#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.

[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 :)

[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!

[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.

[justhere4thewhump]

See, I never saw him as asexual. I always saw him as being hetero but had decided at some point that he was incapable (and likely felt unworthy) of love while also fulfilling his duty to serve and protect. The man was such a protector that he avoided the “love connection” to make things easier when he had to sacrifice himself or make tough calls. Of course, his love spilled over to his close friends so they sometimes clouded his judgement anyway.

I think the main reason I felt that was was because 1) he had sex/it was implied/showed attraction towards various one-off female characters, 2) Conversion had him kiss Teyla, which in my opinion, was because he was reverting back to mostly acting on impulse and instinct, and shedding inhibitions and 3) John Sheppard was definitely the epitome of a tortured hero in that he was a loner prior to Atlantis, with no real family and disgraced in his line of work for being brave and loyal to friends “to a fault.” So when he finally found his place: a job he excelled at and a “family” who loved him, I think he was desperate to not mess it up.

Now I am not asexual in real life but when it comes to my shows, I aurally am. I think ships amongst main characters make things so messy, dramatic and predictable and almost always become such a focus of what used to be more of an action show (I specifically watch shows that aren’t heavy on relationships for this very reason). For example, I loved NCIS but Tiva became too much and even Densi became too overpowering (in my opinion, of course).

Anyway, with all of that said, I think Sheppard/Teyla would have been the only ship I ever would have supported. Mostly because I feel like they would’ve both maintained the essence of their characters while only giving brief glimpses into the inner workings of their deeper relationship. I also feel like they would have complimented each other damn near perfectly and that the writers wouldn’t have turned the show into a love drama.

On that note (and since I doubt anyone will actually read all of my musings) I will say that there are a lot more McShep fans than there were back when it was airing. Which is totally cool and while I do not see either of them as gay or bi, I do agree that their bond was such an amazing one. They were perfect foil characters in that John was heroic, stoic and physically attractive but had a deeply rooted and often hidden intellect and never-fit-in vibe. While Rodney was an outright intellectual who seemed to embrace his inability to fit in while also exuding timidity and fear. But turns out he had deeply rooted bravery and a desire to be accepted by others. Besides, their banter was priceless!

If John "I never see this coming" Sheppard is not asexual, why'd they make it look like the Iratus bug DNA in Conversion made caused him to feel sexual attraction for the first time ever?

"That was... interesting..." Is not the way I personally would have responded to kissing Teyla, but you go Bug!Shep.

[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

[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!!

[latibulater]

Venture Bros Rewatch notes: Ghosts of the Sargasso

i have seen this episode like. 5 or 6 times. at least twice more than any other episode bc i specifically use this episode as the first episode i show people so i make them watch this one first with me before we start at the beginning. i just think its the perfect balance between the 50s action spoof and the vbros own brand of humor. i havent even clicked play or gotten my drink ready i just love this episode sm

okay i think this is the second time we have seen jonas for more than 2 seconds (in the bixby episode) and he really comes off as a caring leader, even him telling Kano to take Rusty downstairs its very pragmatic and is very well written to copy the tone of 50s scifi heroes. he keeps major tom (HAH) on the line and the voice acting is very earnest

also his terry cloth suit that he looks pretty good in and then adult rusty has his own tailored version but it looks silly instead

"ashes...to ashes...*sobs*" action man's first appearance also at his most soft...need to see the extreme sexual tension between rodney and tom now

i LOVE the background painting the sunset is a beautiful wash on the seascape

brock's OUTFIT. his HAT. the STRIPES. seriously we never get this back again

"one flyboy goes boom" rusty definitely said this one time to jonas and got smacked

dean's little polo! rusty's emphasis on him saying "over" over. and hank also has a cute green shirt on we really got a fun wardrobe change and it was never revisited

DEAN AND BROCK NOT ON MUTE

the funniest part is the fact that rusty's device......works???? but not how it should???? like when you solve for x and the teacher says idhtf you got to the answer like this

"i think dean might have a bladder infection" this whole line is SO PARENTAL

"oh i thought it might be nice if your voice was in the background" GAYYYYY

DUHDHDUH DUHJ DUHJ DUHJ DUHDUHDUHJ DUHJ DUHJ sick arc

"hank, nobody said pirates don't exist"

the guy who says "my sward is made of cwardbwoard" his shirt said RELAX

"is that guy dead?" "yeah" "CMON was that necessary?"

