Stargate Atlantis - 12 Recs

This is the miscellany set. Three random stories I recced for rec50 that are neither het nor McKay/Sheppard and nine Gen stories. All somehow Rodney McKay centric.

McKay/Zelenka

Sex Like Math by 3jane - This is how Rodney and Radek's relationship should always be: late nights in the lab working in tandem, and then sweet, sloppy, celebratory sex when it all comes together. I love this take on the two of them, they are so in-tune to each other in that way only two people with a shared passion can be. This is geek sex in the best possible way, capturing perfectly the exhileration that comes from innovation.

McKay/Carter/Jonas Quinn

Something To Remember Me By by thekatebeyond - An unusual and fabulously hot threesome, with a Rodney characterization based solely on McKay's SG-1 appearances. This is a Rodney who's not afraid to ask for what he wants. And not above a little gentle manipulation to help things along. The build-up is fast-paced and funny and gloriously in character for all parties and the sex is just incredibly, incredibly hot. thekatebeyond has a definite gift for fast-paced, witty dialogue that really makes the characters come to life.

Crossover

A Thing Decided (res judica) by yin_again - Rodney McKay/Julian Lodge, Rodney McKay/John Sheppard - This is a crossover with the brief-lived Supreme Court drama First Monday, but you don't need to watch the show to read the fic. In fact, it's probably better not to; it's a really, really bad show. So why the crossover? Julian Lodge, senior-clerk to the Chief Justice, is played by Joe Flanigan.

The imminent declassification of the Atlantis project brings a string of dignitaries to Atlantis, including the Chief Justice. Rodney gets roped into diplomatic duty, escorting and briefing Julian Lodge in preparation for the Chief Justice's visit. The attraction between Rodney and Julian is immediate and genuine. Rodney is interested in Julian for himself, not merely because of his uncanny resemblence to John. Nevertheless, Julian's arrival is also the catalyst for a change in John and Rodney's relationship. yin_again deftly balances both relationships, creating a compelling triangle with a resolution that is true and fitting for all three characters.

Gen Fic

A McKay Carol by amireal - A refreshing antidote to all the "scrooge McKay" fic that seemed so popular last December. There's more than one reason why someone might not share in the Christmas spirit. As the author herself says, I don't necessarily see this happening on Atlantis, but I do see it happening in an aweful lot of holiday-themed stories. By telling the story from John's perspective, amireal shows us both sides of the situation, highlighting how easy it is to get so wrapped up in the holiday celebrations that we forget that not everyone shares our joy.

Back to the Old Ways by out_there - A fantastic exploration of Rodney's feelings in the aftermath of his time on the Wraith Enzyme. This story was written before The Hive aired, and so the backstory of how Rodney escaped and John and the others were saved has, of course, been quite thoroughly jossed. But I don't think that detracts from the story at all. The details of Rodney's escape are immaterial, the real interest is in what happens next. How do you go back to life as a normal, slightly clumsy scientist when, for a brief stretch of time, you were more powerful than you've ever imagined was possible? out_there does a great job of capturing Rodney's ambivilant feelings about the enzyme and the way that effects how he relates to those around him, particularly Ronon and John.

Causal Fault by in_wintertime - A fabulous Rodney-centric character study about death and survival in the Pegasus galaxy. A fire in one of the Botony labs leaves two scientists dead and Rodney and the other rescuers high from the fumes. in_wintertime's strength is in her vibrant, lyrical prose. She combines gorgeous description and spot-on dialogue to create a striking look inside the changing landscape of Rodney's brain, and at the way the Rodney who came from earth is slowly dying, changing under the weight of the harsh reality of life in Atlantis.

Control by trinityofone - There's a fine art to writing a good drabble, and trinityofone has mastered it. This is a two part story, 24 drabbles in total covering Season 1 and the beginning of Season 2 through Trinity, told first from Rodney's pov and then mirrored from John's. Each 100 word section is tighly written, bereft of all extraneous words; and they're all the more powerful for their sparseness.

The Guy Who Came In From the Cold by 01100100 - During his exile to Siberia, Rodney comes to terms with his ignominious departure from the SGC and strikes up an unlikely friendship with Russian scientist, Svetlana Markov. It's a gradual character study, showing Rodney's slowly changing perspective as he adapts to his Russian assignment and comes to terms with his anger at Samantha Carter. 01100100 deftly handles his transition from stubborn defensiveness to grudging self-awareness, paralleled by the slow thawing of his relations with his Russian colleagues. A subtle and lovely story.

Independence by laceymcbain - A unique perspective on Rodney and his departure from earth offered by an unusual OC, his cat. It shouldn't work and yet somehow it's perfect. Stylistically this story is perfect. Short, straightforward sentences and a lack of contractions give just a hint of a non-standard pov without overwhelming the story or feeling gimmicky. Sad but in no way sappy, this is a perfect example of how great an experimental and risky to attempt fic can be.

