emotionally magnificent

Extra ticket to Cobras this weekend!

2008-03-03T12:33:10Z

Hey guys, it turns out that I've got an extra ticket to the 5pm Cobra show on Saturday in Farmingdale. Anyone want it? It's a will-call ticket, so you'll have to meet up with me at the venue in order to get it. Comment here if you want it!

nothing can keep us from falling

2007-12-03T05:03:20Z

All of a sudden, I can't get "Nine in the Afternoon" out of my head. When is the single being released?? Soon, right? I... well, I never thought I'd say this about a Panic! song, but I *need* it. Still, I trust the flist to provide as soon as it comes out.

In the meantime, I am head over heels for the Sounds. Female-fronted bouncy New Wave-y synth-pop? Yes please!

shut your mouth and get down on the floor

2007-11-28T03:58:49Z

People I have hooked on the "Guilty Pleasure" video so far: one current classmate, one former classmate, one co-worker, one girl from my Teen Advisory Board, several cousins, and my mom.

And yet, for all of my HARD WORK, what is my reward?? The two Cobra shows local(ish) to me (CT and MA) are the two days right before I get back from our family vacation to Mexico. Not to complain about the trip, because I'm pretty psyched about it, but DAMN, that is some shitty timing.

HOWEVER, I might be able to make it down to Long Island for the very last date of the tour on March 8th. I guess I have until Saturday to decide! Who else is going to that show? Anyone feel like road-tripping down from MA with me?

GIP

2007-11-16T05:18:37Z

New default icon! BFFs 4eva! Made for me by the fabulous and talented inkjunket.

In other news, I am considering changing the name of this journal. It's okay, but I've never been wholly satisfied with it. (So of course, it makes perfect sense to change it *after* I've just met a whole bunch of people under that name. Oh well.) I wanted to change it to palegreenthings, but somebody else already has that name, so now I'm trying to come up with other variations on the green theme. Anyone have any brilliant ideas?

Best weekend ever! Except for all the snot.

2007-11-13T04:39:06Z

I really should get around to posting a full recap of the FOB/etc. show in Lowell this weekend, but mostly what I want to say about this weekend boils down to: dude, fangirls are the *best*. A huge swarm of us descended onto giddygeek's house on Friday night after the show and squeed over the concert and ate pizza and fell asleep watching LOTMS, and then in the morning we watched -- is it My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side To My Tongue? Anyway, the FOB disc with footage of TINY BABY PATRICK OMG ♥ which I had never seen before (!), and I got to watch it with a roomful of pajama-clad fangirls, while eating pancakes and cuddling a kitty, and seriously, can every morning start out that way??

Then, of course, yesterday I came down with a hideous cold, so I've spent the rest of my weekend lying on the couch and watching Friday Night Lights and trying to keep my head from exploding. From other people's reports, it seems I'm not the only one to finish off the weekend with a cold. It doesn't seem right, somehow; our mini-con shouldn't have been big enough for Con Crud! Anyway, I hope we're all feeling better before long, and so I'm off to bed to try to make that happen.

I came here to make you dance tonight

2007-10-30T04:38:22Z

...I think I may have just fallen in love with Cobra Starship.

I mean, first there was "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)," which I dug, but I wasn't really feeling the rest of their songs yet. [video] Then there was "The Church of Hot Addiction"; it's still not my favorite song, nor do I love all the strippers/half-naked women in the video, but I can't deny that the last minute or so, with Gabe marrying the giant bunny, is purely, bizarrely delightful. And kind of creepy! [video] And as if that weren't enough, the bunny's true identity is revealed in "Send My Love To The Dancefloor, I'll See You In Hell (Hey Mister DJ)," as is Gabe's true purpose on Earth: to teach us all to stop taking ourselves so seriously and just DANCE. This is a message I heartily endorse! [video]

However, it took the one-two punch of this interview in Out magazine and the release of the video for "Guilty Pleasure" to secure my love for them. I particularly appreciated this exchange in the Out interview:

I haven't done an official count, but it seems like Google has at least as many pictures of you making out with or groping dudes as there are of Pete Wentz doing the same. So why does Pete get all the gay cred?
Pete gets gay cred? Who is he making out with? The only one I saw was of him making out with me. Is he cheating on me?

He talked to The Advocate. He talked to Blender about making out with guys.
He talks the talk, and I walk the walk.

That sounds like a challenge. Do you want to throw down?
Yeah -- let's see how many more boys we can kiss at the same time. For me, I was just thinking about that, actually. Our record just came out, and I wanted to feel what everyone was thinking about it, so I spent like two hours last night just reading comments and looking at blogs. I saw all these video collages that kids made of those pictures! And they'd make up love stories. And I was like, Wow, this is awesome. I was thinking about how when I was younger -- I totally remember this -- I was maybe 11, and Nirvana played on Saturday Night Live, and Kurt Cobain kissed Krist Novoselic on the lips. On national TV! And I was like, That's fucking awesome! I remember thinking how revolutionary that was, what a statement that was, and especially at that time. I think it's awesome to encourage people not to be homophobic. That's my motivation, to really make it seem like it's not a big deal.

Love stories! Walking the walk! So, yeah, Gabe Saporta just went up several notches in my esteem. And THEN I watched the "Guilty Pleasure" video (see it here, if for some reason you have managed to avoid watching it like 50 times already), and, I just. They're so happy! and silly! and they're giggling and smiling and dancing this completely ridorkable dance and playing Twister! Also, wow, is that song catchy. Finally, gigantic posted a couple of smoking hot pictures of them today, and, well. That's it, I'm done.

*whistling* So, um, anyone got any good pictures to share? Of the band, Gabe, Gabe/William Beckett (looking poised to become my newest OTP), anything...? I know I've seen a couple of really good Gabe/William pictures that I foolishly didn't save at the time. Any Gabe/William fic recs? *grabby hands*

because the world needs another MCR AU

2007-10-18T04:01:55Z

me: I feel [Gerard and I] are kindred souls! smelly nerds with vampire fetishes who spend all our time trying to make the world better by hanging out with teenagers and trying to inspire them!

inkjunket: TOTALLY!
inkjunket: YAY!
inkjunket: gerard, LIBRARIAN

me: !!!! \o/!

inkjunket: in the YOUNG ADULT SECTION

me: he would totally be an awesome YA librarian.

inkjunket: YIS

me: he would be SO PASSIONATE.

inkjunket: he would have a great graphic novel collection..
inkjunket: it would be all his own, which he donates to the library
inkjunket: it would be hard to part with it
inkjunket: but he would do it

me: And he could play in a shitty rock band on the weekends and they'd play lots of all-ages shows so his kids could come see him.
me: ha!

inkjunket: to SAVE LIVES
inkjunket: YES!

me: it's true! HE'D TAKE THAT HIT, for his KIDS!

inkjunket: and FRANK

me: ooooh

inkjunket: ... is the hot reference librarian?
inkjunket: what is he?

me: Frank... hmm...
me: maybe he's the children's librarian?

