#rodney bay

[stefanatlanten]

St Lucia, nyår och dagarna kring

Den 29/12 gick flyget strax efter lunch mot St Lucia via Barbados.

Du milde. Att jag så ofta skall få problem med mitt bagage när jag flyger!

Nåja. För att göra en lång historia kort: bagaget kom fram dagen efter och alla mankemang kopplade till detta (laddare, körkort, Mastercard, et.c.) ordnade upp sig. Senare samma dag mötte jag upp familjen Dorninger och vi åkte upp till Rodney Bay för att njuta och fira nyår! Mycket god mat, trevliga stränder och lite kontakt med ARC-kontoret för att hitta nästa skjuts norröver hanns med under dessa dagar, utöver en massa trevlig social tid! På nyårsafton åt vi först en riktigt god middag ute på Pigeon Island innan vi begav oss ned till stranden och betraktade nyårsfyrverkerierna som fyrades av på de olika stränderna runt Rodney Bay. En upplevelse minsann! Inte minst att fira nyår i badbyxor och kortärmat!

Den 2/1 åkte vi söderut med bil mot Soufriere för några dagar. En liten, vacker och mysig stad, med en massa trevligheter i närheten! Vi började med några dagar och middagar på stränderna i närheten. Men där finns mer att upptäcka: Grand och Petit Piton, zipline-färder, djungelturer, lerbad i varma vulkankällor, mineralvattensbad från varma vulkankällor, chokladtillverkning, et.c.. Allt hanns inte med men lerbad, mineralvattensbad, chokladtillverkning och en kortare hike upp på en av höjderna mellan Pitonerna blev det. Allt var välordnat och vi hade väldig tur med vädret då det sällan regnat så mycket under januari som just under dessa dagar. Chokladtillverkningen med tillhörande sticklingsodling och fabriksvandring var klart intressant!

Vi avslutade Soufrierevistelsen med en natt på ett makalöst vackert beläget hotell uppe på ett berg alldeles söder om Soufriere, Crystals Villa Hotell! Dessvärre drabbades området av tropiska regnskurar och stormbyar under natten så det blev sisådär med sömnen för sällskapet. Men trevligt hade vi ändå.

Dorningers lämnade slutligen av mig i Castries för att påbörja sin hemresa via Martinique. Själv ville jag vara kvar för några dagars båtletande på St Lucia, både digitalt men också med ett kort besök i Rodney Bay igen.

Imorgon den 8/1 blir det färja till Martinique för ytterligare båtletande men också turistande. Kanske lite mer surfande också...

[highsummonermercar]

As Monet X Change once said "It's so good, just as sweet as St Lucia" 🩵💛

[covrettcreative]

Life's A Beach

Seen in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.

[thebroccolination]

OW, GRACE UNDER PRESSURE, OW

So I'm in the middle of rewatching "Grace Under Pressure" for the first time since maaaybe? university? many years ago and I'm losing it because I fully forgot that one of the reasons this episode is so beloved is not only because it's Rodney all alone with a head injury, it's also Rodney trying to convince himself that anyone cares enough about him to try and save him.

Meanwhile: EVERYONE IS TRYING TO SAVE HIM.

ESPECIALLY JOHN SHEPPARD.

CARTER: Look, I hear what you're saying and I'm telling you -- you're wrong. You have some very smart, very motivated people on the surface, and the only thing any of them are working on right now is rescuing you. McKAY: Oh, come on! They are planning my memorial service. CARTER: If your plan fails -- and it probably will -- you could jeopardise their plans. [GateWorld - "Grace Under Pressure" Transcript]

I completely forgot the whole Atlantis portion of the episode over the years and basically only retained how incredible of an actor David Hewlett was in it.

MEANWHILE! John is all, "I will absolutely order that scientist to risk his life to save my scientist, and I will pretend I have any authority to do so because my scientist is in danger and I am prepared to make all kinds of unethical decisions for his sake," and now I'm ensconced in all the mcshep feelings of my past.

SHEPPARD: Well, Doctors Moore and McNab are here to study the ocean on M8R-1229, which happens to be under a thick sheet of ice, so they brought a thousand-foot cable and a pretty powerful winch to lower their instruments. WEIR: OK. SHEPPARD (gesturing to a nearby scientist): And Edgar over here is responsible for the magnetic grapple designed to lower the F-302s into our Jumper Bay. WEIR: And you intend to put the two together. SHEPPARD: Like chocolate and peanut butter.

It's absurdly emotion-fueling that John's really not a social person, but look at him assembling his own li'l team of people to go save his shouty nerd boyfriend. :')

McKAY: Well, we'll never be able to stop it. CARTER: I'm not saying that we could -- we're just trying to buy time here. McKAY: In order to make death as long and as drawn-out as possible, huh?! CARTER: Just max it out, McKay.

I'M NOT OKAY! JUST! RODNEY DOWN THERE ALL ALONE TRYING TO TELL HIMSELF OVER AND OVER THAT THE PEOPLE HE CARES ABOUT, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE HIS EXTENDED FOUND FAMILY WHOMST HE'S SAVED OVER AND OVER, WON'T JUST WASH THEIR HANDS OF HIM BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO SAVE HIM.

SHEPPARD (over radio): All you have to do is open your door and walk to my Jumper. (Sam smiles.) CARTER: I told you they'd come up with something.

NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, I'M GOING TO GO REREAD WRITTEN BY THE VICTORS AND CRY MYSELF INTO OBLIVION

[fuck-customers]

I find this incident more funny than something to be mad at tbh. So I work at a car wash, mainly as a cashier. It’s probably around 30 minutes before closing and we’ve got several cars on our lot. There’s this one customer in particular that pulls up. First, he gets all pissy with me over the prices, because obviously I, as a low-level cashier, can control that. Second, when you’re going through a car wash (at least the ones I’ve been through), you have to put your car in neutral. And what does he do? He tries to drive through. We do get that a lot so it’s more annoying than anything, but whatever.

So now the rest of my coworkers are in the lot, trying to finish the last of the crowd, and I’m doing the nightly wash-out of the inside of the wash. I notice the guy sitting on the benches glancing at me ever so often, probably trying to figure out what to do. That’s fine, whatever. Now, we have two separate buildings. One for the customers (which is right beside where the guy was sitting), and one for the employees. Obviously, customers not allowed because there’s all sorts of chemicals they don’t need to be messing with, not to mention our safe is in that building. If he was looking for a bathroom, there’s one right inside the customer lobby that was right beside him to begin with.

I look back from inside the wash and the guy isn’t there anymore. I happen to glance in the window and suddenly I see him walking down our employee lobby hall, waving his receipt at me. He has absolutely no reason to be back there with me and he was already mad at me, so I’m like wtf and I run out of the bay to meet him. He walks back out the entrance at the same time.

At our register, the entrance to the employee building is on the left. The entrance to the wash itself is on the right. And in the middle of these two entrances is a small concrete partition. When we both make it out, we are both standing on either side of the wall and nowhere near each other.

Conversation starts with me. “Um, sir, this building is for employees only.” I barely get the words out before he absolutely loses his shit and starts yelling at me to back off and stop being aggressive, that I don’t need to be getting all up in his face and all I needed to do was politely tell him he wasn’t supposed to be back there. I point out several times that there is a literal wall between us but he doesn’t seem to buy at. At this point I’m done so I just brush him off and laugh at him as I walk back into the wash. In reply, he calls me a little shit and tells me to stop laughing. I wish him a wonderful evening and he storms back to the benches. Also, keep in mind that this guy was at least two feet taller than I was, so idk how I was supposed to be getting in his face.

Posted by admin Rodney

[dr-futbol-blog]

Runner, Pt. 3

We follow Lorne and McKay through the deep dark woods and Sheppard seems to have been correct about not being able to be very stealthy with McKay around. Like he tells Sheppard later in Tao of Rodney (S03E14), not talking makes him anxious. Babbling about something helps him keep his fear at bay. Now, he could just be making inconsequential small-talk because he doesn't know Lorne and probably isn't that interested in getting to know him either, but he seems to take this opportunity to learn something about Sheppard. He asks Lorne about something that he would know that pertains to Sheppard but that he had never either asked Sheppard or got Sheppard to answer him:

McKay: So exactly what kind of, uh, special training do you guys have to go through to get this sort of mission? Lorne: ‘You guys'? McKay: Yeah, you know. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, it's a great place to start!

He's being smooth about it by not mentioning Air Force first, even though that's what he is definitely most curious about (and, unlike Sgt. Bates, Lorne actually is Air Force, further indicating he was Sheppard's choice for the position).* And this is not about getting to know Lorne because he's not that keen to get to know new people. He can barely remember the names of members of his own science team, it even took him weeks to learn Zelenka's name and he respects him as a scientist. He is asking because, be things as they may between them, Sheppard is still the centre of his universe. Lorne, however, seems unwilling to share personal details about his life with this scientist that is not his scientist (we did see him share personal things with Parrish before), opting for sarcasm instead:

Lorne: And by ‘this mission' you mean hunting down a skilled weapons expert hopped up on wraith drugs in the pitch black of an alien planet? McKay: Yes! Lorne: Actually, I skipped that course in Major school. McKay: Yeah, I was afraid of that.

It is interesting that Lorne's initial reaction was to question which group of men McKay was actually putting him into. He says "You guys?" like he needs to make sure what McKay is talking about. Because he is member of more than one group of men. And whether he realizes it or not, his sexual orientation did play a part in why Sheppard chose him for the mission. It's not inconsequential. Also, even though McKay is a professional when it comes to staying in the closet with military types, it's entirely possible Lorne had clocked McKay as a gay man the moment he walked into Weir's office because, again, it's easier to see from the inside out.

With Sheppard, it's not as obvious. Given that Lorne doesn't know either of them, he might actually think that it's McKay's sexual orientation that is making Sheppard treat him with the disdain that he now seems to be treating him with. It's not a huge logical leap to make, just observing the two of them. And while he certainly hopes this isn't true about his new CO, it does make him more careful around him. To perform more masculine, to behave more military. To show McKay the same disdain he thinks Sheppard does. But he's not a bad guy and he is also trying to get along with McKay:

Lorne: I was hoping Lieutenant Ford might recognize a friendly face and just turn himself in. McKay: What, you mean me?! Lorne: Well, you were friends, weren't you? McKay: Oh, yeah! When we weren't out on harrowing missions, we used to hang out together. I'd share my dreams of a self-sustaining fusion and he, he would talk of how you could sever a man's torso with a P90!

