Title: Steep Descent
Author's LJ/DWJ: sg1jb
Categories: AU, Daniel, Jack, Shifu, Drama, Hurt/Comfort
Warnings: None
Author's Webpage/Fic list: The Tablet
Link to story: The Tablet, sgnovels
Why this should be read:
This is definitely one of my favourite descension AUs. In Steep Descent, Daniel returns from ascension in a body that still has radiation sickness. The SGC is at a loss until Shifu shows up, and reveals to Jack that Oma was perhaps not entirely honest with Daniel while he was ascended. The final resolution is, in my opinion, quite awesome, and the ending is very Jack. In between Jb weaves us a story of ascension and all that that implies, and gives us a glimpse of what it might have been like as an Ascended being. She also writes a very good Shifu.

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Title: Widow's Walk
Author's LJ/DWJ: penknife
Categories: Drey'auc, Ry'ac, Episode Related, Angst
Warnings: None
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Penknife's fic at the Archive of Our Own
Link to story: Widow's Walk

Why this should be read: What happened when Drey'auc and Ry'ac were abandoned by Teal'c in "Children of the Gods"? The character voices and atmosphere in this ficlet are perfect and heartbreaking. and it's a wonderful little view of the ordinary life that will continue on Chulak for most Jaffa. Penknife's Drey'auc is truly awesome and I would love to see more of her. (740 words)

The ones left behind.

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Can I request a character tag for Drey'auc?

Title: Next Steps
Author's LJ/DWJ: paian
Categories: Five Things, Cassandra Fraiser, AU
Warnings: None
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Stargate Fic Index
Link to story: Next Steps

Why this should be read: Paian creates 5 different wonderful, horrible, sad, scary, amazing futures for Cassie and I believed every one of them. (2856 words)

Five ways Cassandra Fraiser left Colorado Springs, and what happened then.

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Title: And These Valleys Unknown
Author's LJ/DWJ: nandamai   nandamai
Categories: Sam, Jack, Friendship, AU (from "It’s Good To Be King"), Angst
Warnings: None
Author's Webpage/Fic list: nanda's lament
Link to story: And These Valleys Unknown

Why this should be read: What if the Ancient time ship malfunctioned during the episode "It’s Good To Be King" and stranded Sam and Jack in an unknown time? This is really Sam's story as she (once again) experiences all the pressures of being the only one who can possibly find a way to get them home. Both of the character voices are very believable. Simply written and full of rich detail, I could almost feel the claustrophobic atmosphere of the humid planet. About 2,475 words.

“It took you a month to save me from my last vacation with Maybourne.” Sam’s heard this before. “Three months the time before that. I figure ten days here, two weeks tops.”

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Title: Every Art and Artifice
Author's LJ/DWJ: thestylus
Categories: Janet, Drama, Angst, Pre-Series
Warnings: Violence, medical gore, language
Author's Webpage/Fic list: NA
Link to story: Every Art and Artifice

Why this should be read: This is an amazingly good pre-series fic about Dr. Fraiser during the first Gulf War. Although Janet is perfectly in character, it would stand up on it's own as a story about military medical personnel working near (or in) combat situations.

While not a comfortable narrative, very intense and heartbreaking, it's a beautiful backstory for the Janet Fraiser we meet at the SGC.

---

I will strive always, to excel in every art and artifice of war. I know that I will be called upon to perform tasks in isolation, far from familiar faces and voices, with the help and guidance of my God. I will keep my mind and body clean, alert and strong, for this is my debt to those who depend upon me. I will not fail those with whom I serve. (from the US Army Special Forces Creed)

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Title: One Dimension Removed
Author's LJ/DWJ: tafkarfanfic
Categories: awesome women, Sha're, Sam, Janet, team, drama, angst, AU, ep related
Warnings: adult themes, violence, assault; includes references to Daniel/Sha're
Author's Webpage/Fic list: tafkar's writing
Link to story: One Dimension Removed

Why this should be read: This fabulous AU retells the story of S1 with one major twist: Amaunet came through the Gate looking for a new host for Apophis, and took Daniel. Sha're joins SG-1 in a quest to get her husband back.