inkjunket: (... mikey is obviously the obligatory lesbian librarian)
inkjunket: omg YES
inkjunket: or um
inkjunket: maybe he's a nurse in a children's hospital

me: OMG YES

inkjunket: and they bring the kids in every week
inkjunket: for a book reading

me: oh totally!

inkjunket: and gerard is like OMG MIKEY I AM TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH THE HOTTEST NURSE EVAR

me: and he obviously loves it, so every now and then they ask him to read the books at storytime.
me: omg I LOVE IT
me: new happy place!

inkjunket: and then gerard institutes a new thing like a book mobile for the hospital, and frank is like OMG my pretty, pretty hero

me: awwww!

inkjunket: and they kiss and the kids all cheer

me: hee!

inkjunket: i'm totally grinning like an idiot

me: the kids cheering!

inkjunket: yay!

me: also, Gerard would totally institute Safe Zone training at his library so that it would be a place where queer kids could feel safe. He's got their backs!

inkjunket: YES OMG YES
inkjunket: (and um Ray plays drums and Gerard plays guitar in the shitty shitty rock band, which are two parts of what makes it shitty)

me: heh
me: And Bob is the cranky circulation librarian who's all "You want me to waive your 40cent fine WHY???" and the patrons all feel ashamed and PAY UP. he's like the only reason the library is still afloat, because Gerard totally waives all of his kids' fines ALL THE TIME.

A Pete/Patrick primer for fuschia

2007-10-04T05:28:03Z

Well, it's no secret around these parts that I've fallen hard for bandom, thanks almost entirely to inkjunket's heroic efforts. And, oh man, it is such a happymaking place, full of sparkly pink tiaras and unicorn shirts and eyeliner, not to mention some pretty awesome music. So imagine my excitement when, over dinner the other night, fuschia expressed interest in hopping on the bandom love train! "Especially Pete/Patrick," she requested, and so I am here to give the people what they want.

OKAY. So there's this band called Fall Out Boy, and they're kind of awesome.

The members are (l-r): Andy Hurley (drums), Pete Wentz (bass/lyrics/camwhore), Joe Trohman (guitar), and Patrick Stump (vocals/guitar/music/being ridiculously adorable [WHAT. That is so part of his job description])

Pete and Patrick kind of dig each other, a lot.

They go out on dates...

...and generally act like dorkfaces together.

Sometimes Pete likes to check out Patrick's ass onstage. (But really, who doesn't?)

And sometimes he likes to take things a little bit further.

One of the great things about Pete/Patrick is that Pete is just about the biggest Pete/Patrick 'shipper of us all. He sometimes answers questions from fans on the FOB website, in which Patrick is a recurring theme:

Do you ever wish that you were as drop dead sexy as Patrick is!?
Asked by Kate on 2005-05-29 00:27:00
no he is so sexy that i bet it burns him alittle bit on the inside. that scares me.
Answered by pete on 2005-05-29

******

Dear Pete, or whoever decides to answer this question..well or not answer...my friend megan says that if you listen to XO with just the right side of headphones theres no music so it sounds like Patrick is singing in her ear just for her...and i agree....try it sometome
Asked by Shannon on 2005-06-09 09:17:00
how about this. when i want patrick to sing in my ear i call him on the phone and he does it... boo and yah. oops. yeah i do that sometimes.
Answered by pete on 2005-06-10

******

Does Patrick have a nickname? If so what is it?
Asked by kara on 2005-06-12 23:02:00
rickster. von stump. sophmore strump. winchester snomp, lunchbox. cookie jar. healthbar. rick ta life. patty boy. dont ever call him these. they are mine.
Answered by peter on 2005-06-13

******

Hypothetically asking, Ok, what if one day you woke up and Patrick was not there. Would you be worried?
Asked by I Didnt Do It on 2005-06-14 19:59:00
it would make me want to disappear to wherever he was.
Answered by pete on 2005-06-14

******

How does patrick sing the emotion in the songs that u (pete) wrote.. Do you have to explain it to him or does he just know?
Asked by hope on 2005-06-15 20:37:00
me and patrick can finish eachothers sentences. this is what makes it so funny when people ask us if we care that you think the the other one is hotter or cooler, or how much everyone makes a big deal about who writes what or is where in photos. we don't care. that kid is my best friend and the rest of the world could blow up and fall out boy can break up and he still will be.
Answered by peterface on 2005-06-16

******

what kind of guitars do you play? And who is better Joe or Patrick
Asked by G String on 2005-08-04 20:49:00
patrick is the love of my life but i cant deny joes doggie style. they are both pretty good in bed i guess.
Answered by p on 2005-08-04

******

Pete, would you and Patrick be friends if Fall Out Boy never existed?
Asked by Kace on 2005-10-10 21:54:00
we would have to be friends. cause i dreamt him.
Answered by peter on 2005-10-11

******

just to but in, patrick seems shy off stage like in an interview or if us fans talk to him and hes not shy on stage or if hes w the band
Asked by court on 2005-11-11 01:51:00
patrick is shy or maybe quiet in general- notice how he doesnt talk on stage alot? thats not cos he thinks i am really cool. its because he is just a softspoken guy. its both on stage and off. not to butt in but hes my best buddy and i hoep you love him the way he is.
Answered by peter on 2005-11-11

******

Pete, If you were on a deserted island and had to choose between an Ipod full of your favorite songs or Patrick, what would you pick?
Asked by sara on 2005-11-13 15:13:00
trick question. patrick is an ipod full of my favorite songs.
Answered by peter on 2005-11-13

******

how come patrick never answers questions anymore? b.t.w. he is sooooooo cute!! i wanna marry him
Asked by muah on 2005-12-17 15:56:00
patrick never answered any on here. but he sleeps next to me on the bus and he breathes like a little baby at night.
Answered by peter on 2005-12-17

******

Heey , I am confused. I thought you wrote all of the songs?? Well i love the songs no matter what =D
Asked by |aura on 2006-03-13 22:49:00
i write the lyrics. patrick writes the music. we are in love and live in a castle in the sky. our next door neighbors are carebears. grumpy bear has a baditude. but i still heart him. i hope your life is as magical as ours is.
Answered by peter on 2006-03-14

******

go to quizilla .com search patrick stump and theres this gross story about patrick...........um....yeah
Asked by ashlee on 2006-04-08 18:35:00
patrick doesnt do gross things. his body is made up of kittens, saturdays, 70 degree weather, first kisses and butterflies. trust me, i cut that bitch open once to check
.Answered by peter on 2006-04-08

******

In 10 words or less what is your relationship with patrick and would you ever consider becoming the "tough Guy" of the group??
Asked by Anonomous on 2006-05-08 18:29:00
patrick is pretty much the only person on this planet that gets me. id be nowhere without him. we are a two man gang.
Answered by peter on 2006-05-09

******

Patrick reminds me of a cute little panda bear, what kind of animal does he remind you of?
Asked by Nikki on 2006-05-08 16:07:00
maybe a koala bear or something. he is cute but if you get close hes kinda got some vicious claws. besides i could see him sitting around just chilling and eating leaves all day- maybe you were right about the panda though. something cute and smelly.
Answered by peter on 2006-05-09

