stargate

stargate: atlantis

bottoms up, by alizarin. sheppard/mckay, pg. short, uncomplicated humour and fluff and getting drunk. sheppard pov.

here there be monsters, by alizarin. sheppard/mckay, pg. this is a short actiony episode-like adventure piece, sheppard pov, involving sharks and rodney panicking.

care packages, by auburn and eretria. sg-1 crossover, post-s1. humour, multiple points of view, gen. everyone gets care packages from earth, including john and rodney.

bailey's 7, by arduinna. sheppard/mckay, pg. sorta classic h/c, which is to say shamelessly wallowy but nice if you have a h/c button. well-done with the shock and soothing words and full-body contact, vivid, nice mckay pov.

lost and found, by barb g. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. first-time, spoilers through "conversion". on the long side of short stories, this is absolutely brilliant and hysterical mckay point of view. i can hardly imagine how the mckay voice could be better or funnier. "I want to apologize for forgetting about you," Elizabeth said, once Eldon had sat down the plate of food. He, at least, knew how to use a knife and fork. "This has never happened before." Rodney covered his mouth and coughed, "Sora."

plus one, by barb g. gen, mckay. flashfic about rodney's one personal item, short and good.

ceasefire, by basingstoke. sheppard/mckay and a bit of caldwell, pg, post-ep for siege iii. i thought this was an excellent handling of their conversation about the siege. There were Wraith guts on Sheppard's boots. He hoped the laundry could handle that stain.

do not use high beams in fog, by basingstoke. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. post-siege, humour, established. sheppard pov when rodney breaks up with him, very short and laconic and funny. "He doesn't want to have sex with me any more." John rubbed his chest. "I was not aware you were having sex at all," Teyla said, raising her eyebrows. "Well, you know. Adrenaline."

euler's jewel, by basingstoke. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. a very very short story in which john loves math, and rodney is in love.

land shark, by basingstoke. sheppard, gen, and mckay and zelenka. in which john talks to the puddle jumper and zelenka curses in czech. adorable! lovely!

neither an ocelot nor a raccoon be, by basingstoke. sheppard/mckay, pg, sheppard pov. sometime in s1 they get chased into a tree by a large animal with claws. funny, kind of cute, excellent sheppard, good dialogue. "I will also work on my scientist-catching technique," Teyla said solemnly. "I plan to ask Dr. Grodin if he would be willing to jump on me from increasing heights."

on waking, by bastet. sheppard/mckay, pg, post-siege iii. a short ficlet, sheppard pov, with chocolate chip cookies. kind of sweet.

manifest, by brighid (remix of zoe rayne's "latency"), sheppard/mckay, nc-17. a porny john-pov virtual reality thing, wistful and bittersweet, the tone really lovely.

roentgen ray, by canadian snoopy. ford, gen. really funny, and could have come right out of an episode. but short.

tempus fugit, by canadian snoopy. gen. mckay. a really good and fairly short backwards story about what could have happened after the end of "the siege ii". um. with death. but it's good--wonderful pacing and stuff, pretty light, and good mckay voice.

animal husbandry, by casspeach. sheppard/mckay, nc-17, au. this is a long, wonderfully-written sweet wallowy harlequin challenge in which veterinarian rodney moves to rodeo-rider john's small town.

dessucate, by casspeach. lorne/parrish, nc-17. lorne/parrish is an entertaining pairing for me in that its entire canonical basis is this one little scene in "runner", so it's a) kind of funny that it exists and b) largely up to the writer of the story. this is parrish pov, a sweet romance with misunderstanding-driven angst, which works out awkward, kind of fluffy and painfully cute.

the education of rodney mckay, by cathy. sheppard/mckay, mckay pov, r. a smooth mckay-pov short story, sort of romantic comedy and sort of fluffy, in which john wants to alleviate some of rodney's awkwardness and terror prior to a date with katie brown.

forbidden fruit and windfall, by cathy. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. fairly short, sweet first-time.

another word for optimism, by celli. sheppard/mckay, pg, mckay pov. humour. Zelenka just stared. Rodney grinned. This optimism thing was great. Then, of course, the thing sent out a pulse that disrupted all Ancient technology within several thousand feet and a bunch of people got stuck in transporters, but hello. Not the point.

windswept, by cofax. sheppard, gen, small ficlet in which shep goes for a walk and ponders and not much happens. but it's kind of pretty and the characterisation is really good and it made me smile.

communication, by coreposis. sheppard/mckay preslash, pg. a short ficlet in a cave, with a bit of hurt/comfort. mckay pov, blood, telepathic bats.

a john sheppard christmas, by coreopsis. sheppard/mckay, g. a fluffy and hilarious christmas fic, around 4000 words. rodney is grinch-like, john is irrepresibly cheerful, and they're shopping in target. rodney's pov is vastly entertaining.

obvious, by danvers, is a sheppard/mckay comic made with that comic-look technique applied to screencaps. so, obviously, image-heavy. it's all images. it's not very long, but the dialogue is perfect. and also, awww.

the start line, by danvers. gen, ronon pov. a very nice ronon pov and some introductory looks at, and insights about, the other members of the team.

under the skin, by danvers, is sheppard/mckay established relationship. i was dubious of the premise at first, but then i bought it. i don't usually like established relationship fic. i think this one is very good, although it's low on the witty banter. "So, what's with the pretending that everything's okay and you're okay and we're all okay?" "Because I am okay, and so are you and so is everything," John said flatly. "Give me the pen," Rodney said. "What for?" "I want to write liar across your stupid forehead," Rodney said.

untalented and unprepared, but giving it his best shot anyway, by dasha. sheppard/mckay, pg. this is a satisfyingly middle-length story, mckay pov. it starts with some pretty intense but (in my view) not overblown hurt/comfort, but the plot keeps going after the medical emergency with a couple of minor nervous breakdowns on rodney's part. the story feels original, even though in itself the plot isn't all that extraordinarily unusual; it's the treatment that differs. i was particularly impressed by the strength of the characterisation, which stayed strong through the end and somehow kept from descending into mush. the dialogue in the final scene was really remarkable, too.

