#rodney is my hero for this line

[california-112]

See, thanks to Dr Tyson, Pluto is now the first of the Plutoids. A new class of celestial object, it’s cool! 

Stargate Atlantis | S05E16 ‘Brain Storm’

[dr-futbol-blog]

Our hero, Major John Sheppard is stationed at McMurdo base in Antarctica at the start of the series. We learn that he likes it there. Sheppard himself tells Teyla in Sateda (S03E04): "Well, that [having no social skills] is why I enjoyed flying choppers in the most remote part of my world before all this craziness."

This is what John Sheppard tells us but we learn that what he tells us is not always the truth and certainly not the whole truth.

The alien AI that created a hallucination from Sheppard's own subconscious in Remnants (S05E15) poses him the question: "You're either someone with a death wish or someone running away from something. So tell me: what are you running away from?" Running away to the most remote part of his world, running away to another galaxy.

In fact, he has both been banished to and self-isolated in the most remote part of his world ("You torture yourself every day, John.") due to his "black mark" acquired in Afghanistan. We are never explicitly told what this black mark was, only that it bothered Gen. O'Neill and was something that Dr. Weir could live with. We are left wondering.

While we are shown something of what happened in Afghanistan during the episode Phantoms (S03E09), through the hallucinations from Sheppard's past of him failing to save Capt. Charlie Holland, it isn't until toward the end of the series that we find out what happened through the mirror of a parallel reality in Vegas (S05E19), where alt!Rodney tells us "You were a helicopter pilot in Afghanistan but were dishonourably discharged for disobeying orders and trying to rescue a field medic trapped behind enemy lines. You were shot down – obviously survived, but unfortunately the crash killed four American soldiers along with eight civilians. You avoided jail time; the record was sealed for various political reasons."

The field medic in the Vegas-verse, one where "infinite variations of our own known reality where alternate versions of you and I play out events", is female; this revealed in a mumbled 'ur' (I didn't even catch it on first viewing even though I knew about the gender swap in advance; it might just as well have been "knew 'em") in alt!Rodney's line: "That field medic – the one you defied orders to go back and try and rescue. You knew her personally. You were... involved."

This was one of the differences between the two realities, perhaps even the most defining one of them, the point of divergence.

Vegas Sheppard dies to the tune of Johnny Cash's Solitary Man because that's what he was, a recluse (and note that the importance of Johnny Cash was underlined in the episode by Sheppard taking nothing but his poster, the same Johnny Cash poster that our Sheppard had in his quarters for all of the five years, with him once he walked away from his job; it carries weight):

I know it's been done havin' one girl who loved me Right or wrong, weak or strong Don't know that I will, but until I can find me The girl who'll stay and won't play games behind me I'll be what I am

But our Sheppard is not a Solitary Man (he has self-confessedly found something of a family in Pegasus). He's the Man in Black (in fact, he is dressed in black throughout the series even in situations where other fatigues would have made more sense; it is only in the very last episode that we see him in lighter colours):

I'd love to wear a rainbow every day And tell the world that everything's okay But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back 'Til things are brighter, I'm the man in black

We know the background. When the series begun, DADT was still in full effect, the franchise had a long-standing co-operation with the USAF, Prop 8 was still several years into the future. The non-normative sexual orientation of an All-American Action Hero was never going to be main-text. Even heterosexual romance between characters was mostly eschewed by the franchise. But damn if the subtext doesn't lay it out thick for us.

There are so many obvious parallels and comparisons in the show that I need to write them down somewhere, and while this is a day late and a dollar short, this fandom could do with some meta. So this marks the beginning of my journey through Stargate Atlantis with an eye on its bisexual protagonist.

[sheppardsmckay]

I’ve finally finished the incredible show that is Stargate Atlantis and I. Have. Thoughts.

I watched Vegas and Enemy at the Gates together (on the advice of my sga leader @lightthewaybackhome) and I’m so happy I did.

So Vegas feels like a different show entirely, from the filming to the characters. Sheppard does not seem like Sheppard nor does anyone else. They’re all darker, more broken versions. My heart was just broken the whole time, but I didn’t cry until I saw Rodney though. This is the Rodney without his Sheppard to guide him and help him. This is the Rodney who lets Keller pass him by. This is the Rodney that lets Sheppard go alone. This is Rodney without a Sheppard that lit up Atlantis (this is honestly worse than last man but it’s a good parallel).

This is the Sheppard that goes alone on yet another suicide mission because he’s lost everything anyway…and then he dies. While Johnny Cash’s “Solitary Man” plays. Because that’s who Sheppard is, not the man in black saving the world with his people, but the solitary man who is alone without a home and no chance to be healed. And yet still he sacrifices himself and is brave and dies saving the world. Sheppard becomes the action hero at the end of the movie that goes out guns blazing and, while it’s usually cool to see, this one just breaks our hearts.

And then we move to the finale and…oh! Sheppard is Sheppard again, and Rodney is Rodney and everyone is okay.

And we see the parallels between the Vegas world and ours throughout the episode. Sheppard about to go on a suicide mission stops right at the last moment because Rodney’s voice breaks through the radio. The team is about to die blowing up the hive ship but stops because Atlantis is there in time to save them. Atlantis is lit up because of Sheppard. And then we see them all at the end. They’re happy, and alive and not broken.

And even though they aren’t fully healed, cause who ever is in this life, they’re on the path to healing. There’s hope, there’s light that has broken through the darkness (the way the show ends with the light piercing through the clouds is so beautiful in a literal and metaphorical sense like I’m sobbing).

