Elizabeth Weir/John Sheppard Appreciation/Ship/Discussion Thread

[SMB_BOOKS]

Your wish and SMB's prompt are my command. I present "Flying Kites".

Spoiler:

“Colonel Sheppard is doing what?”

Chuck paused at the door and looked back toward Dr. Weir who was giving him the eyebrow over the edge of her laptop.

“Flying a kite. Down on the north pier.”

Elizabeth stood up and closed her computer. “That's what I was afraid you said. I know I have wanted to tell him to go fly a kite a number of times but I didn't think he'd read my mind.”

Giving Chuck a shoulder pat in passing, Elizabeth headed for the nearest transporter.

“Give it some more string,” John was yelling as Ronon struggled with the kite that was barely clearing the ground. “Now run with it.”

Elizabeth stopped beside Teyla who was watching with Torren in her arms. The boy was reaching his tiny hands into the air as if to grab the colorful object that was now high over the ocean.

“So,” Elizabeth began as Teyla smiled a greeting, “where did the boys get the kite?”

“I do believe it came on the Daedalus. John may have mentioned something about...amazon.”

“Ah, of course.”

Hearing her voice, John approached and stopped in front of her with a grin. “Look 'Lizabeth.” He bounced on his toes and waved toward Ronon who was now in imminent danger of running off the end of the pier. “We've got a kite.”

“Yes I can see that. And it's a flying red horse.”

John put his hands on his hips and observed the kite which was now just a red blot in the sky. “Yep, it's Pegasus.”

Elizabeth gave him both eyebrows. “You know,” John waved his hands around, “for the Pegasus galaxy.”

“I did not realize Pegasus was red though.” Elizabeth shaded her eyes with her hand and peered at Ronon who had stopped and was backing up as he tugged on the kite string.

John scratched the back of his head. “Well, I couldn't find what I wanted but I remembered that oil company on earth that has Pegasus as their symbol and I found this on Amazon dot com. Isn't it cool?”

Elizabeth grinned back at him, at the sparkle in his eye and his playful moment of fun in the midst of a galaxy that any second might turn against them. “It's about the coolest thing I've seen all day. But John?”

“Yes Elizabeth.” He had not taken his eyes from hers since he noticed she wasn't going to lecture him for being childish but instead was as enchanted by the simple child's toy as Torren was.

“Ronon is about to...” Elizabeth's voice and Teyla's gasp of surprise came at the same moment and John turned his head right before the big splash.

“Hold on to the string!” John shouted as he made a mad dash toward the end of the pier and Torren clapped his hands in delight.

HOLY MOLY - that was FAST! And cute, and wonderful, and great lunchtime reading! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was there with them on that pier. A much nicer place than real-life work.

ZOMG *spits out drink* That was hysterical. Poor Ronon!

Ah, I can see that scene in my head--perfect voicing. Thanks!

I was going to watch one more S5 eppy, but I think I might spend lunch writing an Emma piece involving the Sandcastle Competition prompt SMB left.

YESSSSSSSSS....blow off S5 and write a ficlet instead! It will be oh so much more satisfying. I promise. (and I haven't even watched any of S5, so obviously I know of which I speak).

[Anuna]

I can see that fifteen people are browsing the thread and that is AWESOME!!

[Scary Kitty]

Oooh, Emma. Great. And thanks for liking the snippet and thanks to SK also. I had forgotten that fic. Heh.

Hah! I don't know how you could've forgotten that fic!

Oooh, Emma. Great. And thanks for liking the snippet and thanks Yeah, I was writing quickly and trying to make it short. I'm sure Rodney would want to talk about the laws of physics and spend hours designing a kite that will soar higher than the horse. LOL This was my inspiration for the kite.[/QUOTE]

Yup, the good ol' Mobil Gas logo.

I second what SK said!!

Kite race, kite race! EEEE! That was so adorable, SR! Perfect and spot on and lovely UST and beautiful teamy moments of happiness and Elizabeth there with them *hugs the fic!

Kite race! Oh, John and Rodney would so do that!

I can see that fifteen people are browsing the thread and that is AWESOME!!

I noticed that too. So much for this being a dead thread! We're rockin' and rollin'!

[Falcon Horus]

What I liked about the show the most was Elizabeth Weir, they got rid of my favourite character!!

Welcome to the club of Dead Favorite Characters... at least mine was killed off dead. Elizabeth was just killed off - oh no wait, still alive or so they claim - replicator alive - alive - nope frozen and forgotten.

[Southern Red]

HOLY MOLY - that was FAST! And cute, and wonderful, and great lunchtime reading! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was there with them on that pier. A much nicer place than real-life work.



YESSSSSSSSS....blow off S5 and write a ficlet instead! It will be oh so much more satisfying. I promise. (and I haven't even watched any of S5, so obviously I know of which I speak).

Thanks. Now you need to go and watch Vegas. You won't be sorry.