nothing of consequence, by deannie. gen, mckay & zelenka, g. collapsing architecture traps them and wounds rodney, and zelenka makes a tourniquet. And then a weird thing happened. It was something the major had once said, and Rodney had thought he was just being... Major Sheppard. But it happened--Zelenka blinked. "What?" Rodney asked, pressing his advantage. Sheppard would be proud. "You mean to tell me you are a medical doctor?"

efficacious, by diluvian. g, sheppard/mckay pre-slash. sheppard pov. a worst-case scenario short involving an alien scorpion bite and rodney's boxers. some really funny dialogue, and nice dry pov.

cosecant, by domenika marzione. sheppard, o'neill, gen. set after the siege iii, general o'neill's point of view on the battle for who will command in atlantis in season two. serious, thoughtful, and good.

little house on the mainland, by eleveninches. sheppard/mckay, humour. this is a comedy in which they hold elections and halling becomes the president of atlantis, and major lorne is a pagan. basically, it's funny from the beginning to the end. and it's on a lot of crack.

the singing scientist sketch, by ellex. gen, team. "Oh, no, your supremacy, he wields the portentous power he calls ‘snark’ no longer. I gave him the fermented juice of the katara fruit, thinking to make him more pleasant, and now he -- he --" The Grand Vizier put his face in his hands and moaned, "He sings!"

speak, by ekaterinn. sheppard/mckay, conversion tag, r. a short, contemplative, rather touching piece. might be slightly heavy-handed, but good.

clarification, by eretria. weir, gen. a short piece where she butts heads with caldwell, including cameos from john and rodney. great and really funny.

naming of parts, by fabula rasa. gen, mckay and ford. My God, thought McKay, as he wiped his hands and crumpled his sandwich wrapper. His life rested in the hands of someone who had had to rent Star Wars.

AS, by frostfire. sheppard/mckay, r, mckay pov. short and humourous, mckay pov, featuring a lot of really guyish behaviour in the week after they first have sex.

the hostage major 1 & 2, by frostfire. sheppard/mckay. a long, slightly silly and rather rolicking harlequin challenge fic. john pov, lots of fun dialogue and cuteness.

the lending library, by gale. sheppard/mckay, pg. a short little story about the porn-consumption habits of atlantis--delightful and hilarious. and it contains porn titles.

daybreak (pt 1 & pt 2), by giddy geek. sheppard/mckay, r. this is mckay pov of groundhog day, with snappy narration, exquisite action pacing, and lots of funny dialogue, including some really priceless zelenka. and of course, it's sweet, because of being groundhog day, but that isn't the dominant feeling--it's mostly funny and really fun.

fearless, mindless fancy, by giddy geek. sheppard/mckay, au. a short, mckay-pov ghost story-gothicky romance inspired by the harlequin challenge with really delightful dialogue.

finding the fine print, by giddy geek, sheppard/mckay, pg. sheppard pov and ancient technology that accidentally produces a telepathic link between them--cute but not mushy, really funny, great snark.

universal, by giddy geek. sheppard/mckay, teyla pov, post-siege iii. pg. a short, sweet, sleepy little reunion in the control room.

an ordinary morning, by the grrrl. sheppard/mckay, nc-17 established pwp futurefic au. basically, they spend saturday morning having sex. hot, affectionate, graphic sex. the mckay pov narration weakens for me a few times, and it's a tad on the mushy side.

precipice, by the grrrl. sheppard/mckay, pg. shortish, pretty light, a hint of sweet. and i thought the dialogue was good, although there's a little suspension of disbelief involved. "Nope, looks pretty well sealed and Rodney? Stop looking down, right now." Rodney jerked his head up again. "Right. Good idea. Very good idea, because when I look down, I can see how very high up we are, and how long a fall it would be, and--"

rumpled, by the grrrl. sheppard/mckay, established, pg. an extremely short bit of silliness based on the season two promotional pictures such as this one. i recommend it because, um. in total agreement about that outfit.

an untitled ficlet by the grrrl. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. a very short ficlet in which brains turn rodney on. john leans back, draping his arm over the back chair and smiles a slow lazy smile. "The problem is, Rodney, that your electromagnetics are out of alignment."

another untitled ficlet by the grrrl, sheppard/mckay, pg. very short, semi-established. cute, mainly dialogue, passes the "can you picture it?" test. John blinked. "There's a Gay Kama Sutra?"

value-added, by the grrrl. sheppard/mckay, pre-atlantis (during the pilot), nc-17. this is slightly hot, but i mainly include it because i found the premise intriguing. i think i can really see this fitting into canon.

we all arrive by different streets part i and part ii by the grrrl. sheppard/mckay, nc-17 first-time. the main thing is the initial suspension of disbelief, here, but mckay's reaction in the initial situation is great. after that i think his characterisation is weaker, but the story's got some sweet and hot to make up for what eventually becomes a kind of cliched slash plot.

a blue true dream of sky, by isilya. sheppard/mckay, au. a harlequin challenge story, medium length, that uses an australian outback romance plot, brilliant and moving and absolutey perfect. i can't express how very very attached i am to this story. it's like comfort food or something, and full of all these lovely exquisite bits.

double occupancy, by isis colo. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. a nice, plotty alien tech first-time, novella length, multiple povs. in this case the alien technology sticks both john and rodney's brains in just rodney's body. the external and internal plots and the themes all work together really well for a funny, engaging, well-paced read.

at the edge of the world, by james walkswithwind. zelenka, gen. set pre-s1, in antarctica. "You're the only one he likes!" Dr. Galchev added, standing behind Dr. Parker. Radek gave her a look, and she frowned. "Well, he doesn't *hate* you." Radek kept looking at her, until finally she gave in and said, "You're the only one he'll talk with for more than five minutes."

fair swap, by jane davitt. sheppard/mckay, pg, humour. a very short ficlet, mostly dialogue, that could almost come right out of the show. and also, really funny.

detox, by jane st clair. mckay & zelenka gen with a debatable tinge of slash, set post-siege somewhere, when the scientists have to detox from their stimulants. funny, and some nice backstory.

