By Her Silver Light

Gateway!

magickmoons — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 15:39:46 GMT

I'm finally at a Stargate Con!!

This entry was originally posted at https://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/43660.html.

Fic: The Storm [SG1, gen]

magickmoons — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 02:36:02 GMT

The Storm
Rating: All audiences
Characters: Jack, Sam, Daniel, Teal'c
Summary: O'Neill and Carter are stuck behind the front in an off-world battle. With Carter injured and both exhausted, can they hang on till the SGC can mount a rescue?
Notes/Warnings: I was going through some of my old files and found this, mostly written, from 2012. Cleaned it up a bit and slapped an ending (of sorts) on it. I have no memory of where it was going originally, but, hey. Enjoy :) [also posted to AO3]
Word Count: 2350

Jack watched through the mouth of the cave as the distant cityscape was illuminated by weapons fire. Silhouettes of aerial fighters dodged around each other and the rumble of the bombs being dropped reached them even here. He couldn’t quite see the stargate from here, but it was there. Safety, home, help for Carter: all less than half a day’s walk from here... and completely out of reach.

A voice called weakly from farther in the cave. With a last look at the chaos outside, he made his way over to his 2IC, automatically laying his hand on her cheek to check her temperature. She was still burning up, but trying to push up to sitting, to see outside. It was taking all her effort just to keep her eyes half-open.

She blinked up at him when he didn’t speak and repeated herself. “I can hear thunder. Is there a storm coming?”

He winced a bit, as echoes of another rumble filled the cavern. Gently pushing her shoulder to keep her in a prone position, he answered, “Yeah. It looks like a bad one. We’re just going to stay put for a while.” No point in worrying her when there wasn’t anything either of them could do at the moment.

Her eyes drifted shut again. Jack watched her for a minute, waiting to see if she was going to try to stay awake, but she stayed still. He grabbed the cloth he’d made from an extra t-shirt earlier and submerged it in the small stream that ran about 20 feet away. Bringing it back, he sat next to her and gently wiped away the sweat from her face and neck. One more trip to the stream and back and he laid the cool cloth across her forehead.

He sat quietly, leaning against the rocky wall as he watched her sleep. His own exhaustion was pulling at his eyelids and he occupied himself trying to total how much sleep he had gotten since everything had gone to hell. Not enough, that was for sure. He couldn’t shake the fear that, if he fell asleep, she’d be gone before he woke up.

He glanced at his watch. It had been about 77 hours now since the call from Daniel to get out of there. Daniel and Teal’c had been looking at some ruins between the capital city and the gate, while Carter kept him company on yet another tour of the ‘wonderful, magnificent’ facilities of the capital. Roadways into and out of the city were closing up even as they were leaving, and they ended up coming out on the far side of the city from the gate. Sounds of gunfire could be heard clearly once outside of the city walls.

They were ambushed as they tried to navigate around the city, surprised by some wet-behind-the-ears rebel kid who got one shot off before Jack zatted him. He had gone to make sure the kid was really out, and grab his weapon, holding it up for Carter to secure when he realized she wasn’t behind him. He turned to see her leaning against the wall, hands pressed against her side, a steady stream of blood dripping from beneath them.

Jack didn’t know what kind of ‘wonderful, magnificent’ weapons they favored here, but it quickly became apparent that the bullet carried some sort of toxin; within minutes, Carter was showing disoriented and shaking. He patched her up as quickly as he could before they started off again. The fighting grew more intense as they headed toward the gate. Carter was leaning on him heavily, shaking non-stop by this point and already running a fever.

He radioed the others. “Daniel, Teal’c, we’re not getting through to the gate. What’s your situation?”

It was about 30 seconds before Daniel’s voice came back through the radio. “Not great, Jack. We can see the gate, but there’s a lot of fighting in the area. We’re waiting for a chance to cut through.”

“Okay. When you guys get back there, tell them we need a medical unit. Carter’s been shot and is having some sort of reaction - she’s shaking, feverish, having trouble staying on her feet. I’m going to get us up to those hills they showed us on the first day. We should be able to shelter in some of those caverns until you guys can get a rescue team through.”

“Understood. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

They hadn’t heard anything from Daniel, Teal’c, or the SGC since. There was no way of knowing if Daniel and Teal’c had gotten to the gate, or through it, or if a rescue mission would even be authorized given the volatile nature of the area surrounding the gate.

Checking the time once more, he grabbed his radio to make his hourly attempt at contacting SGC personnel. Waiting a minute to make sure he didn’t hear any chatter, he keyed the transmitter. “This is Sierra Golf One Niner. Does anybody read?” His voice sounded eerily flat to his own ears.

Three attempts, all met with only static. He turned off the radio once more and dropped his head back against the wall, eyes closed. The rumbles from the night’s battle continued in the distance, background noise as he, once again, ran through the very short list of options open to him. Stay. Or go.

Their packs had been left behind in their guest quarters in the city. It had been a diplomatic mission, after all, designed to allow the best and brightest minds of both worlds to touch base. And when they got back to Earth, Jack was going to have words with whichever SG team had declared this a politically stable planet. He tried very hard to ignore the tiny voice inside his head taunting: if they got back to Earth.

Thankfully, no matter how safe things looked, SG-1 was fanatical about keeping basic emergency supplies with them at all times offworld. It wasn’t much, but it had gotten them this far.

He’d given Carter the last of their antibiotics about 12 hours ago, for all the good they had done. Water purification was going to be the next to go, although he had been drinking straight from the stream for about a day now. He figured he might as well determine if there were any ill effects before she had to drink it. They were down to one half of a power bar in terms of food; she had not been able to eat since soon after they set up camp in this cave and he had been limiting himself to single bites at a time. He’d ventured outside a couple of times, looking for signs of animal life, but it seemed like the nearby fighting had driven off any animals that may have made this rock their home.

He put the radio down and ran his hands roughly over his face. There was no choice. He wasn’t going to leave her here alone. It was up to Daniel and Teal’c now.

A slight noise broke into what had become a light doze and he looked down at Carter. She was shivering under the camp blankets, moaning quietly.

“C-c-cold. God, so c-cold.” The words, pushed through chattering teeth, were slurred and barely audible.

He gently eased himself down next to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her snugly against him. The heat from her body burned him, even through his t-shirt, but he held her tightly. Her fingers clutched weakly at his until he covered her hands with his own. He listened to her breathing slow as she began to sleep again and closed his eyes, giving himself permission to rest for few minutes.

As soon as he’d gotten them settled in the cave, he’d turned his attention to her wound. It didn’t take too much to dig the bullet out, most of it anyway; clearly, parts of it had fragmented and were likely stuck in the wound track. Apparently, its main objective was to deliver whatever germ or toxin it was that was making her sick, rather than to kill outright.

He watched her all through the night, as the fever climbed higher and she kept flirting with shock. By dawn, he had made up his mind; even a as a prisoner, she stood a chance of getting medical care. No news from Daniel or Teal’c or anyone else at the SGC made him reluctant to rely on that avenue for immediate help.

He made sure she was comfortable and headed down the hill. Halfway through a small wooded area, he heard movement and slowed down. As he approached through the trees, he was pretty sure these were rebel soldiers, a belief reinforced as several city soldiers came into view on the path, their hands raised in surrender. Before a word could be spoken, the rebels had attacked and killed the others. Jack quietly faded back further into the shadow of the trees, waiting for them to despoil the bodies and continue on their way. He hurried back to the cave. No way to get to the city, no good hope of turning themselves in to the rebels.

Jack started awake to find her staring at him intently. He took stock of the situation: he’d slept for about two hours; the bombardment sounded nearer now - they must be trying to flush out the rebel camps in the woods; Carter was just as feverish as earlier, if not more so. Her eyes were glassy and her face was ashen except for two bright spots on her cheeks, but she seemed lucid and aware for the first time in over a day.

Her voice, when she spoke, was dry and hoarse, causing Jack to wince in sympathy at the pain it must be causing her throat. “I know what’s going on, Sir. They’re getting closer. You need to stay mobile. Go find somewhere safe.”

She tensed and her hands fisted in his shirt as she fought a sudden wave of pain. He wrapped one hand over hers and pressed firmly. She finally relaxed with a sharp exhale that sounded almost like a sob.

Her eyes met his again and he shook his head.

“Nowhere to go, Carter. This is as safe as it’s going to get for us.”

Her eyes were already starting to close again. “Hey,” he said softly, drawing the last bit of power bar out of his pocket. “Try to eat something, okay?”

She slowly shook her head, eyes already shut. “I don’t think I can.”

“Please, Sam? For me?” He knew that the little bit of food in his hand wouldn’t make any tangible difference to either of them. But he needed to feel that he had done everything possible to keep them both alive. Some little part of him kept saying if she could just eat, she would have the wherewithal to fight this thing.

