Stargate Atlantis | Adrift S4.Ep1

Radek: Yes! Yeah, I thought you'd be happy.

Rodney: Happy?! There's actually a chance we might make it through this thing! I am ecstatic!

stay by your side every night

post-4x11, but in a fix-it 'verse where Elizabeth never got taken by the replicators. established john/elizabeth -- just a soft little hurt/comfort epilogue to that wonderfully whumpy episode. (assumes Elizabeth took Woolsey's place in the episode plot)

John finds Elizabeth in the makeshift control room as soon as he makes it off the Traveler ship. She’s leaning against the wall, listening to Zelenka’s account of the conditions aboard the cobbled together vessel. Even in the flickering emergency lighting, John can tell from the hand pressed to her forehead that she’s probably having a night even worse than his.

“Radek,” she sighs, “my czech is rusty on a good day, if you can’t get your point across in one language, can we switch to polish, maybe?”

“Tell her later, Radek,” John interrupts. “Elizabeth, Jen needs you in the infirmary.”

He takes her arm, but she goes willingly. “Are Rodney and Daniel okay?”

“They are, but you’re not,” John mutters. “I want you to get checked out.”

“We were never hurt, John,” she sighs, “only stunned. And besides, we both know I have the least to worry about in that regard.”

“Sure,” he agrees sarcastically, “so, you could walk in a straight line right now? If I let go of you?”

She shakes her head. “It’s just a headache. I guess a self-repairing system doesn’t make me immune to dehydration.”

John leans over and kisses her hair before guiding them down the hallway again. “Humor me, sweetheart. Let Jen stick you in a scanner real quick.”

“Only if Daniel and Rodney are out of the woods.”

“Deal.” He squeezes her hip where his hand has settled. 

Jen is on his side when he gets there. “Oh, Rodney’s fine, and with Doctor Jackson it’s just a waiting game,” she says. “Elizabeth, go ahead and lie down in the main scanner, will you? While that’s running I’d like to change your bandages, John.”

Elizabeth scowls as she turns to him. “Bandages?”

“Just a few shrapnel scrapes,” he mutters. “You get looked at, I get looked at, yeah?”

He takes off his jacket and shirt, wincing as the bandages and cuts pull with his movements. This is always the worst part of a mission, the coming down, when all of the pain and fear settles in and he has nothing to distract himself. And Keller isn’t super gentle un-taping the gauze, either.

She’s running a stinging rinse over his wounds when her tablet beeps. “Oh… well, no wonder you’re not feeling well, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth slips out of the scanner. “God. Do I even want to hear it?”

“It’s not a huge deal, all things considered,” Jen assures them. “Your nanites must’ve been affected by the wraith stunner-- makes sense, since they’re electric, even if you’re the source of their electricity. I’m sure when they do their thing and replenish themselves, you’ll feel much better. But I’m guessing that could take twelve to twenty-four hours.”

John reaches out to take Elizabeth’s hand. “I guess you’ll just have to sleep it off.” 

She nods, her eyes flicking over him in a distracted manner. “You’re one to talk… John, your back…” her fingers brush over his sensitive skin, but Jen clears her throat. 

“Doctor Weir, please don’t touch any of the area I’m disinfecting. None of his wounds are deep, but I’m worried about infection if I don’t clean them properly.”

“Sorry, Jen,” Elizabeth murmurs. John hisses as the doctor douses him again. Elizabeth’s frown deepens. “You got pretty roughed up, huh?”

Her worrying over him is exactly what he <i>doesn’t&lt;/i> want. “My ears are ringing a little and I won’t be sleeping on my back for a couple days. I got lucky, really.”

“Don’t forget the two broken ribs,” Jen interjects.

Elizabeth’s expression becomes vacant, but she comes back to herself enough to give him her ‘brave face’ smile. “Looks like we both need a little R&R.”

He leans forward to bury his face in her shoulder. “I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

Elizabeth’s fingers card through his hair, and just when the niceness of holding onto her is starting to overtake the pain from his back, Jennifer interrupts again. 

“Elizabeth, please,” the doctor sighs. “You two can hang on as tight as you want as soon as I get the clean bandages on.”

“Sorry, Jen.”

Before they escape the infirmary, John steals a few shelf-stable cold packs. In Elizabeth’s quarters, he finds his way through the dark in concession to her headache, looking for a washcloth or something in her bathroom. Returning to bed, he finds her in one of his old air force t-shirts, hugging a pillow with her eyes screwed shut. He leans down to press a kiss to her temple, laying the wrapped ice pack on her head when she whimpers slightly. “How’s that?”

She lets out a sigh of pleasure. “Really nice. Are you too sore for me to use you as a pillow?”

“Never,” he promises, slipping into her bed. “You scared me today, ‘Lizabeth.”

She pouts at him. “Me? You got blown up.”

He pets her hair absently. “You may be nearly invincible, but if the wraith had decided to feed on you, the nanites wouldn’t have done shit.”

“It was all just terrible timing,” Elizabeth sighs. “I’m just glad we’re back in our own bed.”

“Get some sleep, hon,” John mutters.

“You too.” She nuzzles into his neck. “I’ll still be here if the nightmares wake you up.”

He closes his eyes. “Which one of us d’you think will wake up screaming first?”

“Probably me,” she sighs, “but I’m expecting you to be restless tonight, with your back covered in bandages.”

He grimaces. “If I don’t move, it doesn’t hurt… just feels kinda hot and sore.”

“I’m jealous,” Elizabeth groans. “I swear my head is only getting worse, not better.”

“I can crack a fresh ice pack for you if you want,” he offers. They’re within reach on his nightstand.

“No, it’s cold enough.” She nestles against him even closer. “I just need to fall asleep. Should’ve asked for more sleeping pills.”

John knows she has to take a higher dosage thanks to the nanites processing the medicine out of her system. “I can rub your back until you fall asleep?”