"THE GHOST PIRATE RULES" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the fog machine and screen projector guys.....HOMOSE-

like rusty turns up the "volume" of the machine and the animation is done to make the viewer believe that the effect radiated does ACTUALLY disturb the ghost of major tom. WHY IS RUSTY SO BAD AT MECHANICS YET SO ACCIDENTALLY GOOD AT SOULS.....oh god its because he's been re-born so much

Brock telling Hank not to smoke LMAO

Look. I'm just saying. this entire "sit on my lap" is SO aware of how its the prelude to a pirate x twink porn scene. and then it just totally pivots "no i dont want to" "fine dont" and its SO FUNNY because the pirate capt is just like so in the role but also just a totally chill guy

dean and the captain's back and forth about the ghost screams made me CRACK UP the first few times i saw it "IF YOU WOULD JUST SHUT UP FOR A SECOND"

i wont lie i also copied hank when brock explained the "grab the handle bush the button" i will be inserting that into my random knowledge gained from fiction

Rusty stuck in the clam and vomiting all over himself like he didnt just piss all over himself

okay but the way the capt thinks brock is dean's dad this is a great setup for the capt in s7 to make homo-assumptions

"with guys?" "with guys" "with guys mike"

Brock saying first "okay crybaby" when Hank doesn't want to kill, and then when he thinks Hank is the one who made the ghost wail, he immediately pivots and says "there's no reason to get upset i'll get you through this" like you can out a midwestern man in the army but you cant take the midwestern out of the bodyguard

BROCK"S FIRST EXCUSE IS ITS UP HIS ASS. ITS UP HIS ASS WHY DONT YOU CHECK. no one this man never found his p-spot in bootcamp

rusty's robot legs blowing up.......oooooooh it'd be fun rusty losing his legs

"i have fOunD tHe sAUCEEEEEERRRRR!"

i know it's implied brock kills those guys but both them appear in the spiderskull museum opening night episode there's no way those guys dont have ass nightmares

rusty getting yanked away from the saucer :( i genuinely would be so fucking beyond pissed

"oh my god am i bleeding" the capt is SO SILLY "what kind of expert bodyguard ties men up with big bows" but hank is SILLIER

"WOAh no...NO WAY"

"this is plastic, and that, thats a ghost!"

"you live by the ghost, you die by the ghost" BEST. LINE. EVER.

capt have a screaming skull temporary tattoo on his hand

ORPHEUS using magic to cook literally king i love him i want to *** *** ** *** ****** ***** *** *** *** ********* *** *** ****

Rusty almost dying again, seriously I just. can't imagine the mindset this guy must have

Orpheus' garage has PILES of Jonas' records. GREAT fic setup. also Orpheus swishing his wine. "to use. as a PEN, hank." seriously early vbros is SOOOOOOOO good its so character driven in its animation

Brock just showing up and throwing the skeleton ghost of major tom off the boat like. does he stop screaming. what happens with his soul. i have so many questions yet....none of it really matters in the face of how funny it is floating down on top of rusty's head

Venture Bros Rewatch notes: Eeney Meeney Miney Magic

I love Rusty's bedroom but do we think that look is a holdover from the last time Jonas remodeled (as it's not dated enough to be 60s when the compound was built) or did Rusty remodel the bedroom as soon as he inherited the master bedroom?

