Acid Worms, by Betacandy (PG-13)

Rec Category: Humor
Pairing: none
Category: humor, gen, Teal'c, team
Warning: brief mention of nudity, unintended drunkenness
Author on LJ: Betacandy
Author's Website: Betacandy's SG-1 fic
Link: Acid Worms

Why This Must Be Read: Teal'c POV! Yay! Written by Betacandy, one of the reigning queens of gen fic! Double yay! :)

An older and wiser Teal'c reflects back on his very first mission with SG-1 on P3X-595, when Captain Carter “drank that stuff that made you take off your-” (The writers did realize that fanfic writers would seize on that single line of dialogue, didn't they?) Betacandy's choice of Teal'c as narrator makes this story especially fun, as we get to see SG-1's increasingly erratic behavior from the bemused POV of Teal'c-as-outsider. All the humans are adversely affected by the local hooch, although poor Sam is the only one to suffer from hallucinatory acidic worms infesting her clothing... and some overenthusiastic compliments to her teammates.

Not sure what's funnier - Teal'c's reaction to his first glimpse of a Tau'ri bra and Jack's subsequent gift subscription to Victoria's Secret as an "explanation," or the drunken dialogue between Jack and Daniel about a bottle of shampoo. Whatever your own preferences, though, you're bound to find this comic story to be a real gem.


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Command Decisions, by Cannon (PG)

Rec Category: General Hammond
Pairing: none
Category: General Hammond, episode related, drama, angst
Warning: minor character deaths
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's Website: Cannon at FF.net 
Link: Command Decisions

Why This Must Be Read: In Nemesis, Daniel discovered just how hard it was to be the one left behind while others went out and endangered their lives. This short story gives us a glimpse into the tension that General Hammond, and the crew back at the SGC, undergo on a regular basis.

Cannon shows us the other side of the climatic scene of The First Commandment, when Jonas Hansen has dialled Earth's Stargate and threatened to throw Jack O'Neill through it without the benefit of a GDO. I know that it never occurred to me to wonder what the SGC must have thought of that wormhole activation - long minutes with nothing happening, and then that ominous thump that can only mean the death of a sentient being. What must it have meant to George Hammond, to know that his people are off-world and still keep that iris closed in order to protect the planet?

Cannon gives us a good idea of that in this brief yet powerful fic, especially the bitterness of that final, unhappy sentence.

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Insurance SNAFU at the CPO, by Aurora Novarum (G)

Rec Category: Humor
Pairing: none
Category: humor, gen, Daniel Jackson, character death reference
Warning: bit of angst, and LOTS of character death references... lots and lots and lots :)
Author on LJ: Aurora Novarum
Author's Website: Aurora Novarum at Alphagate
Link: Insurance SNAFU at the CPO

Why This Must Be Read: "To be honest, Dr. Jackson, I was presuming clerical error when I first read your file. That many times...no one could have..." Staring at the scientist, who had moved back to his seat, she couldn't juxtapose the file with the living, breathing man in front of her. She couldn't bear to finish the sentence.

Daniel sighed, supplying the word. "...died?"

Daniel's dead, again? Eventually someone is going to notice. Littlekfru might suspect that the local florists might be the big skeptics, but Aurora Novarum gives us the more realistic (er... realistic?) likelihood that someone in the bureaucracy might spot the odd discrepancy of mulitiple life insurance payouts to one Dr. Daniel Jackson.

With Patricia Jennings, one of the most charming OC's I've read in the Stargate fandom, serving as the narrator, this bemusing fic takes us through the many, many, many deaths of Daniel, whether presumed, near-misses, or the all too real thing. The poor woman is naturally a bit flustered by the polite young man who argues indignantly that dying of heart failure when trapped in someone else's body shouldn't really count, and if Jack didn't need to do CPR, does it matter that his heart stopped before he went through the Stargate?

While the element of humor is definitely threaded throughout the story, the nature of the fic can't avoid the angst entirely. Daniel's attempts to lightheartedly dismiss being dead for "only ten hours or so, not a whole year" on the first Abydonian mission aside, there's nothing funny about his memories of dying of radiation poisoning, nor his regrets about others who died when he managed to survive on other occasions. We also get to see Daniel's essential good nature, when Patricia is a little overwhelmed and he puts aside his own unease to help her.

