#sga: adrift

[dr-futbol-blog]

Epiphany, Pt. 5

On the outside, Teyla is finally starting to see the problem where Ronon is still laying the blame on McKay and intending to keep him there to solve it. His insistence that McKay not leave could also be motivated by Sheppard having asked him to keep his eye on McKay following recent events, and since Ronon is not going to leave Sheppard out there alone, he cannot keep his eye on the both of them if McKay leaves. Ronon attempts to impress the authority of his physical stature on McKay but McKay is not easily intimidated, especially when it comes to saving Sheppard. He has faced much more frightening things that Ronon head-on to rescue Sheppard.

Teyla: The blossoms have aged several hours at least. McKay: We might be able to pick him up in the jumper but I need to get back to Atlantis. Dex: You're not going anywhere. McKay: It is a time dilation field, which means that time is passing much faster on the other side of the portal than it is here for us.

Just as Ronon is blaming McKay for what happened and taking his frustration out on him, McKay is starting to feel like Ronon is purposefully wasting their time being obtuse, and he does not have time to think of how to explain the trouble they are in using small enough words. He has no bandwidth whatsoever to be intimidated by Ronon, all of his energy is going to figuring out how to help Sheppard. We can hear in his voice how serious he finds the situation, how hard he is trying to hold himself together long enough to be able to fix this.

McKay: I'm not sure of the exact ratio, but I need to go now. Dex: Why? McKay: I don't have time to explain temporal compression theory to you when every moment we stand here debating this, literally hours could be going by for Colonel Sheppard relative to us. Look, hours equate to days, and days for us could mean years for him. Do you get it now?

It is probably for the better that McKay took up a post contracting for the military instead of staying in Academia, as his method of teaching leaves a lot to be desired. He tries to explain the issue to Ronon as succinctly as he can but he does not have enough presence of mind not to be condescending about it, and although Sheppard is not here to witness this, it is probably incidents like this that contributed to him describing McKay as condescending in McKay and Mrs Miller (S03E08). What is interesting about how he does describe temporal compression to Ronon, however, is that it very much resembles how the feeling of the distorted sense of time caused by dissociation could be described. "Hours turn to days, days to weeks" is something that is frequently used to describe the time dilation that accompanies dissociation, making one's suffering seem unending. The way McKay describes what might be (and is) happening to Sheppard here is very similar to what we have seen him experience on a smaller scale multiple times.

Let us also note the fact that he calls Sheppard "Colonel Sheppard" here. He is not doing it because that is what he frequently calls him or because this is what he calls him in his mind. We have heard McKay call him this only a few times and always for a reason, and even though we will not hear him call him John until Adrift (S04E01), he most certainly has been doing it just between the two of them for much longer. Most often what we hear McKay call him is just Sheppard, without the title. The fact that he is using it here is in the service of impressing on Ronon that this is about much more than the two of them and their buddy Sheppard. This is the military commander of the Atlantis expedition that they have misplaced, and the chain of command puts him in charge here. He is using Sheppard's authority to impress on Ronon how important it is that he understands and lets him go without making any more trouble. While McKay intends on saving John, he is trying to convince Ronon of the fact that he is doing this for Colonel Sheppard, and because it is Colonel Sheppard, they need to hurry. Because they are doing this for Colonel Sheppard, Ronon needs to get on with the program and stop wasting his time.

McKay: Teyla, I need you to follow me back as far as the puddlejumper and I'll explain what I need you to do on the way. And you, stay here! Dex: And do what? McKay: Don't go through, if that's what you're thinking. Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa! Give me the knapsack.

At the end of the first season we saw McKay musing about leadership, having had to reflect on his own position on the expedition during his time in the senior staff, heading his own science division. We saw that having grown close to Sheppard had made him appreciate what goes into good leadership on a whole other level. We have also seen him use that internal model of Sheppard that he keeps with him, that he keeps in his heart to help him out of tight situations, a perfect example of this only in the previous episode. In a dire situation, he is able to emulate his approximation of Sheppard to do things that he would otherwise be unable to do. And it very much seems like he is doing that here. He is displaying efficient and exemplary leadership: delegating tasks and taking care of the people he needs to work with him.

In the middle of all of this, he is able to see that Ronon is impulsive enough to try jumping in after Sheppard and that is the last thing they need right now. He orders Teyla to come with him to the jumper (without making it seem like an order), and he tells Ronon to stay put. We may also note that it is McKay telling Ronon not to go through, not to do the thing that he had been wanting to do himself ever since he watched Sheppard get sucked in, that suddenly makes him think of what Sheppard would need while he is there, to look at it from his point of view. They need to get him some provisions. Sheppard has been in the cave going on two days by now and he is not just starting to lose his hope, he seems almost to be losing his mind.