Welcome to the club of Dead Favorite Characters... at least mine was killed off dead. Elizabeth was just killed off - oh no wait, still alive or so they claim - replicator alive - alive - nope frozen and forgotten.

Joe and David haven't forgotten her. We have proof of that.

[Eri13]

Okay, Sandcastle competition:

Spoiler:

Sandcastle Competition

“You’ve got five minutes,” Jennifer said, peering over the canvas shelter separating Elizabeth’s ‘entry’ from the rest of the competition. “Looking mighty nice, there, Doctor.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth grinned, surveying her castle. It was pretty run of the mill for a Sandcastle competition, but the contest had been about creativity and fun, rather than serious sand architecture. At least, that had been her take. “I suppose it’s passable. There’s a reason I opted to be a diplomat and not an engineer.”

Jennifer smiled kindly. “I think it’ll do just fine. Hey…where’s Emma? I kinda figured she’d be with you.”

“Apparently my skills at sandcastle building weren’t impressive enough. She opted to work with her father.”

“And he was okay with that? I know how competitive he can get.”

Elizabeth leaned in towards the doctor with a saucy grin. “Could you see him saying no when she asked him?”

“No, I couldn’t. Good point. Excuse me.” She moved away from the shelter. “TWO MINUTES!”

Rodney’s head popped up from the sheltered square next to Elizabeth’s. “Could you be any louder?”

“Maybe,” Jennifer snarked back. “Two minutes, Doctor McKay.”

“Doctor McKay?”

“I’m a judge in this competition,” Keller said with a smile. “I’m being completely impartial at the moment.”

“Well,” Rodney narrowed his eyes, “with my stunning piece of craftsmanship you wouldn’t need to be biased anyway. I am so winning this competition.”

“That’s what you think!” John’s voice wafted up from one of the shelters down the beach, followed by his head peering out over the top.

“Yeah!” Emma echoed. Elizabeth could see one little hand shoot upwards. “Nobody’s going to beat us!”

“I do not believe so!” That was Torren, and with his remark Elizabeth turned to Jennifer.

“You may want to call time on this before it gets violent.”

“I brought stunners just in case.” Jennifer grinned. “TIME’S UP!”

After the usual grumbling and dragging of feet the participants were finally lined up and ready for the grand reveals. Carson, Woolsey and Jennifer, the official judges, moved into place, tablets in hand. A few of the less competitive Atlantis residents went first, with Doctor Kusanagi making the first impressive showing among that group with a series of raised Japanese characters.

Ronon went next, dramatizing his reveal by shooting down his canvas walls with the stunner. Elizabeth threw a look at John, who shrugged innocently.

“Wonder what excuse Richard’s going to make up to be able to order more of those,” she muttered under her breath, as the judges crowded around Ronon’s creation.

“Fascinating,” Jennifer said with a blank expression.

“But, well…” Carson turned to Ronon. “What is it?”

The Satedan glanced between them emotionlessly. “It’s a Wraith.”

“Doesn’t look like any Wraith I’ve ever seen,” Woolsey muttered.

“That’s because it’s dead,” Ronon returned. Elizabeth studied it for a second, her mouth dropping open as she realized what exactly Ronon had done to it.

John lifted Emma, who was studying the figure with fascination, to his hip in an attempt to turn her away—which didn’t work very well. “Nice. Thanks buddy. I love explaining to my kid about decapitation and…other things.”

Ronon grinned as Emma turned to John. “What demapitatation?”

“Nothing,” John murmured with a glance Elizabeth’s way. Probably a good thing, because if he’d seen Torren miming his version of decapitation at Emma it would have definitely meant less Athosian play dates.

“How about we move on to ours?” Teyla suggested, wrapping her arms around Torren and pulling him towards the canvas. Their reveal received a few ooos and ahs from the gathered crowd. Torren beamed proudly beside his mother.

“That’s really lovely, Teyla,” said Carson. “What is it exactly?”

“It is the Shrine of Tallos. I was inspired by our visit there. I took Torren to see it a few months ago and he agreed it would be a worthy choice for our entry.”

Jennifer smiled sympathetically at Rodney before turning to Teyla. “I think it’s lovely and it’s an almost perfect representation. The cliffs and foliage you’ve managed to carve…”

“Much was done by Torren. He has a very deft touch.” Torren smiled at his mother, then crossed his arms at Emma, who made a face. John observed the look between them with a poorly concealed grin of delight.

“Elizabeth?” Woolsey gestured, and she removed her canvas to a few claps from the crowd.

Carson grinned widely. “Of course. That is wonderful.”

It was a rather simplistic version of the Gate, and perhaps not quite as authentic as it could be since it was lying on its side, but she’d managed to spend enough time on the characters and panels to make them distinguishable.

“Very nice,” John said, bringing Emma forward and setting her down. “Look at what Mommy did.”