What's interesting here is that this could just as well be true about McKay and Sheppard. McKay is a scientist, Sheppard is a career soldier. On the face of it, they should have nothing in common. And yet we did see them grow very close during the first season, and that their closeness was something Ford was actually envious about, a closeness he desired to have with Sheppard. Now, at this time we don't actually know what Sheppard and McKay talk about when they're alone together, because we haven't been given many chances to observe them when they are not around other people and not in the middle of some kind of an emergency. The last time we (along with Weir) walked in on them talking, they were discussing how big something is, and we never did find out what. They have a different taste in movies. They like different sports. But they do have things in common too, and they are still curious about each other, learning each other, as evinced by McKay's line of questioning here. They're different, but in many ways complementary, too. McKay wants to learn what makes Sheppard Sheppard.

But it's interesting they bring up the topic of friendship here, for the second time in this episode. Lorne assumes McKay and Ford had been friends, McKay isn't sure they were quite that close. He doesn't really have a lot of friends, and certainly not outside of work. Beckett is the closest thing to a best friend he's ever had. Because John Sheppard is not his friend (and even here, as he contrasts himself and a military type, he is saying he and Sheppard are not friends; they will never be friends). He might have considered Sheppard a friendly face waiting for him to come home before, but he never placed him into the mental category of friend.

They were something different. They were something closer than that. They were something more. And now, they weren't, not any more. They were trying to be friends and they were failing miserably because they just couldn't keep from making these little digs at each other constantly, all the time. They might have loved each other but right now it seemed like they didn't even like each other, and that's a minimum requirement for friendship.

But McKay does mention a few interesting things. First, the severing of a torso with a P-90, since we just saw Sheppard attach his P-90 to his tac vest, grunting sensually as he did it. As far as Sheppard was concerned, McKay had ripped his heart right off of his chest so he wasn't a stranger to severing a man's torso, metaphorically speaking. And second, he mentions sharing his dreams. With Ford, he didn't share his dreams. But he had been sharing his dreams with Sheppard; Sheppard knew about his nightmares. Later, in Doppelganger (S04E04), they will both literally share each others' dreams but given that by this time McKay seems to already know what Sheppard's nightmares are like, it seems like they had both been doing this long before that time.

Also, the fact that he mentions self-sustaining fusion in particular as one of the dreams he had shared becomes important as we come to Trinity (S02E06), but more about that later. Point is, with Sheppard he had shared his dreams. And apparently Sheppard had shared some of his experiences in the military with McKay too, as it seems like he misses that here. He's asking Lorne to tell him about his training because he misses Sheppard talking to him about it. He misses Sheppard.

The fact that Sheppard had not only talked to him about military stuff but had been teaching him things like tactical signs (and forward rolls) is underlined by his reaction to Lorne suddenly throwing his fist up:

McKay: What -- that means quiet, right? Lorne: Get down, get down, get down! McKay: What? What? Lorne: I thought I saw something move.

We are also able to see how different McKay's communication is with Lorne as compared with Sheppard. McKay has real trouble understanding the Major, whether he's using his tactical signs or his words, having to repeat the question "What?" several times, and still not quite getting on the same page with him. Similarly, he doesn't seem to understand Lorne's sarcasm and it takes him quite a while to notice that Lorne seems extremely displeased by his company.

In contrast, McKay reads Sheppard extremely well. His body, his facial expressions, his tone of voice, the whole nine yards of him. But this does not translate to being able to understand other people, and his limited people skills are clearly on display here. A point of comparison is also the fact that Lorne seems pretty handsy with people, manhandling both McKay and Parrish. He is not afraid of touching them to move them around. We did see Sheppard touching McKay from pretty early on (even though he was initially protected by a personal shield) but he was very careful about it. As though he wasn't quite sure he was allowed, like at the end of Hide and Seek (S01E02) as he steals a touch when McKay is passed out.

At the same time elsewhere in the forest, Sheppard and Teyla are tracking something, and we can compare their interaction to McKay and Lorne. They are entirely professional. The little that they talk is all business. In fact, Sheppard has very seldom asked Teyla anything personal and he doesn't seem that interested in her as a person. Sheppard could show some interest in Teyla, or her culture, or her galaxy, he could be trying to get to know her better--but he doesn't. Sure, over the years they get to know each other fairly well but they neither of them get very personal. Sheppard just isn't interested in her like that.

With McKay, they have a whole world of context between them. They're able to have conversations so intimate and idiosyncratic even the audience doesn't necessarily get what they're talking about. They don't even need words to talk, and they can hurt each other with a mere syllable. Even when they are trying to remain professional, like now, they can't help but get personal with each other.

We have seen private moments between Sheppard and Teyla, scenes very erotic even when they've been sparring, but neither of them seems interested in the other, not in getting to know the other person and not sharing things about themselves; not even when Teyla was basically in Sheppard's subconscious in Home (S01E08). While Teyla is much more empathic than Sheppard, their interpersonal relationship is cool and professional.

As it happens both teams, Sheppard and Teyla as well as Lorne and McKay, think that they hear something move in the bushes and take after them. Lorne and Sheppard are in radio contact, and they hear Sheppard tell them that Teyla has been "hit" before they lose radio contact with them entirely.

It seems as though many of the reactions in the episode are slightly off, or subdued. For one, Sheppard doesn't even know whether Teyla was killed by what ever hit her, but his reaction to this is pretty underwhelming, and this is relevant for later. He sees Teyla fall down from shot in the back, and he's immediately in survival mode, scanning his environment for the threat. But McKay's reaction to them suddenly losing radio contact after hearing that Teyla has been taken down is similarly subdued.