There’s a couple lines from songs that my Sheppard told me about that is forever linked with SGA now. Ghosts That We Knew has a beautiful line, “So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light”. Throughout the show there’s so much darkness and pain, but we stick through it with the team because there’s hope that it’ll be okay. There’s hope because John is there, because they’re all there right where they should be. It’s a beautiful metaphor for life.

And then there’s a song called Hospital for Souls. It’s mainly a Sheppard song, as he lets himself burn for his family, but it’s also how Atlantis is a hospital for all the broken souls and brings them together. It’s why Sam didn’t stay there long and Woolsey came on board. It’s why Ronon says at the end that he is home. It’s why Teyla chooses to stay and raise her son in Atlantis instead of her home world. Why Rodney waits 48000 years for Sheppard and why Sheppard realizes finally that he doesn’t have to die to be redeemed, that living and healing is possible for even him.

It’s been a wonderful journey watching this show, it’s changed me, helped me grow and made me realize that healing is possible for even me. That a family is what you make it and they can be your hospital for your soul no matter how weary, broken or hurt.

I just love this show. I’m immediately gonna start rewatching it from the beginning because this. This is my family, my home. I’ve found myself in the darkness of Sheppard and the outlierness of Rodney. In the fierce love of Ronon and sisterly bond of Teyla.

I’m ever so grateful my friend got me to watch this, so happy that I went through the darkness into the light with my team, through tears and shouts of joy. I always said Supernatural would be the only show with this kind of life-changing, life-saving impact. But Stargate Atlantis now holds that honor too, this little, cheesy, ridiculously funny and terribly sad series has changed my life, helped me be the person I wanted to be for so many years but always struggled with (yeah I’m louder, complain more and am maybe a bit more annoying but gosh it’s more fun) and just generally helped me with so many endless things. And I’ve found some great friends and got closer to one of my best friends, aka my Sheppard lol.

Anyway, all this to say that this show is beautiful and incredible and please do yourself the honor of watching it but definitely bring tissues. Don’t worry too much about why they wear sneakers for like two seasons or their military tactics are off, but just enjoy the friendship, the humor, and how wonderful it shows that it doesn’t matter how messed up you are. How dark you’ve gotten or how many pieces of your soul you’ve sacrificed for others. You can be redeemed and healed and made whole. You can find people who love you despite your flaws and shortcomings. And you can find the light no matter how dark the world has become. You too can be home.

[clove-pinks]

Perry's Victory on Lake Erie

The best version by Lee Murdock (on The Lost Lake Sailors album) of "Perry's Victory On Lake Erie" is also on YouTube, if you don't have Spotify.

I've searched in vain for the lyrics and finally ended up transcribing them myself! Feat. USAmericans consistently called "Columbians" and some potent nationalism.

--

You tars of Columbia give ears to my story

Who fought with brave Perry, whose cannon did roar:

Your valor has gained you an immortal glory, and fame that will last until time is no more.

On the tenth of September let us all remember, as long as the globe on its axis reels round,

Our tars and marines on Lake Erie were seen

To make the red flag of proud Britain come down.

Columbian tars are the true sons of Mars, who rake fore and aft when they fight on the deep.

On the bed of Lake Erie, commanded by Perry, they caused many Britons to take their last sleep.

The van of our fleet was brought up complete,

Commanded by Perry the Lawrence bore down.

Our guns they did roar such terrific power, that savages trembled at that dreadful sound.

The Lawrence sustained the most dreadful of fire, she fought three to one for two glasses or more,

whilst Perry undaunted did firmly stand by her, and on the proud foe heavy broadsides did pour.

Her masts being shattered, her rigging all tattered, her sails all in ribbons her wheel shot away—

With few left on deck to manage the wreck, our heroes on board her no longer would stay.

There was one gallant act of our noble commander, whilst writing my song I shall notice with pride:

When launching the smack that carried his standard, the ball whistled through her quite close by his side.

Said Perry, "Those villains intend sure to drownded us, but push on my brave boys you need never fear."

And then with his coat he plugged up the boat, and through sulfur and fire away he did steer.

The famed Niagara, now proud of her Perry, displayed all her banners in gallant array,

While twenty-five guns on board she did carry, which soon put an end to this sad bloody fray. 

The fire of the Britons grew shorter and shorter, the signal was given to break through their line.

While starboard to larboard and from every quarter, 

The guns of Columbia gloriously shine.

In the heat of the battle, whose cannon did rattle, on the Lawrence, a wreck, with her men near all slain, 

Brave Elliott did steer as they brought up the rear, and by this grand manoeuvre the victory was gained.

Oh had you been there, I vow and declare, that such a grand sight you had ne'er saw before! 

When six bloody flags that no longer would wave, were laid at the feet of our brave Commodore. 

The whole British fleet was captured complete, not one single vessel from us got away.

And prisoners, some hundreds, Columbians wondered, to see them all anchored and moored on the bay.

Great Britain may boast of her conquering heroes, 

her Rodneys her Nelsons and all the old crew,

But Rome in her glory ne'er told such a story

Nor boasted such feats as Columbians can do.

So Columbians sing, and make the woods ring,

And toast those brave heroes, by sea and by land.

Whilst Britons drink sherry, let us drink to Perry,

And toss it about with a full glass in hand.

Columbians sing and make the woods ring, and toast those brave heroes by sea and by land,

Whilst Britons drink sherry, let us drink to Perry!

And toss it about with a full glass in hand.

[void-botanist]

🖊 🖊 🖊 🖊 !!!!!!!!!