It’s almost too dark to tell, but he thinks she smiles. “You’re too good to me.”

He begins tracing patterns up and down her spine. “I love you, Elizabeth.”

Her voice is already slow and sleepy. “I love you, too.”

Directors cut of any of your cat rodney fics! 💜 please?

Thanks very much for the ask, this was a lot of fun to revisit. Have never done a director’s commentary before, so hope this is the right sort of thing.

Have opted for the first one, “A cat may look at a particle accelerator” - fic and commentary under the cut. If you just want the notes, skip to everything in italics.

So, this whole series was entirely @massharp1971’s fault. 

We got into a conversation in the comments of another fic (In which Rodney is not a princess and John works through a few things) in which we agreed that Rodney was, in essence a cat. They then pointed me in the direction of the Pallas cat, who was so quintessentially Rodney that I broke off what I was writing and jumped fully on board the Cat!Rodney train:

“I knew it! I knew there was Ancient tech here! McKay is going to go green…”

“Yeah, yeah, Langstrom, but save the victory dance for now. Just remember the golden rule is don’t…”

[Langstrom is a name plucked from the Quarantine episode of Red Dwarf - for no particular reason, except that Red Dwarf was my childhood and I love that episode in particular. Plus, she’s a great creepy villain, who undergoes a transformation of sorts, so there is a tenuous link.]

VSWOOSH!

[It took far, far too long to work out how to spell ‘Vswoosh!’]

“… touch anything.”

———

“Sergeant Holly, you weren’t due back for another three hours. Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine, Ma’am.” Pause. “Well, mostly fine.” Pause. “It’s not fine.”

“Sergeant. What’s in the bucket?”

“It’s more of a ‘who’s in the bucket’ really, Ma’am.”

Pause.

“I see.”

Tap.

“Dr McKay? We’re going to need the Rehumanator.”

[The name was intended to give off fifties style Mad Scientist vibes. Every sci fi adventurer needs this particular bit of kit and, honestly, it’s surprising that it doesn’t come as standard]

——-

Rodney stalked up and down the lab as Zelenka readied the cumbersome ray for use. If he’d had a tail, it would have been lashing with angry fervour.

[I wanted from the start to make Rodney an actual cat, who had - for practical reasons, mostly thumb-based - transformed himself into a human, rather than have him discover his inner cat through some form of Pegasus Standard Malarkey. Hence a bit of heavy foreshadowing.]

“…how many times do we have to go over the most basic safety protocols? I mean, three penguins, two mountain lions and a gerbil wasn’t enough? And who the hell gets themselves turned into Bouillabaisse soup?”

[this is a direct nod to the large number of - generally excellent - transformation fics in the fandom, though only the penguins are referencing stories that I knew existed. There may well be a gerbil Radek or Rodney or Teyla out there and I’m sure the world would be a better place for it.

Bouillabaisse Soup is there, by the way, because it’s just fun to say (not so much to type)]

John rested a placating hand on Rodney’s shoulder.

“You did catch all the drips, did you, Sergeant?”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“Hmm. He does smell more pleasant than the mountain lions, at least.” Rodney inhaled from the bucket with a slightly dreamy expression.

“Er, Doc, can I humbly request that you don’t eat Dr Langstrom?”

As Rodney raised his hackles to full and started savaging Sergeant Holly for such an infamous suggestion - while casting the occasional longing look at the bucket - Zelenka stepped in with a hasty wave.

[more cat anvils being lobbed at you]

“Rehumanator is fully charged and ready.”

Rodney rolled his eyes so far, they went all the way round and came back again.

“Honestly, Radek, I expect this sort of thing from the grunts and soft scientists, but you, of all people, should know better. It’s not a Rehumanator, it’s an original DNA restoration device…”

“A factory reset.” John put in, mostly to watch Rodney go purple.

“Yes, yes, if you must reduce complex scientific principles to the most banal possible description.”

“I really must.”

[this is one of the most fun dynamics they have, when Rodney is being precise and wordy and John just cuts it down to essentials, with a huge smug smirk. Honestly, Rodney might just win in a smug-off, but John would be close]

Rodney glared at John. John smirked back. Radek carefully walked around them, so as not to get hit by a stray bolt of sexual tension. The last time that had happened, he hadn’t left his quarters for a week.

But what a week.

[I swear, this sort of thing actually happens in the show. Extras and side characters were constantly being hauled off the set with Sexual Chemistry-Related Shrapnel Damage]

“Perhaps we should restore Dr Langstrom now, Rodney? Unless you feel that he has not yet exhausted all the possibilities inherent in being soup?”

Rodney tore his gaze reluctantly from John’s and nodded impatiently.

“Yes, yes, of course. Do the thing.” He waved his hand at the ray and backed swiftly away from the bucket.

Zelenka aimed and fired.

VSWOOSH!

“Ouch.”

It turned out that scientists and buckets, in combination, could bond with more of a tenacity than one might imagine, when picturing them separately. Two Marines held the bucket, while Rodney and John took one arm each and began to heave.

In hindsight, Zelenka should not have leaned down over the Rehumanator to get a better view of his boss’s contraband, but inarguably excellent, ass, with muscles all nicely taut in the act of straining.

[There is an SGA Fiction Law which states that any fic containing more than a few sentences of Rodney McKay, must also contain due reverence towards his ass. This is just me complying with the law]

VSWOOSH!

“Sorry, sorry, my elbow slipped. But, is fine it should not do harm unless… ah. Now that is unexpected.”

The marines and John looked down at themselves, relieved to be in one piece. But sitting on the floor, with a glare like a rabid tiger, was the angriest, fluffiest grey cat they had ever seen.

[if you haven’t seen a Pallas cat, go look one up now. It will warm your heart and also glare at you, like you just ate its kittens]

———

“So let me get this straight. It wasn’t a malfunction with the Rehumanator?”

