heatwave-induced insanity
Jul. 22nd, 2006 10:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janne_dBecause my brain has melted and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aspacer mentioned a while back that a Once More with Feeling/SGA crossover might be cool, and I am apparently easily influenced. I present:
Overture
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far away from our own, there was a beautiful shining city floating on a vast ocean under strange stars. It was said that the city had a life and voice of its own, that it sang with those who lived in its embrace and loved them fiercely. But one day, a great evil came to the stars. The people of the city fought for many counts of years and the city fought with them, desperate to protect its own.
In the end, the evil was too great. The people abandoned their faithful city and fled to different stars and the city sank beneath the waves. But legend says that it still sings, alone in the depths…
City:
"Every thousand years, I scan the spectrum
Searching through the galaxy
Still I never feel that old connection
There’s nobody left who’s made for me.
I’ve been here alone for such a long time
Just hoping they’ll return
And that they’ll
Raise me from the ocean
Give me back the sky
Remind me what it feels like to fly.
I was made to love and live for people
Now I’m full of salt and foam
I could not protect them from the evil
So they left me down here all alone…"
Old Elizabeth: "Like I’m made of stone?"
City: "You don’t count, don’t moan."
Whales: "She’s so very sad and we’re not glad
In fact we feel quite bad
But she’s just lost here in the ocean
Waiting for the dawn"
Old Elizabeth: "Waiting for the ancients to…" *yawn*
City: "Will I stay down here forever
Forgetting all my life’s endeavours"
Old Elizabeth: "I’m so tired…"
City: "Then sleep, whatever,
I don’t want to be
Trapped beneath the ocean
No-one here who’s real
But still down here I lie
They left me for the sky
And I just want someone I
Can feel."
~~
Act one, scene one. 3.3 thousand years later
"- so we’ve found some instruments that seem to be medical in nature and I’ve tried to persuade Beckett to take a look, but since he’s a complete and utter wuss about Ancient technology -"
"Yes, thank you Rodney, that really gives me a lot of confidence," Beckett interrupted and Rodney waved a hand impatiently at him.
"What, it’s true. I practically had to tie you to the chair in Antarctica. I don’t see what the problem is."
"Well why don’t you go and play with them, then? You’ve got the gene now."
"Because now that we have the ZPM from Dagan, which I got us I might add thanks to my superior people skills and irresistible charm…," Rodney went on, sparing one hand to smack Sheppard as he started to laugh and frowning at Teyla and Ford who were also smiling in an annoying way.
"Hey, watch it. And I seem to remember a fair amount of problem solving and kicking Genii butt done by other people while you swanned about making goo-goo eyes at Allina," Sheppard protested.
"Gentlemen, please. Rodney, you had a point?" Elizabeth sighed.
"My point is I have better things to do than start messing about with equipment that is designed for someone else’s speciality. Like, oh I don’t know, working on the control chair we found last week? We still don’t have a handle on most of the city yet but now we have the shield up we actually have time to try and understand this place a bit more and part of that is getting the best people for each job to take it on. And sad though it is, the best person to look at the stuff in the room the exploration team found yesterday is the cowardly lion here."
"Bloody tin man scientist," Beckett said under his breath and Rodney glared at him while Elizabeth shook her head resignedly.
"I’m sorry Carson, I know you don’t like doing it, but Rodney is right. You have the gene and it is your field of knowledge," Elizabeth said with a gentle smile.
"Oh, all right. But don’t blame me when it all goes pear-shaped."
"It’s not like I want you to try and use them anyway," Rodney said, smiling smugly at Beckett. "In fact, you shouldn’t until we know exactly what they are. Just take a linguist, have a look and see if you can sense anything from them."
"Yes, yes," Beckett said and slumped down in his chair. "I’ll take a look tomorrow."
"Then that’s agreed," Elizabeth said and glanced around the conference room. "Is there anything else we need to discuss now?"
