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[theemdash]

Rec Category: Jack/Daniel
Pairing: Jack/Daniel
Category: Humor, Slash
Warning: none
Author on LJ: icarusancalion
Author's Website: http://www.icarus.slashcity.net
Link: http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/stories/wallsofjericho.html

Why This Must Be Read: Icarus is one hell of a writer. If I continue reccing this category, I'll eventually rec all her of stuff.

The particular draw of 'The Walls of Jericho' is how in character she writes. Jack and Daniel are truly men, here. Also, Icarus doesn't forget canon and reflects on and recognizes the canon events that have shaped these characters. (Also, she writes an excellent pissed off, frustrated Jack.)

One of my favorite parts of "The Walls of Jericho' is that there's a plot. An actual plot.

Oh, and tent sex. ;)

( Excerpt (a wee bit long) )

Walk on Water by dirty_diana (NC-17)

[shadadukal]

Rec category: Cameron Mitchell/ Daniel Jackson
Pairing: cameron/daniel, cameron/carolyn
Category: porn, slash, het
Warning: slash, het

Author on LJ: dirty_dianaAuthor's website: http://shockingpink.compromisingpositions.net
Link: http://shokingpink.compromisingpositions.net/stargate/water.html

Why this must be read: This story really offers a lot: great characterization (esp of Mitchell), exploration of the relationship between Cameron and Daniel, team action, bits of Cameron/Carolyn, Landry (worth noticing, I don't see him making apparitions in many fanfics), great porn as well as a wonderful melancholy.  The author's stlye is really captivating and makes you empathize with the characters. A trully great work that no fan of Cameron/Daniel should miss.

The Unofficial Evolution Series, by Karen Greim Mullian (R)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Episode Fix

Pairing: none
Category: episode fix, Daniel Jackson, Jack and Daniel friendship, angst, hurt/comfort, character study
Warning: torture (including non-explicit rape), graphic medical details, psychological breakdown
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's Website: Stargate SG-1 Slightly Off-Base
Link: The Unofficial Evolution, part 2 (links to subsequent parts on the page)

Why This Must Be Read: Don't be confused by the fact the first section is labeled "part 2," as the author started writing this immediately after viewing the first part of Evolution from the seventh season. If you thought Daniel had a hard time on the show... hoo, boy.

This fic is a difficult read, because it's so good.

In this story, Daniel spends a lot more time in captivity in Honduras, and the treatment is a lot more vicious than what we saw in the actual episode. By the time Jack gets there, Daniel has nearly been deconstructed entirely. It's up to Daniel, with a lot of support from Jack and his friends at the SGC, to claw his way back. Never one to play the victim, even when that role is forced upon him, Daniel finally manages to make a full recovery. The snippet of fic I chose to include here shows Daniel's characteristic determination to always, always fight back.

One of the reasons why this bleak story reads so well is that it's painfully realistic. A person suffering burns untreated in the jungle, and denied treatment against malaria, is not going to bounce back easily. His phycial recovery is slow, in fits and spurts, and painfully difficult - returning to the States is out of the question at first, and much of Daniel's distress at that point is excaberated by his inability to go home. And, much like Daniel's utter shock at what happened on Bedrosia - when he was tortured not by the Goa'uld, but by human beings - Rafael becomes a much more immediate specter than the suffering Daniel has faced in the past. Daniel's psychological recovery takes much, much longer, as he has to break the blind wall of self-defense to face what really happens before he can accept it and rise above it.

It's only on television that a person can face such trauma and then walk away. In this powerful story, Karen clearly shows the immense struggle demanded by Daniel's horrible experiences. The most moving parts of this fic is the support that Daniel receives from everyone at the SGC, from Janet and Hammond down to wonderfully stoic Sergeant Siler, who plays a suprisingly large role. There are setbacks and crises, but Daniel, with his friends' help, meets them and manages to surmount them.

Daniel's psychological breakdown is frighteningly real. Even when Daniel seems to have fully recuperated physically, there's still obvious signs that all is not well in Jacksonville. I've recommended one of Karen's stories before, and as I noted then, this woman is scarily good at writing creepy hallucinations and dream sequences. The intended emotional nadir for Daniel is, I think, supposed to be when he finally fully remembers what happens and is psychosomatically blinded by the trauma; but when I read this fic, Daniel's bleakest moment was when he went into medical crisis in Cuba on the same night that Jack, emotionally and physically drained, took a single night off of constant Daniel-care to recuperate. I'd be interested to know what other readers thought of this.

My biggest problem with this story  - admittedly, a petty one! - is that Dr. Lee is called "William." I find it somewhat distracting. I suppose that back when season seven was airing, we didn't yet know him as Bill. :) He, too, plays a strong part, and a painful one - the fellow prisoner who struggled along with Daniel, who gave him a reason to keep going, and then saw too much that Daniel didn't want him to witness. From the scenes in the Gitmo hospital, to their interactions at the SGC, to the final scene in Bill's home, Daniel's and Bill's recoveries are intertwined.