“Nice, Mommy. It’s the Stargate.”

“Yes, it is.” Elizabeth lifted the little girl up into her arms, smiling as she grabbed her in a hug.

“Alright, well, that just leaves Colonel Sheppard, Rodney, and Lorne. Rodney, why don’t you go first?”

“What? Let them do their reveals.”

“Rodney.”

McKay rolled his eyes, but didn’t bother to protest further, probably thanks to the look Jennifer was giving him, and removed his canvas. By the time he took down the main panel, he was grinning. “See?”

There was silence for a moment, broken by a grumpy “what is it?” from Emma.

“I second that,” Carson chided. “What IS that, Rodney?”

“What? You don’t—it’s the hyperdrive from the Daedalus.”

The group moved closer, studying the intricate sand moldings and patterns. Elizabeth could make out panels and wiring, but all together it looked about as clear as she normally found the systems on the Daedalus.

“I got it all—look,” he gestured around the sculpture, pointing at a few plates. “There’s the capacitor, and here…”

“How are we supposed to judge that?” Jennifer asked skeptically. “We don’t have anything to compare it to, and none of us knows what the Daedalus hyperdrive looks like.”

“What?” Rodney looked at her incredulously. “It looks like this!”

“I’ll take your word for it, Rodney, but Jennifer’s right. How are we supposed to judge something we have no basis of comparison for?” Carson shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t possibly grade that with any kind of accuracy.”

“Oh, but you can grade a decapitated, castrated Wraith?”

“Hey!” John snapped, throwing Rodney a dirty look. Emma turned to her. “What’s casterated?”

“Moving on,” Keller said, motioning towards John’s canvas. Emma wriggled out of Elizabeth arms, thankfully distracted, and went to help her dad, who shifted the canvases away with a pleased smile.

Even Elizabeth had to nod in amazement at their creation, a scaled model of a Wraith Hive ship.

“That’s very impressive, Colonel Sheppard.”

“Thank you, Carson.”

“And what did you do, little one,” Carson asked, bending down towards Emma. She kneeled on the ground, peering inside the sandy hull. “I put them in there.”

Carson and Jennifer both knelt to see inside.

“Oh my,” Carson said in an amused tone, “Wraith prisoners.”

“It’s Doctor McKay,” Emma returned. “He’s trapped.”

“What?” Rodney nudged a few people over, bending to peer inside. “What the heck did you put me in there for?”

“We wanted to make it authentic, Rodney,” John said with a smirk. “You know, add a touch of realism.”

“Is that…am I being fed upon?”

“No,” Emma said seriously, and pointed next to the plastic figurines inside. “Ronon is going to rescue you. He’s decapimitating Wraith.”

“That’s my girl,” Ronon grinned, while Elizabeth frowned disapprovingly. John caught her eyes and cleared his throat. “Stunning. He’s stunning Wraith.”

“And Daddy’s flying a Dart into the hive to beam you up.”

“Oh, of course he is.”

“Of course he would,” John echoed smartly. Elizabeth rubbed her forehead.

“Do we win?” Emma asked, innocently, sand flying off her skirt as she bounded to her feet.

“No, you do not,” Torren said, crossing his arms. “We do.”

“No you don’t,” Emma shot back. “Yours doesn’t even have people.”

“So? Your people are fake people. You did not even carve them with sand. They do not count!”

“Torren,” said Teyla. He glanced over, assuming a resigned stance at the expression on her face. “Sorry, Mother.”

“Well, if we’re going for authenticity then I think there’s only one choice that possibly makes sense,” Rodney chimed in.

“Ronon’s?” John tilted his head with a grin, meeting her gaze. Elizabeth smiled at him with a shake of her head and he smiled more brightly in response. It was still distracting enough to shut out everything else, including Rodney’s arguing, until Emma shrieked in delight, catching their attention.

“He wins!” she shouted, grabbing Elizabeth’s hand and dragging her forward, towards the last canvas—the one they’d forgotten.

Lorne was standing beside it, looking innocent, as they moved around the remaining partition peer at the castle inside. Elizabeth’s eyes widened in wonderment as she saw what he’d created. “Yes, I would say that is definitely the winner.”

“Definitely,” echoed Carson, grinning. “I’d forgot you had a talent for that, lad.”

“What’s all this about…” Rodney stopped short at the sight, his mouth dropping open. “That’s…”

“Yes, it is,” John said, swinging Emma up on his hip and wrapping his free arm around Elizabeth. “Major, I’m impressed.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Lorne returned, moving aside to allow them a closer look at his miniature version of Atlantis, perfectly replicated in three dimensions, with the Tower standing tall in the center and various peaks and spires making up the rest of the city. “All in a day’s work.”

“I’m not even going to ask how you did that,” Rodney murmured, gesturing to the delicate spindles.

“It just takes patience, Doctor McKay.”