This is SO GOOD. Fantastic friendship for Sha're with Sam and Janet. The story twists and turns to reflect her cultural upbringing, her connections with her teammates, and the differences she brings to SG-1. You will love every bit of this, and one certain chapter will break your heart. Settle back for a long and wonderful read!

(Note: Tafkar rated this as PG; the PG-13 rating is my own. And there is one R-rated chapter that I did not read, because Tafkar generously added a PG-rated version for those who prefer it.)

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Title: Look to the Heavens and Number the Stars
Author's LJ/DWJ: minervacat
Categories: awesome women, original character, Daniel, Jonas, team, episode related, Janet, character study, angst
Warnings: spoilers through S9, including canon character deaths
Author's Webpage/Fic list: when the floods roll back
Link to story: Look to the Heavens and Number the Stars, parts one and two, and The Silent Language of the Star (a companion fic)

Why This Must Be Read: Minervacat introduces us to a superbly-realized original character, Claire, who is recruited to the SGC by Jack at Daniel’s behest. Claire slowly takes over the staggeringly difficult task of cataloging the artifacts that accumulate over the years. With time, she befriends the characters we know and love - especially Janet, her main source of gossip, and Daniel, who never returns her books. Yet Minervacat cleverly evades the Mary-Sue trap for Claire; this original character remains quietly on the sidelines, interacting only enough to be a part of the story without interfering in the events as we know them, or knowing more than she should.

Covering some seven years of SG-1 history - including a fascinating side-trip into the AU of Moebius - these two fics are elegantly written, with just the right touches of humor and distress to make Claire amazingly real.

A librarian at the SGC, with all that entails. Both these stories are too wonderful to be missed!

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Title: Return
Author's LJ/DWJ: dsudis, dira
Categories: era: season 1-2, angst, team, theme: repercussions
Warnings: None
Author's Webpage/Fic list: AO3
Link to story: AO3
Why this should be read:

In this fic, dsudis gives us a heartwarming, and slightly sad, account of the aftermath of Fire and Water. We follow Jack, Teal'c and Sam in turn as they deal with the lingering memory of Daniel's death, and then Daniel's POV as he wonders what's gotten into his team. Very well written overall, and excellent early teamfic.

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Title: Second Chances
Author's LJ/DWJ: n/a
Categories: kidfic, team, angst
Warnings: none
Author's Webpage/Fic list: on JD Divas
Link to story: Second Chances

Why this should be read: Remember how awful it was when the Gamekeeper made Daniel rewatch his parents getting squished? You know how Daniel impulsively acts to save people? Yeah, well ... when SG-1 goes on a mission into a parallel universe, thirty years in the past, Daniel sees little Daniel still in shock from his parents' death, and snatches him away from the indifference he knows the boy is going to experience.

SG-1 has to help big Daniel through the emotional issues from his childhood he never really got over, find a real home for little Daniel, deal with the physical symptoms of two of the same person in the same universe, and figure out how not to screw up the reality's future. Along the way Jack enacts another fix, played out beautifully in an epilogue by Darcy. It's everything you could have wished for our angsty heroes, even if only in the parallel reality.

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Title: Daniel of Abydos series
Author's DWJ: nightspear
Categories: Daniel, team, friendship, drama, novel, AU, kidfic
Warnings: various minor character deaths (and survivals)
Author's Webpage/Fic list: List of Stories
Link to stories: begins with Translations, available as entries on LJ or as single page file; links to subsequent novels at link

Why this should be read: One of my absolute favorite AUs, and definitely my favorite kidfic!

My personal problem with downsizing characters is that they are almost inevitably infantilized. Nightspear deftly avoids this problem because her Daniel is starting out younger in the first place -- it was Melbourne and Claire who deciphered the Gate back in '82, and Daniel was actually born on Abydos. Yet despite his youth and his alienness (he's just as unfamiliar with Earth as Teal'c!), he is unquestionably the Daniel we know and love.

