Recs
Straight as a Circle by toomuchplor
This is just a very different take on the typical gay-ray fic, or even the fic in which person X makes person Y gay, even though person Y has always been straight. I really explores the difficulty with resolving love and sexuality, which is something I spent a few fics trying to work on myself. I don't think I did it as well as this fic does.
I have one problem with is, which is that I don't like the introduction and conclusion lines. Why the author chose them is sort of a mystery to me, as it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the fic. I guess I wish I was left with a little more than the message those lines offer.
That being said, this fic was great and I'm sure that for both its memorable choice of plots (and cool new idea) and deft writing, it will become one of those talked-about classics.
The Day the Two-Legs Returned by kodiak bear
This is the second of Kodiak's fics that I've recced recently, though I like this one for completely different reasons. Perhaps I spend too much time wandering around other cultures and thinking embarrassingly sociological thoughts, but my favorite science fiction is never the action/adventure star-wars type stuff and much more the idea of other cultures, internally consistent in and of themselves. This is why I loved Stargate the movie and the first seasons of SG1, because then the show really was about meeting with new cultures and trying to communicate. Same thing with the first part of SGA, where the Wraith were such a COOL big-bad, with their whole cultural thing worked out. Of course now the story has moved on towards replicators and b-sci-fi and I'm getting to the same point I did with SG1 and Enterprise, in which I almost have to force myself to watch the show so I can enjoy the fic.
Anyhow, following long rant. What I like about this story is that it takes the time to do what the powers that be rarely do, which is to think up alien creatures for what makes sense for them and not what they need to happen in the story. I think I've said it before, but my model for scifi writing is a book called "The Sparrow" written by an anthropologist who creates an amazing organic alien culture and throws human beings into a realistic first-contact situation with them.
And I think that Kodiak succeeds in doing something similar here. I don't want to spoil it, but I really like how ze chose to turn my perceptions on their head and really give depth to something that I'm sure was just a 'how can we make this work' for the show's producers.
So, yeah, read this fic. I know I've recced other similar stories (and I will continue to rec them) but I do so because I wish a lot more people would write fics like this.
Hidden Truths and Chinese Proverbs by Dr. Dredd
I like this fic, because it's one of the first fics to really surprise me in a very long time. I'm one of those people who is never surprised by twist endings, because I tend to have thought that's what was going on from the beginning (Planet of the Apes, the Sixth Sense), etc. Maybe I was tired when I read this or something, or maybe it's just very well pulled off, but it takes a lot to catch me off guard and this one did it, so bavo!
Keeping Doctor Meredith by Ellex
On one hand, I really like the idea of true genderfuck being detached from sexuality. Instead of sticking us inside Rodney's head as he gets turned into a girl, making him anxious about what to do with his boobs, maybe try to sleep with Sheppard, have angst about sexuality, etc. etc., Ellex has chosen to take Kolya's POV and have us see what he's seeing.
It's good genderfuck because its quite clear how Kolya's perceptions of Rodney as a woman are conditioned by the fact that he's dealing with a woman. At the same time, he didn't make his treatment of Weir in the Eye or the Storm at all sexual, so I'm not entirely sure how in character it is for him.
What is interesting is the way he dismisses Rodney as bait or refuses to see what's really there because of his overwhelming goal to trap Sheppard.
I think that maybe my issue here is that I want to approach a situation like this more like a scientific experiment. I want to see purely how Kolya would react differently if Rodney were a girl, but its hard to do because he's not seeing Rodney as a girl, but a female scientist. He's also not seeing him in a similar situation. In the storm and in the brotherhood, Kolya had an objective in which he needed Rodney's cooperation, but in this situation, he doesn't require cooperation.
I love what this fic manages to accomplish, but I kinda wish that I could see an AU where Rodney is a girl (I think there's one, Meredith and Sheppard are together in the AU and our John and Rodney get to see them), in which there's the same situation as in the storm and see if Rodney, Kolya, Elizabeth and John all behave differently because of it.
Odd One Out by medie
Another genderfuck. I guess I just like this one for the sweet, sweet angst. It's a combination of two of my favorite kinks: genderfuck and cloning, so I was very happy about it. It brings into question the main clone issue - who is entitled to the life of the person in question, while also adding in the small little question of sex. Rodney is presumably bisexual here and it really throws a question out to bisexuals - surely you do prefer one slightly over the other - if you could the person of your dreams and decide their gender, what would you choose?
Of course Rodney can't exactly make that choice here, but it's an interesting question nonetheless.
This Gun's For Hire by helenish
Everyone is reccing this one, I think. And for good reason. It's not exactly the usual situation for the AMTDI or X device made them do it, or whatever, though I'm not sure why. It embodies a lot of what I love about McShep, which is how much the guys utterly fail at normal communication of their emotions. This fic is about that. It features what would otherwise be a very straightforward situation if the guys would just COMMUNICATE already and manages to use it to flesh out ideas about DADT and consent and friendship verses sex and all sorts of other wonderful thinky things, but without making it too much of the romantic-comedy style comedy-of-errors that a lot of 'John and Rodney can't communicate' fics tend to have.
I liked this and I'm astounded that the author got to write it this way, because I know that I would never think to write something like this, even if the main instigator is not a particularly uncommon theme in fandom, especially this one.