Rodney shook his head and started gathering up his laptop, already thinking about the experiments to try with the control chair.
"Uh, actually," he heard Sheppard say and Rodney looked up in surprise. They’d done the military bit already, hadn’t they?
"Yes?" Elizabeth asked.
"This is going to sound… kind of weird," Sheppard muttered, looking uncomfortable. "But I have to ask…"
"Ask what?" Rodney said as Sheppard trailed off. "Come on, spit it out, some of us have actual work to get back to."
"You know what? Never mind," Sheppard said and stood up, ready to leave.
"John? What were you going to ask?" Elizabeth said raising her hand to stop him and looking concerned.
"It’s nothing, really."
"It did not sound like nothing," Teyla objected and Sheppard hesitated while they all looked at him expectantly.
"Some time today?" Rodney prodded after a moment.
"Okay, okay. It was just… has anyone noticed anything, um, unusual since we installed the ZPM?"
"Like what, sir?" Ford asked.
"Like… suddenly acting as though you’re in a musical?" Sheppard said, wincing and sinking back down into his chair.
"My God," Zelenka blurted as everyone stared at Sheppard.
"I thought it was just me!" Ford said after a moment and Sheppard grinned in relief as everyone started talking at once about dancing and singing really banal things. Though Zelenka was describing singing his way through a wormhole calculation and Rodney wouldn’t have minded hearing that, if only so he could correct it.
"What did you sing about?" he asked Sheppard curiously.
"Nothing important," Sheppard said quickly with a shrug. "But it seemed perfectly normal at the time."
Rodney was going to quiz him more, but suddenly Beckett leaned forward and started singing.
"I’ve got a theory that it’s an illness,
A dancing sickness, no something isn’t right there,"
Rodney rolled his eyes but there was no point trying to talk over that so he sat back and sighed as Elizabeth joined in.
"I’ve got a theory that I’m just dreaming,
I have a history of having Broadway nightmares," she finished with an embarrassed shrug as everyone stared at her.
"I’m pretty sure I’m awake," Rodney got in just before Sheppard took up the tune.
"I’ve got a theory we should work this out," he sang, clearly reluctant but apparently unable to stop himself and then Rodney winced as suddenly everyone but him came in together with:
"It’s getting eery, what’s this cheery
Singing all about?"
That really was kind of strange. How did they all know what the next words should be? Thank God he was strong-minded enough to resist.
"It could be Wraith plots, some evil Wraith plot,
which is ridiculous, we’re shielded now
and why would they, it makes no sense
and I’ll be over here"
Ford sang, jumping up excitedly at first and then sitting back down as Rodney and Zelenka both shook their heads at him and Sheppard chuckled.
"I’ve got a theory that it’s McKay’s fault..." Kavanagh sang in a wobbily voice as Ford sat down.
"Oh it is not!" Rodney snapped back and then turned to Zelenka. "What is he even doing in this meeting?" but Zelenka’s reply was drowned out as Kavanagh leapt to his feet and started yelling vaguely in tune.
"He’s not half as good as everybody supposes,
He’s just made up of arrogance and several deep neuroses,
And he keeps drinking all the coffee,
What does he need that much caffeine for anyway?
McKay, McKay, it must be McKay!"
He sat down again as Elizabeth glared at him and shook her head. "Bet I could fix it…" he finished sulkily and Rodney groaned and threw his pen at him, scoring a direct hit on Kavanagh’s pasty forehead.
"I’ve got a theory we should work this fast," Zelenka sang as he shook his head resignedly and then shared a conspiratorial smile with Elizabeth as she joined in and they continued, "Because it clearly could get serious before it’s passed."
"I’ve got a theory that it’s the city," Teyla sang in response and Rodney blinked at her. Wow, that was a good voice.
"Wait, what?" he said and she kept singing.
"I remember hearing many stories,
Passed down through time of all the glories
The Ancients made, we live in one
And my people say that once it sung."