“You hear that Rodney? Patience.” Carson grinned at Lorne. “Without a doubt this is the finest sand castle built today.”

“This is the finest sand castle built I’ve ever seen,” Jennifer said. “It’s unbelievable.”

“It’s not that great,” Rodney muttered. “One of the piers is two degrees off.”

Woolsey rolled his eyes, but ignored him. “Well, then, if we’re all agreed? Congratulations, Major, you win the first annual Atlantis sandcastle competition.”

“That fits, doesn’t it, Mommy?” Emma asked, wrapping her arms around John’s neck. “He won the competition with a castle of Atlantis.”

“Yes, Emma, I guess it does.” She wrapped her arm around John’s waist and drew closer to him, smiling at her daughter. “It truly does.”

[nephtys59]

People we need fics. ASAP. we need them. We didn't have fics in, like, MONTHS. We need fics!!!!!! *goes to finish her own*

I second that. And while we're waiting for your new fic, I recommend this one (not complete yet):

Return: http://www.sheppardweir.com/fanfics/...y.php?sid=1626

There's a quote in Chapter 9 I love so much about John. He's seriously injured and all his friends are waiting in the infirmary. Elizabeth thinks about the fact that everybody has a love affair, except John.

A wave of loneliness rippled through Elizabeth as she looked around the room, getting for the first time a concept of how it must have been for John all this time; awkward and alone, while all of the others moved on and found a piece of happiness for themselves; their place in the world, leaving him like a pointless puzzle shape that didn’t quite fit in anymore. She was sure he could have found someone if he wanted, there were plenty of women who wouldn’t say no to his charm and dare-devil allure but somehow under his flyboy mask, she could read something more...an intense yearning that went deeper than he ever showed.

Don't know about you, but I think this fic is heart-breaking, especially the last chapter ...

[Southern Red]

Okay, Sandcastle competition:

Spoiler:

Sandcastle Competition

“You’ve got five minutes,” Jennifer said, peering over the canvas shelter separating Elizabeth’s ‘entry’ from the rest of the competition. “Looking mighty nice, there, Doctor.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth grinned, surveying her castle. It was pretty run of the mill for a Sandcastle competition, but the contest had been about creativity and fun, rather than serious sand architecture. At least, that had been her take. “I suppose it’s passable. There’s a reason I opted to be a diplomat and not an engineer.”

Jennifer smiled kindly. “I think it’ll do just fine. Hey…where’s Emma? I kinda figured she’d be with you.”

“Apparently my skills at sandcastle building weren’t impressive enough. She opted to work with her father.”

“And he was okay with that? I know how competitive he can get.”

Elizabeth leaned in towards the doctor with a saucy grin. “Could you see him saying no when she asked him?”

“No, I couldn’t. Good point. Excuse me.” She moved away from the shelter. “TWO MINUTES!”

Rodney’s head popped up from the sheltered square next to Elizabeth’s. “Could you be any louder?”

“Maybe,” Jennifer snarked back. “Two minutes, Doctor McKay.”

“Doctor McKay?”

“I’m a judge in this competition,” Keller said with a smile. “I’m being completely impartial at the moment.”

“Well,” Rodney narrowed his eyes, “with my stunning piece of craftsmanship you wouldn’t need to be biased anyway. I am so winning this competition.”

“That’s what you think!” John’s voice wafted up from one of the shelters down the beach, followed by his head peering out over the top.

“Yeah!” Emma echoed. Elizabeth could see one little hand shoot upwards. “Nobody’s going to beat us!”

“I do not believe so!” That was Torren, and with his remark Elizabeth turned to Jennifer.

“You may want to call time on this before it gets violent.”

“I brought stunners just in case.” Jennifer grinned. “TIME’S UP!”

After the usual grumbling and dragging of feet the participants were finally lined up and ready for the grand reveals. Carson, Woolsey and Jennifer, the official judges, moved into place, tablets in hand. A few of the less competitive Atlantis residents went first, with Doctor Kusanagi making the first impressive showing among that group with a series of raised Japanese characters.

Ronon went next, dramatizing his reveal by shooting down his canvas walls with the stunner. Elizabeth threw a look at John, who shrugged innocently.

“Wonder what excuse Richard’s going to make up to be able to order more of those,” she muttered under her breath, as the judges crowded around Ronon’s creation.

“Fascinating,” Jennifer said with a blank expression.

“But, well…” Carson turned to Ronon. “What is it?”

The Satedan glanced between them emotionlessly. “It’s a Wraith.”

“Doesn’t look like any Wraith I’ve ever seen,” Woolsey muttered.

“That’s because it’s dead,” Ronon returned. Elizabeth studied it for a second, her mouth dropping open as she realized what exactly Ronon had done to it.

John lifted Emma, who was studying the figure with fascination, to his hip in an attempt to turn her away—which didn’t work very well. “Nice. Thanks buddy. I love explaining to my kid about decapitation and…other things.”