Let me also point out this: Lorne thinks McKay is out of shape and for sure, he's not an athlete. He's not trained to traipse through the jungle. But for sure he's in better shape than most of the science team, and he not only manages to somewhat keep up with Lorne here, he later spends several hours wading through the woods in a rubber suit with nothing to drink the whole time. We saw Sheppard running to keep up after Teyla the same as McKay was running to keep up with Lorne, so he's really not as bad as Lorne seems to think.

For some reason, probably due to the influence of Sheppard's current disposition toward McKay, Lorne has just decided to dislike McKay. And when someone does that, everything about the other person becomes annoying and suddenly you're just looking for reasons to hate them. It's not exactly fair toward McKay, but it is important for later.

When they lose radio contact to Sheppard, we see Lorne call out to him several times. He's much less used to exploring alien planets than McKay is, and he seems to be freaking out, having lost contact to his CO who was supposed to tell him what to do in a situation like this. He seems to be close to hyperventilating, his breath coming out fast. He's so lost that he looks at McKay for what to do in this situation.

In contrast, McKay does not appear to react at all. He barely moves, he just watches on. But the thing is, this is on brand for him. This is what McKay looked like when he thought Sheppard had died flying the puddle jumper to the hive. He is very similar to how he seemed back then, up to him wanting to look away from Lorne but forcing himself to look dead on.

McKay also looks lost but what they are feeling is very different. McKay isn't the least bit afraid of being lost in the deep dark woods of an alien planet with an unknown assailant bearing down on them. Lorne seems to be freaking out because he's out of his depth, he doesn't know what to do. Major school definitely hadn't prepared him for this. But as freaked out as Lorne is, McKay is terrified. Not of losing contact with his commander but of losing John.

What ever comforting lies he might have told himself for the past few months, he was not ready to be here again. He was not ready to lose Sheppard. Not again.

Continued in Pt. 4

-* McKay is quoting a slogan from a recruitment ad for the US armed forces that was used in 1982-1987, which would have been during his teenage years (he would have been 14-19 years old when the ads were in active use). Now, this is not the first time that McKay seems to dig something out of his past seemingly at random, it's clear that the associative links his mind makes don't always make sense to other people. He's intelligent and idiosyncratic, is the thing.

Now, there are a few reasons he might have referenced this. For one, they're roughly the same age so he might have assumed that this ad had been among the reasons Lorne had chosen to become career military. It's also possible it had something to do with Sheppard's choice to join the military, which McKay might even know about. It could be something Sheppard had shared with him.

And given that these recruitment ads are, albeit completely unintentionally and due to the homosocial environment of the military, extremely homoerotic (in fact, when we look at gay fetish tropes, the military features heavily in these, and e.g., the leather daddy archetype ultimately derives from Hells Angels, who had their genesis in veteran fighter pilots of WW II. The Village People are a good example of the use of gay macho fantasy characters, and "men in uniforms" feature heavily in these fetishes). So, in the 1980s when internet pornography was a thing of the distant future, adolescent homosexuals frequently used such ads for... unintended purposes (the same as straight teens would use department store catalogs advertising women's apparel).

So, McKay may have intended this as a coded message here, a kind of a "secret handshake". To confirm his suspicion that this man is "one of us". His entire line of questioning is digging for information about Sheppard, and knowing whether his new second in command was a friend to Dorothy or not is a pretty important piece of information to know, all things considered. So, he's testing the waters.

But, there may have been other reasons for this particular recruitment ad to have stayed in McKay's memory and to have had meaning for him. The TV version says: "We're not a company but outstanding people come to us every day, people who want to make a contribution to a team, and do work that really counts. People eager to see new places, do the unusual, and find the unusual. People who become your friends for life, people just like you." A teenage McKay may have found this extremely appealing, and it may have contributed to his decision to start contracting for the US military instead of the private sector, like his alternate self in the SG-1 episode The Road Not Taken. He might have had a more illustrious career working for the private sector but for some reason, he had chosen the military. He probably found the routine of it comforting, given his confession that he likes military food, as told to Zelenka in Suspicion (S01E04).

McKay wants to be a part of something, wants to explore the world, wants to find people like him. All of this would have sounded very exciting to him. But at the same time, it contains things that would have been appealing to Sheppard in particular, especially the part about finding friends for life. That's what Sheppard is searching for, someone to stand by his side. Given that they are roughly the same age, the ad may have left an impression on both of them, and it may even have come up as a topic of conversation at some point.

But it might be more than that, even. The print version of the add seems to contain many things that a teenage McKay, coming from a broken home environment where his parents hated each other and took it out on him, might have found extremely appealing:

Looking for an opportunity to develop and grow as a person? You'll find it in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. And that's especially true if you're smart enough to graduate from high school. You can earn responsibility in the Services. Learn to lead. Prove that you can make it. In fact, there are all kinds of opportunities for advancement. The Armed Forces can bring out the best in you -- actually help you grow better. For instance, there's even a program in which the government contributes money toward a college education. Serving in the Armed Forces is an adventure and a challenge. There are new places to see. And new friends to make. Pay is higher than ever--more than $550 a month to start. And you earn 30 days of vacation each year. Plus, the Services take care of your food, uniforms, housing and medical needs. But above all, you'll gain new confidence. Stand a little taller. Walk a little prouder. All while serving your country. And that's one of the finest things a person can do.

