Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead |
| Author(s): | cesperanza |
| Date(s): | 2006 |
| Length: | |
| Genre(s): | slash |
| Fandom(s): | Stargate Atlantis |
| Relationship(s): | |
| External Links: | online here |
 Podfic cover art by bessyboo (2010) | |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead is a John/Rodney story by cesperanza.
Podfic
It was podficced by zoetrope in 2007.[1]
DVD Commentary
A fan's 2008 DVD commentary is here.
Reactions and Reviews
I'm not sure how I feel about it. I loved the story to pieces, but it's clearly set between season one and two, and to see Rodney and John this close and connected and know what's going to happen in future episodes feels kind of sad to me. It's as if the story by itself is perfect, but my knowledge of season two canon warps the good feeling that comes with it.[2]
This was a really nice read. A bit of angst, mostly the boys being their normal repressed selves. But there is also Mozart and Kepler, and the Hail Mary of football. (I don’t actually get this reference, I suppose it’s something American related.) [3]
Football and classical music. What are the guys supposed to do back on Earth after so long in Atlantis? Especially in Denver? Well, Rodney would listen to a few concertos for old times sake’s. And when John seems bored… I don’t know what it is that makes this fic great, it’s more a matter of ambience and characerization than anything else but it is delightful. [4]
I've loved cesperanza since my due South days, and she's written a lot of wonderful SGA fic, but this one is, IMO, her best. It's set in the prior to the events in Season 2 ep The Intruder, the team is earthside for the first time since coming to Atlantis. Rodney is somewhat adrift, John is convinced that he's about to lose everything, and the SGC has booked them in adjoining hotel rooms. It has some of my favorite fanfic moments, and an ending that is the most John/Rodney romantic EVER. [5]
The One That Made Me Sniffly About a College Football Play Made by People Who Appear to Be Wearing Gold Lame Headgear. I'm Usually a Bit More Stable Than That.* Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, by Speranza, aka cesperanza. Stargate: Atlantis, Rodney McKay/John Sheppard.
How can I not have recommended this story already? Oh, right, because I just naturally assumed that everyone with any kind of sense and even a vaguely reliable internet connection had read it already. But it has come to my attention that there is a person out there who has not read it, and I cannot in good conscience rest until I have done my part to rectify that. It would be against the Recommender's Code. (Yes, there is a Recommender's Code of Ethics. The first item is "Don't let recommending make you crazy," but the second is, "If someone, somewhere, has missed out on a good story, it is ALL YOUR FAULT." Recommenders are deeply conflicted people with angst and emo and suchlike coming out our (meaty and suitable for poking with a sharp stick) butts, and never let anyone tell you otherwise.)
So. Vacationing on earth - fun for the whole extra-terrestrial family! Except for how it is totally not fun for anyone currently living in Atlantis, because let's face it, they all left the planet for a reason, and that reason wasn't, "To get some really good stories to tell the kiddos at night as we roast marshmallows over the campfire." And it's not like a year in Atlantis makes you more suitable for life on earth. So this story takes that old theme - the stranger in a once-familiar land - and gives it a lovely, Pegasus Galaxy twist. And adds gay sex. But most of all, it adds a jersey so meaningful that the first time I read this, I seriously started searching the internets for such a shirt. If I'd managed to find one, I'd have bought it, people, and I still want one, and it's only through steadfastly reciting "I have no need for a football shirt" that I have managed to resist the temptation thus far.
Basically, I love this story so much it made me want a souvenir t-shirt. I don't usually want souvenirs from stories. (I don't even usually want souvenirs from trips, although I do have a strange desire to buy unfortunate hats while away from home. I resist this. Hats that seem like a good idea on vacation will be too humiliating even to give to Goodwill when sanity returns.)
And if that doesn't tempt you to read it - Souvenir! T-shirt! - well, I just don't know what to do for you. (But I'll still try to think of something. The third entry in the RCoE is "Never give up, never surrender," and I want to be an ethical recommender. I really do.) [6]
References
- ^ zoetrope. Podfic 2, posted to livejournal 15 July 2007. Uploaded to the Audiofic Archive 19 August 2007. Cover art for the podfic was created by Bessyboo in 2010.
- ^ 2006-03-22 comment by millefiori on the post Quality vs. popularity in fiction by summerfling at thecuttingboard.
- ^ Slash World, December 22, 2012
- ^ livejournal post by readingz, June 9, 2008
- ^ from Merelyn at Massive SGA Recs Set, July 25, 2007
- ^ rec by thefourthvine at 165: Travel Is Education and Experience, April 14, 2007