aesc: (Default)
aesc ([personal profile] aesc) wrote2008-02-26 08:27 pm

.meme and crackish ficlet: If Wishes Were Fishcats - John/Rodneyish (PG)

1. Totally stolen from [livejournal.com profile] telesilla and [livejournal.com profile] slian_martreb: The thing is, when people look for stories, they always make it sound like badfic. Now, often that's because it really is badfic, but sometimes it's good and they just suck at describing the story.

So, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to summarize badly any one (or more!) of my stories and I'll try to guess which it is. You could even pretend you don't remember the pairing or fandom to make it harder to guess. [links to various fics are in tags or linked from here]

2. Apparently there's been something like crack in the air, because [livejournal.com profile] amberlynne and I were talking about this very thing today, and crack combined with my very great desire not to do work produced this.
[livejournal.com profile] aesc: One of these days, maybe when I'm drunk, I'm going to post a totally random summary there and see if someone finds a link for a story matching it.*

I would not be surprised at all if someone did.

[livejournal.com profile] amberlynne: There was this blue fish/cat thing that granted wishes on planet where clouds were purple and John wanted Rodney to be a backpack but John really wanted him to be a purse so they compromised and Rodney was a messenger bag and John got to be on American Idol with that one French guy and Ralph from Happy Days.

... yes. And then there's this. Mercifully short (~880 words); vaguely John/Rodney, but in a disturbing way


If Wishes Were Fishcats

"Many people believe the fishcat of MX4-800 possesses magical properties; it is a legend on many worlds," Teyla said. "I have never seen the fishcat myself, but according to the people of MX1-458, who got it from MX3-144, who learned of it from MX3-90210, it has the property of granting one wish to those who ask it."

"That sounds like a reasonable mission to me," said Sam. "You leave tomorrow."

---

It was a long walk from the gate to the fishcat's shrine; John seriously doubted that there was a fishcat, and he was pretty sure Teyla was laughing at them all. Rodney had brought along a ton of equipment, operating under the hypothesis that the fishcat was an Ancient device, and he'd roped John into lugging two spare laptops, extra batteries, and MREs.

"You should carry your own damn crap," John said to Rodney, and tried to readjust the laptops without making the MREs slide off.

"It's hard to breathe in these things," Rodney said from behind his gas mask.

MX4-800 had purple clouds and the grass was orange, and until they came into the fishcat's presence, John couldn't get Rodney to take off his gas mask, and that was only because Rodney wanted to get a better look at the fishcat.

It really did look like a fishcat, or what John supposed one would look like, with a catlike face but a fish's huge, unblinking eyes. It started out with blue fur running down its neck, chest, and shoulders, but eventually the fur blended into shiny blue scales. What looked like a bowl of milk and plankton sat next to it.

"What do you wish?" asked the fishcat.

They'd decided on their wishes ahead of time. Ronon would ask for another gun. Teyla would wish to find her people again. Rodney would wish for a lifetime supply of ZPMs. ("That's technically more than one wish," said John. "Not if it's multiples of the same thing!" said Rodney, and they'd argued about that for a while.) John would wish for a way to defeat the Wraith.

Right now, though, John's arms were killing him and Rodney had been completely recalcitrant, and the purple clouds had been freaking him out all day, and his arms were seriously about to fall off.

"I'd like you to turn Rodney into a backpack so maybe he'll carry his own stuff from now on." John ignored the small voice of responsibility reminding him of why they were here and what he was supposed to wish for.

"What? WHAT?" Rodney shouted. "Absolutely not."

"What is your wish?" the fishcat demanded. Its claws extended and retracted, and its dorsal fin twitched.

"I refuse to be a backpack," Rodney said. "However, in the interest of not having to walk back to the gate, I'd agree to be a laptop case."

"No way," John said. "A purse. A purse would be okay. Leather, with a lot of compartments."

"Again, no way in hell." Rodney scowled. "Laptop bag."

The fishcat scowled.

"In exchange for your wish, I'll let you be a messenger bag," John said.

"Oh, fine. On condition I turn back when we get home."

...

The fishcat let them go. Ronon had a new gun, and Teyla had a promising lead on her people. John had a cool canvas messenger bag, sturdy and warm and bumping against his thigh.