Sheppard: Rodney, Teyla... Ronon? Come in? You guys are starting to worry me a little bit here.

And so we switch from McKay having very obviously thought about Sheppard to Sheppard thinking about McKay. McKay is the first word we hear him speak as we return to him, and although he now adds the names of Teyla and Ronon to the list, it is entirely possible that some of the time he has been speaking to McKay alone, just like we saw him do previously. This is him adding the others to his message because his messages to McKay do not seem to be going through. What is significant here is the sing-song quality in which he speaks their names. It is almost as though he is speaking the names as prayers or mantic rituals, invoking the things he names, like he could invite them to appear just by speaking their names. It is also really curious that he sings the names of Rodney and Teyla together first while looking up to his right and then Ronon while looking to his left. It is as though they evoke different emotions in him, different memories. Looking to the left and up is for remembering visual images where looking to the up and right is constructing visual images which suggest that thinking about McKay and Teyla made him remember something, a specific memory or feeling, where the thought of Ronon made his mind go "big guy," or something similar.

Sheppard also looks up at the ceiling as he confesses that he is starting to worry "a little bit," which in Sheppard-to-English means that he is freaking the fuck out. The fact that he is willing to admit it even to himself, that he is speaking it out loud instead of trying his damnedest to repress the feeling is concerning. We see him do some self-soothing touching before he can even come out and say it, rubbing his brow with the tips of his fingers. But it is the looking up at the cave ceiling (which of course has nothing there for him to look at) that is the most concerning. People frequently do this, straining their eyes to look up, when they are trying to hold back tears. That is what he seems to be doing here. That is also why he speaks their names in the sing-songy voice. It is an attempt at keeping his voice from breaking, not able to say McKay's name using a normal speaking voice without choking up on it.

McKay: Empty your pockets, everything you think he might need to survive. We might just buy him a little more time there. Come on! Dex: Go! McKay: Good!

They gather up everything they have to put together a care package for Sheppard, and this at least seems to be something they can all agree on being a good idea. And even though McKay should by his own admission already be half-way to Atlantis to figure this thing out, he makes sure to throw in the care package through the portal to Sheppard personally. He needs to be the one to do it, he needs to know that there is something he is able to do for Sheppard in this situation. Sending the knapsack through is his only connection to Sheppard, and as much thought and love as he puts into it, Sheppard also is able to receive that on the other side. Having been deprived of human connection for so long, he can appreciate the thought most of all.

Sheppard: What the hell took you guys so long?!

A lot more time seems to have passed for Sheppard as we re-join him, and instead of having left the cave to look for water he basically seems to have made the decision to die right there rather than to get one inch further from where he had last seen the others. He has lit a fire to keep himself warm because he is probably starting to suffer from hypothermia. We find him sucking on the last bits of nutrition from a power bar, and he is also suffering from severe dehydration (and we do not want to be thinking about what he might have had to do to stave that off for a bit longer). Terminal dehydration takes approximately seven days and he has to be nearly half way there by this time.

We see Sheppard look at his hand and make it into a fist, and this might be caused either by the dehydration giving him cramps or the fact that he had punched the barrier so hard previously as to injure his hand (or that the has been punching it some more since then). Sheppard looks at the wrapper of his power bar before crumbling it up and discarding it on the cave floor, and we may remember both that we (and Sheppard) have watched McKay eat power bars with gusto previously being that he is hypoglycemic (and it is that fact alone that makes Sheppard glad that McKay is not stuck there with him), but we also later in Harmony (S04E14) learn that Sheppard usually gives his own power bar to McKay. It is for these reasons that he might very well be thinking about McKay as he sucks on the wrapper here, his lips on the covering of a phallic thing that reminds him of McKay.

The cave suddenly trembles as though from an earthquake and it is unclear whether this is caused by the care package bag coming through the portal or by some natural occurrence of the ridge. Regardless, it stirs Sheppard from his seemingly extremely morose thoughts to noticing that a bag had suddenly appeared through the portal. And much more than water and provisions (for which he is thankful), it is proof that the others are working on getting him out, they are thinking about him, they have not abandoned him after all. Sheppard can tell himself that he knew they would not all he wants but his deepest fear is abandonment. He wraps his lips around the first water bottle he finds in the knapsack like a man dying of thirst, and if it is not McKay's bottle, he certainly wishes that it were. Just hearing from them makes him feel less alone.

Continued in Pt. 6

[lightthewaybackhome]

Adrift is such a hard, yet good, episode. I love the opening sequence where the story shifts back and forth between Keller trying to save Elizabeth and Rodney trying to save Atlantis. I love the sense of Atlantis and Elizabeth being connected, entwined, and woven together. Without one you can't have the other. I think this is one of the reasons Atlantis resonates as Home for everyone. Elizabeth has made it a Home. She's made it a place of acceptance, beauty, health, and hope for all of these different "strays" that needed a place to belong. Without her, Atlantis just isn't right.

