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Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 27 & 28
11/11/09 06:22 am
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 25 & 26
11/8/09 12:54 am
Day 25: Piece of the Action
Zugzwang by earlwyn 4/5 Recommended 29,300 words. Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. Rodney finds that relationships are a lot like that, too. ( A bit confusing, but overall enjoyable. )
Day 26: Carpe Diem
Memento Mori (Seize the New Day) by neevebrody 4/5 Recommended 21,300 words. Disgraced and shunned, Rodney McKay finds a way to fight back with the help of a rogue cop and a motley band of scientists. ( Really neat dystopian future. )
Heroes with a Plan by monanotlisa 2/5 11,600 words. The present was yesterday. ( Cute, though I wasn't that thrilled with the last third or so. )
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 17 & 18
10/22/09 03:09 am
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 9 & 10
10/10/09 11:56 pm
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 5 & 6
10/4/09 05:49 am
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 3 & 4
10/2/09 08:10 am
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 1 & 2
9/30/09 12:12 am
Well, I still haven't finished reading everything for Match, but I figured now that the names have been revealed, I can start posting the reviews for what I have read.
Day 1: Top of the World
Atmosphere by indy_go 2/5 2900 words. Nowhere else to go but up. ( Cute enough if you like fluff, but even then it's pretty bland. )
Day 2: Tilting at Windmills
Where the Brave Dare Not Go by telesilla 4/5 Recommended 18,000 words. John Sheppard has had over twenty years to come to grips with the fact that every four or five weeks, he turns into a mountain lion. Like most Were, he accepts that that's just the way it is, and so he's not particularly interested when he learns that researchers at the local university are trying to to develop drugs that will help Were control their cycles. Then he meets Dr. Rodney McKay, a brilliant but irascible biochemist with reasons of his own for spearheading the university's Were research and John suddenly finds himself struggling with more than just his attraction to McKay. ( I really enjoyed this, despite not being a fan of the werewolf genre. )
The Ingenious Dr. Rodney McKay of Atlantis by propinquitine 2/5 10,600 words. Who would have thought that defeating the Wraith was the least of Rodney's worries? ( Fairly well-written old-school-feeling slash. )
Fic reviews: SGA
8/31/09 04:03 am
Fic reviews: Stargate: Atlantis
1/8/09 02:17 am
Oh hey, would you look at that. I took a break in my fanfic reading, but I had a couple reviews written up on my harddrive, and then the last two were holiday exchange fics I betaed that I can now talk about after reveals, and tada, magically there's a review post.
Right Here Next to Yesterday by sageness 3/5 5300 words. Kate woke to the chirp of a radio and the rustle of Teyla digging her earpiece from the tangle of clothing on the floor. ( That rare bird, female to male genderswap. )
Stationery Orbit by busaikko 3/5 800 words. In which the team and Elizabeth are items in a small child's pencil box. ( I'm normally not a huge fan of this sort of fic, but this was cute. )
On the Bunny Trail by busaikko 3/5 5400 words. The team takes a holiday on a planet where they herd fluffy bunnies. ( Cute and funny. )
It's Growing Day by Day by telesilla 4/5 Recommended 27,500 words. During a routine mission to check out an off-world Ancient lab, team Shep is cut off from Atlantis when the stargate is buried beneath a ton of rubble. There's another way off the planet, but getting there will not be easy. ( Didn't sound like my thing, but I ended up really liking it. )
Fic reviews: Stargate: Atlantis
9/29/08 02:40 am
I haven't been reading much fanfic lately thanks to all the manga I've been reading (plus I have one fic that I'm just sort of stuck on), so these have been building up over the last month or so.