This story is hard to read, but well worth it. Still, you might want to consider having something fluffy to read afterwards!

( Snippet of fic... )

The Petty Needs of the Goa'uld, by Jemima Pereira (G)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Episode Fix

Pairing: none
Category: episode fix, drabble, Daniel Jackson, team, humor
Warning: none
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's Website: Jemima's Chevron

Link: The Petty Needs of the Goa'uld; all of Jemima's ep-based drabbles are here.

Why This Must Be Read: Too many intense recs! Time for something lighter.

Since my own writing tends to be long and rambling (astute community members might have noticed this), I admire an author who can write with enough focused intensity to get the point across in a mere hundred words. In this fun little drabble tag to Fair Game, Jemima takes Daniel's willingness to "volunteer to see to the petty needs of the Goa'uld" and turns our expectations on their ear. Anything that can make Teal'c laugh, especially after his confrontation with Cronus, has got to be a good thing!

I have not yet had the chance to browse through the rest of Jemima's drabbles, but based on my reaction to this one, I suspect that they're all just as good. :)

Points in Time, by Brenda Anders (PG-13)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Episode Fix

Pairing: none
Category: episode fix, Daniel Jackson, team, Jack and Daniel friendship, character study
Warning: none
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's Website: Brenda Anders at Bunnyfic

Link: COTG here; you can follow the links to each subsequent section, or go to individual parts here (about halfway down the page)

Why This Must Be Read: This series is one of the best episode tags out there. Period. It's also one of the best Jack and Daniel friendship series out there, and it's tempting to rec it in both categories at once, but there's no sense in getting entirely carried away, is there?

The format of this series is simple: Each one opens and closes with an excerpt from Daniel's journal, while the episode itself is retold from various points of view, mostly Jack's or Daniel's. Quotes from the actual episode highlight the changes in POV. The series follows many of the pivotal episodes of the first four seasons; I believe there are additional episode fixes that were published in fanzines, but I don't know if Brenda ever intends to release them online.

While the first few stories are more team-oriented, the series quickly focuses more intently on the Jack and Daniel dynamic. And it's really, really good. The voices are real, the characterization is sound, and we get to watch and enjoy the slow evolution of Jack, Daniel, and their friendship throughout the first four seasons of the show.

My personal favorites include Solitudes - I must be one of three SG-1 fans who think the SGC half of that episode was much more interesting than the Antarctica half - The Fifth Race, Shades of Grey, and the section that includes both Forever In a Day and Past and Present, rightfully putting the two together as both tragedy and subsequent recovery. All of these are wonderful, however, and once you've started reading them, it'll take more willpower than I have to stop yourself from continuing on from one episode to the next.

( Snippet of fic... )

Suicidium, by DawnC (PG-13)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Episode Fix

Pairing: none
Category: episode fix, Daniel Jackson, team, angst, hurt/comfort
Warning: attempted murders
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's Website: Stargate SG-1 Angst Fiction

Link: Suicidium title page, with links to story parts

Why This Must Be Read: After previously reccing an episode fix for Forever In a Day with a decidedly happy ending, I suppose it's only fair to balance the scales with Suicidium, a bleak story that nevertheless concludes with the rifts in SG-1 healed and Daniel persevering in his quest to find Sha're's son.

Maybourne, still angry at Daniel's involvement in rescuing the Tollans during the events of Enigma, seizes the opportunity of Sha're's death to get rid of Daniel entirely. His initial murder attempt, designed to look like suicide, is thrwarted by Jack's timely appearance; but the apparent suicide attempt is enough to get Daniel removed from the SGC. Frantic to keep his final promise to Sha're despite everyone's conviction that his vision had been nothing more than a delusion, Daniel goes rogue, leaving through the Stargate on a solo quest to find Kheb and "the boy."

One of the best aspects of the story is the tight continuity, referencing many past episodes without being pedantic. Daniel visits Nem, the Land of Light, and the Byrsa; the Tollan and the Tok'ra come to the SGC. Maybourne, in his persistent efforts to demolish Daniel's reputation, puts together a report of past events, including Need, Hathor, and Legacy. The story doesn't take place in a vacuum, but rather within the context of past events - as it should be.

While a wounded Daniel wanders through the galaxy in search of clues to Kheb, the remaining members of SG-1 do their best to clear his name and find a way to locate him and bring him home. And when even that might not be enough, SG-1 goes to the limit - and, in Teal'c's case, even beyond - to get to the truth and reinstate Daniel, both as their friend and their team member.

Lots of angsting and Danny whumping. Lots of teamy goodness, with special emphasis on the Daniel/Teal'c angst after Sha're's death and support from Jack. Smarmy Maybourne, for those people who are odd enough to like him, and lots of nasty politics. Hammond defending his people within the framework of his orders. Janet at her spitfire best.

All that has got to be enough to tempt you, isn't it? :)

( Snippet of fic... )