This long, intricate series covers seven seasons of fabulous twists and turns through canon. Some people die who survived in canon; others survive who died. Gaping plot holes are closed, repercussions are realistically faced, and the friendships (Daniel and Teal'c! Daniel and Jack! Daniel and Sam!) will absolutely blow you away.

I adore this series beyond reason. So give yourself several hours of reading time, kick back, and enjoy!

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Title: Triptych
Author's LJ/DWJ: mad_maudlin   mad_maudlin
Categories: AU, Crossover, SG-1/SGA, Moebius, Apocafic, Angst
Warnings: none
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Mad Maudlin at Archive of Our Own
Link to story: Triptych

Why this should be read: I recommend this fic to anyone who has seen Moebius, it is a really well executed story showing three of the possible alternate realities that might have been created by the events in that episode. The dialogue and character voices are all wonderful which makes the whole time travel/AU theme seem even creepier. About 4,770 words.

Matter can neither be created nor destroyed.

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Title: Gravity
Author's LJ/DWJ: splash_the_cat  /  splash_the_cat
Categories: AU, Jacob, Cassie, Team, Drama, Angst, Season 7
Warnings: snakes
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Moments of Adoration
Link to story: Gravity or text version: Gravity

Why this should be read: This fic was written as the second "episode" for Chrysalis, a Stargate virtual mini-season (7.5) which begins with the assumption that Janet Fraiser was badly wounded in Heroes II, but is alive. That's all you need to know to read this story, which worked well for me as a stand alone AU. It's a tense exploration of what SG-1, Jacob, Hammond and Cassie might be willing to do to save Janet's life. And because I knew that this story was an AU, I really couldn't guess how it would be resolved.

Episode 2 for Chrysalis (go to Chrysalis page for Episode 1); To save one life, how much would you sacrifice?

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Title: Through the Eyes/Legacy of the Serpent
Author's LJ/DWJ: unknown
Categories: getting snaked, Daniel, team, drama, angst, Jack and Daniel friendship
Warnings: language, violent imagery, Goa'uld torment of the host
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Eos at Stargatefan
Link to story: Through the Eyes of the Serpent/Legacy of the Serpent

Why this should be read: Written in fantastic Daniel-voice with wonderful characterization all round, these two fics are a double treat. In the first, Daniel is taken as a host; in the second, he and the team struggle with the aftermath. Superb team interaction, Jack at his most dangerous, snappy dialogue with just the right leavening of humor - it's all here, and it all makes a riveting, intense read.

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Title: Battlefields
Author's LJ/DWJ: Unknown
Categories: Theme: Under the Influence, Daniel/Jack friendship, Team, Hurt/Comfort, Drama Angst
Warnings: Violence
Author's Webpage/Fic list:Ellen Caldera's Stories
Link to story:Click on Battlefields to read
Why this should be read: This story is one of the first I read in the fandom, and one of the most painful. Daniel Jackson is made into a killing machine. The story is told through Jack's eyes, and we see his pain as he tries to help Daniel deal with his. The horror as the magnitude of what Daniel did while under the influence of the device implanted in his brain is seen through Jack which I think makes the story even more effective. You feel Jack's hurt for Daniel and hurt even more.

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Title: Control
Author's LJ/DWJ: mrwubbles
Categories: Under the Influence, WIP, Hurt/Comfort
Warnings: Violence
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Yum@'s Stargatefan Page
Link to story: Control
Why this should be read: Yes, this is a work in progress and unfortunately I don't think it'll ever be finished. That being said, though, I believe this is one of the classics in fandom and should be read and savored. Daniel is rescued from a mission (one he was on without the rest of SG-1) in terrible shape. We learn what did/might have occurred throughout the fic and meanwhile we also watch Jack trying desperately to get through to Daniel and always believing the Daniel he knows will truly come back to them once again whole. It saddens me that this fic was never completed (because selfishly I want to find out what happens), but it doesn't keep me from re-reading it. Set aside plenty of time to read this and then plenty of time after to imagine your own continuation of the story.

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