"I don’t understand how it could do this?" Zelenka objected, taking up the new slower tune Teyla had started.
"But it would explain the backing music," Sheppard pointed out and Rodney gave a slight nod of agreement. He’d been wondering where that could be coming from.
"It’s hard to say, it could be true,
But it seems so strange," everyone minus Rodney chimed in again and he groaned at the shaky harmonies.
"It’s not like that’s new," Sheppard sang and Rodney had to admit that stuff as bizarre had certainly happened in the SG program before.
"This place just keeps on getting stranger," Elizabeth carried on, shaking her head in bemusement.
Sheppard shrugged, "But it doesn’t seem like it’s a danger,"
"Still, we’ll need to make sure,
Please check this, Rodney." Elizabeth sang softly as the backing music died away and everyone took a breath and looked around sheepishly.
"See?" Sheppard said. "Weird."
"I think it’s kind of cool," Ford said, grinning.
"You can still think that after hearing Kavanagh sing?" Rodney asked in disbelief, ignoring Kavanagh’s muttered insult about his parents as the other man got up and flounced out.
"I too enjoyed the experience," Teyla said. "Singing can bring people together."
"Well, as fun as this was, I would still like to know for sure what is causing it," Elizabeth replied. "Rodney, Carson, please try anything you can think of to find out why we’ve all, all…"
"Turned into the kids from Fame?" Sheppard put in with an amused smirk as she seemed to struggle for an adequate description.
"Precisely."
"Aye, all right. I’ll see if I can come up with any tests."
"Just don’t forget to check that room out as well. Ah ah, no excuses," Rodney said as Beckett opened his mouth to object. "I’m sure you’re capable of harmonising and investigating at the same time. I’ll run some scans, see if I can pick up anything unusual."
"All right. Let us know what you find," Elizabeth said and they gathered their things and left.
They split in different directions outside the room and Rodney found himself walking with Sheppard. They both jumped as a sudden burst of song came out of the control room behind them and Sheppard half-turned, a bemused look on his face.
"Were they singing about mustard?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Rodney said looking back himself. "So, what did you sing about?"
Sheppard shot him a sidelong look. "Math," he admitted with an oddly shy smile. "See you later," he said and walked off, leaving Rodney staring after him in surprise.
After a moment, Rodney realised he was grinning like an idiot and he headed hastily back to his lab, trying to wipe the smile off his face. He had work to do. He couldn’t get distracted by… distractions. Right.
~~
Part Two
Disclaimer: The only thing I own to do with SGA is the first season box set (though if someone knows how I could own John Sheppard, let me know?) All credit to the almighty Joss Whedon for writing Once More With Feeling - some of the lyrics are still his and possibly a little bit of the dialogue, though I haven't watched the episode for a while so I'm not sure. Consider the rest an affectionate tribute and adaptation. Thanks totorakowalski for laughing and the once-over.
aspacer mentioned a while back that a Once More with Feeling/SGA crossover might be cool, and I am apparently easily influenced. I present:Overture
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far away from our own, there was a beautiful shining city floating on a vast ocean under strange stars. It was said that the city had a life and voice of its own, that it sang with those who lived in its embrace and loved them fiercely. But one day, a great evil came to the stars. The people of the city fought for many counts of years and the city fought with them, desperate to protect its own.
In the end, the evil was too great. The people abandoned their faithful city and fled to different stars and the city sank beneath the waves. But legend says that it still sings, alone in the depths…
City:
"Every thousand years, I scan the spectrum
Searching through the galaxy
Still I never feel that old connection
There’s nobody left who’s made for me.
I’ve been here alone for such a long time
Just hoping they’ll return
And that they’ll
Raise me from the ocean
Give me back the sky
Remind me what it feels like to fly.
I was made to love and live for people
Now I’m full of salt and foam
I could not protect them from the evil
So they left me down here all alone…"
Old Elizabeth: "Like I’m made of stone?"
