicated than expected and interesting. The situations are complex and so are the decisions made. Practical and survival is balanced against right, and it's intersting to watch how the chips fall.

Flawlessly plotted and book one of hopefully many, but pretty complete in itself with anticipation of more to come. This is *good*. It's what I hope for in this fandom to read.

Also, I'm months late. I swear, I was pre-pneumonia or something when this came out; there's no way I would have missed it otherwise.

rec! but for myself! well, for other people

: seperis; August 22nd, 2007

...is there netiquette on this net?

Whatever.

dodificus did a podcast of Broadcast Signal (you might remember it as city goes into heat, and they had many implausible orgasms, and um, right. Sex fog.)!

Link to the post with the cast.

And...I forgot this one completely.

Podcast by oscar_the_cat for Something More (the one that's in Mexico but does not involve assassins).

...I shouldn't be allowed to do summaries.

Anyway. *Awesome*. Yes.

it's a morning of many links

: seperis; August 21st, 2007

Okay, when I joke about protective hysterical amnesia after reading certain fic?

That is real!!!!!

Or so a chat a year ago seems to imply, when I was like "I HAVE READ THIS THING WITH ****-***** and there was ** ****** **** and OH MY GOD I WILL NEVER BE CLEAN AGAIN.

And she shows me a conversation....

(wait. I need to take a minute.

....

Okay.)

A conversation. Where we. Talked. About. This. Story.

I'd poll on my rapidly degenerating cognitive processes, but it would be far too depressing.

Right. Onward to other things.

Links

amireal mulls fic tropes: make that *a* fic trope - There needs to be more coming out fic. This used to be a BIG THEME a few fandoms ago, but themes, as we know, come and go. Today it's wings, a few years ago it was pretending to be gay FOR THE GOOD OF THE UNIVERSE.

So I crave old themes in my new fandoms. Mmm. Coming out fic.

I don't just mean "We're gay now!" fic. But-- John is accused of murder and Rodney is his alibi! Only it was night time and they were sleeping together!

Or or! John and Rodney are trying to live their lives after atlantis and they run into parents/siblings/exwives/old classmates etc!

I really like the murder one. Or ooh--both of them accused. Or Rodney or John accused of fathering some alien savior!

Seriously. Where the hell are the saviors? Considering worship of the Ancients? There should be holy born kids already.

(it's already been a long day. I woke up late. My shirt is not dry. It happens.)

Random Questions

There was this fic. Not the bdsm ones. It wasn't in SGA. But it was this entire universe that was gay. And--that probably hits a lot of stories, doesn't it? *sighs* I think this one was possibly in Stargate SG1--i read it, er, about five years agoish.

Random Recs

Extremes by Melanie. Star Trek: Voyager, Paris/Torres, Paris/Kim, Paris/Torres/Kim.

Okay. When I say "gay-making environment", it sounds silly, but this one is kind of cool. They go to this planet, where--okay, I'll quote.

"I went to the Captain to ask permission to ask to study your people," he
informed them. "You're fascinating. You have the same outward appearance as
Earth Humans, but certain factors about you-"

The Pagenisians nodded knowingly and Wani interrupted him. "It is the fact
that our entire population is homosexual."

"That always is of great curiosity for any off-worlders," Sno chimed in.

"Well, it *is* rather unusual," the EMH admitted. "Homosexuality exists in
our home quadrant, yet only on an individual to individual basis, not an entire
planetary population. The closest there is to it is a small number of species
that are androgynous. However, all of them have been androgynous since their
species began to evolve. At least, as far as we have been able to discover. We
don't have any species that exclusively are homosexual. And according to the
Captain, your people were *heterosexual* until forty-seven generations ago when
everyone made a conscious decision to become homosexual? We have never
encountered a culture like yours before. For centuries, scientists have been
attempting and failing to explain, in scientific terms, incidents of
homosexuality in *individuals*. In an *entire planet*, that's more complicated.
It is quite the mystery from a sociological as well as biological point of
view."