She opened her eyes. He tightened his jaw at the bleak resignation that shone through tears. After a couple of deep breaths, she nodded and he pressed the bar into her open hand. Her eyes closed again after one bite.

"Carter? Sam?" No answer other than shallow breathing, so he found the most comfortable place against the wall and pulled her close against his side, closing his own eyes just for a little while. No point in facing death exhausted.

He woke abruptly as his brain registered the silence outside the cave. Carter didn't move as he slowly reached for the radio and tiredly thumbed it on.

“...own position. Jack? Can you hear me?” Daniel’s voice was sharp with worry and fatigue and just about the most welcome sound Jack could imagine. He squeezed Carter's shoulder gently. "We're gonna get you out of here."

**********

Jack tried to insist on walking back to the gate under his own power, but Fraiser pulled the whole medical authority business. He would never admit it but the weight of her stare was almost enough to knock him onto the stretcher by itself. Daniel and Teal'c flanked him as they headed back to the gate; just ahead of them he could see Carter, Fraiser at her side. The doc caught his eye and gave him a quick thumbs up.

He nodded his acknowledgement of Fraiser's optimism and eased back onto the stretcher. He turned his head to speak to Daniel.

"So, how’d you get them to stop?"

Teal'c glowered. "When we lost contact with you, DanielJackson refused to leave the planet. He began negotiations with the troops surrounding the gate."

Jack groaned, able to picture the scene: Daniel walking right out into the middle of the fighting, yelling for everyone to just listen to reason.

Daniel shrugged. "It wasn't as bad as you're imagining." Teal'c cleared his throat significantly. "Anyway, we've got SG-9 sitting with representatives from both sides right now, trying to hammer out of treaty."

"Is it going to work?"

"ummm... long-term to prevent a war? No, not a chance. Short-term yes; it got them to stop fighting long enough for us to come in and get you."

"And to obtain the antidote."

"Well, whatever magic you worked, ... worked."

The gate came into view. Jack welcomed the icy disassociation of the wormhole, happy to leave the 'wonderful, magnificent' planet behind. Through the gate, down the ramp, straight to the infirmary -- a route so familiar, Jack could do it in his sleep... had done it in his sleep actually. Might even be doing so now. Because he was now enjoying the nominal upgrade from stretcher to infirmary bed.

He opened his eyes slowly, every muscle in his body screaming exhaustion at him. Carter smiled softly at him from the next bed over.

"You got us home, Colonel," she whispered. "Now get some sleep."

"Giving me orders, Carter?"

"Just a helpful suggestion, Sir."

He had a great retort, guaranteed to make her have to stop herself from rolling her eyes, but it really was a good suggestion. Maybe he'd just have to store that comeback for when he woke up.

This entry was originally posted at https://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/43403.html.

Jack Daniel Ficathon

magickmoons — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 14:28:56 GMT

Hey guys! Last couple days to sign up for the fourteenth Jack/Daniel Ficathon!! Signups close July 15. Come join the fun :D

More info at the comm's post here. This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/43072.html.

Ficlet: Sleepover (SPN)

magickmoons — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 03:53:48 GMT

Sleepover
Rating: All audiences
Fandom: Supernatural
Characters/Pairings: Dean Winchester/Castiel, OFCs
Summary: When their daughter's friend hears a strange noise during their sleepover, it prompts a surprising response in the Winchester household.
Notes: Destiel, kid!fic, future!fic
Word Count: 1171

"Night, Papa!"

"Goodnight, Mr. Cas!"

Castiel bit back a laugh as he watched his daughter, Mary, and her friend. The girls snuggled down into their sleeping bags with badly muted giggles.

"Mary, I understand that you two are excited tonight, but you do need to get some rest."

"Okay, Papa. We promise." The two pre-teens looked up at him just a little too innocently. He thanked his lucky stars that Mary seemed to have not picked up Dean's ability to lie straight-faced. At least not yet.

He shook his head as he closed the rec room door behind him.

Mary and her best friend, Abby, waited until the sound of Cas' footsteps had faded before they wriggled out of the bags and started the sleepover in earnest. A couple of hours later, they were finally winding down. Mary was curled up on the couch doing her nails, while Abby flipped through the Netflix menu looking for something good to watch.

"Huh," Abby said suddenly.

Mary looked up briefly. "Find something good?" She returned her attention to the nail polish when she didn't see anything exciting on the menu.

"You guys don't have a dog, right?"

"No. Why?"

Abby tilted her head, motioning for quiet. After a few seconds, she shrugged. "Thought I heard something moving around outside."

Mary quickly capped her nail polish and stood up, fanning her hands as she walked over to the window.

"What are you doing?" Abby asked.

She peered out the window into the dark. "Gotta tell my dads," she answered.

"What? Why?"

"They always need to check out any weird noises. It's a thing."

"We'll get in so much trouble, Mary. It's the middle of the night. Plus, it was probably nothing. My imagination, or y'know, a raccoon."

Mary shook her head, squinting at the shadows in the yard. "They won't be mad. Trust me. Papa may have thought we'd get some sleep, but Daddy knows better. Honestly, he'd be disappointed if we were asl--"

She jumped back from the window with a yelp.

Abby sprang to her feet. "What is it?"

Mary motioned Abby back, as she stepped away from the window. At the same time, the door flew open and Mary's dad loomed, scanning the room, one hand hidden behind his back.

"What happened?"

Mary ran to him and tucked herself against his side. "Daddy, there's something outside. Abby heard it. And then I saw something moving."

Abby waited for Mr. Dean to laugh or scoff or roll his eyes. Her parents had drilled into her that there were noises at night, and you couldn't jump at every little thing. But he just tucked whatever he'd been holding behind his back into his waistband and directed the girls to follow him. Abby looked at the slight unevenness under his shirt as he led them down the hallway, but couldn't figure out what it was. If this were a movie, she'd think it was a gun, but that was ridiculous. Dean Winchester was the high school wrestling coach, not some super-vigilante/spy dude.

"Hey, Cas!" he yelled, and in a second, Mary's other dad was meeting them at the door to the basement, bed-head sticking every which way. He looked at the three of them with concern.

"Think we've got company."

In an instant, the sleepy PTA president disappeared and someone Abby had never seen before took his place. "Mary, take your friend to the basement," he directed. "I'll be there in a moment."

Abby was dying to ask questions, but Mary just shushed her and started down the stairs. Abby followed slowly, trying to hear as much of what Mary's dads were saying as possible, but she could only catch a few words.

" ... something followed ... from that last hunt ... where ... Sammy ..."

Mary turned at the bottom of the stairs and glared up at Abby, who hurried down.

"What is up with your dads?" she hissed.

Mary was chewing on her lower lip. She shrugged nervously. "My dads ... well, my family ..." She stopped when they heard footsteps on the stairs.

Cas smiled at the girls. "Please, Abby, make yourself comfortable. I just need to make a call." He dialed his cell phone as Mary settled in on the couch.

Abby looked around the basement, noticing for the first time that there were no windows, no other doors than the one at the top of the stairs. She sat next to Mary and grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch, wrapping it around herself, trying to warm the chill she suddenly felt. Mary scooted over and bumped her shoulder.

"It'll be okay. My dads are the best."

"The best at what?"

Mary looked at Abby with wide eyes. "Just trust me."

At the other end of the room, Cas was speaking quietly into his phone. "Sorry to call so late, Sam. We wanted to alert you ... " He glanced at the two girls on the couch and took a deep breath. "You may have brought an unintended memento back from your last trip ... No, no need to come over yet. Dean just thought you might want to check things out on your end. ... He's outside right now ... Understood ... Give our love to Eileen and the kids. My apologies again for waking all of you."

He pocketed his phone and grabbed a bag of chips out of a cabinet set into the wall. He handed the bag to Mary. "I understand that 'munchies' are an important part of sleepovers." Abby blinked when he actually used finger quotes.

Mary opened the bag and tilted it toward Abby. "Just go with it," she mouthed.

Abby took a chip. "Um, Mr. Cas, what is happening?"

"It's probably nothing, Abby. But better safe than sorry, isn't that the saying?"

A sharp crack from outside made them all jump. "Papa?" Mary's voice wobbled.

Cas perched on the arm of the couch, wrapping his arm around Mary's shoulder, but he kept his eyes trained on the stairs. Abby reached out from under the blanket and grabbed Mary's hand.

No one spoke. After a few minutes, they heard steps moving across the floor above them. Cas stood and moved toward the stairs, standing rigid until they heard Dean's voice as he jogs down the steps.

"All clear!"