The fight to save Atlantis, Sheppard and Rodney doing all that they can to save their home, is a wonderful part of this episode, but the hardest part, the gut-clenching part, is Rodney and Sheppard fighting. Rodney wants to turn on the replicators to save Elizabeth. Sheppard says no way. Remember, when they invaded her last time, they convinced her Atlantis wasn't real. None of it was real. Sheppard, McKay, Ronon, Teyla. Everyone and everything was a lie. It was Sheppard who told her to fight. It was Sheppard who helped her overcome the Replicators. And now, it is Sheppard (who knows!) saying they're not turning on the Replicators, not even to save her life. The fight Elizabeth faced last time was so hard, and the danger to Atlantis herself is not worth it. Sheppard proves he knows Elizabeth better than anyone else by saying no.

But, Rodney does it anyway and I can't be mad, because he did it out of a sincere love for Elizabeth. The whole scene where he tells Sheppard what he's done is horrible. Elizabeth waking up and Teyla trying to comfort her, but Elizabeth reacting exactly how Shepperd said she would is horrible.

Then we get to the "Sorry" said in the sweetest Canadian accent from Rodney. Rodney reaches out. Rodney demands they stop fighting. Rodney apologizes! Friendship isn't about doing everything perfectly. Friendship is about forgiving one another when we fail, which we will. Rodney says he's sorry. Sheppard accepts his apology. (There's this tiny micro-expression on the side of the screen where Sheppard frowns and runs his hand through his hair and you can tell he's working to shut down his anger and readjust after accepting the apology so they can move forward. It's perfect, and so human.)

I really love this episode. It carries so much weight and there is such an underlying sense of sadness as we near Elizabeth's end. As you watch it, knowing what you're watching, you are begging Rodney to not do this, just let her go, but you aren't mad at Rodney. How can you be? Even as you want to save her from what's coming, you also want to save her even if it is for only a moment because saving her is saving Home.

[spockvarietyhour]

Stargate Atlantis "Adrift"

[sga-owns-my-soul]

The scene where Ronon thanks Elizabeth while she’s in a coma actually breaks my heart

I thought so much about this scene that i actually forgot how it went and when it came up in my latest rewatch i was so confused that there was no forehead kiss? I DISTINCTLY REMEMBER A FOREHEAD KISS WHERE IS MU FOREHEAD KISS

it's SO HEARTBREAKING!!!!!! it's just so soft and the intimacy between them and the way ronon is so exposed and vulnerable for her and i just 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 my HEART i love them so much

also i know exactly what you mean i KNOW i've read fics where he kisses her forehead and whenever i watch that scene and there is not a forehead kiss i'm like "??????? where is!!!!!!!!! the forehead kiss???????????" there should be a forehead kiss there we all deserve it!!!!!!

[mathgirl24]

SGA Elizabeth Weir thoughts

Some very nice Adrift/Lifeline gif sets being produced. But I can't reblog them. Never happened.

[scifidancer]

SŤÅRĞÅŤE ÅŤLÅNŤÍS / "Ådríft"

[stargate365]

[SGA] 4.01: Adrift (2/3)

Previously on Atlantis... the replicators attacked, so we sank the city, and then tried to fly far far away... but we ran out of power, and are stuck in the intergalactic middle of nowhere.

;w; Liz, don’t die. We need you to be a Boss.

This... isn’t good. I don’t want Liz to go. 

Rodney and his metaphors. 

“You dumb this down any more, and you’re gonna get hit.”

Well that’s not good...

Oh no... ;w;

Sam! My love!! 

Poor medical dude trying to explain this to Ronon. 

Well this is so much fun, and totally not nerve-wracking at all. Yeah, I’m lying.

*sighs* John, this is a bad idea. But it’s all we’ve got...

Oh boy... this will be a wild ride.

Jumper Squad: Activate!!

Meep.

Damn Rodney, that was so badass flying.

Oh, you just had to jinx it.

Sam being cute and clever. I love it. :)

Poor Bill.

Uhoh. Bill, no.

Holy shit guys, this is wild. What even are y’all doing??

What was that? Gunshots can’t make noises like that in space...

Holy shit, did he just get buckshot meteorite in his leg?

John is Not Happy with Rodney and Keller’s plan.

Well... Liz is awake...

Aww. Zelenka is awesome. :)

Oh dear... Rodney, no.

“You feel up to a heist.”

[twotales]

Stargate Atlantis | Adrift S4.Ep1 [2/3]

Radek is not amused.

