A is for Atlantis

This drabble started out as something I wrote in an email to Kass, in which Rodney gives Torren a children’s book. Kass thought it would be fun to actually make the book. The full version is posted over on her Art blog – click on the pic to see it.

 

 

http://goatfarmersart.blogspot.com/2009/10/is-for-atlantis.html

 

And the drabble is here (if anyone wants to turn this into a full length fic, just remember to credit us):

 

Teyla accepted the gift from Rodney and unwrapped the brightly colored paper.
Inside was a book made of stiff card, with pictures and large printed writing.

“Rodney, did you make this yourself?” asked Teyla.

“Um, yeah, I, well, its a children’s book, for teaching Torren, you know, to read?”

Rodney babbled, blushing from his neck to the roots of his hair.

“That’s so thoughtful of you,” Teyla thanked him, smiling.

She opened the book to the first page. There was a picture of the city, that must have been taken from a puddle jumper. Underneath was the writing “A is for Atlantis.”

“Hey, can I have a look?” asked John eagerly, reaching out his hand. Teyla passed him the book, grinning. John flipped through the pages, reading the writing under each new picture.

A is for Atlantis
B is for  Beckett
C is for Control Chair
D is for Drone
E is for Electron Microscope……………

“Hey Rodney, you can’t give Torren this,” he exclaimed.

“Why on earth not?” asked Rodney.

“Because he’s two.” replied John with an exasperated sigh.

“And your point is?”

 

Better Than Life

(warning, my spell checker is still set in American, for the SGA stuff, so please excuse my transatlantic spellings.)

This week I took Adam to  “Better than Life”, a science fiction convention for fans of Red Dwarf. We found out about it when I went to Chevron 7.2 earlier this year. I’ve always liked Red Dwarf, but my son is a huge fan of the Show, so this was like a dream come true for him.

This was a slightly different experience for us because we had planned it much further in advance, so we had Gold tickets, and stayed in the convention hotel. Unfortunately, the squirrels were not there because they were at Collectomania last week, but we did meet some people who were at Chevron, as well as making some new friends.

Sadly, some of the cast had to cancel. Norman Lovett, who played Holly #1, had already canceled, but we were disappointed to find that Chris Barrie (Rimmer) wasn’t going to be able to come. Craig Charles (Lister) was expected on Sunday, but he canceled at the last minute because he was feeling sick.

Without some of the bigger names from the show, it could have been a disappointing weekend, but it was totally saved by the brilliance of the guests we did get.

The guests, in roughly the order that we met them, were:

Mac Macdonald (Captain Hollister) made a surprise appearance on Saturday morning to sign autographs, and appeared in some of the talks.

Hattie Hayridge (Holly #2) was a real trouper, and was here for the whole weekend, as was Steven Wickham, who appeared in Red Dwarf as the Gelf Bride.

Cloe Annett (Christine Kochanaski) was originally only booked for Saturday, but also came back for an extra group photo shoot, which the organizers arranged to make up for Craig being missing.

Danny John Jules (the Cat) was only expected for Sunday, but he turned up on Saturday to do an open line autograph queue, and an extra photograph shoot. He also did a highly entertaining extended talk to make up for Craig being absent.

Robert Llewellyn (Kryton) was there on Saturday, and took part in a highly entertaining quiz called the Kryton factor.

One feature of these conventions is that you get the chance to bid for a guest encounter, where a small group of people can share a coffee and chat with a guest. On Saturday, most people were bidding for Robert Llwellyn, but Adam decided he would rather meet the girls and we were lucky enough to get both Hattie and Cloe. Adam was the only child in the group and I’m pretty sure it made his weekend.

We saw Cloe, Hattie and Steven again at the gold ticket holders reception and the party. We got some candid photos with Steven, who didn’t have an official photo shoot. They’re on Adam’s phone so I don’t know if they came out. Both Cloe and Hattie asked Adam to dance with them, which pretty much made his weekend.