“No, no, was working perfectly. But, as Rodney explained,” Radek gave a nervous glance to the cat on the chair next to him, who was currently portraying the world’s mightiest huff with every separate fur he possessed, “it does not actually turn you human. It merely undoes any transformation that you may have undergone.”

“So, what are you saying?” Elizabeth glanced at Rodney and then Zelenka with incredulity. “You mean that Rodney is not human? That he’s really a cat?”

Sheppard knew that couldn’t be what Zelenka was saying. Except that, no, he was saying it. In those exact words.

“I have done all diagnostics, all possibilities for error. All it did, as the Colonel so eloquently put it, was a factory reset on Rodney. Therefore,” he shrugged. “Rodney is cat.”

They all looked at Rodney. Rodney glared at all of them, before letting out a little kitty sigh, licking a paw and nodding slightly.

Sheppard blinked and turned pale. “Excuse me. I need to just… process a few things.”

[as a side note, I believe there must be at least one SGC form for accidental bestiality; though whether anyone has dared to fill it in is very doubtful]

Rodney tried to follow but he was firmly scooped up and placed - to his absolute horror and indignation - in an improvised and very secure cat basket, which all of Rodney’s science team had worked together to make, with an unusual swiftness and sense of unity.

“Sorry, Rodney, but we need to get you checked out at the infirmary.”

“Actually, Dr Weir… I believe that Dr Sanders has a degree in veterinary science…”

The very secure cat basket proved to fold like so much tissue paper, in the face of the lashing of vengeful claws.

———

“Carson, could you be on the alert for three scientists and two marines headed your way with multiple lacerations, bites and one severe fur allergy?”

———

“Atlantis General Notice: Should anyone spot a largish, extremely fluffy cat in your vicinity, please report it immediately. Do not, repeat, do not, approach the animal or attempt to capture it. Nor, and this is very important, should you make kissy faces at the cat or use phrases like ‘Here Tiddles!’ or ‘Who’s a little cutie pie, then?’. The infirmary is rapidly running out of bandaids.”

[I ran through several alternate cutesie cat names (which I can’t remember now but probably were along the lines of FluffyBoots or Snugglekins) but ultimately ‘Tiddles’ had just the right quality of banality and depressing indignity]

——-

“Atlantis General Notice: Colonel Sheppard has asked me to also point out that the cat should not be harmed in any way. Or, I quote, “if anyone harms so much as a whisker on his angry little face, they will spend the rest of their lives, and afterlives, regretting that they were ever born.”

[Sheppard will, naturally, protect Rodney under any circumstances and as any species, no matter the cost - and, frankly, I think he enjoys being just that much of an ethically flexible badass] 

——-

“Atlantis General Notice: Seriously, stop it with the pet names. We’re now down to two Spiderman bandaids and a roll of sellotape.

[the author does not recommend that you tend your wounds with sellotape and refuses to be held responsible for any subsequent physical and emotional distress consequent on trying]

———

Sightings of Rodney ceased after less than a day. It wasn’t until two days later that he returned: bipedal, distinctly less fluffy and wearing an improvised toga made of bedlinen.

Elizabeth allowed him to retrieve a uniform before the debriefing.

“So, I think you can understand that we have some questions…”

Rodney scowled, his expression so like his cat self that, for a moment, the whole Command staff thought he had reverted and backed off about a foot.

“Okay, look. Yes, I was born a cat. Obviously. And I would go so far as to say that I was a very good cat. For about six months, I lived a happy, catly life, deducing natural laws from first principles, studying the stars and enjoying the benefits of an incredibly flexible tongue and spine. Until I realised that, for all my incredible intellect, the stupid prejudices and species-centricity of humanity was going to make it impossible for me to ever win a Nobel prize.

So, I worked for weeks on my own personal transformation ray, which, let me tell you, was no picnic with paws. But, you know,“ Rodney preened smugly, “genius.”

[or, in other words, the author couldn’t really think of a method of complex DNA-shuffling machine-construction by a kitten and used the ‘get out of explanations free card]

He leaned back on the chair, absently lifting his hand to his mouth then hastily lowering it, just before it met his gently poking tongue.

“Anyway. I was still pretty young, from a human perspective, at that point, so I smuggled myself to Canada, got adopted and threw all of my energy and time into science. And also, quite a lot of batting at scrunched up paper for the first two years, but some habits are hard to shake.”

[I considered whether to make Jeannie a cat too, but ultimately decided to just go simple. At this point in the series, at least, therefore, she doesn’t realise that her brother is actually a cat. I don’t know whether Rodney’s been brave enough to risk that conversation since]

Rodney crossed his arms and scowled fiercely at everyone.

“So, how did you turn back?” Sheppard asked.

Rodney sighed.

“Apparently you weren’t listening. I built a transformation ray at the age of six months. And that was with the drawback of the lack of materials to be found on the rocky steppes of my birthplace. You would not believe how hard it was to source a DNA reconstituting module… well, anyway. Short answer, I’m a genius and Atlantis is chock full of weird stuff. The only reason it took me so long was that it’s also surprisingly full of string and… well, that’s not important either.”

[the birth of Cat!Rodney’s fascination with string, which all cats I have known have been greatly enamoured with and scientists are rather keen on in general too]

“So, are you planning on staying as a human, now?”

Rodney waved his hand vaguely. “Yes, yes. It was… not wholly unpleasant to connect with my roots, but the lack of opposable thumbs and intelligible speech would always be a drawback. Though some of my scientists seem to manage…”

Elizabeth stepped in before he could get going on a full rant.

“Well, I’m sure that we’ll all be glad to have you back. Though, you might find that people need a little time for adjustment.”

Rodney snorted. “What’s to adjust? I’m exactly the same as I always was, except now everyone knows that my baby pictures are cuter than theirs.”