we invented the internet: email by jane st clair. no pairing (but can be sh/weir if you squint). humour; short. I take it back. Have sex with whoever you want.

instructional (1, 2), by jenn. sheppard/mckayish but very subtle, g. sheppard pov, s2, on a war between the new military personnel and the scientists. sheppard's voice is very linear, matter-of-fact and sort of terse and sort of subtle. also, it's nicely plotted and themed and it's quite funny.

like running through water 1 & 2, by jenn. sheppard/mckay--about half set during the s1 pilot and half at an unnamed place in s2, sheppard pov. sweet, rambly, introspective, with some nice though usually not spot-on dialogue.

sleeper (1, 2, 3), by jenn. post-siege iii, spoilers. mckay pov, gen with sheppard/mckayish hints. the mckay pov is really, really good--and it's dark, suppressedly moody and a little angsty, and all about sheppard quietly losing it over certain events in the siege iii.

telepathic fish, by jessant. sheppard/mckayish, pg. this is a very short, weird little story that switches povs and tells a whole battle-with-ancient-tech story very, very concisely. but i could picture it, when i thought about it, which is also interesting.

ice cream and the art of lying, by jm torres. sheppard/mckay, pg. mckay pov, humour, relatively short. "Oh, come on, 'mixed company' doesn't apply when she can kick your ass from here to Earth and back," said Sheppard.

call, by julad, sheppard/mckay, pg. this is a poker ficlet and, despite being the cutest thing i've seen in days, not in the least out of character. quite short, deft, engaging, light, and fun.

the good kid, by julad. ford/ofc, pg. ford wants to be a good kid. he dates a marine biologist. short and kind of cute and--the ofc is so cool. fish, geeks, ford pov--and really nice ford voice too.

thicker than water, by julad. sheppard/mckay, nc-17, post-s1, established. this is a story about the first trip back to earth, and john coming along to visit rodney's family--and about both their families, in general. it's long and wonderful, edging on schmoop but all perfectly balanced--very satisfying and warmfuzzy and fun to read.

the secret life of scientists by julad. mckay/zelenka, r. brilliant mckay pov, covers the whole s1 and ends shortly after it. witty, full of great plot and dialogue and original inventions that fit seamlessly into the universe. the romance is cute, witty and understated, and takes up relatively little of the plot.

back-up plan, by kageygirl. sheppard/mckay, pg. short, funny, cute, excellent ficlet which kind of mushes together aliens-made-them-do-it and alien-harvest-festival and turns them inside out. mckay pov. really charming.

beta reader appreciation day, by kageygirl, could use a better title. i mean, i get the theme in there and i'm sure her betas loved it, but that kind of title always makes me fear meta. no meta here, just a cute and sweet mckay-pov ficlet, sheppard/mckay, with math!sheppard again. which, you know, being able to do math *is* really hot. oh, and this is pg and kind of pre-slash.

essentials, by kageygirl. a pg, sheppard/mckayish siege iii tag, sheppard pov. touching and ust-y and tense, very good character voices. there's lots of warmfuzzy, maybe a little more than is strictly believable.

imprinted, by kageygirl. sheppard/mckay pre-slash, pg. sheppard-pov, "hide and seek"-centric. i liked this intelligent and rather innocent sheppard, for the most part, and i think the dialogue and the dynamic between them is good. also, it's cute, and there's a hot moment.

redux, by kageygirl. sheppard/mckay pre-slash, g, extremely short. a wee bit of sweet, but not too much, and more nice dialogue. episode-related to "sanctuary" and "before i sleep".

weather eye, by kageygirl. gen, mckay & zelenka. related to "the storm" and "the eye", mention of "hot zone", zelenka pov. for the blood challenge at sga flashfic. i really liked this. Radek had a recurring theory about Rodney having been designed by the universe as a source of irritation when ambient levels were too low, which certainly explained his current relatively good mood. But it seemed uncharitable to work on the proofs while Rodney was temporarily one of the more civil people in the city.

intersections, by kaneko. sheppard/mckay, nc-17, mostly pre-series but finishing up during the pilot. a long, meaty, two-pov novella--beautifully characterised, full of background and childhood interludes, moving and thoughtful, subtle and funny. strikingly original--that is, it dovetails well with the canon universe, but most of the meat of it is invented backstory, neat and polished and just really, really cool. plus there's some hot science and math.

rewarming, by kite. sheppard/mckay, pg, sheppard pov. a short body heat ficlet for the worst case scenario challenge, this has some really good show-like dialogue, although parts of the narration are a little rough. overall, quite sweet.

layover, by kylie lee. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. set on earth post siege iii, rodney pov--a sweet, relatively simple wish-fulfilment type of plot with some nice smut and a lot of cuteness. also, nice dialogue, and i enjoyed the narrative voice a lot.

atlantis publishing, inc, by lalejandra. sheppard/mckay, ronon/weirish, ronon pov. pg. this is an au about a publishing company, laid-back and entertaining.

the other half of the equation, by lamardeuse. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. a very focused romance, both povs, set during the first season and referential to several episodes. really well-done, and sweet, and it has a very striking beginning about mckay's reluctant transformation to hero. some of the dialogue with him and sheppard is really excellent, and then there are these fighting scenes--guh.

relaxation, by lamardeuse. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. very hot and very sweet, but also quite short. doesn't spend much time on, like, establishing characterisation; i mean, it fits okay with canon, but it doesn't try to convince you; kind of left me wishing it were longer. exploring the city, they find some strange ancient technology. "I have to explain what those devices can do, so that others can be warned of the dangers." John couldn’t help it; he started to laugh. It took him a while to gather enough breath to say, "Are you nuts? You write even a ‘heavily edited’ report on what happened up there, and you’ll have to post a guard to keep people away. And then you’ll have to post a guard on the guards."