Sunday was Danny John-Jules day for us. We already had our free autos, but Adam wanted to go back for some extra autos with Danny, to personalize some large pictures and DVDs. Then we had our photo ops with him. Danny gave me a really nice snuggly hug, and the photographer picked that photo shoot to take 2 shots of me (I got to keep them both).

There was a group photo with  Danny, Hattie, Steve and Cloe, which was in place of Craig’s photo.  After that, we were lucky enough to be part of Danny’s guest encounter slot. Danny told us some stories about the Red Dwarf cast and a lot about his history and influences in the musical theatre. After lunch, he also gave an extended talk, which also included some singing and tap dancing – there is no limit to the man’s talents.

Sadly, I didn’t have enough money left to pre-book next year’s, but I do intend to go again. Guests I would most like to see again are Cloe, Hattie and Danny, but they were all great.

Spending today chilling out, although I am supposed to be catching up with my laundry. Photos may follow later, but I haven’t got round to scanning them yet,

 

Manic Sunday

We got up at 5.30 this morning, which is just plain crazy on a Sunday, because my son wanted to sell all his junk at the car boot fair. It was a dull, miserable day, but that worked in our favor because it was quiet, so we got a good pitch. By 10 am he had made enough cash, so we put the rest of the junk back in the car, just in time to avoid the rain.

After we unpacked the car,  we went into town to trade his old XBox for a Playstation3 and I bought new shoes. And all this by 2.00pm in the afternoon.  Right now I feel like I could just go back to sleep!

 

Alternate Universe Theory

The last story I wrote, Solaris Device, was quite dark and angsty in places, so I wanted to do something a bit lighter this time.

This is a crossover between SG1 and SGA, in an AU where John Sheppard and Rodney McKay meet at the SGC. This is a complete story, not a part work, but I might write a sequel if there is enough interest?

Warnings:  spoilers for SG1 episode “48 hours“.
Hopefully I’ve put enough details in so that you don’t need to have seen that episode to follow the story.

Disclaimer: Sadly, neither Rodney or John belongs to me, and nor do any of the other characters and places in the Stargate franchise. I don’t write for money, but friendly feedback is always welcomed.

Update: Now with cover art.

 

 

There is a popular theory that there are an infinite number of alternate realities, with new ones being created every time we make a decision. The thing is, which decisions? Is the world dramatically different because you put on the black shirt instead of the blue one, or ordered the fish instead of the chicken? Probably not. So which decisions are important, really, in the greater scheme of things?

A week before Major John Sheppard was due to ship out to Afghanistan, he was contacted by General George Hammond and offered a job at the Air Force Base under Cheyenne Mountain. John wasn’t sure what to do – he really wanted to know what the highly classified, top secret job was, but he didn’t know if it would be worth giving up flying for. What if it was just some boring desk job? In the end, he made the decision the same way he always did, by tossing his lucky coin. In this version of reality, the coin came down heads, and he caught the plane to Colorado. In the other reality – well you already know how that story goes.

 

John Sheppard makes an important decision (from  SGA episode 1, Rising)

 

Rodney McKay was starting to regret letting Agent Simmons talk him into coming to the SGC in person. He could have just emailed the results of the computer simulation from his lab in Area 51. Rodney didn’t work for the NID, so Simmons didn’t have any direct authority over the scientist. Instead he had appealed to Rodney’s vanity, calling him the world’s foremost expert in wormhole technology. Rodney had expected to be greeted by the SGC staff as a hero, here to rescue Teal’c before his 48 hours were up. Instead he found that he had become a pawn in some political game, with Simmons hoping to gain power over the SGC.