If You Want to Kiss the Sky by siegeofangels 3/5 8400 words. The military has rules, and John knows he has to play by them to get what he wants. ( Interesting, thought-provoking idea, but I'm not sure how much I actually enjoyed the story itself. )
Push Until It Holds by zillah975 5/5 Recommended 53,000 words. Ronon has known all his life that the three pillars of victory are honor, loyalty, and unity. He's been a member of Sheppard's team for two years when the team to which he owes his first loyalty finds him again, during a time when Ronon must question whether his loyalty to Atlantis is returned. Torn, he chooses the team he believes needs him the most, but the price is more than just the home he's come to love, and the reward may be betrayal and death, or worse. ( The John/Ronon fic I've been waiting for! )
At the Company Picnic by busaikko 3/5 600 words. Jeannie finds herself standing with Kavanagh at the company picnic buffet. ( Short Jeannie-POV sequel to A Hundred Happy Things, written for mcsmooch, which should tell you all you need to know. )
Missing/Inaction by crysothemis 3/5 3500 words. Ronon's not good at waiting, but he does have some other skills. ( Guh. Hot. )
Untitled by zillah975 3/5 500 words. But some days Teyla's hair just won't stay pulled back, and it flies in her face and clings to her sweat, gets in her eyes. Ronon is the only one who takes advantage of it. ( Enjoyable. )
We Are, for Some Reason, All the Time, Bleeding by busaikko 5/5 Recommended 2200 words. John/Rodney. Lines are crossed, but not the right ones. ( Completely fucked up and awesome. )
McShep Match reviews, days 6-10
7/23/08 05:02 am
Day 6: Weakest Link
All the Pharaoh's Men by ladyamarra 2/5 7900 words. Rodney is captured and put to work building some sort of pyramid. ( Rodney-centric gen, wtf!? That aside, the writing is okay, but the plot didn't really interest me. )
Fault Lines by moonlettuce 2/5 18,700 words. When John Sheppard was thirty-nine, the Wraith made him a Runner. ( Not as promising as the summary made it sound, due to a mix of technical problems and being too romantic. )
Day 7: Zero Tolerance
Never Going Home by bluflamingo 2/5 10,900 words. John believes in miracles, in last minute saves, in the impossible. He's lived all of them. He also believes in small, random things that kill people; in the end you don't see coming, in the impossible-in-a-bad-way. ( Started off interesting enough, but ended up being sappy and not my thing. )
Unpredictable by emeraldsword 2/5 9800 words. In which Rodney keeps getting everyone arrested, Zelenka has cake-related schemes, Teyla has a saying and John has choices to make... ( Misspelt names = off to a bad start... )
Day 8: Quid Pro Quo
A Moment's Consideration by monanotlisa 2/5 - Did not finish 9300 words. Rodney is a lawyer John hires to sort out the family business. ( Show, don't tell. Please, please stop with the telling! I wanted to keep reading this because I was actually curious about the story, but so. much. telling. )
Good Neighbor Policy by lamardeuse 2/5 6900 words. His whole life, home had been something that happened to other people. ( Cute, pretty typical shippy stuff. Didn't grab me. )
Day 9: Drop in the Ocean
Tied Up Inside by gblvr 2/5 8000 words. Sometimes you just need to go away to figure out where you really belong. ( Neat idea, but I found myself wanting to know more about the alternate universe than the romance plot. )
One of These Things Is Not Like the Others by soleta 2/5 12,000 words. When the team is abducted on a routine mission, John is presented with more complications than anyone could have foreseen. ( Interesting idea and fairly enjoyable, but the slap-dash worldbuilding bugged me. )
Day 10: Eye for an Eye
Blink by lavvyan 5/5 Recommended 4900 words. I am going to tell you a story. About Dr. McKay and how he bought an eye from me, and how that one small act led to the strangest night in my entire life. ( Wow. So awesome! The kind of cyberpunk story you don't see very often in fandom. )
Illumination by burkesl17 1/5 9300 words. He screamed as his vision was filled with the sharp metal syringe and the pastor shouted in his head as the pain hit, "An eye for an eye, John Sheppard, an eye for an eye..." ( The summary sounds much cooler than the fic ends up being. Major punctuation problems and vaguely skeevy disability issues. )
BTW, I never thought to say this before, but I welcome discussion on these posts (in fact, I'd love it). So don't hesitate to comment.