The authors' website is down, and I couldn't find it in Trekiverse (which granted, is not the most easily navigatable archive in history), so used wayback. It does make interesting use of the Prime Directive. This also qualifies as literally the first slash story I ever, ever, ever read. Yes. I remember being very surprised.

If anyone has an alternative link, I'd love a better one.

Hmm

I should do work at work today. Let me consider this thoroughly.

ETA

God Chosen by cat_77 - IT IS SO AWESOME! HOLY BORN KID! IN ROBES! AND STUFF!

moody, like a cow. see the icon? just like that.

: seperis; August 20th, 2007

This is definitely one of those days that could be improved with the application of alcohol.

I am *so* in a mood. And not even for a reason! Well, to be fair, I was in a mood, and you know that thing that you do where you go over the last five or so days and think of everything that pissed you off? And make lists? And then plot elaborate revenge?

...maybe that's just me.

I am seriously considering creatively renaming all my tags, like say, sga fanfic 2006 will become Lots of Puppies Die.

It's a thought.

Links

Sockpuppeting 101
Posted in comments in F-W:

I'll post again and mention my old sock-puppeting days. The vital thing that Msscribe seems to have forgotten is that people have memories. When I was sockpuppeting I kept a list of every attribute I had given my socks, every birthday that I had mentioned, and I made sure they all tied together. I also endeavoured to make them have different writing styles - one would use consciously more stilted and simpler vocabulary as well as making spelling mistakes etc.

http://www.journalfen.net/community/fandom_wank/1104166.html?thread=160675878#t160675878

There will be a quiz later to assure you have read and understood the material. During the lab practical, everyone will be expected to create and maintain at least two sockpuppets, one of which must be a male Chilean who loves Clex.
Comfort Fic Recs
Because everyone has them for days of darkness and despair and avoiding suddenly taking off on some kind of sockpuppet crusade.

101 Ways to Get Lucky (In Love) by scribblinlenore - mmm. Comfort fic. Harlequin comfort fic.

A Dangerous Desire or McKay Makes a Match by janne_d - that wins for How To Make Me Smile Sappily. Cause for serious. So. Adorable.

Pilgrim's Hands Do Touch by beadattitude - happy sounds of *touching*. And all--*flails*--hand-y. Pretty.
Vids
Falling For the First Time by sisabet , SPN. I--um. Love. And Glee. And Puppies *everywhere*. And seriously, download already. Love and puppies and glee! HOW CAN YOU BEAT THAT?

I--should be working on something? But instead, there will be sulking. And staring at the moinitor. And ooh. I'm going to mull my fannish existence.

(I have still not discarded the tempting process of manufacturing a viciosu flamewar with someone, floucing away, and coming back under a new name like BobLovesSheppard or something. Or AstralWife. Expect not those names, because you could find me under them. So another one. It could happen.)

(SheppardAstralWife? *uncertain*)

(Maybe SuperHarrySlut.)

(Maybe I'll just write a story all in lowercase letters and see what happens. In the second person future perfect. With wings.)

(No, I have no idea what that tag means. I just--yeah. It exists.)

ETA: I swear to God, if lj does not fix the damn problem with emailing comments, I am bringing all my porn back. Even the stuff that sucks. I WILL TYPE IN THE STUFF I WROTE WHILE I WAS FOURTEEN AND IT WILL APPEAR ON FLISTS AND PEOPLE WILL CRY CRY CRY. DO YOU WANT THAT ON YOUR CONSCIENCE LJ? DO YOU?)

ETA: - contributed by z_rayne in comments, and seriously, this *deserves* to be shared.

Metaquoted on LJ

rec - checkmate'verse by beadattitude, mark 2

: seperis; July 17th, 2007

Okay, I feel crappy, so I like to even out the universe. Per usual, long recs, or, Jenn's Number System of Utter Love For a Fic.

For reference:

Checkmate'verse by beadattitude

There is nothing about this story that I don't utterly love, from the transformation, to John's coping, to everyone else's coping, to Rodney the cat-person and John-person.

( all the things I love. with numbers!Collapse )

I'm looking forward to the end of this so much. It's just that awesome.

