Fic: The Water Grinds the Stone [SGA] Complete

[auburnnothenna]

The mods have released the hounds writers and artists to post their Big Bang efforts elsewhere, so I'll be posting this to my fic site and Wraithbait eventually.

The Water Grinds the Stone            2008 SGA Big Bang link              gblvr's accompanying art

Codes: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan,

Comments

[general_jinjur]

i loved this. and will give better feedback, one of these days, when i can get my thoughts organised.

[auburnnothenna]

*bleep me* An entire post full of comments I've forgotten to answer.

Ooops?

I'll be thrilled if you ever have anything more to say, but I'm happy just knowing you liked it.

[general_jinjur]

heh. i am so behind on comments on all of my posts, so don't worry about it. :)

i...actually made an appointment this morning to get together with raz0rgirl to discuss it this weekend (and very briefly, i though, "oh, i should print it out so we can take notes!" and then reality reasserted itself. hah!). so i don't know how coherent the result will be, but i will at least get you our main points.

[springwoof]

You know, the thing about this story that keeps haunting me is how damn compelling it is--if it was a physical novel, I'd be calling it a "page turner." Once I started reading it, I literally couldn't read anything else until I was done, and I had trouble doing anything else (RL-related), too

[auburnnothenna]

the one where John saves Rodney with the sarcophagus, and he thinks that it's not just because it's Rodney--that he would do anything for any one of his Team.

The thing is, he would. It isn't like he wouldn't have made the same deal with Kefflin if it had been Teyla who was shot and Rodney who came through comparatively unscathed. And Rodney would have been right beside him.

It's John's greatest strength and his greatest flaw. He can see the big picture, but he'll never sacrifice the people relying on him in the service of it. The whole thing is the way he got his blackmark, only writ larger and with even greater consequences.

(Yes, I'm answering comments from last month. I'm sorry, I'd lost this post somehow.)

[auburnnothenna]

Speaking of karmasuck and not answering comments. This is so late, you've already read the fic. Thank you again for the feedback. You win, I fail.

[pogrebin]

Hi, I just wanted to drop by and tell you how much I enjoyed 'The Water Grinds the Stone'-- there was no review link on the Big Bang website so I thought I'd come here and leave you a comment. It's a massive, intricate achievement (well, obviously, you know this because it smacks of long-term care and attention). The writing was great, involving, always of high quality and the scale of it just really worked. I know I used the phrase 'enjoyed' before but perhaps that's not quite right, cause you do put us (and the characters) through the wringer, but never for cheap thrills. I completely buy this version of 'Disclosure Day', and the John and Rodney that fuck up beyond belief over and over again, and Teyla and Ronon who have been reading Machiavelli, and Vala who won't give up. Everyone compromises their ideals, until they can't any more. Anyway, thank you for writing this, it made me sob but was so worth it.

[auburnnothenna]

Hi, I'm hideously behind on comments. Doesn't mean I don't appreciate them. On bad days, I reread them just to find the will to type.

Everyone compromises their ideals, until they can't any more.

Oooh, I like that summation. I did so want to show Teyla and Ronon as the smart, canny, fantastic people the characters have the potential to be, even if the show never really explores them. At the same time, I was focussing on the John/Rodney mess, so much of their lives happens 'off camera', but there's a whole epic there about Teyla and Ronon and Ladon bulding the Concord out of the rubble left by the Wraith. (In my mind, it's a better government than anything Earth boasts - because Teyla especially learns from everything Earth has and is doing wrong.)

The Water Grinds the Stone

[anonymous]

Hi, I finished reading your story 'The Water Grinds the Stone' at 1am this morning. Once I started reading I couldn't stop. WOW! WOW! I tried to go to sleep straight after but my mind keep on whirling, it was hard to sleep. First, I just want to say congratulations on this astounding and innovating story. I have never read anything like this before book or fanfic. The amount of time and effort put into this story must have been huge. The way some very familiar characters changed from what we have always seen them be to what they actually become by the end of your story was amazing. It felt very real. It was heartbreaking to see John and Rodney's characters struggling through the rise and falls of their relationship. The crescendo of the end parts was perfect. I just want to say again congratulations on this amazing story and I look forward to more of your wonderful stories in the future. Kate (Sydney, Australia)

Re: The Water Grinds the Stone

[auburnnothenna]

Kate (hope you see this),

Thank you so much. It took about five months start to finish, so it really is epic in the time I put into it, but I think it was worthwhile. Not that I'm ever writing anything with this much scope on such a short deadline again.