Untalented And Completely Unprepared, But Giving It His Best Shot Anyway
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Untalented And Completely Unprepared, But Giving It His Best Shot Anyway |
| Author(s): | Dasha (dashamte) |
| Date(s): | 04 December 2005 |
| Length: | 92kb, 15,870 words |
| Genre: | slash fanfiction |
| Fandom: | Stargate Atlantis |
| External Links: | Untalented And Completely Unprepared, But Giving It His Best Shot Anyway (Area 52, Wayback link) |
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Untalented And Completely Unprepared, But Giving It His Best Shot Anyway is a John/Rodney story by Dasha (dashamte).
Summary: "Rodney, I know you've hacked your personnel file. You've read the letter that goes into great detail about how your strong suit isn't compassion or kindness, that your arrogance makes you incapable of rational judgment, and that you should never be trusted in positions of authority."
Summary: "John has a serious allergic reaction while they are off world and Rodney has to provide medical care, which he is able to do because this kind of thing has happened to him entirely too often. Once they are back on Atlantis, Rodney’s free-floating anxiety gears up a few more notches. There is such a thing as too much."
Podficced
This fic was podficced in 2008. See: Untalented And Completely Unprepared, But Giving It His Best Shot Anyway.
Recs and Reviews
Unknown Date
untalented and unprepared, but giving it his best shot anyway, by dasha. sheppard/mckay, pg. this is a satisfyingly middle-length story, mckay pov. it starts with some pretty intense but (in my view) not overblown hurt/comfort, but the plot keeps going after the medical emergency with a couple of minor nervous breakdowns on rodney's part. the story feels original, even though in itself the plot isn't all that extraordinarily unusual; it's the treatment that differs. i was particularly impressed by the strength of the characterisation, which stayed strong through the end and somehow kept from descending into mush. the dialogue in the final scene was really remarkable, too. [1]
this is a satisfyingly middle-length story, mckay pov. it starts with some pretty intense but (in my view) not overblown hurt/comfort, but the plot keeps going after the medical emergency with a couple of minor nervous breakdowns on rodney's part. the story feels original, even though in itself the plot isn't all that extraordinarily unusual; it's the treatment that differs. i was particularly impressed by the strength of the characterisation, which stayed strong through the end and somehow kept from descending into mush. the dialogue in the final scene was really remarkable, too. [2]
2005
Untalented and Completely Unprepared, But Giving It His Best Shot Anyway by Dasha, which wins for Best and Longest Freaking Title Ever. It's also shockingly good, and I mean that in a h/c that makes so much *sense*, though I'm not sure it actually qualifies as h/c. Fine, fascinating plot, a really good Rodney voice. John has an allergic reaction. Rodney does not panic. And I say this again. Rodney DOES NOT PANIC. Which in itself makes him panic. I think. Seriously, really good stuff here. [3]
2010
For a change of pace, *John* has an allergic reaction.I waffled for a long time between reccing this or ranting about it. I decided to rant mainly because I was uncomfortable with the number of caveats I put into the rec (more than one is generally too many).
On the plus side, everything about the allergic reaction itself is realistic, suspenseful, and gripping. You also have excellent banter between John and Rodney.
On the minus side, I have two issues: first, it takes nearly a full quarter of the story to clarify that the team (and about twenty other people) are offworld rather than on Atlantis. While I'm generally not picky about details of a story's setting, since it turns out to be a plot point Dasha probably should've found some place to toss in a line about them being on planet so-and-so or at least made it abundantly clear that this extraordinarily Atlantis-like facility was not, in fact, Atlantis.
Second is a series of plot contrivances, namely: that they *are* offworld, despite being in a facility that is just like Atlantis, to the point that it *actually has a ZPM*; that this facility is for some reason miles away from the stargate, without any place for a jumper to land (though I should note that the road from the stargate sounds like a perfect jumper landing spot); and despite having engineers, linguistics, soldiers, and SGA-1 all crammed into this facility, they didn't bother to bring a single medic. It seems clear that Dasha was trying to come up with a situation where there would be a long period of time before medical assistance could get to the team, but she could've done it just as well by having them be in, well, Atlantis. A blocked corridor or two and you have the exact same scenario, without a single contrivance necessary.
Of course, knowing for sure that the story starts offworld eliminates the first issue and not everyone has issues with plot contrivance. If they aren't a big deal for you, you might want to give this fic a try. [4]
My biggest problem with this fic (and I adore it to pieces) is weird Elizabeth's atittude toward Rodney, perticulary with the Carson's situation. It creeps the hell out of me every time I read this great fic. [5]
2014
Why You Should Read This:
It’s a great story. A seriously great story. It handles the medical aspects of dealing with anaphylactic shock outside of a medical facility with accuracy. It deals with geniuses having breakdowns hilariously. It deals with Rodney being Rodney, the asshole and the man who loves John Sheppard, beautifully. Seriously, I love this story. [6]
References
- ^ cimorene. Recs: Stargate, via Wayback. (Accessed 22 May 2015)
- ^ Stargate recs; archived link
- ^ rec by seperis, December 5, 2005
- ^ Epic Rants, February 7, 2010
- ^ Epic Rants, February 7, 2010
- ^ Slash World, March 4, 2014