Other longer recs of fic are under the long recs tag. I think I have most of them under there now, but still hunting them.

instarec - unidentified

: seperis; July 10th, 2007

Unidentified by fiercelydreamed

Um. Amazing. AU, and--I have no *idea*. It's perfect. It's beautiful and fascinating and this wonderful AU mix and it's John and Rodney and the things that are constant and the things that aren't. I just--God. I want to forget it so I can read it *again* and be amazed all over again.

rec - checkmate'verse by beadattitude

: seperis; June 5th, 2007

Before I forget again.

Checkmate'verse by beadattitude is so awesome it defies words. John! Cat! Rodney! Belly rubs!

If you haven't read it yet, you *need* to. It's adorable and fun and so *cool*. Saying more will spoil, so plz go and *read*.

rec - fireball by celli

: seperis; May 7th, 2007

Fireball by celli - SGA, Sheppard/McKay, AU. Okay, I have been waiting and waiting for her to post this, because oh. My. God. So awesome I do not have words.

Well, I have a few.

NASCAR AU.

Um, read this now, okay? This is happiness and puppies and sunlight and oh God the porn. Yeah. Happiness. It's funny and fun and cute and in character and teaches you about car racing! Educational! And possibly cures world hunger. And a kitten survives every time someone reads.

(I've had a lot of caffeine this morning.)

rec - trading day by ltlj

: seperis; May 4th, 2007

Trading Day by ltjl - Retrograde'verse, SG1/SGA. Oh love. This is so awesome. A carnival! Shenanigans! JACK CLAIMING PATERNITY.

And if you want to know what *that's* about, you'll just have to read. Go on. You know you want to.

ETA: Link fixed!

recs - inescapable by ltlj and streets in a world underneath it all by ismenetruth

: seperis; April 30th, 2007

Rec!

A lot of personal happiness by me is made up by the reading of fantastic fic. We will start with you favorite and mine, ltlj who has managed to never write a fic I didn't drool over copiously.

Inescapable by ltlj , an AU ending to SGA 3.3 Irresistible. It also brings us a touching moment such as this:

Then Ronon suddenly loomed over him and said, "I'll bring you his head."

Love, SGA style. I love my space vampire show. I love ltlj. Happy.

Also bonus of John with a really bad pneumonia-like cold, so yes, I am totally in the bonding with the sick guy phase. Off with his head indeed. Off with his *toes first*. Then let me work my way up. I'm just saying.

Read now now now.

streets in a world underneath it all by ismenetruth - I'm still debating what to say in feedback, but I really liked this. It was sweet without being cloying, and I feel like I should read the bigger story this is part of now. Lovely.

remix rec - the pledge and the turn by miss-porcupine

: seperis; April 29th, 2007

remix_redux names are up!

Okay, the remixer of my fic was by miss_porcupine , which, right, not a surprise, but still utterly, *mindblowingly* perfect.

The Pledge and the Turn by miss_porcupine , remix of What I Look For On the Sides of Mountains.

To me, ideally, a remix is the author taking the original story as their own, doing what the author can't. And in this case, it's utterly true; miss_porcupine does everything I can't and never thought of--the part of Altantis that's reports and explanations and carefully worded summaries and politics, in a very subtle way. And how Lorne does his own kind of remixes, which amusees me a lot on some level.

And I love, love, how Lorne connected the dots using minimal data and a lot of very smart conjecture. And I love how Lorne's learned to read Sheppard by reading his team. It's great.

But short version--it's good. It's awesome. It's pretty much *fantastic*. And Lorne is so perfect he makes me smile.

Thanks miss_porcupine . I'm honored beyond words.

recs - gift horse by liketheriver and the life you lead by thegrrrl2002

: seperis; April 5th, 2007

Gift Horse by liketheriver , SGA, Sheppard/McKay. Awesome misunderstanding and warm cuddliness. Actually, despite differences in style, it vaguely reminds me of that one by sleepswithcoyotes, how everything kept going wrong and seriously. This is tea-drinking fic. Settle in and read.