******

I just got done watching "Dead on Arrival" and I wanted to know how old was Patrick in that video? Back then he was hot but now he is HOTT!!
Asked by Allisyn on 2006-06-10 15:19:00
im not sure. they had delivered him to my door in a baby basket the stormy night before. the note on the basket said "amazing" but i didn't realize how true those words were until days later, thanks for adding the capslock, it really captured the feeling.
Answered by peter on 2006-06-11

******

so i couldn't help but notice Patricks bulge in various pictures...just how sweet is that boys package?
Asked by Kelsey on 2006-09-06
semi-sweet, but when you put it in cookies it bakes well
Answered by peter on 2006-09-06

******

Pete, on a poster my friend gave me, i noticed somethign written on your hand but couldn't figure it out. me and my friend stared at it all through world history (the class) and couldnt tell if it was an address or number. (and it wasn't a tattoo). so could you help us out here? much love xx
Asked by RockStarxFobxLovexx on 2007-03-22
it was the directions to patricks house, actually even more specific the directions to the zipper of his pants. hope this helps. ill meet ya there!
Answered by peter on 2007-03-22

******

Did you know that bumblebees are going extinct?!?!!?!
Asked by queenmaria on July 25, 2007
what am i supposed to put in patricks tea spider honey?
Answered by peter on July 25, 2007

******

whats your favorite shape? mine is a rhombus!
Asked by em oh ell ell why on August 24, 2007
mines a patrick.
Answered by p on August 25, 2007

Pete airs his true feelings at the VMAs.

In which Patrick admits that he and Pete are married.

And, since I'm posting interviews, this is my favorite one with the two of them.

And a couple of music videos you should watch:
"A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More 'Touch Me'" (Vampire AU!)

"This Ain't A Scene, It's A Goddamned Arms Race" (The meta vid about their rise to fame! Patrick steals my HEART with his flaily arms, plus, boxer briefs!)

"Dance, Dance" (Nerdy high school AU! In which Patrick is ridiculously hot!)

inkjunket is your woman for fic recs, since I haven't read all that much so far, but I'll start you off with one rec: You'd Love To Lead by giddygeek, which is based on the "Dance, Dance" video. Pete/Patrick/AU!Patrick, OMG. It is *wicked* hot.

...Holy crap, this got long! And I didn't even upload any music, whoops. Um. Well, I hope this is enough to get you started... *g*

I brought you my icons, you brought me your love?

2007-10-01T00:46:57Z

I've spent most of today at the computer, doing homework and work-work, and, oh yeah, also making icons. Come, share the fruits of my procrastination, and enjoy! Please comment and credit if you take any.

Fall Out Boy

1. 2.

My Chemical Romance

1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

7. 8. 9.

10. 11. 12.

tragedy!

2007-09-14T04:20:33Z

So I get home tonight, and by "home" I mean inkjunket & J's house, except that they are currently on their honeymoon so it's just me and the cats. And I'm all excited to watch some Ugly Betty, which I started when I was here last week and you guys, it's really great, and not just because the cast is awesome and diverse and there are lots of queer folks and fabulous ladies and even a well-written, multifaceted (and totally smokin') transgendered character. Anyway, but I am sadly thwarted in my attempt to watch this show because our pals who have been doing cat-feeding duty have borrowed it. WOE. But that's okay, because then I figure I'll just watch the bits of Life on the Murder Scene that I haven't seen yet, even though I was sort of waiting for inkjunket to return so I could watch it with her, but she loves me and would understand that I needed the MCR boys to be there with me in my time of crisis/post-evening-class malaise.

So I pop in the DVD and settle on the couch and start to listen to Gerard talk about saving lives, when the TV makes a fuzzy noise and the screen goes blank, and I can still hear the audio but there's no video. I make a sad face, and then I investigate and determine that all the cords are plugged in correctly, and that's pretty much the extent to which I'm willing to go mucking around in someone else's complicated TV/VCR/DVD/TiVo setup, and then I make a REALLY sad face and turn the TV off and on a bunch of times, and once the video comes back for another minute and then goes off again, and then the TV just makes a clicking noise every time I turn it on. What's going on? How did that happen??

So now I am making an EXTREMELY VERY sad face because I have been denied the joy of watching Frank kick Gerard in the crotch, and I go upstairs and turn on the computer, intending to console myself by wading through LJ for a while, and the computer comes on and I start up Firefox... and it tells me there's no internet connection.

What have I done to deserve this???

(I restarted the computer and was, obviously, able to get a connection eventually. THANK GOD. Ack, but now the printer -- which I have not used! -- is making strange noises at me. ??? Perhaps I'm emitting some sort of strange frequency tonight that sends any nearby electronic equipment into a tizzy? Is this my new mutant superpower? WILL I EVER WATCH TV AGAIN??)

On Heteronormativity, Stagegay, and Nuzzling

2007-09-06T17:55:46Z

Hi, I've been nervous about joining in on this discussion, partly because I haven't even posted anything in this journal yet about my HUGE and entirely sincere love for bandom and bandslash, and now here I am jumping into the stagegay fray. But it turns out I have some things to say.

First, a primer on the Stagegay Debate: phaballa posted her opinions about the appropriateness of bands acting gay onstage without actually being gay themselves. There have been a wide range of reactions to her post, including kalpurna's thoughtful post detailing the histories of Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance in particular, and ficbyzee's understandable anger at some of the more racist, classist, and heteronormative assumptions that came through in the post and some of the comments to it. I take exception to a lot of what phaballa said, but her post got me thinking and trying to sort out some stuff that's been in my head for a while.

I should say right away that I love the stagegay. LOVE it. I love the campiness, I love the kissing and the licking and Gerard telling the boys to take off their shirts. I love that these boys (I'm talking FOB and MCR, since I don't know the Panic! boys as well) are affectionate and loving and goofy and sweet with each other, both onstage and off, and I frankly don't care whether or not any of them really and truly dig fucking other boys. I would hope that if any of them were gay, that they'd feel comfortable being open about it, but I don't pretend to know anything about their private lives and thus can't comment on whether or not any of them are being disingenuous about their own desires.

But regardless of their own personal sexual preferences, what they are doing is pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable masculine behavior. Wearing eyeliner, prancing around onstage in pure camp fashion, nuzzling each other onstage, being unafraid to talk about how much they love each other -- they're saying that it's okay for guys to do this. Even straight guys, or mostly-straight guys. And you know, I think that is actually pretty subversive and awesome. It's unexpected, and it shocks some people, and it makes it harder to figure out exactly where they fall on the sexuality spectrum, and just maybe it's helping some people to expand their own definitions of gender and sexuality.

Now for the part where I talk about how that relates to me and my own experiences. I'm female, basically straight, and really, really queer-identified. I pretty much assumed when I was growing up (and reading lots of Jeanette Winterson, and listening to lots of Ani DiFranco) that I'd be gay. Queer issues are hugely important to me; many of my family members, friends, and members of my chosen community are queer; I feel most comfortable in queer spaces. Also, I like kissing girls, but I don't really have any desire to sleep with them, and I've never felt I could fall in love with a woman. In terms of sexual chemistry and romantic love, in my life thus far, I have been pretty much wired for men. So I identify as straight (while also still allowing for the possibility that I might meet the right woman someday).

