I ♥ Boston (The Amanda Dillingham Young Remix) [SGA: McKay/Sheppard, PG]

[dr-who-dre.livejournal.com]

Title: I ♥ Boston (The Amanda Dillingham Young Remix)
Author: paradise_city
Summary: Rodney realizes he would sell his pocketwatch for John without being asked, and want nothing in return.
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The characters are property of the Sci-Fi Channel, etc. This is solely for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended.
Original story: I ♥ Boston (Five Things About John Sheppard, Librarian), by the_acrobat
Notes: Many thanks for miriam for the fantastic beta.


Rodney's not an epic adventure, broad and brave, or a beautiful tragedy, noble and honorable. He's just a man who pales in comparison to the fantasies John lives out on the page every day. But he loves him.

Comments

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous. :)

[etben.livejournal.com]

oh, lovely - slow and steady and imperfect and wonderful.

[minnow1212.livejournal.com]

Beautiful.

[m-lasha.livejournal.com]

It unfolds like a lovely book you love to read and reread again. Wonderful.

[siria]

Oh, this is just lovely.

[trobadora]

This is really lovely. *rereads*

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

That was gorgeous and both a wonderful complement as well as perfectly able to stand on its own.

You made me choke up with Rodney can't compete with that. He's not an epic adventure, broad and brave, or a beautiful tragedy, noble and honorable. , b/c I sometimes wonder if that's a bit what we often do...

Thank you!!!

[the-acrobat.livejournal.com]

rue_du_hoquet here, to tell you how deliriously happy I am with what you've done with my story. This is just beautiful. I love that you've picked details from the other stories in the AU and woven them in. I love the children's literature references all over the place, Shel Silverstein and Howliday Inn, and... oh... I love the way you've fleshed out some of the passing details in the five-things, explained them... the heart, how Chuck got hired... Four might be my favourite part, but three is so amazing... Jenna is fabulous. There is so much in this remix that makes me so happy and I'll probably be back again and again this week to tell you all about it, but I just wanted to start off with a quick thank you so much. I could not be happier with a remix than I am with this one. You are my fandom hero.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm so glad you like it. I was really concerned with how far I could go in terms of creating new characters and events because I know this is a universe you've created with someone else but had no idea where it was going or if you were still writing it. The last thing I wanted to do was contradict anything you'd written or planned to, so I really hope I didn't step on any toes here.

You did such a great job with the original. After I read it, even though I'd only been to Boston once, and only for the weekend, I remember thinking, "Yeah, this is what Boston feels like." And I knew I couldn't recapture that, so I tried to recapture what John and Rodney felt like in the original, all the moments we didn't get to see but that contributed to the moments we did see.

I think of remixing like gift giving and I've gotten so much from fandom that I wanted to give a good gift back. I hope I have, and thanks for the kind words.

[the-acrobat.livejournal.com]

The funny part is, as I read this, I kept exclaiming to ekaterinn, "How did s/he know? There is so much of this in notebooks and unpublished wordfiles and somehow what you've done here is completely spot-on with all of that, too. I couldn't stop flailing and jumping up and down and making completely squeeful happy noises the entire time I was reading it.

It also cracks me up that people see Boston in these (Bookverse) stories; I have never actually been there. Pretty well all I know about the city comes from books.

Your remix was a wonderful gift. :)

[paradise-city.livejournal.com]

You have no idea how relieved I am this story fit in with the rest of the universe. I actually had one of the mods email you about it, because I was so terribly afraid of stepping on toes (particularly as it seems like so much of the universe is already outlined but unpublished). I never heard back (and I have no idea what happened there; I didn't follow up on it like I should have), so I just plunged ahead and hoped for the best.

It also cracks me up that people see Boston in these (Bookverse) stories; I have never actually been there.

That's hilarious. I did some flailing about to my flist on the Boston issue because I was there once, for a brief weekend, and all I learned about the city is that there's a Jewish deli somewhere near Brookline that's open on Thanksgiving. Not very helpful in this type of situation.

I did learn a bit about Simmons, though, as the friend I was visiting was a student. Thats where the original inspiration for Jenna came from. In my mind, Rodney and Jenna probably ran into each other at some sort of gay pride event and that's how she ended up working at the bookstore.

Anyway, I'm so glad you and ekaterinn enjoyed the story. It was a bit intimidating to take on a story that I think is pretty well-known in fandom. And while I'm glad other people liked the remix, all I really wanted was the seal of approval from you and ekaterinn, so thanks. :)

[the-acrobat.livejournal.com]

Hee. Still rereading and enjoying this. That's the mark of truly wonderful writing, I think, that you can read it a dozen times and still find more delicious details.

So Rodney does the only thing he can: he loves John the way no words ever will, his hands and mouth determined on John's body, fingers and lips quietly possessive. Mmm...