And just like that, they were the wrestling coach and the middle-school PTA president again. And they were yawning and herding the girls back to the rec room with promises to talk about it in the morning. But when Abby slipped out a few minutes later to use the bathroom, she saw them in the kitchen, Cas gently securing a bandage across Dean's shoulder, leaning down to rest his forehead against his husband's, Dean brushing his fingers across Cas' cheek. She hurried past before they could see her.

When she got back to the rec room, she burrowed into her sleeping bag and looked at Mary. "What did your dads do before they had you?"

Mary raised an eyebrow and smirked. "They saved the world."

Ficlet: Missing (SPN)

magickmoons — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 20:57:20 GMT

Hey peoples! It's been a looooooong time since I've posted anything here. This is a little SPN AU flash-ficlet I wrote up this afternoon.

Missing
Rating: Teen and Up
Fandom: Supernatural
Characters/Pairings: Dean Winchester/Castiel Novak, Claire Novak, Bobby Singer
Summary: How had he failed as a parent so quickly?
Notes: Destiel, AU, kid!fic, angst with happy ending; This is also posted at my tumblr
Word Count: 963

Castiel watched the setting sun with a feeling of dread. All around him, people were moving, talking, focused on one thing, but that sun was the deadline. He slumped.

Police Chief Singer walked up and put a hand on Castiel's shoulder. "I know you're worried right now, but we will find her. This early run of mild weather is working in our favor, even if we can't get her back tonight."

Castiel nodded. The temperature would remain warm enough that Claire freezing to death in the woods overnight wasn't a significant risk. But she would still be alone, in the dark, and scared. She had only just started sleeping through the night after the accident that taken her parents months ago.

Only months. How had he failed as a parent so quickly?

The Chief was still talking. "Is she the type to keep walking around, trying to find home? Or will she stay put and wait for someone to find her?"

"Assuming she can still walk around," he muttered. "Assuming that she hasn't fallen and broken a bone, or been attacked by some animal --"

"Yes, we are assuming that, Mr. Novak. And I can assure you that animal attacks almost never occur in this area. But to my question..."

He sighed and shook his head slowly. He didn't know. He didn't even know how she'd slipped away in the 10 seconds he'd turned away to count for Hide and Seek. "I don't know. I've only had her a few months now, since her father died. My brother."

Oh Jimmy, please help her.

The Chief's radio crackled.

"Bobby, we found her. She's ok -- a little scared, but she's gonna be brave just a little while longer. We'll be back soon." The voice on the radio segued easily into a soothing tone, obviously trying to calm Claire as he spoke. It kind of calmed Castiel as well.

He followed Singer back to the treeline, assuming the Chief knew where the unknown voice would be exiting the woods. And sure enough, about 10 minutes later, a man emerged from the shadows, three-year-old Claire in his arms. Her arms were wrapped so tightly around his neck that Castiel worried for his breathing. There were twigs and leaves in her hair and on her clothes, and smudges of dirt along her clothes and skin, but she was whole and safe. The stranger spoke softly to her, and she lifted her head and looked around. Her eyes lit up when she saw Castiel, and she reached toward him.

"Papa Cas!" she cried. Her rescuer moved quickly to Castiel's side to hand the toddler off before she tipped out of his grasp. She promptly pressed her face into Castiel's shoulder and burst into tears. He held her tightly, leaning down to bury his nose in her hair, searching for that unique Clair scent under the pine and leaves and dirt.

When he finally looked up, the man who had found her was still standing there, watching them with a soft smile.

"I don't know what to say. You found her," Castiel said in a choked voice.

"Always happy to help such a brave girl."

Claire tilted her head to look at him and gave a watery smile. "Thank you, Mr. Dean," she said through the remnants of her tears.

"Dean?" Castiel confirmed.

"That's me."

"Well, thank you, Dean."

Shifting Claire to a slightly more comfortable position, Castiel got his first calm look at the man who had rescued his niece. He was, in a word, gorgeous. Tall, well-built, with green eyes sparkling even in the dim twilight, and it was probably just the adrenaline talking, but Castiel suddenly was overcome with the desire to know exactly what those hands would feel like on his skin.

Dean's lips quirked as he returned Castiel's stare. They both started when Chief Singer called over, "Hey Winchester, stop lollygagging and come help pack up the truck."

"Hold your horses, old man," Dean yelled back, then looked at Castiel sheepishly.

"I gotta ... " Dean started at the same time that Claire said, "Papa Cas, m'hungry."

Castiel rubbed her back. "We'll eat soon, sweetie."

Dean had taken a step back, then hesitated. "Hey, Cas? You're new around here?"

It was a little disconcerting to hear Claire's nickname for him in Dean's deep voice, but Castiel found he didn't mind it so much. "Yes, we moved here ... recently." Moved, run away from staggering loss; to-may-to, to-mah-to. Castiel suppressed a slightly hysterical laugh, as the events of the day, of the year, resonated through his mind.

"Well, I grew up around here, and I know all the best places to eat. Why don't you hang around for a minute, and I'll take you guys someplace good."

Claire looked up, interested. "Mr. Dean come for dinner?"

Castiel nodded. "Yeah, Claire-bear. I think we're going to go have dinner with Mr. Dean."

"Awesome." Dean's smile was huge as he held up a finger. "Don't go anywhere." He loped over to where Singer was supervising and spoke briefly with him, pointing back at Castiel and Claire a couple of times. A minute later, Dean was ushering the two of them toward the road where everyone's cars were parked.

Castiel followed Dean to the restaurant, a beat-up building with the unassuming name of 'The Roadhouse,' which turned out to have excellent burgers, as well as a staff that just doted on Claire. By the time the meal was over, she was her usual bubbly self, albeit rather tired.

And although Castiel restrained himself from attempting a kiss as he said goodbye to Dean by the cars (it seemed inappropriate with Claire trying to climb over his head), he was quite happy to accept Dean's phone number.

And even happier when he used it.

Favor request

magickmoons — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 16:49:43 GMT

Hey guys, I'm doing GISHWHES this week, and we need to get the following youtube link tweeted on 15 different feeds. It's a video on stroke awareness by Rob Benedict (Chuck/God on Supernatural). The link is: https://youtu.be/2aTFThB8D4M

If anyone feels like tweeting it, and sending me the link to your tweet, that would be awesome! So far, my team's got about 8 posts, and we seem to have stalled out.... This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/42895.html.

2016 Jack/Daniel Ficathon -- Lucky XIII

magickmoons — Mon, 09 May 2016 17:45:20 GMT

Original announcement and signups at dreamwidth.

We are getting our ducks in a row regarding the management of the LiveJournal mirror site, so in the meantime, I am posting a copy of the announcement and sign-up guidelines here on my personal journal.

Timeline

Sign-Ups Are Open: 10 May - 31 May 2016
Assignments Out: 2 June 2016
Stories Due: 12 July 2016
After Party: Complementary Fanworks (With Fic Author Permission) Due: 9 Aug 2016

If you can help us spread the word, please do!

So, how does this work?
~ This is a fic exchange. You will sign up by giving details of the kind of fic you would like to have someone create for you. You will commit to write a fic for someone else. Princessofgeeks will read all the signup comments and match fic writers with requests.
~ Comment on this post to sign up (the format is below). You don't have to have a Dreamwidth account to participate. All signups will be handled here on Dreamwidth. Assignments will be sent out via e-mail. Stories will be due 12 July 2016. However, if you finish early, you can post and we'll leave your story in the moderation queue until the day the ficathon opens.
~ Keep your assignment secret until the deadline. We do suggest you get a beta. Options for getting a beta will be covered in a future post, or you can email or message the admins at any time about locating a beta.
~ If you have any questions about your assignment, contact [personal profile] princessofgeeks, or another admin, not the person you're writing for.
~ Stories must be at least 1000 words, but there is no upper limit.
~ Feel free to post either here in the comm, or somewhere else with a link to your story. More details about posting will be spelled out closer to the deadline.
~ Join the comm on Dreamwidth in order to post an announcement of your fic, or the fic itself. If you aren't normally a user of Dreamwidth, contact an admin when you post your fic so that we can announce your fic here and link to it. All comm members have immediate posting access, but posting is moderated so that the fic will all go live the same day.

After Party

This year, we will again hold an After Party for complementary fanworks, to allow people who create fanworks other than fanfic to participate! All fanfic writers who sign up for the ficathon will be asked whether they give permission for other artists to create related fanworks after the stories have posted.

Fan artists of all types are encouraged and urged to take a look at the signup comments and note which fan writers have given permission for complementary works to be posted during the After Party.

The deadline for these complementary works is 9 August 2016.

To announce your complementary work for the After Party, join the J/D ficathon community on DW, and then post to the community with a link to your work. Please include the title and author of the fanfic to which your work is related (and include the link if possible). If you need help joining, or don't usually use Dreamwidth, please contact the admins so that we can announce your fic for you on DW and link to it in the AO3 collection.

