First of all, I want to congratulate you on creating a really effective story with your work. Testing, failing, re-evaluating, and then, finally, the moment when it works are all in three pictures, and they're very evocative. The third one, of course, is the most awesome in that regard. The way McKay and Sheppard aren't quite facing each other, but turning just a little, like they don't quite trust each other but want to try, is beautiful.
In technical terms, I think your seams are showing a bit in the second picture; the lighting on the faces is very bright for such a dim source background, and Sheppard goes from having a muscular back to a kind of chicken neck, which just looks weird anatomically. Such are the hazards of trying to give a character a better body than his actor has. However, the first one is very well done; everything fits together really well, and I did a little happy dance when I realized that yes, the things under Rodney's hands really were the wings from the third picture, because that kind of attention to detail is what makes manips work.
Overall: Yay! STEAMPUNK JOHN HAS WINGS, AND RODNEY IS THE HIGHLY PRESSURIZED WIND BENEATH THEM. There are no words for how awesome this is, seriously.
WORDS:
Once again, I repeat: STEAMPUNK. YAY. Writing a historical AU with little research time is a bitch and a half, but you totally rose to the challenge. Your details about the Boer War and the importance of the British technical advantage rang very true, as did your decision to make McKay a bitter ex-sapper. (Many of my favorite AUs involve McKay as a bitter ex-something. It's a good look for him.) I also loved the many little translations of canon events to the world, including Carter's blowing up a sun, which, YES, awesome, so glad you included that.
The only real complaint I have is that the language is a bit modern in places, but again, an historical au is a tricky thing. Thank you for writing!
no subject
First of all, I want to congratulate you on creating a really effective story with your work. Testing, failing, re-evaluating, and then, finally, the moment when it works are all in three pictures, and they're very evocative. The third one, of course, is the most awesome in that regard. The way McKay and Sheppard aren't quite facing each other, but turning just a little, like they don't quite trust each other but want to try, is beautiful.
In technical terms, I think your seams are showing a bit in the second picture; the lighting on the faces is very bright for such a dim source background, and Sheppard goes from having a muscular back to a kind of chicken neck, which just looks weird anatomically. Such are the hazards of trying to give a character a better body than his actor has. However, the first one is very well done; everything fits together really well, and I did a little happy dance when I realized that yes, the things under Rodney's hands really were the wings from the third picture, because that kind of attention to detail is what makes manips work.
Overall: Yay! STEAMPUNK JOHN HAS WINGS, AND RODNEY IS THE HIGHLY PRESSURIZED WIND BENEATH THEM. There are no words for how awesome this is, seriously.
WORDS:
Once again, I repeat: STEAMPUNK. YAY. Writing a historical AU with little research time is a bitch and a half, but you totally rose to the challenge. Your details about the Boer War and the importance of the British technical advantage rang very true, as did your decision to make McKay a bitter ex-sapper. (Many of my favorite AUs involve McKay as a bitter ex-something. It's a good look for him.) I also loved the many little translations of canon events to the world, including Carter's blowing up a sun, which, YES, awesome, so glad you included that.
The only real complaint I have is that the language is a bit modern in places, but again, an historical au is a tricky thing. Thank you for writing!