Fic: The Sacrificial Mage (McKay/Sheppard; Teyla/Kanaan; Weir/Zelenka, R)

[sgasesa-admin.livejournal.com]

ADMIN NOTE: Story removed at author's request and with recipient's agreement.

Title: The Sacrificial Mage
Author: taste_is_sweet
Recipient: lavvyan
Pairing: McKay/Sheppard; Teyla/Kanaan; background Weir/Zelenka
Rating: R
Word Count: About 65,000
Disclaimer: Nothing in the story to do with Stargate: Atlantis belongs to me. Some of the other stuff doesn't either.
Warnings: Graphic violence; self-harm which could possibly be triggering.
Author's Notes: I had the honor of writing for lavvyan, who wanted a long, plotty McShep fic with Pining!John, Oblivious! Or Aware! but Rejecting!Rodney (for a good reason), and lots of drama and angsting before the mandatory Happy Ending. She also wanted AUs (preferably Fairy Tale AUs), little to no sex, skin hunger, John or Rodney protecting the other, Team Coolness and Radek. Not necessarily in that order. I think I got 'em all. ;D

I can say with no word of a lie that I worked like hell for this. This story was a labor of love that ended up being a successful NaNoWriMo novel, and then longer besides. I had been excited about the challenge of writing a perfect story gift for a stranger anyway, and when it turned out my recipient wasn't so much of a stranger after all it just made it that much better. (There's a homage to you in here, Lavvyan, above and beyond the entire story itself).

I had a blast with this thing, and I can only hope that lavvyan enjoys reading it half as much as I enjoyed writing it for her.

Fun though this story was to write, I would never have finished it without the help and boundless enthusiasm of a bunch of wonderful people: The entire wrisomifu community with their tireless support and cheerleading; annieb1955, fish_echo and ribbon_purple because of their invaluable help with sorting out how this universe even worked and how I could make the Thing I Desperately Needed to Happen actually happen at all; and anna_bird and squeakyoflight, who were exactly the kind of beta readers I needed, and whose constant requests for the next chapter while the story was still in progress was the best kind of indication that I was doing okay.

Summary: Magic was a substance, like fire or water. It was abundant and incredibly powerful and could be manipulated with the correct application of knowledge and will. But if you didn't use it properly, you'd be immolated or drowned. Or worse: other people would be, and you'd be forced to watch it happening. That was why it terrified him to see the casual, unthinking way Teyla and Carson used magic, because he knew that someday they'd be forced to pay for what they'd taken. Every wizard would, sooner or later. It was the first thing mages ever learned, and Rodney had lived it.

Magic was a zero-sum game. If you didn't sacrifice as much as you were given, you would lose.

( The Sacrificial Mage )

Comments

[sholio]

*flails helplessly* This was so awesome I just haven't got any words! It was gut-wrenching and adorable and unexpectedly funny in places, and so full of love and affection and general wonderfulness. Your world-building is exquisite, your characters are marvelous -- and I truly thought you'd killed You-Know and Who in the middle there, so their fate was an unexpected gift as well! I just want to cling to this fic and smish it. *clings and smishes*

[sholio]

Okay. I could not help myself; I made fanart. :)

I couldn't get this image out of my head:

Five just gave him an impassive stare in return, and then went to sit next to Teyla. He casually dropped cross-legged to the floor and put his clawed hands like a net in his lap. He leaned his head pointedly on Teyla's thigh, and glared at Rodney so expressively that even Lorne looked askance at the two of them. Teyla for her part blinked down at his wolfen mop of hair, and then looked bemusedly at Rodney, as if he was meant to have some idea of what the crazy lizard-Shield was doing. Rodney didn't scowl back at her only because she was pregnant.

[devin-chain.livejournal.com]

This was STUNNING. Plotty, beautiful and rich. I love the world-building here which the writer makes look effortless. I couldn't put this down. Wonderful!

[khyrra.livejournal.com]

Great story! I ended up staying up waaaay too late last night to finish it!

[ozsaur.livejournal.com]

I'm amazed by the sheer scope of the story! There was such a sense of more happening, a whole history, a complete world, and this but one story in a larger universe. I was fascinated by how magic worked, the differing viewpoints. I found the final reveal very satisfying. I love this to bits, and I know this will go on my re-read list.

[brasslizard.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is absolutely delightful! You took all the very best tropes of the fandom and worked them into something completely new and original! I adore this. I know you wrote it for lavvyan but I'm thanking you anyway because I very much enjoyed your work. Thanks!

[carolyn-claire.livejournal.com]

I loved this--loved so much about it, and I have so few words to talk about it right now because I stayed up late reading it. *g* This is one that I'll enjoy thinking about for a long time. :)

[akacat]

This is an absolutely delightful story. I love everything about it, the characterization is great, and how cool is it that Rodney was able to understand John??

[bethynyc.livejournal.com]

This was wonderful and amazing and incredible. Wonderful fantasy story with great world-building and magic that made sense! Thank you so much!

[silverraven.livejournal.com]

Oh, what a wonderful story! The world you created is fascinating. It was a true pleasure to read, thank you.

[ribbon-purple.livejournal.com]

Wow. And again I say, wow.

This story is amazing, honey. The characterization is spot-on, the world building fantastic, the imagery so vivid at times I felt like I was actually there! And the emotions you words elicited? I swear, I was either laughing, smiling or crying through every line of it.

And you were worried?!!

No, sweets, if you don’t get some fancy award for this story I will be shocked. It’s beautiful!

[melagan.livejournal.com]

This right here? Awesome, awesome storytelling! I loved the world building, the way you fit in the characters and, I admit it, Rodney angst. Squeeeeeee

[binkii822.livejournal.com]

That was amazing!!! I love the world you created and the way you layered the characters into it! I didn't want it to end; and I can not wait for the reveal so I can go back and read everything you have ever written if I haven't already!!