Ronon grinned as Emma turned to John. “What demapitatation?”

“Nothing,” John murmured with a glance Elizabeth’s way. Probably a good thing, because if he’d seen Torren miming his version of decapitation at Emma it would have definitely meant less Athosian play dates.

“How about we move on to ours?” Teyla suggested, wrapping her arms around Torren and pulling him towards the canvas. Their reveal received a few ooos and ahs from the gathered crowd. Torren beamed proudly beside his mother.

“That’s really lovely, Teyla,” said Carson. “What is it exactly?”

“It is the Shrine of Tallos. I was inspired by our visit there. I took Torren to see it a few months ago and he agreed it would be a worthy choice for our entry.”

Jennifer smiled sympathetically at Rodney before turning to Teyla. “I think it’s lovely and it’s an almost perfect representation. The cliffs and foliage you’ve managed to carve…”

“Much was done by Torren. He has a very deft touch.” Torren smiled at his mother, then crossed his arms at Emma, who made a face. John observed the look between them with a poorly concealed grin of delight.

“Elizabeth?” Woolsey gestured, and she removed her canvas to a few claps from the crowd.

Carson grinned widely. “Of course. That is wonderful.”

It was a rather simplistic version of the Gate, and perhaps not quite as authentic as it could be since it was lying on its side, but she’d managed to spend enough time on the characters and panels to make them distinguishable.

“Very nice,” John said, bringing Emma forward and setting her down. “Look at what Mommy did.”

“Nice, Mommy. It’s the Stargate.”

“Yes, it is.” Elizabeth lifted the little girl up into her arms, smiling as she grabbed her in a hug.

“Alright, well, that just leaves Colonel Sheppard, Rodney, and Lorne. Rodney, why don’t you go first?”

“What? Let them do their reveals.”

“Rodney.”

McKay rolled his eyes, but didn’t bother to protest further, probably thanks to the look Jennifer was giving him, and removed his canvas. By the time he took down the main panel, he was grinning. “See?”

There was silence for a moment, broken by a grumpy “what is it?” from Emma.

“I second that,” Carson chided. “What IS that, Rodney?”

“What? You don’t—it’s the hyperdrive from the Daedalus.”

The group moved closer, studying the intricate sand moldings and patterns. Elizabeth could make out panels and wiring, but all together it looked about as clear as she normally found the systems on the Daedalus.

“I got it all—look,” he gestured around the sculpture, pointing at a few plates. “There’s the capacitor, and here…”

“How are we supposed to judge that?” Jennifer asked skeptically. “We don’t have anything to compare it to, and none of us knows what the Daedalus hyperdrive looks like.”

“What?” Rodney looked at her incredulously. “It looks like this!”

“I’ll take your word for it, Rodney, but Jennifer’s right. How are we supposed to judge something we have no basis of comparison for?” Carson shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t possibly grade that with any kind of accuracy.”

“Oh, but you can grade a decapitated, castrated Wraith?”

“Hey!” John snapped, throwing Rodney a dirty look. Emma turned to her. “What’s casterated?”

“Moving on,” Keller said, motioning towards John’s canvas. Emma wriggled out of Elizabeth arms, thankfully distracted, and went to help her dad, who shifted the canvases away with a pleased smile.

Even Elizabeth had to nod in amazement at their creation, a scaled model of a Wraith Hive ship.

“That’s very impressive, Colonel Sheppard.”

“Thank you, Carson.”

“And what did you do, little one,” Carson asked, bending down towards Emma. She kneeled on the ground, peering inside the sandy hull. “I put them in there.”

Carson and Jennifer both knelt to see inside.

“Oh my,” Carson said in an amused tone, “Wraith prisoners.”

“It’s Doctor McKay,” Emma returned. “He’s trapped.”

“What?” Rodney nudged a few people over, bending to peer inside. “What the heck did you put me in there for?”

“We wanted to make it authentic, Rodney,” John said with a smirk. “You know, add a touch of realism.”

“Is that…am I being fed upon?”

“No,” Emma said seriously, and pointed next to the plastic figurines inside. “Ronon is going to rescue you. He’s decapimitating Wraith.”

“That’s my girl,” Ronon grinned, while Elizabeth frowned disapprovingly. John caught her eyes and cleared his throat. “Stunning. He’s stunning Wraith.”

“And Daddy’s flying a Dart into the hive to beam you up.”

“Oh, of course he is.”

“Of course he would,” John echoed smartly. Elizabeth rubbed her forehead.

“Do we win?” Emma asked, innocently, sand flying off her skirt as she bounded to her feet.

“No, you do not,” Torren said, crossing his arms. “We do.”

“No you don’t,” Emma shot back. “Yours doesn’t even have people.”

“So? Your people are fake people. You did not even carve them with sand. They do not count!”

“Torren,” said Teyla. He glanced over, assuming a resigned stance at the expression on her face. “Sorry, Mother.”

