Cross-promoting: sga_genficathon signups are underway and close in a week. All categories are welcome, but we could use some more folks writing for "Team", and we could really use some more folks to join the, well, none we currently have signed up for "Humor".

(I personally find humor one of the hardest kinds of writing to get right — and possibly the hardest — so I wouldn't say I'm surprised, exactly.)

I know a lot of people have drifted away from SGA; I know real life is in the way for a lot of others who might otherwise sign up. But if you're wavering, please consider this a friendly nudge; and if you know anyone who might be interested, please consider givin them a nudge!

Originally posted at Dreamwidth | Comment | comments

I would dearly like for people to stop driving into my new car, kthx.

(In a parking lot, again. At a business off Route 123, again. On a bright afternoon, again. Striking the front half of the driver's side, again. Fortunately, no one injured, again. More damage, but to one panel — pretty much the entire door — rather than crossing two.)

Nnnnnnnngh. The body shop hokey-pokey is not my idea of a good time.

Originally posted at Dreamwidth | Comment | comments

(Well, in my case, an extra week of vacation annually.)

( A look back at my work history. ) There are frustrations, but that's the nature of work, and the balance is overwhelmingly in my favor. I know I'm profoundly lucky to have a good, stable job, and I'm delighted to have it.

Here's to ... not-quite-thirty more years of the same.

Originally posted at Dreamwidth | Comment | comments

So, tell me true, flist: Has alright (for all right or okay) actually crossed the critical-mass boundary from misspelling to acceptable neologism? I've suddenly been seeing it everywhere. I always correct it when I beta, but should I just give up and (grudgingly) let it pass? (Or, more likely, take my usual route of inserting a long-winded and pedantic usage note in brackets and leaving the choice up to the writer?)

I try to be accepting of falsely derived terms and variant forms if they serve a distinct purpose. I just don't see any use to introducing alright for all right, though; are there really that many contexts in which readers might confuse the okay interpretation with the each member correct interpretation? Or am I just being too prescriptivist on this one?

I'd usually see what the interwebs think, but the clearest write-ups I can find, although they agree alright is not (yet) standard, are over two years old. That's practically a generation in internet years.

Originally posted at Dreamwidth | Comment | comments

Title: Darkness Is the Only Sound
Author: michelel72
Genre/Rating: Gen; FRT for themes
Wordcount: 27,000
Timeline/Spoilers: Follows canon through 3x14 "Tao of Rodney" but turns decidedly AU before 3x17 "Sunday". Tiny character-background spoilers from 4x15 "Outcast".
Warnings: References to genocide; brief descriptions of OC tortures and deaths (including children); body horror; captivity and minor torture; ableist language and slurs in POV; mental programming without permission
Disclaimer/Policies: This is a work of fanfiction inspired by the television series "Stargate: Atlantis" and "Stargate: SG-1". All feedback of any length, including constructive criticism, always welcome. If my warnings for triggers/squick are inadequate, please let me know.
Notes/Credits: Title from "Gypsy" by the Moody Blues. valleya provided very helpful early-version feedback; no formal beta for the final version.

Summary: The expedition finds surprising signs of a long-missing race, but a greater surprise lies in store.

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My apologies to my Livejournal friends. I've tried to cross-post everything to all three sites I use, but this story would require four posts to fit on LJ with the chapter-break at the right place. I'm instead posting just at AO3 and DW, but this post will remain available for commenting for those who prefer LJ.

Chaptered at AO3
Single-page at Dreamwidth

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Little Cindy descends the stairs, rubbing her eyes. It's Christmas morning! And there, underneath the tree ...

"A puppy!" or "A kitten!" An adorable little pet, complete with a bow around the neck. Cindy is delighted for an entire hour.

Two weeks later, no one's happy. The puppy chews, the kitten scratches. Neither reacts well to being squeezed too hard; sometimes one will nip. No one wants to bother spending time on the play the kitten needs or taking the dog on required walks. Little baby Jimmy is possibly allergic, and Dad kind of hates that damn animal, and Mom is annoyed that what she hoped would be a lap pet really isn't. The adults resent how much money the damn thing costs, and that's even considering that they would never spend a dime on medical care because it's "just an animal".

Six months later the pet is abandoned in a box in a swamp in the country, one day away from being a coyote's breakfast. Or wandering the streets, pregnant. Or run over by a car. Or taken to the vet to be "put to sleep" because it's just too expensive and inconvenient, so might as well kill it for those sins, but only by proxy and with euphemisms.