[michelel72.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is vast and epic and perfect. Rodney, so very sure of how the world works, making sacrifices in so many more ways than the official ones; wonderful Teyla and Ronon and poor Radek, as well as the rest of the inner court; the stunning world-building that just works; and poor John. I love that there's a real reason keeping them apart and that they're just so very dedicated to one another despite that. I love Rodney's master stroke, and soon after that I was grinning madly for the remainder of the story. Sparkles! Bwah!

[frith_in_thorns]

This is so amazing that I really have no words to do it justice! It was a fantastic story, and all the characters slotted into this AU so well, and I could picture all of it so clearly. And you made me cry with the bit with Radek and then the bit with the chair and the baby... and then by the end I was laughing because it was all so perfect. So yes, just very, very amazing!

Spoilers here!

[krichira.livejournal.com]

I really loved it! And not just because I have a gigantic soft spot for John as a blue bug fics. The world building was awesome and I particularly love how well you integrated the canon we know into this story.

It's amazing how much John's character came through despite the fact that he was mute for a long while. I thought the twist where he wasn't actually human beneath the blue skin and the reason for his physical appearance was very interesting and well-done. Needless to say, I also adore how you wrote Rodney here. Such fun characterisation, genius, sacrifice, bluster and all. Oh what am I saying, everyone's characterisation was awesome!

I wish I knew who wrote this so I can read your other stuff, if I haven't already. :)

[astridv.livejournal.com]

That was totally amazing, I couldn't put it down until I knew how it ended. This was great piece of world building... I mean, you could file off the serial numbers and end up with a story that works well, I think - and at the same time it makes a terrific SGA fic. The arguments about the nature of magic I found particularly intriguing. I like the idea that magic comes at a price, personally, but I also loved how it turned out in this story. Great ending! I did not see it coming.

I loved the characterizations... Five's transformation, Rodney, who is so sure he understands how magic works and is willing to pay the price (oh, Rodney. (loved the h/c...)), Radek's and Elizabeth's fate (those scenes were heartbreaking), Teyla, Ronon, Carson... they all worked so well in this 'verse. I didn't want to leave this story.

Shouldn't have read so fast. ;)

[beachlass.livejournal.com]

Oh, I loved this story! The characters, the world building, all the twists in and away from canon. I read it in bed last night, and I think I dreamed about the characters, you made them so real.

I absolutely loved it.

[raiining.livejournal.com]

Absolutely beautiful. I loved loved loved the characters, and the way you twisted them. I loved that Rodney's Trinity was so much more tragic here, and I adored Radek and Elizabeth's slow horror. I was so glad when they made it back!!!

I loved Ronon and Teyla maybe most of all, and Carson was a welcome surprise. John fit in wonderfully, and I can't believe how easily you moved him around the story.

The plot was fun and twisted, the Wraith scary, and Rodney as our narrator was both arrogant, charming, and humbling, as he always is. Wonderful!!! A joy to read!

[semielliptical]

Amazing story! I was enthralled by the world you created, and the way the characters fit, in not quite the same roles as in canon. I love that you let me, as a reader, figure out certain elements of how this world works rather than explaining it all in too much detail. And I really love the strengths that Rodney, John, Teyla, Ronon, Elizabeth - everyone! - show.

[e313.livejournal.com]

oh this is brilliant! i enjoyed reading it so much i had to go through it in one go (it's 03:19 am now...) and i loved every scene and character and twist and word in it! thank u so much for sharing this! and goodnight! :D

[almostnever.livejournal.com]

This is a remarkable story-- I was completely sucked into the world and intrigued by the different strains of magic. Radek and Elizabeth's transformations were so painful, cleverly evocative of Elizabeth's canonical fate, with a terrible logic and beauty. The fight between Radek and Rodney is gripping and heartbreaking. I adored Teyla's role, as Regent and as such a strong friend to Rodney and as his guide to a gentler approach to magic.

John was amazing, especially considering that he couldn't speak for most of the story. The wonderful descriptions of his gestures and expressions always made it very plausible that Rodney was able to understand him as much as he did. John always felt completely present and in character, despite the muteness. I never would have imagined that John and Rodney could believably begin a relationship without John ever saying a word, but in this story, I never doubted it for a second.

And I loved this vision of Rodney, capturing so much of Rodney at his best: fractious and sharp-tongued and arrogant and pessimistic, but so full of care for those around him and willing to pay any price to keep them safe. I especially loved and found it appropriate that Rodney was willing to give his life to safeguard Teyla's child.

I'd love to know more about the heritage of mages that Rodney and Elizabeth were taught, that made them believe they'd have to pay for everything in blood. Really, I enjoyed this so much than anything more about the world or these versions of the characters would be welcome. As long as this story was, I found it so absorbing I could have happily read more.

But it's beautifully satisfying as it is, through and through. And what a sweet nod to Lavvyan's own work in the end! She's very lucky, and so are all of us. :-)

[utterfrivolity.livejournal.com]

This was a gorgeous and completely engrossing read. Thank you so much for whatever blood, sweat, and/or tears might have gone into writing it; it's absolutely worth it. The imagery of the golems, the painted symbols, the wings, and the various other accoutrements of this magical world was incredibly vivid and really just very cool. I loved this characterization of Rodney, and I have a weird soft spot for stories where John is blue, so that was bonus awesomeness. Thank you so much for writing it!

There are only a couple authors in this fandom with this facility in world-building, and I can't wait to find out if I'm right about who wrote this.

[rawa-02.livejournal.com]

Absolutely incredible!