Rescue by tigs - When the rest of the team is captured, it's up to Rodney to mount a rescue. Doing so requires him to bluff the natives, cloaking himself in a confidence that he doesn't really feel. tigs has a great feel for Rodney's internal voice and her characterization is spot-on. It's a short fic, but wonderfully revealing of Rodney's character and of how he's been changed by his time in the Pegasus galaxy.

This Honour is Generally Bestowed Posthumously by spike21 - Trapped in a Wraith coccoon at the end of "No Man's Land," Rodney turns to his favorite coping mechanism, panic. Rodney's alphabetic litany of death is, of course, hilarious, but spike21 uses it for much more than mere comic effect. Rodney's babble may sound hysterical, but in reality it's the only thing holding him together. Rodney's internal and external monologue are terrifically written, and Ronon's subtle baiting is wonderfully revealing of how well he really understands his most impossible temmate.

Twenty Four Hours With a Rodneysaur by maryavatar with illustrations by spaggel - In which Rodney McKay spends 24 hours as a dinosaur. A very small, incredibly cute, dinosaur. The true epitome of Crack!Fic. maryavatar takes a completely impossible premise and makes it work. The characters are all still very much themselves, including dino-Rodney, who is sort of the distilled essence of his regular personality. spaggel's wonderful artwork is a perfect accompaniment making for a story that's just impossibly adorable.

Stargate Atlantis - 9 Recs

And yet more fabulous SGA het for you all, this time two of my favorite snarky McKay pairings, McKay/Carter and McKay/Cadman. One of these stories was previously recced on rec50, meaning that all my recs from there have now been crossposted here.

McKay/Carter

lapsus linguae - a slip of the tongue by agentotter - agentotter writes the best McKay/Carter out there, preserving the prickly nature of their interaction while emphasizing the subtle changes in their professional and personal interaction now that Rodney's in Atlantis. Where once there was merely snark, there is now a flirtatious edge, that leads perfectly into a sweetly awkward first kiss.

de profundis - up from the depths by agentotter - This is just gorgeous, quiet, perfect prose unfolding slowly to reveal layers of meaning. This is a Rodney/Sam story, but it's mostly about Rodney, about reconciling the idea of Sam Carter in his head with the reality of Sam Carter standing beside him.

Solitary Pursuit by lysora - Sam visits Atlantis and surprises both Rodney and herself. A fascinating study of isolation and loneliness, and the need for human contact, for connection. Sam is struck by the vast emptiness of the city, by the resident's isolation from earth and from the rest of the Pegasus galaxy. But it is Sam who is truly isolated, finding a connection in the close-knit community of Atlantis, that has been eluding her on earth. I love the way Sam and Rodney's relationship is drawn here, not as a grand love, but as a real need for touch, for connection. There is tension between them -- his unrepentent, unsubtle flirting, her casual habit of cutting him down and brushing him off -- but there's no malice in it, just familiarity and a spark of something more.

Five Ways Sam and Rodney Have Sex Because of John by Teaphile - Exactly what it says, five short snippets that are alternately sweet, hilarious and sweetly hilarious.

McKay/Cadman

Claim Her Own Skin by reccea - Post-Duet, Laura Cadman feels like a stranger in her own skin and she thinks sex with Rodney is just what she needs in order to get her bearings back. There's a lot of fic dealing with Rodney's feelings in the aftermath of the episode, but reccea is one of the only authors I've seen address what Cadman must be feeling. She really gets inside Cadman's head, revealing a kind of frustrated vulnerability that really makes this pairing work.

All Roads Lead by trinityofone - Five ways Laura Cadman slept with Rodney McKay. From classic cliches to subtle and nuanced romance, trinityofone highlights the many and complex facets of the way McKay and Cadman relate to each other.

Passing Through Gethsemane by moonlettuce - This is an interestingly creepy little ficlet written for mmom. It's Cadman trying out McKay's body, but where another author might have written pure, fluffy porn, moonlettuce recognizes and explores the more disturbing implications of the situation. Really well done, with a really interesting take on Cadman.

Mission Objectives by Teaphile - A fabulously hot little ficlet in which no sex actually appears, just the sudden, overwhelming heat of arousal and the promise of more to come.

Glints in the Night and Commas and Ampersands by lallybroch - GUH. So, McKay/Cadman is totally my new favorite place for snarky, smutty het and OMG does this pair of stories fit that bill. As if the snarky, combative sex isn't hot enough, the second story is told from a fabulous voyeuristic John pov that offers tantalizing hints of a promised final installment.

SGA Rec: And Be One Traveler by Amireal and Trinityofone

So, this is probably the longest single rec I've ever written. And it's deliberately vague. This really is a story best gone into with few preconceived notions. It will surprise and amaze you, I promise that.