Still, I get cranky when people assume that I'm straight; I get cranky when people assume that anyone is straight without any real evidence to back that up, because that assumption is part of a heteronormative mindset that I have argued against all my life. And yet, I realize that I'm *not* really queer (at least, not in a sexual sense) and so I don't feel comfortable applying that label to myself. I recognize that to do so would be to appropriate something -- a culture, a community, a set of shared experiences -- to which I cannot lay claim. And I don't want to be seen as the girl who makes out with other girls because it's trendy. *shudders* So it's easier to just say that I'm straight, but it also feels a bit like a lie, like a denial of an essential part of me. I think the truth is that sexuality is a lot more fluid than we've been taught, and tends to resist easy definition. However, another reason for my uneasiness is the fact that people do still tend to assume "straight until proven otherwise," and so part of my wanting to claim something other than 100% heterosexuality is a reaction to that assumption. I want to make people think about that assumption and realize that it doesn't always fit, and that you can't always tell when it's not going to fit.

So when Pete Wentz says he likes making out with other boys, but isn't interested in touching their dicks, well, I totally understand, and my inclination is to read that statement as honest and forthright, rather than an attempt to distance himself from "accusations" of being gay. And when the MCR boys refuse to answer direct questions about their sexuality, I don't think they're being needlessly coy; I think they're saying that the answer isn't as simple as gay, bisexual, or straight, and that makes me want to applaud. They're helping to mainstream not just acceptance of gay people, but acceptance of different flavors of sexuality and gender expression. And when I can have a conversation with a conservative Christian teenage girl at my library about how much she loves MCR and how she thinks they're awesome and they look really good in eyeliner, well -- I think they are doing something right.

Blink

2007-06-10T04:59:56Z

AUGH AUGH CREEPY ANGELS AUGH SO SCARY HOLY CRAP SEND HELP AUGH SCARY AS FUCK.

greendreaming @ 2007-05-10T22:48:00

2007-05-11T02:49:31Z

!

!!!

Pam Beesly, you are my motherfucking hero.

Buffy : Angel :: Doctor Who : Torchwood

2006-11-27T18:27:10Z

Oh, Russell T. Davies. You certainly do wear your influences on your sleeve!

Okay, the parallels between Torchwood and Angel (with Doctor Who as Buffy) are HIGHLY amusing. Take one hunky male character from Show A, post-break-up with Show A's title character. Send him off to The Big City (or, you know, Cardiff) to solve various supernatural-type crimes and mysteries. Surround him with people of varying levels of competence and seriously malfunctioning moral compasses. Add lots of sex and blood, and maybe an mpreg joke here or there. Take a giant step backwards with the treatment of female characters. Set most of your scenes at night and/or in a Secret Underground Lair (don't forget those aerial shots of the city at night). Any of this sound familiar? Captain Jack even gets a brand-new broody demeanor and his very own Billowy Coat. Now, in the most recent episode, we learn that Toshiko can't read his mind (cf. Angel in "Earshot"), and that he is, essentially, not-human and undead.

If it turns out that Jack's real name is Liam, I won't be the least bit surprised.

OMG!

2006-11-17T02:00:31Z

Dudes! Did we all know that Christopher Eccleston has been cast on Heroes?! OMG! That is totally the best news I have heard ALL DAY.

the world seemed a restless place

2006-11-12T22:00:16Z

Okay you guys, this is it: my long-promised and much-anticipated (by at least, um, two of you!) Doctor Who mix! It's a more-or-less thematic mix for the first season of New Who plus "The Christmas Invasion". I downloaded the Season 1 soundtrack a couple of months ago, which is all Murray Gold's score, and then spliced a bunch of other songs in wherever they were most appropriate. File is here (MegaUpload; let me know if it's troublesome): 40 tracks (a mix of mp3s and mp4s), 115MB, an hour and a half long. Hope you like it!

Lost in Space: A Doctor Who Mix

1. "Doctor Who Opening Theme" -- Murray Gold.

2. "Life on Earth" -- Murray Gold. From the opening sequence of "Rose".

3. "LDN" -- Lily Allen. This song makes me think of who Rose might have been, and what London might have been to her, before she met the Doctor. (And, on a metatextual level, British pop star Lily Allen could be a stand-in for Billie Piper here.)

4. "Fleeing Henrick's" -- Murray Gold. From "Rose".

5. "Plastic Attraction" -- Murray Gold. From "Rose".

6. "Who Is The Doctor" -- Murray Gold. From "Rose" (I think).

7. "Take Me Away" -- 4 Strings. I first heard this song when I was travelling in Australia a few years ago. It was the theme song for Channel 7, although perhaps a less clubby version; anyway, it appealed to me particularly at that time because it's about wanting to escape, to go somewhere else and become a different person, which is sort of what that year was about for me. Rose has that same curiosity, that same hunger to see and do and be *more*.

8. "Toxic" -- Britney Spears. From "The End of the World", which was the first New Who episode I saw. When Cassandra played this song for all the guests, that's pretty much when I knew I was going to love this show.

9. "Lost in Space" -- Aimee Mann. Fandom: surely there must be like forty Doctor Who vids to this song already, right? In my mind, this song corresponds to the scene in "The End of the World" where Rose is sitting by herself in one of the observation rooms, trying to figure out what in the hell she's doing here in the first place. That scene was the first time I fell in love with Rose Tyler, especially during her fight with the Doctor when he shows up and she starts asking him questions about himself, which he refuses to answer. She's very sharp; I loved watching her come to terms with the choice she's made to travel with him, because it's very clear that she's both adventurous and wary, and I like how the balance between those two sides of her plays out over the course of the season. In short: Rose Tyler = made of awesome, and not just because she saved the Doctor's life on their first date.

10. "Rose Phones Home/Sabotage" -- Murray Gold. From "The End of the World"; this is one of my favorite bits of incidental music all season long.

11. "Tainted Love" -- Soft Cell. From "The End of the World". Love!

12. "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" -- R.E.M. Okay, this one was a gimme. I do have to say how great it is that the world blows up in the second episode of the series.

13. "I Need A Doctor" -- The Nields. How could I resist including this song? It seemed to fit in best at this point in the mix.

14. "Aliens of London Opening Recap" -- Murray Gold.

15. "Werewolves of London" -- Warren Zevon. Self-explanatory!

16. "In The Morgue" -- Murray Gold. From "Aliens of London".

17. "Harriet Finds The Emergency Protocols" -- Murray Gold. From "Aliens of London".

18. "The Brass Confer" -- Murray Gold. From "Aliens of London".

19. "Past Events At Number 10" -- Murray Gold.

20. "Chasing The Doctor" -- Murray Gold.

21. "Sniffing Out The Hostiles/Cornered" -- Murray Gold.

22. "Meeting Upstairs" -- Murray Gold.

23. "Saving The World/Slitheen Attack" -- Murray Gold. These are all from "Aliens of London"/"World War III". I don't know why those two episodes (the weakest of the whole season, IMO) are so heavily represented on the soundtrack.