Hello Ren!!! You get several paragraphs about Fay and Lou's terrible divorce :D

They're like the inverse of Sorian and Avis, because it was less clear-cut what exactly made everything fall apart. There were first the general resentments of Fay being mostly a stay-at-home mom while Lou sunk way too much of his time in the bakery - simultaneously a moneymaker, a status symbol, and the target of Fay's ire. But this was a simmer of a conflict. Things didn't start escalating until Isabel came out as trans when she was 11. Neither Fay nor Lou had any trouble with this, at least until Lou made it all about him. He would never ask Isabel to be someone she wasn't, no, but now he was left high and dry with no son to inherit his bakery, to carry on the patrilineal tradition he'd singlehandedly revived. All that time he spent there was a waste without an heir, you know?

Fay took this as proof that he did care about the bakery more than his family, and they started to fight more and more. In his deepening unhappiness Lou accidentally found a new love interest (along the lines of "she happened to help me with bakery taxes" or something) and realized that oh, maybe he really didn't need to be in this miserable marriage anymore. I think it's actually more interesting if they were "good" and never banged prior to the divorce, because that was immaterial as soon as Lou told Fay that he'd found a new partner so maybe it was time they broke up. This was the moment when Fay's poorly attached hinges flew off and she began throwing everything of his in a pile at the bottom of the stairs, followed by screaming at him to leave so loudly that the neighbors could hear.

After that the divorce should have been quick but they argued about the bakery revenues and the house and custody of Rodney and Isabel (who were 10 and 13 when the whole debacle started and pretty clearly sided with Fay, because at least she'd always been there) and whether they could get a fault divorce (honestly I'm not sure but Fay wanted one) and finally, a year and a half later, the divorce was finalized. Lou let Fay offload the house onto him and she, Isabel, and Rodney left for Antarac. He got remarried to his new partner, Annette, who he's still married to, and they later adopted a kid, Hatt, who's the middle sibling age-wise between them, Rodney, and Isabel. I have yet to work out a lot of Hatt's background but between them and Annette, Lou has learned quite a lot about how not to be transphobic and also how not to be weird by adding a "Be My Heir" letter into the mix of yearly birthday cards to your son (just don't do that). Hatt is all too happy to be the heir to the bakery but had the advantage of being adopted as a teenager and therefore not raised with Expectations like Isabel and Rodney (I suspect they were like Annette's nibling or cousin to begin with). Annette ends up low-key being Isabel's hero because she had a double mastectomy for cancer reasons and therefore also has a flat chest.

I'm indisposed for doodles/picrews atm but I want to make some of them later and get their designs a little more nailed down.

🖊️ send me a pen and get some cool OC facts 🖊️

Nicea taglist: @kahvilahuhut @malloen8c @outpost51 @writernopal @athenswrites

[nimuetheseawitch]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

Thanks for tagging me @marley-manson!

No pressure tags: @hero-in-waiting, @spurious, @sparrowsarus, @dedkake, @logicgunn, @colonelshepparrrrd and anyone else who wants to do this :)

Everything is under the cut because this is going to be long.

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

36, although one of those is a playlist for the SGA Songfest.

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

76,731

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I have written for Good Omens, MASH, Stargate (SGA and SG-1), Person of Interest, and now Top Gun: Maverick.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

walking alone at 3am (TGM), The McMurdo Chess Club (SGA), Autopilot (SGA), I would never dare (Good Omens), and Class A's (MASH)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I very much try to. I love responding to comments.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Angst-wise, I think it's Dear John (SGA), although it almost doesn't count because I wrote a follow up sequel that fixes the angst. There's no one I would rather be lying beside (SGA/SG-1) is definitely the saddest though.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh man, most of them have pretty happy endings. I think maybe my favorite happy ending is You Can't Go Home Again (MASH).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven't. People seem to be pretty friendly.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes. Some of the smut is just incidental to the plot, but I also do a few that are just smut. I guess I tend to write mostly m/m (although I have some f/f and want to write more of that) with a little bit of kink, usually some d/s dynamics and light bondage. I'm trying to get more comfortable with it in general. I keep on meaning to do some kinkmeme fills as practice.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Technically, my SGA/SG-1 fics are crossovers, but I don't think that really counts, since it's very much the same universe. Which makes I've bit my tongue too long to hide the blood I'm covered in (SGA/POI) my only true crossover. And definitely the craziest. Very niche fic that absolutely no one asked for, but I love it.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I'm aware.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Oh, that's so hard to answer. I feel like I have different answers for this depending on the day and the context. But it might be John/Vala (SGA/SG-1).

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My SGA fic where John dies while Rodney is back on earth with Jennifer and Rodney comes back and slowly starts to lose it, seeing John everywhere. I have so many SGA fics that will take priority over it, and it's just sad, which is harder for me to feel motivated. It was also shaping up to be long, which I struggle with. I also haven't come back to SGA yet - I'm still thoroughly ensared by Top Gun at the moment.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Recently, I've discovered I may actually be good at fluff. Either that, or the TGM fandom is just really, really nice (or both). On the more nuts and bolts of things, I usually only write something when I feel I have a good handle on the character voice, and my grammar is generally really good (although when I'm tired I fuck up tenses and have had to go back and fix that too many times to count). I also think I do a pretty good job with making romance sweet but not over the top.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Comedy. I occasionally write some funny lines, but it's very hard for me to write jokes if I'm intending to do so. Also, as previously mentioned, I will sometimes switch between past and present tense without noticing and have to go back and fix that. And I really struggle with writing long fics (I just run out of steam). Which is why I've mostly moved to writing series of shorter fics instead of multi-chaptered fics.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Depends. Usually, I'm not going to bother. I just put some Hebrew in a fic because a character was celebrating a Jewish holiday, but it wasn't a whole passage, just a phrase that I think can be worked out from context (although I'm going to put in an end note to help give some additional context for anyone who isn't familiar with that particular Jewish holiday). But I'm not going to ever do anything more than that - I think it makes things a little harder to read, and generally, I think that you can say things like 'Radek muttered in Czech' if you want to bring in another language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

First fandom I posted in was Good Omens, but I recently realized that I should count the comic my friend and I made in 6th grade, where we essentially put all of us and our friends into the Sammy Keyes universe (and also, wow, my character went by a man's name and dressed like a guy but still used she/her pronouns but didn't mind he/him and was essentially aromantic, and hindsight is 20/20)

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Again with the hard choices - I love so many of my fics. But right this moment, I think Autopilot (SGA) is my favorite. It's the only one I wrote longhand, and I wrote it because the SGA server was doing a challenge to write a 15-sentence fic. It was super fun to write, and I think it turned out really well.