Crossposting Policy for Fic

~ Stories may be hosted on Livejournal, Dreamwidth, Archive of Our Own, or any other website. Stories may be hosted on more than one site, but please provide all links when you announce your fic. We are planning an AO3 collection for the 2016 ficathon; details will be announced as they become available. We will also create a Master List on Dreamwidth for all the stories and all the complementary works in the After Party.
~ You may announce your story anywhere you post.

Defaulting, Dropping, and Extensions

~ If you drop out without emailing princessofgeeks at hotmail dot com, you will be banned from participation for the following year.
~ If you need more time to finish, simply email princessofgeeks at hotmail dot com. There will be a reasonable deadline for late fic, after which a pinch hitter will be recruited to write for your recipient. If something comes up and you can't complete the ficathon, just let princessofgeeks know in advance of the deadline, so your recipient will get a fic from someone! We want everyone who signs up to receive a story.

For the after party, there is no signup necessary. Post an announcement of your work, by the deadline, in the DW community. That's it. A master post of complementary fanworks created for the After Party will be posted to the DW community after the deadline.

Sign-Up Form

Here is the sign-up form for fic. You can specify two things that MUST be in your story, and one optional thing that you'd like to be in your story. Also answer the IMPORTANT question: Are you willing for someone to create related fanwork(s) for your story for the After Party? You must answer YES or NO to this question. If you leave that out, the mods will hound you for an answer!

Your two requirements should be limited to items from this list (you do not need to include all these):

* a prompt, which might be a setting (examples: "an ice planet at night", "a plane trip to D.C.", "the Land of Light"), an object (ex.: "a letter", "a dog", "a new car"), a line of dialogue (ex.: "And then I shot her!"), and so on.
* an episode or season: for example, "Beneath the Surface" or "season 5"
* a genre: action/adventure, angst, established relationship, first time, humor, hurt/comfort, schmoop, UST, smarm, etc.
* a rating: for our purposes, following the MPAA system, so G through NC-17

For your optional request, you can be as specific as you like (e.g., "Jack and Daniel are stranded on an ice planet and Teal'c and Vala come to the rescue, but only after Jack tells Daniel a deep dark secret"), but keep in mind that the writer won't be obligated to include that request in your story.

Restrictions should be things you absolutely don't want in your story. You can specify up to two.

If you only want to fill out the requirement field, that's fine; you don't have to specify optional requests or restrictions. You must answer the question regarding additional fanworks for the After Party.

As for the assignment you'll receive: please specify the maximum rating you'll write. You can write an actual rating here, or just "I'll write anything," "no sex whatsoever," "fade to black only," and so on. You can also list up to three specific things you won't write. If you've only watched up to a certain season, haven't seen earlier seasons, haven't seen the movie, etc., please make sure to note that, so we don't accidentally match you up with a season-specific request you can't write.

Note: If you list more than three things you won't write, only the first three will be considered; if you list more than two requirements, only the first two will be passed on to your author. (We apologize if that sounds overly restrictive, but please stick to the limits.)

Your comment should look like this:

Name:
Dreamwidth user name:
Email:

Requirement (#1):
Requirement (#2):
Optional Request:
Restriction (#1):
Restriction (#2):

Maximum rating you'll write:
You won't write (#1):
You won't write (#2):
You won't write (#3):

Do you give permission for another fan artist to make a work related to your fic for the After Party? (This may include such works as podfic, art, crafts, a remix or other fanfic of your fanfic, etc.): Yes or No?

Will you pinch hit? (This means being willing to be called on to write a fic to a certain prompt in the place of a writer who has defaulted, and to finish by a given deadline.) Yes or No?

For an example of a finished sign-up form, see the first comment below.

Questions? Feel free to e-mail princessofgeeks at hotmail dot com.

Renew Limitless for Season 2

magickmoons — Sun, 08 May 2016 03:07:54 GMT

Hey all! Limitless is a CBS show that just completed its first season. Bradley Cooper, who starred in the movie, exec produces and guest stars in the series. It features a guy (Brian) who consults for the FBI, utilizing a pill called NZT which unlocks the human brain’s full potential for a period of about 12 hours.

CBS has not been yet renewed it for Season 2. Here is a link to a petition for a second season. This show is absolutely brilliant, with an interesting premise, great characters, and stories that are not predictable. If you haven’t watched the first season, you should! (FYI, they did not end on a cliffhanger, so no worries there)

They also took great chances in the storytelling formats, more so than any first season show I’ve ever watched. We had the Ferris Bueller homage episode, the episode from everyone else’s POV, the episode where Brian’s brain decides that the FBI work is just too disturbing, so the whole episode has euphemisms for the icky terms (eg “serial hugger” instead of “serial killer”).

I encourage anyone who supports innovative and intelligent television programming to sign this petition or otherwise let CBS know that they should renew the show.

This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/42024.html.

Ficlet: For Life (SG-1, Jack/Daniel)

magickmoons — Sun, 01 May 2016 19:45:40 GMT

For Life
Rating: Teen and Up
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Jack/Daniel
Summary: An important day changes everything, and nothing.
Word Count: ~790
Notes: Set post-series. Also: A very, very (VERY) long time ago, I promised a birthday fic to jdjunkie , who asked for a wedding fic. My apologies that it took so long.

Daniel lazily arched against the hand slowly stroking his skin, gently bringing him out of a pleasant post-sex haze.

Jack pressed a warm kiss to his neck. "Time to get up," he whispered.

Daniel rolled to face him, pulling Jack flush against him. "Five more minutes," he replied, silencing Jack's answer with a kiss.

When they pulled back, Jack smiled, "So, you ready to give up your swinging single-guy lifestyle?"

Daniel looked around the room, a curiously comfortable hodgepodge of his and Jack's things. "I think that ship has sailed," he smirked.

"And 'swinging single-guy lifestyle?' Aren't you dating yourself a bit, Jack?"

Jack pouted. "I thought I was dating you."

Daniel smirked. "I thought you were marrying me."

"And the sooner we do that, the sooner we can get right back here." Jack brushed his hand over Daniel's hip, before he pulled away with a groan. "Okay, Cassie will kill us if we're not at least getting ready when she gets here, so, up and at 'em!"

Jack dragged himself out of bed and walked naked to the bathroom. "Dibs on first shower!" he called back over his shoulder.

"Go ahead. Your old bones need the hot water more than I do!" Daniel watched Jack moving around, getting the shower going. Jack complained about the extra few pounds packed on by age and sitting behind a desk, but Daniel still found him breathtaking. He always would.

----------

A few hours later, they were standing in the backyard of the house in the Springs -- which Jack had sold and Daniel had bought, and which had been 'theirs' for more years than either of them realized -- surrounded by their friends and coworkers, listening as Teal'c solemnly led them through the ceremony. Daniel wondered how many strings Jack had to pull to get that approved; or rather how many strings Paul had to pull when Jack delegated that task. He chuckled to himself, but somehow Jack knew, quirking an eyebrow in playful admonishment.

The ceremony was unique, weaving together several different cultures, both Earth-based and not. Occasionally, Daniel looked over out over their friends, still awed and grateful at the number of people wanting to share their happiness with them, but he continually found his attention drawn back to Jack. He was devastatingly handsome in his tux, of course, but more than that, he was happy, giving Daniel that genuine smile that crinkled his eyes, his posture relaxed and easy as he took Daniel's hand slowly slid the ring onto his finger.

Daniel held Jack's hand in his for a brief moment. He loved Jack's hands: dextrous, sure, and sensual in turns. He couldn't help himself from bringing Jack's hand to his mouth and brushing a kiss across the newly placed ring. From the corner of his eye, he saw Teal'c smile fondly; he heard the faintest whisper of affection from their friends.

"I now pronounce you to be husbands and partners for life."

Jack was already pulling Daniel closer, whispering "I love you, too," softly against his lips.

-------

They had done the obligatory cutting of the cake and toasts. Daniel had danced with Sam while Jack, Teal'c, and Mitchell gave her date the third degree. Cassie had convinced Jack to get on the floor for the electric slide, and Daniel was definitely going to have to find out who had video of that.

And now, the party was self-sustaining, if a little mellow, and Jack and Daniel had retreated to a far corner shadowed under the trees as dusk fell. They sat on the grass, leaning against a tree trunk and each other, watching the festivities.

Jack ran a hand along Daniel's thigh. "What do you say we blow this pop stand and get a jump start on the honeymoon?" He tilted his his head to press soft kisses along Daniel's jaw.

Daniel sighed as he melted into the touch. "I can't help feeling like we should be ..."

