Top SGA Online Fic 2006

[icarus]

Just out of curiosity, if one were to compile a list of the top/best/most influential/memorable slash and/or gen fics of this year --

-- which ones would you include?

I have in mind to start with synecdochic's "Freedom's Just Another Name For Nothing Left To Lose." That one's easy, it's amazing and powerful and swept the fandom like a tidal wave.

But what other tidal waves have hit this year? The Post Secret challenge? I mean, if I were collecting the most influential/top fics characterizing 2005 I'd have an entire section devoted to the sga_flashfic's Harlequin challenge.


ETA: Okay, skimming the mega-reviewed fics on sga_flashfic gives us a start. Now on to the Fan Awards.

ETA2: Ah. The tricky part is when the story was written. About two thirds of the Stargatefanawards stories are from 2005. Hmm. Perhaps run backwards through the sga_newsletter for familiar names. Also, might need to stick to slash.

ETA3: Okay, picking through stories, using a baseline number of reviews as an indicator of fandom interest, then appearances on rec-lists, and on del.icio.us, the story discussion such as the immense amount of discussion spawned by "Freedom's Just...". I'll probably do a poll at some point, something open-ended to gather opinions.

A couple of interesting flavors that have turned up this year:

1) western AUs and the influence of "Brokeback Mountain,"
2) curling,
3) the final carryover from last year's penguins, unicorns, dolphins,
4) reel_sga,
5) some controversies, "Will the real John please stand up?" and "Has McShep taken over the fandom?" and BDSM fic, though I want point to a story.
6) it seems silly crack!fics have given way to careful, world-building AUs.

Not sure how this'll be put together. A rec-list of sorts? With a contextualized commentary?

ETA4: "Okay, picking through stories, using a baseline number of reviews as an indicator of fandom interest, then appearances on rec-lists, and on del.icio.us, the story discussion such as the immense amount of discussion..."-?? When did I change my name to McKay? This is the fault of reading your McKay fics, all of you.

ETA5: Trends pointed out by toft_froggy -

7) DADT fics
8) Darker fics in general
9) Darker, more fucked-up John

Almost forgot bruinsfan's point -

10) John/Mitchell SGA/SG1 crossovers

Comments

Excellent points, thank you.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

1. DADT, excellent point. I think that once contact had been reestablished with Earth, the military uniform code had to be dealt with in slash fanfic (whereas Atlantis as a lost expedition in season one could ignore stricter military rules). This brought about a wash of stories on the question, answering previous late-2005 stories (like seperis' "Don't Tell," and reccea's "A Not-So-Modest Proposal") that brushed lightly over it -- not in opposition, but as part of the fanfic conversation. :) Thank you for the reminder of "DADT, Damyata, Dayadhvam" and the tie-in with "Scenes From A Lesser War." I just read the latter yesterday and yes, it's on the long-list.

2. Deepening SGA darkness. I agree with you, and I think the darkness of 2006 stems again from canon, in this case from episodes like "Michael" where the Atlantis team isn't on the moral high ground anymore. I think "Freedom's Just Another Name..." resonated with the fandom because it implied a question that popped up in episode reviews (such as amireal's, IIRC): does the Atlantis expedition (or Earth) even deserve Atlantis? I do need to find more examples of darker SGA fanfics for this point as trinityofone tends towards the darkness naturally. I'd include "In The City Of Seven Walls" as an example of this trend, though I'm still vacillating about including WIPs.

Oh. I have to read "Retrograde" but I bet that's a perfect example of the trend.

3. The darker, more fucked-up John. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that 2005 (the first year of SGA slash fanfic) largely focused on developing the new John/Rodney relationship. Rodney's such an overwhelming personality that he overwhelmed and sometimes even eclipsed John (just as he does on the show ;).

In 2006, slash writers spent more time developing John. Episodes like "The Tower" left fans with either mixed messages or a much more complex John than the laid-back California flyboy. The darker military side of John had been addressed in Genfic (like rivier's "Exigencies") but not much in early slash.

This is where the debates raged over "Last Port Of Call" and the AU BDSM top John in "The General & Dr. Sheppard." I think cesperanza's "MVP" actually mediated between the extreme end of a very dark John (capable of being either a) sadistic and out-of-control possessive or b) selfish and using someone for his own needs) and a John who's vulnerable and distant (and even virginal such as in laceymcbain's brilliant "Lost In Waiting"). I'm not sure the fandom reached a consensus beyond the fact that canon has left John underdeveloped as a character.
Oh, let's not ignore the "return for a visit to Earth" stories -- or is that a 2005 phenomenon?

Thank you very much, your insights are so helpful. I'd like to bounce some more of these ideas off of you later on down the road (November/December) if you're interested.

Icarus

Re: Excellent points, thank you.

[toft-froggy.livejournal.com]

I think you're right - people definitely started out with Rodney, and then moved on to John. I know I did. However, I think there's now being a bit of a Rodney renaissance, in the wake of eps like McKay and Mrs Miller! As for dark!John, you might want to look at trinityofone's Four Quarters AU series, which is another example of a John who's very hard to like. Also, what about helenish's Your Inevitable Unhappy Ending (although not sure about the date there, that may have been late 2005)? That was massively influential, certainly for me, in terms of the potential for John and Rodney to have a screwed up relationship - I remember at the time thinking, 'Yes, god, that's how it is.' She was the first one, I think, who really nailed the kind of relationship which has become much more mainstream fanon since then. (At the risk of sounding immodest, on the topic of darker/weirder John characterisation, my fic Second Skin fit your categorization for popular fics, and was definitely part of that trend).

I'd like to bounce some more of these ideas off of you later on down the road (November/December) if you're interested. Absolutely! I find this fascinating. I'm on AIM as yangtzu62, I'd be interested to chat anytime.

That "Flavor Of The Year" project

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Hi, it's definitely past December but I'm getting close to posting the "SGA Project: Flavor of the Year." Are you still interested in having a look-see? (I did end up including Second Skin.)

Icarus