Poets of the Fall by azure_horizon (G)

[asugar.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: John Sheppard
Pairing: none
Category: John Sheppard, Team, Character study, Gen, John Sheppard & Teyla Emmagan friendship
Warning: Poetry from the dead, white, European males Western canon
Author on LJ: http://azure-horizon.livejournal.com
Author's Website: her LJ or http://www.fanfiction.net/u/244977/Gater101
Link: http://azure-horizon.livejournal.com/62424.html

Why This Must Be Read: azure_horizon really moved me with the short and sweet Poets of the Fall. Like John Sheppard, there is a surfeit of emotion and subtext swirling beneath the surface of this fic. Somehow she evokes the emotions I associate with the season of autumn (regret, nostalgia, chances lost and new beginnings on the way) as well as some lovely and subtly telling interactions among the team. The imagery is gorgeous, particularly Teyla's memories of Athos, fitting of the mentioned poets. The author uses Teyla's POV very well and the reader shares her fond amusement at her boys as they bicker during a meal.

Ostensibly a team fic, this is really a character study of Sheppard and his very different but equally strong friendships with Rodney, Ronon and Teyla. This author understands a truth that so many do not: that one of the joys of friendship is how one can share with each friend very different bonds, activities and sides of yourself but that these variances increase and do not lessen the importance of each relationship.  You cherish each person more for that which only you two share.

I laughed out loud when Ronon gleefully delivers a little comeuppance to Rodney's belief that he knows everything about John (when he really only knows what John allows him to know). It rings true that Ronon would be trusted to safeguard more of John's secrets. I also love how the wonderfully prolific azure_horizon explores John and Teyla's friendship in all her stories; she really captures the intensity and closeness of their bond and how much remains unsaid yet understood between them. By the end of the story it's clear that it's Teyla who knows John Sheppard best of all.

Contemporary Wushu by Pares aka kormantic (G)

[asugar.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Ronon Dex
Pairing: none
Category: Ronon Dex, Bra'tac, Gen, Humor, Teal'c, Teyla Emmagan
Warning: None
Author on LJ: http://kormantic.livejournal.com/
Author's Website: http://www.kormantic.com/
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/choc_fic/48786.html

Why This Must Be Read: You probably don't think of Bra'tac as particularly funny. This story will change that. Contemporary Wushu, short and sweet, features the bout of Ronon versus Bra'tac and the very enjoyable bone dry humor of Teal'c and Teyla as they watch. The fight is evocatively written; I could visualize while reading each move and countermove as punctuated by Bra'tac's taunts. It turns out the Jaffa master can crush as easily with his words as his staff. My favorite part is probably the little throwaway lines (Rodney and John have a laugh-out loud exchange), Bra'tac as the most lovable badass of all time and the characterization of Ronon up against something he's never encountered before, someone who can best him easily.

Kraftwork by Thea (G)

[asugar.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Cameron Mitchell
Pairing: None
Category:Cameron Mitchell, Gen, Crackfic, Humor, Vala MalDoran, Daniel Jackson
Warning: Misuse of government property
Author on LJ: http://thassalia.livejournal.com
Author's Website: none known
Link: http://thassalia.livejournal.com/249861.html

Why This Must Be Read: Made of pure crack and that punchy absurdity that hits you very late at night, Kraftwork is one of the best combinations of Cam, paperwork, Vala, Jello, budgets, Daniel and the messhall I've seen. Appropriately, this is the jelloshot of the "Cam copes with the insanity of his team" fic genre, one short gulp that leaves you a little silly and warm feeling.

The Four Moments Ronon Realized He Loved Someone... by kristen999 (G)

[asugar.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Ronon Dex
Pairing: None
Category: Ronon Dex, Character study, Gen, John Sheppard, Team, John Sheppard and Ronon Dex Friendship
Warning: None
Author on LJ: http://kristen999.livejournal.com/
Author's Website: http://kristen999.livejournal.com/147839.html
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/sga_flashfic/785435.html

Why This Must Be Read: It's been impossible so far this month for me to pick a favorite kristen999 John Sheppard story but since she captures Ronon Dex equally beautifully and insightfully, I compromised and chose my favorite of her stories focusing on Ronon and his friendship with John. This author excels at many genres and story lengths; this happens to be one of her shortest and, in my mind, most emotionally powerful works.

I can't say enough how much I love The Four Moments Ronon Realized He Loved Someone From Atlantis and the One Time He Knew All Along. Despite what the title might suggest, this is a completely gen take on the five things story form. In fact, I find this an exemplar of how to write gen and platonic love well. The author uses her customary spare and piercing prose to evoke both humor and angst. Ronon's POV feels achingly right in his characterization and reflects the the ways he evolves as he slowly allows himself to trust and feel at home in Atlantis, even down to the order and the way in which he's won over by each person. I am haunted by its images and moved every time I reread how over the period of several years Ronon assesses, comes to know and then, despite himself, love Teyla, Rodney, Weir and Keller yet immediately recognizes a platonic soulmate and brother in the broken and self-sacrificing Sheppard and a leader worthy of following to hell and back.

Not Enough Beer, by Aelfgyfu (PG)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Jack and Sam friendship
Pairing: none
Categories: Jack and Sam friendship, Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter, gen, angst, episode related, character study
Warnings: some language
Author on LJ: aelfgyfu_mead
Author's Website: Aelfgyfu's Mead Hall
Link: Not Enough Beer (feedback on LJ)

Why This Must Be Read: Here's a rarity for you all: a fic rec that takes place in S6, and isn't a tag for Abyss, Changeling, or Full Circle! :)

In the wake of Unnatural Selection, Sam pays Jack an off-duty visit and finds him on his roof, drinking a little too much beer as he contemplates what they've done. The conversation that follows is marvelous, as Sam argues both sides and challenges Jack with her questions about what is right and what is justified. There's the callback to what happened to Reese, Jack's struggle with self-doubts when the man who used to make him question himself is off in Omaland, and Sam's unshakable conviction in the nature of trust. All in all, Aelfgyfu treats us to a powerful character study with an excellent Jack POV, and you'll find yourself shifting perspective along with Jack and Sam.

( snippet of fic... )