Title: Under a Cloudless Sky
Author's LJ/DWJ: stringertheory
Categories: AU, Sam and Daniel friendship, angst, on the edges of canon
Warnings: none
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Fic List
Link to story: Under a Cloudless Sky

Why this should be read: So how does Doctor Carter choose to start picking up the pieces at the end of Point of View, after the quantum mirror shuts down? One good possibility is tracking down her reality's Daniel Jackson...

Here is a glimpse of a world shattered by Goa'uld invasion, a Daniel with a different background and history but still very much himself (brilliance, sharpness, and all), and the start of a new beginning of friendship and exploration through the Stargate.

( snippet of fic... )

Title: Between Two Waves of the Sea
Author's LJ/DWJ: stringertheory
Categories: angst, AU, character study, character: Daniel, character: Jack, character: Sam, character: Teal'c, drama, team, theme: quantum mirror
Warnings: None
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Fic list
Link to story: Between Two Waves of the Sea
Why this should be read: A thoughtful, lyrical ensemble piece in which the could-have-beens ghost across the gaps between quantum realities, brush the characters like soft breaths, and die away.

908 words.

( snippet of fic... )

Title: Through A Glass Darkly
Author's LJ/DWJ: N/A
Categories: action/adventure, hurt/comfort, quantum mirror, lost episode, team, Daniel
Warnings: violence, torture, non-consensual touching, some language
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Alpha Gate Archive
Link to story: Alpha Gate,stargatefan
Why this should be read:
Because dark!SG-1 makes my inner villain fangirl flail incoherently, and the quantum mirror means I can have that and our good!SG-1 at the same time. It really doesn't get much better than that. In Through A Glass Darkly, Apocrypha gives us a Daniel who's gone about a dark as you can get, a Jack who just doesn't care enough to intervene, and a United States military that's gone very, very wrong. And they're not going to let SG-1 leave alive. Faced with an enemy that looks like one of their own, SG-1 prove that their own bonds are their greatest strength as they escape this SGC. We've got resourceful!Sam, persuasive!Daniel, stoic!Teal'c, leader!Jack, and teamwork that impresses even this universe's Colonel O'Neill.

( snippet of fic... )

Title: Harsh Reality
Author's LJ/DWJ: loneraven
Categories: theme: quantum mirror, episode related, daniel, team, humor, angst
Warnings: none
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Sleeping With Ghosts
Link to story: Harsh Reality

Why this should be read: This short, sharp fic seems, at first, to be an earnest discussion about alternate realities, taking place between the members of SG-1 as they sit together in the commissary. Despite the big, honkin' clue, that's all I thought it was at first, myself.

It's fun to watch Daniel insist on a conversation that Jack would be quite happy to avoid, as he muses on the possibilities of alternate universes through the quantum mirror and the onus put upon them by their good fate. The conversation unravels into snark and good humor, and we think that the whole story is just a snapshot of SG-1 in the commissary...

Until. Until you read the final part of the fic, and you realize the timeframe of that conversation, and in just which reality it didn't take place.

And then you wince.

And then, if you're like me, you'll go back and read this powerful little story all over again.

( snippet of fic... )

Title: Faith in Life
Author's LJ/DWJ: lyssie
Categories: angst, episode-related
Warnings: character death
Author's Webpage/Fic list: LJ tag for fic
Link to story: Faith in Life
Why this should be read: I'm fascinated by the episode Ripple Effect--so many alternate universes gone off in so many different directions! But I'm especially intrigued by the Black Team, who were willing to steal from another universe to save their own. This fic follows them back home, and proves that they're not entirely unlike "our" SG-1, despite the moral slippage of their last mission.

( snippet of fic... )

Title: Rearranging Fate
Author's LJ/DWJ: redbyrd
Categories: theme: quantum mirror, drama, AU, Daniel, Jack, Sam, Kawalsky, episode related, team
Warnings: some language
Author's Webpage/Fic list: Redbyrd's Stargate Fanfiction
Link to story: Rearranging Fate

Why this should be read: Rearranging Fate begins with AU Charlie Kawalsky's POV in, well, POV, as he discovers exactly how essential Daniel Jackson has been to the success of "our" universe. The story follows Kawalsky through his parts of the episode, then turns its back on the quantum mirror to focus on what happens next, as Kawalsky lobbies to find "their" Daniel Jackson and make him a part of the SGA.