McKay very likely went to college on a scholarship because even if they had the means, it does not seem as though his father cared about him enough to contribute to his education. He also seems to have completed his degrees in the US, which is much more expensive than in Canada. The idea that if you're smart enough, you will be taken care of would have been comforting to teenage McKay. These are things that would not have meant as much to Sheppard, who came from a much more financially secure background. Sheppard joined the military as an act of rebellion, not out of necessity. But it's entirely possible that having read this ad as a teenager, perhaps more than once if he used what ever magazine it had come in for... other purposes, it might well have contributed, consciously or subconsciously, to McKay's decision to start contracting for the US military. It's a great place to start!

[mindblowingscience]

Underwater cameras have captured a unique dolphin behavior off the coast of Western Australia in what scientists suspect is a world-first. For decades now, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) and local crabbers in the Bunbury area, roughly 160 kilometers south of Perth, have been locked in a battle over bait. When a crab pot is dropped in Koombana Bay, the local dolphins swoop in to snag the dead fish, usually before any pincered arthropods can come crawling along. When wildlife conservationist Rodney Peterson heard of the problem, he feared for the dolphins' safety, given the risks of net entanglement. Peterson approached the Dolphin Discovery Center in Bunbury – a non-profit organization that funds education, research, and ecotourism projects – about the possibility of filming the thieves in action.

Continue Reading.

[the1312daysofchristmas]

thought of you the whole day when st lucia got the medal. and i found out about the nedal through a member of an emo band from my country being hyped about it adhffjssgkjdafh didnt message because i assumed you knew and didnt want to talk about it for your own reasons and wanted to respect that asgfachvdacbmbds

i did know and ive been freaking out since i found out last night on stream. and so has the rest of the island. we went to rodney bay to hang with some family friends visiting the island and suddenly encountered some terrible traffic and when we finally got to their hotel we discovered that the traffic was because in the 24 hours since she won the gold a street party had been organized complete with police to redirect traffic. when i woke up this morning my windows were shaking from the music playing in the neighbourhood (interrupted by a torrential downpour). its been confirmed that there will be a holiday (not tomorrow but there will be a day off). were going nuts.

[diazsdimples]

Hey james!! 💕💕💕

I couldn’t help but notice your tags. Well, I am all ears ☺️☺️☺️ Tell me more about the fic!!! 🥰🥰🥰

-❤️🪐

Yes I most certainly will tell you more about the ranch!

Bobby and Athena get a few animals after they buy the ranch. Athena gets her rabbit called Hercules, and he’s her baby. She spoils him so much, and he’s got such a love-hate relationship with Bobby. He follows Bobby everywhere, hopping after him and cuddling up next to him, but Bobby isn’t thrilled by this because Hercules eats his lettuce in the garden all the time. They also get a bunch of chickens, one of which Bobby names Maurice, after the famed rooster from one of Bobby’s first calls. Bobby also adopts two horses, a beautiful grey gelding called Rodney, and a bay mare named Whitney. Every morning before work, he goes out and feeds the horses, gives them a bit of love, scratches their necks etc. They start to greet him by the fence at the end of the day too, and Bobby gets so excited to see them.

They also need to renovate the place a LOT, so Michael is roped in to help. Initially it’s all over video call, but he gets sick of that so fast and flies himself and David to LA. Michael helps design the new interior, finds them a landscaper, and then Bobby absolutely puts him, David, Chimney, Buck, Eddie, and Tommy to work to help him with the building. It takes a few weekends of solid building for 10-12 hours a day to get it all finished, but the house feels so much more homey by the time it's done (no longer varying shades of lime green and pink), and Bobby has the extended Firefam over for a celebratory barbeque when it's done. The kids have a great time in the backyard, with a water fight and Bobby blows up a kiddie pool that's far too small for Christopher and Denny, but just the right size for Jee.

[bahgasdump]

Every fandom worth its salt needs at least ONE Roleswap AU!

More info on the bosses in the cut:

Since the main bosses don't have direct counterparts, I just move them one slot forward

Gar Kelp: Leader of The Navy Seals. a group enthralled with submarines, boats, or whatever other means to travel through water.

Gordy Grain Belt: Leader of the Booze Boys. Despite their name, they all vowed sobriety, so they steal any booze away from people in any way they can. They wear novelty hats filled with WATER and SODA.

Coach Coldstein: Leader of the Sports Schmucks, they just want to have some nice fun with other people while playing sports, tho, they get a littke roundy if someone DARES to cheat...

The River Monarch: Leader of the Ocean Spunk, a group devoted to their new God... a poster of a sports athlete drinking water. They host occasional tournaments to see who is worthy of joining their cult cause

And while I don't have sprites for them right now:

The Lovelies and Rodriguez's gangs swap. Hart's gang is still fairly big, but around 99% of them get annihilated by The Midlife Marauders. A extremely small, only consiting of six people, but don't get the wrong idea, they are extremely respected AND feared through backwater Olathe. Much like Hart's gang, want one thing: The girl.

Fortunately for Rodney Hart, 3 members of his crew survived: Papa Woods, Sawyer Snatch and Ludd Blaster. But God knows they're not safe while the Midlife Marauders are still at bay.

The final boss, is obviously, Beltboy Beltman. Who, really, is just another lackey for Big Rod, who just happened to get lucky, and was busy with the building's lock when Hart killed his whole gang in one strike.

[spurious]

Get Him Back! ????