[some kind person left a link to a Pallas kitten on the last fic in the series, which should definitely be checked out if anyone doubts this]

Sheppard nodded. “Can’t argue with that.”

The meeting adjourned shortly afterwards.

——-

“So, er, Rodney…”

Rodney sighed and removed his hand from John’s pants.

“This whole interspecies sex thing is freaking you out, isn’t it?”

[despite this essentially being crack, I felt this whole issue had to be addressed a bit, if only to then sweep it firmly under the carpet]

John missed Rodney’s hand but he felt they probably did need to discuss the issue.

“Well, yeah. Kinda.”

“Okay, so look. I don’t do my DNA alteration by halves. I’m completely physically human. Ask Carson. I would never have been allowed on the expedition otherwise.”

“So…”

“So, sleeping with me is not bestiality, nor does it make you a furry, if that’s a concern for you. It just means you have excellent taste.”

John considered for a moment and then popped Rodney’s hand back into his boxers.

“Well, okay then.”

———

“So, Rodney. Ever thought about having kittens?”

“I will end you in your sleep, Sheppard.”

“Goodnight, Rodney.”

“Goodnight.”

——-

And, at least, now John knew why Rodney had always purred after sex.

[this whole fic took about an hour to write (plus some polishing time afterwards) and the longest part of that was trying to end it; which is something that goes for almost all my stories. It almost finished with Goodnight, but that just felt too abrupt; fortunately I think Rodney is easy to imagine as a happy post-coital purrer, without stretching disbelief too far. Because, you know, this is a very serious fic 😁]

This series is one of my favourites to write, because it’s full of love and support from everyone, and because I love the sheer goofiness of it all, with, hopefully, a lot of heart at the centre.

And because cats. You can never have too much cat.

Appreciate the ask! 💖

stargate episodes that should have been, part 58: an entire episode devoted to the “b plot” of lorne trying to convince zelenka he’s a flat earther (because beckett bet him he couldn’t) while the “a plot” of saving the city or whatever is going on in the background. zelenka is at first trying his best to ignore lorne (he’s being very productive, more than he’s been in a long time, and has started checking items off mckay’s to-do list after he finished his own) but lorne refuses to leave because he’ll be damned if he doesn’t get the bacon, eggs, and pancakes (with fresh maple syrup!) he was promised. he finally gets zelenka to pay attention when he says “oh, yeah, new lantea is flat too.” this gets radek to start angrily yelling in czech because what the fuck, lorne, you’ve literally seen new lantea from space. (it’s a disk, insists lorne.) we now have a brief interlude of sheppard having brunch with todd offworld, discussing important plot stuff. ok, back to atlantis, where zelenka has given up on his to-do list and is now drawing diagrams and equations on a whiteboard to explain how earth (and new lantea, and every other planet) cannot be flat. lorne is like “okay, thanks, doc” and goes back to beckett to tell him of his success. the next morning, lorne is eating bacon, eggs, and pancakes (with fresh maple syrup!) in the cafeteria. zelenka walks over and asks where he got the good food. “oh, beckett bet me i couldn’t convince you i’m a flat earther. want some?” zoom on zelenka’s face. fade to black.

im just imagining zelenka at the whiteboard like this:

while lorne just nods and smiles politely while fantasizing about the delicious breakfast food coming his way.

also.....TODD SHEPPARD BRUNCH ASLKFJH.

Been chugging my way through Stargate Atlantis, and am now about... halfway?... through the third season. My observations:

--the first half of the first season or so was fucking terrible and I only kept watching out of a macabre desperation to understand why people whose sanity I believe in liked this show. Seriously. It was like they were trying to speedrun to a certain point in the plot and were convinced that they could skip all the work of actually introducing characters and worldbuilding. Everyone was literally talking fast to get through. The "exposition" was straight up just assorted characters *telling* us what was going on. McKay pulled *massive* amounts of knowledge about the Ancients straight out of thin air. By episode *four* they already expected us to be riveted by the imminent death of a main character that they had, to that point, forgotten to actually give any character. It was fucking painful.

BUT

--it got better. In fact, at this point, I'd say the plot is more coherent and has more emotional continuity than SG1 managed most of the time.

--McKay x Sheppard is a very obvious ship and I ship it.

--Dr. Carson. Don't touch me.

--they've STILL forgotten to give Sheppard his own motivations. I mean, he's essentially here through a bizarre accident of timing and genetics and they've forgotten to explain why he chooses to stay despite it all. That said, he's also a ton like my husband--almost inhumanly calm and determined and unflappable, and we always joke that my husband sprang fully formed from Zeus's head with his entire personality already in place, too. So I guess I'm saying that it's bad writing but I can manage to parse it anyway.

--it's really interesting how tonally different it is from SG1. It's been a mad dash for survival from Day 1. They've made mistakes left right and center, but only because the margins for error were invisibly small. There's never the slightest sense of the expedition being in control of anything.

--for example, I can't think of any group in this galaxy that has ongoing space flight capability *except* terrifying bad guys and our expedition. Every time a distress beacon has been triggered so far, that's been a BAD thing, because no one good is going to come.

--Rodney is a really unusual main character, in that he's the guy in the friend group that everyone knows perfectly well is an asshole, but they've all decided he's worth it anyway. I also really like his assorted physical foibles, the hypoglycemia, the hypochondria, the general bad condition... As a guy who is arguably neurodivergent and physically neither strong nor brave, he's a really unusual pick for a lead character. I really appreciate that.

--that said, poor Zelenka. I really like my boy Radek and he does not deserve Rodney's shit.

I got distracted by family stuff in the middle of this and forgot half my point but I'm just throwing this out in hopes of engaging a little conversation anyway, so here you go.