24. "Exile" -- Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts. From my favorite Doctor Who vid, "Exile" by Wolfling. I think of this song as fitting with "Dalek" in particular (partly because the vid starts out with a clip from that episode); this is the Doctor as the Lonely God, who's lost or left behind everyone he ever cared about. I'm a sucker for stories about continuing on after something huge and important has been lost forever, which of course is the Ninth Doctor's major character arc: coming to terms with all his losses.

25. "Wandering Star" -- Portishead. Continuing the theme of the Doctor as the Lonely God...

26. "Don't Mug Yourself" -- The Streets. From "Father's Day", this is the song that starts playing when Rose is riding in the car with her father and time is beginning to unravel.

27. "Jumpin' Jack" -- Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Meet Captain Jack!

28. "In the Mood" -- Glenn Miller & His Orchestra. From "The Doctor Dances", this is the song that Rose and the Doctor dance to at the end of the episode.

29. "Sneaking In The Compound" -- Murray Gold. I'm not sure about which episodes some of these last tracks are from, but I think this one is from "Boomtown".

30. "Slitheen Heading North" -- Murray Gold. From "Boomtown".

31. "Bad Wolf" -- Murray Gold. This is the first time we hear the "Bad Wolf" theme. From its placement on the soundtrack, I'm guessing it's from "Boomtown".

32. "Going To Dinner" -- Murray Gold. From "Boomtown".

33. "100 Years Ago" -- Murray Gold. Presumably from "Bad Wolf"?

34. "Rose Gets The Message/The Daleks Advance" -- Murray Gold. From "Bad Wolf"/"The Parting of the Ways".

35. "The Battle for Straight Time" -- A.C. Newman. They're in a battle, see? And it's got something to do with time? Okay, I just think this is a pretty great song.

36. "Red Right Ankle" -- The Decemberists. When I was first seeking out Doctor Who icons, I saw one that I really loved (which, inexplicably, I didn't grab at the time, and now can no longer find! woe!). It was of the Doctor, Rose, and Jack, during their last scene together in "The Parting of the Ways", and the text read "We are bound by symmetry". I can't hear this song now without thinking of it as a Doctor/Rose/Jack song. "This is the story of the boys who loved you..."

37. "Bad Wolf Theme" -- Murray Gold. This is from the climactic scene in "The Parting of the Ways" when Rose, full of the light from the heart of the TARDIS, shows up at the Gamestation to save the day; and the Doctor takes it from her, and sends it back. (From the background noises, it seems that this was taken from the audio track on the DVD.)

38. "Song For Ten" -- Murray Gold. We all know the story doesn't end there, so: here we have the song from the end of "The Christmas Invasion", when the Doctor is joining Rose and Jackie and Mickey for Christmas dinner. Again, this track was clearly taken from the audio track of the episode itself, so you can hear the characters talking in the background. I think it's charming, but it could be annoying if you're not expecting to hear Rose squealing "Mickey!" in the middle of the song, so: now you are forewarned.

39. "Piazza, New York Catcher" -- Belle & Sebastian. jjtaylor has some great stuff to say about "The Christmas Invasion" here, about how Rose and the Doctor's relationship has clearly changed with his regeneration. There's something more deliberate about them this time around. I think of this song--both a love song and a road trip song--as being about the new promise and new possibilities between them.

40. "Doctor Who Closing Theme" -- Murray Gold. The end!

Posting this has reminded me that I really want to make a Mickey-centric vid to "Billy, Don't Be A Hero". Wouldn't that be AWESOME?? Like, on the line "And as Billy started to go" there could be a shot of Plastic Mickey's headless body stomping around in the restaurant from "Rose", and then the line "I said keep your pretty head low" could feature Plastic Mickey's head melting on the TARDIS console!

greendreaming @ 2006-08-05T03:03:00

2006-08-05T07:12:45Z

Oh my god! I hereby swear never again to disparage the Flanigan's acting skills, because what that GLORIOUS scene with John and Teyla demonstrated was that, in fact, John Sheppard actually IS a freaky, poorly-socialized loner who is terrified by the expression of Actual Emotion! I mean, that is just the best thing ever! Oh, John!

And then on top of that, we get Neo!Ronon, fantastic gen team porn, and Rodney getting SHOT IN THE ASS. Also Carson being funny and not annoying, which is always a pleasant surprise. He's done some good work in the last 2 episodes. (Note: I still do not want to read about him having sex, ever.)

Oh. Oh. That episode gave me so much more than I *ever* expected I would get from the SGA writers. Way to go, dudes. Way to go.

Who is John Sheppard?

2006-07-24T06:39:12Z

So, there has been some interesting (and amusing) discussion lately of Joe Flanigan's acting talents and, correspondingly, John Sheppard's basic underlying weirdness: the lack of affect, the funny looks, the inability to react to other people in a genuine way, the smooth but somehow utterly asexual charm, the way that everything he says is undercut by his perma-smirk and ironic delivery.* In particular, helenish talks about the Flan here and cesperanza has some things to say about him here (read through the comments too), both of which cracked me up but also made me think about how John Sheppard and his freaky disassociative personality disorder are a vital part of what I love about SGA. (Okay, and now I've just spent far too long searching--in vain!--for the funny LJ post I read a while back in which [memfault] wrote about how John Sheppard is either really kind of a dick, or else possibly a robot. And Googling "john sheppard robot dick" was... not excessively helpful.)

Right, anyway. So while I was thinking about the weirdness of John, I realized that several of my favorite stories attempted to explain his personality and background in various ways, which then meant that I had to go back through and tag all of the ones I could remember. So I present to you here some recs on a theme:

Who is John Sheppard?

He's an amnesiac! Amnesiac by cesperanza (slash, McKay/Sheppard). In which John develops amnesia and (almost) nobody notices. This story is sweet and funny and intriguing (and also allows Speranza to get away with calling Rodney "the Canadian" about a hundred times), but the best part is how totally in-character it is; I mean, John is still John, even if he's bluffing his way through every scene. (Also, this comment thread made me laugh and laugh. It would explain so much!)

He's a ten-thousand-year-old god! No, he's the cover for a cold-blooded assassin/superspy alternate persona! Mnemonic, or Four Ways John Sheppard Didn't Lose His Mind by cupidsbow (mostly slash, McKay/Sheppard). I love this story SO MUCH. Continuing with the amnesia theme, these are glimpses into four possible futures for John Sheppard: some creepy, some heartbreaking. The writing here is really tight, each story self-contained, but also adding to the gravity of all the others.

He's a ten-thousand-year-old alien! Just as required, without excess by liviapenn (gen). In which Rodney finds out more about John Sheppard than he ever expected to know. I really love their interactions in this.

He's a bizarre gene-therapy/cloning experiment, created specifically to protect Atlantis and her people! Tannhauser Gate by trinityofone (slash, McKay/Sheppard). This story, man. *shivers*

He's the human shell for a descended Ancient who came back in order to help win the final war against the Wraith! Uncanny Valley by harriet_spy (gen). Like "Tannhauser Gate", this story offers an answer to the question of why John Sheppard's ATA gene is so much stronger than anyone else's. Again, one of the best things about this story is how plausible it is--how much it would explain.

