I have almost a whole day - what's left of it, anyway - that I can read! This weekend I had to work overtime, and it seriously messed up my BigBang reading schedule. Bummer.

I did manage to read New Shores by velocitygrass and it was like a nice warm cup of cocoa with whipped cream on top. And maybe some dark chocolate sprinkles. In other words, perfect comfort fic. :o)

Next up? Second Verse by madison

My plan for the afternoon: I'm going to make a peppermint mocha (or two), munch on some Havarti and peppercorn crackers and Honeycrisp apples, and have an afternoon of pure self-indulgence. Mmmmmmm.

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next. I'm so torn. I want to read Bridges, by busaikko, and I want to read Stricken by taste_is_sweet, and then there's Hooke's Law and Know How to Fall and Solitary Man and That Which and Genesis and Dawn Will Break and Guardian...and...and...oh, I am never going to be able to decide!

So - which ones have y'all read so far? Which ones blew your socks off?

This is a brand new SGA vid, and it's awesome! Enjoy!

I'm a big fan of vids that tell stories or that are trailers for fics. Someone should really write the fic that goes with this vid. *pokes writers*

MIA

by zap99nad - there is a downloadable version available there, too.

ETA - It's up! It's there! Stories made of Awesome!!! Beautiful artwork! *Dives in*


Does anyone have an idea, ball-park, that is, when sgabigbang might be going to throw open its doors and let the milling throngs inside the theater?

I need distractions. I need porn

Maybe I just need another double espresso. *jitters*

Only three more hours of work, which leaves...a LOT of time left to read. \0/

So. If we substitute BigBang for Guinness - that would make me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MuEtGPXLPI

This vid by nel just brings me such joy. I love the song, I love the clips, I love the TEAM! It makes me want to dance!

I've never embedded a vid before, so I have *no* idea if this will work or not, but figured it was worth a shot. ::crosses fingers::


Find more videos like this on BAM Vid Vault

Just a little bit of inspiration, which I would have posted here, but I don't have a paid account (yet - see below).



So. I'm thinking about upgrading my LJ account, which means - I can haz icons!

Only - how do you give credit for icons? Is there a protocol for using icons? Am I ever going to learn how to use LJ?

I have decided that for the BigBang stories, I am just going to have to jot down all of the entries onto a little slips of paper, put them in a paper bag (so I can't cheat) and draw them out one at a time. There is absolutely no way I am going to be able to decide which one to read second. First is going to be the one by velocitygrass, because that has become my tradition, and I am never, ever disappointed in reading her fic. I can't wait for this one - chef!John and mystery writer!Rodney accidentally sharing a house, and falling in love. Yum-O.

But the others? I want to read them all right now, and I just don't think I can narrow it down.

This fandom rocks!

I'm not sure what the final vote in Maine was last night, but percentage-wise, it was very, very close.

This gives me hope.

( Thoughts on hope, faith, love,and same-sex marriage. )

I was over at Vid Vault Bam (sign up! it's free and easy!) a little while ago, looking for newkidfan's awesome hands video, now posted on melagan's fingering post (see previous post for link), and while I was there, I watched this - click for vid by isagel a time or two. Or more.

It is so indescribably beautiful and angsty and the words are perfect, and it's John. So very John.

*loves*

So. I commented, and once again I need to make changes. Actually, I did change it, but then I clicked and somehow all my changes disappeared and it posted what I had originally pasted in there. One of these days, I will figure LJ out. I promise.

Still - commenting is fun! It's like...training wheels, isn't it? I really appreciate the opportunity to play!

It's over here, at melagan's, and it's about John and Rodney, and John's fingers.

Also? There are lots of other very hot, very mind-melting comments here

Enjoy!

My first attempt at posting photos...should I have put them behind cuts? I'll try that next time.

The first two are Zorro kitty (who is quite affectionate and slinky and reminds me very much of cat!john in Bead's Checkmate verse).






And Callie, who believes, rightly, that she owns all of us.



(Oreo and Phantom were quite miffed that they were not included here, so they'll probably put in an appearance later.)

