recs - yule and SGA

First of all, hie ye off to read yuletide fics, they are many and they are AWESOME. There's new Care Bears BDSM there (this is different from the one I recced before, and how odd is *that*?), some awesome Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and it's been a really really good year for Samurai Champloo. REALLY good year.


SGA fic (assume McKay/Sheppard unless stated otherwise)

Atlantis In Tatters by Ekaterinn - dear lord this is angst, beautiful achy angst. Reads like ashes and bitter coffee grounds. Hurts in a seeping way.

Small World by tigs (gen, "Only ten minutes into the 33rd Annual International High School Sciences Competition and already John was in Hell.") - I LOVE these kinds of stories, the second meeting stories and John angsting 'cause he doesn't want the price of his smartness. Reads like lemon sorbet, provided you don't have a citrus allergy.

Fins by FairestCat (Elizabeth fic) - oh god, but this is *good*, this reads like the peta-conferencing of Laura Shaprio's West Wing vid Circles, only pitched in colors of red and bronze. It's swirling and lively and funny and smooth smooth smooth in an amazing way like a knot, but it's not suffocating. Go see!

Neither Helpful Nor Comforting by 20thcenturyvole - awesome voices, awesome plot, frightening and hilarious and beautifully absurd at points. Reads like watching a horror movie with your best friend.

Constellation by Purna (team gen) - Just a beautiful snippet of the team, wonderful and smooth and calming. Reads like a warm cup of tea.

Seven Circles Twisting by Brighid (team gen) - ...like. fuck. I mean, it's rare that a fic truly scares me, y'know? Or rather, perhaps, that it takes a lot to truly scare me, fic-wise. But this fic is simultaneously so very visceral and all about the empty spaces between the words. But this tastes of night, it tastes of night. ::shivers::

Ducks and Other Things That Quack from sga_santa (expedition gen) - You need this after the fic above. It's a beautiful and refreshing look at the expedition from the tail end, it's the day-to-day little joys. I love this Lorne, he may not *completely* understand, but he gets it and he protects it and there's just this beautiful fondness throughout the piece. Reads like a warm flannel blanket.

Lesser Homes And Gardens from sga_santa (Lorne/Parrish) - For the little that we see of Lorne and Parrish interact, this fic pulls it out and expands it so nicely and organically that, yes, I can see it like this, just like this. It's the soldier/scientist dynamic, but very different from that of the John/Rodney, and it's so very Lorne, which I just have an utter soft spot in my heart for 'cause he's so very much Rodney's "younger brother who tells on him 'for his own good'". Reads like warm miso soup and a fond smile.

Inflated from sga_santa (third person POVs on John/Rodney) - ohhhh but outsider POV on a relationship is one of my fic hot buttons and this fic does it so *well*. SO incredibly well, it skips through various POVs and you gradually find out what's going on and it just makes me squirm in delight because each of the other characters are written *so* well too. Reads like great champagne at the end of a great party, still bubbly and nicely cooled.

SGA recs

ex gratia - done as a favor by agentotter (J/R w/Sam Carter) - This is...god. It's everyone, bruised and bone-weary in that beyond-tired state when everything is simultaneously clearer and more mellow. It reads like a zen state, languid and sharp all at once.

Smart by brighidestone - Part of what I love about SGA is that it unrelentlessly shows how out of depth the characters sometimes are; sometimes fics forget this, and I love that this one doesn't. Reads like a held breath.

The Scientific Method by cupidsbow (j/r and various) - THERE IS NO WAY TO REC THIS WITHOUT SPOILING YOU ::flails:: um. yes. It's unspeakably wonderful and HILARIOUS, and you should have read this, like, yesterday. No seriously. Reads like a roller coaster, a little up, a little down, and you're dragged along and you can't think anything but "w00t!"

Proof by devildoll (j/r) - angsting John, this is one of those fics where you as audience is just laughing at him because of John's freaking out. Reads like soda pop.

Polynomials and Fixed Points by diluvian (j/r and others) - ::gigglefit:: "Atlantis does the math." Only, y'know, it's math by way of relationship calculus. Reads like a rainbow sorbet float on Sprite and vodka.

Pegasus in Flight by luthien - wherein happiness comes in surprising ways, elegant and lyrical and lovely, reads like salt air against your throat, after you've been trapped too long inland.

Home Truth by ltlj (Epiphany spoilers) - a beautiful coda to the episode, honestly lovely and wonderfully written. Fantastic characterizations all around and a little achy. Smooth and a bit bitter, reads like a fine wine.

Not Even a Little Bit by lyrstzha - =D wherein Zelenka is "profoundly evil", I adore Zelenka and McKay friendship fics so much and this just makes me sigh in the happy. Reads like a fresh buttered mini-croissant, adorable and a bit crispy.

Quality Time by mandysbitch (“Rodney McKay, as it turned out, was a complete slut.”) - wherein John's miffed that Rodney's on timeshare. ::gigglefit:: Decadently hilarious and reads like summertime bubbles.

A Little Learning by laceymcbain ("John isn't dealing well with how he thinks Rodney is coping.") - wherein John's miffed that Rodney's...on timeshare. ::GIGGLEFIT:: These two stories are meant to be together. This reads like an everlasting gobstopper, it changes on your tongue but never stops being good.

A Not-So-Modest Proposal by reccea - This is really enormously good and tremendously long. Seriously, have you read this yet? 'Cause you SHOULD, it's been recced long and often for good reason. Reads like a drunken evening spent with hilarious witty friends.

The door closed and Rodney said, "We should get married."

John set his laptop aside on the bed. "I'm sorry?" It wasn't actually the first marriage proposal that John had received but at least before there had been warning signs and, hell, a basis. "Rodney, we're not even dating."