He's fallen under the spell of the Snow Queen! Cold by mz_bstone (slash, McKay/Sheppard). In which Atlantis is a harsh mistress. Brighid does beautiful, lyrical retellings of fairy tales like no other. (Retold fairy tales are a particular interest of mine, and "The Snow Queen" is one of my favorite stories; you can read Hans Christian Andersen's version here, and for a very different style, read Kelly Link's "Travels With the Snow Queen" in her fantastic collection of stories, Stranger Things Happen.)

He's an incubus! And Truth, Beauty by trinityofone (slash, McKay/Sheppard). If you think John Sheppard is one of the most beautiful men ever to walk the face of the earth, well, this is the story for you. (I actually think--well, look, clearly he's very attractive. But he's also kind of funny-looking, right? Am I alone in this? He's got that David Duchovny thing going on, where he's handsome almost in spite of his features, rather than because of them.)

He's a wizard! Different Kinds of Magic by anthropomorfic (gen). This story will forever be known in my head as "the story that explains the hair"; it doesn't really address John's essential weirdness, though I think the concept has the potential to do so. But I wanted to include this story here anyway, because it is short and super cute.

He's a deeply-repressed cross-dresser! Second Skin by toft_froggy (slash, McKay/Sheppard). Uh, it's just the tiniest bit possible that I have a thing for pretty men in lipstick, but beyond the fact that this story caters so nicely to one of my kinks, it's also got just the right balance of tenderness and angst, lightness and fucked-in-the-head-ness.

He was born female! Human Vacillation by trinityofone (slash, McKay/Sheppard). I really love this story; the ending, of course, is killer, but the whole slow build of it is handled very well throughout. And again: remarkably plausible!

So: who is your John Sheppard?

*I need to mention, here, my very favorite John Sheppard moment, which is in "Letters From Pegasus", when he and Teyla return to Atlantis at the end of the episode. Elizabeth tells him about how everyone is sending messages to their families & loved ones back on Earth, and she asks if he would like to...? And he does this HILARIOUSLY faux-casual glance away and down, like he is barely restraining himself from crying out in manly anguish, and mumbles, "I'm good." Which I expect is meant to be a moment in which we, the audience, come to understand a little of his Secret Pain, but seriously, it never stops being funny.

Tonight we fly/ over the mountains/ the beach and the sea

2006-05-02T04:59:48Z

Is it wrong that, when watching Farscape tonight (Season 1; I'm finally getting around to Netflixing it), I suddenly realized that Rygel = Rodney McKay? I mean, it's just, they're both so arrogant and superior and pissy and grumpy and really kind of ridiculously adorable in spite of it all; and besides, they both have this need to constantly be eating something. Except that Aeryn = John Sheppard, obviously, and I really don't need to go to an Aeryn/Rygel place, at all, ever.

Er, anyway. I was good and did lots of homework today, and then attempted to make dinner, but was foiled by our stove being broken, so instead I ate a giant bowl of cereal while watching Till the Blood Runs Clear and Rhapsody in Blue. Then I came back to the computer to find that trinityofone had written the conclusion to her off-the-cuff wingfic story (go! read! part 1, part 2, and part 3), and while I was reading it, "Tonight We Fly" by The Divine Comedy came up on the iPod, and I realized that I had the final song for my SGA mix. I present it to you without further ado (and also without a snappy title, alas):

SGA Mix
1. "Tryin' to Find Atlantis", Jamie O'Neal. OMG. madmadharri first brought this song to my attention, and I haven't been able to stop listening to it since.
2. "Our Retired Explorer (Dines With Michel Foucault In Paris, 1961)", The Weakerthans. Also recommended by madmadharri, who I believe first heard of it from minervacat? I love the second verse especially: "Oh I could show you the way/ Shadows colonize snow/ Ice breaking up on the bay/ Off the Lassiter Coast/ Light failing over the pole/ As every longitude leads/ Up to your frostbitten feet/ Oh you're very sweet..."
3. "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games", Of Montreal. Another suggestion from harri. These first three songs in particular remind me of a giddy morning spent listening to these songs in her kitchen and bonding over our shared John/Rodney love. What would I have done without you this semester, my friend? I don't even want to think about it.
4. "3rd Planet", Modest Mouse. minervacat mentioned a while ago that this song (and the album it's from, The Moon and Antarctica) were perfect for SGA, so I gave it another listen and had to agree: "Everything that keeps me together is falling apart/ I got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over..." Oh, John. [Edit: and now minervacat has a story titled after this song: The Universe Is Shaped Exactly Like The Earth.]
5. "Graceland", The New Pornographers. If I had the skillz, I would vid this song. It would feature Our Team going off through the stargate to find glory, and salvation (and also strange Pegasus-galaxy fruits and not-quite-cotton fibers), and then coming home to ~~Graceland~~ Atlantis. "Countdown, to zero, to zero, I am listening/ [...]/ In my case, there is something in the will to escape life at last/ As we ride into the sunset we burst into flames..."
6. "Bohemian Like You", The Dandy Warhols. Because I have watched that vid by shalott far too many times.
7. "Holding Out For A Hero", Frou Frou. Also due to too many viewings of a particular vid, this one by nel_ani (go here to download).
8. "I Wish I Had An Evil Twin", The Magnetic Fields. Because if ever there were a fandom in which evil twins *should* be canon, it's SGA. "My evil twin would cheat and steal/ And he would stink of sex appeal/ All men would rise/ Beneath his eyes(*)/ He'd send the pretty ones to me/ And they would think that I was he..."
9. "The Soldiering Life", The Decemberists. I fell in love with the Decemberists last fall, but it took madmadharri to point out to me how appropriate this song is for John & Rodney.
10. "This Year", The Mountain Goats. Okay, in my head, this *is* John Sheppard, age 17.
11. "A Place Called Home", Kim Richey. Another John song, pre-Atlantis: "Someday I'll go/ Where there ain't no rain or snow/ Till then, I'll travel alone/ And I'll make my bed/ With the stars above my head/ And dream of a place called home."
12. "I Won't Back Down", Johnny Cash. I think John had this song running through his head during "The Storm"/"The Eye"; maybe he used it to keep him going in the face of despair.
13. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", Green Day. A John-song suggestion from madmadharri. [Edit: turns out this song was first included on the Chasing Sheppard soundtrack (so good!), which is how it came to harri and thus to me.]
14. "I Am A Scientist", Guided by Voices. Rodney's turn! Okay, I admit it, I searched through my iTunes to find songs with "science" or "scientist" in the title. But I do love this song.
15. "Stress", Jim Infantino. This isn't the version used in that *awesome* vid (that I can no longer find, woe!), because I only have the earlier one, but the essence of the song is still the same: pure Rodney.
16. "No One Knows My Plan", They Might Be Giants. Rodney as a mad scientist! I was tempted to put Jonathan Coulton's "Skullcrusher Mountain" on here as well, but I think this one works better, especially because you just *know* that Rodney has every album that TMBG ever put out.
17. "I Will Follow You Into The Dark", Death Cab For Cutie. Because sometimes I am really, really sappy. Also, sometimes John gets all emo, and it embarrasses him, especially that he could be so emo over *Rodney*, like, what's wrong with him? And then he has to go running for a few hours, until he forgets to feel panicky over the thought that Rodney might die someday--that he might not be able to protect him.
18. "I'll Be Your Shelter (Just Like a Shelter)", The Housemartins. Um, see above re: sappy, except that there's also always this undercurrent of snark with the Housemartins, which is how I imagine John and Rodney are, even in their sappiest moments.
19. "Something So Strong", Crowded House. Sappy! I am unashamed!
20. "Tonight We Fly", The Divine Comedy. Because they all wanted to escape something.

