#yes this is about mcshep

[sga-owns-my-soul]

why must i "work" i want to lay in bed thinking about fictional middle aged men being gay and in love

[massharp1971]

My 69th fanfic.... couldn't help myself, sorry (not sorry)

[riverageleis]

@acabspocky Tumblr is on to me.

[sga-owns-my-soul]

oh boy @spurious and i have been going INSANE over the concept of evil mastermind mcshep. it's such a beautiful idea and there's SO MUCH you can do with it

Joe Flanigan as Andrew Fayden | 6 Bullets [2012]

AKA A Very Important Gifset

[spurious]

what was the moment where you said yes to McShep?

OKAY SO.

Obviously you, audioletter my beloved wife know all this but. I’m not sure I’ve talked about how I got into SGA/mcshep on my tumblr so.

After finishing the x-files in 2022, my wife’s Zaddy Husband Mitch Pileggi beckoned us to watch Stargate Atlantis (because we couldn’t stomach Walker Texas Ranger). We’ve both been in fandom for a Long Time and thus remembered the years that McShep reigned supreme, and starting the show we said to each other “haha wouldn’t it be funny if we became ride-or-die mcshep shippers?”

……..yeah.

From the very start of the show, basically every single time John and Rodney were on screen together we’d go “haha mcshep lol”

So now I’m like. trying to excavate my memories to figure out when it Became Real for me.

I do tend to love buddy slash pairings and ships where one person is shrill while the other is chill so it’s not, like, surprising to me in hindsight that I did end up shipping mcshep? And then the SGA fandom being so friendly and active just…allowed my fixation the space to flourish.

But anyway, let’s see what the first McShep thing I saved to my camera roll was!

*drumroll*

It’s this art by the amazing @luluxa:

So at this point I think I was still at the “no no, I’m saving this fanart to my phone ironically” stage.

Now, this was October 30th. By November 3rd, I have photos of a trip to mandarake where I was really hoping to find SGA doujinshi cause I SWEAR I’d seen it before (I’ve not managed to find it yet. Japanese fans why. You guys love generic white guys mcshep should be massive here)

The first fic I have bookmarked is from November 2nd with the note “oh no I have feelings about McShep now” and it is Counting Down by @alienfuckeronmain, which is a post-trinity fic.

HOWEVER. I also have a Grace Under Pressure coda bookmarked from a day or so later, and this tracks with my impressions: this is the episode that most intensely sticks out in my mind as being emotionally memorable and something I needed to be reading fic about. Soooooo I guess it was Rodney that got me, and the need to process my emotions about episodes by reading other people’s processing, and, uh, now here I am almost two years later!

SO. To get to the actual question, several paragraphs and approximately a day later, I don’t know that there really was a single moment that put me there, as opposed to a series of moments enacted onto an already-primed pump? Because truly I should know by now that the danger of doing something ironically is that you end up doing it ronically, but. I remember devouring the fic I could find that was non-spoilery as we were watching (lots of episode tags) and it definitely shaped my perspective on John and Rodney’s interactions.

But essentially, this is a ship archetype I tend to like, and Rodney McKay is absolutely the type of horrible little gremlin man I tend to like, and the fic was good, and. Here we are lmao

[stargatebarbie]

pls tell me about mcshep sinkhole

Ooooooh thank you this is a favourite of mine! I decided I really wanted Sheppard and Rodney to do the 36 questions to fall in love but like we know how hard it is for Sheppard to talk about his feelings so I kind of had to get their jumper jammed in an unstable sinkhole, sorry boys. features of this one include Sheppard being gay and pining quite pathetically (affectionate), Rodney being clueless as always, and background lesbian scientists who are stranded separately on the planet's surface and very excited about the local flora.

snippet from this, formatted insanely because I often write dialogue first and I haven't filled the rest in, but I love this part so it's the one I'm including. It's quite deep into the list and into being stuck in a fucking hole so our boys have loosened up a little by this point