1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 38, 54 Writing meme

Tell us about your WIP! I currently have two ongoing WIP and one that I'm hopefully going to write in late April/early May. 

The first is Carolina the Teenage Witch, which I started in November 2018 and am one episode away from the midseason finale of season 4 of 6. It's a fusion fic that has the Red vs Blue cast in the Sabrina the Teenage Witch universe, in which Carolina is a half-mortal witch who gets taken from her parents and sent to live with Grey and Kimball as her guardians as she learns to be a witch. I've been having a blast having pretty much every character in Red vs Blue show up at some point.

The second is we didn't even kiss til issue 26, which is a superheroes AU for Red vs Blue in which Simmons is a brand-new hero who's come to Blood Gulch to join their superhero team and help save the day, and immediately runs into complications. Today is actually its two-year anniversary, and I'm about 3/4ths of the way finished with the main story line with some short side stories planned. 

The last one I haven't started yet but have begun to plan is a nsfw one-shot for Dungeons and Daddies, a first time ot3 sequel to my long Terry Sr/Samantha/Ron AU.

  Where is your favorite place to write? In my condo, it's now on my bed with my laptop on a small table, with my cats snoozing either in my lap or on the cat tree next to me. 

What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing? Favorite part is figuring out how all the pieces fit together, especially with long fic, planting some foreshadowing when I can and sometimes accidentally creating foreshadowing. Least favorite is starting and ending scenes/stories. It's hard!!

Favorite character you’ve written? Oh, that's impossible. I've been writing fic for over 20 years now, I can't choose a favorite out of the 361 fics I've written.... I think some of my favorites to get into the headspace of were probably Ron Stampler, Simmons, Javert, Radek Zelenka, and Bëor.

Favorite/least favorite tropes? Favorites are probably slow burn (big surprise there), friends to lovers, emotional hurt/comfort, food as a metaphor for love, touch starvation. Least favorite are noncon, incest, character death, infidelity, just not the kind of tropes I prefer to read personally! 

How do you nail voice in your books? Whether I'm writing for a book canon/visual media canon, I reread or relisten to important scenes where that particular character has a lot of dialogue, trying to figure out their quirks. Do they stumble over their own words? Do they have trains of thought that seem reasonable to them but impossible to follow for people around them? 

Favorite first line/opening you’ve written?

I think Where Sister and Brother and God-Kin Know Us, a Scar gen fic I wrote for FMA: Brotherhood, is always going to be one of my favorites. 

It is said that in the beginning, there were no deserts. Rather, there were oceans and land with all manner of greenery, so that the land itself was an ocean of trees. It came to pass that Ishvala stood upon his world to look at what he had created. His holiness scorched the earth, burned the trees and plants away until there was only sand instead, warm and golden. There, in that great expanse of desert, he created the first people, gave them skin the color of sand and taught them language and the knowledge of how to survive in this holiest of places. They called themselves Ishvalans after their creator, and were content.

Stargate Atlantis Rewatch Season 1 Episode 10: The Storm

And the Genii are back. Great.

And the episode’s name comes into play, with a giant storm. Which, according to Sheppard, can’t be a storm because it stretches across the whole horizon. Well, he is a pilot, so he’s gotta know these things.

Okay, big problem. The storm covers about 20% of the planet, it’s headed straight for the settlement that the Athosians have made on the mainland, and after that it’s going for Atlantis.

Apparently, this happens about every 20-30 years because of the ocean getting unusually warm.

Aww, don’t cut off Radek. I wanted to hear what you had to say, Radek, even if Rodney didn’t.

And of course, the precautions put in place for these storms is, wait for it… powered by the ZPMs that the Ancients had. Which our fearless heroes do not have.

God, look at how expressive John’s eyebrows are. They’re incredible. Though if you do look at his face without listening to what he’s saying, or just a picture of his face instead of the whole movement, he does look very much like he’s pleading. A puppy does come to mind.

And they have 12 hours to get ready for this. Great.

And now Carson is being put to work on the settlement, even though he doesn’t “really have the right boots for this.” as he was “just meant to come out here to inoculate some wee babies.” He is also one of my favorites.

I think Sheppard just threatened some people on another planet into letting them stay.

“You know, you’re not pleasant when you’re like this, McKay.”

“I’m always like this.”

“My point exactly.”

And, of course Smeadon (leaderish guy of the people who are reluctantly letting the people of Atlantis (and the Athosians) stay on their planet) is contacting the Genii.

And Rodney and Zelenka (Radek) have come up with the ingenious plan to charge Atlantis’s shields using the lightning in the storm, which has “better than a “90%-” “70%” “80%” chance of working (with that exchange going Rodney, Zelenka, Rodney).

I know this isn’t what I should be focusing on, but it’s really sweet that Rodney remembered Elizabeth complaining about her knee.

Wow. The Genii actually, instead of just getting dressed in their costumes, just put them on over their uniforms so that there could be a dramatic reveal. Now that’s what I call dedication.

And Sora is concerned about her choice of allegiance because her...general…?... just killed two men who could have been overpowered. What’s strange is that she didn’t mind lightly torturing a drunk farmer earlier.

I think Koyla (Genii general guy) might now be realizing that everyone didn’t just evacuate Atlantis for nothing.

I think one of the Genii just stroked Rodney’s hair??

Sorry, his name is Kolya, not Koyla.

Also he’s a commander, not a general, apparently.

And Rodney just managed to tell Sheppard what was going on by leaning on the broadcast button of the Atlantis PA system.

Also, by the way, the Genii want all of Atlantis’s C4 and medical supplies. Seriously? Completely ignoring the C4 bit, you can’t even pretend that you’re only taking what you need in order to survive, and the other person should give you an ethical break, because you’re leaving them with nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Also, you don’t need that much C4 to survive. If you really really want it, just take some, and then replicate it.

