Smitty ([info]smittywing) wrote,
@ 2005-12-06 22:16:00
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Current mood: working
Current music:"Counting Stars" -- Sugarcult
Entry tags:fic, sga, tbtilaf

SGA fic: The Best Things in Life Are Free [Complete]
AKA: The Can't Buy Me Love fic. This is going to be the link post so I don't have to put in crazy number of links and comments and all.

The Best Things in Life are Free (entire file on my website)


Right, so what happened was that I was bitching to [info]reccea that the nebulous THEY had remade Can't Buy Me Love which is nowhere near old enough to be remade. Because I saw it. In 1987. Or later, because it was on video, but STILL. And she hadn't seen it so I started telling her about it and the next thing I know, she's saying, "You know what that sounds like?" And well.

So she demanded that I start this thing while I was trapped in an internetless hotel room and five weeks and fifty pages later, I've annoyed her enough that she said, "Just post some of it, so you'll be happy."


This story would literally not exist with [info]reccea. Not only did she pester me into writing it, she's beta'd every bit of it, begged for scenes, demanded to know what happened next, and kicked my ass when I moped. (Apparently I mope a lot when writing long stories.) She also wrote me fic. [info]z_rayne saw this at the beginning and had nothing but encouragement and bribes for me. [info]miss_porcupine believed the advertising and volunteered to read through everything I coughed up. ;) [info]monanotlisa wrote me comment porn and made fantastic High School AU! icons. (Look at teenage!Rodney!) And all ya'll commented and put forth enough guilt encouragement to keep me going. Thank you. :)



Part One - In which John completely screws up and Rodney doesn't spend his money
wisely.

Part Two - In which John makes Rodney cool. Well, almost.

Part Three - In which John takes Rodney to the Big Kid party and Rodney sticks his foot in his mouth. Again.

Part Four - In which it is all academic anyway.

Part Five, Subsection A, B, C - In which John gets Rodney to a) Skip school, b) Alter a test, c) Hustle pool, d) all of the above.

Part Six, Subsection A, B - In which John and Rodney go on a date without knowing it.

Part Seven, Subsection A, B, C - In which the results say everyone's gay and in some cases may be true.

Part Eight, Subsection A, B - In which John and Rodney go to a dance, but not together. There's something wrong with this picture.



EXTRAS!

Life Lived As a John Hughes Movie by [info]z_rayne is a very hot, very sweet, little coda to Part One. (Adult)

AU Comment Porn by [info]monanotlisa is a lovely gift extropolating from the end of Part Two.

More AU Porn from [info]monanotlisa! A little bit of porn, a little bit of angst - a splinter universe "morning after" from part 5.

Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies is a future story I wrote to follow up on part 3. It's pretty much all porn. :)

Reunions are for Boasting by [info]reccea is something she wrote for me when I couldn't sleep one night and was entirely verklempt for it. It's set nine years in the future when they're happy, but not perfect.

It's Been A Long Cold Lonely Winter is a little future piece I did. It's mostly fluff and porn.

Dear John and Other Theses by [info]reccea is a future fic, inspired by a discussion we had about John and Rodney's future together.

Five Things You Won't Learn About Will Sheppard From The Best Things in Life are Free is an unsolicted "Five Things..." I did when I was feeling self-indulgent one night.

Five Times Rodney Doesn't Have Sex with John in TBTILAF-verse as requested by [info]tx_tart.



ART!

Coverart by [info]diglossia
Coverart by [info]forcryinoutloud
TBTILAF scenes by [info]kitt
John & Rodney chibis by [info]pentapus
Totally 80s Teyla chibi by [info]pentapus


It's worth mentioning that sprinkled throughout the story are a handful of lines lifted from the movie and possibly a few lines (or at least tropes) from the SGA canon. Obviously these do not belong to me. They're pretty much there to pay homage to the source material and bring down the prose a few notches - that movie was terrible. ;) (And yes, I loved it anyway until I grew up and knew enough to be horrified.)




counter free hit invisible


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[info]saturn92103
2005-12-13 02:46 am UTC (link)
I'm delighted you're saving all these links in one place.