...and last, but not least, Bentley, who thinks he is a kitty and frequently steals their best inside sunning spot

During my recent (and ongoing) insane immersion in all things SGA/John/Rodney/Joe/David/team-related, I came across brendan_vincent, and while I haven't had time to read all the fic archived there (yet), just the thought of what is basically Joe (Vincent) and, well, Joe (Brendan) kind of melted my brain. I've been enthralled by Vincent in Dawson's Creek for what seems like ever, but was unfamiliar with Brendan in Thoughtcrimes. So I watched the movie. On YouTube. In about 9 or 10 parts.

Joe just brings the sexy smouldering dorkiness to every role he inhabits, doesn't he? Whereas Vince is pretty much your basic easygoing, living-breathing-sex-on-a-stick kind of guy, Brendan is all structured and contained and Private, and still a dork and very sexy. How does Joe do that?

So, I put a leaf on the drabble tree, here. Immediately, I wanted to tweak it, because if I could just change this word here and that word there, it would be so much better, yes? Only. Hmmm. Where's that little pencil thing that lets me edit? Oh. I can't edit my comments unless I have a paid account? Say what? Well, that's just - that's - that's really just so very smart of them, isn't it? They're all just sitting around, figuring out ways to make money, and one guy says, "Hmmm. It's a journal for writers, right? And we all know how writers are never, ever satisfied with the finished product, right? Right? So all we have to do is figure out a way to make them pay for this 'free' journal. Oh. Oh! I've got it!!" and there was much snapping of fingers and high-fiving and...

:::pouts:::

:::glares at untweaked drabble:::

I just spent a few minutes at sga_santa looking through the requests, and I have one thing to say - if everyone gets what they want from Santa this year? I, for one, am going to be So. Very. Merry.

Falalalala lala la la! :o)

A little while ago, velocitygrass posted a wonderful Joe/David story on rpf_big_bang, called A Saturday in Paris which I was fortunate enough to beta, and which you should go read right now, because it's awesome. (If, that is, real person fic is something you read and enjoy.) It takes place in Paris, obviously, in the late 1980s, during the time when Joe was studying history at the Sorbonne. She called it a PWP, and I suppose it is, but I think it's much more than that, too. I think it's a story about an emotional connection between two young men who met by chance, who fully intended to have just an exciting afternoon fling, but ended up with more than they bargained for.

Anyway, the story just kind of haunted me after I read it, and I finally had to write this little tag for it, which velocitygrass graciously asked me to post. This probably won't make much sense if you haven't read her story, so go. Shoo. Read Saturday in Paris! Enjoy! If you haven't already, I mean. Then, if you feel like it, I hope you'll come back and read this little tag and let me know what you think.

Title: The Letter
Pairing: Joe/David
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
Word Count: 920
Summary: Two years after that Saturday in Paris, somewhere in Canada...
Disclaimer: Pure fantasy, obviously.
Note: Unbeta'd

( The Letter )

I'm curious.

There was a request for a fic earlier, which turned out to have been taken down due to it having been plagiarized (!), and in the comments, there was a link to a website where the original fic could be purchased. It sounded like an interesting concept for a story, one that I would probably read. So, me being me, I followed the link, saw that the e-book was only 2.99, and said to myself, hmmmm....maybe.

Thank goodness there was an excerpt. Seriously - how in the world was that published? Even electronically? Are there no requirements for editing? There was no punctuation to speak of, and aside from that, the writing itself seemed a bit adolescent. So, I clicked on the 'gay' link and went to the 'most recommended' books. Same thing. And also? Word count of 40,000 is book-length? Really? Huh. I guess I was expecting it to be more.

Anyway, I was wondering - there are so many wonderful writers in fandom (SGA, Due South, Firefly, and I'm sure many, many more) - have any of them published original fiction e-books?

And if not - why not? The talented authors I read every day in this fandom would put those published e-book authors to shame. And get paid to do it.

I just watched the pilot and second episode of Eastwick (on Hulu) and I - I - just do not understand how it is possible that Paul Gross can look THAT hot. Still.

::::stares::::

I think I'm really going to have to re-watch those nearly-naked scenes a few more times (in slow motion? Does Hulu do that?) to see if I can figure out if it's the lighting. Or, you know. Just Paul. \o/

And OMG - that was Cybil Shepherd, right? in the turban?

Oh, this is soooo going to become my guilty pleasure of the week.

