Sight by Melyanna (pg-13)

[quiet-fractures.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Sheppard/Weir
Pairing: Sheppard/Weir
Category: AU, Romance
Warning: none
Author on LJ: melyanna
Author's Website: Mirror, Mirror
Link: Sight

Why This Must Be Read:

John and Elizabeth, medieval times enough said.
Seriously melyanna manages to write the greatest AU's and this is one is just as good. I loved how she managed to incorporate as much of Atlantis as she possibly could without it being Atlantis. John a Knight and Elizabeth Queen of Atlantis, it had to be done :)

White Lies by solvent90 (R)

[justabi.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Rodney McKay/Ronon Dex
Pairing: Rodney/Ronon
Category: Atlantis, Drama, Romance, little bit of Humor
Warning: None
Author on LJ: solvent90
Author's Website: Author's Memories
Link: White Lies


Why This Must Be Read: I adore Rodney and Ronon bonding on the hive ship fics. There should be more of them. But if I could only have one, it would be this one. It's got pretty much everything I wanted out of that scenario before we hit the start of the new season (no season three spoilers).

Rodney is lamenting their almost certain demise and asks Ronon to lie to him. “They’re not going to kill us, McKay. Atlantis will come get us.” It's the first little white lie they exchange, but not the last. Their lies are things they want to be true, expectations they hope will be met, and promises they don't fully understand that they are making that get them through.

In the Hands of Yes by Hth (NC-17)

[justabi.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Rodney McKay/Ronon Dex
Pairing: Rodney/Ronon
Category: Atlantis, Drama, Romance, Angst
Warning: None
Author on LJ: hth_the_first
Author's Website: Martial Law
Link: In the Hands of Yes


Why This Must Be Read: I adore Rodney and Ronon's relationship in this story; it feels real to me in a way that most Rodney/Ronon stories don't. It's just a relationship like two real people might have. Somewhat odd people living sort of odd lives, no doubt, but still very real. That however, isn't what I love so much about this story.

John Sheppard is a hard character to nail down. He's a handsome, charming guy with no ties to anybody but his team on Atlantis and nobody thinks that's just a little weird. This story has a great characterization of that inherent part of John that can't settle down. His whole identity is tied down in it and his friendships with the others on his team are rooted in it, so when his certainty about that kindred quality he's found with them is shaken, so is John. I can't tell you how much I love John being this level of woobie about someone else's relationship and not have it be all manufactured teen-aged jealous angst.

So, to summarize, come for the great, hot, realistic Rodney/Ronon, stay for the grown-up John angst.

Pianoforte by Mirabile Dictu (NC-17)

[justabi.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Rodney McKay/Ronon Dex
Pairing: Rodney/Ronon
Category: Atlantis, Romance, Humor
Warning: None
Author on LJ: mirabile_dictu
Author's Website: Mirabile Dictu's Fanfiction
Link: Pianoforte

Why This Must Be Read: When Ronon had first joined Sheppard's team, he couldn't understand why they let McKay off Atlantis. If he was as valuable as he said he was, he should be protected as any prized resource; if he wasn't, then he should shut up. Now Ronon knew that McKay was even more valuable than he boasted, but he also understood why they let him go.

If I were to write the basic foundations for Rodney/Ronon, this would be one of them (along with bonding over food, which god knows you have to love, but can't be everything.) The thing is that we don't really know much about Ronon, and that can be limiting. Or in this case, it can make all the difference, because without any canon to go by, fic authors like this one are free to create backgrounds that somehow just work for the character that allow him to bond over something that isn't weaponry or food, in this case music.

This story is gorgeous and sweet and fun and more importantly, Ronon offers to shoot a piano. Doesn't get better than this.

Kept By Ourselves In Silence and Apart by The Spike (NC-17)

[justabi.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Rodney McKay/Ronon Dex
Pairing: Rodney/Ronon
Category: Atlantis, Drama, Angst
Warning: Torture
Author on LJ: spike21
Author's Website: The Spike's Slash Pages
Link: Kept By Ourselves In Silence and Apart

Why This Must Be Read: Ah, the smell of prison sex and torture in the morning! This story is dark and delicious and it hurts. Of all the bonding over torture and shared confinement stories, this is my favorite. They keep each other sane, while they're prisoners and after. The sex is all about comfort and solidarity, but it's still... manly, which sounds funny, but isn't. There's even male bonding over tattoos.

The Dark Side by Shalott (PG-13)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Sheppard/McKay
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay
Category: AU, AU, AU, so AU, and a Crossover besides
Warning: Slash
Author on LJ: astolat
Author's Website: Intimations
Link: The Dark Side

Why This Must Be Read: Oh, hahahahah hee-hee, ha-ha-- *cough, cough, wheeze*

Okay. Now that I have myself slightly under control, I will attempt to say in a deep portentious voice, breath hissing through the Darth Vader mask: "This is for the Dark Side challenge at sga_flashfic."

Rodney is best Jedi knight ever, and by "best" I mean whining, complaining, bitching and irritated at Yoda who's sent him to a squelchingly green planet to get him out of his (sizeable) comfort zone.

Where he meets a Sith Lord. I leave it to you to enjoy how unimpressed the Sith Lord is, and to discover Rodney's very real talents.

"You're not a very good Jedi, are you?" the Sith Lord said.
"Oh, excuse me, I am an excellent Jedi," Rodney said.

Time Cannot Benumb These Feelings by The Pouncer (R)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: John/Rodney
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay
Category: Military fic, yes, making up categories again, I know, but "Dark" is just too vague
Warning: Violence, Potentially disturbing subject matter
Author on LJ: thepouncer
Author's Website: The Carousel
Link: Time Cannot Benumb These Feelings

Why This Must Be Read: When they dropped bombs on Baghdad in 2003, the fighter pilots played The Clash's "Rock The Casbah" over their headphones. "The Sharif don't like it / Rock the Casbah, Rock the Casbah!" Word hit the press and the U.S. public was horrified at their callous attitude. But these were soldiers. They knew they weren't dropping piñatas on the enemy.

How often do we forget that John Sheppard's a soldier? One who's seen real combat against other humans, not just the Wraith?

thepouncer doesn't forget. In this stand-off with a human enemy, John is every bit the soldier, willing to do serious damage to accomplish his aims. This story harkens back to rivier's brilliant "Exigencies."

What thepouncer also reminds is that, for all that Rodney's worked for the military most of his life, he is not a hardened fighting man. Thank goodness.



( They look like extras from The Road Warrior. )

(I confess, I'm hoping to see more military stories at the sga_flashfic Dark Side challenge before it closes.)