City: "You don’t count, don’t moan."
Whales: "She’s so very sad and we’re not glad
In fact we feel quite bad
But she’s just lost here in the ocean
Waiting for the dawn"
Old Elizabeth: "Waiting for the ancients to…" *yawn*
City: "Will I stay down here forever
Forgetting all my life’s endeavours"
Old Elizabeth: "I’m so tired…"
City: "Then sleep, whatever,
I don’t want to be
Trapped beneath the ocean
No-one here who’s real
But still down here I lie
They left me for the sky
And I just want someone I
Can feel."
~~
Act one, scene one. 3.3 thousand years later
"- so we’ve found some instruments that seem to be medical in nature and I’ve tried to persuade Beckett to take a look, but since he’s a complete and utter wuss about Ancient technology -"
"Yes, thank you Rodney, that really gives me a lot of confidence," Beckett interrupted and Rodney waved a hand impatiently at him.
"What, it’s true. I practically had to tie you to the chair in Antarctica. I don’t see what the problem is."
"Well why don’t you go and play with them, then? You’ve got the gene now."
"Because now that we have the ZPM from Dagan, which I got us I might add thanks to my superior people skills and irresistible charm…," Rodney went on, sparing one hand to smack Sheppard as he started to laugh and frowning at Teyla and Ford who were also smiling in an annoying way.
"Hey, watch it. And I seem to remember a fair amount of problem solving and kicking Genii butt done by other people while you swanned about making goo-goo eyes at Allina," Sheppard protested.
"Gentlemen, please. Rodney, you had a point?" Elizabeth sighed.
"My point is I have better things to do than start messing about with equipment that is designed for someone else’s speciality. Like, oh I don’t know, working on the control chair we found last week? We still don’t have a handle on most of the city yet but now we have the shield up we actually have time to try and understand this place a bit more and part of that is getting the best people for each job to take it on. And sad though it is, the best person to look at the stuff in the room the exploration team found yesterday is the cowardly lion here."
"Bloody tin man scientist," Beckett said under his breath and Rodney glared at him while Elizabeth shook her head resignedly.
"I’m sorry Carson, I know you don’t like doing it, but Rodney is right. You have the gene and it is your field of knowledge," Elizabeth said with a gentle smile.
"Oh, all right. But don’t blame me when it all goes pear-shaped."
"It’s not like I want you to try and use them anyway," Rodney said, smiling smugly at Beckett. "In fact, you shouldn’t until we know exactly what they are. Just take a linguist, have a look and see if you can sense anything from them."
"Yes, yes," Beckett said and slumped down in his chair. "I’ll take a look tomorrow."
"Then that’s agreed," Elizabeth said and glanced around the conference room. "Is there anything else we need to discuss now?"
Rodney shook his head and started gathering up his laptop, already thinking about the experiments to try with the control chair.
"Uh, actually," he heard Sheppard say and Rodney looked up in surprise. They’d done the military bit already, hadn’t they?
"Yes?" Elizabeth asked.
"This is going to sound… kind of weird," Sheppard muttered, looking uncomfortable. "But I have to ask…"
"Ask what?" Rodney said as Sheppard trailed off. "Come on, spit it out, some of us have actual work to get back to."
"You know what? Never mind," Sheppard said and stood up, ready to leave.
"John? What were you going to ask?" Elizabeth said raising her hand to stop him and looking concerned.
"It’s nothing, really."
"It did not sound like nothing," Teyla objected and Sheppard hesitated while they all looked at him expectantly.
"Some time today?" Rodney prodded after a moment.
"Okay, okay. It was just… has anyone noticed anything, um, unusual since we installed the ZPM?"
"Like what, sir?" Ford asked.
"Like… suddenly acting as though you’re in a musical?" Sheppard said, wincing and sinking back down into his chair.
"My God," Zelenka blurted as everyone stared at Sheppard.