[spurious]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 🤍

oh i feel so blessed to be sent this! and by @hero-in-waiting as well; i'm only going to post the once lol so.

Bring on the self-promo:

O I Think We Should Be Brethren SGA, McShep, 30k Surely people are tired of hearing me talk about this fic, but! I think this is the best thing I've ever written, I put a huge amount of myself into it, and I'm immensely proud of it. It's a bit of a McShep Thesis Statement, I suppose? Idk I love it! I think it's good!

Ink and Wings SGA, McShep, 2.7k This one was supposed to be a little silly PWP and I ended up saying something achingly sad about John Sheppard instead; what can I say, I love sad gay John Sheppard fic!! I like this one a lot but the response to it was what made me...idk, realize what I'd actually done?

Self-Preservation Kanjani8, YokoHina, 8k This one...I can say frankly, with the benefit of years later, I don't think it got the appreciation it deserved lmao. I absolutely love using kinkfic as a means to explore emotional landscapes and facilitate vulnerability for men who would otherwise never ever speak a feeling to one another!!!!!!

Down in Your Arms SGA, McShep, 2.4k Hahaha speaking of that exact thing! Idk I just really like this one! I like how it felt to come at this from Rodney's POV, and I think it stands neatly on the line of sexy and emotional which is where I like to hang out.

Better Odds SGA, McShep, ~1k My first true foray into episode tag fic! I like this one, I liked working through a possible conversation the two of them could've had, and fitting it into the canon point where the episode is located.

[asyouleft]

Thank you for the tag @happyaspie

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

- 89! I have a lot of other works that never made the move from LJ to a03 tho.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

- 1,100,235. I like to think this is an indication of how my mental health is, lmao.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

- Mosly MCU Irondad but I have caved and started writing Heartstopper lately. And I have some Our Flag Means Death fics in the works. I used to write a lot of McShep for Stargate Atlantis, as well as Supernatural, Harry Potter, Torchwood & Doctor Who.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

- Five Time Faculty Members Had to Call Peter's Emergency Contact + One Time He Shows Up Anyway 5,410 kudos

-Five Times Tony Stark's Fabled Intern Just Showed Up + One Time He Was Invited  2,824 kudos

- The Hero of Our Own Story 2,033 kudos

- There is Always One Last Light to Turn Out 1,854 kudos

- For We are Bound by Symmetry 1,730 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I like to say thank you to everyone who comments because I am forever grateful for it!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

If You Find That You Feel Lost, I'll Be Your Ticket Back which I think has a happy ending to it but others disagree. And Films About Ghost which also is a happy/sad ending. There's resolutions but it's not what everyone wants.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmm, I think they all end kinda happy? lol Maybe Operation: Graduation but it's very light hearted.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yeah, not very often but I think sometimes I like moving away from tropes and mixing it up a bit. For We Are Bound by Symmetry got some hate on how I handled the bio!Dad thing. We Always Walked a Very Thin Line got some unexpected hate! And recently there was an anon on Edges of Your Name that poked a little.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, I'm writing one now, lol. I mostly do slash but I've dabbled in het a few times.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nah, not really.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope! I don't look for it anyway and I doubt anyone would want to steal my shit, lol.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes!! Oh my god, someone did two fics in RUSSIAN and I was so happy I cried! Honestly I felt so good about it!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

A very long time ago, I did a Hanson shoebox AU with my friend, haha. And even before that me and my high school bestie cowork some Hanson fics but nope! I'd love to though. Someone cowrite something with me, please!!!

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Ngggh. This is hard because my brain is like MCSHEP BITCH (John Sheppard/Rodney McKay) and then immedatly followed by Nick Nelson/Charlie Spring, Aziraphale/Crowley, Ed/Stede, Jack/Ianto. And I just realized a majority of these are CANON which NEVER HAPPENS TO ME and I think I might die of happiness knowing my ships are canon. (Also wow my brain did not come up with a single het ship lol opps)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

My WIP folder has about 49 fics in it, so yeah. There's a Richard Parker Alive but Terrible Parent fic that I was pretty far into before I gave up. I'd like to actually finish that but I've lost the plot bunny somewhere.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hmm, I dunno, honestly. I think I can write certain characters well like the funny sarcastic ones (Peter Parker, Charlie Spring, Rodney McKay and even Tony Stark) because it's just me, hi, that's me.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Aside from spelling, lolz? I think I get too wordy sometimes, I have to cut paragraphs off in editing because I just keep going. I also think I can't end a scene to save my life sometimes and get frustrated when I don't think the end point works.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I don't think I really have? I dunno, Nick hasn't spoken French in a fic yet, damn I might just have to add that soon...

19. First fandom you wrote for?

OKAY if we're going to be for reals about this, most likely the Hobbit or The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe. I was writing fic as a kid (self insert no less) without realizing it. Later I'd write "episodes" of like Rainbow Brite, or Carebears, Inspector Gadget, Captain Planet. I'd also write one off Marvel/DC stuff with a self insert superhero (aka me with powers, usually I was an x-man lmao).