Aurora Novarum deftly avoids the twin pitfalls of OCs knowing too much or regular characters over-explaining what OCs can't or shouldn't know. And by the time Patricia is done dealing with Daniel - and he hurries rather quickly out the door, rather than try to explain the near-fatality he suffered in Origin - can you blame her for calling a friend to meet her at O'Malley's for a drink? :)

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Generally Speaking, by Wonderland (PG-13)

Rec Category: General Hammond
Pairing: none
Category: General Hammond, sg-1, humor, drama
Warning: off-screen violence, some language
Author on LJ: sg_wonderland
Author's Website: Wonderland's fics
Link: Generally Speaking

Why This Must Be Read: George Hammond not only dealt with the danger of leading the facility on the front lines of Earth's survival, but he also had to deal with the incredibly disparate personalities that made up its members. This fic from the ever-talented Wonderland relates the story of Hammond's attempts to deal with the inevitable clashes of those personalities... and his bemused attempts to keep the fiercely protective members of SG-1 at bay.

When Daniel returns from a mission with SG-3 in slightly more whumped condition than when he left, Hammond has to sort through various interviews to find out what really happened and, at the same time, stop SG-1 from enacting any personal revenge. His adroit handling of the case includes evasive action, deft manipulation, and, in the final analysis, some sound advice that the SG-3 Marines should keep themselves safely out of sight for a while!

Hammond's voice is engaging and rueful in turns as he deals with this minor crisis, handling each individual with ease and competence. His reflections on his people, both civilian and military, are both professional and personal. The reader will surely enjoy this fic, and find themselves missing George just a little bit more when they're done.

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Somnambulist, by C.L. Kamnikar (PG)

Rec Category: Humor
Pairing: none
Category: humor, gen, Daniel Jackson, character study
Warning: some twinges of angst
Author on LJ: butterflykiki
Author's Website: Kiki's Chaos
Link: Somnambulist

Why This Must Be Read: This is Daniel's brain. This is Daniel's brain deprived of sleep and caffeine. Any questions?

Coffee-obsessed Daniel is one of the most solidly-entrenched cliches of the fandom. On the other hand, it's also the cliche with the most solid basis in canon. After all, Daniel drinks coffee and absent-mindedly leaves coffee cups on ledges and shelves in the SGC in both the movie and many episodes of the show. So while the idea of the entire SGC knowing of Daniel's coffee addiction might be slightly OTT, I personally have no trouble letting that minor detail slide if it presents us with such a fun little fic.

While the plot, obstensibly, is Daniel's plaintive quest for a cup of coffee in the depths of the SGC graveyard shift, the real charm of the story is Daniel's meandering train of thought as he wanders the halls of the SGC. He bumps into various people with a kind of gentle Brownian motion, with new thoughts trickling into his brain after each encounter. Anyone who has ever tried to be coherent at 4:00 a.m. won't be able to help but smile at Daniel's increasingly erratic musings.

Despite his tiredness, though, Daniel's observations are delightfully in character, both for himself and the people he meets. When morning finally arrives with Daniel still coffee- AND sleep-deprived, there's the inevitable clash with Jack... and the very sweet discovery that, as Daniel puts it, "Friends steal coffee for others. Real friends make sure the Colonel doesn't find out."

The author suggests that there's a hint of Sam/Daniel here, but I only see good friendship... and a really lovely, lighthearted fic.

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Hives, Hiccups, and Sprains, by Aimless (PG-13)

Rec Category: Humor
Pairing: none
Category: humor, gen, Jack O'Neill, team, Janet Frasier
Warning: brief mention of non-sexual nudity
Author on LJ: unknown
Author's Website: Aimless at the The Grove
Link: Hives, Hiccups, and Sprains

Why This Must Be Read: "Colonel," the General began in the same eerily calm voice he had used only an hour ago, "get the hell off of this planet."

One of Jack O'Neill's many talents is his unbelieveable ability to annoy people. :) While this can certainly have its uses - on the show, we see time and time again how he deliberately distracts SG-1's captors to get them to focus their attention on him instead of "his kids" - there are all too many times when it backfires on him. In this delightful little story, Jack manages to annoy the wrong person, and all of the SGC suffers the consequences.

The story opens with an irritated Jack trying to drag Daniel away from a gathering of natives. When Shaman, the young girl who guides her people, is offended by Jack's attitude, she does... something. Jack seems unaffected, but SG-1 discovers the hard way that their CO's very presence is suddenly quite dangerous. The ensuing chaos ranges Sam's initial broken nail to a fall up the stairs, surgery to remove a cue ball from a hapless airman's mouth, pink mittens over Daniel's itching hands, an exploding light bulb and Siler's wrench (naturally), an unloaded gun going off... and, of course, don't forget the Jaffa hiccups.

No, the story isn't crack!fic, although rereading the previous paragraph might make a person think otherwise. :) The humor is not overly broad, but inherent in the situation and our characters' reactions to events. Characterization and dialogue are wonderfully intact. Particular highlights include the scene in Hammond's office, the automatic (and accurate) assumption that Daniel-the-linguist can translate "gobbledygook," and Jack's final penance, complete with eeeevil revenge.

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