"I thought it was just me!" Ford said after a moment and Sheppard grinned in relief as everyone started talking at once about dancing and singing really banal things. Though Zelenka was describing singing his way through a wormhole calculation and Rodney wouldn’t have minded hearing that, if only so he could correct it.
"What did you sing about?" he asked Sheppard curiously.
"Nothing important," Sheppard said quickly with a shrug. "But it seemed perfectly normal at the time."
Rodney was going to quiz him more, but suddenly Beckett leaned forward and started singing.
"I’ve got a theory that it’s an illness,
A dancing sickness, no something isn’t right there,"
Rodney rolled his eyes but there was no point trying to talk over that so he sat back and sighed as Elizabeth joined in.
"I’ve got a theory that I’m just dreaming,
I have a history of having Broadway nightmares," she finished with an embarrassed shrug as everyone stared at her.
"I’m pretty sure I’m awake," Rodney got in just before Sheppard took up the tune.
"I’ve got a theory we should work this out," he sang, clearly reluctant but apparently unable to stop himself and then Rodney winced as suddenly everyone but him came in together with:
"It’s getting eery, what’s this cheery
Singing all about?"
That really was kind of strange. How did they all know what the next words should be? Thank God he was strong-minded enough to resist.
"It could be Wraith plots, some evil Wraith plot,
which is ridiculous, we’re shielded now
and why would they, it makes no sense
and I’ll be over here"
Ford sang, jumping up excitedly at first and then sitting back down as Rodney and Zelenka both shook their heads at him and Sheppard chuckled.
"I’ve got a theory that it’s McKay’s fault..." Kavanagh sang in a wobbily voice as Ford sat down.
"Oh it is not!" Rodney snapped back and then turned to Zelenka. "What is he even doing in this meeting?" but Zelenka’s reply was drowned out as Kavanagh leapt to his feet and started yelling vaguely in tune.
"He’s not half as good as everybody supposes,
He’s just made up of arrogance and several deep neuroses,
And he keeps drinking all the coffee,
What does he need that much caffeine for anyway?
McKay, McKay, it must be McKay!"
He sat down again as Elizabeth glared at him and shook her head. "Bet I could fix it…" he finished sulkily and Rodney groaned and threw his pen at him, scoring a direct hit on Kavanagh’s pasty forehead.
"I’ve got a theory we should work this fast," Zelenka sang as he shook his head resignedly and then shared a conspiratorial smile with Elizabeth as she joined in and they continued, "Because it clearly could get serious before it’s passed."
"I’ve got a theory that it’s the city," Teyla sang in response and Rodney blinked at her. Wow, that was a good voice.
"Wait, what?" he said and she kept singing.
"I remember hearing many stories,
Passed down through time of all the glories
The Ancients made, we live in one
And my people say that once it sung."
"I don’t understand how it could do this?" Zelenka objected, taking up the new slower tune Teyla had started.
"But it would explain the backing music," Sheppard pointed out and Rodney gave a slight nod of agreement. He’d been wondering where that could be coming from.
"It’s hard to say, it could be true,
But it seems so strange," everyone minus Rodney chimed in again and he groaned at the shaky harmonies.
"It’s not like that’s new," Sheppard sang and Rodney had to admit that stuff as bizarre had certainly happened in the SG program before.
"This place just keeps on getting stranger," Elizabeth carried on, shaking her head in bemusement.
Sheppard shrugged, "But it doesn’t seem like it’s a danger,"
"Still, we’ll need to make sure,
Please check this, Rodney." Elizabeth sang softly as the backing music died away and everyone took a breath and looked around sheepishly.
"See?" Sheppard said. "Weird."
"I think it’s kind of cool," Ford said, grinning.
"You can still think that after hearing Kavanagh sing?" Rodney asked in disbelief, ignoring Kavanagh’s muttered insult about his parents as the other man got up and flounced out.
"I too enjoyed the experience," Teyla said. "Singing can bring people together."