(WIP title tag)

title from this song, which is a bop

it's a screwball comedy fic where rodney spends a day thinking he and john have had an acrimonious breakup (they haven't, they had a minor disagreement) and goes about getting revenge until john returns and is like hey babe how was your day and rodney's like ummmm don't go in the jumper bay. i'm doing...repairs

I only have a tiny bit written but here it is:

Rodney had known that John would be out of the city today, of course, for whatever dubiously important all-day Air Force mandatory something-or-other he's attending, but he can't help feeling that it's awfully convenient, that John could just waltz through the gate after smashing Rodney's heart in two that way.

"I can't believe him," Rodney grumbles, sitting heavily down at the mess table across from Ronon and Teyla.

Ronon raises an eyebrow, and Teyla takes a large, panicked-looking bite of reconstituted scrambled eggs.

"Sheppard," Rodney says, even though it should be obvious.

[go-to-autistic-crypt1d]

Season 2 SGA live blogging:

If you haven't read season 1 and want to, here's that link! I'm rewatching SGA for the like 5th or 6th time at this point I think and putting my thoughts on here as I go for funsies. (Episode 1 is with season 1 because it's siege part 3 and it made more sense)

- The Intruder, AHHHH I love this episode

- The way Weir and Sheppard stand up for eachother makes me so happy, I get why people take it in a romance way, I think the writers were hinting at at, but there is just no chemistry in that regard imo. I adore their dynamic though

- Sheppard and Hermiad having a damn staring contest 😂

- I love how murder mystery this episode is, someone killing off members of the crew just as they discover who's doing it. The fact that it's a virus makes it even cooler I mean, the ship you're trapped on is turning against you???

- DUDE, the fighter bay scene is AMAZING. The way those two just stare at eachother dumbfounded with the open bay doors in the background 😂

- then of course the badassery kicks in as they seamlessly work together to remove all the infected hardware before the shield fails and they die with that amazing ass music in the background AHHHH

- I love that Rodney is experiencing Gs like this for the first time while in an intense chase after an infected F302 dangerously close to the coronasphere of a damn STAR

- "You wanna take the stick?" "Really?" "No"

- their sunburns omfg

- Teyla being in charge of Atlantis while Weir is gone makes me so happy. I love how they work in tandem running the city, having complete confidence in the other to keep it safe.

- S2 E3 THIS IS NOT A DRILL, IT'S RONAN TIME BABYYYYYY

- also, I know the guy who plays Lorne was on stargate first, but I can't stop seeing him as Andy from Eureka.

- I love that they finally gave Teyla some more shirts, the og purple is adorable, but it's nice she has more now, as we saw in the hallucination fog episode, she is quite into fashion.

- bro can people stop throwing colonel sumner in Sheppard's face please???

- continuing on @autistic-crypt1d because tumblr wouldn't let me make this my main

[covrettcreative]

Sails Down for Sunset

Seen in Pigeon Island National Park, St. Lucia.

[darkmaga-returns]

President-elect Donald Trump has made several impressive picks to help carry out his America First agenda, like Kash Patel for FBI director, Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, and Tom Homan as “border czar.” But his pick for Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) administrator, Chad Chronister, doesn’t belong anywhere near a position of power.

Chronister currently serves as sheriff in Hillsborough County, Florida, and Trump says Chronister will work to “secure the Border, stop the flow of Fentanyl, and other Illegal Drugs, across the Southern Border, and SAVE LIVES.”

But surely Trump could’ve chosen a candidate who didn’t throw a Christian pastor in jail, release criminals, or threaten the unvaccinated.

Under Chronister’s leadership, Tampa Bay Pastor Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne was arrested for *checks notes* holding a church service. The county had directed people to stay in their homes except when engaging with “essential services”, which did not include church.

[fuck-customers]

i left the pizza biz a few months ago (i believe april), and man, i'm so glad to be out. i found a car wash job for a couple of dealerships, so i don't even have to deal with customers!!! dealer techs bring the cars to us, we wash them, then bring them back to the service advisors and never have to deal with customers. the most interaction i've had with customers is them asking "oh where is the used car section?", "where is x dealership?" or, "which way do i pull into the service bay?" all simple questions that require 10 seconds of conversation. i haven't been yelled at in months by anyone. pay is better, hours are better, an hour break in the day, and weekly pay! the only downside to this job is that it gets hot as FUCK outside and some of my coworkers are absolute idiots. but i can deal with both of these things if it means i get to be happy. this goes out to anyone who thinks they're stuck, that you aren't! there is always a better job out there, and you should 100% quit (if you can) to get something better. you deserve better!!!!

Posted by admin Rodney.

[dr-futbol-blog]

The Siege II, Pt. 1

So, we begin the second part of the three part episode The Siege (S01E20), the grand finale of the first season. The previous episode ended dramatically with Sheppard seeming to go full dark side executing a prisoner of war because he was so distraught by the news received from Weir about their plans to take out the wraith using the Ancient satellite having failed. This much is true however you interpret Sheppard and McKay's personal relationship. But as we start the final episode of the season, we seem to have skipped right over something important.

The episode begins with McKay coming down the stairs from the jumper bay, apparently having only just arrived back on Atlantis and still wearing the red jumpsuit he wore during the mission. The approach of the two remaining hives is shown on the screen. McKay, Weir and Sheppard all seem to be business as usual, and something major has definitely been entirely glossed over. This is the first time they see each other since McKay took off in the beginning of the previous episode. The ending of the previous episode was dramatic. Sheppard seemed to be on the brink of a dark crevice and now it's as though none of it had even happened.