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Nhggh, that's hard. I like, act like I like what I write but I also end up like, hating it? I think I really love how Just an Intern turned out, from conception to finishing it, it was a fun write. And I quiet like how Edges of Your Name has come together too. But I think I had a little magic in me when I wrote There is Always One Last Light to Turn Out somehow. I wrote the thing in like 2 days and I think it came out rather well for something I mostly texted to speech as I was driving to work, ha.

And I'm terrible at tagging people so whomever!

[borrelia]

okay here are my combined takeaways from the director/producer commentary on robots (2005):

production designer william joyce was also a creative lead on rolie polie olie (started in 1998). so you may connect some stylistic similarities there lol

he and director chris wedge knew each other for quite a while before this and had been dreaming up this movie since, if I heard them correctly, they were teenagers?

the movie started from the setting, then characters and story were developed for it.

they took a Lot of pride in the setting, in figuring out how a world of metal people would function. artists would design Cool Things In The World and they would scramble to figure out where they could put it in the movie. they knew that including lots of background details would give the world life, and they were very happy to see it

if you don't remember the 3d animation scene in the early 2000s, you might not intuit that they were constantly amazed by what they were able to do. the technology was in a rapid stage of development, so there is physics and rendering in the complete movie that they simply could not have done at the start of production. these two were in constant awe of how good the movie looked

on that note, lighting was a big priority for them. they talked a lot about trying to find ways to texture and light metal so that it could look friendly, or so that the main characters would pop in a crowd.

the dominoes thing wasn't initially intentional. they were pretty late in production when they figured out that the way they would approach bigweld's reclusiveness would be Big Dominoes.

oh right, they were writing the story like As it was being animated. this was not a very linear production. the script was Not finished when they moved to the next steps.

they both liked to point out the Function of scenes. like "ok here's where we had to put in more exposition, here's where we had to introduce the stakes, this scene is important for letting the movie Breathe after all that action" etc etc. as part of that, they also liked to point out scenes that Didn't have a function, they were just extended gags or maybe at best helped to flesh out (hah) the world. they liked these scenes tho :) they took a lot of inspiration from buster keaton gags

there was originally a lot more stuff about cappy and from her pov :( her whole deal was that she was Also, like rodney, a small-town bot, but she upgraded herself in order to succeed in the industry. so that was like, her motivation to sympathy and to help the heroes. also that was the connection point between her and rodney from which they built their romance, which, was also, largely cut.

the voice actors never recorded together. at all. but would come back and do retakes when they heard the others' line reads.

they point out that robots is Almost a musical. which, yeah! it does feel like that! there are musical moments, or moments that feel like they Belong in a musical. but besides fender's singing in the oil song (which robin williams just. made. unprompted. bc of course he did) there's no actual singing.

bigweld has two designs, i never noticed! between the time the children's show was shot and the next time we see him, he got upgrades. apparently most other people didn't notice either so I'm glad I'm not alone lol

robots fun movie with a lot of love in it and these two seemed exceptionally proud of the result :)

[wonkyelk]

Last line tag!

Rules: Make a new post, post your latest line from your WIP & tag as many people as there are words.

Thank you for the tags @gingerpolyglot!

Working title We’ll Name it Glenda’:

“Rodney really liked to be persuaded.”

I think most people I know have already been tagged. Feel free to ignore in any case.

@sga-owns-my-soul, @cassiope25, @massharp1971, @hero-in-waiting

#wip games#tag games

[elanorfmp]

Research - Animation in movies/shows

I’ve decided I want to do something focusing on animation.

Mob psycho is one of my favourite examples of 2D animation in anime, the creativity from the studio is evident down to the intro. Mob psycho is animated by studio bones, a Japanese animation studio with a lot under their belt, such as My hero academia season 6, and the three movies that accompanied it. I love the variety and psychedelic approach it takes, and I truly think it’s one of the best in the industry. 

In mob psycho's intro which is linked below, the animators and even director Takahiro Hasui are the ones chanting as the choir in the song, which is an example of the passion and love poured into this show by the team. 

Puss in boots, the last wish is dreamworks most recent film, which recognised that the generic 3D animation from pixar and disney was starting to lose it’s touch, and made something entirely different. The art here looks 3D but still maintains that beautiful hand drawn aesthetic, It also featured a lot of uses of brush strokes to signify impact, such as when puss taps his feet. The animation in puss in boots is busy without being overwhelming, and has outstanding choreography. Puss in boots is a very vibrant film, and the hand drawn style served to bring the movie alive.

One of my favourite shots in the whole film was this one, I love the slow frame of how the red seems like it’s spilling across the scene like blood, it also reminds me of the Red dead redemption 2 promo art.

Puss in boots was directed by Josh Crawford, who also made the sequel to croods 2, another successful sequel following a medium performing movie. 

Into the spider verse pioneered this new alternative animation that Puss in boots cultivated, simultaneously reaffirming animation’s place in mature(r) movies, it also creatively explored alternative styles with all of the various characters and universes that they’re from. I also think this was a more espressive adaptation to exploring multiverses as apposed to something like Doctor strange, multiverse of madness. Don’t get me wrong, Multiverse of madness explored the strangeness with CGI, but I still find it to be less exciting.

I also love the fact that the cartoonish spiderman follows cartoonish rules, and stuff like that, this film has fun with the idea.

Spider man was directed by three directors,  Bob Persichetti,  Peter Ramsey and  Rodney Rothman.

If into the spiderverse proved that animation was still king when it came to super hero movies, Arcane proved that animation fits the gruelling and adult world of Piltover from League of Legends. Arcane for me is the peak of animation telling a mature story, and being used as a tool to not only show the colour and wonder of the world, but also the cruelty and bleakness. Not to mention the fight scenes, and that same use of comic like impact lines, as seen in the gif below.