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[info]smittywing
2005-12-14 08:32 pm UTC (link)
Thanks! It was starting to get dire, trying to paste them all into each post so I'm hoping the centalization will help out others, too. :)

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[info]not_sally
2006-01-27 06:20 am UTC (link)
This is wonderful, because otherwise we'd miss all the outtakes!!
And I was wondering, how are you writing it? Do you have a schedule, did you write the basic plot first and are now filling in the blanks, write the scenes as they come to you, or what? Also, are the updates planned, or do you update when you get inspired? Cause anticipation is almost killing me! (haven't watched the movie, so I'm not spoiled)
If I sound rude I apologize, It's 3:18 in the morning and I'm a little less than coherent. This isn't me rushing you or being mean about your writing, quite the opposite, I love this fic so much, I'm risking sounding like an asshole wondering about the updates...

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[info]smittywing
2006-01-27 04:19 pm UTC (link)
This is wonderful, because otherwise we'd miss all the outtakes!!

I'm glad it's useful! I would have put links to all the outtakes and other parts on the top of each new post, but it was starting to get unwieldly.

To quote [info]reccea, of course I had a plan. I just diverged from it at every turn. ;) I like talking about the process of writing fic (I'm a Leo, I'm egotistical) so this might end up kinda long. (Wind up me, watch me go....)

I was trying to explain to [info]reccea the plot of the movie, which I hadn't seen in at least a dozen years, and it was pretty much, "Dork pays cheerleader to be his girlfriend for a month so he's cool. [deleted for spoiler scene] She falls for him but they commit the scheduled breakup anyway. Wacky antics, they get together, happy! And <lj user="reccea" said, "You know what that sounds like?" And I refused to write it but she kept on me. When I posted the first part, I was almost finished the first week and I had a few future scenes that I knew I wanted, including the one that ends part five. I guesstimated 8 parts because I figured one for the setup, one for each week they're together, and three to finish it up. But then I needed to divide the first week into two parts and I threatened to do that with the second week, but <lj user="reccea" wouldn't let me. I've had a very vague outline of what needs to happen in each part since about part two, but the slots for scenes have been pretty open. The outline for part four, for instance, started with Rodney meeting the Colonel and ended with Jeannie outting Rodney. (Which was originally slotted for the third week but got moved.) The Captain Connors scene had to go in there somewhere, Top Gun was slated in there, and I knew certain things had to happen before Jeannie outted Rodney (and I know I sat there and said, "Okay, what can ONLY happen when John still thinks Rodney's straight?") and it was just a matter of finding events to couch the emotional reactions in. Each scene switches POV so occasionally I wind up with the need to throw in an extra Rodney scene or an extra John scene and I've tagged them "free characterization scenes" because they aren't really necessary to the story - they're just there to even out the structure. Jeannie hiding in Rodney's room in the beginning of part four and John talking to a way-too-busy Elizabeth on the phone in part three were those kind of scenes. And sometimes I slot in scenes because they're needed to make sense. Rodney asking out Katie Brown was supposed to a 400 word scene, shoved in to provide logical narrative sense, so he's not going out on a date with her without asking. The 1300 words before it with John coaching him and Landy and Ronon, that was all the characters running away with it.

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[info]smittywing
2006-01-27 04:27 pm UTC (link)
*glares at LJ* Okay, so I kind of lost some stuff in there. Apparently I have enough babble to make an actual post.

But to summarize, I estimated eight parts, one for the intro, one for each week they're "best friends" and then three to finish up, but the first week wound up so long, it had to be split. I've always had the end of week four planned because the scene is one of the ones that makes the movie so adaptable for John and Rodney. I had vague ideas for the aftermath of the deal that have become more clearly defined as I write the earlier parts. Part 2 was done when I posted Part 1 and Part 3 was actually supposed to be the end of Part 2 before it got too long so I knew exactly what was happening in all those. Part 4 took a while not just because of the holidays but because it was the first one I had to actually think out since the posting began. I knew what had to be achieved in it and what the end scene was going to be, so it was just a matter of couching the emotional progression in various scenes.

And OMG, I'm going to need another post. *hangs head in shame*

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[info]smittywing
2006-01-27 04:28 pm UTC (link)
Right, so I'm totally behaving myself and not talking about why I made certain decisions. Go me!

