Ten years of reccing: April 2012-March 2013
Maybe I will finish before the end of the month! Here's the seventh installment of my celebration of ten years of reccing. Follow the tag if you missed previous years.
I had to skip over so many stories because I've already recced that author before in these posts, and a few more that I skipped because I'm saving a particular fic from that author from later years. But here are ten wonderful stories that I recced in my seventh year of reccing.
Only Held by Gravity, by missparker. Unadulterated Sam (gen) love!
From the original rec:
This is a fic of joy -- Sam's friendship and closeness with each member of her team in turn, plus Jacob. Vala and Jack are the only ones missing here (and from the summary, Jack's omission seems deliberate, although a casual reference to that friendship is also included.) But you'll love the way each aspect of Sam is highlighted by her various friendships, and it will be impossible to read this without a smile on your face.
Good Sam fic is always a pleasure, and this highlighting of her close friendships with her teammates is just delicious.
Teal'c doesn't know anything about Earth, about living in such a complex society, about surviving in a way that does not require carrying a weapon. Sam asks the general for permission to falsify some documents and then, when Teal'c gets permission to go topside, takes him into town. Together they open a bank account. She has to co-sign with him, but that's just fine. He'll get a debit card and a checkbook. On the computer, she shows him how she set his paychecks to directly deposit and how he can always see what his balance is.
She shows him how to order things online and have them delivered to her address. She'll happily bring them to him on base.
Alchemy, by Melannen. Daniel in Ancient Egypt always tugs the heartstrings, doesn't it?
From the original rec:
I love this for the layers and layers: the patience and distillation of both physical and metaphysical choices, the dogged persistence for oh-so-many reasons. Read this one lightly, and smile; then read it again more deeply, and savor.
Something had to keep Daniel sane between rebellions, and this is a lovingly-researched possibility.
He'd hesitated to ask for salt, because the salt they used for cooking on holidays was expensive and traded all the way from Siwa, but Katep reminded him about the cheaper sea salt they used in tanning, which was just as pure. It was also sacred to Seth, the enemy of Ra, which was why it wasn't used in cooking. Seth had been in exile for at least a hundred years, Daniel calculated, but he couldn't help feeling a sense of near-kinship at the thought, and gladly added the salt to his cache of supplies.
He'd known there was no hope of refined sugar, but Katep's nephew eventually found a hive of wild honey, which was shared among the clan. Daniel took the portion that would once have been an offering to Ra, and crystallized it dry enough to granulate, although to be honest plain honey probably would have worked well enough. The same with the wheat flour; he took the coarse stuff the women used and worked it nearly as fine as the refined flour of his homeland. Sha're had taught him to grind flour by hand, his semi-holy status excusing him from the strict gender roles on Abydos the same as it did here. He thought about her, sometimes, as his hands moved in the unchanging rhythms of bread, and Katep's sister-in-law mocked him for doing all that extra work.
In the Cards, by Eponymous Rose. Early team for the win!
From the original rec:
This fic is a thing of joy: S1 team bonding, Sam being awesome, Teal'c being awesome, Daniel being early Daniel (and awesome), and marvelous Jack voice as Leader of the Team.
And poker!
I love the quirks, the comfort zone they share, their trust in one another. And the poker. :)
"That is not an option," Teal'c says, with conviction. "We will retrieve the technology and we will all return home. And then we will play poker."
Five Lies Sha're Told, by Smilebackwards. Because I adore Sha're, and it's always a delight to read a fic that presents her well.
From the original rec:
From the first hints of her rebellious intelligence in childhood to her rejection of Ra to her suffering as Amaunet's host, Smilebackwards does justice to this amazing woman's courage and character. Add some bittersweet glimpses of her marriage to Daniel, and you're left with a stellar five things that will leave you loving Sha're more than ever!
This was written at my request, and it is really, really good.
"Is that writing, Sha're?" her father asks, his voice hot and tumultuous, like a sandstorm. He steps closer to get a better view.
Sha're swipes the evidence away with her sandal. "Just pictures, Papa," she says.
A Halfway Moment, by Fridayschild. Sam and Jack and repercussions and ethics...
From the original rec:
This is a fantastic episode tag for Scorched Earth, with a worried Sam thinking of future repercussions and an intelligent Jack using his unique brand of deviousness to offer a possible solution. I love the way this leads so naturally into the events of Chain Reaction. It's an excellent glimpse at the military half of both Sam and Jack -- and their friendship, too.
Episode tags are always good, but this one really adds depth and nuance.