Jack cut him off. "We've done our part. They're all enjoying the party. Who's gonna miss us?"

Daniel winced as Vala's voice cut through the night. "They're over here!" she shouted, leading a somewhat wobbly SG-1 (past and present) across the yard.

"You just had to say something, Jack," Daniel grumbled as Vala pulled him to his feet, ordering the couple back to the party.

As they crossed the lawn, Jack grabbed Daniel's arm and whispered, "We've been in worse situations than this. Give me half an hour to plan, and we're busting out."

Daniel laughed as he let himself be pulled onto the temporary dance floor, surrounded by friends, by family, and with his husband. He was in no hurry, and neither was Jack, despite his very loud protests. They really had the rest of their lives, from this night forward.

This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/41783.html.

SPN DCcon

magickmoons — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 14:09:39 GMT

A couple of weeks ago I attended Supernatural's DCcon and had a blast! The cast members were amazing - fun and funny and so very nice to each and every attendee. I got to have a short conversation with Misha while getting his autograph; he was so kind and compassionate and very patient as I tried to actually get my thoughts from my brain to my mouth, even though I'm pretty sure he'd been signing for at least a couple of hours by that point. Didn't get to talk to Jared or Jensen for very long -- their autos were running late and they had a flight to catch (to get back across the continent and film the next morning!) -- but even those brief exchanges felt so warm and friendly.

The panels were all awesome. I love how much these actors think about their characters, even those who haven't been on the show for years, and how much they are willing to share with the audience. The nighttime entertainment was great - karaoke on Friday and Louden Swain (and friends) on Saturday. Plus there was a huge education and awareness interactive display in the lobby courtesy of IMALIVE and You Are Not Alone, which was pretty inspirational.

And I won something! (I never win things) But I donated to the Random Acts' charity drive for a local animal rescue foundation, and later found out I won a journal signed by Misha!

Including a grid of my photo ops and part of the IMALIVE display - which started as a canvas with just the image on it, and was filled by the end of the con with messages of hope and love and support from con-goers.

This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/41635.html.

Fic: The Price of Victory

magickmoons — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 04:12:03 GMT

The Price of Victory
Rating: Teen and Up
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Characters: Jack, Daniel (or pre Jack/Daniel)
Summary: Jack and Daniel talk after the events of The Shroud.
Word Count: ~1250
Notes:
1. A very, very (VERY) long time ago, I promised a birthday fic to eilidh17, who prompted: Jack, Daniel, The Shroud. My apologies that it took so long.
2. This is a stand-alone piece, but in my personal headcanon, I consider it ~~a prequel~~ background of sorts to my fic, The Whole Story.

Carolyn stood beside Daniel’s infirmary bed, nodding as she reviewed his chart. Then she put it down and smiled at him. "So, Dr. Jackson, you are doing well enough that I am actually going to get to head home for the night."

Daniel just nodded. As far as he was concerned, she could have gone home last night as well; he was fine, all he really needed was some rest. Really, it had just been a (very) brief fainting episode during the Odyssey’s trip back to Earth. Hardly worth mentioning to Daniel’s way of thinking, so he hadn’t. The six new Ori ships in the galaxy certainly deserved more attention.

But then Jack had gone and opened his big mouth during the debrief. And, with Sam helpfully pointing out that Daniel's entire cellular structure had undergone massive changes twice in a matter of months, Carolyn had opted for an abundance of caution and had decreed a 48-hour observation period for Daniel, with her on-base for the first 24.

Not to mention, Daniel thought wryly, that someone, somewhere, was probably waiting to make sure he wasn't going to go dark side.

"Dr. Carmichael is the physician on duty tonight. He's just finishing up SG-8's pre-mission physicals, and then I'm sure he'll be in to check on you."

"Thank you, Doctor," Daniel said with his practiced genuine smile. "Go get some rest. I'm sure I'll be fine."

She rested a hand on his shoulder. "I just want to say that we're all really glad you're back."

Daniel kept the smile in place until she was gone, before letting it slip away.

*

Carmichael came and went, leaving Daniel alone with the the thoughts racing through his mind. It was too quiet inside his head; Merlin's voice was silent, gone. And with his departure, so went the calm surety of their actions, as Daniel replayed them over and over.

He startled a bit as someone slid into the chair beside the bed.

"Jack?" he asked.

"Correct!” Jack grinned. “Good to see there's no significant brain damage.”

"What are you doing here?"

Jack pursed his lips and stared at him. "Then again, I could be wrong," he responded slowly. "What am I doing here? Let's see, my best friend's laid up in the infirmary after being missing for weeks... Where else would I be?" he answered, grabbing the cookie from the dinner tray Daniel had abandoned earlier.

Daniel sniped as he pushed the tray closer to Jack, "I don't know. How about Washington? Homeworld Security? Dealing with the mess my little plan left us with in the form of six additions to the Ori fleet in this galaxy?"

Jack slouched back in his chair with a hard look at Daniel. Daniel glared back stubbornly.

"We're working on it." The calm in Jack's voice had Daniel fisting a handful of blanket.

"Do we know where they're headed yet?"

"It's being handled, Daniel. You don't need to worry about it right now."

It was standard infirmary protocol to not ‘upset’ patients with bad news or work-related problems; a protocol every member of SG-1 had always taken exception to. That Jack was soft-selling him now was even more upsetting than any of the Ori-related scenarios his brain could cook up. He took a deep breath and stared at his hands as he made himself unclench his fists.

"It's not your fault, you know," Jack said casually.

Daniel scoffed and rolled his eyes.

Jack stared at him until Daniel looked him in the eye once more.

"It really isn't. I signed off on the plan. Hell, even the IOA was on board with it. Mostly." Jack shrugged. "Point is, it was the best plan we had at the time."

Daniel shook his head with a huff. "You realize that I was going to make it happen, whether or not you agreed, right?"

"Moot point, Daniel." Jack shifted a bit, his eyes darted around the room, before returning to Daniel. "And anyway, I'd say that getting rid of the Ori was worth it, wouldn't you?"

"We don't even know for sure that we did," Daniel protested. "And the cost... How many worlds are being threatened by those new Priors? I just can't help thinking it's a Pyrrhic victory."

Jack shook his head. "Can't agree with you there, Daniel. It'll be tough, but..."

Daniel closed his eyes as Jack talked. He knew everything Jack was saying; he'd even said a lot of it before -- to himself, to others. Decisions in wartime were made with a different measuring stick. But that didn't mean any of it was right. That didn't mean that he could trust that it was the right plan. The Ancients hadn't had the human race's well-being as their primary agenda for a thousand years. And weeks of close quarters with Merlin inside his brain had proven that he was just as egotistical as the rest of them. Getting rid of the Ori was worth any price. Daniel just didn’t know if he or Merlin had ultimately made that call.

Jack finished up with the good soldier speech, and leaned forward, his voice lower and closer when he spoke. "So, you wanna tell me what's wrong?"

Daniel didn't open his eyes, didn't want to see the concern on Jack's face. "What do you mean?"

"You haven't tried once to get me to help spring you out of here. I've seen you try to return to duty sooner after major surgery."

"I'm tired, Jack," he shrugged.

There was a pause. Then, "I know."

He opened his eyes briefly, just enough to verify that Jack knew damn well that he wasn't talking about the physical exhaustion, even though he had reached an age where he felt it more acutely with each passing year. No, this was the 'everything else' part of the job -- swapping consciousnesses, watching friends suffer, deciding the fate of multiple galaxies. Daniel didn't know how many more of these he could go through, and still bounce back.

He waited to see if Jack was going to push the issue. All it would take was one word from General O’Neill, and Daniel would be off gate travel. Deep down, there was a part of him that wanted Jack to push, to take the decision out of Daniel’s hands. And he knew that if Jack did, he would end up hating them both for it.

Because as much as Daniel might not want to go back out there, he was still responsible. They were in a war that he had started, however inadvertently. People were dying, being subjugated, even more now than a week ago. And they needed him out there, finding a solution, creating a path to peace.

But Jack didn’t push, didn’t follow up — at least, not verbally. The resigned look in his eyes was enough. Daniel looked away, but the feeling of disappointment lingered.

Jack sighed and stood up to leave. “I’ll be around for a couple of days. Maybe we can go grab a steak or something when Lam springs you.”

And there it was: a couple of days for Daniel to change his mind and pull himself from duty, or let Jack fight the battle for him. A couple of days they both knew weren’t necessary.

The decision was made. This time.

Daniel wearily laid back against the pillows after Jack left, the silence again echoing through his brain. Next time, he thought, all bets are off.

This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/41393.html.