I didn't get an e-mail from the mods about this. I'm glad you forged ahead, though! The secret about this... Bookverse... is that it started out when Ekat and I were doing a lot of (academic) work on hypertext narrative and so it's designed to accomodate any number of possible worlds. "Something Like Flying," for instance, isn't part of the main storyline, but bits of it trickle in (the scarf, for instance; there is no Remus Lupin in the main Bookverse universe). This probably doesn't make any sense at all... A lot of the early brainstorming is here (http://beatrice.pbwiki.com/Boston%20to%20pick%20up%20some%20books). What you've created in this (wonderful, wonderful) story is now Bookverse canon.

[lurkmuch.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is lovely!

[emyrys.livejournal.com]

I really liked this. I enjoyed the original stories in this AU, and I loved these glimpses at their life.

[sheafrotherdon.livejournal.com]

I do not have words. I do not have words. Oh my god, this is exquisite! And the section about the bed and the books and Rodney's insecurities *clutches heart* oh my god.

[paradise-city.livejournal.com]

And the section about the bed and the books and Rodney's insecurities *clutches heart* oh my god.

Rodney just breaks my heart there. He just loves John so much and it makes me all flaily.

Anyway, I know this is a late and likely out of the blue reply, but I wanted to thank you for your feedback. It's probably my favorite piece of feedback in recent months, so thanks! :)

[apple-pi.livejournal.com]

Oh, what a beautiful companion to the original story (which is also wonderful!). It's seldom that you see a remix do such a perfect job of mirroring it's inspiration, but I think that's been achieved here, and it's marvelous to see.

[dogeared.livejournal.com]

This is really SO lovely: wonderfully poetic—ink the color of his scarf ebbing like the tide across the pages and John drew him in to shore, dropped an anchor of sleepy kisses and unexpected laughter that kept Rodney from drifting away—and what an unbelievably dear Rodney, oh oh oh.

[ekaterinn.livejournal.com]

This is so amazing - I fell more in love with your remix with every word I read and then I had to go squee with the_acrobat a lot, because it's like you tapped into the Bookverse that largely existed in our heads, and incorporated bits of all the stories and made it all the more beautiful. There's so many things in here that I loved: the explanation of the heart, the many lists that Rodney makes for a theoretical kid, the John as a cityscape metaphor, inviting Rodney in. Thank you so much for writing this!

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks so much! As I said to the_acrobat, I wasn't sure how far I could push things and I was really afraid of stepping on any toes. I'm so glad you liked it and that it fit in with your vision of he characters. If the remix is any good, it's because I had great material to work with.

[ekaterinn.livejournal.com]

As the_acrobat said, this lovely fic is now part of Bookverse canon! I've been coming back to reread the story a lot and I really love how you show Rodney trying to unravel the mystery that is John (in any universe!):

That John is still a mystery to him is the worst. In the months they've been together Rodney's learned much about him, but it's little more than anyone else knows. John is an intensely private person who carries everything closely and leaves nothing behind. Rodney's afraid that one day he'll stop coming to the store and there'll be nothing to prove he was ever even there -- no note with his incongruously messy handwriting, no library newsletter with his byline on the children's column, no scarf that smells less like coffee and more like burnt wiring as the days grow colder.

Anyway, I just wanted to reiterate how much I loved your remix, and how now I'm totally inspired to write more Bookverse. *g*

[paradise-city.livejournal.com]

Yay for more Bookverse. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out. :)

[jimpage363.livejournal.com]

I love it - Rodney as David Godine... Now I'm homesick...

[runpunkrun]

This is wonderful, a great addition to the original universe.

[psyko-kittie.livejournal.com]

Wow! :)

[raisintorte.livejournal.com]

This was very sweet, and a lovely read. It's a nice compliment to the original.

[panisdead.livejournal.com]

This is most lovely.

[luxluthor.livejournal.com]

That was so sweet
*cheers with a coffee cup*

[justelizabeth.livejournal.com]

This is absolutely beautiful. It's such a wonderful complement to the original story, while filling in the gaps we didn't see.

The pocketwatch reference is from a short story where a man sells his watch to buy his wife hair clips, and she sells her hair to buy him a chain for his watch, right? I remember reading that in junior high. :o)

[(Anonymous)]

Yup. It's from O. Henry's "Gift of the Magi." :)

[paranoidangel]

This is really lovely.

[aurora]

Oh man, this is gorgeous.

[wychwood]

Oh, so lovely.

[paradise-city.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much. Glad you enjoyed the read.

Also? Fantastic icon. :)

[melagan.livejournal.com]

This is a gorgeous and I loved it as dearly as the original.. Rodney's parenting lists are priceless

and this ...At least the new bed is big enough for the three of them

made my heart go all goofy and smiley

[khyrra.livejournal.com]

This was such a great fic, alone, as well as a companion piece to the original.

Of course Librarian!John would reference O. Henry!

[tharaist.livejournal.com]

Fabulous!