It was lunch time and Rodney McKay’s day seemed to be going from bad to worse, because the main meal of the day was lemon chicken.
“Are you trying to kill me?” Rodney vented his frustration on the startled catering assistant. “I’m deadly allergic to citrus, even a tiny amount could be fatal.”
“You should have told the chef about any special dietary requirements last night, sir.” the girl spat, somehow making the “sir” sound like an insult.
“How was I supposed to do that, when I didn’t even know I was going to be here?” asked Rodney, in an exasperated tone of voice.
Just then the man in line behind Rodney decided to interrupt their conversation.
“What seems to be the problem here, Milli?” he asked, reading the girl’s name from her identity badge.
Startled, Rodney glanced round to see an Air Force officer, with a lazy smile and a non regulation spiky hair style.
“The problem is that the idiots in the kitchen are trying to poison me.” complained Rodney.
“I’m sure they didn’t mean to.” the man drawled, sarcastically.
“Look, Milli, this man is clearly a visitor here. It’s not his fault if someone forgot to give chef the paperwork. I’m sure you can make an exception, just this once.”
“Well, when you put it like that, I suppose I could find something,” Milli reluctantly agreed.

Eventually, Milli came back with a meal that Rodney could eat. Rodney picked up a blue Jell-O dessert and a chocolate muffin and turned to look for an empty seat. He was going to sit down by the blond scientist he had met earlier, Cartwright, or possibly Carter, when he saw the airman from the dinner line trying to catch his attention. Rodney wasn’t generally known for his people skills, but even he realized he should say something to thank the man for helping him. He walked across the room, and placed his tray down on the table.
“Er, thank you for, you know, helping out before.”
“No problem.” the man replied. “I’m Major John Sheppard, by the way.”
“Really? Oh, right, Dr Rodney McKay.”
“Nice to meet you, McKay.”  Sheppard said. “Hey, is that a chocolate muffin?”
Before he realized what he was doing, Rodney picked up the muffin and placed it on Sheppard’s tray.
“Cool.” Sheppard said and suddenly Rodney‘s day didn‘t seem that bad at all.

 

Dr Rodney McKay (from SG1, episode 48 hours)

 

After lunch, Rodney was in a better mood and was prepared to admit that maybe Major Carter wasn’t completely stupid, even if she had turned off numerous safety protocols to get her home made gate dialing device to work. So instead of trading insults, he calmly suggested he show Carter the computer model he had been working on at Area 51. At least that would prove that his assessment of her team mate’s chances of survival were simple fact and not part of Agent Simmons’ diabolical plan to take over the SGC. Then maybe they could get on with trying to save Teal‘c and get the gate open again.

“Hang on, McKay, what’s that?” Sam pointed at the computer screen. Rodney looked at the subroutine and his eyes widened in shock.
“No, no, no, no, that can’t be right?” Rodney didn’t notice that he had pushed Sam to one side and started typing frantically.
“Someone’s been messing with my code. As soon as I find out who did this …..  Oh no, what if the calculations were all wrong? I could have killed that Tilk guy and never even realized.” He stopped typing and stared down at the keyboard, wracked with guilt.
“McKay.” Sam placed her hand on Rodney’s shoulder to comfort him. “It’s ok, it wasn’t your fault. Fix whatever they did and run the simulation again. I need to go and talk to General Hammond.”

Much later, Teal’c was finally safe, and Rodney found himself back in the mess, snacking on a citrus free sandwich.
“Busy day, McKay?”
Rodney looked up to see John Sheppard, holding a blue Jell-O dessert in each hand.
“You could say that.” Rodney smiled as Sheppard placed one of the Jell-O cups down in front of him.
“So I’ve been thinking, my team is down a scientist right now, What do you think?”
“What, are you offering me a job?” Rodney asked. “On a gate team?”
“Well, it would have to be cleared by General Hammond, but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”
“But why me? I’m not good at the great outdoors thing. I’ve got allergies, I’m hyperglycemic and I’m not great with people.”
“Word is you‘re pretty smart, maybe as good as Major Carter. Someone like that would be a useful addition to my team. Besides, it‘s kinda hard getting a civilian scientist who‘s prepared to join SG13.”
Sheppard grinned. “Not superstitious, are you?”

This is not the end!

 

Sorry.