Only, it did happen. And the fact that it did happen has everything to do with the resolution of this episode and the culmination of the entire season. There are scenes between these two episodes that we don't get to see for reasons that are never explained, but they must have happened. Sheppard must have learned that McKay didn't die at some point, and he probably learned it from Weir. But he very much did think that McKay had died. What he did between thinking that McKay had died and finding out that he hadn't but was in fact on his way back home seems like a pretty important part of the narrative and it's jarring that we don't get to see it. And the reason we don't get to see it is that is the same as to why we don't get to see many of those private moments between them; that part of the narrative plays out only in the sub-text. Showing it would give away the game.

We do see what Sheppard looks like when he thinks that McKay has died much later on in Doppelganger (S04E04). His literal worst nightmare is having to watch McKay die in front of him without being able to do anything to save him. First, he is in shock. He can't believe that it's real. He looks at everyone in the room, all the doctors gathered around McKay, to tell him that it isn't real.

But inevitably the reality of the situation sinks in and we can see his heart breaking. I invite you to compare is face here, when it finally hits him, to how he looked at the end of the previous episode. The only difference is the camera angle, Sheppard was looking up at the people in the observation room in the first one and down at the wraith in the second.

That is the face of a man that has just lost everything that matters to him.

In his nightmare, some time seems to pass and we find him alone, walking through an empty hallway. He doesn't know where he's going, he has nowhere to go. He's slow, sluggish, like his body is still moving while no one's home. Like his body is still alive when he has died inside. He is literally lost, he doesn't seem to know where he is. He isn't really thinking about anything, there are only jumbled half-formed thoughts in his head. He's gone. It can't be real. How could this happen? How could I let this happen? I failed to save him. How could you leave me? Come back. Please. I can't do this without you. I can't be without you. Rodney. Oh God, please being him back. He can't be gone. All of this you can see on his face.

This here, something very similar to this is precisely what Weir saw before she could fill him in on what had happened out there. This is how Weir found Sheppard. When Sheppard later tells her, "I have to and you know it!" this is what he means. She knows because she saw him like this. She saw the depth of his grief. She grieved for the loss of a dear friend, Peter Grodin, but what she saw in Sheppard was something altogether different. It was witnessing this, it was having to talk Sheppard out of this despair, that brought them close, made them actual friends, caused Sheppard to finally trust her with the truth of the matter. The pain was too acute for him to keep pretending like he hadn't just lost someone that he loved in all the ways that a man can love. He may even have hated her before he learned the truth for having made him stay back when the decision to stay back had ultimately been his own. He was utterly adrift, completely lost until she told him the greatest thing he has ever heard. He was alive, and he was coming home.

It isn't until Search and Rescue (S05E01) that we see how Sheppard reacts to the information that McKay is alive when he had thought him dead. Before he learns that McKay is alive, he had given up on everything. He didn't care if he lived or died. He knew that the fate of the entire human race depended on rescuing Teyla, but he didn't even care about that. He had been impaled by a metal rod and had spent the better part of the day being crushed under the weight of an entire building, and none of that hurt as much as the knowledge that McKay was dead and it was because of him, because he had walked him into this ambush when McKay was supposed to live to old age.

And then, suddenly, he learns the truth and he himself is alive again. He has a purpose. He has a job to do. McKay is alive and he's damn well going to make sure he stays that way even if he has to save the world to see that that happens.

Both of these things happened for the first time here, at the end of the first season, between the previous episode and this, and we didn't get to see them. This is a huge thing, one that has repercussions not only on how they wrap up this season but far down the line, and we don't get to see any of it on screen. This isn't important just for how we interpret Sheppard and McKay's relationship but is foundational for the close bond Sheppard shares with Weir and how that plays out. Their bond may not be romantic but it is nonetheless significant, and we don't get to see how it comes to be.

There was a lot of emphasis on communication via devices in the previous episode. We don't know whether McKay had communicated with Atlantis or Sheppard had communicated with the jumper between the episodes. Finding out that McKay was alive may have unburdened Sheppard, but McKay was still very much feeling like he had personally failed them all. Sheppard may feel relieved but McKay was crushing under the weight of his guilt. McKay wasn't anything close to alright with what had happened. They both seem raw as they see each other for the first time, here. They may have discussed it between the episodes. Alternatively, there may not have been anything to say, and if Sheppard had tried to contact him, he may only have received curt monosyllabic answers from McKay.*

Their reunion takes place in public, under the watchful eyes of pretty much the entire expedition, which means that they are not free to make any kind of gestures that might compromise Sheppard. If they hadn't been forced to hide what they are to each other, they might have been able to embrace, Sheppard might have grabbed his hand, would have been able to show in some small way that he cares, that he's there for him. But they don't get to have that. And they are in such a rush to get the entire expedition moving out to the Alpha Site that they have no time to connect with one another.

But all of this, all of this is very important for understanding why they do the things that they do later on in the episode.

When they first meet after all that has transpired, there seems to be some awkwardness between them. McKay glances at Weir but the men are both avoiding looking at each other. Sheppard turns away and lets Weir walk between them which is very unusual for him. Weir welcomes McKay but McKay glosses right over the pleasantries:

Weir: Welcome back, Rodney. McKay: Where are we? Weir: Our scanners show the hive ships have started moving again, although their pace has slowed considerably. Sheppard: Obviously you gave them something to think about.