the getting to know you series by lamardeuse. we'll meet again, the space between, sacrifice, regression, basic black, chain reaction, evolution, reciprocity, disconnect and down time. . s2 episode tags of varying lengths. sheppard/mckay, nc-17, established. "we'll meet again" is post-siege iii mckay pov, concise, well put-together, a bit angsty, intense, kind of hard-hitting. "the space between" follows "intruder" and is sweet and semi-relaxed, mckay pov. "sacrifice" is a much darker and angstier sheppard pov, tight and focused, both before and after "runner". "regression" is sheppard pov during and after "duet", rather dramatic and romantic; "basic black" is sheppard again, porny and then sweet; "chain reaction" is rodney during and after "trinity", with some episode-related spackling put in. evolution is a sheppard-pov conversion story made up of backstory, spackling, hotness and sweetness. reciprocity is rodney pov, a bit angsty, mostly very sweet, and brackets "aurora" without saying much about it. "disconnect" is during- and post-"hive" mckay, angsty and a bit opaque and doesn't seem completely fleshed out. "down time" goes with "epiphany", sheppard-pov, very serious, a little grim, a little romantic.

treading water, by lentki. g. a very short gen graphic story. rodney. nice. And yet, in the pre-dawn chill, it's not the Wraith who haunt him but his own words: "... the universe is split into an infinite number of copies of itself in which every possible outcome to every decision ever made all exist somewhere."

handout, by lilysaid. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. post-"lost boys", spoilers to that point. this is sheppard pov, rather angsty, and contains what i thought was an unusually good handling of a realisation-of-feelings plot and an excellent melding of it with an external one. there are lots of quietly good bits to the story, a lot of sweetness and satisfaction at the end. my suspension of disbelief failed only in a few spots.

visiting hours, by lilysaid. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. an original adventure plot in which john is taken hostage, from rodney's pov. riveting, sober and a little dark, well-executed.

operation think of atlantis, by livia. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. funny aliens made them do it with lots of snarky dialogue, on the long end of short.

small primes and square roots 1 & 2 by livia. sheppard/mckay, r, au. this is kidfic on the short end of a novella, with rodney as the father. both points of view, really funny, rather sweet but in my view never mushy. this is from the top tier, quality-wise, of kidfic, really excellent and rounded and good at the things kidfic should be good at.

untitled sga snippet by livia. sheppard/mckay, rodney pov, g. a quite short and cute little story in which rodney gets amnesia.

strange loop, by livia. weir/lorne, r. this is really kind of a short character study of elizabeth, very clear and precise and, i think, very good. there's also an appearance of sheppard.

sometime soon would be nice, by maisierita. sheppard/mckay, g. this is just really, really, really, really cool. the concept, that is. the execution works well too--the characterisation seems fine, i liked the dialogue, i could picture everything. but it's mainly the concept here because--neat! wow! and stuff.

home truth by martha wilson, gen, sheppard and mckay. this is a contemplative sheppard-pov tag for "epiphany"--a little bit of culture shock on john's first day back home, quite interesting.

unified field theory, by melannen. gen: mckay, ford and sheppard. ford gets philosophical and sheppard explains some physics to him, to rodney's dismay. fun and charming, pretty short. McKay looked at Ford. "I think it's perfectly acceptable behavior to want an explanation if your one and only pilot suddenly interrupts your conversation saying things like 'falling' and 'gravity' right? I mean it wouldn't be unreasonable for me to find that slightly worrying?"

20,000 leagues under the sea by merry. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. a really great, funny story that combines humour, snappy dialogue, cool sciencey elements and an actual plot that could be an episode. consistently entertaining all the way through. and REALLY cute and hilarious at the end.

here and there, by mickey. sheppard/mckay, pg. sheppard pov, a tiny little bit of fluffy thinking about earth. no specific location in canon.

face value 1 & 2, by minnow. sheppard/mckay, pg. a really wonderful story--satisfying length and a real plot with the slash developing only through it. no false notes in the mckay pov, with some excellent character voice for other characters and some really nice moments with zelenka and a likeable weir. funny, engaging, very nicely paced. and the dialogue's good too--especially mckay's lines.

gift horse, by miss pamela. sheppard/mckay, au, nc-17. a highly entertaining and action-packed corporate au with intrigue, explosions, hookers and improbably quick, sweet romance.

a million miles away, by miss pamela. gen, first night--fits right into canon, lovely. ford, sheppard, teyla, weir, mckay. Ford liked Sheppard. He was a smart guy, a good guy. A guy you could respect, even if he didn't always have a clean face.

lifeblood, by miss pamela. sheppard/mckay preslash, pg, short ficlet. sometimes i think i almost like pre-slash things like this better than slash--or--not better, but they can ring true to character all the way through, and be slashy and warming, with far less opportunities for putting a foot wrong. "Have you tried tea? Teyla makes a nice--" "Tea? What are you, my grandmother?" Sheppard shrugged. "Hey, I'm just trying to help."

push and pull, by miss pamela. ronon/teyla, nc-17. spoils "runner" only. elegant, short, hot porn and sparring. both povs.

souvenirs, by miss pamela. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. a pretty simple but funny vacation-on-earth first-time fic, with great dialogue, nice plot. sweet, light, satisfying.

the brain is the last to know ficlet by moonloon, sheppard/mckay, pg. kind of silly, but if you accept the first paragraph the rest is great, and funny. It was driving Rodney quietly insane. Well... Sheppard was quiet, Rodney was loud. And insane. Rodney wasn't used to repressing things, it didn't come naturally. And verbally abusing his staff wasn't making him feel better, so it was inevitable that he broke first.

the start, by moonloon. sheppard/mckayish--a very short first night ficlet. i really liked the dialogue and voice. Rodney blinked, then pulled himself together. "I'm not making a pass at you, you're in my bed!"

shadows before the dawn, by the moonmoth. gen, rodney and teyla friendship, although it's labelled rodney/teyla. rodney pov, futurefic. a quiet little scene on a balcony.

melusine parts 1, 2 and 3, by murron. gen, sheppard and mckay friendship. a nice, thoughtful, atmospheric gen piece--medium-length, meaty, would make a great episode. the pacing is really nice--it's a joy to read. there were only a few points where i thought the narration faltered. this is really outstandingly good gen.