Question 22: Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner. Share a total of five items. J: I think if I don’t start with your smarts I’d never hear the end of it R: You’re right, of course. I think that’ll be my first trait of yours - You have a way of managing people, of - of knowing what they need. Not just me, but it is - particularly impressive with me. I have it on good authority I’m not easy to manage J: Oh hey, there’s another one of yours, you’re actually surprisingly self-aware R: Oh ha ha, I thought these were supposed to be compliments J: That is a compliment! R: Sure, whatever, we’ll count it. My next one for you is you’re not actually stupid. You’d think with your whole thing that you would be but you’ve got a brain under that ridiculous hair. And before you say anything, if yours counts, that one does too! J: Yeah, sure, that counts. Next... okay, you’re brave. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t come to you naturally, you’re kind of a pussy honestly, but that just makes it all the more impressive how fucking brave you are when you need to be R: Me? What about you! I’m actually hesitant to cite it as a positive characteristic because your bravery borders on self-sacrificing. You’ll put yourself in harm's way to save anyone, it's ridiculous J: Thanks? Right, I don’t think a lot of people know this, because you play it quite close to the chest, but you care. A lot. You reserve it for so few people, though. I’m glad I’m one of them R: Oh. Well. Me too, you know. Obviously you care about everyone to an alarming degree, but you don't let a lot of people… close. I'm glad, for whatever reason, it seems you've let me be one of those people. I suppose that's not really a characteristic, I should say something else- J: Nah Rodney, that's- yeah, it works R: No, I insist, you wanted to do this questionnaire and I'm going to do it right, let's see… oh, you're really ridiculously attractive J: Um. Okay, thanks. My turn again then, okay. You are unapologetically yourself. You refuse to hold back or censor yourself for other people, and what you see is always what you get. You really don't care if people think you're an asshole or hate you for it, and I know that may sound like an insult but honestly, I really respect it. R: Really? because people have said that to me as an insult before and- J: Yes, really Rodney. It's like you said, I don't tend to let a lot of people in, I… admire that you can be entirely yourself, let everyone see you. R: Oh. Well, thank you. I suppose that leads into another of yours then, I can trust you to say what you mean, when it counts. A lot of people use double-speak and backhanded compliments, and I don't always pick up on it. I can always trust that if it's important though, you'll tell me straight, eventually. You'll joke and you're a sarcastic ass but you won't outright lie and you won't let me go on believing something you've said is true if it wasn't.

[dedkake]

For the numbered ask meme: SGA (optional anime of choice if already answered), McShep, John Sheppard, annnnnd The Mummy/SG-1, please?

<333 thank you!!

001 | SGA

Favorite character: john sheppard

Least Favorite character: elizabeth weir am i allowed to say that? landry. get that guy outta here.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): john/rodney, ar1 ot4, carson/john, john/ronon, john/teyla

Character I find most attractive: not the question for me.

Character I would marry: carson? jennifer? lorne?

Character I would be best friends with: prrrrooobbably jennifer lol i'm not a very adventurous person.

a random thought: what happened to the "large, particularly venomous snake-like creature that inhabits the mainland" on new lantea?

An unpopular opinion: season 4 has the tightest plot

my canon OTP: i like that ships are not the focus of this show actually

Non-canon OTP: john is my fandom bicycle. get that boy with everyone.

most badass character: they're all kinda badasses, aren't they?

pairing I am not a fan of: i'm not terribly interested in ships that don't involve john, altho i see the logic behind most of them. so i'm probably not going out of my way to read them. or read longfic of them. or sparky sorry.

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): jjjjjjennifer. she was done so dirty by s5 and canon mckeller.

favourite friendship: john and teyla. teyla and rodney. teyla and ronon. ronon and john. john and rodney. radek and rodney. idk all of them. they are all such good friends and i love it.

character I want to adopt or be adopted by: please no. they are all my children, but i don't want the responsibility of any of that.

002 | mcshep

when of if I started shipping it: ngl i fought this one. when i started watching the show for real in early 2019, i told myself rodney didn't deserve to be redeemed from sg1 and that i wasn't going to fall into the Big Ship Trap. but dang i really did fall lmao. i love them.

my thoughts: friends to lovers, my beloved. they are so silly dorky and devoted.