Er, yikes. One of my problems with writing is that I tend to obsess on a story the entire time I'm writing it. Which is fine when it takes a couple days or a week to write, but I've been writing this since October and well, I'm all about talking about it. To actually answer the question you asked, it gets updated when the scenes for a section are done. So at the point I am now in part five, there might be a rough copy by next weekend and a post by the middle of the week after, but I make no promises. Several of the parts intended for part five got moved to part six, so there will likely be less of a wait for that one since there's so much already written.

Um, so, yeah! Sorry that was so long. Apparently I'm all about questions. *blush* Thank you for your interest and patience. :)

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[info]not_sally
2006-01-27 04:36 pm UTC (link)
sorry for my earlier comment, I didn't get this, and not at all!
I've always found it interesting how writers get inspired and by the whole creative process (which I can say pretty much is different for everyone).
And your fic has totally blown me away, I really love it, and I was interested in your style, so, questions. Sorry but I do get kind of too fangirlish sometimes.
But anyway, thank you for answering me, and I'll patiently wait for the next bit, cause frankly it's worth waiting for.

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[info]smittywing
2006-01-27 04:42 pm UTC (link)
No problem! I sort of lost everything I was going to say at one point and the partial post sort of sat there for a few minutes while I tried to reassemble my thoughts.

I love talking about writing because I've found the same thing as you - everyone has their own process. I actually write better when I do it longhand and then type it up and adjust as I go. I use up so many steno pads that way. *g*

I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! I've never written anything this long before and it's kind of freaking me out. [info]reccea wants me to do DVD commentary on this story and my reaction is always, "are you crazy but even just the part of the answer that I left out, obviously I have plenty to say about it. Even if you watched the movie, it wouldn't spoil too much because I've deviated so much from the original story, but talking about it would probably result in spoilers for the end of the story. But if you had specific questions about why I did one thing over another, I could probably rattle on ad nauseam about that.

I'm totally like a faucet, once I start running at the mouth, I can't stop. Eep.

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[info]not_sally
2006-01-27 04:30 pm UTC (link)
And...?!

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(Anonymous)
2006-01-29 02:36 am UTC (link)
Thanks for having the links all in one spot. I've read the first 3 parts, somewhere, and was wondering if the story was going to get finished. I love how your story has inspired others to join your AU and write their own takes on the theme.

The sad things about this is that there will be an end to it someday. Because it seems like it can go on forever.

I'm always suprised and pleased at the wonderful writers out there sharing their work for the rest of us to enjoy. Your imagination and insight into their personalities astound me.

Thanks for writing.

~anonymouse

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[info]sori1773
2006-02-24 03:10 pm UTC (link)
This is my absolute new favorite thing! Just...I stayed up until 2 in the morning last night, reading and reading b/c once I started, I couldn't stop. You've managed to capture the spirit of the movie without your fic ever veering off into the cheesy. Your John and Rodney voices are just perfect and the parents? Man, they are just captured SO vividly that they add so much to the story.

Just...*clings to brilliant fic* YAY! Thanks! *bg*

(Cadman and McKay? Yeah, sort of hot. *bg* She blows things up!)

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[info]smittywing
2006-06-14 05:08 am UTC (link)
Argh, so sorry! I hadn't realized this comment was here. *smites LJ*

So, thank you VERY much for your nice comments! For some reason I had fond memories of the movie even though, on rewatch, it was terribly cheesy and also fairly mean in places. But I think the voices are the most important part since I took away Atlantis, so that's a huge compliment and the parents are all so totally formed from vapor that hearing that they have a solid presence is just...it's just awesome. :) Thank you! (I love the idea of Cadman and McKay. I just have no idea how it would work without bloodshed.)

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please?
[info]lishel_fracrium
2006-06-14 03:38 am UTC (link)
please? when will this be updated? or did you decide not to finish it?

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Re: please?
[info]smittywing
2006-06-14 05:03 am UTC (link)
It'll be updated when the next part's done being beta'd. It might be sometime this week, but my beta is a busy girl and she's getting ready to come out here for Con.txt so it may be a few days.

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Re: please?
[info]lishel_fracrium
2006-06-14 05:11 am UTC (link)
Oh no that's great! I'm just so incredibly happy that you will continue this. *does a happy dance* Oh and thank you so much for responding.

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Re: please?
[info]rrrosa
2006-06-16 10:56 pm UTC (link)
Found a link to this today and haven't budged from the computer until now, when I tragically ran out of links! Hee. This is just. It's really, really good and compelling and moving and engrossing, and you have all these lovely people playing in your sandbox. Thank you so much. I look forward (patiently, I promise!) to the next bit.