And Be One Traveler by amireal and trinityofone

I said last night that I have been "desperately, impatiently waiting" to see this fic posted since before it was even completely written, and I wasn't exaggerating. I have been desperately waiting because I have desperately wanted to talk about this story, to break it down and take it apart and peel back the layers of meaning and emotion and meta that Ami and Trin have so meticulously assembled. Some stories fall apart under too much observation, the act of analysis stripping away the magic of the storytelling; this is not one of those stories. This is the kind of story that begs to be talked about, begs to be written about and analyzed and yes, debated and argued about, because I know this story is not going to be to everyone's tastes.

This is a story that defies definition, every category ill-fitting and constrictive. David Hewlett is one of the two characters from whose pov the story is told, thus it is, in the strictest sense, RPF. But when you take a real-person character and place them completely within a fictional setting such as Atlantis, the term RPF becomes strangely limiting. It's RPF, but it's not only RPF or even primarily RPF, and I think Trin and Ami were right to avoid the term in their header information because it is in some ways a misleading over-simplification.

So, David Hewlett wakes up one morning on Atlantis. And it is nothing and everything like he always thought it would be. Meanwhile, John Sheppard and the rest of the Atlantis cast attempt to grapple with the knowledge that somewhere in another world, the story of their lives airs weekly on the SciFi channel.

It's all very meta. And not just in a *wink wink, nod nod* kind of, superficial way. It's complex and layered and gets right to the heart of some of the key discussions at the center of fandom. It's about dichotomies: fiction vs. reality, actor vs. character, being a SF fan vs. what it might be like to really live in the worlds we read about or watch on TV every week. And it's about blurring those lines, a reminder of how slippery such definitions really can be.

Except that doesn't do the story justice either, it makes it sound all dry and analytical and thinky, and it's not that at all. Mostly, it is just a truly fantastic, richly complicated story. Nearly 70,000 words of John and Rodney and David and all of Atlantis and what happens when they meet and how it changes them all in the end. All the characterizations are brilliant, and the interaction between David and the Lanteans is deftly written, emphasizing the complexity of relationships both within Atlantis and within the SGA cast.

This is fearless writing, pushing boundaries and mixing genres and it works. And it really, really works. It'll take your breath away and make you laugh out loud and break your heart a little bit too. And I love it more than a little. More than a lot even. And I really can't recommend it highly enough.

Stargate Atlantis - 2 Recs

Two fabulous, long, plotty gen stories that were posted just this week.

Sailor's Delight by general_jinjur - Stargate: Atlantis/Buffy the Vampire Slayer - In the 80's cult movie Night of the Comet, two Valley Girls are the only apparent survivors of a mysterious comet that comes in the night and wipes out all life on earth. general_jinjur combines two fictional universes for a brilliant retelling that replaces the ditzy teenagers of the original with two considerably more kick-ass heroines, Dawn Summers and Jeannie McKay. It's a post-apocalyptic road trip with Dawn, Jeannie, two kids and a cat. Really, what's not to love?? The opening scenes with Dawn in Cleveland in particular are effectively creepy, without being overly laden with darkness and despair. Dawn and Jeannie are fabulous characters and general_jinjur really does a great job with both of them, balancing the shock and horror of their situation with the practical resourcefulness they both display in canon.

I Believe in Wishful Thinking by pentapus - A late entry for the reel_sga challenge, and oh was this ever worth the wait. pentapus has turned the obscure Theodora Goes Wild into a hilarious pre-Rising AU. Stymied by the inability to open the gate to Atlantis, Rodney McKay goes in search of a mysterious mathmetician, whose anonymously published paper just might hold the key to solving his problem. His search takes him to a small town in Massachusetts, and the quirky inhabitants, particularly the enigmatic ex-pilot John Sheppard. It's a screwball comedy in the finest tradition of the genre, witty, fast paced and character-driven with a charming cast and a delightfully twisty plot.

C6D RPF - 1 Rec, Due South - 2 Recs

A mini-recs set I made a few days ago especially for lovelokest

43 Degrees Celsius by brooklinegirl - RPF - Callum Keith Rennie/Hugh Dillon/Molly Parker - This is the insanely hot threesome fic I was telling you about at dinner Saturday night. OMG SO HOT. And God, I have such a kink for happy, non-monogamous relationships and this is just so that exactly. And honestly? I'd love it desperately just for that The brain-meltingly hot sex? Just a really nice bonus.

Maple Candy by kalpurna - Due South - Fraser/RayK - Hot, hot, hot tattoo porn written for stop_drop_porn. Fraser tattoo porn. And it works. Really, really, really hot.

