Masquerade, by Sophonisba

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

-title- Masquerade
-author- Sophonisba (saphanibaal)
-warnings- None, really. Gen.
-characters- Ford, Sheppard, McKay, Teyla
-disclaimer- I own no part of Stargate: Atlantis. Nor of Star Wars or Back To The Future, for that matter. One of Teyla's lines was inspired by one of Delenn's in Eyrie Productions' Symphony of the Sword -- the second symphony, IIRC.
-word count- 336
-summary- The most important part of any masquerade: planning one's costume.

"Well, I think it's a good idea," Lieutenant Ford said. "The SGC used to have a big costume party once a year, and everyone had fun at it. I could be Lando Calrissian again, or... hmm..." he looked round the mess hall quickly... "a giant robot, I think we've got enough lock-together rods and that linenish polyester stuff Stackhouse's troop found on the fourth level to put together any number of blocky shapes. Come on, there must be something you could go as."

"A genius physicist-engineer unlocking the secrets of Ancient technology," Dr. McKay answered.

Teyla Emmagan blinked. "But you are a genius physicist-engineer unlocking the secrets of Ancestral technology."

"There you are, then. It'll be a very easy costume."

"Do you have a costume in mind, Teyla?" Major Sheppard interjected.

"I shall come as Elizabeth Weir," Teyla said. "I believe she will be willing to loan me a jacket."

"Uh," said Ford. "That's a bit..."

"I heard Zelenka and Kusanagi were going to switch flag patches and go as each other," Sheppard said.

"So are you planning to dress up for this?" McKay asked him.

"I'm supposed to set an example," he said mildly. "I could reuse my SCA identity, or I could put in the work and go as Clara Clayton."

"Clara Clayton?" Ford and McKay repeated, flabbergasted.

Teyla blinked.

"I really liked her character," Sheppard said, "and that'd be an interesting costume to make... although I probably couldn't get the underthings very accurate, not unless someone has a corset they're willing to lend me, or perhaps Carson has a pressure bandage I might be able to borrow, which would help with getting the right look and maybe allow me to save on fabric..." he looked at the ceiling, mentally calculating.

Ford and McKay exchanged glances that roughly said "our team leader is a strange and disturbed man, and we don't even want to know what sort of expertise he might have at making a nineteenth-century lady's outfit."

Teyla blinked.

Comments

[seekergeek.livejournal.com]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh! Sheppard in the SCA! *dies* Sheppard costuming! *dies again* Sheppard in a corset! *is so total dead now*

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

Er... is that a good dead or a bad dead?

And most of the cosplayers I know (granted, in anime fandom) do gender-blind (not to mention color-blind) cosplaying, so it's mostly "who do I like the most?" with a side note of "how easy/interesting would this be to create?"

[seekergeek.livejournal.com]

Good dead. I found it hilarious. I'm in the SCA, so it really hit me there. There are a select few in the SCA who do opposite gender characters (all of them female though). My hubby has an alternate persona who is flamingly gay though. It is an absolute scream to see him put on the pink outfit and go into his "Serge" bit.

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

//It is an absolute scream to see him put on the pink outfit and go into his "Serge" bit.//

Oh, dear. I should think it would be.

Sheppard-in-the-SCA started as the purely self-indulgent idea that John knowing what to do with a sword does all sorts of things for me. Then, after a bit of "where would he keep in practice?... SCA, probably," some research into Antarctica brought up both the relatively small amount of time he might be able to fly and the presence of an SCA... do you call it a chapter, or what?, and I decided "very well, personal fanon."

[seekergeek.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Sheppard going into killer warrior mode with a sword would be totally hot. I'd have to look the Antarctica group to be sure, but they are probably designated as a 'shire' because they're likely very small. A large group can elect to become a 'barony' and pick a baron and baroness to be ceremonial heads of the group in addition to the usual president, treasurer, etc. offices. There are other small groups called 'cantons' that choose to align themselves with baronies (for various reasons) as well.

It would make a lot of sense for Sheppard to have been in the SCA group, actually. The sword fighting appeals to a lot of military and there are many SCA groups centered around military installations.

And that's probably way more than you wanted or needed to know. *wry smile*

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

Well, they say they're applying to be a barony (http://www.thequarter.org/SouthernWastes/), but I wasn't sure whether the generic catchall term would be branch or chapter or unit or whatever.

//And that's probably way more than you wanted or needed to know. *wry smile*//

I'm a reference-and-catalogue librarian -- there's no such animal. ^_^

[seekergeek.livejournal.com]

The generic term is group, actually.

You're a reference librarian? Cool! I'm a research nut with a penchant for picking up the oddest trivia. My husband claims that I know EVERYTHING. We should adopt each other as sisters!

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

Sure! ^_^

[seekergeek.livejournal.com]

Yay! Hi sis! I friend you, too!

[seratonation.livejournal.com]

Ford and McKay exchanged glances that roughly said "our team leader is a strange and disturbed man, and we don't even want to know what sort of expertise he might have at making a nineteenth-century lady's outfit."

Ahahaha I could so see that :D Oh John!

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

^_^

See, John Sheppard is an amazingly competent ginormous dork.

This is why many of us love him.

It's not always easy to live with, though.

[seratonation.livejournal.com]

Hee!

*sigh* it's a wonder we even survive it all.

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

But it's a fun ride getting there!

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

:snerk: well, if you went purely by build/colouring, Clara Clayton is Shep's closest in the Back the Future trilogy.

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

I wasn't even thinking of that, at least not consciously; more that hers would be a fun costume to make, that the similarities between her and Sheppard are mostly of the sort that one is happy to acknowledge in oneself, and that it would be funny.

(Mostly the last.)

[bratfarrar]

I have no idea who this Clara person is, but I still find the idea hugely amusing. Mostly because John is so nonchalant about it.

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

The lady (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Clayton) in Back to the Future, Part III.

And thank you -- I'm glad my original idea came through so clearly. ^_^

[(Anonymous)]

Hm. Isn't it Mary Steenbergen that SG-1's O'Neill has a thing for?

[bratfarrar]

Sounds like a pretty cool lady. And someone who'd be a lot of fun to dress up as. And clearly I'm going to have to see these movies at some point - they keep popping up all over the place.

[(Anonymous)]

There's no saying what you'll think of them. When the first movie came out, for weeks all these people kept asking if I'd seen it yet and how it was just my thing. I found it pedestrian. You see these movies for the fun, not for depth. I'm a depth person.

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

//You see these movies for the fun, not for depth.//

And because they get referred to so much that it's nice to understand all the references for yourself -- same reason I went to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show once.

(It's always nice if you do enjoy them, of course: there've been several of the you-ought-to-see-this that turned out to be surprisingly fun.)