OH MY GOD YOU ARE MAKING ME SO RIDICULOUSLY HAPPY, PLOR! With your writing! Of John and Rodney as I love them and laugh about with them!

♥

Hee! I was going to ask, but now you've saved me the trouble.

A squee-view.

My favorite new word.

EEE THIS WAS FANTASTIC. You made me read it at work, but whatever--I loved it. Peej and Nora felt right on, and it felt right, too, that John would be so terrible at it at first, and that Ronon and Teyla would be so supportive and Rodney would be just exactly as he is. YAY!

Very nice!

And let me give a vote for you to someday write the mission report for the slug queen looking for the co-husbands mission. :D

So, I started writing this list as I was nearing the end of your marvelous story (a list of what I loved), because there was too much, and I was sure I'd already forgotten some of it. I definitely have forgotten, but I probably shouldn't try and summarize the whole thing. I am actually a little embarrassed by being so incoherent and long winded, so, short version: <3!

How Rodney follows his ridiculously romantic statements with self-congratulatory wonder
How John really isn't the best single dad
How Nora was secretly in love with Rodney!!! (or so I have decided)
How they are both kind of fucked up about Atlantis, but it'll be ok
OAKLEY. Ha, and how Rodney calls it the...what, ass-end suburbs of San Francisco? Seriously guys, move to a walkable urban neighborhood.
How John likes teaching math. (And how Rodney was kinda surprised he knew his stuff!)
How Rodney isn't nice to kids, but he's so awesome and honest that they love him anyways. Man, maybe he and Dave would have hated each other, but maybe not.

Oh my dear, the scene in the hospital, when they said goodbye, and all of the mundane details of life afterwards, I totally cried. I often feel the emotions in stories really deeply, but I so fairly react outwardly (crying, laughing) but this story brought me both.

TEAM. Oh man. How HAPPY they all were to see each other again, how well they fit together, and Woolsey and Lorne too. Telya's quiet sadness at being away from her son (I saw Teyla the leader of her people there, knowing she had to make sacrifices, and choices, even if they didn't make her happy) and how she was one John talked to about caring for PJ and Nora.

OH, and the kids! Oh, I loved them. I loved how they were so different, but were such good siblings. They really did seem like real people, not just plot devices. Ha, and Nora is only very bright. Oh Rodney.

Umm, but back to team for a moment: how Ronon didn't get it, and then did, and how that, having the whole team against him, was what prompted Rodney to lash out. I don't know that I've fully processed Rodney's decision, to leave Atlantis and wanting John to come and John not getting it. I wonder, if Dave hadn't been in the accident, what would have happened there? (Don't get me wrong, I like wondering, I just am not sure.)

"John can suddenly see all the places he was very nearly headed as he walked this path alone" GOD, yes, this. I just. It's somehow so perfectly real, in this really depressing way (John really can't do it on his own.) and it's all so clear in the moments leading to Rodney coming to him.

When John appears to save Rodney, that whole sequence is a perfect episode ending, John in black with his serious face and Rodney running after him, and the two of them working together on the AI. So so SGA, so Atlantis. And I love that John leaves as soon as he possibly can.

(I also love that I had to start this comment near the end, because I knew there was too much to say, and I would start a thought, and then basically see you finish it. Amazing. See below for an example:
I love that Rodney basically stays his asshole self. But somehow in learning how to read John, he learned how to be a little bit better anyways.
"except John’s had some practice at being patient since then, and Rodney’s learned to trust John’s instructions" YES THAT!!!)

I love that this isn't really a happily ever after. John is still going to long for Atlantis, Rodney will get bored without missions (they are all such adreneline junkies now). But within that, it's life. Not perfect, but very real. You make choices, they aren't made for you, and sometimes you're lucky and get to make the choices that bring you happiness.

Can I keep you FOREVER? *g*
Well, you might want to give me back, given that I have two other fics of yours open in firefox tabs waiting for feedback, and it took me however long to respond to your lovely comments here. (And in fact, I am only finally doing it, because you wrote a 5000 word coda that I must read!)

You win the prize on this one! YESSSS!!! I love winning.

Dave definitely would have hated the tricks Rodney is teaching his kids. True enough! I guess I was thinking in the back of my mind that Dave as a kid or some version of Dave who was able to act like a kid might appreciate Rodney, but like so much of your story, it probably would never have been possible for the two of them to know each other in that way. It's similar to how Atlantis can sometimes seem like this necessary stage that allowed John and Rodney to get to know each other and become friends.

cut out a bit of backstory Yes, I wondered! At one point John thought about the years they'd been together, but Atlantis had been grounded less than a year and there were Jennifer mentions, so interesting! I didn't mind that the backstory wasn't there though, and I liked the hints of it throughout.