Ships by misspamela - Due South - RayK/...someone - This fic is just made of awesome. Hot, angsty, semi-anonymous sex of the very best kind. And the pairing is just the most fabulous thing ever. I NEED more people to write this pairing. Seriously, for the good of fandom.

RPF - Canada Fandom - 1 Rec

The Life Before This by lovelokest - Callum Keith Rennie/David Hewlett - There are lots of reasons to write RPF, but sometimes, yes, combined hotness really is all the excuse you need. Although if you want a better one, DH and CKR were, in the same movie once. All Canadian actors eventually work with all other Canadian actors. It's a rule or something. Anyway, so there was this movie called The Life Before This and Callum Keith Rennie and David Hewlett were both in it, and yeah, this is fandom, does there really need to be a reason for CKR/DH PORN??? Aren't the two of them good enough reason all on there own? Yeah, exactly. *g*

Pirates of the Caribbean - 6 Recs

I recced PoTC for crack_van back in October, and I'm finally getting around to reposting those recs here. All are post-DMC. All gen except where pairing is listed.

The Mystery of Salt and Sea by typicrobots - Another take on Norrington during Dead Man's Chest. Woven through the narrative of DMC, this series of interconnected scenes illuminates both Norrington's emotional state during the movie and his motivations for his actions. It's a deft piece of writing, tight prose and sharp, precise scenes that integrate perfectly into the flow of the movie, both feeding off of and complementing the source material in the way the best fanfic does.

Old Bones by viva_gloria - A fabulous piece of future fic with a creepy, dark twist. Some many years down the road, Elizabeth runs into Captain Jack Sparrow walking down the street in Tortuga. On the surface it's a chance meeting between old friends, but there's an edge to their interaction, a tension borne of a shared past, and past betrayals. I hesitate to say too much about this story, it really is the kind of story best gone into cold. Suffice to say it's as clever and twisty and ultimately unpredictable as Jack and Elizabeth themselves.

Time it Was by the_dala - A kind of companion piece to my last rec: another possible future, another unexpected meeting between old acquaintances. This time it's Will and Tia Dalma who meet up. In a quiet corner of a pub, Will narrates the story of what happens to the love triangle after the Hollywood happy ending, it's not happily ever after, but it's hardly grand tragedy either, just life lived to it's fullest measure, for good and for ill. Dala is one of my favorite writers of Will, and her characterization here particulary rings true for me.

Five Ways of Running for Home by penknife - Jack/Elizabeth, Will/Elizabeth, Jack/Will, Elizabeth/Norrington, Will/Norrington - The whole fandom may be waiting to see what happens in At World's End but the real opportunity for fic writers is what happens after it's all over. Penknife offers up five possibilities in five pairings for what might happen after the journey to the world's end. Penknife has a great feel for all the characters and for the complex web of subtext and desire that connects them. Each of these ficlets ultimately explores one particular pairing, but the format and the Penknife's writing style emphasize the fluidity of relationships in this fandom, how easy it might be for almost any pairing to come to pass.

Commencement by linaelyn - Set between the first two movies, this is a truly novel take on the relationship between Jack and Anamaria. Theirs is an interesting relationship, adversarial but with an undercurrent of affection. And of course there's Jack's debt to Anamaria, the ship she won't let him forget he owes her. Linaelyn has a particular gift for writing the pirate minor characters, bringing the denizens of the Pearl to life in vibrant detail. Although this story is all about Jack and Anamaria, Linaelyn's fleshes out their world with a vivid depiction of life aboard the Pearl and a slowly revealed backstory that is surprising and yet strangely perfect.

Five Ways to Keep From Drowning by homme_sauvage - Sparrow/Norrington - Twenty-four hours in Tortuga with a fallen Commodore. I really like this take on Norrington. He's broken, jagged and razor-edged, but it's not irreparable; he's bitter and caustic but never maudlin. It's a tough line to walk, but homme_sauvage pulls it off fabulously, with this short, but densely packed story.

Miscellany - 7 recs in 6 Fandoms

Some miscellaneous stories most of which have been hanging around in my 'to rec' folder for a while.

The spaceman's idylls tell a foetid tale by jadelennox - Farscape - Poetry - Oh god I love good fan-poetry. It's can be really hard to pull off, but when an author gets it right, it can be fantastic. Like this. A letter from John Chricton to his father. In verse. Cleverly done and just lovely.

Some Living After We Die by Dorinda - Life on Mars - Gene/Sam - Life on Mars is such a wonderfully slashy show, it's remarkable how little slash it's generated. Personally, I see the slashiness, but have real trouble seeing the characters actually following through with it. Which is why I love this story so much. Dorinda gets Sam and Gene's voices, and their fiercely combative relationship, note-perfect, keeping them completely in character, and then taking them that extra step over the line.