What makes me happy about them: the friendship! the saving each other! the talking to each other on the comm! the bickering! all the things!!

What makes me sad about them: as i said before. i love angst. so i'm not really sad about the sad things. they can pine away in repression forever and i will be delighted.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: woobie rodney.

things I look for in fanfic: hurt/comfort. subby john. idk. pining. friends to lovers. quiet realizations. the inevitability of it all. domesticity. shepwhump.

My kinks: they can be so kinky together. d/s is good with them.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: john: anybody. rodney: uhhhh

My happily ever after for them: they retire as together civilians, but maybe not on atlantis.

003 | john sheppard

How I feel about this character: he's my sweet space disaster child

All the people I ship romantically with this character: everyone .. ..

My non-romantic OTP for this character: also everyone.

My unpopular opinion about this character: i'm not sure i have any lol. he looks good in every hat, i'm not picky. maybe--don't put him in charge of anything?

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: omg i wanted at least one episode where he was captured/stranded/in peril and the team actually saved him without him doing 90% of the work himself. i want it SO BADLY. show this boy he's loved and cared for please. (istg i thought the team was going to kill kolya for john in irresponsible on my first watch and i'm still disappointed)

my het ship: john/teyla or john/sam fwb

my fem/slash ship: mcshep, john/ronon

my OTP: mcshep

my OT34: ar1

my cross over ship: no thank you (unless you count sg1 as a crossover, in which case, john/everyone over there too)

my kink: he just wants to be used a little bit.

a head cannon: he would've let jeannie die if wallace hadn't volunteered.

my gender bend: yes please.

004 | the mummy/sg1

hmm. so i hate to admit this on tumblr dot com, but i only saw the mummy once when it first came out and the bugs freaked me out and i never watched it again. i keep meaning to revisit, but i haven't gotten around to it 😂

i'm sure that any of the characters would make delightful matches with anyone from sg1. i can See The Potential.

[sga-owns-my-soul]

no it’s fine i don’t need sleep i can scream to myself about this episode dw bout it

[lemotmo]

20 Questions for fic writers

Tagged by @warpedpuppeteer. Thank you for the tag and the challenge! :)

1-How many works do you have on ao3?

- 36 works in total. 6 for my current fav ship: Buddie

2-What’s your total Ao3 word count?

- 332,354 words written.

3-What fandoms do you write for?

These days only for 911, Buddie fics. But I used to write for SGA (McShep), Without a Trace (Danny/Martin) and The West Wing (Josh/Donna).

4-Top 5 fics by kudos?

All of them Buddie fics! :)

Three years (180 kudos)

Too Little Too Late (226 kudos)

To Boldly Go (256 kudos)

The Comfort of a Home (408 kudos)

Stuck (on you) (885 kudos)

5-Do you respond to comments?

I do, but sometimes it takes a long time to get to them. I have so little time in my daily life that it's a struggle to find time to reply. But I do get to them... in time. So be patient please if you are someone who has commented and you haven't heard back from me yet. Know that I appreciate each and every comment. I read them, but I just don't always have time to reply on the spot.

6-What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oooh, well there's four fics that come to mind here:

You Only Disappear (Without a Trace, Danny/Martin)

It ('Without a Trace' set in the 'Stargate Atlantis' universe, Danny/Martin, TW body horror)

Experiment (Stargate Atlantis, McShep, TW murder/suicide)

Buck is Here (911, Buddie, TW MCD)

7-What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Well, I have a lot of fics that end happy, but three fics come to mind here:

The Road to Nowhere (Stargate Atlantis, McShep, Cowboy AU)

The Sound of Science (Stargate Atlantis, McShep, The Sound of Music AU)

To Boldly Go (911, Buddie, Star Trek AU)

8-Do you get hate on your fics?

Not so far no. Never had any hate.

9-Do you write smut?

Well, yeah if the story asks for it. But only when it fits the narrative. I don't go into too much details though. I like to keep things 'light' and 'fluffy'. :D

10-Craziest crossover?

