I am unmotivated. I am not even motivated enough to rant which is sad and some kind of reflection on our society, I'm sure. Or rather, the election, because it's freaking draining even in peripheral involvement. It's not just that so much news here seems to be dominated by it; it's also the scare tactics, and the mudslinging, and the ridiculous posturing (and I don't even mean by the candidates) or Joe the Plumber (a record deal? Really?) and the relentlessness of equating electoral choice with moral choice, which I hate.

Dualism is workable in fiction, which is by nature two dimensional and easily shaded. It's crazymaking to try and apply that to real life. And the fact that both parties and their adherents do it drives me nuts.

And that is my rant on politics. For those who plan to be online during the election on Tuesday night, anyone schedule a chat yet? I've heard this rumor this election is going to be a bit controversial.

Other News That Is Not Election Related, Yay!

A.) miss_porcupine continues the Qui Habitat universe in Loyaulte Me Lie, a Jeannie-centric companion to the Rodney-centric Art Is Long. I'd say read Art is Long first, but then again, I'd say read the entire damn novel.

Qui Habitat probably one of SGA's best novels (in progress) and makes my top ten reading of all time in fandom for characterization, scope, and creativity. The premise is based on the idea that SG1 did not defeat the Ori and the Milky Way fell, leading to an evacuation to Atlantis. It's ruthlessly practical, unsentimental, and startlingly blunt with few easy answers as the slow emergence of the Ori in Pegasus becomes more and more inevitable.

The Jeannie story, however, is painful in a very different way, and goes a long way to humanize the unthinkable. While completely different from the Jonas-centric Huma, the time taken in these stories to focus on individual people pre-surrender paints a fascinating picture of how it happened on both a personal and political level, and, at least to me, does a better job of explaining what happened than space battles ever could.

Okay, so.

Almost two years ago, I asked miss_porcupine to write a fic from the pov of the military side of Atlantis, since that was my weakness and to get John through his unfortunate period of not-adult, he'd need it. And blah blah blah a while later (over a year, say), she blew my mind.

Teacher's Pet 11 by miss_porcupine, Evan Lorne, John Sheppard, Elizabeth Weir, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagen, Ronon Dex, etc, gen, 19,000 words of awesome.

It's--actually, it's kind of unbelievably good. I literally hounded for updates, utterly amazed at the detail she put into Lorne, into John, and into all the things they have to do to get John ready for his life. It's amazingly thorough, brilliantly written, and everything, everything I wanted and pretty much everything there is no possible way I could have written myself. And better, it's just a fantastic story.

I love how Lorne's seen the team, Weir, how he marks out all the things that are still going wrong and tries to work out how to fix them, and his utter desperation in fighting for Sheppard's future as well as his past. It's remarkable, and it's logical, and it's sympathetic to pretty much everyone, and I'm still not entirely able to really express how this obsessed me and that I really, really felt I had to finish Teacher's Pet because this had to be read and appreciated.

I just--I just love it. It's amazing.

Read now. This is pretty much the epitome of what wonderful, complex writing and characters are.

Okay, so my first set of remix recs:

Shed Your Skin Remix by kassrachel - I am totally like this and am reccing it again now that I know who the author is, because a.) I totally guessed when chopchica asked me. I didn't know I *could* identify her style that clearly, but in this case, I couldn't think of anyone else. It was happymaking in extreme. And it's a fantastic remix; to me, this works as a remix *should* and I've never been able to do: take what is needed from the original, and write it anew. It's good.

Acceptable Risk by darsynia, remix of First Monday by flyakate - okay, one, how did I miss this author? As an intro to a new author--wow. This one was just *amazing*. The characterization was spot on, the dialogue was so them I could practically see it on the show, the careful work to show their relationship building and coming together, the pieces of their lives integrating--and people, the dog tags. The author did justice to the original beautifully.

It's What You Hear (The Fives Senses Remix) by argosy, remix of It's What You Don't See by telesilla - okay, to be fair: I am in the middle of a supernatural and vampire phase of reading, so when I hit this one (by accident! I didn't know), I nearly jumped off the bed in delight. The remix was change in character, from Rodney to John--the structure was kept, but the fine difference of what character *is* what shone through. That's some damn fine work considering the built in limitations of writing inside the original story; I loved the story, but was immensely impressed as a remixer how well the remixer worked to keep to the original story and create something new as well. Also--God in heaven this is hot. Hot hot hot.