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Re: please?
[info]smittywing
2006-07-02 12:56 am UTC (link)
Thanks! I'm really glad you're enjoying the story. :) The next part is spinning along slowly. I hope it's not too much of a wait!

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[info]bethynyc
2006-08-06 03:29 am UTC (link)
This was WONDERFUL!!! I love high school AUs and this was just perfectly done! I also love the original version of the movie (Patrick Dempsey!) and you fit all of the parameters in so well!

Thank you for writing this, and I'm looking forward to more when it is ready!

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[info]smittywing
2006-09-14 05:17 pm UTC (link)
Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. :) Patrick Dempsey has so much hair in that movie! I was a huge fan when the movie was first out, but watching it again just makes me go, "Oh, no!"

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[info]downloadable08
2006-09-14 10:13 am UTC (link)
Three in the morning here, and I still have a two-page essay to write, and you know what? I DO NOT CARE.

This is amazing. Words can't describe my love, and I can't wait for Part Eight. How will we know when you post?

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[info]smittywing
2006-09-14 05:34 pm UTC (link)
*grin* According to my theory of paper-writing, you don't need more than two hours for that essay, total, anyway.

Thank you! I'm so pleased you're enjoying the story. The various parts have been picked up on [info]sga_newsletter as I've been posting them, but when Part 8 (and thusly the entire thing) is finished, I will post link to [info]sga_noticeboard for both this post and a single webpage with the entire thing on it. I have a writing update in my user info, as well, so I'll probably update that when I'm done. Oh, hey, you might be able to get that new message distribution feature to send you an email when I tag a post "fic" although that will get you notices for anything fic-like that I write. Either way, it will probably not be hard to find. :)

Thank you!

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Unbelievably excellent series ...
[info]slashpuppy
2006-12-17 09:31 pm UTC (link)
I only stumbled across this series earlier today and I have stormed through all the current sections (none of the future ones as yet). I know you are probably being bugged by all and sundry as to when part 8 will be out (but it's your own fault for writing something so damn good)! :-) So, (cue wheedling tone) any idea when part 8 will be out? *makes puppy dog eyes*

And I was going to be good and comment on each part as soon as I read it but I would finish one part and then move on to the next part with the justification "it's ok, I'll only read a little bit and then go back and comment". And I didn't. Because it was too good and I *had had had* to know what was happening in the next part. And there were just so *many* great lines in the whole thing. And I wanted to comment on the fabulous lines, and how the voices were spot on, and how people kept on acting *just* like they do on the show and how it was all too damn perfect! And lovely! And sweet! And heartbreaking! And funny! And how I love John's dad and want one *just like him*. And how adorable John and Rodney are in that high school way. And how I want them to get it together and just *be together*. :-)

I don't know why I am even trying to hold off reading the future pieces because I *want want want* to read the rest of them! There's this little monologue looping through my head saying "read the rest, read them now, don't wait for part 8, you know how it's gonna end, part 8 will still be good" ... and, and, you have to save me from the voice in my head! :-)

Oh God I finally understand the concept of "fangirl squee" now! :-) I'm going to back off to a non-stalker like safe distance and say I have friended you and am going to wait impatiently until I hear more about part 8.

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Re: Unbelievably excellent series ...
[info]smittywing
2006-12-20 05:47 am UTC (link)
I had a much better reply typed out earlier today and my internet access went kaboom so I apologize if this is less coherent. :P

First off, thank you so much for your comments! "Inability to stop reading" is one of the best compliments ever and completely a "get out of jail free" card for individual comments. (Honestly, I would never expect individual comments from someone reading for the first time - there's still more story, y'know?) I'm so glad to hear it works for you in respect to canon, too, because once there's no stargate, no Atlantis, it feels like I took away a lot of what makes the show special and recongizable.

Part 8 is well on its way but I still have no idea how long it'll take. I know it won't be before Christmas. I've got about 6,000 words on it and I'm shooting for another 8,000 or so. In August I quit my job, packed up my apartment and moved to another state to start law school, so the last few months haven't been very productive but I'm hoping the holiday break (and the associated lack of internet) will get things moving.

Thanks for your thoughts! I really aprpeciated hearing from you.