Current Music: Sugababes - Denial
McShep Match reviews, days 1-5
7/19/08 07:07 am
Day 1: Thief in the Night
Perchance to Dream by blueraccoon 1/5 4800 words. John and Rodney find themselves mysteriously trapped on a different planet each time they fall asleep. ( Disappointing start for the Match. )
Mission: Improbable by sageness 2/5 7600 words. Mission Impossible AU. ( Surprisingly boring. )
Day 2: Pound of Flesh
Shadows Cast by Outward Things by wesleysgirl 2/5 9500 words. A mysterious disappearance on a planet they're visiting reminds Rodney of something from his own childhood. ( Interesting plot, but would have been better as gen. )
Little by Little to the Truth; or a Narrative of the Atlantis Expedition by telesilla 3/5 5700 words. It's 1904 and Lady Elizabeth Weir, Dowager Countess Menlow and Head of the Atlantis Expedition, is the widow of an English noble; Colonel John Patrick Sheppard, US Army Reserve, is a Spanish-American War veteran who's also piloted airships and tested aeroplanes and motorcars, and Doctor Meredith R. McKay, smartest man in two galaxies, is the inventor of the first Patented Completely Portable Personal Computing Machine. And yet, things are strangely familiar. ( Very neat setting. )
Day 3: Dead Ringer
Attention Paid by roaringmice 1/5 - Did not finish 8900 words. John comes back from a mission and he's not quite himself. Rodney thinks he knows what's going on, but he doesn't know the half of it. ( Epithets and telling and clunkiness, oh my. )
By Whirlwind Scattered by busaikko 5/5 Recommended 5700 words. On the seventeenth day after the jumper crashed, Rodney realized that the man he was stranded with was not John Sheppard. ( So awesome. )
Day 4: Eleventh Hour
Less to Say by flatlanddan 1/5 4900 words. This place is kinda weird. Not life sucking aliens weird, but still kinda weird. ( This is one huge plothole. )
Near Things by kassrachel 2/5 4500 words. After each of them narrowly avoids marrying someone, John and Rodney realise life is too short. ( Random bits of AU or unfamiliarity with canon? You be the judge. )
Day 5: One for the Road
Future Imperfect by ldyanne 2/5 2800 words. Sometimes saying goodbye is the hardest thing to do. ( More 'not my thing' than 'really badly written', but still not great. )
Tonight and the Rest of My Life by velocitygrass 2/5 14,900 words. Rodney is suddenly allergic to Atlantis and must return to Earth. ( The sex scene goes on forever! )
5/24/08 09:34 am
The Memory Remains by messageredacted 2/5 Supernatural. 6400 words. Sam always wanted to have a normal life. Why is that so hard to come by? ( Just felt unbelievable to me. )
Foundations by st_aurafina 5/5 Recommended Harry Potter. 3800 words. A thousand years or more ago, the first stones are being laid at Hogwarts and Rowena is determined that there will be no secrets between the four wizards. ( Excellent. )
A Hundred Happy Things by busaikko 5/5 Recommended Stargate: Atlantis. 30,000 words. Kaleb's long gone, Jeannie's got a career, Madison has problems, Rodney's got Inner Power!, and Sheppard...is pretty much the same. ( I wish I could give this higher than a 5! )
Current Music: Weezer - My Best Friend
4/22/08 03:12 am
Lavender Suited Him by thalialunacy 3/5 Harry Potter. 1300 words. George thought he knew everything about Fred, until one day a Wizard hit on him, thinking he was Fred. ( Cute. )
Monday Kind of Guy by whatifisaidno 2/5 Harry Potter. 7700 words. In which Ron redefines, Charlie comes out, Hermione keeps her head, Neville's got it all together, George is the responsible one, Harry's a total mess and Dean's a dick. ( Er...okay. So not what I expected to read for this fest. )
I'll Find What I've Been Seeking by pforte 2/5 Harry Potter. 2100 words. Remus tries to make it work, to live his dream. But some things are just not meant to be. ( Good premise, not so good writing. )
Just the Normal Way Things Go by guad 2/5 Harry Potter. 1400 words. Harry and Hermione discover the wizarding world is even less tolerant than the Muggle world. ( Some good bits, but overall heavy-handed and OTT. )
Less Like Freedom Than You Might Assume by bluflamingo 4/5 Recommended Stargate: Atlantis. 7400 words. Lorne gen. You don't always get to decide for yourself. ( Really good. )
Fic reviews: Remix Redux (SGA)
4/21/08 03:48 am
My first batch of Remix reviews is SGA. Some of these I hadn't read the original beforehand, so I'm including reviews of those as well.