Sheppard is the first to reach out both by looking at McKay and saying something to him. McKay has his back to him and doesn't turn to look at him, not at first. Sheppard tries to look away but now that he has seen McKay, he seems unable to do that again. Although it must be anything but easy for him, Sheppard still tries to connect with McKay, addresses him directly. And what Sheppard says here is also designed to ease McKay's guilt over what happened, to make him feel better. This is the first of three attempts ('rule of three!') in this episode for Sheppard to ease the burden other people keep piling on his shoulders. Sheppard seems really unsure of what he's supposed to do here, but he still tries. He can't not try. The experience of believing he had lost McKay for good has has proven to him without a shadow of a doubt that that man is the most important thing in his life.

While Weir is talking shop in his ear, McKay does finally turn to look at Sheppard, for the first time since they parted almost three days ago. It's possible that neither of them even hear what she says because that exchanged look, brief though it is, communicates everything between them. The hurt, the guilt, the shame, the pain, the longing, the pleading, the need, the love, above all the love. Naked, there for each of them to see, to read off of the other's face.

Where Sheppard can see that McKay is not alright, Weir just makes him feel even worse by reminding him that he has failed in his duty of figuring out something to save them all:

Weir: Well, if they get here in two hours, or two days, it doesn't change the fact that we're out of options. We can't hope to fight them, so unless either of you have any more ideas…

With this, Weir basically undoes what Sheppard was trying to do by telling McKay that his mission hadn't been for nothing. McKay turns away again as Weir looks to him, unable to meet her gaze. He doesn't respond, doesn't say anything. There's nothing to say.

Sheppard immediately notices what her words do to him, and he literally gives her the side-eye, narrowing his eyes in disapproval. The next we see McKay, he has folded his arms in front of him defensively, still half-turned away from Sheppard.

They seem to be at the end of the rope, and the three of them each go to their own computer terminals to arm the self-destruct mechanism. And I want to highlight this, because it's important for later: at this point in time it takes both Weir and Sheppard to arm it, both of their personal passwords. They waited for McKay to arm it but it does not seem like he has anything to do with the arming, he is just standing by the dialing computer prepared to dial the stargate. Either of them having the other's password would be counter-productive since the idea is that it's a joint decision, at this time it takes both the military and the civilian commander to arm the self-destruct. We are shown here very clearly that both Weir and Sheppard need to enter their passwords. This is the design of the device, it's a fail-safe mechanism ensuring that the decision is not taken lightly or easily. It is Sheppard's personal password, no one else is meant to have it.

McKay is looking at Sheppard when they are entering their passwords, when Sheppard isn't looking at him but is focused on his task, committing this sight to memory.

As they've armed the self-destruct, as they have damned the entire city, he has to look away again. All of this is just a manifestation of how perfectly he has failed all these people. This is all his fault, his responsibility. He can barely stand to be inside of his own skin right now.

If McKay was watching Sheppard when he was arming the self-destruct, Sheppard in turn watches him as he dials the gate in preparation for their move onto the Alpha Site, and it is only the sudden appearance of an in-coming wormhole that is able to make him draw his eyes away from that man.

The arrivals are from SGC, seeming to include a company of marines headed by a Colonel. It seems as though a new hope has arrived, and while they can't quite believe it yet, they don't quite know what to make of it, they certainly welcome this help with open arms. For the expedition this is a wonderful thing, for the security of Atlantis and protecting them from the wraith this is the best news they could have received.

But for Sheppard and McKay's interpersonal relationship, things just got even more tense. They haven't had time to reconnect after the events of the previous episode, they are still unsure around each other, they are both still hurting and raw, and now there is a superior officer on base that Sheppard owes allegiance to (emphasized by how Ford immediately salutes the man, Colonel of the USMC to which he belongs). If they were unfree to show what is brewing underneath the surface within both of them individually and between them before, their hands are not completely tied. The reality of it seems to slowly sink in as Sheppard watches them coming in.

However much it might be killing Sheppard inside that he can't get to McKay to comfort him, to be able to touch him to know that he's real and that he's here, that he didn't die, that he hadn't lost him, his duty holds him back with a vise grip. And however much McKay may be dying to have Sheppard come to him, to tell him that it wasn't his fault, that it's not all up to him, that they can still figure this out together. that it's going to be alright, he is called upon to protect Sheppard from the oppressive system that he serves. They may have needed to be careful around each other in public before, but suddenly they are asked to pretend like there is nothing whatsoever between them. And it could not have come at a worse time.

The arrival of Colonel Everett is a double-edged sword.

Continued in Pt. 2

-* This is veering into fanfic territory but I can imagine Sheppard's attempt to contact McKay after finding out that he's still alive going something like this:

Sheppard: McKay? McKay: McKay here. Sheppard: You're... McKay: What? Sheppard: ... McKay: ... Sheppard: Are you injured? McKay: Negative. Myself and Miller... are uninjured. Sheppard: Good. McKay: Hm. Sheppard: The jumper is unharmed? McKay: It's unharmed. Sheppard: And you're on your way back? McKay: We should be in Atlantis in XX zero hours. Sheppard: Good. McKay: ... Sheppard: We are preparing to evacuate everyone to the Alpha Site. McKay: Okay. Sheppard: We'll wait for you to return before we proceed. McKay: Right. Sheppard: Okay. McKay: Yes. Sheppard: Good. McKay: ... Sheppard: ... McKay: .... Sheppard: I'm... glad that you're alive *click*

And scene.