“Well, if we’re going for authenticity then I think there’s only one choice that possibly makes sense,” Rodney chimed in.

“Ronon’s?” John tilted his head with a grin, meeting her gaze. Elizabeth smiled at him with a shake of her head and he smiled more brightly in response. It was still distracting enough to shut out everything else, including Rodney’s arguing, until Emma shrieked in delight, catching their attention.

“He wins!” she shouted, grabbing Elizabeth’s hand and dragging her forward, towards the last canvas—the one they’d forgotten.

Lorne was standing beside it, looking innocent, as they moved around the remaining partition peer at the castle inside. Elizabeth’s eyes widened in wonderment as she saw what he’d created. “Yes, I would say that is definitely the winner.”

“Definitely,” echoed Carson, grinning. “I’d forgot you had a talent for that, lad.”

“What’s all this about…” Rodney stopped short at the sight, his mouth dropping open. “That’s…”

“Yes, it is,” John said, swinging Emma up on his hip and wrapping his free arm around Elizabeth. “Major, I’m impressed.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Lorne returned, moving aside to allow them a closer look at his miniature version of Atlantis, perfectly replicated in three dimensions, with the Tower standing tall in the center and various peaks and spires making up the rest of the city. “All in a day’s work.”

“I’m not even going to ask how you did that,” Rodney murmured, gesturing to the delicate spindles.

“It just takes patience, Doctor McKay.”

“You hear that Rodney? Patience.” Carson grinned at Lorne. “Without a doubt this is the finest sand castle built today.”

“This is the finest sand castle built I’ve ever seen,” Jennifer said. “It’s unbelievable.”

“It’s not that great,” Rodney muttered. “One of the piers is two degrees off.”

Woolsey rolled his eyes, but ignored him. “Well, then, if we’re all agreed? Congratulations, Major, you win the first annual Atlantis sandcastle competition.”

“That fits, doesn’t it, Mommy?” Emma asked, wrapping her arms around John’s neck. “He won the competition with a castle of Atlantis.”

“Yes, Emma, I guess it does.” She wrapped her arm around John’s waist and drew closer to him, smiling at her daughter. “It truly does.”

Oh, I love it. I love Emma. I love Rodney's hyperdrive. I love Lorne. And Torren came across as a real person. Good job.

[Falcon Horus]

Joe and David haven't forgotten her. We have proof of that.

Yes, we have, but to whom it should matter they don't care one way or another.

[SMB_BOOKS]

Okay, Sandcastle competition:

Spoiler:

Sandcastle Competition

“You’ve got five minutes,” Jennifer said, peering over the canvas shelter separating Elizabeth’s ‘entry’ from the rest of the competition. “Looking mighty nice, there, Doctor.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth grinned, surveying her castle. It was pretty run of the mill for a Sandcastle competition, but the contest had been about creativity and fun, rather than serious sand architecture. At least, that had been her take. “I suppose it’s passable. There’s a reason I opted to be a diplomat and not an engineer.”

Jennifer smiled kindly. “I think it’ll do just fine. Hey…where’s Emma? I kinda figured she’d be with you.”

“Apparently my skills at sandcastle building weren’t impressive enough. She opted to work with her father.”

“And he was okay with that? I know how competitive he can get.”

Elizabeth leaned in towards the doctor with a saucy grin. “Could you see him saying no when she asked him?”

“No, I couldn’t. Good point. Excuse me.” She moved away from the shelter. “TWO MINUTES!”

Rodney’s head popped up from the sheltered square next to Elizabeth’s. “Could you be any louder?”

“Maybe,” Jennifer snarked back. “Two minutes, Doctor McKay.”

“Doctor McKay?”

“I’m a judge in this competition,” Keller said with a smile. “I’m being completely impartial at the moment.”

“Well,” Rodney narrowed his eyes, “with my stunning piece of craftsmanship you wouldn’t need to be biased anyway. I am so winning this competition.”

“That’s what you think!” John’s voice wafted up from one of the shelters down the beach, followed by his head peering out over the top.

“Yeah!” Emma echoed. Elizabeth could see one little hand shoot upwards. “Nobody’s going to beat us!”

“I do not believe so!” That was Torren, and with his remark Elizabeth turned to Jennifer.

“You may want to call time on this before it gets violent.”

“I brought stunners just in case.” Jennifer grinned. “TIME’S UP!”

After the usual grumbling and dragging of feet the participants were finally lined up and ready for the grand reveals. Carson, Woolsey and Jennifer, the official judges, moved into place, tablets in hand. A few of the less competitive Atlantis residents went first, with Doctor Kusanagi making the first impressive showing among that group with a series of raised Japanese characters.

Ronon went next, dramatizing his reveal by shooting down his canvas walls with the stunner. Elizabeth threw a look at John, who shrugged innocently.

