LonelyHearts Atlantis: The Conclusion
You might remember that a few weeks ago, I started a writing experiment called LonelyHearts Atlantis. It was a live storytelling session, in which I posted short chapters of LonelyHearts on the fly in LiveJournal comments. It was pretty rough and ready, with lots of typos; and it was just the broad strokes of the tale, rather than a fully fleshed out piece. But then, that was the whole point of the experiment!
I got about halfway through the story, and then had to go home for the night (work hours are *so* inconvenient that way :). But I *promised* the wonderful people who'd come on the ride with me not to leave the story a work in progress.
Of course, true love never does run smooth, and the next day I realised that the plot of LonelyHearts was *perfect* for the theme "Ancient!John," which I'd been assigned for undermistletoe. So I stopped writing the story as an experiment, and started actually writing it for real.
::fast-forward two weeks::
And then I stopped writing it again and ripped my hair out instead, when I realised LonelyHearts was actually a *novel*, and I'd never finish it by the deadline. (Cue: mad panicking, brainstorming, and many all-nighters in a crazy attempt to meet the deadline with an all new "Ancient!John" story.)
But, see, I promised to finish LonelyHearts. And while I can no longer *bear* the thought of writing it up properly, I have the InstantMessenger version of the ending that I told to vegetariansushi, so I've decided to post that instead. Then at least anyone who is vaguely interested can get some closure.
You can find the first half of the story in the Original Post, and the conclusion...
cupidsbow: So... John is up to series 3 on the Avatar program, which means he can actually feel sensation through the avatar's skin.
cupidsbow: Rodney has the ATA gene, which means that he can, theoretically, see the virtual Atlantis programs too, even though he hasn’t spontaneously connected to it the way John has.
cupidsbow: So, once Rodney gets out of the infirmary, and works up the courage to say yes to “N”, John turns up in Rodney's room one night as the hologram. What Rodney sees is the blonde, gorgeous Nirvana.
cupidsbow: And Rodney thinks it's Atlantis!
cupidsbow: John, who's pretty nervous about the whole thing, takes the easy way out and doesn't disabuse him.
cupidsbow: And then, after a couple of nights of conversation and chess and stuff, John (who's missed Rodney like mad), kind of seduces him accidentally on purpose, and they have hot virtual sex.
cupidsbow: Then we have this intercut stuff, so that we see a bit of a mission, where John and Rodney still aren't getting on...
cupidsbow: alternating with the hot steamy virtual-sex nights. This goes on for a while, until it's almost become a comfortable routine.
cupidsbow: Then the Wraith come back.
cupidsbow: Rodney's invented a new super-weapon, of course, and Atlantis has good shields too, with the new ZPM.
cupidsbow: But the Wraith have been busy as well--better, faster, stronger. Sneakier weapons.
cupidsbow: Things get really, really bad.
cupidsbow: There's no way for the Atlantis team to win, and Earth is on the line too--all those people potentially becoming Wraith snacks if Atlantis falls!
cupidsbow: So, of course, John wonders how far he really is willing to go to save the human race. Was the suicide mission just a fluke last time; or did he just have less to lose? Meanwhile Rodney is facing down several Wraith single-handedly, while trying to re-jig the superweapon. And John, busy with his own Wraith posse, looks over at him, and gets this great big clench of love, and realises that there's really only one choice he can make: that he's willing to go all the way to eternal damnation if that’s what it takes to make sure Rodney survives.
cupidsbow: And then he ascends.
cupidsbow: He beats off the Wraith and saves the day, protecting the city the same way Chaya protected her people.
cupidsbow: And when the other glowy squids turn up to take him home, he tells them to fuck off, he's not going to be a good glowy squid. He’s going to be a pain in their ass, and stay with the people he loves.
cupidsbow: Then he goes back down to Atlantis, where everyone's clustered around his dead body, and rematerialises.
cupidsbow: Ronon immediately points his gun at John, and everyone kind of stares and goes "Who are you?"
cupidsbow: Except for Rodney, who says, "Oh, it's just Atlantis."
cupidsbow: John is confused, and turns to one of the computer monitors that's got no power and looks at his reflection, and of course, all his practice has been as Nirvana, so he rematerialised as a woman.
cupidsbow: And he goes, "Well, fuck. Why didn't those Ancients ever put a decent warning on anything. Because that's just weird."
cupidsbow: Then Rodney figures it out, and goes kind of bug-eyed.
cupidsbow: And yells really, really a lot: “What the hell were you thinking! And I can’t believe you lied to me!”
cupidsbow: John's all, "Hey, are you usually this rude to *gods*? And also, hello, your future is likely to be filled with sex with a hot blonde who doesn't age. How is that a bad thing?"
cupidsbow: Elizabeth, Caldwell, Ronon, Teyla and Zelenka all stare.
cupidsbow: "Oh, what?" says John. "I'm dead. It's not like Don't Ask, Don't Tell applies to me anymore."
cupidsbow: "Not to mention, female here! Not technically gay sex, anyway!"
cupidsbow: And Rodney's all, "Oh my god. I can't believe you!"
cupidsbow: And John's all, "Yes, I am willing to fill that capacity, as you've asked so nicely."
cupidsbow: So on, so forth. Etc. Hot sex. Close curtain.
cupidsbow: Epilogue: Rodney is doing night school, working through the ascension primer, but keeps getting distracted by the shiny Atlantean technology. The end.