(*)Huh! I just looked up the lyrics for this song, and it turns out the line is "All men would writhe/ Beneath his scythe". I think I like my mishearing better.

File is here (in RAR format); please let me know if you take it, and especially if you have trouble opening it, because I'm new to all this, so I'm not sure if I've done it right or not.

SGA recs for luluminion

2006-03-19T23:25:51Z

The pleasures of the barter system: luluminion (she who is responsible for my headlong fall into Sports Night fandom last year, bless her heart) promised me WBRPS recs (Chris/Jenny, with occasional PADDYWHACK) in exchange for SGA recs. Well, how could I turn down such a generous offer? These are her recs; here are mine!

luluminion, I don't know how familiar you are with the show. If you've never seen it, or don't know much about it, thefourthvine's Fandoms I Have Loved post will give you most of the background you need to appreciate the stories. There's always the crack_van summary as well, but TFV's is much funnier. Both of these essays cover the first season (general spoilers) and TFV's also has a few spoilers for the beginning of the second season. (I highly doubt you'll care about being spoiled for the show, but I thought I should at least mention the spoilers. Anyway, I've been thoroughly spoiled for the show by reading the fic, and I can't say it's made any difference in my enjoyment of the show.)

There's one important thing you should know about the second season, and that is Ronon Dex. Ronon's home planet of Sateda was wiped out by the Wraith (basically, space vampires), and he spent seven years as the Wraith's... plaything? of sorts, until he was found and rescued by the Atlanteans. I think. As far as I can tell (I haven't seen most of the second season yet), little is known about Ronon's native culture, which means that ficcers have free rein to give him all kinds of strange morals and traditions. By far my favorite version of Ronon comes from this totally brilliant and cracked-out collaboration between helenish and jssangel that starts here (make sure to read the comments in this thread) and continues here (helen's comments here), here (helen's comments here), and here. (Okay, and then you should also read back through the last several months of helenish's journal, where she asks all kinds of Important Cultural Questions like "Did they have underwear on Sateda?" and "How would Rodney feel about the sex-for-services/food black market on Atlantis?" The comments are always worth reading, too, like when astolat writes about Rodney having to choose between John and Sam Carter or when panisdead and helen write about Ronon giving John and Rodney lacy pink and blue underwear as a token of his affection.)

Right. Now that you've had a crash course in SGA canon/fanon/cracktasticness, onto the fic! Everything here is McKay/Sheppard, except the last one, which is gen. Read Intersections first, especially if you don't watch the show, and then read the others in any order.

Intersections, by kaneko. Set in Antarctica, pre-Atlantis; how things could have started between John and Rodney. There's great backstory for both characters here. I especially love Rodney's family in this, and his interactions with John.

"So," Rodney says, when both feet are on the ground. He surveys McMurdo. The white sheds. The other white sheds. The blue sheds. "What do people do for fun around here?"

John does hiking for fun. Rodney barks out a surprised laugh. It's a nice laugh.

"Oh wait, you're serious," Rodney says.

Turns out they have nothing in common whatsoever.

Visiting Hours, by lilysaid. Oh god, I love this story. John is imprisoned on another planet, and Rodney has visiting rights.

"My room," Sheppard replies. When he turns his head, there are bruises on his collarbone, bloodstains on his shirt. "Cozy, isn't it?"

"They said they wouldn't hurt you," Rodney says, bristling with indignation. He hadn't trusted them from the beginning.

"No, they said they wouldn't kill me, which they haven't," Sheppard says patiently. "Now, please tell me you've found a way to get me out of here."

No Refunds or Exchanges, by astolat. An AU in which John gets kicked out of the Air Force before he could have been sent to Atlantis, so instead he ends up coming there as Rodney's mail-order bride. OMG SO GOOD (check out the cover art too).

"I don't think putting it off is a good idea," Sheppard said. "You strike me as the kind of guy who can get worked up about stuff in his own head. Don't worry," he added, "it'll be fine. We'll get married, have some dinner, have sex. It won't be a big deal."

"Oh, God," Rodney said.

Time in a Bottle, by astolat. In which John and Rodney are badly injured on an off-world mission, and get put into stasis (and a virtual environment of Rodney's own design) indefinitely. I really love watching the evolution of their relationship in this story, and the ending makes my heart grow three sizes bigger.

"You know, if you get stressed out in here, it's probably not that good for you outside," John pointed out.

"What kind of an idiot do you think I am!" Rodney said. "There's no biofeedback connection between our bodies out there and our bodies in here. Which is a good thing, since otherwise we would be screaming blackened husks just like our actual bodies are outside!"

John could already tell this was going to be his favorite infirmary stay ever.

Really, you could just read everything astolat's ever written, most of which can be found here. Besides the ones listed above, I can particularly recommend A Beautiful Lifetime Event, in which John and Rodney accidentally become parents (no, really), and Under the Sea, an AU in which Rodney goes to a frat party and ends up tutoring John in physics.

Advantage, by resonant8. John gets infected with a slave virus, and Rodney is his master. Hilarious and hot. "Aliens make them do it" is one of the greatest fanfic tropes ever invented.

"Well," he went on to Sheppard, "how do you feel about making yourself useful and bringing up something to eat?"

Sheppard didn't trot off like a good slave, and he didn't roll his eyes like normal Sheppard. He shifted from foot to foot and then said, in a choked tone that suggested he was speaking under protest, "I feel conflicted."

"Oh, my god, I've made you talk about your feelings. That stuff is strong," Rodney said. "All right. Let me rephrase that. Describe the slave thing's conflicting impulses."

Sheppard's shoulders came down a couple of inches. "It wants me to do what you want, but it also wants me to stay in earshot. Maybe it's because you didn't give a direct order."

"Well, that's easy. Go down to the mess and get lunch for all three of us."

"I'll expect a good tip," Sheppard said, and left.

Zelenka was giving him an I can't believe you just did that look, not that that was unusual.

"He'll feel better if he keeps busy," Rodney said.

Your Inevitable Unhappy Ending, by helenish. This is vintage helen: there's longing, and sex, and misunderstandings, and fabulous dialogue, and also, aliens make them do it. LOVE.

"You dumped Miko?" Rodney said, collapsing next to John on the couch and putting his feet up on the table. "Are you aware that she won the Baxter Prize when she was nineteen?"

"So?"