This is just a very different take on the typical gay-ray fic, or even the fic in which person X makes person Y gay, even though person Y has always been straight. I really explores the difficulty with resolving love and sexuality, which is something I spent a few fics trying to work on myself. I don't think I did it as well as this fic does.
I have one problem with is, which is that I don't like the introduction and conclusion lines. Why the author chose them is sort of a mystery to me, as it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the fic. I guess I wish I was left with a little more than the message those lines offer.
That being said, this fic was great and I'm sure that for both its memorable choice of plots (and cool new idea) and deft writing, it will become one of those talked-about classics.
The Day the Two-Legs Returned by kodiak bear
This is the second of Kodiak's fics that I've recced recently, though I like this one for completely different reasons. Perhaps I spend too much time wandering around other cultures and thinking embarrassingly sociological thoughts, but my favorite science fiction is never the action/adventure star-wars type stuff and much more the idea of other cultures, internally consistent in and of themselves. This is why I loved Stargate the movie and the first seasons of SG1, because then the show really was about meeting with new cultures and trying to communicate. Same thing with the first part of SGA, where the Wraith were such a COOL big-bad, with their whole cultural thing worked out. Of course now the story has moved on towards replicators and b-sci-fi and I'm getting to the same point I did with SG1 and Enterprise, in which I almost have to force myself to watch the show so I can enjoy the fic.
Anyhow, following long rant. What I like about this story is that it takes the time to do what the powers that be rarely do, which is to think up alien creatures for what makes sense for them and not what they need to happen in the story. I think I've said it before, but my model for scifi writing is a book called "The Sparrow" written by an anthropologist who creates an amazing organic alien culture and throws human beings into a realistic first-contact situation with them.
And I think that Kodiak succeeds in doing something similar here. I don't want to spoil it, but I really like how ze chose to turn my perceptions on their head and really give depth to something that I'm sure was just a 'how can we make this work' for the show's producers.
So, yeah, read this fic. I know I've recced other similar stories (and I will continue to rec them) but I do so because I wish a lot more people would write fics like this.
Hidden Truths and Chinese Proverbs by Dr. Dredd
I like this fic, because it's one of the first fics to really surprise me in a very long time. I'm one of those people who is never surprised by twist endings, because I tend to have thought that's what was going on from the beginning (Planet of the Apes, the Sixth Sense), etc. Maybe I was tired when I read this or something, or maybe it's just very well pulled off, but it takes a lot to catch me off guard and this one did it, so bavo!
Keeping Doctor Meredith by Ellex
On one hand, I really like the idea of true genderfuck being detached from sexuality. Instead of sticking us inside Rodney's head as he gets turned into a girl, making him anxious about what to do with his boobs, maybe try to sleep with Sheppard, have angst about sexuality, etc. etc., Ellex has chosen to take Kolya's POV and have us see what he's seeing.
It's good genderfuck because its quite clear how Kolya's perceptions of Rodney as a woman are conditioned by the fact that he's dealing with a woman. At the same time, he didn't make his treatment of Weir in the Eye or the Storm at all sexual, so I'm not entirely sure how in character it is for him.
What is interesting is the way he dismisses Rodney as bait or refuses to see what's really there because of his overwhelming goal to trap Sheppard.
I think that maybe my issue here is that I want to approach a situation like this more like a scientific experiment. I want to see purely how Kolya would react differently if Rodney were a girl, but its hard to do because he's not seeing Rodney as a girl, but a female scientist. He's also not seeing him in a similar situation. In the storm and in the brotherhood, Kolya had an objective in which he needed Rodney's cooperation, but in this situation, he doesn't require cooperation.
I love what this fic manages to accomplish, but I kinda wish that I could see an AU where Rodney is a girl (I think there's one, Meredith and Sheppard are together in the AU and our John and Rodney get to see them), in which there's the same situation as in the storm and see if Rodney, Kolya, Elizabeth and John all behave differently because of it.
Odd One Out by medie
Another genderfuck. I guess I just like this one for the sweet, sweet angst. It's a combination of two of my favorite kinks: genderfuck and cloning, so I was very happy about it. It brings into question the main clone issue - who is entitled to the life of the person in question, while also adding in the small little question of sex. Rodney is presumably bisexual here and it really throws a question out to bisexuals - surely you do prefer one slightly over the other - if you could the person of your dreams and decide their gender, what would you choose?
Of course Rodney can't exactly make that choice here, but it's an interesting question nonetheless.
This Gun's For Hire by helenish
Everyone is reccing this one, I think. And for good reason. It's not exactly the usual situation for the AMTDI or X device made them do it, or whatever, though I'm not sure why. It embodies a lot of what I love about McShep, which is how much the guys utterly fail at normal communication of their emotions. This fic is about that. It features what would otherwise be a very straightforward situation if the guys would just COMMUNICATE already and manages to use it to flesh out ideas about DADT and consent and friendship verses sex and all sorts of other wonderful thinky things, but without making it too much of the romantic-comedy style comedy-of-errors that a lot of 'John and Rodney can't communicate' fics tend to have.
I liked this and I'm astounded that the author got to write it this way, because I know that I would never think to write something like this, even if the main instigator is not a particularly uncommon theme in fandom, especially this one.