Pocket Full of Mumbles by mondschein1 - Hard Core Logo - gen - A fabulous, nicely paced, post-movie fic. mondschein1 focuses on Billy and his new life in Jenifur, but also on John, and on Billy and John's complicated relationship as survivors of Hard Core Logo. I fell in love with the format from the very first; it's a clever blend of interview transcripts and straightforward narrative, each bit of transcript serving to illuminate and lead into the flow of the story.

Once a King by rynne and Always Spring and Never Summer (Once a King, Always, Immortal Remix by tartanshell - The Chronicles of Narnia - gen - A lovely example of one of the many possibilities inherent in remixing. In Once A King, rynne confronts what to me is the biggest unanswered question of the series, how do you go back to being children when you can remember being a King? Where rynne shows us the struggle to adjust immediately after the return through Edmund's eyes, tartanshell ranges further afield, expanding both the points of view and the time frame. Susan's section in particular shows an astute understanding of the most complicated of the Pevensie children

I'm a Musician (Not a Mathematician) by watersword - Singin' in the Rain - Don/Cosmo, Don/Cosmo/Kathy - I love this movie, particularly because of the dynamic between the three leads. Don and Cosmo's is a wonderfully balanced relationship, light and loose and comfortable. It's inevitable that Don's marriage would throw that balance off, or maybe it isn't. Maybe the trick is to find a new balance, integrating the new love into the old. watersword keeps the light tone and the witty banter of the movie while bringing the sexual chemistry between the three leads to the forefront in a truly delightful story.

Smile by coreopsis - Withnail and I - gen - coreopsis earns my undying love for writing Withnail and I fic. Undying Love. This is just such a wonderful fabulously happy-making story, I cannot stop smiling every time I read it. The perfect coda to the movie.

Stargate Atlantis - 17 Genderfuck Recs

You're Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl) by trinityofone - John/Rodney - Genderfucked: Rodney, Cadman - Both bodyswap and genderswap, with some interesting twists. Rodney and Cadman swap bodies and the effect just might be permanent. Trin does a nice job of dealing with the repercussions for both Rodney and Laura and their relationships with each other and with others on Atlantis, but it is her take on John and Rodney's relationship that is the most interesting and complex. I love this version of John, the way so much of his sense of self is tied up in his feelings about his sexuality. I especially love the recognition of the inherent queerness of Rodney and Laura's situation and how that impacts all aspects of their lives..

Nearer to the Miracle by flambeau - John/Rodney - Genderfucked: Rodney - A very, VERY hot little genderswap PWP. Girl!Rodney and John and slow, sleepy sex on a hot Atlantis night. I love this for the hotness, but also because there isn't the usual angst about the nature of their relationship and yet the genderswap and the idea of genderswap is still very much central to the story.

Walk a Mile by havocthecat - John/Elizabeth - Genderfucked: John - I don't, as a rule, read John/Elizabeth. It's just one of those pairings that it's really really hard for me to buy. But this? This I love. First of all, it's HOT. Really really hot. I mean, Girl!John is always hot to me, but Girl!John femslash is like a whole nother level of pretty. And by a) turning John into a girl and b) making Elizabeth the one who's totally in charge of their encounter, havocthecat manages to neatly sideswipe most of my hangups with this pairing.

At the Violet Hour by linaerys - John/Rodney - Genderfucked: John - What if John turned into a girl and nobody noticed? So much genderswap deals with men being transformed into almost stereotypically feminine body types, large breasts, curving hips and such and I'm good with that; I have just such a body type myself, so I can hardly complain. All the same, I find this fic refreshing for the more androgynous form John's transformation takes. By turning John into a woman but having him now pass as a man, linaerys has written a story that is as much about gender and perception as it is about the traditional genderswapped sexual experimentation.

Stunning None the Less by telesilla - John/Rodney - Genderfucked: John - Quite possibly one of the hottest things I have ever read. 600 words that hit SO many of my buttons. It's Girl!John seducing a reluctant Rodney, with banter and snark and John totally fighting dirty. Really, really hot.

Odd One Out by medie - John/Rodney, Girl!John/Ronon - Genderfucked: John. Sort of. - This story broke my heart a little bit. It's sweet and sad and painful in it's inevitability. What if Girl!John were a clone, with all his memories, but no longer his life, an outside observer to everything she remembers once having. A short fic that packs a big emotional punch. Beautiful and painful in equal measure.

With Shifting Change, All Hues and Hand Painted by ladycat777 - John/Rodney - Genderfucked: Rodney - Oh, the joys of mysterious ancient technology, the gift that just keeps on giving to SGA fandom. The mysterious plot device in this case transforms Rodney into a woman and Teyla into a toddler, making for an interesting perspective on the already-existing family dynamic among the team. Meanwhile, John and Rodney struggle to integrate Rodney's new gender into their established relationship. With Shifting Change is a delightful romp of a story, sweet and funny with a sincere emotional underpinning that makes all the relationships very believable. All Hues, on the other hand, is pure, unrefined hotness. A fabulous, smutty, missing scene from With Shifting Change featuring Rodney and a strap-on. The last story in the universe, Hand Painted picks up the morning after All Hues; it's sexy and sweet, with a wonderful, comfortable tenderness to the interaction.