Don't do this. Don't be that person. I like to think anyone who would read my journal already knows better, but a reminder is worthwhile. Companion animals shouldn't be given as gifts, and they should never be a surprise. Dogs and cats in particular have personalities — some are terrified of adult men, some are lap pets, some bounce off the walls, some need to be the only pet, some have siblings they shouldn't be separated from, some get bored in five seconds and need both companionship and active play, some are great with kids and some terrible, on and on and on.

If you want a pet, approach adoption as the project it is. Meet the prospects, with the whole family. Know what you're looking for. Find out what you're in for. See if there's any chance the animal you're considering can spend a few days in your home as a trial. Recognize that you're adding a developed (or developing) personality to your family, as a lifelong commitment.

And be prepared to spend money. Consumerist reminds us:

According to the ASPCA, a cat costs $1,035 over the first year of ownership and $670 thereafter, while a large dog generates $1,843 in bills the first year and another $875 each subsequent year. The association also warns against the idea of surprising someone with a pet, as these often end up in shelters because the recipients either weren't prepared for pet ownership or are not pleased with your choice of pet.

If any of that sounds too daunting, or if you're at all unsure, buy a video game or a book or a movie instead.

I volunteer at a cat shelter. Trust me, there are more than enough discarded pets to have the place overflowing. (That includes the three beautiful, playful, friendly, precious kittens who were dumped at that aforementioned swamp. I hate people sometimes. Luckily they were discovered before they died — yes, we do have coyotes and foxes, as well as large and vicious racoons many times the size of these kittens.) Some of those cases are unavoidable, such as cases in which the owner died or the family lost their housing and just couldn't find other accomodations that allowed pets. Some are questionable. And some are inexcusable. Don't contribute to this. Please.

(And don't even get me started on Easter chicks and bunnies.)

Originally posted at Dreamwidth | Comment | comments

It's done it's done it's doooooooooone. 26,500 words over three months, most of them difficult.

Anyway. I'm looking for early-reader feedback on an SGA story. It's about 26.5k words; it's ultimately Rodney-centric (obviously — I mean, we've met, right?) and departs from canon somewhere between 3x14 and 3x17. (Or you could say it departs from canon thousands of years ago, but our characters still go through canon until this point.) I'm not looking for someone to do just spelling/punctuation/grammar review (SPaG). I had trouble with this story, and I suspect it's missing something, so I'm looking for one or two folks who can tell me if the story works at all; and if it works, what (if anything) is missing or needs better development.

( Warnings and summary are under the cut. ) I feel like the warnings as listed are more alarming than the fic itself is, but I so can't judge at this point.

Anyway. Anyone interested?

Originally posted at Dreamwidth | Comment | comments

I don't have enough time in the day. I know I'm not unique in that, at all, but it's still frustrating. I adore my job, but it is ludicrously intense, and I have very little time or energy left for reading and writing.

So I've just volunteered away something like eight hours a week. What was I thinking?

But ... Nine Lives of Norton seems to be well-run and well-organized (certainly better than my city's cat efforts), and they need volunteers for cleaning and feeding and socialization. And I have to do something to counter the criminally negligent and abusive wastes of oxygen out there.

So. Yay volunteerism. (And miserable, painful, lonely death to anyone who would mistreat a companion animal.)

Originally posted at Dreamwidth | Comment | comments

Is anybody watching the new US television shows "American Horror Story" (FX), "Once upon a Time" (ABC), or "Grimm" (NBC)? (I don't know if they're available internationally yet.)

( Vague spoilers for all three within: AHS through 1x04, OUAT through 1x02, G only to the degree the Wikipedia article is spoilery. )

"Anyway, I'm sorry, but that just happens to be how I feel about it. What do you think?"

Originally posted at Dreamwidth | Comment | comments

Dear writers of modern, western-world police procedurals:

No, it doesn't sound like the victim is pleading for mercy. It doesn't sound like the victim is talking about their assailant's lack of (or possession of) mercy. It sincerely doesn't.

It sounds like the victim is talking about or to someone named Mercy, or talking about or to someone named Marcy, or talking about Mercy General, or spotting a Mercedes Benz, or hell, deliriously singing "Mercy Street" ... but when you have your detective musing that "It sounds like he's begging for mercy," for example, we in the audience simply roll our eyes, because we all know that's completely wrong and we know we'll be wasting entirely too much time on that foolishness.

Quit it.

And "Castle" and "Criminal Minds", since you've both tried to pull that nonsense recently, you are both On Notice. Try to pull it again ... and I will have no mercy.

Okay, okay, that just means I'll make a snarky post about it. Still.

Originally posted at Dreamwidth | Comment | comments