SGA fic: Mechanics of Coping

[xparrot]

I got a couple longer things in the works, but keep getting sidetracked. This one isn't an episode tag, though it was inspired by the end of "This Mortal Coil," which I've only rewatched...er...less times than I've rewatched the end of "Miller's Crossing"?

SGA: Mechanics of Coping {6,292 words}
gen, angst; 4th season, post "This Mortal Coil", vague spoilers
After yet another accident on Atlantis, Sheppard goes looking for McKay, and finds him somewhere unexpected.

Read it on AO3

Comments

[snarkydame.livejournal.com]

Lovely. I like that Radek gets his dues as Rodney's friend (as well as an important part of the expedition) and that Katie and the others all get theirs as well. Your touch with the characters is as deft as ever (I particularly like Ronon here). Thanks for the good read.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yeah, I love Radek to bits (you can tell by the mean things I did to him ^^;) and I'm really glad to know Ronon worked for you, as there's also love there but I'm not always sure what I'm doing with him...

[iamza.livejournal.com]

I think one of the things I like most about season four so far is how the writers on the show are showing how the Lantian crew have grown together like a family. It's one of the things I like best about this fic, too. Radek and Rodney are no longer just colleagues, but real friends. And John and Ronon and Rodney and Teyla are like family.

I also loved John's moment with Katie Brown. You captured her beautifully in this story, and I have to admit, while I'm not a big Katie fan, John's thoughts on the relationship -- that this, at least, is something that is going well for Rodney -- made me take a step back, because, yeah, too right.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The family trend I think started in s3 - at least that was when I really got sucked into the show, and it was exactly because of that. The whole finding a home a galaxy away...awww!

And glad Katie Brown worked for you - to be honest I'm not a big fan of her myself (well, I don't mind the char, I just don't see her working out with Rodney in the end) but it makes Rodney so happy to actually have a girlfriend, I can't help but find it cute...

(also, icon love <3)

[witchofthedogs.livejournal.com]

Well-done. I like how you've removed Teyla from playing the "all-purpose-comforting-female" as is done so often in a fic of this genre and made the boys move through their emotions on their own. And, at the same time, Teyla is still a part of this family unit and her temporary absence is felt and acknowledged.

Well-written and well-played and the voices were spot-on.

Thank you.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you - I'm glad you enjoyed it! (and heh...that's such a nice way of looking at Teyla's absence, other than I've got this weird block against writing her. Which I was guilting over, since I like Teyla, so...yup, I'm gonna go along with your reasoning here ^_^ Really, though, Teyla's not much more a comforter than her boys anyway...)

[panisdead.livejournal.com]

I really like this--John and Ronon offering very restrained comfort in the cafeteria was just perfect.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm glad it worked so well for you!

[ladyflowdi.livejournal.com]

This was absolutely wonderful. You've got the voices of the characters spot on, and the story itself was so sweet. I loved this in particular:

About how John hated to see how well a gun fit in Rodney's scientist hands these days, and yet was so proud to have Rodney on his team that he was glad to see it there, glad to know Rodney was strong enough to do what he had to, for all of them and for his own sake.

Beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm still feeling my way with these chars, so I'm glad to know they sound like themselves ^_^

[trystings.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love team fic and h/c and this was a great read.

You did a wonderful job on all of them; even Katie Brown (although I was glad to hear she hadn't seen Rodney in days - It's silly of me, but I can't think of their relationship other than doomed - funny, because you made John ask himself what Katie could possibly see in Rodney and for me it's the other around, what could Rodney possibly see in Katie *g*).

Great team interaction, I loved Ronon and his comfort food. And you treated Carter the same way the show does. She's ... somewhere and probably would have something to say, if they could find her.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Aww, Katie...I see her & Rodney just the same as you, really (which makes me sad, 'cause cute as Rodney is with her, it's just going to be heartbreak in the end). I think Rodney is far more in love with the idea of having a girlfriend, of having found someone who loves a little cactus like him, than actually in love with Katie herself, poor thing.