It's What You Don't See by telesilla 3/5 8200 words. Rodney McKay's been a loner for close to 400 years now, which is why it makes no sense when he falls hard for a Blood Bank worker named John Sheppard. ( Good, but didn't really grab me. )
It's What You Hear (The Five Senses Remix) 3/5 7700 words. After nearly 200 years as a loner, John Sheppard finds himself drawn to a blood bank worker named Rodney McKay. ( Interesting remix! )
Sheppard's Choice (Theory of the Male Gaze Remix) 5/5 Recommended 1500 words. Sheppard suddenly has a female body and Rodney can't stop looking. ( Not your typical genderfuck. )
Five People John Sheppard Didn't Expect to Miss, But Does (And One Person He Expected To Miss, But Doesn't Anymore: the Role Reversal Remix) 3/5 1400 words. What the title says. ( Good complement to the original. )
The John Sheppard Book Club by krabapple 3/5 2700 words. John and Rodney start their own two-person book club. ( Cute. )
Pegasus Literature 101 (Pass/Fail Remix) 3/5 3900 words. Atlantis reads the Great Books...of Pegasus. ( Really neat idea! )
Current Music: No Doubt - Too Late
Fic reviews: SGA
4/11/08 04:04 pm
Fic reviews: SGA
3/13/08 05:19 pm
Fic reviews: SGA
2/27/08 04:49 am
A Beautiful Thing by wojelah 2/5 1100 words. Teyla avoids generalizations as a rule, because that way lies miscommunication and disaster, but she will allow herself this exception: a man reveals himself when he smiles in public; a woman, knowing she is observed, hides behind her grin. ( Well-written, but I would have liked it better without the gender generalisations. )
So Petals Moulder by shetiger 3/5 1900 words. Teyla remembers her first love. ( Almost a rec, but not quite. )
Midwinter Burning by rhymer23 3/5 3700 words. Teyla persuades her team to celebrate midwinter, and to find some hope in the darkness. ( Enjoyable. )
Regrets by friendshipper 3/5 3300 words. Teyla and John both have regrets in their pasts. ( Enjoyable. )
The Hitchhikers' Guide to I-70 by darkrosetiger 3/5 500 words. John/Ronon. While driving back home to LA, Ronon picks up a hitchhiker in Kansas. ( Yay, John/Ronon! )
Naked Dreams That Go Unsaid by telesilla 4/5 Recommended 700 words. Rodney gets de-aged to 16 and John's resistance only lasts so long. ( Could have been pure porn, but tackles some interesting issues. )
2/13/08 08:49 pm
Today's 14valentines theme is arts and athletics.
I lied. I said I was going to do SPN today, but though I tried, it was impossible. It's so hard to find fics about women in SPN, and even harder to find them with female POV characters, so I'd only managed to bookmark ten possibles. I read five and got a whopping one rec, and didn't have time to go searching for more, so I just decided to do another batch of SGA instead. SGA wasn't that easy, either. I did finally manage to find seven, but I wasn't able to find anything that really excited me, and I don't really know if that's due to the fics or just that I'm getting really tired of fanfic right now and will be glad when this is over. XD Either way, after tomorrow I'm going to take a break from fic and read some of this manga sitting around!