The second they stepped through to the Atlantis side of the horizon, Rodney transformed back to himself and hit the floor. One of the spare batteries hit him on the head. He glared up at John.

"Ow!"

"Thanks for helping, McKay." John waited until Rodney had fussed over his laptops and MREs before hauling him to his feet. Rodney brushed himself off, sniffed his sleeve, and muttered something about canvas. John tried not to think about how nice it had been to wear Rodney, his strap positioned comfortably on John's shoulder, brushing with a reassuring wiss-wiss against John's BDUs. John had played with the cool brass snaps for a while, snapping and unsnapping them, and stroking one finger against the fabric.

"While you were gone," Sam said, striving to look as though she saw this sort of thing every day (John was willing to bet even Sam had never seen something this weird<), "I recieved a communication from the SGC specifically for you, Colonel Sheppard."

John beamed.

...

The French guy was running through "Like a Virgin" for the twentieth time, and not even that could dim John's good mood. The fishcat had really come through for him.

"I can't believe I gave up my wish for this," Rodney moaned. He buried his face in his hands as Ralph from Happy Days came up. "And stop smiling. You haven't smiled that much in four years total. It's unnerving. And you can't even sing... Not like that hasn't stopped most people from trying out for this." He looked up briefly to scowl at the other contestants.

"So you're one of the finalists!" Ralph said, shaking John's hand.

"Ralph!" John said happily.

"I have to admit, I'm kind of surprised you made it to the finals," Ralph said, "But hey, it's American Idol. Anything can happen."

Rodney moaned again and said something about seppuku with plastic cutlery. John smiled even more.

He was on his way.

-end...?-

*= I would never actually do this, even if drunk. I'm nowhere near coordinated enough to manage the keyboard and mouse, much less post anything.

[identity profile] amberlynne.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
That will never be not funny.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
FISHCAT!

[identity profile] sheafrotherdon.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
You are crazy! So, so crazy! (Did Rodney feel his buckles being stroked?)

And a summary:

I'm looking for that story where Rodney thinks about John and there's sex and also some food.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
Sex and food in that order? :D

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[identity profile] cobweb-diamond.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
I'm glad you put the explanation first, as it answers the question of "what the hell makes people do these things?" very effectively. But just posting the fic with a deep and meaningful summary might have made it even more awesome.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 08:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Hmmmm, how about:

The team travels to a mysterious world to find assistance in defeating the Wraith. Once there, though, John is faced with a decision that will change his relationship with Rodney forever, and grows to realize the dangers and complications of desire.

*nods*

[identity profile] amberlynne.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, there was this one where John was really really hot and Rodney, like, had to kiss him because of the hot and then they made out in John's room. Or maybe it was Rodney's room. I can't remember. But it was hot.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
THAT IS NOT FAIR THAT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME!!!!! Your answer is, all of these (http://aesc.livejournal.com/tag/sga:fic.mcshep)!!!!!

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[identity profile] blackchaps.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
You make a good point. Being sorta new to the fandom, I have discovered that the crackier the description, the better the story. giggles Oh, and I want the one with the beach and sex and sand in Rodney's crack.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
Is it beach ficlet (http://aesc.livejournal.com/265373.html#cutid1) and Infinite Which Is Yes (http://aesc.livejournal.com/265557.html#cutid1)? Or maybe Corona (http://oxoniensis.livejournal.com/286546.html?view=12101970#t12101970)? Those are the only ones directly involving beaches and sex anyway :D

edited cos I got the link wrong on the first one!

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ext_1740: (Default)

[identity profile] stillane.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
I... wow. *blinks* Messenger bag softcore. Huh.

And for your Fic Summary of Doom:

I'm looking for the one where John stalks Rodney with a potato and has his autograph. And then they have sex. Could you find it for me? Pretty please?

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[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
Mail Myself to You (http://aesc.livejournal.com/285128.html#cutid1)!!!! YAY I GOT ONE RIGHT YAY.

(And yes, yes, it is messenger bag softcore. *g*)

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[identity profile] dogeared.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
That one where John sweats a lot? And Rodney likes it.

(Also, omg, canvas-stroking!)