Well, I would say:

The Sound of Science: a fusion between 'Stargate Atlantis' and 'The Sound of Music'. XD LOL!

To Boldly Go: a fusion between 911 and Star Trek. Basically it's a Buddie story set in the Star Trek universe, but Star Trek characters don't really show up.

11-Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know off. I don't know if my writing is good enough to steal though. It's important to stay humble. :D

12-Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

13-Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, when I was in 'The West Wing' fandom (in the beginning of the 2000's) I wrote about three longer Josh/Donna fics together with a fandom friend. I have lost contact with her since, but I will never forget about her.

14-All time favorite ship?

Oh wow, it's very hard to pick one, because all of my ships hold a special place in my heart.

Josh/Donna from 'The West Wing' was my first online ship. I made fanart, wrote fanfic, met great people. In those days fandom was mostly found on the Yahoo-groups. They eventually went canon in season 7, but I had moved on from the show by then because of how bad the writing got in later seasons. So, I missed the big reveal as they went canon. I'll never not regret it.

Danny/Martin from 'Without a Trace' was a magical ship. My second online ship. I met so many great fellow fans and friends back then. We even met up in Rome and London with a whole bunch of us. Great times on LiveJournal as well.

McShep from 'Stargate Atlantis' was my most prolific ship. I wrote so much fic and made oodles of fanart for those men. Those were the heydays of LiveJournal fandom.

Buddie in '911' is so special to me. I've been in this fandom since season 1, online since season 2. I have met so many great people in this fandom. The best thing of all is that this is the first ship that actually has a great chance of going canon, while I'm still actively watching and enjoying the show. YAY!

15-What’s a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I have this dystopian Without a Trace fic half written in my documents. It has been sitting there for years now. It has the possibility of being so great, but I don't have the will to finish it anymore, because the fandom is mostly non-existant these days. Maybe I'll turn it into an original work of fiction one day. Who knows?

16-What are your writing strengths?

Writing dialogue. I actually hear the characters talking in my head. I just write down what they are saying and it always works out.

17-What are your writing weaknesses?

Finding the time to write! But mostly the grammar, especially the tenses. As a non-native speaker it is a struggle to keep on writing in the correct tense and it's very difficult sometimes to know when to switich to another tense if it's appropriate. It's highly frustrating. I reread and edit my stories up to 10 times sometimes to catch all the grammatical errors. And even then there are still a few that I miss.

18-Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

For some reason I can't read/write non-English fics. I hate fics in my own language. Since the shows I love are English speaking shows, I need to read/write English fics.

19-First fandom you wrote in?

The West Wing.

20-Favorite fic you’ve written?

That's a hard question, because they are all my babies. I can definitely see that my writing has improved over the years though. So I tend to like my last works better than my first works, even when I do still appreciate them for what they are.

I guess the fic I'm most proud of writing is 'To Boldly Go'. It took blood, sweat and a lot of tears, but I got through all 16 chapters in the end. It took a couple of years to finish though. :D

Tagging: I'm not tagging anyone in particular. Anyone who sees this, feel free to do it for yourself. Tag me so that I can read it. 🫶🏽

[wonkyelk]

20 questions game

thanks very much for tagging me @massharp1971!

How many works do you have on AO3?

323

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,223,777. Which might be slipping into writing addiction territory.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Stargate Atlantis, primarily, with a couple for The Magnus Archives, because I recently fell for it headlong.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Merging Stars

A Marriage of Least Resistance

Falling Upright

Breaking Bonds

Coming to an Understanding

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, always. I love comments, they show that people are engaging with the work and I understand and appreciate the effort that it takes to make them. They deserve a thank you. Also, sometimes comments have sparked off an interesting train of ideas, which I love.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably The nightingale with fethers new depending on which angle you look at it. Or A Short Space of Fair Weather, which is pretty sad.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Pretty impossible to tell as most of my fics end happily. But There and Back Again has positive outcomes, not just for the protagonists, but for two whole galaxies, so I’m voting that one.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Fortunately not, so far at least.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Occasionally. It tends to be awkward and laced with humour.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have one sort of crossover comic, which is SGA meets Lord of the Rings: Of Rings and Ill-Advised Succumbing to Curiosity

