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crack_van2012-10-15 10:05 pm
duonoaikouka.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2012-10-15 10:05 pm
Entry tags:
STARGATE ATLANTIS/STARGATE SG-1 (R by reccer)
Title: The Shadow Over Chatsworth by Martha
Pairing: none; gen
Length: 17, 273 words
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
saffronhouse
Author Website: AO3
Why this must be read:
Author's Summary: Rodney McKay really hates small towns.
Another stellar example of Martha's grasp of atmosphere, Chatsworth gives us a chilling tale of survival and the eerie side of small town life. Talisman-wearing local folk, shadowy monuments, flower bedecked bed-and-breakfasts, and haunting imagery of death all give this piece a un-natural feel and makes a shiver go up your spine. I swear you'll be looking over your shoulder with this one.
We also get some fantastic character voices for Rodney and Daniel, two characters that don't get that much interaction in either canon but who so go together here. We get the snark, the competition between disciplines, and the bond of friendship as they fight for each others lives against an enemy that is freaky and oh so familiar. This is definitely a fic to savor with a cup of tea/hot chocolate and a night light.
The sidewalk curved over a neatly maintained lawn and took a sharp turn at the inevitable Civil War monument. They passed the statue in silence, though Daniel ran his fingers over the raised letters on the brass placard on the base, and fleetingly thought of asking Rodney for his flashlight. In the end he let it go. He could read the commemoration in the morning.
Then he felt a funny tingling at the back of his neck and whirled back to look at the statue again.
Dammit!" he burst out. "I knew I wasn't imagining things! Arlene and Dakota really were wearing the sign of Exu. The town has a monument to him in the town square!"
"I told you that meatloaf was a bad idea," Rodney said. "Who the hell is Exu?"
"He's known in African and South American spiritual traditions. God of the crossroads, the divine trickster. Look!" The monument was all stark outlines, black against the night sky full of roiling gray storm clouds. "He has the archetypal horns on his head and the exaggerated phallus --"
"Definitely the meatloaf. I'm no archaeologist," Rodney snorted, "but even I know little towns in the Southern U.S. don't generally erect statues with big dicks to wave over the town square."
"Which doesn't change the fact that we're standing right here looking at it."
Rodney was digging in the outer pocket of one of the laptop cases, producing at length a flashlight that he trained upon the rain soaked monument. The wavering yellow light destroyed the silhouette, suddenly giving the monument weight and depth, texture and color. Marble, brass. The figure of a soldier with his rifle at his side leaning wearily atop a columnar pedestal.
"On April 30, 1863, Confederate Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's brigade caught up with Union Col. Abel D. Streight's provisional brigade," Rodney read off the placard at the base. "They attacked the rearguard at Day's Gap on Sand Mountain, but the Federals repulsed this attack and continued --"
"All right, all right," Daniel said.
"Not a whole lot here about Exu and his supernatural penis," Rodney pointed out mercilessly.
The Shadow Over Chatsworth
Pairing: none; gen
Length: 17, 273 words
Author on LJ:
saffronhouse Author Website: AO3
Why this must be read:
Author's Summary: Rodney McKay really hates small towns.
Another stellar example of Martha's grasp of atmosphere, Chatsworth gives us a chilling tale of survival and the eerie side of small town life. Talisman-wearing local folk, shadowy monuments, flower bedecked bed-and-breakfasts, and haunting imagery of death all give this piece a un-natural feel and makes a shiver go up your spine. I swear you'll be looking over your shoulder with this one.
We also get some fantastic character voices for Rodney and Daniel, two characters that don't get that much interaction in either canon but who so go together here. We get the snark, the competition between disciplines, and the bond of friendship as they fight for each others lives against an enemy that is freaky and oh so familiar. This is definitely a fic to savor with a cup of tea/hot chocolate and a night light.
The sidewalk curved over a neatly maintained lawn and took a sharp turn at the inevitable Civil War monument. They passed the statue in silence, though Daniel ran his fingers over the raised letters on the brass placard on the base, and fleetingly thought of asking Rodney for his flashlight. In the end he let it go. He could read the commemoration in the morning.
Then he felt a funny tingling at the back of his neck and whirled back to look at the statue again.
Dammit!" he burst out. "I knew I wasn't imagining things! Arlene and Dakota really were wearing the sign of Exu. The town has a monument to him in the town square!"
"I told you that meatloaf was a bad idea," Rodney said. "Who the hell is Exu?"
"He's known in African and South American spiritual traditions. God of the crossroads, the divine trickster. Look!" The monument was all stark outlines, black against the night sky full of roiling gray storm clouds. "He has the archetypal horns on his head and the exaggerated phallus --"
"Definitely the meatloaf. I'm no archaeologist," Rodney snorted, "but even I know little towns in the Southern U.S. don't generally erect statues with big dicks to wave over the town square."
"Which doesn't change the fact that we're standing right here looking at it."
Rodney was digging in the outer pocket of one of the laptop cases, producing at length a flashlight that he trained upon the rain soaked monument. The wavering yellow light destroyed the silhouette, suddenly giving the monument weight and depth, texture and color. Marble, brass. The figure of a soldier with his rifle at his side leaning wearily atop a columnar pedestal.
"On April 30, 1863, Confederate Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's brigade caught up with Union Col. Abel D. Streight's provisional brigade," Rodney read off the placard at the base. "They attacked the rearguard at Day's Gap on Sand Mountain, but the Federals repulsed this attack and continued --"
"All right, all right," Daniel said.
"Not a whole lot here about Exu and his supernatural penis," Rodney pointed out mercilessly.
The Shadow Over Chatsworth