“Wonder what excuse Richard’s going to make up to be able to order more of those,” she muttered under her breath, as the judges crowded around Ronon’s creation.

“Fascinating,” Jennifer said with a blank expression.

“But, well…” Carson turned to Ronon. “What is it?”

The Satedan glanced between them emotionlessly. “It’s a Wraith.”

“Doesn’t look like any Wraith I’ve ever seen,” Woolsey muttered.

“That’s because it’s dead,” Ronon returned. Elizabeth studied it for a second, her mouth dropping open as she realized what exactly Ronon had done to it.

John lifted Emma, who was studying the figure with fascination, to his hip in an attempt to turn her away—which didn’t work very well. “Nice. Thanks buddy. I love explaining to my kid about decapitation and…other things.”

Ronon grinned as Emma turned to John. “What demapitatation?”

“Nothing,” John murmured with a glance Elizabeth’s way. Probably a good thing, because if he’d seen Torren miming his version of decapitation at Emma it would have definitely meant less Athosian play dates.

“How about we move on to ours?” Teyla suggested, wrapping her arms around Torren and pulling him towards the canvas. Their reveal received a few ooos and ahs from the gathered crowd. Torren beamed proudly beside his mother.

“That’s really lovely, Teyla,” said Carson. “What is it exactly?”

“It is the Shrine of Tallos. I was inspired by our visit there. I took Torren to see it a few months ago and he agreed it would be a worthy choice for our entry.”

Jennifer smiled sympathetically at Rodney before turning to Teyla. “I think it’s lovely and it’s an almost perfect representation. The cliffs and foliage you’ve managed to carve…”

“Much was done by Torren. He has a very deft touch.” Torren smiled at his mother, then crossed his arms at Emma, who made a face. John observed the look between them with a poorly concealed grin of delight.

“Elizabeth?” Woolsey gestured, and she removed her canvas to a few claps from the crowd.

Carson grinned widely. “Of course. That is wonderful.”

It was a rather simplistic version of the Gate, and perhaps not quite as authentic as it could be since it was lying on its side, but she’d managed to spend enough time on the characters and panels to make them distinguishable.

“Very nice,” John said, bringing Emma forward and setting her down. “Look at what Mommy did.”

“Nice, Mommy. It’s the Stargate.”

“Yes, it is.” Elizabeth lifted the little girl up into her arms, smiling as she grabbed her in a hug.

“Alright, well, that just leaves Colonel Sheppard, Rodney, and Lorne. Rodney, why don’t you go first?”

“What? Let them do their reveals.”

“Rodney.”

McKay rolled his eyes, but didn’t bother to protest further, probably thanks to the look Jennifer was giving him, and removed his canvas. By the time he took down the main panel, he was grinning. “See?”

There was silence for a moment, broken by a grumpy “what is it?” from Emma.

“I second that,” Carson chided. “What IS that, Rodney?”

“What? You don’t—it’s the hyperdrive from the Daedalus.”

The group moved closer, studying the intricate sand moldings and patterns. Elizabeth could make out panels and wiring, but all together it looked about as clear as she normally found the systems on the Daedalus.

“I got it all—look,” he gestured around the sculpture, pointing at a few plates. “There’s the capacitor, and here…”

“How are we supposed to judge that?” Jennifer asked skeptically. “We don’t have anything to compare it to, and none of us knows what the Daedalus hyperdrive looks like.”

“What?” Rodney looked at her incredulously. “It looks like this!”

“I’ll take your word for it, Rodney, but Jennifer’s right. How are we supposed to judge something we have no basis of comparison for?” Carson shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t possibly grade that with any kind of accuracy.”

“Oh, but you can grade a decapitated, castrated Wraith?”

“Hey!” John snapped, throwing Rodney a dirty look. Emma turned to her. “What’s casterated?”

“Moving on,” Keller said, motioning towards John’s canvas. Emma wriggled out of Elizabeth arms, thankfully distracted, and went to help her dad, who shifted the canvases away with a pleased smile.

Even Elizabeth had to nod in amazement at their creation, a scaled model of a Wraith Hive ship.

“That’s very impressive, Colonel Sheppard.”

“Thank you, Carson.”

“And what did you do, little one,” Carson asked, bending down towards Emma. She kneeled on the ground, peering inside the sandy hull. “I put them in there.”

Carson and Jennifer both knelt to see inside.

“Oh my,” Carson said in an amused tone, “Wraith prisoners.”

“It’s Doctor McKay,” Emma returned. “He’s trapped.”

“What?” Rodney nudged a few people over, bending to peer inside. “What the heck did you put me in there for?”

“We wanted to make it authentic, Rodney,” John said with a smirk. “You know, add a touch of realism.”

“Is that…am I being fed upon?”

“No,” Emma said seriously, and pointed next to the plastic figurines inside. “Ronon is going to rescue you. He’s decapimitating Wraith.”