This should be in my blurb somewhere! Aww! This totally made me smile.

It's a hell of a huge deal that John and Rodney have struck Yes, that's it exactly! And as much as I (total hardcore McShepper as well) absolutely believe they will make it, and totally can't wait to read the coda all about it, I so love that this part of the story isn't sure. It's just very human, and makes them, oh, I don't know, more admirable, or braver? I mean, they are both dumbasses, in ways that I totally love, so maybe it's not completely eyes wide open, but I love that they're willing to take the leap without themselves knowing how it's going to turn out.

Did/do you live here?

No, I don't! (Truthfully? Never even been there. Bad me!)

Such is the magic of Google, I guess! Well, that and having a friend who recently spent a few months in the area. But I'm very happy to have given that impression. Yay!

OK, the main problem with you writing long wonderful stories is that it's very hard to get to the end because by then I'm completely addicted and don't want to stop.
This is how I got into fandom to being with!
I remember at some point a little way into the story that I idly wondered about what the title meant and how it applied. So the ending was lovely, wrapping up their stumbling crooked path to something that works, or has a chance of working. And they had to give up Pegasus so other levels of meaning there too.
So much I loved about this, but mainly how real it was and how true it rang to canon John and Rodney. Loved the depth of feeling you showed between them without ever having them make sappy Hallmark declarations. And the inevitable cruel arguments of course, especially when it seemed insoluble before Rodney finally got it. He always was brave.
Nora and PJ were great characters, utterly believable and individual. Obviously, the way you wrote it, the story has to progress through all the tragedy to the conclusion, but if Dave hadn't died and J&R had returned to Pegasus with Atlantis as per usual, I don't think they'd have made the relationship work, long-term. What with the Air Force and John too aware of his position, and DADT etc. So in a way the kids "rescued them right back".
Thanks, it was an excellent read, and chock full of life.

Oh wow, I really enjoyed immersing myself in this world you've created. Wonderful story! :)

P.S. Rodney and Nora were adorable! And so were Peej and Yooge! *g*

You made me cry so hard with this adorable little (or not so little) story. I love the kids and have a desire to know more about what happens next. :)

I took my time reading this so it wouldn't end too soon. I felt so bad for John. I knew he would take the kids though. Yay! And Rodney too, who doesn't know how to fix his unhappiness. I'm glad they ended up together in the 'burbs. Great story.

Wow, I really loved this. The way that earth life is actually, you know, earth, and really complicated, and that there are no easy, perfect answers. (Usually I don't like fic where they have to give up Atlantis, but here I'm really glad that they decide to stay on earth, for the kids' sake. That is a lot more believable.)

I love so much about this story! The kids are great original characters, and Rodney is fabulous as the most sarcastic, but actually pretty great, uncle. And I really like the structure - that it isn't until right after Rodney's explosion that we learn what happened right before the accident, that this is actually a continuation of the earlier fight between John and Rodney. I love that all of the relationships are complex, and that the problems of their conflicting responsibilities are not easily solved.

I think you do a great job of showing John (and Rodney, and Dave, in small bits) as a good parent who still makes mistakes and could do better. Most parents aren't terrible or perfect; they're somewhere in between.

Oh! This was so good!

I didn't even mean to read it, I was going to save it for later, (I haven't been reading SGA lately,) but I started and got caught up, and then I had to keep reading. *grin* I loved it!

I'll start by saying that this comment isn't going to be in any way long or detailed enough for the sort of feedback this story deserves. When I started reading this this evening I didn't realise quite how long it was. But now I've just got to the end of it and it's somehow getting on for 2.00 in the morning, so I think it's safe to say that it got me in. *g*

I loved everything about this story, but one of the things I loved most was the realisation about halfway through that you were going to go the whole way with this story. I've read some great longer stories (in various fandoms) in the past that stop a bit abruptly, and what to me would be some of the most interesting parts of the story get handwaved away. Thank you so much for NOT doing that. Everything that (I felt) needed to be in this story was in it and I thought it ended in just the right place.

Love your take on all the characters, loved how they sounded and how they felt. Lots of little things made me happy: the team arriving on the doorstep and the observation about how each stood out; the manner of Nancy's appearance and small but vital role, which I didn't see coming (but perhaps I should have); Rodney's conversation with Zelenka; Rodney being a dometic hero (to quote a friend I was IM-ing while we were both reading this); lots of other small jewels that I'm sure will come to mind again later.