The Life You Lead by

, SGA, Sheppard/McKay. Awesome amensia fic, lovely interaction--totally a warm tea-drinking story.

rec - Jelly Side Up by Devildoll

: seperis; April 4th, 2007

Jelly Side Up by devildoll

I really wish there was a way to summarize this. SGA, Sheppard/McKay, and the Cock of Wonder. Sort of.

I thought it would be fun to write my own version of a Magic Cock, and, well. Blame them, not me.

Yeah. Read now.

random comfort recs

: seperis; April 4th, 2007

Comfort fic rec.

Lost in Waiting by laceymcbain . This is one of my favorite stories just to sit inside of and enjoy. I think a lot of that has to do with the past she builds for John. It's logical and thorough and very clear, and it makes the virgin premise logical, which is hard with that kind of idea.

Better Than by seiyaharris . It's a cute John the MD AU, and it's just--really nice. Though I'd give a lot for an expanded version of this one. Cause the premise alone is awesome.

Wallowing now. Happy.

insta!rec - always should be someone you really love

: seperis; March 21st, 2007

always should be someone you really love by thingswithwings , SGA, Sheppard/McKay, which totally restored my faith in genderfuck. Very awesome. And *fascinating* for that matter. It's hot, yes, but interesting as well above and beyond that. I really, really like what she's done with this.

In celebration of being good with labels, I am goign to try *really really hard* and remember that not everyone is psychically attuned to my brain and cannot guess by random squeeing what a story is about or, hell, what *fandom* it is.

rec - first impressions by ltlj

: seperis; March 5th, 2007

First Impressions by ltlj , coming after Vegas in the Retrograde universe. Lorne! Sheppard! Jack hiding! Pointing!

God. Monday has never been better.

Trying to get his thoughts together, he asked the important question. "Did you volunteer?"

"Yes, sir," Lorne said immediately. Then he hesitated, as if debating how much to say. "Well, I..."

John nodded wearily. "Yeah, that was how I volunteered, too."

*sighs in satisfaction* All I need now is lava cake and my life is complete.

comfort fic

: seperis; March 1st, 2007

So, I'm in the low-appreciation-for-the-world place. So. Comfort fics. Probably have recced before.

Time in a Bottle by astolat - limited holographic environments never get old. I was torn between the claustrophobia of the beginning--which is fairly hard to get across when they're trapped in a beachhouse, but I was totally there with them freaking out--to the widening of the world with their minds. There's some lesson in here about the space within our minds being endless, but honestly, I'm so not in the pseudo-analytical place. I'm mostly in the warm, comfy place. The piano lessons and physics lessons and just--everything. I think this is the one I printed out for my flight to Vancouver a couple of years ago. It still just makes me quietly, quietly happy.

An Aesthetic, Solitary Thing by eliade - Alien!McKay! That is never not fun. And it's sweet, and they're friends and there is pon farr kind of, and wings and how can this not be love? Awesome.

As Lost As You Get by lilysaid - a really awesome Epiphany what if. Rodney is awesome in here, and so are his insights into the society of proto-Ancients wandering around being useless and boring. Loved.

*****

And that reminds me.

One of the few what-if's I've never been curious to write but thought would be interesting is if they hadn't been able to get to John until he'd given up in sheer unrelenting boredom and Ascended. And possible Descended, or whatever the word is, popping up naked and--whoa, wait.

....

Yeah. Good times. Naked in Atlantis after say, three days of him being lost behind the field. Post-Ascension Rodney, otoh, always worries me--unlike John, I'm not sure Rodney would come back. I'm still thinking about it.

You know, I wonder, if say all of Atlantis one day just randomly Ascended, which ones would want to go back.

rec - somnus by sealie

: seperis; March 1st, 2007

Snatched from ltlj 's lj,

Somnus. by Sealie. Also author of Cusp. This is so fun. Long, long, long, all plot and mystery and not a little creepy. No season three spoilers. Did I mention fun? 'Cause it totally is. And totally kept me up until two in the morning. Which is not a good idea when next day is work? Yet so worth it.

ETA: *grins* Forgot to say, gen as well.

