Stargate Fic Recommendations

Rec Category: Sam Carter
Pairing:Sam/Daniel
Category: Sam Carter, Daniel Jackson, Sam/Daniel, character study, first time, het,
Warning: sex
Author on LJ synecdochic
Author's Website: Venus in Furs
Link: On Website: Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well
On LJ: Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well

Why This Must Be Read:
This story is part of synecdochic's Eurydiceverse- an accidental series; the one where they're all just a little not well. The author describes this story as semi-explicit because Sam's too much of a Good Girl to get as explicit as some of the E'verse stories. Plus, it's set in season 4, so they aren't yet as unwell as they will become.

What we have here is, yes, ultimately a coupling of Sam and Daniel, but there is so much going on both in the words and between the words I had to read this fic twice and I'm still sure I'm missing details. synecdochic gives us a Sam who is learning to come out of her shell and into herself, learning to understand and ask for what she needs from men and a Daniel who is much more manipulative than Sam believes or lets herself see, but uses his skills only to give Sam what he knows she needs, and if she comes out better for it, he isn't going to regret his methods.

This whole story is a fantastic character study - a slow progression of the characters drawing to their inevitable conclusion, Sam being both honest to herself and yet lying to herself - seeing reality and yet twisting it around, seeing what Daniel's doing and yet not quite believing it because that would take Daniel off the pedestal she has him on. There's way more going on here than I can possibly explain, so I just urge you to go read. Possibly more than once.

( sneak preview )

Rec Category: Sam Carter
Pairing: Sam Carter / Daniel Jackson
Category: Sam Carter, Daniel Jackson, Sam/Daniel, character study, het
Warning: sex
Author on LJ raqs
Author's Website: Dith Fic
Link: On Website: Unreasonable
On LJ: Unreasonable

Why This Must Be Read:
I had assumed someone would have beaten me to this rec long ago, so I was shocked to find it had never been recced in either the "Daniel," "Sam," or "Sam/Daniel" categories. "Unreasonable" is a fantastic Sam Carter character study - a simple moment at home between missions has Sam thinking about the normal life she gave up on having in exchange for the exciting life she chose at SGC. raqs explores the internal struggle Sam has between the desire for a normal life - a home and a husband and everything society says she is supposed to want - and the love she has for the life she lives and people she works with.

What follows is a wonderful conversation with Daniel that, yes, does lead to sex, but it's much more them acknowledging how deep their friendship is than it is a Sam/Daniel relationship and we watch Sam understand herself better, and also see Daniel and everything Daniel dreamed about and everything he's lost, and everything she has, even if it doesn't include a white picket fence.

This (along with surreallis's Blue Jell-o Metaphor) is one of the seminal fics for me in terms of understanding who Sam Carter is inside her own head. Even if you don't read ship or sex in fic, I recommend at least reading the first half simply for the exploration of Sam.

( sneak preview )

Rec Category: Sam Carter
Pairing: Sam/Daniel
Category: Daniel Jackson, Sam Carter, episode related, Sam/Daniel, robot team, het, Jack O'Neill, Teal'c
Warning: sex
Author on LJ: zorb
Author's Website: Fic LJ: lunatic_z, website: Zorb's stargate fic
Link: Clinging as Condition (Bhava Rising)

Why This Must Be Read:
zorb takes off from the end of "Tin Man" to explore what the early days of life on Harlan's planet were like for the robot team. Told from Daniel's PoV, she gives us a richly detailed story about adjusting to new lives and exploring what it means to be alive and what it means to be mechanical and how much who you are matters when you know you're a robotic replica of yourself. Each member of the team reacts differently and wonderfully in character and it's especially well done that this is obviously the team of season one - the team that hasn't yet experienced and learned so much about each other and the universe, the team that hasn't fully developed the trust and understanding we get later.

In many ways Jack has the hardest time adjusting, Teal'c is the most calm about the changes and Daniel is still largely tied to Sha're, but it is Sam who undergoes the biggest changes as she adjusts to her new world. This is ultimately a Daniel/Sam story, but there is also a lot to love for people who aren't interested in that pairing.

( sneak preview )