Tab A Slot B by the_drifter - John/Rodney - Genderfucked: Anyone and Everyone - A grand old screwball comedy of a genderswap fic. A mysterious bit of ancient technology first switches the genders of all the men of Atlantis and then of all the women, leaving chaos in it's wake. It's played for humor, but with a serious point underneath. the_drifter addresses the ways in which genderswap is a form of forced transgendering, placing the Atlanteans in bodies that no longer match their internal senses of self. It's an interesting, different perspective on the genre and a great, fun fic.

Sheppard's Choice by cupidsbow - Gen - Genderfucked: John - A sharp, achy little ficlet that could be the first scene of something bigger, but stands just fine on it's own as well. Painful and beautiful in equal measure, this is a brilliant twist on the genderswap trope and an absolutely fascinating take on John's character.

Only Grumpier and With Darker Hair by scribblinlenore - John/Rodney - Genderfucked: Rodney - "In our culture," John told her with an aggressive absence of inflection, "changing someone's gender without asking permission is considered impolite.". Oh, John, you should know by now that things work differently in the Pegasus galaxy. Rodney approaches his enforced womanhood the same way he approaches any problem: with rather a lot of bitching and all the subtlety of a rock, but without letting it slow him down in the least. When Rodney turns to John for help in getting the "full female experience" things, of course, get complicated. It all plays out very much like a romantic comedy, if they made genderswitch romantic comedies, that is. Sexy and funny, with just the right level of angst to make it all the sweeter.

Stand-In by lamardeuse - John/Rodney - Genderfucked: Rodney - Back on earth during the Return Part One, John meets a beautiful woman named Daphne in a bar and the immediately hit it off. She's geeky and funny and interesting to talk to and the sexual tension between them is almost immediate. She is, essentially, everything he likes about Rodney in an attractive female package. As his relationship with Daphne intensifies his long-distance relationship with Rodney becomes more and more strained. A fascinating, sexy twist on the classic genderfuck romance.

Human Vacillation and Grace by trinityonfone - John/Rodney - Genderswapped: Various - I've recced Human Vacillation before, but it's just to good to pass up, so since I'm using the excuse that I haven't recced Grace before to include it here.

My original rec of Human Vacillation, which I still stand by wholeheartedly, says: The most brilliantly original fanfic premise I have read in a long, long time. This is one of those stories where the less you know going in the better. It's genderswap fic. But it's like no genderswap fic you've ever read before. There are layers of story here, and it's so brilliantly woven together that when it all clicks into place it's a true revelation, a moment of "aha, so that's why..." that leaves me breathless every time I read it. I've read this story a lot of times, and every time I notice something different about it, some new hint of backstory and added complexity and depth. Trin has a simple, spare prose style and an ear for truly evocative turns of phrase and never has she used it to better effect then here.

I'm always hoping trinityofone will write more in this universe, so I was extremely excited when she posted Grace. The only sad thing is that it's so short. It's only about 900 words, but they're an absolutely fascinating 900 words, building on and complementing the world created in Human Vacillation and offering some intriguing hints of what the future holds.

Untitled Snippet 1 and Untitled Snippet 2 by eliade - Gen - Genderfucked: Rodney - Just a pair of context-less snippets of girl!Rodney fic. But they're hilarious little snippets and so I couldn't resist including them, especially the first, in which Rodney terrorizes the science staff with his breasts.

girl!Rodney Drabble by kalpurna - Gen-ish - Genderfucked: Rodney - I really don't usually rec drabbles. But then again, most drabbles aren't nearly this hot. Rodney discovers the best thing about his new gender. Scorching hot and, like the best drabbles, a complete story unto itself.

But Some Things Never Stop Being Funny by astolat - John/Rodney/Ronon - Genderfucked: John - Another re-rec, in part because I've wanted to write a longer rec of this story for a while and in part because it's just so damn good, I couldn't bring myself to not include it. What I said before: In less that 1700 words, Shalott manages to hit no less than 3 of my major bulletproof kinks. It's a genderfuck threesome, with Girl!John very much in the middle and it's my current gold standard for scorching hot smut.