ETA 2: forgot to close a > I hate >.

rec - a dangerous desire by janne-d

: seperis; February 27th, 2007

Kidnapping! Assignations! Romance! Danger! Um--what's the word--INTRIGUE!

A Dangerous Desire or McKay Makes a Match by janne_d -- I have the *hugest* thing for regency romance. Huge. And this? This is *fun*. God so fun. Sheppard/Mckay, and all--with the pants! And cravats! And forbidden love! And etcetera!

So freaking *perfect*. I'm going to wallow now, 'kay?

rec - summerland by samdonne

: seperis; February 14th, 2007

Summerland by samdonne , gen - coda to Your Cowboy Days Are Over. A startlingly powerful piece of writing, short and painful and as brilliant as the first.

( excerptCollapse )

Utterly, utterly brilliant.

rec - history of maps by rageprufrock

: seperis; February 10th, 2007

I feel I should post something more interesting than I bought a new outfit to go with my shoes (that still are hard on the big knuckle of my foot, sadly) or I finally had a cinnabon and totally understand the hype, or that I have Godiva chocolate liquor and it's good, but honestly, not as great as I'd thought. Hoped. Whatever.

So I'll rec.

History of Maps by rageprufrock , Rodney, John/Rodney, sequel to Cartography by Touch. Which isn't up at her new site yet, but I'll be honestly surprised if anyone in SGA reading this hasn't read it yet.

It's even softer than the first, and more abrasive, because it's Rodney and he's merciless with himself, and it's lovely, and it hurts because it's about John, and Rodney's been with him on this journey just as alone and only able to watch. It's different and the same as the first--the same easy pace, the same uncomplicated life being lived, except everything is complicated now. I really--I just really love this story.

( cartography, rape, fic, neurosesCollapse )

many recs, so little time!

: seperis; February 7th, 2007

I keep trying to find ways to rec this, because the awesome cannot be contained in mere words.

An Earthly Knight by ltlj - it's--I mean, it's. It's AlienElf!John! And it's funny! And they debate what his ears resemble! And there is elfporn! I mean, think uberhot Lord of the Rings elves here, not, you know, the tiny kind. It's *fun* and *funny* and it's this entire culture and John still thinks people will leave him behind! This is serious, amazing fun here.

Another quick rec, given by eleveninches , cause she is awesome like that:

We Were Never Good Soldiers (or Very Good Fighters), by minervacat , Ronon/Teyla. It's lovely, a tiny bit melancholy, amazingly hopeful, beautifully written, on family and changes and the life you live. I really can't describe, but it's lovely.

And added value:

The Towers On The Heights Reach To Heav'n's Own Blue by minervacat , gen. I have to admit, the title is what drew me in. I can and do read on the strength of a really awesome title, and she's one of the most creative titlers in the fandom. The story is SGA/SG1 crossover, Sheppard and Cameron (via email) and sports and building relationships and it's--really good. It's almost a slice of life Atlantis. I love how she writes Sheppard, but she does every character justice.

insta!rec - ties by yin-again

: seperis; February 6th, 2007

From 14valentines

Ties by yin_again - Teyla/OMC, Teyla/Ronon, Sheppard/McKay. Highly recced, both for the lovely story and the relevance to women's health. I'll use yin_again 's summary: No one was particularly surprised when Teyla started dating. Several people were surprised that the person she was dating wasn't Ronon.

It's very good, and very team, and very family.

this is how it happens

: seperis; February 2nd, 2007

So I had this completely non-descript day at work. Nothing happened. Ordinary in a way that my long term memory never would have bothered storing, it was so average. Then around four o'clock, apparently, the universe got a sense of humor.

I finally got a callback from Tech Guy Rodney about some database problems I'd run into, some permission issues, etc. Nothing that was going to shake the earth. I was pulling up one of my log entries, and realized that I could only pull up one. One exactly. The one I'd done after four o'clock.

All ten thousand something other of them? Not so much there.

Frantically, I started checking other people's. Nothing. Hmm, I said, when I really meant to say, Oh Jesus Christ protect and preserve us, I think my entire career just vanished. Luckily, ,everyone else's did, too, as all entries before four o'clock today mysteriously disappeared into the ether--and suddenly reappear, all under a single person's name.