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

It seems unlikely

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but would be very happy for anyone to do so.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes, wrote a couple with @trainofcommand from just having a little fun back and forth on Discord.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

McShep.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

My WIPs tend to be either an aimless few sentences or paragraphs which trail off and lose my interest, or they get finished. I rarely have a plot in mind beforehand, so I don’t really have anything that’s itching to come out.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Humour, I think. I enjoy writing dialogue and having fun with language.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Too many to mention, but I’ll go with plotting. Unless it’s a very short and complete idea, I can’t plot until I’ve written half of something and kind of have to work out a possible direction and wriggle the words around to fit. Often this takes a few goes and lots of reversing and trying a different fork.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

If it works for the fic and you have reasonable confidence in the accuracy, go for it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

SGA. My Rodney McKay addiction tipped me over the edge from reader to writer and that just kept going. And going.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

This one is impossible and very much depends on mood, so I’m going to cheat and list three that come to mind:

A Ragdoll, Badly Stitched: death and grief is a recurring theme in my stuff and this is one of the first which helped me successfully articulate some things about it

How Death Came for Rodney McKay (and why it won’t be doing that again): Death again, but very much in humour mode. I’m pleased with the framing structure.

The Bakery in the Woods I love Fairy tale style stories, both just in themselves and how you can use them in relation to real world issues. This one came together in a way I’m happy with.

no pressure tagging: @trainofcommand, @sga-owns-my-soul, @dedkake,@hero-in-waiting, @sparrowsarus, @spurious and anyone else who wants to do this, please do. It was a lot of fun!

[sga-owns-my-soul]

25 & 38 for the kissy meme (your choice of pairings but I'm guessing McShep XD)

kiss prompts

25- As a yes, 38-Because they're running out of time

Rodney stared at John, waiting for his response as his heart pounded in his chest. Time was running out, and if they didn't act soon then the entire planet was going to be obliterated- along with the thousands of people living on it.

"Rodney, I can't-"

"Look, if there was literally any other solution than me possibly killing myself to save everyone else, I would be jumping on it, but there isn't. This is our only option, Sheppard. And these people don't deserve to die because of our mistake."

John looked like he had just been stabbed- except Rodney had seen John get stabbed before and his face never contorted in pain like this. Rodney opened his mouth to argue again- because they really didn't have time for this- when John grabbed him and pulled him in, their lips crashing together. It was messy, their teeth clashing, and Rodney was sure he tasted tears- which didn't make sense, because he wasn't crying and John never cries- until John pulled back, eyes wet and shinning.

"Go," John said, his voice hoarse and shaky, and Rodney didn't have the time to say anything else before the alarm started blaring- and he really had to go now.

As he ran off down the hall, his heart was racing for a completely different reason.

[massharp1971]

20 questions game

thanks for tagging me @logicgunn 1. How many works do you have on AO3?

70 - disappointingly, it's no longer 69

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

709,395

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Stargate Atlantis exclusively at the moment.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Ace

Clear blue skies

Settle

Couldn't order a pizza

Bodyswap

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always. Because comments mean a lot to me. Because I don't tend to comment on fics where the commenter doesn't respond because I assume they're not reading them, and because it just feels plain rude not to.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Like the deserts miss the rain because it's about Rodney in The Last Man and it breaks my heart. It's only 200 words but it hits hard.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I dunno they all end pretty happily cos real life is hard

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Surprisingly no, considering other writers have fared badly for writing main SGA characters as trans but a large chunk of this fandom boycott me/avoid me for being vocally anti-racist and concerned about oppression, which is in some ways very disappointing but it sure keeps my life nice and peaceful not having to deal with bigots.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Yes, I write the mushiest kinky smut you'll ever read and I feel like it might be my calling 🤣

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not really but I did write a Brokeback Mountain fix-it fic with John/Cam instead of Jack/Ennis

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Probably not

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No but would be made up if someone did

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I'd love to but never have

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

McShep.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

My Untitled Trauma Fic which is full of so much angst I balk at anyone reading it

16. What are your writing strengths?

Smut, probably. Possibly dialogue.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Following the completely arbitrary writing rules amateur writers make up, share on Tumblr, and think are literary commandments. Descriptions, also. I just forget they're needed and go back and am like "but where are they having this conversation and what are they doing whilst they have it, Mas? Hmmm?"