as you wish one and two, by nel ani. sheppard/mckay, r. a variation on aliens make them do it: aliens brainwash rodney into being john's willing slave. is long and sort of episode-like: well-paced and actually has a plot; contains significant appearances by teyla; ford, beckett and weir; is very funny and has lots of excellent dialogue. "Aren't you supposed to be adoring me?" It sounded so much worse coming from his mouth than it had in his head. Fortunately, McKay took it the right way. "I just came to my senses," he stated and pulled John's other sock off before John had a chance to protect his defenseless feet. "Does that mean you're not trying to get into my pants anymore?" he asked warily. McKay snorted. "Do I look like I'm stupid?"

the best defense by nestra. sheppard/mckay pre-slash, pg. very short and a bit elegant. You hadn't really lived until McKay had insulted your intelligence and shoved you out of the way.

empirical evidence, by nestra. sheppard/mckay, pg. a short ficlet, mckay pov, about abandonment. cute. rings true.

nine things john has loved and lost and two things he's learning to trust will be there when he needs them by nifra idril. sheppard/mckay, pg. this mostly just consists of sheppard backstory in little pieces. it's not very long, but it's organised and it has lots of little pop-up footnotes that are pretty neat. the characterisation and especially the tone are good.

phone sex snippet by nifra idril. sheppard/mckay established, sheppard pov, humour. absolutely hilarious, perfect character voice. john tries to have phone sex via the radios.

don't say it, by nixa jane. sheppard/mckay, pg. falling architecture pins mckay on top of sheppard on the ground. hilarious and delightful, and i could picture it vividly. "You could have told me," Sheppard said quietly. "I thought about it," Rodney said, calmly. "Then I thought, oh I'll just wait until I have him pinned beneath me and show him instead."

such is the way to the stars, by otter. sheppard/mckay, pg. short first-time, really fun sheppard narrative voice and funny dialogue. "I don't remember joining a MALP-building team," John said. Sometimes he felt it was best to start with stating the obvious.

symbolic, by panisdead. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. another, rather short and absolutely hilarious story in which aliens make them have sex, with nice teyla and ford cameos.

atlantis, the musical! by pares. sheppard/mckay, pg, au. the first scene of a parody of my fair lady, with the rest of the plot briefly outlined, for the harlequin challenge. very funny and cute, with some wonderful dialogue.

clouds, shy squares and diophantus, by pares. mckay/omc backstory, r. this is the incredibly charming story of rodney's first time falling in love with a man, and it has lots of brilliant stuff about math. i find the voice just incredibly charming.

confabulation, by pares. sheppard/mckay, pg. short mckay pov, funny, with what i thought was excellent voice. "She said to pass on them unless I was ready to 'jorlok'. Whatever that means. Probably it means 'get baked'. Crap. I suck at recreational drugs. And pot? Forget it. I get the munchies. And it makes me paranoid." After first looking down at where Rodney's hands were locked in his vest, John met his gaze and raised both eyebrows. "Okay, more intensely paranoid," Rodney clarified.

paper moon, by pares. sheppard/mckayish gen, sheppard pov. an interesting kinda alien culture story, funny, with extra good dialogue.

abrazo, by prufrock. pg, sheppard pov, also teyla and rodney, gen. sheppard gets hold of a cd of tango music and teaches teyla to dance.

he's having her baby!, by prufrock. sheppard/mckay, pg. this was supposed to be an answer to the harlequin challenge at sga flashfic. it's a hilarious sheppard-pov romantic comedy in which rodney is absolutely convinced that john is pregnant. it's also got some really brilliant sweet moments, and, well, it's really the best kind of crack.

hindsight, by prufrock. sheppard/mckay, AU, r. sheppard pov; rodney's job is the same, sheppard's an fbi agent based in chicago. the sheppard voice is good and there's a lot of brilliant dialogue, and the story arc is cute. there are some vague points in the external plot and the time compresses and stretches unevenly to cover such a long period, and occasionally the author gets carried away and goes kind of stylised and overly lyrical. but overall, a long, excellent and incredibly satisfying story.

the perfect cappuccino, by rachael sabotini. sheppard/mckay, AU, nc-17. this is another harlequin-challenge flashfic, and it's sweet and fluffy and incredibly adorable, although it only loosely follows the harlequin model; it's more like a kind of homage in spirit.

a not-so-modest proposal 1 and 2 by reccea. sheppard/mckay, r. a sheppard pov romantic comedy, heavy on the comedy, nice and long. rodney's insanity is what you keep focussing on--so imaginative and ridiculous and rodneyish--but the real star of the piece is sheppard's put-upon, droll narrating voice.

abstain, by resonant. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. aliens force john and rodney not to have sex. i, uh--even if the story weren't so well-done, the concept itself is too funny to miss. "So you want to get the not-having-sex out of the way now or save it for later?" "Why not both?" Rodney gave him a grin with teeth. "Unless you're not up to not having sex twice in one night." "I can keep up with you, don't worry."

advantage, by resonant. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. a long, meaty story in which aliens drug john to make him rodney's slave. mckay pov, subtle and long and really good in lots of ways, a very satisfying read.

blindsided, by resonant. sheppard/mckay, nc-17, first-time. alien flora renders mckay blind and he and sheppard have sex. hot, and sweet, with excellent sheppard voice that maintains the tone and the humour all the way through.

coffee, by resonant. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. short but intense, kind of shamelessly emotional--good. dramatic, kinda-angsty sex, established-relationship but not *emotionally*-established, if you see what i mean, which really just pushed a button, i guess. anyway, yes. hot and. i really like this one.

cred, by resonant. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. sheppard pov. this is the brilliant, really funny, adorable story that i have been waiting for in this fandom: all about sheppard's little crush on mckay. the snark, the dialogue, and the pov are all remarkably satisfying.

resolution by resonant and the alternate-pov sequel clarity, by speranza. sheppard/mckay, nc-17, written for a voyeurism challenge, in which mckay puts atlantis's closed-circuit cameras to good use. hot and then sweet, and exquisite--both stories.