So on top of all the small, annoying problems we'd been having, tiny, insigificant as fleas--we now had one big, massive problem. Our searchable logs are now all under a single name. All one hundred something thousand.

I left work at five still boggling because--seriously how is that even *possible*?

In other news, recs.

For 14valentines :

rageprufrock wrote A Slightly Different Quality of Light, another fic that made me melt. Memory, searching, globes, and sweetness.

girlnamedpixley posted some gorgeous SGA original art, Closed Universe. Still. Melting.

Read the comm. Read why it's there. There's some fabulous stuff being posted.

stuff

: seperis; February 1st, 2007

Hmm.

Okay, I'm having one of those days where all the clients who call ask reasonable questions I can answer, no one uses unlikely profanity, and there's a very good chance that I won't speculate that the general intelligence of the population is on a downswing. Well, mostly. I have my doubts regarding certain metropolises and the entirety of the federal agency controlling Medicare. But still.

Huh. So this is what a good day is like.

I should mark this on a calendar somewhere. It's very--weird.

Also, our staff meeting today was funny. Possibly because there was sharing of the naked flashing home visit client and how it a lottery system decided who had to go.

*****

Recs

14valentines got off to a seriously energetic start, with this post from rageprufrock

I wrote, last year today, about women like the burst-open lips of figs, about how women have worn their history as odalisks and sacrifices and mothers and daughters and victims like jewelry -- I wrote about how despite all of this, we sometimes forget how far we have come, and more importantly how far we have yet to go.

And to add in, her first fic offering:

Bang, in which John is not a battered woman. Really.

Seriously. Lots of fic, images, and ideas in there. Check it out.

rec - An Old Story by Aesc

: seperis; January 29th, 2007

An Old Story by aesc - rec stolen from mecurtin , a rewrite of the story of Cupid and Psyche. It's--heh. Okay, yeah. Rodney makes a highly excellent Psyche. Go read now.

Mmm. Good fiction. Happiness.

rec! bench by cesperanza

: seperis; January 29th, 2007

Benched by cesperanza - Okay, I say angsty, but it's angsty in a very fun, tension-building, no body-parts-removed-in-gruesome-ways type of way.

(...I bet by that you can guess I was reading SPN this weekend and discovered the word angst covered things that maybe sort of kind of traumatized me.)

But awesome. Rodney is very brave, and John is very much a mother hen, and everyone else is just awesome.

Randomly, completely unrelated to the above except for that one scene between Elizabeth and John in there.

I have been wondering just what kind of knots John would tie himself into if he was in charge of Atlantis and therefore never allowed to join a gate team and wander off but had to watch and worry and break items into small pieces when other people went and disappeared. I have this horrible suspicion that John would dig deep into his military surveillance education and lojack everyone. It would totally be 1984, except with--well. Hmm. More attractive people.

rec - the jenny code by miss porcupine

: seperis; January 25th, 2007

This is actually a re-rec, but it never hurt anyone to hear about an amazing story twice, and because she posted another story in that universe.

For your refernece.

The Jenny Code
Poppies in November - Sheppard pov, post The Jenny Code
In Abeyance -Rodney pov of the events of The Jenny Code

miss_porcupine fills a gap that no other SGA writer does, in a strong and clear focus on the military side of Atlantis. She brings them to life in a way that makes it accessible to the non-military of us (which is, face it, way too many of us, with preconceived and often horrifically stereotyped notions of what being in the military is and what soldiers are like), and writes, to me, the best, most well-rounded Lorne in the fandom. This one is--it's relatively straight forward; a hostage situation, a mission, getting everyone back. But the people that make those decisions, how they're made, the interpersonal dynamics and differing, conflicting loyalties, the complexities of a war that's mostly undeclared and with vague edges that don't quite meet--it's amazing. It's simply, utterly amazing in simple, clean pros that unfolds an amazingly complex story beneath it all of life in the Pegasus Galaxy, a war that isn't quite declared, and balancing what's right and what's necessary.