There’s a lot to talk about with Arcane, it follows a similiar technique to puss in boots, a 3D model improved and elevated by hand drawn art, effects, shading, colouration, by Arcane’s profound impact comes from this, combined with the compelling fight scenes and well thought choreography and concequences, and the sense of weight behind a character’s actions, for example Vi’s punches, and a character’s decision.

Characters during the fight get progressively banged up and messy, Vi’s knuckles become bloody, she spits blood, sometimes teeth.

All of the fight scenes are unique and compelling, and an example of what peak animation can do, and this isn’t even getting into when Vi gets her gauntlets, I personally love the steampunk factor, how the cogs are shown turning, the gauntlets producing steam.

The fluidity, the blur, the use of light to trail,  the impact of each punch, hit, each bullet.

[littleharpethcrossfit]

Saturday,    1 October,   2022.... Warmup..Bench Press..”Roney”

It was a cool, beautiful FALL morning at the Barn.

Larry led us off with a little mobility/flexibility session.

Warmup:

Med-Ball Toss:       Partners get a Med-Ball and toss it back and forth, 10 tosses done 5 different ways.  

Strength WOD:

Bench Press:          10   X   8   X   6   X   4 

Listed below are the 4 Rep Max’s:

Larry/Bernie=245     Josh=215     Average Dave=205        Ryan=185     Coach=175    Nathan=165      Ed=155     Tom=150     Timmy/Rodney=135     Dana=125    LSU=115          Joe/Chad/Rich=95     Linda/Cheri/Alicia=85     Kayla/Sandy=75     SC=70      Sabrina/Shannon=65     Lew=PJ     Manny and a few others did not post.

Metabolic Conditioner:

“Roney”     A CrossFit Hero WOD. 

Constable Ronan “RONEY” Kerr was in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.  He was killed by a car bomb outside his home on April 2, 2011.

                          4 Rounds

Run 200 / Row-Ski  250 / Bike 500m

11  Single Arm Dumb Bell Thrusters  (R/L Alternating)     (50/35/20)

Run 200 / Row-Ski  250 / Bike 500m

11  Single Arm Dumb Bell Snatch’s  (R/L Alternating)      (50/35/20)

Run 200 / Row-Ski 250 / Bike 500m

11  Bench Press     (135/95/65)    

Repeat all of the above 4 times.

Elite:

Larry=18:41     Average Dave=19:30     Ryan=23:41     Dana=25:56     Bernie=28:50

RXers:

Ed=22:54     Timmy=25:04     Alicia=26:17      Nathan=30:10

All The Rest Of Us:

Rich=23:50     LSU=24:28      SC=25:50     Chad=27:10     Rodney=27:38     Kayla=28:39      Sabrina=30:23     Shannon=30:30      Tom=31:00     Coach=31:15     Sandy=31:42      Joe=33:41     Josh=34:10      Linda=23:30 (3 Rounds)     Cheri=DNF     Lew=PJ     Manny and others no post.

Notes:

A nice crowd.  Three new people.  Ryan has done a bit of CrossFit and is looking for a BOX.  He is a recent graduate going into Miss Linda’s line of work.  Lord knows we need more Counselors at LHCF.  Chad was brought by Kayla whose side he refused to leave.  Chad just wanted to work out with the girls.  Chad, please make an appointment with Miss Linda or Ryan.  Big Josh has a thousand connections to LHCF besides living across the street from the Rousseau’s.  He is virtually childhood friends with the Kennedy’s, and is good bud’s with (hold your breath) SAM DAVIS.  Fortunately Robert wasn’t here (more later) so there is a good chance that these 3 new people might return.  Yes, they all left T-shirted.

Robert and Son Thomas are doing the CrossFit Level-2 seminar course in Louisville this weekend.   Rumor has it that they have schemed out a Morse Code type of signal tapping so Thomas can send Dad the correct answers during the test.  If you think you mumbled “Finally we’ll get some coaching around here” without my knowing the source, you are mistaken.

Sunday we will convene at 0730 and at 1 PM.  It is untrue that the 0730 class is reserved for the elderly and infirm, although there will be several of those present.

[rodneymckays]

stargate episodes that should have been, part 24: the atlantis team ends up on a planet that is populated by cats. normal housecats (but in the wild), not like, lions or cheetahs or something. and the cats love mckay. he is affectionate with the cats at first (which causes ford to mock him) but quickly grows annoyed because the cats like to walk across his laptop while he is attempting to do Science with the ancient ruins on the planet. turns out the cats are semi-intelligent and are smart enough to try and direct his attention to an Important Thing. unfortunately no one realizes that they’re smart except ford, who keeps getting scratched every time he makes fun of mckay. he insists the cats are doing it on purpose and are out to get him (“i always was a dog person, sir”), but sheppard says that’s crazy. the wraith show up on the planet because one of the cats accidentally activated a beacon while walking on mckay’s keyboard. the team prepares to fight but there is no need because the wraith are swarmed instantly by cats upon landing. it turns out that the cats were an ancient experiment to fight the wraith, and the experiment failed because none of the researchers assigned to the post were cat people. mckay saves the data on the experiment (which was the Important Thing from earlier) and then they go back to atlantis, one of the cats riding on mckay’s shoulder. (when they get back, bates says the cat is a security risk. the cat nearly scratches his eye out. teyla pets the cat on the head.)

rodney being a canonical cat lover (and a lover of pets in general? he was very fond of carson's turtles) is so rodney. cats are pretty self sufficient compared to other pets, which i'm sure is a plus when ur a workaholic and in another galaxy, but stumbling upon SMART, wraith fighting cats is like hitting the pet jackpot. i'm glad one deigned rodney a worthy enough steed/companion.

and for once, an ancient experiment didn't end in tragedy/totally horrifically!!