“Sir, we detonated a bomb thousands of times stronger than any nuclear weapon ever developed. That explosion today made the bomb dropped at Hiroshima look like a Roman candle on the Fourth of July. Do you really think the powers that be will leave it at that?”
“This is about ordering you to build a bomb?” He should have known.
“No, sir. It’s about all the other bombs that are going to follow.”
Jack sighs and rubs a hand over his gritty, tired eyes. “Carter…”
“I’ve spent the last three years warning that naquadah is too unstable to use in a bomb at our current level of technology. After seeing what a particle of potassium reacting with a particle of naquadah was capable of, just about everyone agreed with me and left it alone because the risks outweighed the rewards.” Sam meets his gaze again, her eyes swimming with guilt and self-recrimination. “Today I proved that there’s a low-risk way to construct a naquadah bomb. How long do you think it will be before the Pentagon places its first order?”
One Such Possible Journey, by Jedibuttercup. A good crossover is a pleasure, and JediButtercup is the queen of crossovers!
From the original rec:
The team on the Enterprise, with extra Teal'c-and-Spock awesomeness!
...You don't need more than that, do you? :)
This is nu!Trek (rather than TOS) which I don't know as well, but I loved it anyway.
"But after you got here, there was no sign of this-- Stargate?" Kirk asked, drumming his fingers against the rough surface of the table he'd chosen in the back corner of the low-tech native tavern.
The silver-haired soldier seated with his second on the opposite side of the table slouched back on the bench and shook his head. "No," he replied. "We asked around a little the first few days, but no one seemed to have any idea what we were talking about, and the more attention we drew the more difficult it was to hide where we came from. Or didn't come from; if you get my drift. Before you guys arrived, we were afraid we might be stuck here for awhile."
Cheating the Other Guy, by Sholio. This is SGA, not SG-1, but the draw of Sam-in-command was enough to make me read this -- and love it!
From the original rec:
Sam-in-command at Atlantis, on a mission with Teyla to rescue the rest of her team after Teyla has accidentally sold them...
Great bonding between the two women, entertaining world-building, a deft and humorous touch, and a tagline that will leave you giggling. Even if, like me, you're not an SGA fan, you'll still love this one!
The friendship between Sam and Teyla is wonderful, and their characterization is excellent. A really good read.
Sam saw Teyla walk out of the Stargate without her team, and braced for trouble. She did not expect Teyla to step through the doorway of her office a moment later with her lips pressed together and her eyes glimmering with suppressed laughter.
When she could speak calmly, Teyla said, "I am very afraid that I appear to have sold my teammates."
Sam pushed the laptop away, sat back and blinked at her. As a veteran of many less-than-successful SG-1 missions, there was only one thing she could say under those circumstances.
"What did you get for them?"
"Forty head of theurox cattle and a ranch to keep them on," Teyla said.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Why did you want --"
"It is a very long story."
"Well, I accidentally traded Daniel for a basket of dinner rolls one time. That didn't go in the official reports."
Scuttlebutt Says, by Element78. Because a team romp with trouble coming through the Gate is a joy, no matter what season!
From the original rec:
Read this for the sheer joy of knowing that even after the series ends, SG-1 is still going through the Gate with ensuing wacky hijinks...
Cam still touches what he shouldn't, Daniel is nearly driven to distraction, and Landry is amazingly likable. There are great contributions from Vala and Teal'c, with appearances from minor characters such as Bill Lee, Carolyn Lam, and Walter the Chevron Guy. Add a cameo of Sam-in-Atlantis at the end for the crowning touch to a hugely entertaining story that will make you love SG-1 all over again!
Not cracky, but still hilarious. Go team!
"Let them through," Landry orders, because they won't get anywhere with Teal'c providing the details. By the time he's made it down to the gate room proper, SG-1 is halfway down the ramp.
None of them look the worse for the wear, although Vala has obviously been crying- with laughter, if her occasional bouts of giggles are any indication. Jackson looks strained and tired. Teal'c is impassive as ever, and Mitchell-
Mitchell does indeed have something on his arm. Landry had been thinking of the Goa'uld cuffs Vala had used on Jackson. Instead, it's a small grey box just above his left elbow, wires and cables holding it in place. Mitchell sees the general, instinctively stands up a little straighter, opens his mouth, and says-
"Kkek mrrkon frezzerit."
U is for Unspoken, by Thothmes. Bra'tac will never stop being awesome.
From the original rec:
This is a fabulous sketch of Bra'tac, arcing across the decades and played against a strong theme of silence: his first stirrings of doubt as a chal'ti, his lonely search for fellow rebels, his initial observations of Teal'c and then of the Tau'ri. Thothmes finishes with a lovely scene of Teal'c and Bra'tac together, content in silent contemplation of their ultimate victory in achieving freedom.