So I’ve been MIA again. I guess you’re all getting used to me doing that by now. I only meant to take a couple of weeks off in the run up to financial year end. It’s always a really busy time for me at work. I put in extra hours and afterwards I feel too tired to turn on my PC.

Easter was busy. Work didn’t let up much, but it was Adam’s school holidays, and he wanted me to do stuff with him at the weekends. We did some interesting walks, including one at the top of the Horse Shoe Pass.

The weather’s been particularly nice lately, so I’ve been trying to sort out the garden. Also we took some of Adam’s old stuff to the local car boot fair to sell. It turned out to be a lot of work so that Adam could turn some of his old junk into cash, but somehow his room still looks a mess.

I’ve started to do some writing again, plus Kass has reminded me that I have some stuff already in beta, so you may not have to wait to long for the next squirrel fic, or sga story.

Anyway, I’ve got to show my face on ADB at some point (assuming I can find my password, and the bouncer lets me in.)

Hope they’re not too mad at me.

 

Chevron 7.2

I’ll do a proper mission report later if I get time, meanwhile, here are some photos:

This is my photo from Saturday with Joe Flanigan. He’s a real sweetheart.

 

This is my photo with Jason Momoa from Sunday. I think he looks great with the shorter hair and big glasses.

This is me sharing a huggle with Colin Cunningham. This was taken on Sunday morning, right after Wabit did her red nose poses.

This is probably my favourite pic of Joe.

 

Snow

So its my birthday today and guess what, it’s snowing and I’m stuck home with a chest infection. So much for bowling in the mall, chinese food and coffee in Starbucks? Maybe next weekend.

The schools were open today, but we’ve had a lot more snow overnight, so my son and his friends are hoping for the day off tomorrow.

All the squirrels have been great, sending me lots of messages to cheer me up, and my brother did do me a really cool home made birthday card :

 

 

I think I’ll celebrate my birthday properly when we all go to the chevron 7 con.

 

Reunions

Just a quick update – spent this weekend at my friend’s daughter’s christening. It was great because I got to see all my university friends again. I saw most of them at new year’s eve, but there was one guy there who I had lost touch with since I left university. I made sure to exchange email addresses so we don’t loose touch again.

It was too far to travel down in one day, so we spent Saturday night at a Premiere Inn. My son was impressed by the food.

Another reunion back at work on Monday. A couple of the guys have been stuck in one of our other offices for what seems like ages, so it was great to have them back again.

My dragons are doing really well for themselves. All three of my original eggs are now adults.

 

Baby Dragons !

I found out about these from emerald over on dgeek. They start out as eggs, but if enough people view them they turn into baby dragons, then adults. You can also breed your own.

If you want one of your own, you have to go to the dragon cave site http://dragcave.net. You have to register first, then you can click on eggs to pick them up. There is also a forum where you can find out about how to care for your egg.

 

 

Happy New Year Everyone

First of all, apologies to everyone who’s wondering where I’ve been over Christmas, although by now you’re probably all used to me going MIA and didn’t even notice!

The holidays were the usual, last minute present shopping, Christmas eve and Christmas day spent with my family, Dr Who special on the telly. My son got lots of money this year, and spent most of it in the Boxing day sales. We are finally the owners of our own copy of Guitar Hero. Much more fun than shooting stuff.

New year’s eve is always a big deal for me, because it’s when I catch up with all my old friends from University. This year the party was being hosted by a friend in South Wales and we ended up spending new year’s day on the beach. It was really cold.

I managed to get some writing done over Christmas. I have mostly finished Solaris, although the chapters still have corrections to do. There’s also a couple of new projects that might actually get finished. (Even my beta hasn’t seen everything yet)

Last week I got hit by a really nasty cold bug thing. I’m back at work now, but it’s all a bit nuts there at the moment. Still, it pays the bills.

Anyway, need to try and get my fanfic head back on over the weekend, as I’ve got too many unfinished projects lying around.