Looking for fics, 5k-10k words min, ideally more, that fit other criteria too

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

Looking for fics that fit a list of criteria. I know this is probably not the easiest request in the world so I'd appreciate any and all help you can give me. As always, self-recs are good!


** Fits all of the following
Length - are at least 5k, ideally 10k or more

Setting

- Don't take place on Atlantis or at the SGC. Ideally I'm looking for Earth-based AUs. Mention of the Stargate program is fine but I'm looking for fics where they aren't SGC members currently. (Although they may have had dealings with the SGC previously, or at the end there's a mention of them learning about or joining the SGC in the future.) Events can mirror some canon events or not, either is okay.

Characters/Relationships
* Are slash or friendship fics of a common slash pairing, ideally John and Rodney although other male relationships/friendships are fine,
* OR are team fics where everyone is encouraging and kind to everyone else (noticing flaws in someone is fine, demeaning them, even in thoughts, isn't)
* OR both - team fics with strong friendship/relationship element

Scenarios

- Do not contain zombies, apocalypse scenarios, graphic violence, long-term or permanent injury, or relationship betrayal

- These character deaths are okay but anything not fitting one of these is not okay
* the death off-screen death of a character who also died in canon
* the on-screen or off-screen death of a minor original character

- Have a positive ending


** Ideally but not required
- With main characters especially, I'd like to see characters that act like full three-dimensional people. John's self-sacrifice, for example, can be a large story theme, but I wouldn't want it to be the only thing John's about.
- Not a ton of "that's so lame" or the like to mean something's bad

Comments

[la-mariane.livejournal.com]

I remember a fic but I can't find the link. John leaves the SGC because his borther dies and he has to take care of his niece and nephew. Then it becomes McShep. Maybe someone will remember it.

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

I posted the request over at storyfinders here (http://sgastoryfinders.livejournal.com/3599523.html). Thank you so much - I am excited to have something to go on!

[la-mariane.livejournal.com]

That's the series I was thinking of.

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

Gosh, I just wanna give you and the anon a big hug :):)



edit for others reading:
How Not to Fly by toomuchplor
http://archiveofourown.org/series/5062

[busaikko]

To clarify: by Earth-based AUs, do you mean things like the Nantucket 'verse, where there's no SGC or Stargate at all? Or like Iowa 'verse or the Hindsight 'verse (John is FBI agent), where Rodney is involved with the SGC and eventually John's gene shows and whammo?

A few that I wrote, though not sure whether they match up okay or not:

Bridges (52003 words)
Rating: Explicit
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Summary: Engineer Rodney McKay went to North Carolina's Crystal Coast to help his sister design a series of bridges. He hoped to rebuild his career following a professional disaster; he didn't expect to be drawn into the small community of Athos Island, where he found friendship and perhaps something more with helicopter pilot John Sheppard. But when Rodney tries to learn more about John's past, what he discovers might tear them apart. (non-Stargate AU)

A Hundred Happy Things (30003 words)
Rating: Explicit
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Summary: Harlequin AU (no Stargate). Kaleb's long gone, Jeannie's got a career, Madison has problems, Rodney's got Inner Power!, and Sheppard. . . is pretty much the same.

Able to Fly (25344 words)
Rating: Explicit
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Summary: Magical AU (with Stargates). Rodney buys a haunted comic book when he's 12 and discovers a best friend; but will he sacrifice his future – and John's afterlife – to make John real?
Note - technically John's dead, but he's not always a ghost, and I never explain just exactly how he died.

//// deleting the following 3 for being currently in the SGA missed that part and this will teach me to read carefully before posting //// War Stories (8394 words)
Just So Long and Long Enough (7998 words)
Shine Like the Sun (7268 words) //// man this is embarrassing /o\ \\\\

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

Thank you thank you!! And gosh, don't even in the slightest feel bad/embarassed. Because my post.. was like.. a big asdlkfsadygfBLAAAAHHEREISLOTSOFINFO and I am thankful for anyone who even tries to navigate it, much less post replies!!

No SGC or stargate at all works!

John's gene eventually manifesting would work, like how they do towards the end of the stories so it's not a huge focus.
Rodney being involved with the SGC throughout the story doesn't really work if it's a big day to day thing for him. But it would work if it's tangential, like he did all his work from home or whatever.

Basically, if there's SGC stuff in there I don't mind, I just don't want it to be a huge focus of what the characters are doing.

