June reccers: volunteer post

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

This entry will be open to volunteers through May 31st. The official list of monthly reccers will be posted on Monday.

Comment with the username you'll be using to rec and the category you want, choosing a category from the list below or selecting a more rare category that has been used in the past. If you want to rec a category that is not on the list below or in the community memories, feel free to ask. Remember that you may volunteer for a category that isn't listed.

By signing up, you are committing yourself to reccing at least two (preferably four) stories in that category during the month of June. May reccers may only sign up for next month after posting their minimum two recs for this month. The FAQ and rec template, with detailed instructions, can be found here.

You must be a member of stargateficrec in order to post, so if you're a new reccer, be sure to join the community.

( categories below the cut )

Remember: first come, first claimed.

Permutationality by sardonicsmiley (PG-13)

[morena-evensong.livejournal.com]

Show: SGA

Rec Category: Rodney McKay
Characters: Rodney McKay, Todd, other wraith, Team
Pairings: hinted one-sided Rodney/Todd, pre-Rodney/John
Categories: Gen, Angst
Warnings: violence, language, mind-fuckery
Author on LJ: Unknown
Author's Website: no more tears
Link: Permutationality

Why This Must Be Read: Author's summary reads: "Rodney gets a crash course in the inner workings of a Wraith Hive. John gets him back."

On the surface that sounds extremely straight-forward. What I love about this story is that it's really not. Just beneath the premise of Rodney spending months on board a wraith hive ship (thankfully he's captured by Todd's hive back when they still had a queen) as a prisoner, forced to help them with their part of the Wraith Civil War. It's an obvious parallel to when Todd was on Atlantis helping to defeat the replicators. sardonicsmiley takes that premise one step further, though, and shows us a side of the hive we didn't get to see on the show, the one that stems from the reality of the hive being an organism. And, of course, the longer Rodney spends in the hive, the more he begins to understand how it works and the more he begins to see the wraith themselves as more than just evil spacemonsters.

The term Stockholm Syndrome is never once out-right stated and I think what actually happens isn't quite as straightforward as that. While Rodney does start seeing his captors as individuals, he never truly does sympathize with them and his end goal never stops being rescuing the humans being kept on board as food. Even if he does accidentally save the Queen. Oops.

Word of warning: while the hinted one-sided Rodney/Todd is actually done in a way that isn't nearly as creepy as it sounds, if the idea of the pairing really does squick you then DO NOT go on to the follow-up snippet linked to at the bottom of the story. It does actually add a bit more context to the story itself, but not in a way that's necessary. And it's rated R with dub-con Rodney/Todd and Rodney/Hive (no orgies and no tentacles though, I promise).

( snippet of fic )

Touching Secrets by Keira Marcos (PG)

[squidgiepdx]

Show: Stargate Atlantis

Rec Category: Slash
Characters: Rodney McKay, John Sheppard
Pairings: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Categories: Slash
Warnings: None
Author on LJ: keiramarcos
Author's Website: Keira Marcos
Link: Touching Secrets

Why This Must Be Read: This is easily the most intimate, the most beautiful, the most intriguing standalone stories that exists in the SGA fandom. It breaks your heart in places, makes your blood run cold in others. It is about a makeshift confessional area on Atlantis that the Expedition members use, though anonymously. And even if the SGA wants it removed, Atlantis herself has a say in keeping it there.

But mostly it's a love story between John and Rodney. Secrets shared, secrets held. Utterly beautiful. And though I've seen this requested on sgastoryfinders before, I don't see it recced here under either "slash" or "Sheppard/McKay".

( snippet of fic )