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe Roomies (http://dogeared.livejournal.com/109086.html)???? Because there's sweat in that, and Rodney REALLY REALLY likes it.

aitches really really like it too :D

(Also, omg, canvas-stroking!)

Hot man/messenger bag action!!

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[identity profile] not-sally.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
90210? *dies laughing*

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, they went there one time and are never going back... There's just way too much drama there. Also, Rodney refuses to let John go back because women who looked suspiciously like Jenny McCarthy, Tori Spelling, and Shannon Doherty attached themselves to John with long painted claws and wanted him to be the older man who comes to town and wreaks sexual havoc among 20-year-old women and Rodney had to beat them off with his P90.

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ext_1720: two kittens with a heart between them (Default)

[identity profile] ladycat777.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
Um. So John was totally fondling laptopbag!Rodney, yes? :)

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
He totally and unashamedly was!

And as I told Cate in YM, Rodney remembers this a bit later that night, to the tune of "John's fingers stroking over his shoulder, down his hip (though Rodney has *no* idea what the parallels are between human and messenger bag anatomy) and he's so distracted and turned on that he gets up, marches to John's room and when John opens the door (rumpled, in boxers, sleep-warm), glares at him and says, "you groped me! you groped me while I was a messenger bag!" and John looks kind of shifty and says he has no idea what Rodney's talking about, but Rodney *totally* knows he does."

:D

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semielliptical: woman in casual pose, wearing jeans (Default)

[personal profile] semielliptical 2008-02-27 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
I think I remember one where John walked over a bridge, or something like a bridge, and Rodney was in a room with a lot of wires or tubes or some things like that.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
Oh oh, I know this one too! Lazybones (http://aesc.livejournal.com/244094.html) :D

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[identity profile] slian-martreb.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
Um.

It was sunny. And there was sand. I think. Do you know where I could find it?

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Meeep! Well, there are lots of places :D It could be Souvenir (http://aesc.livejournal.com/276703.html#cutid1)? Or maybe any one of these (http://aesc.livejournal.com/317330.html?thread=5065362#t5065362) that I've linked to, or conceivably anything I've written in Nantucket (http://community.livejournal.com/wagoneer/1478.html) :D

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[identity profile] beadattitude.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 06:06 am (UTC)(link)
Oh John. ::facepalms:: OMG.

You are soooooo cracked.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
He is a strange, strange man, John Sheppard is :D

[identity profile] lavvyan.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 08:35 am (UTC)(link)
I want the one where John's invisible only not really and there's a box and Rodney falls asleep with his eyes open. \o/

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 08:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Oooooh. Um Qualities of Silk (http://community.livejournal.com/sgabigbangfb/1933.html)???

*tries to remember if she's written anything else that sounds as weird*

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[identity profile] almostnever.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 09:30 am (UTC)(link)
Thing. Of. Beauty.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Yayyyyy crack!
ext_230: a tiny green frog on a very red leaf (Default)

[identity profile] anatsuno.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 09:32 am (UTC)(link)
ajdfgksjdfhgdfj. this is perfect.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 04:02 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't think there's a single fandom I've ever been in where I would have once considered writing sentient messenger-bag!softcore. Or met someone who would even suggest such a thing :D

[identity profile] gaffsie.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 12:50 pm (UTC)(link)
It was a while ago since I read this one, but I remember that John had a really rotten sense of direction and Rodney had to save him from getting lost.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh oh, maybe With Feathers (http://community.livejournal.com/sga_flashfic/680096.html)??? :)

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[identity profile] lilyfarfalla.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 04:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Fishcat!! I was so caught up in the messenger bag stroking that I'd forgotten the story still had to address American Idol. A lovely surprise ending for me!

So, the story you wrote where Elizabeth sighs a lot says something like "oh, another alien thing" and Rodney is cranky. I like that story!

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh oh oh, maybe Somnolence (http://aesc.livejournal.com/261970.html)? There is a lot of sighing and cranky Rodney in it :D :D

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aurora: (Default)

[personal profile] aurora 2008-02-27 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
dlkfjsdfjsdfj I LOVE YOU AND YOUR CRACKED OUT STORY.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-02-27 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Yayyyy, thank you!!! :D :D :D