This stirs you with a grand feeling. Kind of like Bra'tac himself. :)
Pointing to Bra’tac, the god addressed the warrior to Bra’tac’s immediate right, a massive blond fellow who towered over Bra’tac by at least half a head, saying “That one” - here he pointed to Bra’tac - “has marked skin, and for a Jaffa he is slight. Kill him.”
“But Milord,” the fellow blurted out, “That is Bra’tac the fastest and most skilled at-“
Apophis was displeased, and before Bra’tac got a chance to wonder if surviving the pox before he was old enough for a symbiote was going to be the death of him, before his unfortunate neighbor could finish his sentence, Apophis had unleashed the power of his hand device, and the fellow was dead. Apophis stalked off, having proven conclusively that he was a capricious god, and Bra’tac lived, having learned that it was best that some things, indeed all unnecessary things, go unspoken.
Five Things Jack Loved and Lost, by Chocolate Kettle. The title is warning enough that this will break your heart, but you'll want to read it anyway.
From the original rec:
This five things of loss is powerful and achy and so perfectly Jack, from flying to Charlie to Daniel to losing his team and the Stargate. Add a sucker punch of AU apocafic for a grand finale, and you'll fall in love all over again with Jack for his toughness and tenacity in the face of so much heartache.
It's in Jack's voice, in his head, and it's perfect.
The Stargate he gives up, for, oh, so many reasons. Because being offered another unlikely promotion so soon after the first is flattering. Because he really can do more for the program from Washington. Because George Hammond tells him it's a good idea. Because if he has to fly a desk, it might as well be a shiny one in a big office with a window and a nice view.
Because maybe if he doesn't have to see it every day he won't miss it so much.
2012 is when my fic writing began to slow down. There's a drabble series that still isn't finished, sigh. But here are a few stories I wrote:
O is for Optimism. Cam has always been an optimist; it's kept him going for a long time now. But sometimes, he needs a little proof. Major spoilers for Continuum, including AU canon character deaths, and a certain episode in S2. 1,290 words. Rated PG.
V is for Victuals. Aliens, civilians, military personnel -- they all need feeding. That's Sophie's job, and she's proud to do it. No real spoilers. 510 words. Rated G.
I had to skip over so many stories because I've already recced that author before in these posts, and a few more that I skipped because I'm saving a particular fic from that author from later years. But here are ten wonderful stories that I recced in my seventh year of reccing.
Only Held by Gravity, by missparker. Unadulterated Sam (gen) love!
From the original rec:
This is a fic of joy -- Sam's friendship and closeness with each member of her team in turn, plus Jacob. Vala and Jack are the only ones missing here (and from the summary, Jack's omission seems deliberate, although a casual reference to that friendship is also included.) But you'll love the way each aspect of Sam is highlighted by her various friendships, and it will be impossible to read this without a smile on your face.
Good Sam fic is always a pleasure, and this highlighting of her close friendships with her teammates is just delicious.
Teal'c doesn't know anything about Earth, about living in such a complex society, about surviving in a way that does not require carrying a weapon. Sam asks the general for permission to falsify some documents and then, when Teal'c gets permission to go topside, takes him into town. Together they open a bank account. She has to co-sign with him, but that's just fine. He'll get a debit card and a checkbook. On the computer, she shows him how she set his paychecks to directly deposit and how he can always see what his balance is.
She shows him how to order things online and have them delivered to her address. She'll happily bring them to him on base.
Alchemy, by Melannen. Daniel in Ancient Egypt always tugs the heartstrings, doesn't it?
From the original rec:
I love this for the layers and layers: the patience and distillation of both physical and metaphysical choices, the dogged persistence for oh-so-many reasons. Read this one lightly, and smile; then read it again more deeply, and savor.
Something had to keep Daniel sane between rebellions, and this is a lovingly-researched possibility.
He'd hesitated to ask for salt, because the salt they used for cooking on holidays was expensive and traded all the way from Siwa, but Katep reminded him about the cheaper sea salt they used in tanning, which was just as pure. It was also sacred to Seth, the enemy of Ra, which was why it wasn't used in cooking. Seth had been in exile for at least a hundred years, Daniel calculated, but he couldn't help feeling a sense of near-kinship at the thought, and gladly added the salt to his cache of supplies.