Thank you so much for the links!! Plus I'm glad you left the links for the other three, because at some point I'll want fic around that length that doesn't need to fit in with everything, so I'm absolutely going to put them on my to-read list for the near future.

[busaikko]

I'm burningly curious as to why you're collecting such specific stories! My best guess is that you just bought an ebook reader and/or are taking a loo~ng trip. It's a good idea, because I bet a lot of people like having the longer fic (... and also this will give me impetus to start reading Atlantis Big Bang again *g* )

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

Basically substitute a Nintendo DS for an ebook reader and some needing-fic-to-help-me-be-calm for a trip and that kinda sums it up! :)

[busaikko]

O.o You can read fic on a DS? brb, stealing one of the old ones from the kids!!!

/bad parent

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

Hee! :D

Yep, you may have to download the browser from their store-thing but it's free. It's NOT a good browser, and currently I've been having more problems with it than I used to as LJ and AO3 changed some things. (I am using the DSlite, not the 3DS or anything so if you have a newer one than mine maybe the browser has changed somewhat)

I can't load normal LJ pages (used to, but their comment changes a while back made it impossible) but the mobile stuff works pretty well - this page, for example, would be http://m.livejournal.com/read/user/sgagenrefinders/975729 . I have had some problems in the past with certain tags not being accessable, or following a link from the mobile site won't keep you on the mobile site. So with that sometimes I'll click the link and if it doesn't load, I'll look at "go to page" for the address, then manually plug in the mobile site.

With AO3, I have found it's possible to read but I find it jerky, like it doesn't load very well. They have the download --> html button but I can't access the button on the DS. So when I am on my computer I have to find the html link (it incorporates weird numbers and some of the title there's no easy template that works for all of them) and I have in the past been plugging it into tinyurl.com.

But now I am doing something like this m.livejournal.com/read/user/theeverdream/131713 which is currently a reading list based on responses here and some other stuff.. just all the normal lj links cause those are easy to change, if they don't go to the mobile one from the mobile version of my entry, plus the download html links for AO3. (And as to the why of things, yeah, having that reading list is very helpful as I know I have a ton of stuff to read at night, instead of having to flail around finding lists of what the story address for tonight is, and recently I've really needed to be as calm as possible at night :) )

So yes, pardon my rambling, but if you do end up reading fic on the DS I wouldn't want you to have to start fresh with some of these issues, and if you have a better browser than I do and don't even have the issues it still was nice to type this all out.. I dunno why but I think it helped me say to myself "my frustrations.. I learned stuff from them!" and that is helpful today :):)

[busaikko]

I doubt I could pry the 3DS out of the young 'uns hands, but there should be spare DSlites around here. I'll ask the older kid which browser he uses (assuming, of course, that all those times he said he was doing research for school on the DS... he really was *skeptical* ). I like the idea of keeping a reading list! My usual method is to send myself email, but I get lazy and then I have a folder full of mails titled "links", "J/D link", "cool link", and so on >.< ) *bookmarks* <--(ineptly)

[busaikko]

Also, I just got back from a lunch of continual head-desking with my husband, who is all set to get himself "a computer" (though unclear on difference between laptop and desktop, what an OS is, what a program is, what the internet is, what wi-fi is, etc.) because his friends have persuaded him ~all the cool kids~ are doing it. And I was just like, "Why are you talking to your friends? Why haven't you been talking to ME? I have 20 years worth of mistakes for you to learn from wisdom!" Because yes: problem-solving and bending tech to your will is an awesome skill! ... roundabout way to say that I think it's awesome you figured out how to do this \o/

[altyronsmaker.livejournal.com]

Fly Wishes to the Sky (http://www.alyse.info/sesa_files/fly_wishes_to_the_sky.htm): 25K (longer than you requested, but worth the read). John Sheppard owns a kite shop on the Oregon coast. He's had enough drama in his life, and has created a safe, if limited, life for himself. One day, Rodney McKay, a college professor in town for a conference, comes looking for a last-minute purchase before he has to leave town, and things start to change for both of them.

The Convenient Husband (http://sga-flashfic.livejournal.com/156116.html) 11k. A marriage of convenience has some very incovenient complications for Rodney, as he deals with the fact that he's still in love with John Sheppard.