So there you have it. One rather bizarre experiment.
I got about halfway through the story, and then had to go home for the night (work hours are *so* inconvenient that way :). But I *promised* the wonderful people who'd come on the ride with me not to leave the story a work in progress.
Of course, true love never does run smooth, and the next day I realised that the plot of LonelyHearts was *perfect* for the theme "Ancient!John," which I'd been assigned for undermistletoe. So I stopped writing the story as an experiment, and started actually writing it for real.
::fast-forward two weeks::
And then I stopped writing it again and ripped my hair out instead, when I realised LonelyHearts was actually a *novel*, and I'd never finish it by the deadline. (Cue: mad panicking, brainstorming, and many all-nighters in a crazy attempt to meet the deadline with an all new "Ancient!John" story.)
But, see, I promised to finish LonelyHearts. And while I can no longer *bear* the thought of writing it up properly, I have the InstantMessenger version of the ending that I told to vegetariansushi, so I've decided to post that instead. Then at least anyone who is vaguely interested can get some closure.
You can find the first half of the story in the Original Post, and the conclusion...
cupidsbow: So... John is up to series 3 on the Avatar program, which means he can actually feel sensation through the avatar's skin.
cupidsbow: Rodney has the ATA gene, which means that he can, theoretically, see the virtual Atlantis programs too, even though he hasn’t spontaneously connected to it the way John has.
cupidsbow: So, once Rodney gets out of the infirmary, and works up the courage to say yes to “N”, John turns up in Rodney's room one night as the hologram. What Rodney sees is the blonde, gorgeous Nirvana.
cupidsbow: And Rodney thinks it's Atlantis!
cupidsbow: John, who's pretty nervous about the whole thing, takes the easy way out and doesn't disabuse him.
cupidsbow: And then, after a couple of nights of conversation and chess and stuff, John (who's missed Rodney like mad), kind of seduces him accidentally on purpose, and they have hot virtual sex.
cupidsbow: Then we have this intercut stuff, so that we see a bit of a mission, where John and Rodney still aren't getting on...
cupidsbow: alternating with the hot steamy virtual-sex nights. This goes on for a while, until it's almost become a comfortable routine.
cupidsbow: Then the Wraith come back.
cupidsbow: Rodney's invented a new super-weapon, of course, and Atlantis has good shields too, with the new ZPM.
cupidsbow: But the Wraith have been busy as well--better, faster, stronger. Sneakier weapons.
cupidsbow: Things get really, really bad.
cupidsbow: There's no way for the Atlantis team to win, and Earth is on the line too--all those people potentially becoming Wraith snacks if Atlantis falls!
cupidsbow: So, of course, John wonders how far he really is willing to go to save the human race. Was the suicide mission just a fluke last time; or did he just have less to lose? Meanwhile Rodney is facing down several Wraith single-handedly, while trying to re-jig the superweapon. And John, busy with his own Wraith posse, looks over at him, and gets this great big clench of love, and realises that there's really only one choice he can make: that he's willing to go all the way to eternal damnation if that’s what it takes to make sure Rodney survives.
cupidsbow: And then he ascends.
cupidsbow: He beats off the Wraith and saves the day, protecting the city the same way Chaya protected her people.
cupidsbow: And when the other glowy squids turn up to take him home, he tells them to fuck off, he's not going to be a good glowy squid. He’s going to be a pain in their ass, and stay with the people he loves.
cupidsbow: Then he goes back down to Atlantis, where everyone's clustered around his dead body, and rematerialises.
cupidsbow: Ronon immediately points his gun at John, and everyone kind of stares and goes "Who are you?"
cupidsbow: Except for Rodney, who says, "Oh, it's just Atlantis."
cupidsbow: John is confused, and turns to one of the computer monitors that's got no power and looks at his reflection, and of course, all his practice has been as Nirvana, so he rematerialised as a woman.
cupidsbow: And he goes, "Well, fuck. Why didn't those Ancients ever put a decent warning on anything. Because that's just weird."
cupidsbow: Then Rodney figures it out, and goes kind of bug-eyed.
cupidsbow: And yells really, really a lot: “What the hell were you thinking! And I can’t believe you lied to me!”
cupidsbow: John's all, "Hey, are you usually this rude to *gods*? And also, hello, your future is likely to be filled with sex with a hot blonde who doesn't age. How is that a bad thing?"
cupidsbow: Elizabeth, Caldwell, Ronon, Teyla and Zelenka all stare.
cupidsbow: "Oh, what?" says John. "I'm dead. It's not like Don't Ask, Don't Tell applies to me anymore."
cupidsbow: "Not to mention, female here! Not technically gay sex, anyway!"
cupidsbow: And Rodney's all, "Oh my god. I can't believe you!"
cupidsbow: And John's all, "Yes, I am willing to fill that capacity, as you've asked so nicely."
cupidsbow: So on, so forth. Etc. Hot sex. Close curtain.
cupidsbow: Epilogue: Rodney is doing night school, working through the ascension primer, but keeps getting distracted by the shiny Atlantean technology. The end.
So there you have it. One rather bizarre experiment.