the speed of light, by resonant. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. deft and believable handling of the realisation that they've been mutually flirting for a long time, followed by quick sex. mckay's pov makes everything more delightful--his voice is perfect. also, hot, and funny.

thirst, by resonant. sheppard/mckay, pg. a mckay pov short story, carefully structured, rather artistic, a little bit of angst and drama. a strong, thematically-oriented story with bits of exquisite longing and a lovely cohesiveness.

warning, by resonant. sheppard/mckay and nc-17 first time, locked in a closet--and this story is incredible--the hottest thing i've read in the fandom yet, and disguised as a pwp, but actually achingly sweet and quite romantic, but all subtly, underneath. sheppard is nervous and wistful and evidently has been nursing crush, and mckay's semi-scientific approach to the sex is brilliant.

the pegasus society, by sabine. sheppard/mckay, pg. set in season 1, post-"the brotherhood", a story from atlantis's pov and also john's and rodney's. about iq tests and high iq societies, in part, and a genius-level-intelligent sheppard. it is a fanon idea that doesn't come across as fanon here because of the way it's made the object of focus, one of the pillars of the story. the omnisicient atlantis pov is very cool, too, and the whole tone has an entertaining and pretty smooth flow.

the dangers of chocolate, or rodney en-chocolated, by salieri. sheppard/mckay, pg. sheppard pov, early s2. a funny, rambly, run-on sentences kind of sheppard voice. but mostly this is just cute.

owl eyes, by salieri. sheppard/mckay, pg, just barely not gen. an excellent piece of episode-like fic in which the atlantis quarantine snaps on and locks sheppard in his bedroom, apparently with a wraith, and rodney has to work to get him out.

beware of geeks bearing gifts, by serialkarma. gen, pg. this is a tiny, geeky ficlet about christmas presents and it's hilarious, especially the dialogue, but john's narration is great too. someone in the comments says it's great how it has a lot of canon and very little fanon, and i can go along with that too. of course, smart!mathy!john is fanon, but he's hot, so he gets a free pass.

untitled ficlet by shade. sheppard/mckayish, very mild, g. a very short, cute ficlet. The two had matching confused faces before they turned to each other and started pattering back and forth silently. It was like a Buster Keaton movie only without the funny.

a beautiful lifetime event, by shalott. sheppard/mckay, nc-17 first-time. a novella in which a bit of alien technology accidentally makes sheppard and mckay joint parents, and then they raise the kid. a great kid story, sweet, funny, fun, perfect.

can't have one, by shalott. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. they've gotten ceremonially married by some natives in exchange for a ZPM and take a fake honeymoon and accidentally have sex. the story's not that long, and it starts with them not wanting to have sex and ends with them clearly pretty happy with the arrangement, and she doesn't spend a lot of time trying to build up to it or convince you of it or anything, but the beautiful thing is she doesn't have to, she never loses you (or at least, me), it's all built in; the tone, the characterisation, the dialogue, it never wavers. this one's kinda light and silly.

controverted, by shalott. sheppard/mckay, pg. mckay pov, covering about half s1 and finishing up after the end. i'm still kind of stunned from this one. it's really good. it's got sweetness but it's perfect mckay pov, it's never mushy or sentimental, which is refreshing, and also in-character. it's note-perfect, the whole narration; the whole thing sounds like rodney could be speaking it. and plus, it kinda killed me. in a good way. this one not so much with the humour, though; its themes are pretty serious.

no refunds or exchanges, by shalott. sheppard/mckay, AU, nc-17. harlequin challenge entry: rodney's lonely on atlantis and orders a mail-order bride. they send him john. brilliant, believable, full of cute dialogue and great angsty rodney pov and genuine harlequin plot! genius.

oblivious, by shalott. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. really, really, really hilarious--painfully funny, especially mckay's behaviour, which is just dead-on. and sort of embarrassing to watch, but in a really cute way, in which john doesn't realise that he's coming onto rodney, and rodney doesn't realise that he's not. "Goddamnit, we are not dating!" John said angrily. "Will you stop acting like I'm your girlfriend in a coma?" But Rodney just shifted gears from smug to eye-rolling without missing a beat. "Yes, fine, we're not dating. You're my friend, you idiot, I'd do this for you even if I wasn't in love with you. Now shut up and pick a movie," and John felt his anger sag and collapse like a deflating balloon; what the hell was he supposed to say to that?

proof by contradiction, by shalott. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. intelligent sheppard, beautiful dialogue and behaviour from mckay in a variation on aliens-make-them-have-sex fic that looks at the aftermath, more or less. funny, tightly-written, snappy, kind of... cute and only very subtly sweet and really just great.

thirty below, by shalott. sheppard/mckay, nc-17, and i can't help thinking that this story could be, oh, the first 1/5th or 1/3rd of something longer and really good. but it's kind of hot, especially if you like the sharing-warmth cliche, and it's cute and funny, and the characterisation is good.

time in a bottle, by shalott. sheppard/mckay, r. this is a very ambitious long story in which john and rodney get trapped in a virtual reality environment. the action stretches over more than a year, but it covers even more psychological space than that, exhaustively cataloguing the journey from barely being able to stand each other to an intense emotional and sexual relationship. it gives an accurate feeling of the length of time involved, the monotony of existence, the feelings of the characters, although with that much time in the bag it can't actually detail every single step and development. it's astonishing that it works so well as a cohesive whole considering the mixture of detail and skimming that have been skilfully, almost flawlessly intercut and blended.

under the sea, by shalott. sheppard/mckay, r, a cracked-out au born from a badfic challenge. she interprets the intent of the prompt very loosely to create a hilarious and semi-realistic story with rodney the underaged doctoral student tutoring john the rotc frat boy in physics. rodney's narrative voice is hilarious as usual.

the reverse of fascination, by shrift. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. somewhat spoily for "the intruder", but light-hearted and satisfying and full of bantery dialogue. "Is that Morse code for 'I forgot to pack any form of recreation for a two-and-a-half week trip in an enclosed space', Major?"