More later.

Re-reading OK Computer by cesperanza and for some reason, every damn time, this part makes me laugh so hard I hurt my stoamch. Consider this a rec.

( spoilers for story )

You may now carry on. Or introduce yourself to Passive-Aggressive Notes and give up having a life. Cause that is worse than crack. Worse than crack.

Recs!

To say I wait for this fic on tenterhooks would be an understatement.

Qui Habitat: Art is Long by miss_porcupine - set before Qui Habitat somewhat, in continuity with the rest. It's not necessary to have read it beforehand, but this is a fantastic AU and when you finish this one, you should read the rest.

Okay, so there is the actual summary: Life is short, art is long, opportunity fleeting, experimenting dangerous, reasoning difficult. -- Hippocrates

And there is a commenter with what I'd summarize with: A reminder that you can't know whether a person will break or not before they're tested.

Yes. That. Right there.

Five Dangerous Things by ltlj - gorgeous five very dangerous planets and the team that ran swiftly from them. Including this:

John had to admit that in hindsight, screening the original Wormhole Extreme for the whole expedition and filming their comments and reactions, then sending it to the SGC labeled "documentary video" did make it seem like they had asked for this. "Probably."

He is lucky there isn't a price on his head. *glee* Oh John.

I am absolutely sure there is something else here, but I have four new colors of post it notes (whee Costco sales!), eight colored pens, eight colored flags, and really. New office supplies. Happy.

One of the neat side effects of insomnia (though to be fair, this is because I practically slept half the day, so really, this is just delayed sleep) is I tend to sit around and stalk people's ljs for things to use against them later.

Sadly, rageprufrock does not have blackmail material on a filter I can see. Bitch. But! Going through the snapshots tag, I did find:

Rodney and the Military Themed Gay Porn Thing

John deletes it off of their computer and swears their secrecy. All six give it happily but the underlying message is that it's all pointless; the video got out more than twenty-six hours ago, and like those God damned dancing hamsters, there's a better than likely chance everybody in Atlantis' very close-knit network has seen it now—has it saved on their hard drives now.

"Those uniforms aren't right," John says dismally, crumbled into a chair in the ready-room, staring miserably at the recycle bin on Kinner's laptop.

"They never are, sir," Kinner says sympathetically.

And....

John the Slutty Supermodel Thing

“Do you even know how to read?” Rodney asked finally in frustration.

John only winked and said, “Oh, yeah. Got lots of practice, you know, being shoved face down into my photobook and getting banged over the side of a table in open calls and stuff.”

I want them both so badly I can taste it.

Because glee continues apace--Baby!--and who knew endorphin releases came with other people's childbirth? Not me.

Places to Go!

sgabigbang is starting up again this year. That's the one where you write a novel and get fanart! Go brainstorm here.

schronicles has opened for business, modded by svmadelyn and I. Quote from her post:

seperis and I have been longing for more Sarah Connor Chronicles discussion (and fic!), so we created schronicles. Of course, FOX might undo all of our visions for this comm if they're stupid enough to cancel this show, so. Maybe we should all have a little party while it's still...in existence? Bring all your Sarah Connor Chronicles loving friends! We can talk about the pretty and the violence and how cool this show is! And maybe we can have some fic challenges after next week's (SEASON) (SEASON) (SEASON, RIGHT FOX) Finale.

It may be a very short party. But by God, it will be a fun one. Please let it come back. Please let it come back. Please let me catch up on eps this week as well.

Recs!

Okay, a day earlier--I am trying to set myself a weekly schedule just to see if I can. I blitzed through several people's webpages this last week, so some old, some new, some borrowed, some blue. SGA, Torchwood, slash and gen mixed.

Perpetual Motion by ltlj -- from Surfacing, glorious, plotty, deliciously creepy Morlocks, organic batteries, amnesia, and plotty first-seasonish Sheppard/McKay. I still glee over this one so hard.

Experiment #24 by mmmchelle - Okay, hot, yes but also sweet and warm and shippy which is totally my drug of choice.

Diplomacy in Waltz Tempo by wickedwords from Surfacing. I love this one, and I'm going to minimalize summary by saying it's John/Rodney, hot, and intersting. Leave nice feedback. It's a lovely story.