Working Men (http://nolonger19.livejournal.com/8547.html) 7.5k What if John had gone into the family business, and this was in the same world (or one close to it) as SG-1's "The Road Not Taken" where Rodney's a dot-com millionaire. Then the two of them meet thanks to their wives both having government jobs and having to go to the same shindigs. And the rest is history.

Be My Yoko Ono (http://archiveofourown.org/works/77308) 8k The one where John's a bike messenger and Rodney's an office drone.

I could go on and on, but there's a really cool and comprehensive list of AUs here, Giant McShep AU List (http://www.squidge.org/GiantMcShepAUList/the-actual-list/), that will have hundreds of the kind of story you're looking for.

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the links!! I definitely don't mind 25k fics! In fact the longer the better for this particular request (and I just edited the title to not be as I'm-sleepy-and-brain-blugh confusing).

I have checked out the AU list in the past - although haven't looked at it recently so thank you for the reminder of where it was!! - and the thing with this specific request is that sometimes with lists like that you'll get a good summary but not know if other things work (like the scenarios part in this post). But even if these don't fit all those I know I've read some of them before (and I love to read stuff and re-read stuff over and over!) so I'm more comfortable with not knowing if they fit all the scenarios and stuff, if I know I've read them before and liked them. So I will definitely have to be checking out that AU list again. (I basically asked this from a help-me-sleep-better-at-night-by-reading-fics place. Having a list of stuff available to me to read at night will help a ton, because there's so much to choose from and I'll feel confident that I'll find something good. So thank you bunches for the help.)

[cathalin.livejournal.com]

I happened to see this post and response -- thank you to altyronsmaker for reccing my fic!! <333 -- and thought I'd quickly mention that if you or anyone prefers to read it on AO3, Fly Wishes to the Sky (and all my other sga fics) are here: http://archiveofourown.org/users/cathalin/works?fandom_id=70

Here is the link to Fly Wishes to the Sky directly on AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/252110

I know I personally prefer AO3s font to the font and background combo from the fest I wrote it for (though it's very pretty), due to my eyes.

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

Thanks :)

[joya-oscura.livejournal.com]

Heaven is a Place on Earth by moodymuse19
Link: http://moodymuse19.livejournal.com/346995.html
Summary: After John Sheppard settles in his new apartment, the last thing he expected - or wanted – was a roommate. When Rodney appears claiming the place is his, he assumes there's been a misunderstanding... until Rodney disappears just as mysteriously as he had appeared.

Divergent Paths: Glimpses of the Future by puddleofgoo
Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/250793/chapters/387966 | http://puddleofgoofic.wordpress.com/divergent-paths/
Summary: Rodney McKay, science genius and multi-billionaire, is on the verge of new technology and an entirely new understanding of the universe which will net him not only a Nobel, but worldwide acclaim—if only he can manage to stay alive. John Sheppard is a charter pilot in a dead-end job in a dead-end company, but when the hiring gods look favorably on him he finds himself set for life as a personal pilot for Billionaire McKay. What he wasn’t planning on was that his primary job would end up to be trying to keep his employer alive.
Note: McShep end up meeting with the SGC after aliens try to go after McKay.

The Amazing Quest of John Sheppard by forcryingoutloud
Link: http://www.wraithbait.com/viewstory.php?sid=8582
Summary: "I'm leaving, disappearing for one year - I have a wager to win, and a theory to disprove."

A Regency SGA Tale by GraceandFire
Link: http://www.wraithbait.com/viewstory.php?sid=5261
Summary: John Sheppard is determined to bring to ruin the villainous McKay family. But young (ok, youngish) Rodney interferes with his plans.

Beau of the Ball by velocitygrass
Link: http://undermistletoe.livejournal.com/108006.html
Summary: Sheppard wanted them to go into the ballroom together, with Rodney as his companion for the evening, a spot normally reserved for high society ladies who combined beauty, grace and intelligence, not to mention one honest-to-god European princess three years ago. This couldn't be happening to him.

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!! These summaries sound awesome :) I really appreciate it!

[(Anonymous)]

Rageprufrock wrote a series that starts with The Bell Curve and continues on in several other stories. Rodney is a professor and John is his teaching assistant. It's brilliant.

[theeverdream.livejournal.com]

Thanks!!

[lindaross.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing

[(Anonymous)]

Hey, please check out my rec at my tumblr account: ociany.tumblr.com. I have a section in my sga fics rec.