And I still stand by every word of that, but there's more to this story than just the smut. It's about John coming to terms with his new body and his new relationship with Rodney. No, not just coming to terms with it, reveling in it, embracing it in all it's flaws and all it's limitless potential.

always should be someone you really love by thingswithwings - John/Rodney - Genderfucked: John and Rodney - This story is my new fannish happy place. I'm afraid I'm actually still too much in the first blush of love with it to really give it the rec it deserves. It's a genderfuck twist on that old slash classic: We're Not Gay, We Just Love Each Other. John and Rodney aren't gay. Except now they're both women. Women who are still attracted to women. So now, in a way, they are kind of gay, attractive and attracted to each other. WNGWJLEO is often a problematic trope for me, but I absolutely adore this take on it. Also, on a shallower note, John and Rodney make really, really hot lesbians.

Maybe Oracle by spike21 - Gen - Genderfucked: Teyla - One of the reasons I love genderfuck so much is the way it can be used to highlight not just the physical differences between genders, but the differences in how society on the whole treats and responds to men and women. Teyla misses a lot of things about being a woman, but it's what she doesn't miss, the new status her new gender suddenly accords her, that is the heart of this story.

Anthropomorfic - 1 Rec

Untitled Anthropomorfic by alyse - Anthropomorfic - Fandom/Meta - alyse is brilliant and a little bit terrifying. NC-17 rated D/s porn in which, to quote her cut tag "Meta bends Fandom over a table and fucks it hard". This? This is why I LOVE fandom. Right here. It's meta-porn and, quite literally, Meta porn. Hilarious and disturbingly hot. So, so wrong, and yet strangely, perfectly right.

Bandom - 5 Recs

Bandom Recs originally posted on crack_van in April of 2007:

Love: The Package Deal by jjtaylor - Don't let the awkward title turn you off, this is one of the best stories to come out of Bandom Big Bang this year. An irrelevant plot point leaves Gerard Way with amnesia, regressed back to a time before he was married and before he'd gotten sober when he was scared and fucked up and hopelessly in love with Frank Iero. Gerard's amnesia forces Frank to reevaluate both his feelings for Gerard and his reaction to Gerard's marriage. This is the best kind of poly relationship story, messy and complex and fraught, not shying at all away from the challenges and complications of successfully navigating multiple relationships. JJ's characterization of Frank throughout the story is fantastic and I especially love how she portrays the often-tense relationship between Frank and Lyn-Z.

This is a Love Song by oliviacirce - Alicia/Mikey/Pete is one of the most popular threesomes in bandom, but it's still rare to find a story that really delves into their relationship as well as this one does. The heart of the story is the complex web of relationships between Mikey, Pete and Alicia. Mikey and Alicia both know how hard it can be to get over Pete Wentz, but the love they share for Pete only strengthens their relationship with each other. They're rock solid perfect for each other and I love the way Olivia Circe writes them. And Pete. Oh, Pete. Pete who's so sure he'll mess any relationship up, so convinced he can't have what he wants. I love Pete in this story, but I hurt for him too.

It's hard to think of anything I don't love about this fic, but I think what I love the most is how rooted this story is in canon. Tour dates and travel and holidays, Alicia's stint filling in on bass with From First to Last and My Chem's tour of Australia, all the little details combine to make for a very strong sense of time and place, a physical grounding for the emotional arc of the story.

Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy by themeletor - This story just fills me with glee every time I read it. It's the Summer of Like and Pete makes it his mission to convince Mikey Way of his own awesomeness and it's just so Pete, sweet and a little off-center and hopelessly endearing. I love how Mel writes Mikey and Pete's relationship here and also the way she sketches out Pete's relationship towards the rest of Mikey's band. But mostly I love how she gets inside Pete's head and his desperate need for Mikey to understand how beautiful he is.

Four Strings, Nine Lives, One Heart: The Jonnie Walker Story, As Told By Master Storyteller William Beckett by joker_and_thief - Nine snapshots from the life of Always-Been-a-Girl Jon Walker, with editorial commentary by William Beckett. I adore the format of this story. The quasi-storytelling style offers glimpses into key moments in Jon's life, but also a great perspective on how the guys of first The Academy Is... and then Panic at the Disco see and relate to Jon somewhat differently as a girl. Being the token girl in an otherwise all-male friend group can be both freeing and stifling in turn, and Joker and Thief does a great job of capturing that dichotomy here, and the way Jon has to balance the guys' protectiveness towards her with her own independence and desire to take care of herself.

Chimerical Romantics by dira - I couldn't let this month end without reccing something by Dira. Dira was the first Bandom author I read and I love everything she's written in this fandom, but Chimerical Romantics is by far my favorite.

Chimerical Romantics is a historical AU, set in some nebulous, undefined point in the mid 1800s. But, where the physical setting of this story is vague, the emotional and philisophical setting is sharply defined. Gerard Way is a Romantic in the grand 19th Century style. Shortly after inheriting the family estate on the Isle of Jersey, Gerard determines to form a secret society, The Chimerical Romantics. They will produce Great Art! And do Good Deeds in service to their fellow men! Frank Iero, a common sailor found ill and injured in an alley near the docks is one of those Good Deeds. Gerard insists on his being brought back to the Way estate to be nursed back to health, and then on bringing him into the Chimerical Romantics.