Redbyrd does a really wonderful job of extrapolating the differences between the mirror-POV universe and our own. From the moment we meet Daniel in Cairo to his unceremonious arrival at the SGA in handcuffs to the slow creation of this universe's version of a new SG-1, we're met with different choices and different paths that all seem eminently reasonable. Dr. Carter the civilian would hardly join her husband on SG-1, so Redbyrd gives us the canonical also-ran. The SGC would surely have given the SGA some essential mission reports, so we get to see Tonane's people and their "spirits" approached in the right way - although apparently, nothing can ever go right on Shyla's planet, even if you're forewarned against sarcophagi. In a really fascinating twist, the events of one particular late season 3 episode are paralleled at more or less the same timeframe... but with enough differences to leave the reader not quite sure of what's really happening!

This quantum mirror fic is one of my favorite Redbyrd stories, and I know you'll find it a long, satisfying read.

( snippet of fic... )

Title: Till Human Voices Wake Us
Author's LJ/DWJ: ivorygates
Categories: theme: quantum mirror, drama, angst, apocafic, AU, Daniel, Teal'c, Jack and Daniel friendship, Teal'c and Daniel friendship
Warnings: AU major character deaths; references to Daniel/Sha're
Author's Webpage/Fic list: ivory_gates
Link to story: Till Human Voices Wake Us; a temporary link is here.


Why this should be read: I rarely enjoy apocafic, but this one grabbed me and didn't let go!

The Earth abruptly dies, taking half of SG-1 with it. Daniel and Teal'c, the shattered survivors, have to try and pick up the pieces. Teal'c wants revenge; Daniel wants survival, for himself, for Sha're, and for his adopted people on Abydos. But with no resources, no supplies, and no leads except a handful of addresses that Daniel remembers from debriefings about future missions, what chance do they have?

Disaster on Chulak makes things worse. Daniel is at the end of his rope when he gates to the last address he remembers from the debriefings: P3R-233. And suddenly, Daniel is facing the apocalypse. Again...

Here is Daniel and Teal'c friendship, AU upon AU, and the determination to never, ever give up.


( snippet of fic... )

Title: In Search of Possibilities
Author's LJ/DWJ: fignewton/sg_fignewton
Categories: Sam & Daniel friendship, quantum mirror
Warnings: Reference to canon minor character deaths, only not really.
Author's Webpage/Fic list: DW Index/LJ Index
Link to story: In Search of Possibilities
Why this should be read: I'm so excited to be able to rec my favorite quantum mirror story. Part team action story, part Sam/Daniel friendship story, part character study, all wonderful. Daniel and Sam struggle with a Goa'uld mystery, a near death experience, and a close encounter with AU doubles of themselves.


( snippet of fic... )

Our latest theme is the Quantum Mirror! We're looking for stories that involve dimension-hopping, whether it's through a quantum mirror or some other convenient plot device. It might be yet another universe where the Goa'uld have taken over the Earth, or a dimension where Colonel Daniel Jackson keeps an eye on Doctor Jack O'Neill while he studies his artifacts, or even one with Colonel Sam Carter leading his team with Jackie and Danielle!

Do remember that this is a gen rec community. :) If the AU Sam and Jack are married, or AU Daniel has rescued AU Sha're from Amaunet, this will be permitted - as long as the ship is only peripheral to the story and not the main focus, and there are no canon ships. Admin decisions regarding recs will be final.

Other recs that do not fit the theme may still be posted, of course, but these next few weeks should put the spotlight on quantum mirror fics. If you post a rec that fits this theme, please use the theme: quantum mirror tag (either by tagging the rec yourself or including it in the categories, so the admin can tag it for you.)

Feel free to read the FAQ before posting. Official format is included in the FAQ entry and on the comm's profile page. And, as always, I will happily answer any questions you might have, and welcome any suggestions for future themes.