Whatever Can Go Wrong by friendshipper 4/5 Recommended 3200 words. Elizabeth finds Rodney et al about to hook up an Ancient VR machine to an MMORPG server. Things do not go as planned. ( Hilarious! )
In the City of the Blind by shusu 4/5 Recommended 4400 words. Had things gone differently in Tabula Rasa, Teyla might have been queen. ( Very interesting. )
Be My Homeward Dove by harriet_spy 4/5 Recommended 4400 words. Elizabeth, John, and Rodney back on Earth after The Siege. ( Felt like it could be part of the show. )
Start From Now by bluflamingo 4/5 Recommended 2200 words. Jennifer nearly turned down the Atlantis expedition when she got offered it. ( Nice backstory. )
Making a Choice by pocky_slash 4/5 Recommended 1000 words. Jeannie McKay Miller has made many choices in her life, but they've all been her choice. ( More good backstory! )
There Is No Fucking in Hades by mirabile_dictu 4/5 Recommended 6000 words. Teyla gets captured, then escapes, and Elizabeth has to find her. ( Very interesting. )
First Sight, Second Sight by bluflamingo 4/5 Recommended 1700 words. Katie Brown. Just because something's over, doesn't mean it's finished. ( Good follow-up to Quarantine. )
Current Music: Aiuchi Rina - Koi wa Thrill Shock Suspense
2/1/08 12:56 am
Last year was the first year I heard about 14valentines, and while I think it's a great idea, I was really bothered that something that's supposed to be about women was almost entirely m/m slash. That just doesn't seem right to me, so this year I decided I'd do a recs set every day for female-centric fics. I'll be reccing various fandoms, though it will probably end up being mostly Harry Potter and Stargate: Atlantis, just because that's the easiest for me to find and I did not plan well for this (next year I'll try and start squirrelling away recs in October or November). The fics will be het, f/f slash, and gen, all with female or mostly female POVs. They will also have nothing to do with the daily themes of the comm, because I'd have had to have started reading years ago to get enough that fit.
Today's 14valentines post can be found here and is on body image.
I also wanted to point out halfamoon, which I just found out about today. It's "a fourteen day multifandom challenge celebrating female characters", so pretty much just what I was trying to do myself.
The Human Stain by tevere 4/5 Recommended 9000 words. Michael is suffering for a crime he has no idea he has committed, for being something he has no idea he is -- and though she wishes she could, Teyla cannot feel pleasure in it. ( Awesome! )
Songs of Athos by friendshipper 5/5 Recommended 3000 words. Teyla discovers Earth music -- and rediscovers her own. ( Very neat idea. )
Postcards to Jeannie by friendshipper 4/5 Recommended Novelette. Teyla starts sending postcards to Jeannie on Earth. Soon the whole gang gets into the act. ( I really like her Teyla a lot. )
Pictures for Jeannie by friendshipper 4/5 Recommended Short story. Teyla wants to share her galaxy with Jeannie through photographs. The boys want to get hit with large sticks, apparently. ( Also excellent! )
A Favorite Haiku by kormantic 5/5 Recommended 900 words. Rodney and Teyla have sex. ( Beautifully written. )
Contraflow by lobelia321 4/5 Recommended 14,000 words. My name is Laura Cadman. I am a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, stationed at the intergalactic base of Atlantis and currently, I am trapped inside the body of Dr Rodney McKay. ( Interesting and well-written. )
Lessons of Loss by miriel 5/5 Recommended 800 words. For as long as she can remember, Teyla has known death. ( Excellent. )
Fic reviews: Stargate: Atlantis
1/28/08 05:02 pm
Fic reviews: SG-1 and SGA
1/17/08 12:55 am
Fic reviews: Stargate: Atlantis
11/4/07 04:07 pm
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