Ficlet: Proof

magickmoons — Sun, 09 Aug 2015 16:21:45 GMT

Proof
Rating: Teen and Up
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Daniel/Jack
Summary: This arrangement had worked well for them for years now, but Jack had always considered the carefully constructed public facade of 'just good friends' to have been an evil born of necessity.
Notes: set post-series. written to the May 2015 Image Prompt at jackdaniel prompt fic
Word Count: 617

October 2011

Jack liked watching Daniel. He especially liked watching Daniel here, sitting at the desk that Jack had moved into his home office once Daniel's consulting activities with the Pentagon began to bring him out to DC with increasing frequency.

Daniel was staring at a photograph, tilting his head this way and that as he studied it. Jack leaned against the doorframe, and watched. He loved this Daniel, away from the base, away from the office, casually rumpled and sunlit from the open window.

"Move in with me," Jack said, the idea occurring to him only as the words came out of his mouth; all the same, he committed to it right away. It was kind of sudden, but it was still a damn good idea.

Daniel looked skeptically at the heaping piles of his books and papers on his desk and bookshelf, and threatening to overtake Jack's side of the room, and then he looked back to Jack. "Ummm... I don't know how much more moved in I can get, Jack."

Jack rolled his eyes. "For real, I mean. Not some bullshit, expedient arrangement. You're out here more than you are back at the SGC anyway. Change your address. Officially."

He watched Daniel carefully. This arrangement had worked well for them for years now, but Jack had always considered the carefully constructed public facade of 'just good friends' to have been an evil born of necessity. For all intents and purposes, they had been living together for years, but Jack wanted more than intent. He wanted fact. He wanted proof.

Daniel shook his head, pulling his brow tight. His tone was measured when he spoke. "I thought we had decided that it wasn't the best idea for you to officially come out, even with DADT repealed. Someone at your level, with your career history... It would bring a lot of attention to you, and from there it's a straight line to the Stargate program."

Jack walked over to Daniel as he spoke. "Yeah, I remember the conversation. I'm not suggesting we take out a full-page ad in the Post. Just small steps. We don't have to go telling people, but we don't have to hide from our friends anymore."

Daniel's eyes softened, and an introverted half-smile lit his face. "Yeah," he breathed softly. "That would be kind of..."

"Yeah," Jack whispered, as he pulled Daniel to standing. "It really would."

He brushed his lips lightly across Daniel's and began to pull away, but came back willingly when Daniel's arms wrapped firmly around his shoulders. For Jack, kissing Daniel was like watching him; it would never, ever get old.

A teasing thought settled in Jack's mind, and he shifted his weight to subtly reposition them. A quick glance confirmed that they were now reflected almost perfectly in the mirror that hung beside Daniel's bookshelf.

Daniel made an inquiring noise which Jack shushed with another brush of his lips. He slowly extracted his smart phone from his pocket and hoped that he was starting the camera function, fingers moving silently across the screen even as he focused the majority of his attention on Daniel. He raised his arm slowly and glanced sideways at the phone, satisfied when he saw the camera view. Daniel caught the movement and looked toward the mirror, groaning when he figured out what Jack was doing.

"Really? Are we teenaged girls now?"

Jack pressed a laughing kiss to Daniel's temple as he took the picture. Daniel shook his head, but stayed where he was in Jack's arms as they looked at the image together.

Jack grinned.

Proof positive right there on the screen.

Right there in Jack's arms, where he had always been.

This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/40974.html.

Fic: The Fallow Time

magickmoons — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 01:39:31 GMT

The Fallow Time
Rating: Teen and Up
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Pairing: Jack/Daniel
Summary: After hosting the personalities of the Stromos crew, Daniel just want some peace and quiet.
Word Count: ~3300
Note 1: tag to Lifeboat (7.06)
Note 2: written for hyperfocused in JD Ficathon XII

Daniel stopped abruptly when he saw Jack waiting in the hallway outside the infirmary, leaning against the wall, legs crossed, arms folded across his chest. He was still rebuilding his catalog of Jack's mannerisms, but he knew this one: the (deceptively) casual colonel.

“Jack,” Daniel sighed wearily, bracing himself. He felt emotionally battered, physically exhausted, and just wanted to go home and go to bed, not stand in the middle of the SGC and go ten rounds with his team leader? -- his friend? A month since he'd returned and almost all the pieces of his life had fallen into place, but not Jack. 'Jack' was a jumble of contradictory feelings, with too few related concrete memories to frame them. It was too much to think about on a good day, and this definitely did not count as a good day.

He took another deep breath and forced himself to speak. “I’ve had a dozen voices in my head for, you know, too long already and I’m not in the... I’m sorry, but I’m just not in the mood for your particular brand of amateur psychology.”

“Okay then, how about beer and basketball?” Jack pushed off the wall and fell into step as Daniel headed down the hallway.

“A dozen voices, Jack.” He precisely enunciated each word.

“Beer and silence?” Jack offered.

“I can get that at my place.”

“Yeah, but you see, you’re not going to your place.”

Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath before replying. He was feeling significantly less than usually tolerant of Jack’s unique way of dishing out information. “Why not?”

“Come on, Daniel, we both know that the only reason you were sprung from Fraiser’s clutches so soon is because SG-7 is on their way back after a hands-on lesson in what not to do to avoid offworld food poisoning. Figuring you’d rather have some peace and quiet than ... that, she’s released you. Provided you don’t stay alone.”

“And why didn’t she tell me this?” Daniel asked suspiciously.

“You think I’m making it up? Fraiser elected that I get to have the argument, since she needs to work on getting the infirmary ready for said food poisoning victims.”

Daniel was too tired to argue, and the headache from hell was too pronounced, so he just shrugged and gestured for Jack to lead the way.

They stopped by Daniel's temporary quarters to grab an overnight bag, and headed out to Jack's truck. The ride to Jack’s house didn't take too long. Jack stayed quiet, except for asking if Daniel wanted to stop for take-out on the way. Daniel declined. He spent the trip trying to dredge up memories of Jack’s house, He knew he had been there, frequently it seemed, before his Ascension, but he couldn’t visualize it. He leaned his head against the headrest and closed his eyes. It occurred to him that he hadn’t even questioned that they’d be staying at Jack’s tonight.

*************

Jack followed Daniel into the house, watching silently as Daniel stood still for a beat before tentatively heading toward the sunken living room. He stood at the top of the steps, surveying the room. He started and half-turned when Jack casually said, “Make yourself at home. Guest room's thataway," he offered, pointing down the hall. "If you want anything, need anything, feel free to help yourself.”

The uncertain look on Daniel’s face reminded Jack that he hadn’t actually been here since he’d descended. “Or just ask. Okay?” Daniel nodded slowly, winding his arms tightly around himself. A dull ache spread through Jack's chest; it had been forever since he had seen that gesture here. He forced himself to stop staring at Daniel. “Okay, well, I’ll be right back.”

He headed back to his bedroom and took a few minutes to just breathe. Getting all wound up because Daniel hadn't remembered everything the moment he stepped through the door wasn't going to do either of them any good. He took his time changing his clothes, looked longingly at the bed as he started to feel the effects of the last few days of headaches and worry and political machinations. He shook it off; he could rest later, but Daniel needed someone now, whether he knew it or not. Jack grabbed the book off his bedside table to bring back out to the living room, determined to honor Daniel’s wishes for some peace and quiet.

Daniel was moving around in the guest room when he passed by. Jack paused outside the partially closed door, nearly overwhelmed by the urge to check in like he used to do without a second thought. But nothing was like it used to be since Daniel had returned from his Ascension. Still, he hadn’t anticipated how hard it would be to have Daniel here, like this: separate beds, separate rooms, separate lives. He stepped back from the doorway and continued down the hall. making enough noise that Daniel would know he'd gone back to the living areas of the house. Most of Daniel’s memories had returned at this point, so their relationship was either one of the few memories that hadn’t returned, or Daniel wanted to pretend they hadn't. Jack wasn't sure which possibility hurt more.

He grabbed a beer from the fridge, taking it and the battered paperback into the living room where he settled on the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table. He opened the book, tucked the bookmark toward the back, and stared at the page blankly, listening, both looking forward to and dreading the sound of Daniel's footsteps. Several minutes passed, and Daniel didn’t reappear. The guy had to be exhausted; maybe he’d just hit the sack. Jack sighed, did not get up to go check on him, and tried to actually focus on the book in his hands.

It was some time later that Daniel appeared, base uniform discarded for a pair of navy blue sweatpants and a long-sleeved tee that had seen better days. He gestured loosely at the empty end of the couch, and Jack nodded. He tried to return his attention to the book, but was entirely too aware of Daniel as he settled himself just a foot away, pulling his legs up onto the cushions and curling into the corner -- not quite hiding, but not quite there either.