I cannot recommend this highly enough. Heavy plot, heavy action, a lot of wonderfully realized characters. This is among the best of what our fandom has to offer in fiction.

Special rec for In Abeyance - miss_porcupine has said before she's not quite comfortable writing Rodney. It can't be proven by this story. A very non-military man viewing a very military operation, with the near-visible changes that Pegasus has wrought on how he thinks and reacts. It's--it's *good*. He's used to being with Sheppard, going on these missions, and his barely restrained desire to go when he knows that in this operation he can only be a liability, the need for this very civilian man to be part of it--it's wonderful. Tightly restrained Rodney, angry and terrified and watching helplessly because he knows there's nothing he can do here--I just don't have words. It has to read.

And added bonus - pentapus with a drawing of injured John from The Jenny Code.

Yeah, you should be reading this. I can't possibly do it justice in a single rec

that feeling just off of right

: seperis; January 24th, 2007

Child felt poorly, so stayed home today. Weird side note: I am apparently most inspired to write apocalypse-fic while I'm at work.

That is funny. Admit it. That's *hilarious*. I'm sitting there in my cubicle writing stuff like this:

Dean hasn't seen a calendar in years; he knows the seasons by the movement of the sun, the feel of the earth shifting from warm to cold. The world tastes like September, and Dean remembers west Texas in flat land stretching in marker-thick strips of vivid brown and black, the yellow tops of maize waving in pre-autumn winds, threshers moving complacently through the fields with drowsy men in hats waving at the road. He remembers green and gold fields of cows placid under the sun, half-year calves running on the outskirts of the herds. He remembers these were what he saw between jobs, lives being lived that had nothing to do with creeping twilight and sleeping only behind salt circles and ritual wards.

*****

Words, words, words

One of the things I perenially repress and encourage is my sheer love of building pictures through words. I fight it off for periods of time I like to call phases of insanity, because going too deep that way ends you with stuff like Flight, which I leave up at my website as a constant reminder never to let my passion for overwriting overcome say, writing an actual story.

*eyes it* I swear, I'd use that sucker as a teaching exercise in everything you should never do in writing. Right up there with writing about sex without once ever letting the reader know anyone was having sex and not just a really intense acid flashback.

I was thinking about how I tend to categorize writers into fairly distinct camps. These camps--or you know, groups, what have you--have less to do with fandom, skill level, ability to punctuate properly, or even style. It's--hard to explain except by this idea that there are some writers, good or bad, who write from a place I can comprehend and some from a place I can't. It's a style thing, but it's also something else entirely. It's almost like the equivalent of realizing that your light spectrum isn't theirs. It's has nothing to do with intrpretation of canon, characters, pairing, or even tone of the story, because all of them have and did and will write my OTP at one time or another. It's something they bring into the fic that's more than I didn't see it before they wrote it; it's that before they wrote it, I never knew it was there. More than even that, there is no way as my mind is shaped that I could have seen it. I guess it may have a lot to do with style, but it's more than even that. They're seeing a world I don't, and I can't, not until they show me. And they see it in a way that I never could.

I'm trying to put together a short list of writers and fic that gave me this start of shock, but putting it in words is a lot like trying to describe a visceral reaction--I can't explain my claustrophobia, just tell you it's there, and it will make me go nuts in fairly short order. I can tell you they blew my mind writing the most mundane things in such a way that I saw a brand new world, but honestly, that sounds creepily like some kind of orgasmic-religious experience.

Okay, got one. Below the cut.

( basingstoke, 3jane, kharessa, rachel sabotiniCollapse )

When I think of Jane St. Clair's Tom Paris in Kiev, I sometimes think of John Sheppard in America. Seventeenish, after Rodney brought him back and brought him up and couldn't let him go. Awkwardly antisocial and still filled with memories he only finds in his dreams of alien skies and worlds his feet have never stepped foot on. Of people that are growing to be more memory than reality when Atlantis went silent one horrified day and Rodney broke down in his office when John came home from classes.

When they told Rodney that the gate wouldn't engage and Atlantis was lost to them.

I think John took it badly.