sga snippet for isilya, by silvia kundera. sheppard/mckay. a short, great character study of sheppard that skips through childhood right up to atlantis and unrequited lust for mckay with fabulous tone and great bits of insight.

fidelis, by sinden. stackhouse/markham, markham pov. early s1, pg. solemn and a little sad, kind of a moody thoughtful piece.

terra firma, by sinden. sheppard/mckay, r. between the siege iii and the intruder, mckay pov, first time. concise, really nicely paced, and really pretty cute. "You're not really pissed, are you? It was cold and, honestly, I've got nothing left that's, well, anything close to clean anymore." "Whatever. It's fine. Stop acting like a kicked puppy, it makes you look like an idiot. You're a guest, I suppose you're entitled." Rodney waves his hand and tries for gracious. He's pretty sure he fails. "Did you have to pick my favourite?"

the lysistrata project, by siriaeve. some het sexual content (beckett/cadman and mckay/brown suggested, for instance); humour; r. an excellently-timed comic short story based on aristophanes (!) in which the women of atlantis engage in a little conspiracy to bring the men's behaviour under control. light and fun, with some really good dialogue.

untitled snip by sjkasabi, gen, teyla. only three paragraphs, but intriguing and good, and i thought the backstory for teyla was surprising and original but fitting.

straight on till morning, by smitty. sheppard/mckay, pg. this is a fairly short sheppard pov piece, introspective, and containing a fair amount of summary-ish exposition. it works nicely; i found the sheppardy narrative voice charming. set early in season one.

last will and testament, by speranza. sheppard/mckay, nc-17, AU, incestish. this is an au novella that was born of the harlequin challenge, but it's not really to formula. it's got some comedy and some action and adventure type of stuff, some mysteriousness, some sex, and a lot of parental issues. very entertaining.

learning to breathe, by speranza. sheppard. pretty gen, but i guess there's a hint of mckay too. she describes it as "sheppard/atlantis". anyway, the concept and the tech are just... really cool.

mvp, by speranza. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. i love when sheppard is secretly incredibly brilliant, even if i don't 100% buy it, and this time it's couched in a cool, novel-feeling plot (although it's certainly full of well-known and beloved elements, from this fandom and fandom in general).

rodney's last message, by speranza. sheppard/mckay, pg, sheppard pov. a very short ficlet in which rodney thinks he's going to die, and then he doesn't, and john lies about reading his last e-mail.

when in haldoria, by speranza. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. a cracked-out story wherein john pretends to be rodney's slave, and there's an orgy. "Does he not care for you? Is that why you do not respect him?" "I respect him plenty!" John protested, before he could even rationally think it through. "He treats me great! I don't know what you're talking about!" and the other slaves all shrank back at his apparent anger, and started murmuring quietly to themselves.

an untitled birthday fic for gurrier by sprat, sheppard/mckay, pg. i recommend this for mckay's narrating voice, which i think is just about perfect. sheppard's dialogue is good too--i can picture most of the fic vividly, but my credulity strains at a certain point.

finding the place, by starfish. sheppard/mckay, pg. a short, funny and cute piece, sheppard pov--with more cool ancient tech. very nice pacing.

great expectations, by teand. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. a new and hilarious variation on aliens make them have sex: "Well, that's just great. Aliens are going to make us have sex." John had pretty much been ignoring Dr. McKay ever since they'd been relieved of their clothing and locked into the small room but that got his attention. He stopped trying to force the door and turned to glare at the scientist. "What the hell are you talking about?" "It happens to SG-1 all the time."

solutions, by teaphile. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. immediately post-"the siege", rodney is too wound up to get to sleep. good, albeit somewhat silly mckay pov (and he's sleep-deprived, so he has to be silly). very funny. "Why is Rodney installing a water tank in my office?" [...] "We were discussing, you know," He gestured vaguely out into the hall, "the water pillar things, and I said I’d like to fill them with fish, but we can’t because it’s our potable water in there. He must have decided to make a place to put fish." Sometimes Elizabeth said more with silence than Rodney could with whole diatribes. "But I have no idea why he chose your office," John added.

a matter of trust, by tigs. lorne pov reflection on mckay. gen. episode tag for condemned, short and coherent, rather simple. the lorne voice seems good. there's a vivid little scene, very well-done, at the end.

in return, by tigs. zelenka pov, gen with sheppard/mckayish hints. trinity tag. this is incredibly good zelenka pov, brilliant, and it's also an excellent tag for the episode--zelenka's observation of rodney and john is wonderful and made my otp-loving heart go all wobbly.

number 51, by tigs, sheppard/mckay established, pg. a rather short bit of fluff, possibly a bit too fluffy, even, but i liked the premise, and i think it's a memorable one. "Exactly how many expressions did you say he has? Maybe, watching today, we will find some new ones, as he is stuck in room with bickering, ego-inflated men." "Fifty," Rodney says, "and you won’t be finding any new ones." Not today, he doesn’t say.

of two hours, by tigs. zelenka pov, sheppard/mckay. kinda about that great mckay-zelenka-working-together dynamic. funny, really cute, good zelenka pov. rather short.

shuffle, by tigs. ford, g. ford's personal item is a deck of cards. early s1, matter-of-fact and quiet, good voices, a little sweet, a little wistful.

about a lamp, by torch. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. long and very plotty--the plot is intricate, meticulously laid out and very detailed. the story's long--novella or novel length, and engrossing, and although the slash element is interwoven throughout, i found that it faded a little in comparison with the plot.

lost in space, by torch. sheppard/mckay, pg. a very short story about getting stuck in a room. good, but what stood out was the dialogue.

small mammals, by torch. sheppard/mckay, pg. short and funny. "--and what kind of an idea is that, anyway, having sex with the first person you meet?" "A better idea than sacrificing the first person you see to the gods?" Rodney looked up from the scanner. "I can think of about five thousand things that are better than sacrificing the first person you meet to the gods, including dental surgery."

magic marker, by trinityofone. sheppard/mckay, pg. humour. John’s eyes were wide with horror. "You’re telling me that I walked around all day with ‘Property of Dr. Rodney McKay’ written on my ass?"

