Long McShep w/o Whump

[dhrachth.livejournal.com]

I've got a craving for long McShep stories, novel-length or a series of shorter stories that add up to a long one. But one thing I'm not interested in is whumpage. I really don't like stories about the characters getting beat up on and having to go through a long convalescense. I can't read pages and pages about torture, character being incapacitated because of drugs or injury, or a lengthy hospital stay. Tons of angst, mental trauma, and self-pity are also a big turn-off.

Some minor injuries or something that is mentioned in passing is fine. Everything doesn't have to be completely happy-go-lucky. Basically I'm looking for nothing worse than the level of team injuries as you'd see in canon--stuff that sucks at the time but can be expected to heal up and be okay by the next episode.

I'd also be interested in gen-fic as long as it has Sheppard & McKay as close friends, but McShep is preferred.

Comments

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

I really loved 'Zen and the art of Jumper Maintenance' by Indiebaggins.
http://sgabigbang.talkoncorners.net/?view=fic&id=45

It's about 40K long; it's a sleepy sort of story, focused on character development and friendship and romance. It's McShep. I think there's a bit of canon-level injury towards the end, but mostly it isn't focused on anything like that.

[dhrachth.livejournal.com]

That one is so cute. Thanks for the rec.

[synekdokee.livejournal.com]

Obviously the Iowa verse. There are family scenes in it which make my chest tighten, in a *good* way.

http://sheafrotherdon.livejournal.com/105567.html

[dhrachth.livejournal.com]

I keep seeing recs for this one but keep not trying it because I just can't picture the John on a farm thing. I guess I should finally give it a shot since with the uniformly positive reviews I'm probably going to end up kicking myself for not reading it before.

[synekdokee.livejournal.com]

You can always just stop reading if it seems to off to you, anyway.

[dhrachth.livejournal.com]

Just read the first Iowa-verse story and so far so good. Thanks again for the rec.

[synekdokee.livejournal.com]

Yay, good! :D

[chasethecat.livejournal.com]

If the problem with Iowaverse is the idea of John as a farmer, you're good: he lives on a farm, but he doesn't really do any farming. *grin*

[ex-kisa-haw.livejournal.com]

Indelible (http://shaenie.livejournal.com/327764.html) by shaenie is 80k words of awesome. There are injuries, I believe, but they're not the focus of the fic.

Aegis (http://sgabigbang.talkoncorners.net/?view=fic&id=16) by Springwoof and Leah is long and lovely too, though John's pretty angsty for most of it, so perhaps not what you're looking for.

Ordinary Life (http://trickster.org/speranza/cesper/ordinarylife.html) by astolat and cesperanza is a nice, long action piece with some injuries but not huge whump.

Si Muovo (http://www.trickster.org/kass/SiMuovo.html) by kassrachel and sihayab is a nice long AU.

Bell Curve, or Ladies Night at the Boom Boom Room (http://www.glitterati.talkoncorners.net/fiction/bellcurve/bellcurve.php) by rageprufrock is one of my favorite long re-reads in this fandom. There's injury, if I recall correctly, but it's most definitely not the point of the story and not most of it, lengthwise.

Hope these hold you for a while.

[dhrachth.livejournal.com]

I loved Bell Curve & Ordinary Life so I'm really looking forward to trying out the others. Thanks.

[busaikko]

Have you read the Geeks and Goons Guides? http://www.fanfiction.net/u/852967/ There is whump, but it's just like reading a whole new slashy season: nothing permanent, and fantastic madcap plotting. (the gen stories that are prequels can be found here: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/738014/).

[dhrachth.livejournal.com]

I'm probably missing out on a good thing considering the number of people who rec this one but I just can't get past the 1st person narrative. Thank you for the rec in any case. I do appreciate your taking the time to answer my request.

[ceares.livejournal.com]

Really enjoyable series. Each story is nice and long and pretty much stand alone. It's a/u with a pretty large cast of characters.

http://keiramarcos.com/what-might-have-been-series-atlantis-au/

[djin7.livejournal.com]

stuff that sucks at the time but can be expected to heal up and be okay by the next episode. That made me snicker, heh.

Do you read AUs?

[dhrachth.livejournal.com]

It depends how AU it is.

Some of my favorites are AUs where Rodney's a scientist and John is military/ex-military but things didn't happen like they did in that first episode and they got to Atlantis differently and in some Atlantis doesn't exist at all.

I'm also pretty open minded about different professions that have some basis in canon, ie Rodney as a pianist or John as a civilian pilot or maybe some kind of math geek. I usually miss the scifi adventure aspect, but some of them are quite enjoyable anyway.

AUs that are totally off the wall, like the NASCAR AU and that one with them as a rodeo cowboy and a vet, I find to be a pretty tough sell. If it comes highly recommended enough, I'll still give it a shot because the right author can make anything work but odds are it's not going to be my cup of tea.

[djin7.livejournal.com]

I would second the Farm in Iowa, then. I was also skeptical, but trust me, very IC, and still Stargate related. Kidfic, tho - in case you don't go for that. Not mpreg, however. But it's love and it's long and ♥

I can also point you to the Big Bang (for length) http://sgabigbang.talkoncorners.net/?view=pairings&id=1

and the McShep awards where everything is conveniently sorted into categories): http://www.mcshepawards.com/page.php?4
where you can skip past the angst/dark/hurt/comfort/drama and go straight through to Romance/PWP/Kink/Humour, etc.

[angellec.livejournal.com]

The world according to Rover is a great long multi-chaptered story at orithain's site or wraithbait. Not a lot of whump in it.