Caffeine-deprivation-induced rant

[toscas_kiss]

OK. Am reading yet another - actually quite excellent - Stargate 'Atlantis claims independence' fanfiction and am struck yet again by one of the most moronic tropes ever, that way too many writers use, i.e. they run out of coffee.

Why does it never seem to occur to them that coffee is not actually a product that is spontaneously produced, but is actually a plant that grows?

That any sensible colonist or expedition supply officer would take seeds with them?

Coffee is a bit fiddly to germinate, but I'm a certified black thumb and I managed it myself in a London climate by doing it indoors on a windowsill under a plastic Coke bottle. It even got to 2 foot high before I went away on holiday and forgot to get it watered and it died. Any half-decent biologist could grow it. Parrish or Katie could do it in their sleep.

Sure, you don't want to introduce new plants into an ecosystem, but the city would of necessity have greenhouses, and that is an enclosed ecosystem. Not a problem.

So - please, please, please - if you are about to write Atlantis fanfic that's set after the first year and reconnection with Earth - use your logic!

Coffea arabica.

Definitely one of the most important seeds (along with Camellia sinensis) to add to your expedition's survival packs.

Comments

[kawahimes-world.livejournal.com]

seriously.... anyone who's a fan would know that a lack of caffeine is far from being Rodney's worst nightmare. no... his worst nightmare would be waking up on the day that the US Air Force screwed up and gated nothing but MRE's containing lemon-glazed chicken.

[toscas-kiss.livejournal.com]

Hahaha! With Lemon Cheese Cake for the dessert, and Tangerine Powerbars...

[kawahimes-world.livejournal.com]

actually i was thinking more like lemon meringue... but i like the cheesecake idea too.

[seraphim-grace.livejournal.com]

on one hand it always bothered me that it never occurred to me that they might actually grow their own food but there was this part of my head saying that they wouldn't want to introduce non native species - but considering that the thing that atlantis runs on zpms is a lie - it's coffee, I imagine in that first year when they thought they were cut off they not only threw out all those dead plants everywhere and replaced them with coffee plants but found a caffeine substitute from the local area
it's really kinda annoying, I know

[tinnean.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for mentioning this. I'm reworking an SGA fic, and the idea that they brought seeds with them completely escaped me. I can make the character no one likes have a very green thumb and provide them with coffee! *g*

[toscas-kiss.livejournal.com]

Yay! Thank you! :-)
I almost went into the Navy in logistics when I was 22 (I had the papers filled out and everything but in the end didn't sign and send them in)