InsaneJournal

Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 15 & 16
Day 15: Paper Tiger

Something to Remember You By by hestia_lacey 3/5
17,000 words. In 1942, John Sheppard meets Rodney McKay.

There was a bit of a kerfuffle with this fic when a commenter pointed out how similar it is to Missed the Saturday Dance. I don't think this is a case of plagiarism by any means, but I do agree that there are a lot of similarities, more than just them both being set in WWII (the other WWII fic written for this year's Match didn't feel similar). I would be surprised if the author hadn't been influenced by Dance, whether consciously or unconsciously.

That said, I do like the framing device of the relative coming to find John, and I actually think this story was a lot better done than Dance was. Dance suffered from multimedia syndrome, concentrating on the flashy extras to the detriment of the story. But! This is not about Dance. This is about this fic. Which is quite enjoyable. And I was also glad to see Teyla and Ronon not completely missing (even Ford was there!).

Also, I've now read three SGA WWII AUs and they all take place in England. Anyone know why?

Walking Backwards by wintercreek 2/5
9300 words. Rodney's getting everything he always thought he wanted. But what if he already had it and didn't know?

Well, "John and Rodney get accidentally married by those wacky natives" is not a trope I'm fond of, and I'm afraid this didn't do anything to change my mind. In general the writing was fairly good, but it had pacing problems and the resolution was way too easy. Rodney's been gone and never once tried to get in touch, but John takes him back in two seconds and there's absolutely no tension. Meh. I wasn't too thrilled with how Jennifer was written, either, though at least she wasn't a horrible bitch, just sort of bland and two-dimensional.

Day 16: Fool's Paradise

Fly Away by badwolf36 2/5
8300 words. Rodney has his perfect life with John on a sabbatical away from Atlantis. And a few nightmares were just the rewards of actually surviving to retirement age in the Pegasus Galaxy. Nothing to worry about at all.

This starts off as a horribly sappy futurefic that made me double check to make sure I was reading Team War and not Team Fluff Peace. But soon it becomes obvious that this reality isn't reality, and Rodney is hallucinating while being tortured. The idea is very cool. Just...the writing needs a lot of work. Among other things, a lot of the dialogue was really cringeworthy. Still, the idea is one of the better ones in the fest.

He Makes a Solitude and Calls It Peace by villainy 2/5
10,200 words. "I always thought the Vulcans had a point."

The idea for the civilisation they found was interesting, but it felt like the author ran out of time while writing it. Just as they get to the interesting part and find out about the modified Wraith enzyme, the story ends. They never figure out where it came from or why the Wraith have stayed away from the planet. Everything is just left hanging.

Also I wasn't fond of the characterisation. I dislike it when people write Rodney as if he's all puppies and rainbows, but this 100% asshole take was grating, too. He's an asshole in canon for sure, but he's a little more rounded. Plus on the show, the team (and Elizabeth) actually act like they like each other. Here Rodney seemed to hate Elizabeth, who was written as The Evil Bitch (TM), which seemed pretty OOC yet sadly standard characterisation for women in fanfic, and there was none of the friendly banter and camaraderie between John, Rodney, Ronon, and Teyla. Instead they all seemed oddly hostile towards each other.