In the romance that follows, Dira displays an adroit knowledge of the complex class issues that divide Frank and Gerard and an understanding of the period mindset with regards to same-sex desire that is rare to find in fiction of any sort, but especially in fanfic. The greatest challenge facing Frank and Gerard is not their differing social status, it's the completely different ways of seeing and thinking about the world that result from their very different backgrounds. I especially love the way Dira has adapted the characters to fit their historical circumstances while still keeping them very much themselves. Frank, in particular, is both nothing like the Frank we know in background and yet everything like him in attitude and personality, and I absolutely adore this version of him. Basically, I adore every single thing about this story and think everyone should read it and tell Dira how awesome and fabulous she is for having written it!

Shore Leave - Naval Crossover of Doom Rec

Shore Leave by damned_colonial, commodorified and ladybretagne - Horatio Hornblower/Master and Commander/Sharpe/Pirates of the Caribbean crossover orgy-fic of DOOOOM. What do you get when you put five fangirls in a chat room and those five fangirls decide to put 7 Naval officers, 2 Army officers and a pirate in a locked room together? PORN is what you get. 16,000 words thereof. And it's HOT and good and remarkably in character all around. I admit, I'm shamelessly biased with regards to this fic, seeing as how I was intimately involved in it's creation AND got a girlfriend out of the whole thing, but it's been almost four years now and I still think it's one of the hottest things I've ever read, so I kind of doubt that's all bias, you know?

Torchwood - 2 Recs originally posted separately

Trying to Communicate by sam_storyteller - Torchwood. Gen, or as gen as the show gets. Spoilers through ep. 2x07. The funniest thing I have read in a LONG, LONG time.

Get Loved, Make More, Try to Stay Alive by dira - Jack/Ianto, R-ish, 68,550 words. "Less than 19% mpreg by volume." - Time-travel, romance, angsty, kid-fic with a dash of mpreg to get the plot rolling. If you're not an mpreg fan, this still may be the story for you. While there is male pregnancy, it is not the point or the ultimate focus of the story. Conversely, if mpreg is one of your kinks, this story may not satisfy it -- Dira's take on the trope is decidedly non-standard -- but I still hope you'll find the story satisfying in other ways. Mpreg is normally one of my stronger squicks, but I love this story and I absolutely adore beyond measure how Dira handles that aspect of it. This is a story about life and death and working for Torchwood. Mortality and Immortality and everything in between, basically everything I could ever want out of a Torchwood story. It's amazing and gorgeous and just thinking about it fills me with huge amounts of glee. Highly, HIGHLY recommended.

Hard Core Logo/Slings and Arrows - 1 Rec

And Count Myself a King of Infinite Space by aria - Gen - post-Hard Core Logo Billy Tallent meets pre-Slings & Arrows Geoffrey Tennant. Two men who know better than anyone exactly how hard it is to shake off your past. Aria draws parallels between the two stories that I'd never seen and now can't imagine how I ever missed them. Also, her Geoffrey voice is perfect.

White Collar - 7 Recs

Several people asked me for White Collar fic recs, so I thought I'd throw together a list of the stuff that jumped out at me in my initial browsing last night. I welcome further recs in the comments from anyone who's got them.

It's probably a surprise to no-one that I'm all over the Elizabeth/Neal/Peter OT3. The fic comms I’ve had pretty good luck with are whitecollarfic and caffrey_burke, both of which get a pleasing amount of Elizabeth/Neal/Peter fic, and 3_way_collar which is newer, but entirely about the OT3 and thus, I suspect, destined to be my favorite.

Corkscrew and sequels by china_shop - China Shop has been writing a series of short pre-Elizabeth/Neal/Peter stories, which are probably my favorite fic so far in the fandom. The series is at five stories and counting. I’ve linked to Corkscrew, which is the first. Each new installment is linked from the bottom of the previous story, so you can just click right through to read all of them.

Accessories by halcyon_shift - This is a great short Leverage crossover. Gen, unless you count Hardison/tracking anklet as a pairing.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang by oh_mcgee - Enjoyable (and hot) Post 1x03 Neal/Peter with strong hints of Elizabeth/Neal/Peter.

Partners by shadowdancer909 - Super short, pre-slashy ficlet about the way Neal is drawn to Peter. A common theme, I'm finding.

Untitled Commentfic by misspamela - Another super-short one. Neal/Peter pre-slash. Just the right kind of witty banter I love about these two.

Communication by travels_in_time - Five years of Neal's birthday cards to Peter. Another common theme in the early fic, and done wonderfully here.

Catch and Release by linaerys - Pre-series Peter/OMC fic of awesome.