He'd known there was no hope of refined sugar, but Katep's nephew eventually found a hive of wild honey, which was shared among the clan. Daniel took the portion that would once have been an offering to Ra, and crystallized it dry enough to granulate, although to be honest plain honey probably would have worked well enough. The same with the wheat flour; he took the coarse stuff the women used and worked it nearly as fine as the refined flour of his homeland. Sha're had taught him to grind flour by hand, his semi-holy status excusing him from the strict gender roles on Abydos the same as it did here. He thought about her, sometimes, as his hands moved in the unchanging rhythms of bread, and Katep's sister-in-law mocked him for doing all that extra work.
In the Cards, by Eponymous Rose. Early team for the win!
From the original rec:
This fic is a thing of joy: S1 team bonding, Sam being awesome, Teal'c being awesome, Daniel being early Daniel (and awesome), and marvelous Jack voice as Leader of the Team.
And poker!
I love the quirks, the comfort zone they share, their trust in one another. And the poker. :)
"That is not an option," Teal'c says, with conviction. "We will retrieve the technology and we will all return home. And then we will play poker."
Five Lies Sha're Told, by Smilebackwards. Because I adore Sha're, and it's always a delight to read a fic that presents her well.
From the original rec:
From the first hints of her rebellious intelligence in childhood to her rejection of Ra to her suffering as Amaunet's host, Smilebackwards does justice to this amazing woman's courage and character. Add some bittersweet glimpses of her marriage to Daniel, and you're left with a stellar five things that will leave you loving Sha're more than ever!
This was written at my request, and it is really, really good.
"Is that writing, Sha're?" her father asks, his voice hot and tumultuous, like a sandstorm. He steps closer to get a better view.
Sha're swipes the evidence away with her sandal. "Just pictures, Papa," she says.
A Halfway Moment, by Fridayschild. Sam and Jack and repercussions and ethics...
From the original rec:
This is a fantastic episode tag for Scorched Earth, with a worried Sam thinking of future repercussions and an intelligent Jack using his unique brand of deviousness to offer a possible solution. I love the way this leads so naturally into the events of Chain Reaction. It's an excellent glimpse at the military half of both Sam and Jack -- and their friendship, too.
Episode tags are always good, but this one really adds depth and nuance.
“Sir, we detonated a bomb thousands of times stronger than any nuclear weapon ever developed. That explosion today made the bomb dropped at Hiroshima look like a Roman candle on the Fourth of July. Do you really think the powers that be will leave it at that?”
“This is about ordering you to build a bomb?” He should have known.
“No, sir. It’s about all the other bombs that are going to follow.”
Jack sighs and rubs a hand over his gritty, tired eyes. “Carter…”
“I’ve spent the last three years warning that naquadah is too unstable to use in a bomb at our current level of technology. After seeing what a particle of potassium reacting with a particle of naquadah was capable of, just about everyone agreed with me and left it alone because the risks outweighed the rewards.” Sam meets his gaze again, her eyes swimming with guilt and self-recrimination. “Today I proved that there’s a low-risk way to construct a naquadah bomb. How long do you think it will be before the Pentagon places its first order?”
One Such Possible Journey, by Jedibuttercup. A good crossover is a pleasure, and JediButtercup is the queen of crossovers!
From the original rec:
The team on the Enterprise, with extra Teal'c-and-Spock awesomeness!
...You don't need more than that, do you? :)
This is nu!Trek (rather than TOS) which I don't know as well, but I loved it anyway.
"But after you got here, there was no sign of this-- Stargate?" Kirk asked, drumming his fingers against the rough surface of the table he'd chosen in the back corner of the low-tech native tavern.
The silver-haired soldier seated with his second on the opposite side of the table slouched back on the bench and shook his head. "No," he replied. "We asked around a little the first few days, but no one seemed to have any idea what we were talking about, and the more attention we drew the more difficult it was to hide where we came from. Or didn't come from; if you get my drift. Before you guys arrived, we were afraid we might be stuck here for awhile."
Cheating the Other Guy, by Sholio. This is SGA, not SG-1, but the draw of Sam-in-command was enough to make me read this -- and love it!
From the original rec:
Sam-in-command at Atlantis, on a mission with Teyla to rescue the rest of her team after Teyla has accidentally sold them...
Great bonding between the two women, entertaining world-building, a deft and humorous touch, and a tagline that will leave you giggling. Even if, like me, you're not an SGA fan, you'll still love this one!
The friendship between Sam and Teyla is wonderful, and their characterization is excellent. A really good read.
Sam saw Teyla walk out of the Stargate without her team, and braced for trouble. She did not expect Teyla to step through the doorway of her office a moment later with her lips pressed together and her eyes glimmering with suppressed laughter.