Look, there’s this Genii that looks so much like that guy Finn, from Glee, I just gotta know if it is him, and the actor was just like 30 when he played him or something.

It IS him. Wow. He was 28 in Glee.

I don’t really like how they’re portraying Sora right now. She’s been training for revenge with this obviously evil guy for months now, she’s actually tortured a guy (mild torture, but still torture), she was very much hardened even before John, Rodney, Ford, and Teyla came (willing to hurt or kill them (or at least fine with the idea of them being killed by her people and superiors), even when they hadn’t done anything that harmed the Genii, nor were they acting like they were going to harm them), but right now she’s suddenly a Good, Kind, Naive Girl who Hadn’t Realized What She Was Doing? I would have no problem with her deciding that Kolya was being too harsh if there was some kind of character development during this (and if it was acknowledged that she understood that she was doing bad things that hurt people before, and was coming past it), but this just makes her character seem unintelligent and weak willed.

Rodney is protecting John and trying to worriedly ramble out reasons why they shouldn’t hurt him, and maybe it’s the large amount of Rodney/John I’ve been reading lately, but I find it kind of adorable.

Uh oh, the grounding thing is broken.

And now Kolya is threatening to kill Weir.

Also, stop grabbing Rodney by his knife wound! I know you guys are evil, but really?

I think that I should mention that while this is going on, Carson, Teyla, Ford, and two Athosians are on the mainland trying to wait out the storm in a jumper.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Stargate Atlantis, Gundam Wing, Weiß Kreuz Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Laura Cadman/Evan Lorne, Rodney McKay/John Sheppard Characters: Laura Cadman, Evan Lorne, Rodney McKay, John Sheppard, Duo Maxwell, Hilde Schbeiker, Dorothy Catalonia, Chang Wufei, Heero Yuy, Trowa Barton, Neu | Murase Asuka, Hidaka Ken, Naoe Nagi, Peter Kavanagh, Chuck (Stargate), Richard Woolsey, Radek Zelenka, Jennifer Keller, Aiden Ford Additional Tags: Sneaky Crossover, Episode: s05e19 Vegas, Alternate Universe - Vegas Summary:

Detective Laura Cadman was leading a sedate life with the North Las Vegas PD - helping Vice with stings, admiring the cute baker who brought pastries to the precinct every morning, when her old beat partner John Sheppard nearly got blown up by a serial killer and some guy from the FBI named Rodney McKay started hanging around his hospital room. A Vegas!verse AU.

And All You Could Have Been

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2opFIEB

by nagi_schwarz

Detective Laura Cadman was leading a sedate life with the North Las Vegas PD - helping Vice with stings, admiring the cute baker who brought pastries to the precinct every morning, when her old beat partner John Sheppard nearly got blown up by a serial killer and some guy from the FBI named Rodney McKay started hanging around his hospital room. A Vegas!verse AU.

Words: 25294, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Stargate Atlantis, Gundam Wing, Weiß Kreuz

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, M/M

Characters: Laura Cadman, Evan Lorne, Rodney McKay, John Sheppard, Duo Maxwell, Hilde Schbeiker, Dorothy Catalonia, Chang Wufei, Heero Yuy, Trowa Barton, Neu | Murase Asuka, Hidaka Ken, Naoe Nagi, Peter Kavanagh, Chuck (Stargate), Richard Woolsey, Radek Zelenka, Jennifer Keller, Aiden Ford

Relationships: Laura Cadman/Evan Lorne, Rodney McKay/John Sheppard

Additional Tags: Sneaky Crossover, Episode: s05e19 Vegas, Alternate Universe - Vegas