I posted my first slash story yesterday. The feedback was lovely, (other than one strange troll-like response), and OMG, I want to do it again! Wheeeee!

I'm not sure it has actually sunk in yet, even now. I posted my first slash story. Or maybe that should be, my first slash story.

You wouldn't believe how I got here.

( From Pride and Prejudice to John and Rodney in 5 easy steps. )

So. How about you? How'd you get here?

I just put on a pot of fresh-ground coffee. Here, have a homemade Morning Glory muffin. We'll talk. :o)

Getting ready to post to McSmooch, and thought it would be a good idea to test for italics and such here, first, as I'm very unfamiliar with the actual posting process. So here goes.

Title: Busted
Author: mezzo_cammin
Pairing: Sheppard/McKay (implied McKay/Keller)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Spoilers: Post season 5
Word Count: 584
Notes: Beta'd by danceswithgary, who made this little story much, much better than it was when it started out, and has my heartfelt gratitude for that!
Summary: Certain people should lock their doors if they don't want John to walk in on them.

( Busted )

I have been thinking a lot lately about beta reading. Is there a way to sort of dip a toe in to test the water when it comes to that?

I used to proofread all the time, in my former job as a graphic artist. I edited, as well. Typos glare at me constantly, from even the best works out there. And they bother me. (Yes, I'm one of those people!)

However, I really don't know anything about writing styles or composition, other than knowing when I like something I've read or not, and whether it *works*. Beta reading must be subjective as well, yes?

Maybe I could start out just checking for typos and major grammatical flaws (the nuances are not my strong point, but subject/verb agreement, run-on sentences, tenses? Not a problem). And characterization. Plot holes. Whether something is canon.

I don't know...what do authors need/want in a beta? I know that most authors have more than one, so I guess you play to your strengths.

But the technical aspects of it - I have no idea how to do it. I mean, when I used to proof work, it was done with a red pen, on paper, and handed back. I'll have to see if I can find some samples...

I read a lot. And I will never forget the time I was reading a well-known mainstream author (Karen Robards), who, in the same paragraph, had her heroine tapping across the hardwood floor on stiletto heels and two seconds later padding quietly on the carpet. Same room. Same scene. Where was *her* editor?

So, the story has already been written, of course, and wonderfully so. Here.

http://www.wraithbait.com/viewstory.php?skin=mckay&sid=12920&warning=12

My version would have been different, as I don't think I would have had them come out, as such. More of a,'this is just what we do, the sacrifices that we've had to make', and maybe some behind-the-scenes angsty outtakes. Perhaps something that would give the reader a few hints, but never really letting them know for sure until the final reveal. Hmmmm. I may still let that percolate. A scene here, a scene there. There may even be an outline soon.

My method of choice for escapism at the moment is total SGA (John/Rodney 90% of the time, gen the rest, with John/Rodney friendship and TEAM as much as possible in all of it) immersion. I've just watched most of the vids that were nominated for the McShep awards and was totally blown away. Such talent!

And now I have this idea that will not let me go.

Because, you see, we are only allowed to see bits and pieces of their lives on the show, and the parts we do see...if you were to add just one tiny thing, one plot twist, it would skew everything, stand every single scene on its head, and none of it would be what it has seemed.

So.

What if...John and Rodney were secretly together from the very beginning? (Secret being the key, and together being rock-solid commitment, until death do us part). From Antarctica. Maybe even before Antarctica. Maybe he *requested* that assignment, even.

John has had a lifetime of hiding his orientation. Or maybe just one time he relaxed, and he didn't, and all hell broke loose, and he swore to never risk it all again. Who knows? And Rodney? For all that we think he can't hide his emotions and wears his heart on his sleeve? What if that very premise is false? What if...it was all a *strategy* that they came up with early on, and that they have refined and improved on over the years, so that they can be together, but always, always on their guard? A stolen touch here, a lingering glance there? Frenzied sex when they know, know they are safe from prying eyes or ears. But they're careful. So careful.

I just keep seeing this scene, after Rodney breaks up with Jennifer, with him going to John, and the conversation, with all its multitude of layers and double-meanings and twists and turns, and the brunt of it is...that it should buy them at least another few months (maybe a year, if they're lucky) before either of them has to 'pretend' to be interested in a woman again.

I'd really like to read that. Or maybe even write it.