When she could speak calmly, Teyla said, "I am very afraid that I appear to have sold my teammates."
Sam pushed the laptop away, sat back and blinked at her. As a veteran of many less-than-successful SG-1 missions, there was only one thing she could say under those circumstances.
"What did you get for them?"
"Forty head of theurox cattle and a ranch to keep them on," Teyla said.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Why did you want --"
"It is a very long story."
"Well, I accidentally traded Daniel for a basket of dinner rolls one time. That didn't go in the official reports."
Scuttlebutt Says, by Element78. Because a team romp with trouble coming through the Gate is a joy, no matter what season!
From the original rec:
Read this for the sheer joy of knowing that even after the series ends, SG-1 is still going through the Gate with ensuing wacky hijinks...
Cam still touches what he shouldn't, Daniel is nearly driven to distraction, and Landry is amazingly likable. There are great contributions from Vala and Teal'c, with appearances from minor characters such as Bill Lee, Carolyn Lam, and Walter the Chevron Guy. Add a cameo of Sam-in-Atlantis at the end for the crowning touch to a hugely entertaining story that will make you love SG-1 all over again!
Not cracky, but still hilarious. Go team!
"Let them through," Landry orders, because they won't get anywhere with Teal'c providing the details. By the time he's made it down to the gate room proper, SG-1 is halfway down the ramp.
None of them look the worse for the wear, although Vala has obviously been crying- with laughter, if her occasional bouts of giggles are any indication. Jackson looks strained and tired. Teal'c is impassive as ever, and Mitchell-
Mitchell does indeed have something on his arm. Landry had been thinking of the Goa'uld cuffs Vala had used on Jackson. Instead, it's a small grey box just above his left elbow, wires and cables holding it in place. Mitchell sees the general, instinctively stands up a little straighter, opens his mouth, and says-
"Kkek mrrkon frezzerit."
U is for Unspoken, by Thothmes. Bra'tac will never stop being awesome.
From the original rec:
This is a fabulous sketch of Bra'tac, arcing across the decades and played against a strong theme of silence: his first stirrings of doubt as a chal'ti, his lonely search for fellow rebels, his initial observations of Teal'c and then of the Tau'ri. Thothmes finishes with a lovely scene of Teal'c and Bra'tac together, content in silent contemplation of their ultimate victory in achieving freedom.
This stirs you with a grand feeling. Kind of like Bra'tac himself. :)
Pointing to Bra’tac, the god addressed the warrior to Bra’tac’s immediate right, a massive blond fellow who towered over Bra’tac by at least half a head, saying “That one” - here he pointed to Bra’tac - “has marked skin, and for a Jaffa he is slight. Kill him.”
“But Milord,” the fellow blurted out, “That is Bra’tac the fastest and most skilled at-“
Apophis was displeased, and before Bra’tac got a chance to wonder if surviving the pox before he was old enough for a symbiote was going to be the death of him, before his unfortunate neighbor could finish his sentence, Apophis had unleashed the power of his hand device, and the fellow was dead. Apophis stalked off, having proven conclusively that he was a capricious god, and Bra’tac lived, having learned that it was best that some things, indeed all unnecessary things, go unspoken.
Five Things Jack Loved and Lost, by Chocolate Kettle. The title is warning enough that this will break your heart, but you'll want to read it anyway.
From the original rec:
This five things of loss is powerful and achy and so perfectly Jack, from flying to Charlie to Daniel to losing his team and the Stargate. Add a sucker punch of AU apocafic for a grand finale, and you'll fall in love all over again with Jack for his toughness and tenacity in the face of so much heartache.
It's in Jack's voice, in his head, and it's perfect.
The Stargate he gives up, for, oh, so many reasons. Because being offered another unlikely promotion so soon after the first is flattering. Because he really can do more for the program from Washington. Because George Hammond tells him it's a good idea. Because if he has to fly a desk, it might as well be a shiny one in a big office with a window and a nice view.
Because maybe if he doesn't have to see it every day he won't miss it so much.
2012 is when my fic writing began to slow down. There's a drabble series that still isn't finished, sigh. But here are a few stories I wrote:
O is for Optimism. Cam has always been an optimist; it's kept him going for a long time now. But sometimes, he needs a little proof. Major spoilers for Continuum, including AU canon character deaths, and a certain episode in S2. 1,290 words. Rated PG.
V is for Victuals. Aliens, civilians, military personnel -- they all need feeding. That's Sophie's job, and she's proud to do it. No real spoilers. 510 words. Rated G.