Fancake

Fandom: Stargate SG1
Characters/Pairings: Daniel Jackson/Jack O'Neill
Rating: Explicit
Length: 11,815
Content Notes: No AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: Destina on AO3
Theme: Stranded, First time, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, AU: Fork in the road

Summary: AU: what if Jack and Daniel didn't make it back through the wormhole in Torment of Tantalus?

Reccer's Notes: I'm rushing to fit in a couple of classic SG1 'Stranded' stories. This one will be well known - it's an incredibly well done fork in the road story where Jack and Daniel are stranded off-world, possibly permanently. It's about grief and denial, about developing sexual tension, and about them slowly coming to terms and accepting their changed lives. It feels very real and wonderfully in character, and is told from Daniel's POV. A must-read.

Fanwork Links: A Heart For Every Fate

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Aiden Ford/Teyla Emmagan, Elizabeth Weir/Radek Zelenka, (et al)
Rating: G
Length: 811
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: sabinelagrande on AO3
Theme: Stranded, Established relationship, AU: fork in the road

Summary: John stops wearing his uniform on the two thousand and second day after they arrive.

Reccer's Notes: This is a classic, and for good reason. John tells the story of an AU Atlantis, cut off from Earth for way longer than in canon, and how they survive and, indeed, thrive. The story's structure is great, with John telling us how many days have passed when important events happen. It's short, highly effective, and the ending is very satisfying. 

Fanwork Links: here is the secret that everyone knows on AO3  (there's also a Russian translation)
(and the podfic is here.)

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Aiden Ford, Radek Zelenka
Rating: Teen
Length: 30,468
Content Notes: The author mentions: graphic depictions of violence, exhaustion, loneliness, and angst (with a happy ending). 
Creator Links: Taste-is-Sweet on AO3
Theme: Stranded, First time, AU - canon, Doppelgangers, Action/adventure, Multiverse people, Competence

Summary: The first time John had laughed in God, what? A month? Had been when the scientist from the alternate universe insulted someone John couldn't see.

John hated how pathetic it sounded even in his own head, but he hadn't been lying about the conversation. It'd been... cool, to meet someone new, who obviously wasn't a threat. Someone who didn't have the same pinched look of desperation that everyone on Atlantis did. John had no idea if the stupid rock was going to prove useful for anything other than Skyping with one guy from another dimension, but John was honest enough to admit he didn't care. It was the one good thing he had to look forward to.

Reccer's Notes: This story starts with John from a Daedalus Variations AU (the alt-John who helps canon-team on the Daedalus when alien fighters attack the ship) who lives in a stranded Atlantis cut off from Earth, in a Pegasus galaxy where there are no Wraith but the high-tech, aggressive aliens are maybe worse. He's worn out and has lost too many friends when he finds the weird smooth stone that (of course) is Ancient tech, and which turns out to be a cross-dimensional connector. In a different canon AU (SG1's The Road Not Taken), Rodney and Radek are stuck in Siberia in the Ori war and while not in imminent threat of death, are oppressed and exploited. Rodney investigates a similar stone at his end which leads to the first link with John, There's a ton of drama and plot, some lovely competence porn when Rodney and Radek get involved in helping John's universe, and a happy ending for them all. A really great read!

Fanwork Links: The Spaces Between

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/OMC, Rodney McKay/Jennifer Keller, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Torren, Jinto, Evan Lorne
Rating: Teen
Length: 14,950
Content Notes: No AO3 warnings apply.
Creator Links: auburn on AO3
Theme: Stranded, Friends to lovers, Action/adventure, Families of choice, Post-canon

Summary: Post-canon, lost and with no one to rely on for rescue, Sheppard and McKay try not to give in to 'making do'.

Reccer's Notes: The title resonates through this story in several ways - At the start John attends Rodney's wedding to Jennifer Keller, having never told Rodney about his feelings for him. Then a jumper wormhole drive test flight goes badly wrong and they're stranded together on an alien world for a long time, and neither of them can be with their partners. They of course become even closer, for survival and comfort, but there's no partner betrayal (well, technically not - emotionally is another story). Then, at the end, their previous relationships are forced to change due to them having been MIA for so long. It ends happily and realistically, and throughout the fic I really enjoyed how adult and sensible everyone was in their relationships. The alien planet worldbuilding is also great - they didn't reach it via a stargate so it's not terraformed, and is much more alien than canon. A wonderful read. (Note that you need to be logged in to AO3 to read it.)

Fanwork Links: If You Can't Be With the One You Love

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Characters/Pairings: John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Kate Heightmeyer
Rating: M
Length: 4281
Content Notes: none apply
Creator Links: synecdochic on AO3
Theme: Stranded, Going home

Summary: It's not about being shipwrecked; it's about what happens when you have to come back.
Title, inspiration, and heavy imagery drawn from the poem Possibilities of Love by Ed Kleinschmidt.

Reccer's Notes: As the summary says, this more about the aftermath to being stranded, once they've been rescued - the adjustment to being back in Atlantis. They were alone together on a tropically hot planet at a beach by a river, and eventually became everything to each other. But back in Atlantis, John tries to turn himself into Colonel Sheppard again, where DADT is a constant issue and he could never have what he wanted. The ending is open, but definitely hopeful. Based on a love poem, the fic is lyrical and the memories of their stranding dreamlike. This is a part I especially liked: "When John sleeps, he dreams of being free. And then he wakes, and Atlantis sings in his ears, and he puts on his best impression of himself and tries to fit himself back into the shape he'd left behind him."

Fanwork Links: the stonemason's buildings want for his hands again story on AO3
the podfic read by susan_voight can be streamed here (feedback here)