[dedkake]

Hm

Top 5 Atlantis episodes?

(Or top 5 Jumper Mishaps even)

thank you!!

aaah okay. things that pretty much guarantee a top notch ep for me: no bad guy. let the plot be driven by a ticking clock or their personal insecurities; OR very few shootout fight scenes / battles; team!!!!!!!!; backstory.

5. phantoms. everyone experiencing some very intense hallucinations together? backstory?? character building for everyone??? including carson??? Sign Me Up.

4. the last man. it's like. backstory and the future at the same time. and everything hurts. but also it's just john and rodney having a conversation. about the things that matter to them. and i cry.

3. submersion. it has every single good atlantis trope. trapped in a haunted house vibes. so much team. every ship you could dream of. cool technology. john on his knees. thinking someone's dead. mind control. mcshep bickering for days. so many things.

2. vegas. my feelings are well documented. i'm dying. i'm lying on the floor. everything hurts. everything hurts in a terrible csi filter, which is objectively hilarious. todd's writing poetry. it's the penultimate episode. we are all clowns.

1. doppelganger. help. all of my feelings are right here. john loves his team so much. he loves rodney so much. the nightmares everyone has are so fascinating. they stay up all night at the end because they love each other so much. HAVE YOU SENT HELP YET.

[lightthewaybackhome]

Stargate-Atlantis S4: E1 Adrift

I love how they cut back and forth between Elizabeth dying and Atlantis dying and everyone scrambling to save them both.

Dumb this down anymore and you're going to get hit.

When Sheppard gets the news about Elizabeth, I swear he tears up. It's just so sad.

Elizabeth confirms that Sheppard tried to make the right call about the nanites. Sheppard yelled a lot, but Rodney went ahead and did it. Going forward, Rodney and Sheppard are going to have to shoulder the burden of Elizabeth's fate, showing again, that they're brothers, mirrors of each other.

When McKay apologizes for going against Sheppard's orders? What a moment. McKay apologizes and John graciously accepts. This was the moment that all of the episodes with Rodney bring less arrogant have been building up to. Also, he again broke Sheppard's trust, but not fundamentally. Their friendship is strong enough now to weather this.

Last time nanites were active in Elizabeth, she thought Atlantis was all in her head. She almost lost her home. The fear in her eyes when she finds out they're turned back on, bless her heart.

Ronon thanking Elizabeth while she was unconscious was beautiful.

Rodney exclaiming that Keller was a genius was adorable because we know where they're headed.

[spockvarietyhour]

[sga-owns-my-soul]

39 for the kissing meme

i went with elizabeth/ronon i hope that's okay!! my mind just immediately went there for this prompt 😅 this was a lot of fun to write!

39- Because Times Run Out

Ronon slides into the room without anyone noticing.

It's easy to do with everyone running around, trying to solve the million and one problems that they don't have the time or power or resources to fix. No one notices him slipping into Elizabeth's room, the door sliding shut behind him.

He stares at her unconscious figure, bandages wrapping her head, and his heart aches. There's too many machines, tubes and wires and it looks so unnatural, she looks unnatural.

He feels his chest fill with guilt, he should've protected her. He should've been there to keep her safe. He walks over to her slowly, letting his hand brush gently against her cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Liz. I should've... I'm sorry," he whispered, leaning down to kiss her forehead. He lets his lips linger, a tear rolling down his cheek and onto her nose. He brushed it away softly as he pulled back.


The room filled with loud beeping suddenly, the machines screaming in alarm, and suddenly Ronon was being pushed away from the woman he loved, desperate to have just one more moment with her.

[stargatecaps]

[annakiaora]

McKay: I’m sorry

Sheppard: Apology accepted 

[scifidancer]

STᗩᖇGᗩTᕮ ᗩTᒪᗩᑎTIS / "ᗩᗪᖇIᖴT"

[popkin16]

hey :D so I've been getting some friends into SGA and we're having a blast (they're 1000% on board with McShep and it's the first time I've had friends fall head over heels for one of my ships and it's delightful, one of them has already written fic!!) and they asked me a question I don't actually know the answer to, and couldn't find on the bloody Stargate wiki! When is the first time Rodney calls him John?? My heart says The Shrine but surely it's earlier! I figured you'd know ;D

DSJJF;KASJ;FAJ CONGRATS, THERE IS NO BETTER FEELING THAN FRIENDS JOINING YOU IN A FANDOM! ahhh I'm so happy for you :DD

I think the answer is actually 4.01 Adrift, when Rodney radios John about reactivating Elizabeth's nanites to heal her. John's like, "You wanna what?" and Rodney's like, "John -"

Feel free to reply to the post if this is way off base!