He watched over the edge of his book as Daniel stared into space, cycling through almost as many expressions as it had in the isolation room, almost none of them pleasant. Jack felt a flash of the same powerlessness he had felt earlier, unable to do anything to help, unwilling to leave Daniel to face it alone. So he had sat in the observation booth and watched all those different personalities wearing Daniel's face, watched as Martice twisted Daniel's features into such anger and disdain, watched Keenin's fear and loneliness through Daniel's eyes.

Jack had been confident that Daniel could handle it all, until the kid had showed up. It had taken all of Jack's resolve to just sit there, watching the kid's misery emanating through Daniel's face and body, and recalling conversations in the deep of night, holding Daniel while he spoke of losing his parents, being forcibly pulled away from the shattered exhibit when all he had wanted was just to stay with them.

Daniel had been pretty tightlipped as to how much he actually remembered of his experience with the souls from the Stromos, shrugging off the concerns about the mental impact with his patented, comforting 'I'm fine.' Fraiser had theorized hopefully that with Daniel's core personality suppressed most of the time, he probably had very little awareness of what the others had said or thought. Watching the sadness and pain now shadowing Daniel's features as he finally allowed himself to process it, Jack would have to disagree with her.

Daniel shifted, and Jack dropped his eyes back to the book. He skimmed the words, memorized after countless re-reading, as Daniel's eyes danced restlessly around the room, focusing on some things for a while, barely touching others.

People thought Daniel was always talking. They joked that he kept fish just so it wouldn't seem like he was talking to himself. But Jack knew that there were times when he fell silent, when processing whatever had happened took all his brain power, at a level beyond words. He knew how much it frustrated Daniel, and how necessary it was. It had taken some time, but Jack had learned how to help, how to be a silent, supportive presence as Daniel worked through these things. When to push Daniel to talk and when to stay silent, how a light touch to an arm or a leg could ground him when it started to be too much, how music often soothed the fractured tendrils of thought and brought the crucial elements to the forefront.

Daniel needed to talk, needed to be pulled out of his head for a while. But given Daniel's absence of memories of them, he wouldn't respond well if Jack started poking at those mental wounds. Touch was out as well, for the same reasons. But music just might work.

Jack put the book down on the couch beside him, gave Daniel a quick smile as he stood and walked over to the stereo. He searched through the stack of CDs, finding the one he was looking for toward the bottom, as he hadn't listened to it for over a year. He dropped the CD into the player and waited for the first notes of the Goldberg Variations to play through the speakers before he turned to find Daniel holding the book in one hand and the wooden bookmark in the other. His thumb was softly stroking the rounded top of the bookmark, tracing one of the legs of the Sa down to where it joined the thin slat before starting again at the top, as he stared at the cover of the book.

“This is mine," he said quietly.

Jack froze momentarily, then slowly moved back to the couch and sat down. It was -- had been -- Daniel's book, a strange historical thriller that Jack never really saw the allure of. He had come home on that day after Kelowna, numb, emotions locked tight behind walls so high and so strong that he wasn't sure they'd ever come down. He'd done his duty, checked in on Carter, on Teal'c, wandered by some public areas of the base and accepted people's condolences, sympathized with their shock and grief, assuring them by action that while Daniel Jackson may be gone, SG-1 was still strong and would continue.

The walls had held until he reached his bedroom, flipped on the light, and saw the book laying on the bed, and it all came rushing in. He remembered Daniel keeping his place with a finger as he kissed Jack good night that last night, which had been the first night since things had gone sour with Reese. He remembered watching from the bedroom doorway the next morning as Daniel held the book loosely, deciding whether to take it with him or not, willing Daniel to leave the book, give him a sign that Daniel intended to come back, that the night before hadn't been goodbye. The moment had dragged on too long, and Jack had barked at him to get a move on. Daniel had smiled softly and held Jack's eyes as he dropped the book on the bed.

Only he hadn't come back. The book had migrated to Jack's night stand and stayed there, being read and re-read repeatedly over the long, aching months when Daniel was gone.

"You made this for me," Daniel murmured, surprised, holding up the bookmark. "We were at the cabin, you'd made all the furniture there... Said it was your 'winter hobby'." He huffed a laugh, eyes crinkling as he smiled down at the piece of wood. "I had always wondered what the hell you found to do up there in the cold weather."

Jack nodded. It had been the first time he'd taken Daniel up to Minnesota. He had been so entranced by Jack's woodworking that Jack had wanted to give him something to keep with him. With the frequency that Daniel moved, furniture was out of the question, so Jack had fashioned the bookmark one afternoon out of some scrap wood, hand-shaping the Sa symbol into the top, the same symbol Daniel's parents had used when he was a child to help ward away his nightmares. There were some other things too -- bookends, picture frames -- packed away in the boxes of Daniel's possessions waiting for him to find an off-base residence.

Jack held himself still while Daniel stared at the items in front of him, without really seeing them. He breathed deeply, trying to keep himself from leaning forward and touching Daniel, explaining, pleading, pushing off the couch and pacing, or just leaving, going to run, going to drive, going to get away.

Finally, Daniel looked back up at Jack after a minute, his eyes wide with questions. "Jack? Am I right? Were we..."

Jack waited, as Daniel searched for the word that would say so much, reflecting not just their past, but any potential future. The moment dragged on, as Daniel's lips framed silent sounds, the only clue to the thoughts ricocheting through his brain.

"We were lovers," Daniel stated quietly. His voice gave nothing away, and his eyes glued to Jack's watching for his reaction.

The flood of relief that Jack felt was almost painful in its intensity, and he felt it flash raw and naked across his face for a split second before he could pull it back. He saw Daniel see it, saw Daniel ponder the implications. He nodded, even though it was obvious that Daniel didn't need an explicit confirmation; Jack's expression had told him everything he needed to know.

Or almost everything, Jack amended to himself ruefully, as Daniel quirked his head slightly and asked, "So why didn't you tell me? Didn't you think I deserved to know? Would want to know?"

Jack couldn't respond. He had no idea what Daniel had remembered, what context their relationship had within his mind; honestly, even if he did, Jack still would have had no idea what to say.

Daniel narrowed his eyes, suspicious of Jack's hesitation. "Or maybe you thought I had remembered and, what? I didn't want to? I was just pretending it never happened?"

"Yes," Jack's voice was thick, forced, putting himself into the conversation before Daniel finished it on his own. "Everything you just said, I've thought about. God, back then, it was always you who pushed things, said things -- when it came to us anyway -- and I really didn't know if you'd even want to know. If I had the right to push that at you before you were ready."

Daniel gave a hard, short laugh. "Why the hell wouldn't I want to know?"

Jack winced, the reasons that had become more and more of a sticking point with them in the months before the Reese disaster spilling out rapid-fire toward his beer bottle, unfortunately empty by now.
"I don't know. You wanted a fresh start, maybe? Maybe you didn't want the stress of hiding in the DADT closet with me? Or didn't want to come home every night and try to forget that our jobs put us on the opposite sides of almost every issue? I was so tired, Daniel, tired of fighting everything outside of us, and then, we were the ones fighting..."

He would have gone on speaking -- and God, Daniel still possessed the singular ability to find the right button to push to open the floodgates -- but he stopped short when Daniel put everything down and rested his hand on Jack's thigh.

Jack raised his head to find Daniel looking pained, lost, shaking his head. "It wasn't you, Jack. The reasons I left had nothing to do with us."

Daniel searched Jack's eyes, willing him to believe, fighting all the nights Jack had lain awake with this new layer of regret and self-recrimination.

Slowly, he covered Daniel's hand with his own, eyes closing in relief at the feel of warm flesh beneath his palm. Daniel turned his hand and entwined their fingers, as he sagged back against the couch, tilted slightly toward Jack, sighing tiredly.

Jack squeezed Daniel's hand briefly, then stood up. "Don't go anywhere," he said as he slid past Daniel, smiling at Daniel's slight hum of acknowledgment.

Jack came back with a cup of ginger tea. Daniel opened his eyes as the steam carried the aroma throughout the room and smiled, eagerly leaning forward to catch the scent, cupping his hands around the mug. He sighed blissfully as he took a small sip. Jack sat next to and watched his face, his body slowly relax. Jack didn't know what they put in this blend, but it was guaranteed to have the same effect on Daniel almost every time.

"I can't believe it's still good after all this time," Daniel murmured, then shook his head. "I can't believe you kept it. You hate this stuff."

Jack shrugged, unwilling to get into the fact that this was the fourth package he had picked up from the little New-Age health food place since Daniel's Ascension, unwilling to tell Daniel how many sleepless nights had found him brewing this tea, just to have the scent remind him of Daniel, sitting at the dining table until the mug went cold or dawn lit the sky.

They sat quietly while Daniel sipped his tea, staring at nothing. "So, what now?" he asked.