(and poor Carter, too, because I actually do like her, and like her on Atlantis to be honest, but there hasn't been enough of her on the show for me to be confident writing her...)

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this, thank you, especially the moment with the three of them in the cafeteria, and John thinking that fixing the projector is a nice thing to do for Radek who'll come back, rather than a way of saying they don't expect him to wake up.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it!

[aelfgyfu_mead]

They've all been through too much, but this is a lovely consideration of how they cope, because it's a long, hard process that they don't have time to show on screen.

Poor Radek! Poor Rodney! And yet they keep going.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yeah, their lives are far from easy...one thing I'm liking about 4th season is how they're showing a little more of that.

[sholio]

Just wonderful; I love the slice-of-Atlantis-life feeling to it, the way that most of the crisis is off-camera and you never do find out how it all turns out, the little details (because I'm sure there is an Anime Association of Atlantis, and that Rodney drives them all crazy by calling it Japanimation), the way they all take care of each other. And your prose is lovely as always. ^_^

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yeah, I didn't want to really resolve what happened, because it's really about how they get through either way (and hee, yeah, I'm convinced there's an AAA, and Rodney makes a point of saying "Japanimation" just because Zelenka has to correct him every time he does ^^)

[wildcat88.livejournal.com]

I really liked this - the sense of hurry because they never know how much longer they'll have, the strong relationships between the characters, Rodney wavering between wanting to be a friend and the practical reality of what losing Radek will mean to the expedition.

The use of the gun range as the place furtherest away from anything in Rodney's world was particularly inspired (as was Ronon being there at midnight and waiting for an hour before notifying Sheppard).

Enjoyed it very much.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

The whole idea for the story came from the idea of Rodney always hiding from the worst emotional ramifications in his work, but if he lost Radek there would be no surcease there, only reminders...so where would he end up? Fortunately for Rodney's peace of mind (if not his long-term psychological health) he's got other duties besides his science...

[saffronhouse.livejournal.com]

Oh, very lovely! The slow care and attention to the details of this world are such a pleasure.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[eccentricweft.livejournal.com]

This was a lovely piece. All the characterizations rang true.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad they worked for you ^^

[korilian.livejournal.com]

There was nothing I didn't love about this.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you!

[dossier.livejournal.com]

brilliant little slice of life on Atlantis, full of the angst and emotion missing from the show (usually). just lovely.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm glad it felt right for the chars ^^

[raiining.livejournal.com]

Beautifully done. A lovely gen peice that was full of TEAM and FAMILY and hugs all around. Gorgeous!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I love the family-ness of the team.

[trishkafibble.livejournal.com]

^^ I'm back...(cue ominous music) and grateful to be here, too, reading yet another lovely fic! You've captured so much here that is perfect: the mood and tone, Rodney's motivations and John's, and Ronon's contributions. And although it's not entirely the point of the story, you've focused on something rarely acknowledged--just how vital Radek is to the expedition, and to Rodney's work. Makes me want to see more of him in the show--though I do think the writers have been pretty deft in their handling of him as a secondary character.

Anyhow, great job, I enjoyed it very much! ^^

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hee, you are back! (really, such lovely long comments, I can't tell you how I appreciate them!)

Radek is an absolutely crucial char, in the expedition and in the show; Rodney's got a lot of foils, but only Zelenka can keep up with his science, mostly. I adore him - really should write a story where he's actually conscious for more than a scene ^^;

[pogrebin.livejournal.com]

This is just so great-- it's brilliant to see something exploring Rodney's friendship with Radek, how they rely on each other, scientifically and otherwise. An interesting reversal as well: Rodney at Radek's bedside in the infirmary. His coping mechanisms, and how the team rallies round him, little glimpses into the functioning of Atlantis.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

So glad you enjoyed this - I don't write enough Radek, it's a shame, because I do adore him, and what he has with Rodney. Of course Radek is probably happy enough I'm not writing him, considering what I do to him when I do get around to writing him!