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2opFIEB

It wouldn't be right to do a redux on SG1 without doing the same for SGA so here is the Atlantis version of the post about the things I like and things I don't like.  Probably not as long seeing as how I have literally half the material, but we'll see. I like: -Literally every word that comes out of Rodney's mouth.  I don't know if they have a dedicated writer who does nothing but comes up with things for him to say suitable to every occasion, but it is a sheer delight to listen to David Hewlett.  Practically every scene in Grace Under Pressure where he's basically talking to himself or hallucination Sam is pure pure gold.  His new whale friend! -Carson's accent, oh, I could just listen to it all day long.  It's such joy to listen to Carson talk as well.  He's not that old, but he calls everyone son and it's so adorable. -Tao of Rodney.  I probably would have made a separate post about it if Sunday hadn't made me so upset.  This episode made me cry and just...when Rodney starts trying to do nice things for people and actually apologizes to Zelenka and the Ronon hug!  Ugh, it's amazing -The way Radek talks to himself in Czech, especially when annoyed with Rodney -How we learn little things about Lorne, like him being a painter or that he sleepwalks -John and Elizabeth being possessed and fighting each other.  Who doesn't like a good possession episode?  Cadman/Rodney ftw, as well. -Woolsey taking over for Sam.  I was always going to be predisposed to liking him since I love Robert Picardo so much.  I liked that even though he was an antagonist when he first originated on SG1, he was a straight shooter and since I knew he was going to be on SGA, I figured he would straighten out even more, and they did a really good job of balancing the by the book guy with the living in the last frontier guy. -The city itself, it's really pretty and very cool, and has endless possibilities.  It flies! -David Hewlett's acting in the Shrine.  That opening video with him, I was absolutely blown away.  So good. -Ronon and John fighting with Bantos rods and hopping on one foot.  Bantos rod fighting scenes in general. -That real life siblings portrayed Rodney and Jeannie Miller.  It brought a huge element of awesome.  Jeannie is amazing! -The love triangle, for lack of a better term, was actually handled extremely well.  Granted, it's annoying in any shape or form, but Ronon and Rodney didn't get into some big pissing match over Jennifer and she made her feelings about what she wanted extremely clear instead of dithering around about it. -That Teyla realized it wouldn't be safe for her to be on the team while pregnant and that it was extremely hard to go back. Side note: I hate pregnancy storylines where the woman gets all shirty when people tell her to take it easy (particularly when her normal job is extremely dangerous) like they think she's less capable.   Uh, no, that's not being independent and strong, that's being stupid and selfish.  It is not weak to protect your child, it's common sense, and it reflects well on you, not poorly. -The song Beyond the Night and how they put it in the show.  It was so vastly different than anything either show had done before, but it was beautiful and well done. -Rodney, Jennifer, and Sam trying to get out of a hole in the ground together -Ronon and Teal'c fighting badass style together.  It took them a while, but they are the most metal crime fighting duo in the entire world -Rodney and Daniel interaction.  More and more and more please.  They bicker and snipe and work so well together, it's like a sarcasm orgy. -Ronon Dex fighting Wraith in a ware house.  Side by side cutting with Eliot Spencer fighting in a warehouse, please. -Todd the Wraith (and that they name the Wraith such ridiculous names). It's always better when your villains are ambiguously evil and you kind of like them.  Is Todd dead?  WE DON'T KNOW! -Ronon and Teyla holding hands while he takes her to the infirmary.  They are so adorable together and sweet. -While we're on the subject, I like Rodney and Jennifer together.  The only romance the show ever took the time to develop and too little too late some say.  But it makes sense to me and he learns a lot. -While we're further on the subject, I love the whole leaders in love thing that I could see going on with John and Elizabeth.  It also would have been nice to see develop. -Amelia kickboxing her way to victory -Chuck the Technician will never be as cool as Walter, but he's still pretty awesome -The episode where John time travels into the future and hologram Rodney shares with him everything that happened.  Really really cool. -Nanite hallucination for Elizabeth, really great job by Torri. -The Michael arc was very good, I think they could have done a lot more with it and planned it better, but the idea and him were really cool. -That Carson came back.  Oh, thank God that Carson came back.  A part of me is really sad that actual Carson is dead and some other man is living his life, but I figure he's the kind of man who wouldn't mind.  Rodney going and visiting his stasis pod gives me all kinds of feels.  Carson is literally the whole cinnamon roll too good and pure for this world meme. -Rodney delivers Torren! -Rodney being jealous of himself -Alternate dimension jumping Daedalus. -The way Rodney always says ZedPMs.  So Canadian! -Wraith Queen Teyla -Them trying to adjust to Earth again in the Return.  I love that Atlantis became their home and each other their family.  They don't belong on Earth anymore.   -John's speech to Teyla about how everyone is his family and there's nothing he wouldn't do for any of them -Woolsey kicking ass in their trial -Zelenka covered in body paint after spending time on the kid planet. -John's leadership style.  So casual, so intense.  "I'm sorry for shooting everybody!" -Ronon's smile.  Ronon's three freckles on his face.  His triangle eyebrows.   His hair.  His gun, ooh, I love his gun.  The way he lifts John in play that one time. -Twilight Bark/LOTR Beacon scene -The way everyone was obsessed with Lucius.  That was so funny. I don't like: -It felt like nothing was planned.  They just sort of...did whatever seemed cool to them and it resulted in poor resolution at times and extremely poor character/relationship development -That for an ensemble cast, so much emphasis was put on John and Rodney.  Maybe Buffy spoiled this as well for me, but in my opinion, if you're in the credits, you should be in every episode.  Even just a bit at the end or a bit at the beginning, but you should be involved.  (SG1 did this as well, but not as badly as SGA).  I could be wrong but they clearly made the effort to do this with John and Rodney so they were in every episode.  Even if the episode wasn't about them, there was some kind of scene with them in it.  So clearly, they were capable of that.  Things like Ronon and Teyla not being in the Vegas episode, annoy the heck out of me. -The kids leaving Rodney, Sam, and Jennifer to die in the hole.  Maybe I'm unrealistic, but I just feel like nobody would actually do that in such a dire situation. -They switched planets!  What about the Athosians new home?  It felt like we didn't even see what happened to them and then all of a sudden they were in a new place and missing from it. I always thought...maybe Atlantis was more about where it was then just the city itself.  Apparently not. -Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!  I mean, it'd probably be one of my favorite episodes if not for the end.  It's really cool that way, but I cannot forgive them for doing that to me.   Especially now that I know it was done on purpose to "shake things up" and for ratings since SG1 was ending. -Ford never had a chance.  He was never going to be my favorite, but they could have done so much more with him.  It's really sad how badly they botched that up.  Also, there's no reason they couldn't have actually developed him once they turned him into a psycho Wraith wanna be.  That would have been an amazing S2 character arc for him, but instead, it became 'guest star' and Ronon was clearly chosen to replace him. -Teyla's baby arc.  I get that Rachel was actually pregnant and I'm super glad they wrote it in rather than killing her off or making her stand behind furniture like a sitcom (totally not compatible with her active fighting or love of midriff-less clothing.)  But the whole thing was really rushed.  Like, how am I supposed to care about some random dude I've never met named Kanaan, who's the father of her baby?  Romance should evoke feelings, not blankness.  I just never got the chance to really care about them as a couple, which could be why I really have always seen Ronon and Teyla together, honestly. -They way they wrote Elizabeth out of the show.   It's horrendous and unacceptable.  They didn't know what to do with her?  Uh, so you actually take the time and figure it out.  Making her leave just because they wanted someone from SG1 to come on to the show is the stupidest thing.  She was amazing and a great leader and had a lot more to give.  So what if she was intended to be more of a General Hammond. Part of being a show runner is playing to your strengths and what people love.  Both of those things were Weir.  I love Sam, always have, always will, she did great, but, that was just another example of the horrible, horrible way Atlantis handled character development and why they were never quite as good as SG1.  Even the whole Elizabeth arc being resolved with her in a different Replicator body just felt wrong and disrespectful.  (All the Replicator stuff seemed a little bit off to me (especially as regards her) and maybe they just went a little bit crazy without taking the time to think things through). -The Genii as villains.  Ugh, they just rubbed me the wrong way.  Colm Meany is awesome as is Robert Davi, but they just didn't do it for me -Harmony.  Annoying children who deliberately manipulate adults and lie about what they've done to discredit another adult, are so awful.  Granted, Rodney is a petty, selfish, arrogant child himself, but John has no reason to suppose he's not telling the truth.  Not really.  Children shouldn't be allowed to get away with that.  It reminds me of my younger brother and he and I used to fight all the time when he would be a brat and annoy me on purpose.  My mom always said since I was older, I had to be more mature and not rise to it.  Perhaps true, but the most unfair thing ever and it still bothers me when I see it in others today. -Destruction of the Midway.  So sad, it was such a cool idea.  It's just annoying them always trying to figure out how to limit travel between Earth and Pegasus.  Just give them both ZPMs then! -Sam not being present at Brain Storm.  All the most brilliant scientists on Earth, my auntie.   (Bill Nye was cool!)  But just a simple exchange like Jennifer asking if Sam would be there and Rodney replying that no, she was off world, would have sufficed. -Remember when Jennifer, in her first scene, was all afraid of being CMO and didn't want the job?  Yeah, literally never mentioned again. Much more thematic problems with SGA, I'm afraid, but still plenty, plenty to love.