[spurious]

Tagged by @hero-in-waiting 💕

Rules: Make a new post, post your latest line from your WIP & tag as many people as there are words.

From “Secrecy” which is shaping up to be a story mostly about pillow talk and Rodney’s insecurities:

It’s less easy to conceptualize what John’s just told him, though, because Rodney’s still half-panting through the aftermath of yet another truly fantastic blowjob, and he can’t imagine any man could get one of those and not immediately move to lock it down.

I am absolutely not tagging that many people!!! This rule is obviously not designed with my sentence structure in mind lmao

No pressure tagging and apologies if you’re already tagged: @nimuetheseawitch @sga-owns-my-soul @dedkake @pinkoptics

[atlantis-scribe]

Hiya, you mentioned inconsistent writing for Rodney a few times in a recent post, and I was wondering if you’d be willing to expand on that a bit please? I’m slowly working my way through the series (but have thoroughly spoiled myself for pretty much all plot points, I think), so I don’t really have a view myself yet. Just interested to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

one of the things I enjoy about Rodney is he's the geek, the hero, and the damsel of the narrative. he's complex and multi-faceted but with real flaws that ensure he doesn't run the risk of being a functional Gary Stu. (that he's afforded this complexity because he's a fan favorite and arguably the self-insert of the Very Male, Very White, & Very Geeky writers is a damn shame, though, and a different discussion altogether.)

still, most what makes him compelling is the result of great acting, greater chemistry, and one of the greatest set ups for an inevitable cult hit (seriously, Stargate and SGA? fandom gold) — all of which owed itself more to kismet than any deliberate planning.

because of this, it's hard not to notice that the writing for his character often gets a little lost. (David — and most of the people who share scenes with him — are so fantastic in making do with what they've got that fans always had more than enough material to work with, but it's really quite evident.)

his allergies and hypochondria? only remembered when they're good for a quick laugh or when Rodney needs to rant about something. (the citrus allergy seems to be a SG-1 thing because Sheppard is seen to have no qualms about eating a wholeass orange in front of McKay in The Game; smarter people than I have also made metas about whether or not Rodney really has Hypoglycemia because for someone in his line of work in the kind of food situation they're in — rationing the first year, lots of foreign food all throughout — that should be more of A Thing.)

his relationship with the more-physical aspects of his job(s)? also rather incongruous with what's supposed to be logical for his character development. Rodney losing his head in a very important rescue mission (him shooting an imaginary mouse in Common Ground) doesn't make sense. I'm not saying he's supposed to be Rambo all of a sudden, but this guy's been an active member of the expedition's flagship gate team for years now. allow him to retain a little self-respect.

his treatment of women is, as we all know, also a controversial issue. this seems to be tied to his general bad-with-people-ness. (honestly? the man has the most compelling friendships in the show, and his individual dynamics with colorful characters having little to no similarities in either background or personality should have made Rodney's narrative journey even more interesting.)

there's honestly probably more, and other people might have seen it differently than I did, but while I'd be hard-pressed to change anything about how Rodney turned out in the end, the writing really does leave much to be desired. as a fic writer myself, it's not that difficult to sit down and find justification for each and every characterization point, but sometimes we just want things in canon to make sense, you know?

[alarawriting]

52 Project #32: Five Minutes

Five minutes from now a man shot me in the head.

It all happened so fast. He rang the doorbell, so I looked through the peephole and saw what looked like a UPS guy at the door. I wasn’t expecting a package, but I wasn’t expecting a guy with a gun, either. I unlocked the three locks, opened the door and there he was, gun pointing right at me. Before I had time to do anything, he fired. 

I don't know why he did it. He could just be a racist asshole who’s trying to start a race war or something by randomly murdering a black teenager, but I don’t think so – there’s a lot of girls every bit as brown as me walking around outside on a nice summer day like today. I think it’s more likely because my mother's a researcher into Proximas and my uncle is a known Proxima who works with the Peace Force; he might have been here after them, or he might have shot me to get at them. 

It doesn't matter. It's five minutes ago and I haven't been shot yet.  Instead I run for the telephone in the kitchen and dial 911.

I hear the doorbell ring. It doesn't matter. 

“911, what’s the nature of your emergency?”

“Uh, there’s a guy outside. With a gun. Outside my family’s apartment. I’m thirteen and my family isn’t here and this guy is trying to kill me.”

“What’s your address?”

I tell them, quickly. I add, “He’s an adult, a white guy with brown hair, medium height. Looks like 30-ish maybe. He’s dressed like a UPS delivery man.” I want to make sure they know it’s a white guy so my uncle doesn’t get beaten or shot if he comes home before the police get here. Rodney King was only three years ago.

“I’m dispatching officers to your location now. Stay on the phone with me.”

“Okay, how long until they arrive?”

“They’ll be there within ten minutes.”

That doesn’t mean much to me. Ten minutes can hold an infinite number of five-minuteses. “My name’s Alannah Foster,” I tell them. “My mom and my uncle are both doctors. Cynthia Foster and Daniel Foster.” I’m thinking that if I can’t hold this guy off long enough, the police need to know who to tell about what happened.

The gunman shoots the lock off the door and kicks the door open.  I can see him from where I'm standing with the telephone. I could drop to the floor to get out of the line of fire; I’m standing in front of a counter. But to get out safely, I’d have to be able to crawl to the door that goes out to the hallway, and I’d have to do it so fast that he can’t shoot me when I’m not behind the counter anymore, and I’d have to do it before he can get here.

That’s not gonna happen. I don’t go to a superhero academy like my uncle did when he was my age, and I know I’m no action hero from a movie. There isn’t any way forward where I’m getting out of this kitchen before he shoots me.