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Wouldn't have the confidence in google translate and don't know any other languages...

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I wrote a novel in my teens that used The Wood Between Worlds from CS Lewis and then I wrote a very silly Fourth Age Orc Reform Group fic once but really SGA got me into this malarkey in my 40s....

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Atlantis Pride - my little declaration of independence when I decided to stop caring about being too queer for this fandom and do what I damn well please.

Tagging: @spacecadetdhdly, @gingerpolyglot, @nimuetheseawitch, @wonkyelk and anyone else. If you like to do these, consider yourself tagged!

[frankthesnek]

I keep hoping for more McShep. I thought you were back into them for a while but clearly not.

Not the first time I have gotten an ask like this, and it's not something that bothers me. I realize I started off catering to a specific audience, but here's the thing, I have been multi fandom for quite a while now. Yes, McShep is still something I enjoy. Yes, it's something I will come back to it occasionally (like I did a couple months ago) but it's not my single focous anymore and.... I don't think it ever will be again.

I used to be really scared of branching out to new fandoms, but now I'm saying fuck it and writing what makes me happy regardless of fandom. I'm sorry if it's not what you came here for originally but for me that's growth and I'm happy about it. I feel like not putting myself in a single ship let's me be more expressive, and enjoy things more. When I was chugging away at a single otp I got reeeeeally burnt out, and yeah, it was my own fault, but now I feel more relaxed. I'm enjoying just floating around, falling into things that make me happy. Right now, that's Stony. In a few months, it could be something else. All I know is that I'm trying not to take myself or writing as seriously as I used to, and it's been good for my mental health. So yeah 😊

Thanks for the ask, really. It was good to say this.

[kedreeva]

Oh, McShep #12

WOW okay

12 - Is there a wedding? What was the proposal like? Any kind of honeymoon?

The proposal OBVIOUSLY happens out on the edge of the east pier. It's nothing fancy. Rodney's got a beer grasped gently in both hands between his knees, and John's leaning back on both palms, their legs kicked over the edge. The endless starry sky is spread out above them and for once it's perfectly clear. John's staring up into them thinking about how he used to think they were just unreachable pinpricks of light when he was a kid, and now these aren't even HIS stars but he's been to a bunch of them anyway and everything is so big and they are so small, and yet still somehow they matter. And Rodney's staring out over the water as the reflection of stars twinkles upon the gently rolling waves, thinking about how deep it is, thinking about their last mission, thinking about their next mission, thinking about at least 3 different physics equations, two mystery gadgets they're trying to solve, and planning what he wants for breakfast. And he turns to ask John for input - on the breakfast, not the science - and before he can say anything, John just fucking says it: "We should get married."

(of course Rodney says yes, they've only been dating - like, actually dating) a couple of months but he's got years of love under his belt)

There ALMOST isn't a wedding; John's had one and hated it, and Rodney thinks he wants one until he realizes he'd have to plan it, so they almost just go get the documents and call it good, until Ronon finds out and implies that he'd be very mad if he didn't get to be someone's best man after John spent time explaining what that was the last time someone got married. Teyla also insists, so they make her officiate a ceremony in front of the stargate. They dress up for it, but insist no one else should have to (everyone else does), and there's a nice dinner with dancing after, arranged at a local planet. In all, it wasn't too much pressure or time taken away from business, but they have fun.

They don't take a honeymoon, but only because they would be driven up a WALL trying to stay away from the action that long. But... John does at least arrange a Very nice evening off planet alone, maybe a long weekend. It's close enough, with how hectic their lives are.