Little Boxes by miss_porcupine - Sheppard and Ford, from beginning to the first end. It's touching and a little painful, both in what they were and what Pegasus made of them. very highly recommended.

Absit Omen by miss_porcupine -- for those following her epic and utterly fantastic Qui Habitat (the one where the Ori win the Milky Way? That one? The one that I want to make everyone in the universe read?), a bit on Reletti and the war in Atlantis.

Seriously. Read this universe. Amazing.

Cosecant by miss_porcupine -- Second season, Jack and John and before he knew he was going back to Atlantis. I love this convo intensely. Both of them are *excellent*.

Ordinary Life by cesperanza and astolat -- from Surfacing, I think we can call this The One Where John Sheppard Is Bond.

Archimedian Point by trobadora -- Dr. Who, Jack Harkness when he wakes up after Rose's actions in The Parting of the Ways. Frantically edged, nervously aware something's changed--wow. Love it.

This really reminds me I need to update my other fandoms page. *mulls*

Because I Am Bad at This

Child woke up sick and apparently was very sick on the bathroom door, the floor, the sink, the toilet. When he came to tell me, it being three, I almost thought maybe I would get up? But no. I waved him into bed and told him to cover up the evidence. And also to brush his teeth.

(...the teeth totally make up for the entire I don't feel like cleaning at three AM, right? Right).

*thoughtful* Livejournal parenting communities always make me want to say I let him hunt for his food in the backyard while I obsessively surf ebay for the perfect china cat. It's like a disease, really. I really need to stop letting morbid curiosity get the better of me.

Right. Now onward.

Valentine's Day

svmadelyn's Valentine's Game is up and posted. And thank you to those who said such lovely things about me!

Recs

Actually, I've been bad at tracking this week, though I kept all the windows open. This is for two reasons: one, I read three really really bad fic and one offensively and objectively horrific fic (no one any of you probably know, unless you are chopchica, who is determined to see how much she can traumatize me before midnight every day) and I--have no idea what to do with that. This is a problem; I am trying to keep at least a 90% feedback, and there is no part of me that does not cringe. I mean, the first three, at least I enjoyed myself. The last one I wrote the beginning of a rant on misogyny and blame the victim and really, no one wants that.

But to the stuff I liked! Better!

Perpetual Anticipation, Torchwood, Jack/Ianto. Hot. And sweet. And hot.

Post-Nuptial by rageprufrock - part of the 14 Valentines project, Sheppard/McKay, and sprogs. Plural. Yeah. And a sling. No. Really.

The Unwritten Future by thepouncers - part of Yuletide and an AU of Terminator I. I just--I just melted for this. Beautifully, wonderfully written and a wonderful look at a different future.

Neutral Zone by tx_tart - season three post The Return 1. John and Rodney when they get back to earth.

Blame the Rain by mahoni - Sheppard/Ronon. Some rain, a bit of H, and some bittersweet C. I kind of hurt for them, and hope for them, and wonder if the rain can last forever.

Updates

I moved around some things on my webpage.

Added Feel You Breathe to SGA and put up all three A History of Violence. Also.

Moved Crimes Against Humanity along with A History of Violence to its own page.

Also Strangerverse to its own and Teacher's Pet on its own. I could say this is for some good reason, but really, I hated scrolling that much when I was updating. The link on the page for Teacher's Pet, I have just discovered, has an extra e. I will fix that when I get home.

Meta

Okay, this is because I was just checking a link and hit this by musesfool:

Like, I'm taking a total badfic premise and running with it, and I have a lot of shame about that, more than the fact that it's a SEKRIT INCEST BABY, which I just think is kind of HILARIOUS. I mean, it's genderswap AU incest - I'm not going to cavil at a baby at this point, you know? And it's an AU of an AU. It's like EVERY BAD FANFIC CLICHE all rolled into one. And I think that is what makes me twitchy, way more than the subject matter, which I admit is creepy and wrong, and yet I do love it.

So I guess the thing that makes me shamed isn't the incest or the baby or girl!Sam in and of themselves - it's how much I love those things (in fiction), how they totally hit buttons I didn't even know I had until now - but also, how I know these are the kinds of elements that generally get a story lumped in with badfic, regardless of actual technical or emotional merit.