He aims the gun at me. So I jump back five minutes ago.  I don't have as much runway to work with this time.  I jump into the middle of the conversation with Emergency Services, and pick up with barely a stumble-- I'm used to this.  “--adult,” I say. “White guy, brown hair, medium height, UPS uniform.” He's been ringing the doorbell for half a minutes.  In five minutes he'll get the door open and he'll come after me.

My uncle Dan’s a healer. He could maybe save my life if this guy shoots me in the chest – but not in the face or the head.  My mom's just a scientist.  She doesn’t have any powers. And they're both out for the day, Mom at a conference, Dan with his teammates.  There's just me, 13-year-old Alannah, and there's no one I can call that could get here faster than 911 could.

I drop the phone before the 911 dispatcher finishes telling me she’s dispatching officers, and run for the fire escape.  The window’s old wood, painted many times, and it jams as I try to lift it.  I hear him shoot off the lock.

I jump back five minutes ago.  This time as I get off the phone with 911, I don't waste time trying to force the window open.  Instead I pick up one of the heavy iron bookends holding my collection of computer books on my desk, and use it to smash the window.  I'm small enough that I can squeeze through without getting cut up too badly.

There’s a fire escape outside our apartment building. I start down it carefully, not wanting to move too fast and fall.  But I hear him shoot the lock, I hear him head for my bedroom, and as I see him up above me pulling the window open and coming out onto the fire escape with his gun, I jump five minutes ago, to the point where I was smashing the window. This time I run down the fire escape as fast as I can go, trusting that if I fall, I'll just jump five minutes ago and be more careful.

There’s an alley below me, and it doesn’t smell great – garbage pickup won’t be until day after tomorrow. I jump off from near the bottom, and race around the corner, out of the alley and onto the street.  He's probably following me.  No reason to think he's not.  Quickly I crawl under one of the cars parked on our street.  With luck, he won't see me.

I can see his feet.  I can see him looking for me.  It takes longer than five minutes, which makes me nervous.  And then he sees me.  I scream as he kneels down.  "There you are, you little bitch," he says, aiming the gun.

Five minutes ago I'm still under the car and he's out there, looking for me.  I roll out from under the car and start to run.

Behind me he fires. The bullet slams into my back, and then I'm half a minute ago-- I can't jump my full five minutes until I've returned to my origin time.  Half a minute is long enough to throw myself to my stomach as the bullet whizzes over my head, to roll behind a parked car, trembling.  He starts to come around the car.  I circle, keeping the car between him and me.

He's faster than me, and he runs at me, the gun out.  At that range he can't miss.  The bullet is a searing pain in my chest, and then it's five seconds ago, and I'm dodging, now that he's already committed to the shot.  It hits my arm.  Not good enough.  I jump again, ten seconds.  This time I dodge too soon, and he’s able to adjust his aim. It hits me in the chest again. Seven seconds.  Just long enough that I can get all the way out of the way, just short enough that he can't change where he's aiming. 

I drag myself under a car again.  I wait until he ducks down to shoot me, and jump ten seconds, giving me time to position myself just where his head will be.  As his head lowers again, I kick it with all the strength in my body.

He staggers backward, and I pull myself out from under the car, rolling to my feet and running down the street.  We live in a residential neighborhood in Brooklyn, one that’s just expensive enough that everyone here works, so there’s no one on the street in the middle of the day. With gunshots going off, I don’t expect that to last. But I’m not expecting anyone to come save me, either.

By the time he recovers, I've got a nice comfortable margin, a minute or two.  When he shoots me again, I use my margin to jump back, to know when he's going to shoot and duck it again.

"Goddamn, you fucking proxy bitch!  Fucking stay still!"  he screams, proving my theory that this is about me being a Proxima, and shoots at me again.  He's got good aim; he hits again.  I'm so tired of jumping, so tired of the pain of bullets hitting and the fear that I won't be able to evade the next time.  I want so badly to stop... but I don’t want to die. So I jump again, and dodge again, and this time I make it to the cover of a tree before he can shoot me again.

I'm so out of breath. My knees and elbows are all scraped up from hitting the ground repeatedly.  And I'm drained from so many time jumps.  I've never done so many in a row.  There's no way I can keep this up.  The tree isn't big enough to shield me if I run now, not big enough to shield when he reaches me.  I'm boxed in.

And then the cops pull up.

He runs.  They tell him to halt and drop his weapon; when he keeps running, they shoot him.  The bullets tear into him, leaving him on the ground covered with blood, and he doesn't jump five minutes ago.  He stays dead.

***

They call me the hero kid, the resourceful little girl who stayed ahead of a hardened killer for fifteen minutes, long enough for the police to come.  They tell me it wasn't about me at all; he was a small-time hit man, probably hired by someone to take out me out to scare my mother off her pro-Proxima activism.  They don’t mention my uncle at all, so I guess secret identities are good for something after all.

My mom comes from her conference, and hugs me, and my uncle comes from where he's hanging out with his teammates, and he tells me how great I was, and how much control I've got over my powers (he says that part privately where no one can hear.)  I appear in the newspaper in the local news section.  Fifteen minutes of fame, much better than five minutes of fear.

But I want to take self-defense classes, and I want to enter the Peace Force’s superhero academy like my uncle did, and learn what superheroes know about using their powers to survive.  Because someday five minutes might not be long enough to get away.

---------------------------------------------

Takes place in the same universe as “The Cold At The Heart Of The Light”, focusing on some of the minor characters.

This was originally published under “The Common People” fanfic project for Marvel mutants, back in the 90′s, but has been revised since (beyond revision to remove the fanfic elements).