So, I'm finally putting all the little pieces together in chronological order and rewriting the gaps, and only now does it occur to me that I may have a problem. Because, the first part? Nearly 10,000 words, and Norina hasn't even gotten onto Atlantis yet. That's not even the first chapter as much as the prologue, and already it's 1/4 of my minimum wordcount, and I think about 3,000 words-worth of it may be completely extraneous to the plot, and I need to write about 3,000 more words in back-story to even get those to make sense.

In conclusion: ERK.

1. Houston, we have plot!

There is nothing in the world like that rush that comes with knowing how it all falls into place. I swear. It's like seeing God.

On a related note, SATs suck small brass monkey balls.

2. While reading about Nazi Germany's problems with two-valued orientation - it got to the level that "German" was a synonym for "good", and everything "non-German" was bad* - it occurred to me that Pegasus would probably have a similar problem with "Wraith" and "non-Wraith". We've seen this in episodes like Inquisition, where the Lanteans were criminalized for their alliance with the Wraith, and in fact it was the alliance that was considered illegal, and not what they were actually doing within the confines of said alliance (which, admittedly, was pretty sketchy too, but for the Wraith and probably not for humans, except to call into question what humanity really is). Sheppard's explanation of what they were trying to accomplish didn't sway their horror at all. So great is Pegasus fear of Wraith that the mere word is repellent, and in fact, I think in the pilot Teyla cautioned against telling tales [of the Wraith], confusing the word with the thing, as if the word could call the nightmares down on them. At this point, I don't even think the Wraith would necessarily have to be involved for something to be classified as "Wraith". It's been a pet theory of mine for a while that matrilineal and matriarchal society is more common in Pegasus than it is on Earth**, but because the Wraith are matrilineal and matriarchal, one could easily unhinge a human matrilineal/matriarchal tradition by arguing that this is unnatural because it is Wraith-like, that they're Wraith worshippers. Bollocks, but it gets people scared. Just as I would bet that the societies who were matrilineal/matriarchal - even just to an extent, like the Athosians - would have different words for "human Queen" and "Wraith Queen", while the non matrilineal/matriarchal societies wouldn't, necessarily.

On the subject of Wraith worshippers, we're not given much canon, but it's clear that they do exist, and people know of them, even if they're not common. The team has before been accused of "bringing the Wraith down on people" both in incidents where they are responsible for this (Ronon, as mentioned in Sateda) and incidents where they have not. And cullings, as we know, are not random, but to non-technically advanced village or even a society with no space travel (and thus space sensors), for all intents and purposes they might as well be. I wouldn't be surprised if "Wraith worshipper" is used in the same connotation as the Middle Ages "witch": a person who would get blamed in the aftermath of a culling even if they had nothing to do with it. "Executions"*** of supposed "Wraith worshippers" are probably quite frequent in Pegasus, especially on heavily culled planets. Methods of murder are rather brutal. Again, these are the outcasts of society this is happening to, or those who have economic power or possessions that others covet, and like a witch, a "Wraith worshipper" would probably be pretty hard to disprove. Go through the Ring any time within the past year? Guilty. Have any sort of interspace/interstellar transmitter technology? Guilty. Are a recent immigrant, consort with recent immigrants, or talked to a Ring traveler recently? Guilty. Even presumably using fucking semaphores that the Wraith might presumably see from space? Guilty.

The Atlanteans are sitting on a bombshell here. If their alliance with the Wraith ever comes into the public light****, heads are going to roll. Their trade allies would shun them. Atlantis might be attacked by those with space travel. It would be impossible to go through the Gate for fear of offworlders administering "justice" and killing any expedition teams. Really, the best way for the Wraith to destroy the Atlantis once and for all is to embrace them as friends. Because foreigners who have been allied with Wraith queens, are allied with Hive commanders, have a former Runner and a military commander who enjoyed the same benefits of Wraith worshippers******, created Wraith-human hybrids, often have female leaders, fucking woke the Wraith in the first place, and are suspiciously closed-mouth about all the other shit they're doing?

Definitely guilty.



*From General Ludendorff's Am Quell Deutscher Kraft: "The rabbit, it is certain, is no German animal, if only for its painful timidity. It is an immigrant who enjoys a guest's privilege. As for the lion, one sees in him indisputably German fundamental characteristics. Thus one could call him a German abroad."

**Because the Wraith are nearly impossible to defeat militarily - not that it's kept anyone from trying - reproduction is really a society's only defense against complete destruction. Thus, reproductive power - which lay with women, no pun intended - would trump military might - which can lay with either one but traditionally has rested mostly on males. I don't pretend to be an expert in the field, though.

***Which is probably what they're called, and again, even this has a connotation with it: that the person being killed has committed a crime and are being brought to "justice", as opposed to being killed or murdered.

****To the extent that it's widely known instead of just to the Genii, allies of the Genii, and the handy dandy Genii spy network.

*****Regeneration, the "gift of life".

Guess what I just did? That's right, folks; I signed up for the 2009 sgabigbang.

Oh god, Mr. Cheney, I'll go ahead and get out my duck hunting vest so you can shoot me now.