[spurious]

HELLO feel free to ignore this obviously but you seem like the best person to ask - i’ve had a shitty week and am in desperate need of mcshep fic recs. what are the coziest most sweetest soppiest saddest ones youve ever read???

I am so sorry to hear you’ve had a bad week anon!!!!!!! Let me grab some of my best Warm Blanket fics for you 💖

Painted Blind by aadarshinah

John rather thinks he would know if he and Rodney were dating.

Or: Idiots in love, take twelve.

This one is soooo sweet and funny and THEM

I Do by cathalin

The feeling expands and grows and words are pushing up his throat, and he finds himself speaking. “Is that a promise?”

This is just. 🥹🥰🙏💖

Comfort Break by @salchat

On the usual mission-gone-wrong, John and Rodney are hiding in a ruined house. John is hurt and being overly stoic about it as usual and Rodney wants John to admit to being in pain and accept his help. They talk.

Rodney being caring in his stubborn, bullheaded Rodney way 💖

four boots, five thousand two hundred and eighty feet by Pares

"So what you're saying is, learning to love yourself really is the greatest love of all!"

Just a really fun, well-written, sexy body swap fic.

In Plain Sight by lamardeuse

The day they repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Rodney marched into John's office and dragged him out.

Soooooo romantic I love this one!!!

Number Theory by Valdomarx

On another version of Atlantis, John is a mathematician who is better with numbers than with people.

But he's going to have to learn to get on with his team and their bossy leader, Rod, if he wants to survive here.

Set in the parallel universe from McKay and Mrs. Miller.

Hard-won and gradual vulnerability with a lot of team feels!

Monomial Factors by anonymous

Rodney wants a cat. John's always been a dog guy.

SOOOOO sweet this one.

The Reverse of Fascination by shrift

"I only have one idea left," Rodney said, because the situation was dire. It was desperate. It was this, or Rock Paper Scissors, and he didn't have a handy copy of the official strategy guide.

One of those fics where you can just HEAR the dialogue

Loop the Loop by alsaurus

One man's quest to comfort a friend. And maybe himself, just a little.

(AKA the one where John takes Rodney out on a million dates without realizing it.)

One of my absolute FAVES. This one is SO good and SO sweet and SO them!!!

The Suite Life by CartWrite

John did not ask to sprain his ankle, to be reassigned to the best quarters in Atlantis, or for Rodney McKay to become his new neighbor. But that’s what happened. Post-series.

Bit of a longer read but GOD is it worth it. Absolute comfort fic, it’s SO good.

Bare by @alienfuckeronmain

“Did you not know,” Teyla says carefully, shooting a concerned look at Ronon over their mostly empty plates, “that Lt. Colonel Sheppard enjoys the company of—”

“No, I did not!” Rodney manages to grit out, sucking in air desperately before grabbing his glass of water and downing it. “Since fucking when?!”

According to my ao3 history I’ve revisited this 79 times. Rodney thinking he’s homophobic when in fact he’s jealous is SUCH a good amazing trope. Also the sex scene in this is SO incredibly good 🫠

Okay I’m stopping there but like, if anyone wants to reblog with their own fluffy faves for this anon? Yes!

[smilebackwards]

I'm on a stargate Atlantis kick rn, so I'm curious about colonel mckay?

Yes, I love to know people are still into SGA! The only reason I put this one as moderately good odds for completion is that there's a McShep fest that runs every February on Dreamwidth so I have some kind of goal. And also I wrote one specific line that I love and cannot let go.

So it's a John/Rodney fic, established relationship, they're new-ish married, and John is talking to some asshole military people from Earth and one of them calls him Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard, with the heavy stress on Lieutenant to stress that he's lower ranked. And John is also an asshole okay but in a very different way so he reflexively says actually it's Lieutenant Colonel McKay now, just married my genius physicist husband. Now, the thing is, John did not actually change his last name or plan to but after this he commits to the bit and he commits hard and honestly that's the entire basis of the story, it's not plot driven, i just think it's funny and I'm going throw in some angst for additional flavor :)