"So, it seems incredibly unwise," Rodney said. "You're not going to find anyone who has a better grasp of unified harmonic theory than Miko—"

"She dumped me," John said. They'd had sex six times, nice sex, good sex, and before that he'd gotten to make out with her on her little narrow bed, kiss her neck and take off her bra and almost forget that he didn't know what the fuck he was doing dating her.

"Really?"

"Maybe she found out I didn't get unified harmonic theory," John said.

Thicker Than Water, by julad. Rodney has a sister, Jeannie McKay, who is mentioned on the show once or twice and has become a popular fanon character. This story has my very favorite version of her. It also has my favorite woobie!John. When John and Rodney get two weeks' leave on Earth, John goes with Rodney to visit Jeannie in Vancouver. This story is beautiful.

The first thing John did was find Rodney. Rodney was yelling down the phone at somebody who was wrong, wrong, wrong, and vowing that if he'd been around to review something, it would have been filed in the trash where it belonged. Insults were hurled, reputations gutted, and the phone slammed down in about six seconds. Rodney was still in fast-forward.

"Did you want something?" he said to John, already dialling again.

John smiled at him. "I haven't seen you for a while," he drawled, anticipating being thrown onto the bed and fucked at Mach speed.

"Yes, well, since I've been gone, the entire field of astrophysics has lost its mind. Hi, get me Dr McIlveney, it's urgent. They've fallen for Roberton's neutrino phase variance bullshit, and I've only got two weeks to make them see reason," Rodney said, and then, "Jason, as physicists go, you used to be reasonably intelligent. My condolences on your colossal brain damage."

John knew better than to try to distract Rodney from being gloriously and magnificently right when other people were tragically and pathetically wrong. He backed out of the door and left him to it.

Bell Curve, or, Ladies Night at the Boom Boom Room, by rageprufrock. Oh god, this story. Rodney is a physics professor at Caltech; John is his TA, and a stripper ("Bartender!") on the weekends. There are two really lovely, short sequels: Learning Curve, or, Tab and Exponential Curves, or, Chances.

And it had almost worked, too, when Rodney heard a knock at his door, looked up, and found the very same very bad no good horrible stripper of a bartender in a gray t-shirt and jeans, consulting a sheet of crumpled paper in his hands, hair still in full West Hollywood style, saying, "Hey, is this Dr. McKay's office? I’m your... TA..."

Rodney stared. John stared back. Both of them turned white.

Then, Rodney put up his hand and said, "Just--hold whatever you're about to say."

He fell upon his coffee, drank it in one chug, set the mug down, and said, "Okay, okay, we can start freaking out now."

Pru is another author whose entire archive you could work your way through happily. I can especially recommend Hindsight (and its sequel, More Than), in which John is an FBI officer and Rodney works at SGC (Stargate Command); like Intersections, this one works well as an alternate pre-Atlantis history.

Human Vacillation, by trinityofone. Easily my favorite genderswapping story ever. The ending to this literally made me gasp the first time I read it. (Other stories to check out by trinityofone: Silence Implying Sound, a takeoff on "Hush"; Daemonology, a fusion of sorts with the His Dark Materials universe that works so much better than it has any right to; and The Bang and the Clatter, in which John and Rodney are recast as Crowley and Aziraphale from Good Omens.)

Strange things, unusual things, were so much par for the course in the Pegasus Galaxy that John didn't even blink when the alarm signifying an unscheduled off-world gate activation sounded. He'd been in a meeting with Elizabeth, and together they got up and walked to the control room. "Lieutenant Cadman's IDC," Campbell told them, and though John immediately ran through a mental list of where Cadman had been and who she was with--M3L-198; Major Lorne, Sergeant Shelmerdine, Doctor Parrish--he was not particularly concerned.

Then Cadman and Shelmerdine came through the wormhole carrying a limp body between them and shouting for a med team, and John only felt the weary sadness of a good day gone wrong.

The Best Bad Idea in Two Galaxies, by trixiesfic. Beer and honey and smut, oh my!

He pulls Rodney down onto the bed and Rodney curses and pushes him over onto his back, crawling up over him. They push against each other, each of them straining to get the upper hand, and Rodney’s surprisingly strong, but John’s stronger and trained and could pin Rodney in a few seconds. But he doesn’t want to, because he’s really turned on by this aggressive Rodney, who suddenly has a mouth like a sailor, so John stops resisting, wraps his legs around Rodney and hangs on.

Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead, by cesperanza. In the comments, runpunkrun says "This is EXACTLY the back-on-earth-post-siege fic I've always wanted.", which is exactly how I feel about it.

John buys more beer from a roving huckster lugging a cooler, and tips the delighted kid more than the price of the bottles, and Rodney takes a moment to mark this place, this moment, in his memory: the impressionist painting that is 80,000 people, the vibration of their stomping, cheering bodies, the crisp Colorado weather, that amazingly blue western sky. Because they'll never be here again, in this place, in this moment. Rodney's got his head tipped back and is watching a single puff of white cloud drift across the sky when suddenly John's looming over him, John and everyone else is the whole stadium. He scrambles to his feet--he's missed the first touchdown--but it doesn't matter: John is hugging him wildly, lifting him nearly off his feet, and the roar of 80,000 people sounds almost like music.

cesperanza is another fantastic author; definitely check out MVP (written for this Post Secret card), if you like this one, and then Rodney's Last Message, in which Rodney gets trapped and sends increasingly frantic distress emails.

Flying Blind, by minnow1212. Gen. Told from several different viewpoints over the course of the story, this is a day in the life of Atlantis. It's gorgeously written and keenly observed, and it's one of my very favorites on a long (long!) list of favorites.

"Very, very good," McKay said happily, bumping into Teyla from behind and steadying them with a hand to her shoulder. "You’re okay." Then his voice changed; he’d seen what Teyla was noticing. "Are you okay?" Sheppard looked ill, face tinged green, sweat soaking his t-shirt and his hair matted to his forehead. Nor had he stood up to greet them. He remained seated, with his hands clutching the ledge, white-knuckled and tendons straining, and he wasn’t meeting anyone’s eyes. Stepping closer, she felt her nose wrinkle involuntarily, because he smelled of sour sweat and vomit.

"Mostly," Sheppard said, and his voice had only a tinge of the normal nonchalance. Teyla exchanged an uneasy look with Ford. "You guys okay? Is Teyla with you?"

The other three stared at each other in a moment of realization, McKay’s face crumpling in distress and Ford’s eyes narrowing in fury. Teyla willed her own face and voice to remain calm as she took a step closer to him. "I am here, and we are all fine and unharmed. You cannot see us, then?"

"Just a little bit temporarily blind here, yeah," Sheppard said, and his voice was hoarse, as if he’d been screaming, or was swallowing one.

Seriously, even choosing just these stories was so hard. There is a ludicrous amount of fantastic fic in the SGA universe. It's like the first heady days of Smallville fandom, except even better, because that was my introduction to the world of fanfic; whereas now I know how hard it usually is to find enough good stories with the characters and pairings you want to read about. I seriously think, if everyone stopped writing SGA today, it would take me months to run out of good stories. I love this fandom!