This is in no way a moral problem for me in terms of content. It's an aesthetic one.

The rest of it is here. Hmm. I am thinking of the fine line between "This is badfic" and "This is fic I do not like" and "This is fic by an author I hate a lot/hurt my friend/eats puppies/didn't leave me feedback/killed puppies while leaving feedback to someone else/whatever" and "This is fic that makes me uncomfortable", but you know, before I had finished my first cup of coffee I found out I am going to writing a definitive story on dragon rape. I have no ground to stand on.

Seriously. What was in that coffee?

Flist, you are totally on notice.

Stargate:Atlantis/Star Wars fusion??? John and Rodney as sith????? ASSASSINATION TO SAY I LOVE YOU?

Oh my God people. I hate you all until I find something shiny. Say, three hours from now? But until then, grrr.

Ascension by soraya2004 - OH MY GOD SO AWESOME.

"Okay, tell me how the hell you're doing that," J'hon demanded, stalking over and shoving his sabre right in Ro'dnee's face. At which point Ro'dnee just sort of opened and closed his mouth, apparently lost for words. "Come on, Ro'dnee," J'hon sneered, tapping him lightly on the head with it. "Spit it out; I haven't got all day!"

Eventually, Ro'dnee managed to stutter: "I-- It's my p-personal shield," looking like even that had taken a lot of nerve. "I built it myself. Because, you know, you can never have too much protection. And, this is a new planet for me, with a new lab and new people, so I've been wearing it just in case."

"Huh!" J'hon nodded, vaguely impressed all over again. "Good call, by the way!"

My love is boundless. Did I mention they are Sith? Hello, welcome to my special kink, I am going to move in here a bit. Thank you.

Two things.

Recs

The Cowgirl Variant by samdonne, SGA. For those who loved Your Cowboy Days Are Over and Summerland, this is the beginning of another story in this universe, still incomplete. Go read it.

I saw it pop up on my flist and thought I was hallucinating. This is my favorite story in any fandom bar none; I just--can't really get over the sheer scope and I don't think I ever will.

And since I'm here:

DVD Commentary by samdonne and another DVD Commentary by general_jinjur, both of which are excellent. And I did a long rec for it here. Mostly me trying to quantify a feeling of wonder.

Random

Star Wars Guide to the Candidates. It's funny because it's true. So, so true.

I'm catching up on recs I've meant to do. That I didn't. Okay, I will say this; keeping a log of fic I read and feedbacked, for some reason, makes me procrastinate in say, reccing it. It's just odd.

42 by cathalin - I seriously got a kick from this one. Post-Quarantine fic that is chock-*full* of Rodney, his trains of logic, and it's just. I was fascinated by how the author was putting Rodney's thought processes into words.

Canada Likes It on Top by busaikko - ice skating, babysitting, my favorite pairing, and almost hypothermia. It was adorable, and a fascinating Rodney pov. Likes.

Not a Hardship by torakowalski - this was just adorable. Three words. Ancient Chastity Belt. Yes. You want to read this now, right?

Raiders of the Seven Systems by ltlj - it is like glee in a puddlejumper. John and Teyla and Ronon are pirates! Seriously! Spacepirates! I have no idea how that is other than a thousand kinds of win. Space. Pirates. I cannot get over the level of awesome.

A Bit Like Goldilocks, A Lot Like That Woody Allen Movie by tzzzz - Post-Quarantine, hysterically funny past/present, with Rodney discovering the Sekrit Past of Sheppard and Carter in the most hilarious way possible.

An Unorthodox Solution for Boredom by leupagus - Rodney keeps getting distracted. With hilarious results.

Best Somethings by shrift - Post-Quarantine, in which John wonders if he'll be best man and Rodney wonders why no one told him he was dating Sheppard.

Class:Insecta by cupidsbow - AU from Conversion. I didn't expect how complicated and interesting such a simple change could make this world, but it's a fascinating idea all around. And no, I hate to go into more detail because it'll be close to a spoiler, so. Seriously. Nice.

Okay, this is--this is so beautifully awesome.

A Sticky Situation by springwoof, SGA, Keller pov, Sheppard/McKay implied.

I cannot do justice with a description. So here:

"Well, with this situation, think 'industrial adhesive' sticky..."

Industrial. Adhesive.