By the Banks of the River Styx (SGA/SG-1, John/Cam, PG-13)

[skieswideopen]

Title: By the Banks of the River Styx
Author: skieswideopen
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Cameron Mitchell/John Sheppard
Warnings: Death. Lots of death. Mostly not graphic, and mostly before the story begins. More specifically: ( skip) The story starts with nearly everyone on Earth, including most of SG-1, dead. The story also features the off-screen suicide of a

Comments

[bluflamingo]

God, John talking to him at the very end made me cry buckets. The whole scenario is just kind of unimaginably awful, being the only one left and knowing no-one's going to come for you, and I think it's more vivid because you describe it so sparsely, you know, there's no over-blown angst or anything, it's completely matter of fact.

[skieswideopen]

You're fast!

I felt kind of bad doing this to Cam. Originally, I was going to have him wandering around the post-apocalyptic wasteland trying to find a way to reach John, but there were still going to be other people round. When I started writing, however, this is what came out. I think Cam would try to make the best of it and not dwell on what couldn't be helped, but the situation would have to take its toll.

[tesserae_]

Oh, so sad, so very sad, and so beautifully written... and so very perfectly Cam, plugging along there because that's what he does, until the promise of not being alone is stronger than he can bear. I particularly liked this: but he's not sure which sin finally brought Earth's destruction down upon her because it is so very much the terms in which he'd think of it...

Thank you

[skieswideopen]

I'm very glad that you found the story accurately reflected Cam. I was trying to do that and avoid making it a generic hero story, and it's good to know it worked for you. Poor Cam!

[ana_grrl]

I enjoyed this! I like the relentlessness of it, and it came as a bit of surprise that he'd lasted for so long alone - it was both nice to get a sense of his resilience, and sad to understand how long he'd been trying to make a go of it.

[skieswideopen]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think it was largely having a goal that kept him going--if he'd been facing living the rest of his life alone with no hope of escape other than death, I think carrying on would have been much harder. (Which isn't to say Cam wouldn't have tried.)

[advection]

I love the way the backstory is woven in -- the plague, and Cam's relationship with John, and his memories of the team -- as the story moves relentlessly forwards. It all works really well together, this gripping bleakness and then ... release.

[skieswideopen]

Thanks! I didn't really plan this one out--I just wrote it in the order things occurred to me--so I'm glad it makes sense as some sort of coherent whole.

I absolutely love your icon. That's such a perfect expression--it really captures a side of Mitchell we don't often see.

[advection]

Thanks, about the icon! It's by paxm, who seems to have moved on to other fandoms :-(, but made a whole lot of gorgeous SG-1 and SGA icons. It was shareable when I snagged it, so I suspect it would be fine for you to snag from the snagger if you ever feel a yen for it.

And the fic does have a strong sense of structural coherence -- writing that way worked out just fine!

[tittamiire]

This is very beautiful and very sad. I like the understated approach, it adds impact to a powerful peice. I think you've captured Cam really well.

[skieswideopen]

Thank you!