I was also really impressed with how well you told the story of the terrible waiting at the beginning, the sadness and the coming to terms and, eventually, the grief. It felt very true. So did your child OCs. I really liked both of them, and that's a rare thing for me.

And I loved your John and Rodney. Absolutely loved where both of them were coming from, how they finally worked out what was the right thing for both of them, and how they managed to get there.

Reading this was also interesting for me because in the last week I've started work again on a story of my own that I started writing last year. It's also about John and Rodney on Earth together post-series, so I was mulling over the two of them in that situation (though some of the circumstances were very different) a lot right before reading this. The way they think and act in your story really rings true for me, fwiw.

Thanks. I love these guys and I miss them, and I really appreciate coming upon a story like this that makes me sit down and read about them for an entire evening.

Beautiful. Just beautiful. I think the thing I love most about your work is how...I'm not sure how to put it except real you make these characters feel. A kind of roundness and well-reasoned-ness (that's probably not even close to an actual word, heh, but it's what I mean) to their motivations. It's a true talent. I felt for everyone here, could see everyone's point of view.

Also, I'm not sure I can describe the grin on my face the first time Nora used her hard-wheedled cell phone to contact Rodney. The timing and pacing of that twist was just perfect.

In short: I loved this! And I feel like it gave SGA a shot in the arm at a time when it really needed it. Thank you. :-)

I've been pondering since Friday night what I could say to express how wonderful this was. I re-read 3/4 of the way through again last night and am still drawing a blank.

I love the characters you created with Nora and PJ... the most real and realistic children in any McShep kidfic I've ever read. I appreciate so much that you avoided making them adorable moppets or eccentric prodigies. Nora's similarity to John is brilliant - it makes Rodney take her seriously, and it's also so very believable: she's had to develop such self-control, like John, because her childhood has been so much like his.

The section with John and the kids in Oakley feels bleak. It astonished me that John would take them so far away from everything they knew, but it mirrored how John was taking himself away from where he wanted to be.

Such a powerful story. I know I'll read it again in the future, besides finishing the second time through tonight. Thank you so much for the many hours of writing it represents!

Thank you for this, very much. Thank you for Nora & PJ, & the Rodney & "Yooj" they bring out. Thank you for showing the tragedy so honestly, with details so true & vivid I suspect you've done a hospital vigil or two. Thank you for taking the path of resistance & struggle, that left me guessing about where they'd end up & with whom, rather than the feel-good route. Thank you for stopping at a convenient point with some ends still loose, rather than wrapping up the story, because RL keeps going after the last page. Thanks for sharing all this with us!

i don't read a lot of sga fic anymore these days, but i am very glad i decided to read this one. your major original characters were amazingly well-drawn. i love them both of them a lot. i found the atlantis/IOA/SGC politics angle for the post-series situation really interesting. i enjoyed this so much! *draws many hearts*

.... ♥♥♥♥

Incredibly awesome! I really love the kids here, how loveable they are despite all their problems, all their complicated humanity and kid-ness. And that Rodney would see John keeping them as throwing his life away the way Jeannie did makes perfect sense for what we know about him. And the end just makes me go all heart-clench, because of course they're better together, and I adore Rodney's revelation and his glee over saying three - count 'em, three! - genuinely romantic things in one day. :D

Oh! OH! I've had this open in a tab since you've posted it, and finally had a day at work when I could read it all, this and the codas.

LOVE IT. It's a bumpy road for them, and so real-feeling, and so THEM. I love the kids (I just about want to trade in my kindergartner for PJ right now), especially the way they bonded differently to John and Rodney. (If I'd been Nora, I would have been crushing so hard on Rodney, too!) I know it's a nervous road with OCs, and even more with kids, so I wanted you to know how amazing they are, and how much richness they bring to your characterizations of John and Rodney. And team! Go Teyla and Ronon! They'd certainly be experts on dealing with orphaned kids. And everyone else - bless that wily Czech and Jeannie for beating Rodney with the clue-by-four.

There are a ton of things I could point at and squee about, but it would be super long and rambly. This was an absorbing rollercoaster - laughing to sniffling and back to laughing again. And your codas are a delight. Can I borrow Rodney to give my son the birds and bees talk? *grin*

*happy sigh* This goes on the read again list, for sure.

This was lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

That was a really beautiful story. It surprised me how much I liked it considering John and Rodney left Atlantis but your characters were so vivid, especially the kids and the situation so realistic that I found the same contentment at the end that John and Rodney did, I think. Thank you.