Dean and Hank are playing Ouija is so cute

ENTERING....MR ORPHEUS. He comes OUT of the orphan heart machine (??? why?) and zaps Helper and knocks out Dean and Hank, so Dr. O can disable electronics and also cause instant sleep all with just a single nonverbal look...And his lankiness...his sharp edges...EARLY SEASON ORPHEUS ILU

"His magical Dracula powers" "youre standing there in FLAMES" whoever wrote this scene has a child

"brock is it okay if i cry?" after brock just choked him for waking the bodyguard up too sudden. there is both so much to say yet nothing needs to be said its all there

i can't figure out if you need to go outside to get to orpheus' part of the compound, dean is wearing a jacket over his pjs but no shoes and rusty has his rarely seen bathrobe and slippies

"abandoned arachnid lab" WHAT was GOING ON????

i LOVE the pan-ups for introducing characters

Orpheus was saving Helper........"his feeble mind had perceived what's not possible" this is contributing to my idea that our Helper is like Ben's Helper in that they are uh....not cyborgs exactly but meaty machines

Led zeppelin is pretty much the only music brock listen to during sex

How does Rusty not know Orpheus' name already? He's literally the landlord

"junior college upstate" "fEEL it's evil grip PuUUUUUULL ME BACK IN"

"scuba" "scuba" "scuba"

TRIANA girl of the hour. How is she so well adjusted and normal-acting. I want so badly to see a scene or two of Triana at school. Can she use her magic there? Is she is similar classes as Dermott?

"Single parent eh? Common ground" Rusty is so desperate for a friend as soon as he realizes Orpheus is bit like him he drops all snobbish pretenses

THE QTIP COMMENT. I LAUGH. "a walking reminder of our common shame"

"I saw him kill a guy with sock full of party snaps" okay but then doesn't in the next episode Dean get confused about Brock killing people at all? The whole body bags were sleeping bags bit? More evidence of mind erasure

"I'm kind of home tutored in a box my pop made. it sometimes gets very hot in the box. that my pop made" "wow that's kinda screwy" this is the entire moment of what made Triana hang out with dean and her bemusement tolerance and at the end (before prom) fondness

Brock fixing Helper is soooooooo sexy i wish i could chew on his forearms like a rawhide bone

Hank seeing an endless expanse of nature with Rusty wanting to spend time with him, contrasted then by Brock actually being the one present to get Hank out of the way

"we two doctor dads" LITERALLY RUSTY STOP he's got an instant crush and he is just so thrilled to have someone to hang out with. okay with the message O leaves for Triana who just left for school, but at the end she gets bored waiting for her dad at dinner. they seriously spend all day at rusty's lab?

"dont think i didnt notice the neon appointments" GAY BOYS

Rusty acting like an overly typical irate father, he was so channeling jonas trying to impress the only other single father he's ever met

BROCK WITH THE PULLED BACK HAIR MEOW

"i DARE you to make less sense!"

Orpheus just pulled...a singular cupcake with pink frosting out of an upper cabinet....why do the Ventures live like this. 4 boys and a robot.

okay but the whole kitchen scene is so funny and really contrasting rusty and orpheus' character designs, in s1 orpheus really is all long lines and huge blocky black cloak, compared to rusty's tiny little frame, honestly we need more ...(rustyxorpheus=.....thapheus?) of this. the way rusty asks if he wants another brew "kaey"

hank's impression of their dad is hilarious

"the beast hungers for them...i just dont get how they can get the door open"

Orpheus commands the open "by the crimson name of lord balayseeta(?) i command you to open" and shit really DOES open for like a mile around and in-universe implications are that somehow Rusty has created this deeply magic resistant bio-engineered machine

the whole play by play about the orphan heart...........it was probably a clone of hank or dean....

marco

POLO

mAARRRRCO

polo polo!

m a r c o

POLO

Brock sitting down to hug Dean for feeling bad that is so sweet.

True love seems to be flimsy yet real and based upon chemicals, so could be the person they love most who makes their brainvlight up most when they see them

the way Orpheus stretches out his hands and launches it at the joycan to go into hell. he can just send shit to hell if he wants. and he can NOT go to hell or traverse, but he punches one way tickets.

i LOOOOOOOOOVE this episode truly 9/10

[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?