sexual healing, by trinityofone. sheppard/mckay, r, humour. this is a fairly short and really hilarious harlequin challenge story. it's got the definite feel of full-out parody--silly and wonderful--but with lots of great (and hysterical) dialogue.

we have lingered, by trinityofone. sheppard/mckay, pg. this is a rodney-pov tag for "grace under pressure", although it extends a while into the future from that episode. at the heart of the story is the change in rodney after the events of the episode; he's written wiser, in a way, in a solemn fic that nonetheless ends rather sweetly (and strikingly).

existence as interesting as possible, by wax jism. sheppard/mckay, soft r. this is close to gen, action-packed adventure, very episode-like--and wonderfully cute and generally wonderful--particularly the mckay.

quest, by wax jism. sheppard/mckayish, ford pov. short. with violence! but no major character death. the team are posing as knights. Major Sheppard leaned on his shiny new sword and said, "Actually, we're knights on a sacred quest."

this particular phenomenon, by xanphibian. sheppard/mckay, pg. set early in season 1, mckay pov, just a cute little scene and a kiss. "This has to stop," Sheppard began, then paused to give Rodney an all too knowing look.

senses reeled, by zeelee. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. alien flora makes them have sex. sheppard pov, fairly short, a bit hot, a bit sweet. overall, nice. and the voice is fun.

icing on the cake, by zoe rayne, sheppard/mckay, r. in which rodney is irresistable. light and cute. (there exists a dark au version called strange attractors, with darker characterisation i don't entirely buy.)

second chances by zoe rayne. sheppard/mckay, nc-17. a short mostly-pre-atlantis story with a bit of rising in it, in which john falls in love with rodney at age eighteen.

visual phallusy, by zoe rayne, sheppard/mckay, nc-17. this was for the voyeurism challenge. i don't want to spoil the coolness of the premise by revealing it here, but trust me: it's really cool. the story's short and (well--other than the title, heh) is written with excellent judgement and timing, i think.

dispossessed, by zulu. teyla, g, early s1. a very short meditation from teyla the first night. very excellent voice for teyla and dialogue for mckay and sheppard.

the physicist bride, by zulu. sheppard/mckay, pg. a very thorough, funny and faithful parody of the princess bride with, among other things, kavanagh as the sicilian and kolya as the six-fingered man.

stargate: sg-1

infinite possibilities, by brenda. jack/daniel. r. this is a nice comfortable novella-length fic. it's angsty through most of it, and culminates, obviously, in sweetness. its drawback, if anything, may be a slight excess of sweetness at the end. but it was really overwhelmingly nice.

bright chains, by destina fortunato. jack/daniel. nc-17. this is one of those stories that sort of drifts about being deliberately vague, but doesn't suffer for that. it's got a nice, sort of bittersweet kind of mystique.

a thousand stars, by dorothy marley. jack/daniel. nc-17. another switched realities piece, another happy ending. a more serious look, this time. the story is better than the other one in some ways and worse in others. it does drag a little.

you can go home again, by elg. jack pov, hints of jack/daniel, mostly gen. i laughed out loud! shocked delight! this is great, just really adorable. funny, well-written, careful characterization.

bouyancy, by keiko kirin. jack/daniel. nc-17. longish, kind of leisurely. this one's funny and cute; it starts very smart and sharp, and then blurs a little, perhaps. it's also awfully sweet.

four fours, by keiko kirin. jack/daniel. nc-17. not unreasonably long, jack's pov and voice, and an interesting portrayal of an unusually stubborn daniel.

apassionato per l'acqua, by lady of asheru. jack/daniel pre-slash. humor. a short, beautiful and contemplative piece. sort of wistful in tone, despite the humor.

esprit de corps, by quercus. jack/daniel. pg. a nice solid middle length story, a bit of mission, a bit of introspection, daniel pov. sweet, thoughtful in an angsty, not too angsty way. it's a smooth and well-put-together story.

tir eoghan1 & 2, by quercus. jack/daniel, sam/teal'c (both first times). nc-17. the team searches a sinister dead world. various people start having probably significant dreams.

willing, by salieri. jack/daniel. pg. a nice little story that'd make a good episode. i even give her credit for making the pov a little confusing. stick with it for a few paragraphs and you'll see. no extreme sweetness, the slash all implicit (though a bit more, uh, there than in an actual ep)--but some very poignant moments.

crouching linguist, hidden ninja by sam walker. jack pov, daniel, g, gen, sg. at a con, michael shanks said he wanted fic where daniel was a ninja as a hobby; this is an extremely hilarious answer to that.

a lapse of gravity by shalott.  stargate: sg-1 foursome.  nc-17.  not too long--an easily digestible size, sort of a snack and not a meal, but amazingly perfect, with some chillingly resonating lines and some loveliness.  a little too run-on, perhaps, in the pursuit of a feverish confusion which is amply achieved. 

objectives by shalott. nc-1 7, jack/daniel forced to have sex by aliens. formulaic and amusing, shortish, hot.

reveille by shalott, j/d, nc-17. a first-time clichefic involving telepathy and jack and daniel waking up in bed together. but very good, albeit also angsty. the telepathy is well-handled, and cool.

fall to heaven, by sideburns. jack/daniel. r. an almost epic, rambling and somewhat unfocused story covering an au of daniel's descension. the lack of focus is a minus, but the confusion isn't too bad; it sort of comes across as several stories, albeit none of them extremely pointed. the end is nicely satisfying, and the whole is well-done.

commentary, by teand. jack/daniel. nc-17. daniel's voice throughout a rather short humor piece, which is slightly nervous and stuttery and really cute. and not spoilery at all. it's a hockey game, mostly.

t-minus 10 and counting, by teand. j/d, nc-17. humour, established. janet and sam try to confirm their suspicions about jack and daniel. daniel was never purposefully rude although he could be obliviously rude half a dozen times before breakfast.

with flying colors, by teand. jack/daniel. nc-17. short, light, hysterically funny. established-relationship, but it's not really the point of the piece. eheheh. the team get kidnapped by curious aliens.

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