“That’s my girl,” Ronon grinned, while Elizabeth frowned disapprovingly. John caught her eyes and cleared his throat. “Stunning. He’s stunning Wraith.”

“And Daddy’s flying a Dart into the hive to beam you up.”

“Oh, of course he is.”

“Of course he would,” John echoed smartly. Elizabeth rubbed her forehead.

“Do we win?” Emma asked, innocently, sand flying off her skirt as she bounded to her feet.

“No, you do not,” Torren said, crossing his arms. “We do.”

“No you don’t,” Emma shot back. “Yours doesn’t even have people.”

“So? Your people are fake people. You did not even carve them with sand. They do not count!”

“Torren,” said Teyla. He glanced over, assuming a resigned stance at the expression on her face. “Sorry, Mother.”

“Well, if we’re going for authenticity then I think there’s only one choice that possibly makes sense,” Rodney chimed in.

“Ronon’s?” John tilted his head with a grin, meeting her gaze. Elizabeth smiled at him with a shake of her head and he smiled more brightly in response. It was still distracting enough to shut out everything else, including Rodney’s arguing, until Emma shrieked in delight, catching their attention.

“He wins!” she shouted, grabbing Elizabeth’s hand and dragging her forward, towards the last canvas—the one they’d forgotten.

Lorne was standing beside it, looking innocent, as they moved around the remaining partition peer at the castle inside. Elizabeth’s eyes widened in wonderment as she saw what he’d created. “Yes, I would say that is definitely the winner.”

“Definitely,” echoed Carson, grinning. “I’d forgot you had a talent for that, lad.”

“What’s all this about…” Rodney stopped short at the sight, his mouth dropping open. “That’s…”

“Yes, it is,” John said, swinging Emma up on his hip and wrapping his free arm around Elizabeth. “Major, I’m impressed.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Lorne returned, moving aside to allow them a closer look at his miniature version of Atlantis, perfectly replicated in three dimensions, with the Tower standing tall in the center and various peaks and spires making up the rest of the city. “All in a day’s work.”

“I’m not even going to ask how you did that,” Rodney murmured, gesturing to the delicate spindles.

“It just takes patience, Doctor McKay.”

“You hear that Rodney? Patience.” Carson grinned at Lorne. “Without a doubt this is the finest sand castle built today.”

“This is the finest sand castle built I’ve ever seen,” Jennifer said. “It’s unbelievable.”

“It’s not that great,” Rodney muttered. “One of the piers is two degrees off.”

Woolsey rolled his eyes, but ignored him. “Well, then, if we’re all agreed? Congratulations, Major, you win the first annual Atlantis sandcastle competition.”

“That fits, doesn’t it, Mommy?” Emma asked, wrapping her arms around John’s neck. “He won the competition with a castle of Atlantis.”

“Yes, Emma, I guess it does.” She wrapped her arm around John’s waist and drew closer to him, smiling at her daughter. “It truly does.”

*claps hands enthusiastically* SEE - that is SO much better than S5 (except for Vegas, which I haven't seen, but SR will probably beat me if I don't say that). This was a heck of a lot of fun to read. Emma reacting to Ronon's sandcastle was a hoot! And, I loved how each person's sandcastle tied into their character so well. Lorne FTW! Still lol-ing at this....thanks!

[Southern Red]

*claps hands enthusiastically* SEE - that is SO much better than S5 (except for Vegas, which I haven't seen, but SR will probably beat me if I don't say that). This was a heck of a lot of fun to read. Emma reacting to Ronon's sandcastle was a hoot! And, I loved how each person's sandcastle tied into their character so well. Lorne FTW! Still lol-ing at this....thanks!

And so will Anuna. Vegas FTW!

[Scary Kitty]

Welcome to the club of Dead Favorite Characters... at least mine was killed off dead. Elizabeth was just killed off - oh no wait, still alive or so they claim - replicator alive - alive - nope frozen and forgotten.

Frakin' Cylons Replicators!

Joe and David haven't forgotten her. We have proof of that.

And we love them for it!

Yes, we have, but to whom it should matter they don't care one way or another.

A mistake for which they have already begun to pay in lost viewers. *snickers*

And so will Anuna. Vegas FTW!

And me three! Vegas rules!

[Scary Kitty]

ZOMG! 17 people browsing the Sparky thread?!? Gee, I wonder if that's a new record?

[KrisRussel]

SR and Eri, your fics are awesome!!!!!
So cute and so true to character.
I'm going to try and write something too... no promises though.

[Southern Red]

ZOMG! 17 people browsing the Sparky thread?!? Gee, I wonder if that's a new record?

Amazing. Hey folks, if you're looking for con reports just check back a few pages for the awesome reports from KrisRussel.

SR and Eri, your fics are awesome!!!!!
So cute and so true to character.
I'm going to try and write something too... no promises though.

Yay. We're all so giddy we have to express it somehow.