"Well, as fun as this was, I would still like to know for sure what is causing it," Elizabeth replied. "Rodney, Carson, please try anything you can think of to find out why we’ve all, all…"
"Turned into the kids from Fame?" Sheppard put in with an amused smirk as she seemed to struggle for an adequate description.
"Precisely."
"Aye, all right. I’ll see if I can come up with any tests."
"Just don’t forget to check that room out as well. Ah ah, no excuses," Rodney said as Beckett opened his mouth to object. "I’m sure you’re capable of harmonising and investigating at the same time. I’ll run some scans, see if I can pick up anything unusual."
"All right. Let us know what you find," Elizabeth said and they gathered their things and left.
They split in different directions outside the room and Rodney found himself walking with Sheppard. They both jumped as a sudden burst of song came out of the control room behind them and Sheppard half-turned, a bemused look on his face.
"Were they singing about mustard?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Rodney said looking back himself. "So, what did you sing about?"
Sheppard shot him a sidelong look. "Math," he admitted with an oddly shy smile. "See you later," he said and walked off, leaving Rodney staring after him in surprise.
After a moment, Rodney realised he was grinning like an idiot and he headed hastily back to his lab, trying to wipe the smile off his face. He had work to do. He couldn’t get distracted by… distractions. Right.
~~
Part Two
Disclaimer: The only thing I own to do with SGA is the first season box set (though if someone knows how I could own John Sheppard, let me know?) All credit to the almighty Joss Whedon for writing Once More With Feeling - some of the lyrics are still his and possibly a little bit of the dialogue, though I haven't watched the episode for a while so I'm not sure. Consider the rest an affectionate tribute and adaptation. Thanks to
torakowalski for laughing and the once-over.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-22 10:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 07:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-22 10:34 pm (UTC)Please please continue........
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 07:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 12:35 am (UTC)I want to see why Rodney's able to resist singing in the meeting. No one even mentioned he was the only one who didn't break out in song. I've seen DH carry a tune and strum a guitar in a couple of movies, so I want to see what you have in store for Rodney.
Please, continue!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 07:30 pm (UTC)Oh, and I doubt the ability to hear them singing has much to do with me - I suspect that you too have watched OMWF far, far too often! But thanks for the compliment anyway.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 01:29 am (UTC)I am laughing so hard right now. Wow. Okay.
XD!!!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 07:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 04:23 am (UTC)I....WOW.
My brain wants to have sex with your brain, rightnow.
Please, please, please tell me there is more of this.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 07:34 pm (UTC)But if it's any consolation, there likely will be more of this. I'm part way through I'll Never Tell...
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 07:36 pm (UTC)And I guess my brain will have to live a long and lonely life...poor emo brain...*pets*
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 09:02 pm (UTC)PS - I'm writing RPS. I may need to be shot.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 09:32 pm (UTC)Actually, I think I do need it. I'll Never Tell is hell. Do you know how many things rhyme in that frigging song? Argh.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 11:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 07:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 06:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 07:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 06:26 pm (UTC)But thank you & I love this enough to re-read it. Again & again & again.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-23 07:41 pm (UTC)I tried not to give in - but the idea just wouldn't go away. I'm happy you enjoyed it. (And you reread it? Really? That's so cool)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-24 04:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-26 07:45 pm (UTC)And hmm, plot questions. Not sure how explicit it is going to be but yes, people will be singing what they really feel. I think. I haven't got very far with the rest of it yet, but there is a vague plan.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-24 10:17 am (UTC)Thank you, and looking forward to more :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-26 07:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-26 12:22 pm (UTC)*feeds your muses in hopes that more comes fast*
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-26 07:38 pm (UTC)As to more - the next part is going up tonight as soon as I look it over again and I have a vague plan-shaped idea for where the rest of it is going. With any luck my muses should stay the course (and I'll find a rhyming dictionary. Oh, my aching head!)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-26 03:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-26 07:43 pm (UTC)