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Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 29 & 30
11/17/09 04:10 am
Woohoo! The final batch of reviews!
Day 29: Tooth and Claw
This Side of the Mountain by wickedwords 3/5 5000 words. Zombie Apocalypse, 10 years later. A fusion with World War Z. ( I love World War Z, so I wanted to like this more, but... )
Day 30: Swan Song
Except for a Few Small Bruises by justbreathe80 3/5 14,800 words. He'd been living like this long enough to know what being scared felt like, and yet this wasn't like any of that. Rodney hadn't wanted to know so that he could hurt John or laugh at him or pigeon hole him as the bratty rich boy. He'd wanted to know John, and John knew that if he could keep from running, he might finally be free. ( Cute. )
Coda by callmerizzo 2/5 1000 words. The silver Swan, who living had no Note / when Death approached, unlocked her silent throat. (Orlando Gibbons, The Silver Swan) ( The writing was decent enough, but it feels like the prologue to something longer. )
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 23 & 24
11/4/09 02:09 am
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 21 & 22
11/1/09 01:30 am
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 19 & 20
10/29/09 03:16 am
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 17 & 18
10/22/09 03:09 am
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 15 & 16
10/18/09 01:23 am
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 11, 12, 13
10/14/09 01:41 am
There are no reviews for Day 14 because both teams were art, so I'm including Day 13 with this one.
Day 11: Leave of Absence
Wake by my_scheherazade 2/5 14,000 words. "Oh the blood and the treasure, and then losing it all. The time that we wasted, and the place where we fall. Will we wake in the morning and know what it was for, up in our bedroom, after the war?" -- The Beginning After the End by Stars ( Not as good as I'd hoped it would be. )
Day 12: Balance of Power
Epiphanies Aren't Just For Ancients (and Other Hard Learned Lessons) by reddwarfer and djin7 2/5 14,500 words. John Sheppard knows that sometimes, the quickest way to end a war is to lose it. But if he has to go down, he's taking Rodney with him. ( Decent story, but not really my thing. )
(Murphy's) Laws of War by mirasol 1/5 2100 words. It is a bad thing to run out of airspeed, altitude and ideas all at the same time. ( Bland. )
Day 13: Feet of Clay
Sticks and Stones (May Break My Bones But Words Will Never Hurt Me) by emeraldsword 2/5 4200 words. "Are we going to crawl in there, assuming I can even fit through that gap, to get our faces chewed off by rodents with space-rabies?" ( Could have been good with some editing. )
The Weakness See by mamadeb 1/5 3400 words. For once, no one was attacking them. ( Laughably OOC. )
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 9 & 10
10/10/09 11:56 pm
Fic reviews: McShep Match Days 7 & 8
10/6/09 02:55 am
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: lgbtfest '09
4/30/09 04:08 am
Fic reviews: SGA
4/21/09 06:24 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
11/2/08 06:12 am
Normally I try not to post just one review at a time, but this story frustrated me so, I really want to talk about it, and I have no other SGA reviews yet, so.
A New Day at Midnight by cesperanza 1/5 1000 words. Rodney always knew he was gay just like he always knew there was life on other worlds, which is to say, not at all, but he wasn't the least bit surprised when it happened. ( Wow, this short fic somehow manages to perfectly encapsulate everything I hate about so much slash, *and* have the message 'appropriation is awesome'. It's pretty impressive, really. )
Fic reviews: SGA
10/20/08 03:11 am
Your Cowboy Days Are Over (Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys) by samdonne 3/5 59,000 words. "You did what you had to do," Frank Sheppard says. "You come back from war an asshole, but you don't have to stay that way." ( Really good worldbuilding and some very cool ideas, but it always seemed to be focusing on stuff I didn't find interesting and ignoring the stuff I did. )
No Explanations Necessary by tzi and zagnathi 1/5 45,700 words. Five years later, Rodney was finally accustomed to the changes in his life. He worked in consulting for the SGC, visited with his sister, and expended an indecent amount of time attending soccer games. Life was easy and predictable, with obligations and responsibilities he took very seriously and no saving of the world involved at all. He didn't miss it, really. Until the day he looked up and saw John Sheppard on the sidelines, watching his son with dark, hooded eyes. ( Runs the gamut from mildly unbelievable to rage inducing, with a lot of just general badness in between. )
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! )
Fic reviews: Stargate: Atlantis
6/19/08 03:35 pm
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
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