Stargate Atlantis | Tao of Rodney S3.Ep14

for the super lots-of-work omg fandom meme: stargate atlantis! :D (if you're not in the mood... sg1?)

It’s been a while since I’ve watched SGA, but I’ll give it a shot!

Top 5 favourite characters: Elizabeth Weir, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, John Sheppard, Radek Zelenka. (Sam would be on this list but she was originally an SG1 character so I feel like that’s cheating.)

Other characters you like: Jennifer, McKay, Carson, Lorne, Ford

Least favourite character: the Wraith creep me out. Oh, wait, fucking LUCIUS LAVIN. He was horrible once, and then they BROUGHT HIM BACK, whyyyyy.

Otps: I don’t really have any OTPs on this show, though I do low-key ship Elizabeth/John, and I can see why people ship John/Teyla.

Notps: Wraith/anyone 

Favourite friendship: Elizabeth & John, John & Teyla, Elizabeth & Teyla (precious little we got of them together, damn you showrunners), Ronon & everyone.

Favourite family: the whole Atlantis fam, obviously. Also Teyla and baby Torren.

Favourite episode: ooh, probably The Storm/The Eye. Also, the episode when John and Elizabeth’s bodies were taken over by the consciousness of the two people they found in pods, and they kissed and then ran all over Atlantis trying to kill each other. :D

Favourite season/book/movie: Season 2

Favourite quote: I don’t really have one, I guess? 

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: The city rising. Every time Elizabeth was a total badass.

When it really disappointed you: Elizabeth. :((((( Also, the series finale was really meh. 

Saddest moment: Elizabeth’s and Carson’s deaths. 

Most well done character death: Carson, I guess? Ooh, no–Sam’s death when piloting the Phoenix into Michael’s hive ship in the alternate timeline future from The Last Man. That’s really sad but it’s so well done it gives me shivers. (Gotta mention @tulipsandtesseracts‘s amazing fic, A Step Ahead of You, which is an episode insert for that ep.)

Favourite guest star: Richard Dean Anderson. :D

Favourite cast member: Joe Flanigan, Torri Higginson, Rachel Luttrell, Jason Momoa

Character you wish was still alive: ELIZABETH WEIR DESERVED BETTER.

One thing you hope really happens: I hope Joe Flanigan eventually manages to buy the rights to the show.

Most shocking twist: Richard Woolsey as Atlantis commander???

When did you start watching/reading: I marathoned the series in…2012, I think? It was after it had ended.

Trope you wish they would stop using: I don’t know, but I wish they hadn’t made Rachel Luttrell wear a wig because her natural hair is amazing. (And I wish they hadn’t made Jason wear a wig after he cut off his dreads because that thing looked terrible.)

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: ? 

Funniest moments: John Sheppard and his constant stream of pop culture references. Also, every time Sheppard quietly reminds McKay that he’s not the only genius around.

Couple you would like to see: Elizabeth/John.

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: I want Torri to have stayed. Oh! And I wish Jonas Quinn had gone to Atlantis as originally planned!!! Can you imagine how amazing that would have been!?

Most boring plotline: ?

Best flashback/flashforward if any: future!Rodney’s descriptions of what happened in the alternate timeline in The Last Man

Most layered character: Hmm, probably Teyla

Scariest moment: I’d really rather not watch the Wraith feeding on anyone, thanks

Grossest moment: Have I mentioned my dislike of the Wraith?

Best looking male: Ronon

Best looking female: All the women were gorgeous, but if you make me pick, Teyla

Who you’re crushing on (if any): nah

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): any of the shots of Atlantis on the water

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: probably there are many (because this is Stargate) but it’s been a while since I’ve watched the show

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: It took me longer with this show than with SG1. Probably by the second season I was really enjoying it. But I never did love SGA quite as much as I love SG1, although I did love the characters a lot.

Thanks, Red! 

Send me a show/fandom and I’ll answer…

Stargate Atlantis | Adrift S1.Ep4

Rodney: Look, you can do this.

Radek: Right.

Did anyone notice John's little helmet tap?

Stargate Atlantis | The Storm S1.Ep10: Part 3

Rodney & Radek ❤

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Stargate Atlantis | The Storm S1.Ep10: Part 4

Radek: You know, you’re not pleasant when you’re like this, McKay.

Rodney: I’m always like this.

Radek: My point exactly.

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Stargate Atlantis | The Storm S1.Ep10: Part 5

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