Now that we've had the big reveal and I can put names to stuff, I'll be posting my reviews in chunks (both to space them out and because I'm not finished reading everything yet, oops).
Sheppard's Pie by
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auburn20,600 words. PG-13.
Cooking is just chemistry, so pie should be easy, if Rodney could just figure out what Sheppard wants.Oh man, this was just such a collection of things that irk me. Rodney is deathly allergic to citrus, Satedans are violent savages, Jennifer breaks up with Rodney because she's a meanie who doesn't really love him and it's a horrible burden for him to be nice to her, John
must have been abused if he doesn't like to be touched...
The writing wasn't bad and it fits the prompt very well, but it is just a huge ball of Not For Me.
Sunday Morning Coming Down by
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schmidttykr5500 words. PG.
Two years had passed since the expedition had been forced out of Atlantis, and most of her former citizens had started to move on and readapt to life on Earth, save John.This, too, had a bunch of John/Rodney cliches I dislike, though it was cute enough (and short; my tolerance for clicheriffic fic goes up as the word count goes down). Loved the Square Pegs reference, though. That was an awesome show.
Tied to the Rocket by
meansgirl13,900 words. NC-17.
Rodney McKay meets John Sheppard in 1989, after which nothing is the same. Pre-series AU.I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would. I'm not that big a fan of the "they meet early on and then something happens to separate them and the rest is the same as canon" AU. But this was well-written and cute. I wish there had been more acknowledgement from Rodney that he had been in the wrong back in the day. I mean, I know it's not like Rodney to admit he's at fault in anything, but it felt like he never did really grasp that being closeted in the military was an actual big deal.
A Fate So Sweet by
telesilla13,400 words. NC-17.
Rodney McKay, owner of the exclusive brothel Pegasus House, doesn't usually train new workers. Former airship pilot John Sheppard, however, might just prove the exception to the rule in more ways than one.Enjoyable and hot. If you like long fics that are pretty much entirely sex, you might like this even more than I did! :)
Circle Yes or No by
chellefic12,100 words. NC-17.
Vacationing with John isn't all Rodney thought it would be.This is Pretending To Be A Couple, with a side of Gay For You, so I think if you've been reading me for any length of time, you can guess my opinion on that. The writing's good enough, so if you like or don't mind Gay For You, you might enjoy it.
The Number of a Man by
busaikko Rec+16,700 words. Adult.
Rodney McKay will leave no man behind—especially when there's a simple solution involving nanites, alien technology, and Legos.Oh, I loved this so much! I saw her talk about this a little bit on the team comm and wasn't sure whether I'd like it or not from the description, because idk the whole VR thing has never really grabbed me before, but I really liked it here and what she did with it. And I loved Xan. Kids are so often badly written in fiction, but Xan really felt like a real kid. (Though knowing the author beforehand, I knew he would be well-written, because she always does kids well.) And I loved John and Rodney's relationship history, how they'd tried and failed once, and I liked John's convo with Jennifer (yay for breakups that don't require bashing).
I think my favorite part of all was
Rodney telling Xan that they were in a computer and they were going to move to Atlantis. I just love the way he handled that and the whole conversation.
Double Feature by
pollitt1700 words. PG-13.
It's movie night on Atlantis.Okay, I am not one of those people who dislikes first-person narration on principle, but this was just bad. It was made even worse by the fact that there is a section in John's POV and a section in Rodney's, both first-person, and they are indistinguishable.
But aside from that, it's really the sort of fic that only a super-duper shipper could love. When you're desperate for any time with your OTP, even bland fic of them sitting around watching a movie and complaining is fun. (It's not even like MSTing or anything. That might actually have been interesting. But no, the complaints are just as bland as the rest of the fic.)
One Step Back by
sabinetzin2800 words. R.
It's just over.I like infidelity fic, but this wasn't working for me at all and I think most of the blame can be laid at the feet of two short lines:
It was Jeannie who actually put his shit out on the lawn. At least, she was the one who finished the process, hurling his suitcase at him with righteous fury and surprisingly accurate aim.
After she screamed at him and slammed the door, he stood there with his broken guitar in his hand and wished, for the hundred thousandth time, that they'd never come back to Earth.
It just feels so ridiculously over the top and cliched, and not at all proportionate to what happened. I don't think I would have been head-over-heels in love with it otherwise or anything, but that scene really did color my overall view of the fic.
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