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[info]mercurydraconix
2007-01-22 07:52 am UTC (link)
so is there ever going to be the futurefuturefuture story, where Rodney gets scoped out for the stargate project and John somehow comes into contact with Ancient tech (because let's face it, he'd never move to antarctica if he had Rodney to come home to, and Rodney'd never move to antarctica if he had John to wait for) despite everything being super super classified. and Elizabeth, diplomat that she is, is still the best option for expedition leader, and Ford, what with nursing that desire to be *just like John* so long did end up joining the military too, and everybody heads off to Atlantis where John and Rodney are brilliant and amazing and capable and total dorks and it *does not matter anymore* because they're totally cut off from earth and Rodney can *have* John now, in a way he never got to before.

right. *coughs* so, is that coming? because it totally should be.

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[info]smittywing
2007-02-10 10:08 pm UTC (link)
No, there is no Stargate and no Atlantis in this series. I had a choice between making it just John and Rodney, so they could grow up and go into the Stargate program, or putting the rest of the characters in and ditching the future Stargate plotline. I picked the latter, because the story would suffer from losing Radek. :)

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The Best Things in Life Are Free
[info]prendarn
2007-02-09 06:16 pm UTC (link)
As a fan of John Hughes Movies and Stargate Atlantis I just wanted to say really awesome

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Re: The Best Things in Life Are Free
[info]smittywing
2007-02-10 10:06 pm UTC (link)
Thank you!

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[info]chaps1870
2007-02-15 04:13 am UTC (link)
This was one of those stories that no matter how long between posts, it was easy to remember what went before and just immerse myself in the story. I loved the whold awkward teenage thing and the ending. Too sweet!

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[info]smittywing
2007-02-17 04:15 am UTC (link)
Aw, thank you! It was fun to write. :) I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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[info]julesoh
2007-05-25 08:28 pm UTC (link)
So, I found this by accident, and words can't actually describe how much I loved it. Love isn't really strong enough a word: I want to take this fic and all the fabulous extras home and seduce it and marry it and grow old with it.

It's just. Amazing. Fantastic. So good, that I took little breaks while reading it just to prolong the pleasure! Anyway, I'm off to re-read. Again and again.

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[info]emptybackpack
2007-09-11 03:33 am UTC (link)
I have a slightly off-topic question about this series -- I've just started reading this fic, and I was wondering (for the sake of curiosity and the fact that I'm familiar with both and am trying to get a mental picture) which AFB in Arizona did you envision this taking place at? ♥ I'm enjoying this series greatly so far.

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[info]emptybackpack
2007-09-11 04:15 am UTC (link)
Nevermind, my question was answered by them going "up" to Oro Valley. I'm probably going to laugh when I see the exit signs on my way back to Phoenix this weekend. ♥ Thank you for writing such a lovely fic.

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[info]smittywing
2007-09-12 03:13 am UTC (link)
I was aiming for Davis-Monthan, did I get it right? I have never been to Arizona but a key part of the original movie was filmed there so that's where I put them. :) (Also, it has a spec ops unit.) I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for commenting!

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via makesmewannadie
[info]zvi_likes_tv
2007-12-09 06:52 pm UTC (link)
I just read this story for the first time. I never saw Can't Buy Me Love, but I love a well-written high school AU, and this certainly qualifies. I love that everyone in here is a character, not just a collection of tics, and the way the relationship between John and Rodney develops, and, well, just a lot of things. Great job.

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[info]tomsmum
2008-04-04 01:53 pm UTC (link)
Oh My Have just finished ths series - I really love High School John and Rodney. i also adore that Johns Dad is so cool.

I take t thats that is all in this 'verse on the LJ page? As its lovely. Part of me wants to read their 'first time' too :)

Anyway Thank you

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What the fuck, LJ?
[info]stella_polaris
2009-06-08 10:26 pm UTC (link)
Okay, re-type!

I seriously love this series! I just spent last night re-reading it! Do you plan on revisiting this universe in the future, or do you feel this is a finished piece?

I personally am curious about what happens when the boys grow up, John's career -wise. In this AU, will Bill Clinton grow some balls and end the ban on gays in the military in 1994 instead of the whole DADT business, and John be allowed to serve openly, or will he end up like Danny? I for one would love to read that fic, and the effect it would have on their relationship, not to mention John's father's reaction.

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