Jack shrugged. "I'm thinking we take it slow." Daniel had had all an hour with his memories of their relationship, and as certain as he claimed to be that their problems hadn't driven his decision to ascend, Jack still wanted to make sure that Daniel was fully on board with everything before moving forward.

"Oh good." Daniel sighed in relief.

Jack smirked. "Way to make a guy feel special."

"Oh not... I mean theoretically, I really, really -- really -- want to," he chuckled, and the heat in his eyes when he glanced at Jack was unmistakable. "But after what happened today..." He looked over at Jack, fatigue and confusion pulling at his features.

"It was," he began. "I could hear them, not all the time, but enough. They were scared, and they were confused. Lonely. I could feel their desperation, but it was my adrenaline pushing through my system, my heart pounding, my voice screaming. And I couldn't do a damn thing."

Jack reached out and slipped an arm around Daniel's shoulders, pulling him close. Daniel fought him, tense and angry, until with a resigned sigh he leaned into Jack, rested his head on Jack's shoulder, and the dam broke.

Daniel talked without looking at Jack, speaking in fits and spurts, emotions spilling out unguarded: anger and guilt and horrible choking sadness.

The words gave out as dawn started to stretch across the sky, and wired fatigue gave way to bone-deep exhaustion. Jack urged Daniel onto his feet and down the hallway. Without a word, Daniel passed by the guest bedroom, threw himself into Jack's bed, asleep almost before he hit the pillow.

Jack pulled the curtains tight and turned out the lights before he slipped into bed. As he settled, Daniel sleepily burrowed tight against his side, slipping an arm across Jack's chest, resting one leg on top of Jack's thigh. His breath was slow and warm and real against Jack's neck.

Jack leaned his cheek against Daniel's head, falling into his own sleep with a smile.

This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/40727.html.

Signal Boost: Jack/Daniel Ficathon XII

magickmoons — Tue, 19 May 2015 00:50:22 GMT

Signups are open for the 2015 Jack/Daniel Ficathon. Go here on Dreamwidth to sign up! Lots of great prompts are already submitted, and I can't wait to read all the great fic that will come out of it!!

Plus, new this year, there will be an After Party open for such works as podfic, art, crafts, remixes, etc... Should be a great time :)

season 10 minutiae

magickmoons — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 16:18:46 GMT

Does anybody remember how Daniel referred to / addressed Carolyn Lam? I was writing something, mid-season 10, and 'Carolyn' didn't sound right. But then neither did 'Dr. Lam.' Or maybe he just said, "Hey you!"

And this is why I never get anything completed...

This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/40440.html.

PSA: Stolen Fic

magickmoons — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 14:40:45 GMT

I just found out about a site -- http://www.ebooks-tree.com/ -- that uses bots to harvest fic from (at least) AO3. Nine of my fic are up there without my permission. That's bad enough. But the site is a pay site - apparently requiring a credit card to even register. Note: I think it would be a very bad idea to give them this information! Don't be enticed by the downloads/reviews/hits stats that are displayed -- these numbers seem to be faked.

I urge any fic authors to go and see if your stuff has been illegally posted. And then go read these blog posts with some info on how to deal with this.

http://waldorph.tumblr.com/post/116324463538/ao3org-fyeahcopyright-update-below-weve
http://merrily.dreamwidth.org/257808.html
http://a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com/1116142.html

This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/40062.html.

Ficlet: Practical Rituals

magickmoons — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 02:03:16 GMT

Practical Rituals
Rating: Teen and Up
Fandom: SG-1
Characters: Teal'c, Daniel, Jack, Sam
Summary: Daniel enjoys learning about other cultures' rituals. Teal'c enjoys learning about Tau'ri rituals... and putting them into practice.
Notes: written as a (terribly, terribly delayed) birthday fic for lolmac who asked for something involving Teal'c and at least one other member of the original SG-1 team. This is set somewhere first season-ish.
Word Count: ~850

Teal'c watched as DanielJackson leaned over the small book on his lap as he wrote, angling the paper to catch as much of the firelight as possible. His long hair fell in his face, and he pushed it back with an irritated motion before returning to his notes. The soft scratching of the pen as he hurriedly inked his thoughts was quickly becoming familiar to Teal'c on nights such as this, the rare peaceful mission which O'Neill termed a 'cakewalk.' DanielJackson was an enigma to Teal'c. A year ago, he would have laughed at the thought of a scholar on a team of warriors, but he had seen enough to know that this particular scholar, despite his ridiculously long hair, his allergies, and his habit of incessant questioning, was truly an asset on SG-1.

"So, wow, okay," Daniel said, as he paused to review his notes. "That's... I've really never heard of anything like it before. When you first mentioned it, I was thinking that it was similar in origin to a ritual I've seen variations on in several nomadic tribes in the Middle East, but with the knives..." He shook his head.

Jack glared at his 2IC as she suddenly developed a very suspicious cough. She apologized and excused herself to go hunt for cough drops in her pack in the tent. He switched his focus to Daniel for a moment more, than glanced over at Teal'c and shrugged. Daniel remained lost in thought.

Teal'c waited, sure another question would come. Sure enough, Daniel picked up his pen again. "So, did the Jaffa always use knives, or did they attach to the ritual at some later point?"

Jack cleared his throat. "Uh, Daniel, let's not talk about attaching and knives when the topic is... you know, that certain part of the anatomy."

Daniel grimaced. "Yeah, hadn't quite thought that one all the way through. Oh, and I was going to ask if we could see some demonstration of this sometime. But now I'm thinking, maybe not."

"On the contrary, DanielJackson. I would be most honored to perform the rite upon you at the appropriate date."

Teal'c watched with some concern as his friend paled noticeably. "Oh, no, Teal'c, that's okay. I think this is maybe one of those times when observation wouldn't really bring anything to the...: He took a deep breath, "I mean..." He glanced across the fire, seeking O'Neill's help.

Sam emerged from the tent, but stayed out of Daniel's line of sight; she had obviously been listening and was unable to completely smother her grin. Jack stared warningly at her.

"Wait, so the date of the ritual is significant as well?" Daniel questioned, moving on from the question of practical application. Teal'c had seen this before: DanielJackson's desire for knowledge would override all other considerations. He wondered exactly how far he would pursue his research into this particular matter despite his initial protestations.

"Oh yes," Teal'c responded. "In fact, the date is quite important. It is similar, I believe, to the Tau'ri rituals held on the first day of your fourth month."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at O'Neill's exasperated sigh. Clearly, O'Neill thought he was ending this exercise prematurely, but Teal'c felt that he had achieved the intended effect. They both looked toward DanielJackson, waiting for his acknowledgement, but none was forthcoming as he scratched the new information down automatically in his notebook, while muttering about methods of comparing the Jaffa calendar versus Chulak versus the Tau'ri.

Finally, he set his pen down and looked up at Teal'c. "So, the first of... April," he began, then narrowed his eyes. "April Fool's?" he asked in exasperation. He glanced over to where Jack was looking quite smug. "This was your idea?" he asked.

Jack's smile was smugly innocent as he shook his head, his eyes targeting just past Daniel. He twisted around to see Sam chewing on her lip. She grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

"I might have mentioned something about hazing at the Academy, and..."

Jack jumped in. "And Teal'c just had to see it in action. You know how he gets."

As Teal'c glared at O'Neill's attempted deflection of blame, he was quick to add, "So, we all threw some ideas around, and this one stuck." He paused. "The knife thing, though... that was all Teal'c," he added with a slight shudder.

"And you didn't think to explain that hazing usually happens to the newest member of the group?"

"Might have slipped my mind," O'Neill's unrepentant grin faltered a bit when Teal'c looked at him.

"I should not have performed this ritual upon DanielJackson?" he asked.

"Oh, it's okay, Teal'c," Daniel replied. "I'm sure that Jack's stories were very interesting, but you haven't lived till you've survived a University Hell Week. Grad students can be very creative when properly motivated." He continued speaking to Teal'c as he turned to glare at the colonel. "Maybe I can show you a thing or two."

O'Neill raised his eyebrows at DanielJackson's challenge, although CaptainCarter looked more than a little worried. Teal'c nodded thoughtfully. Given the spark in his eyes, it seemed that DanielJackson would indeed be an enthusiastic partner in the next stage of this battle.

This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/39525.html.

Goodbye Sid

magickmoons — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 19:12:03 GMT

I'm still stuck in stunned disbelief at the thought that sid (sidlj) is gone. She was such a wonderful, beautiful, vital part of this fandom. Her stories are lovely, fun, and well-crafted; they are, and ever will be, a joy to read. But beyond that, she was so supportive and enthusiastic, always with a kind word, a good joke, or a comforting thought. She played a big part in keeping our fandom a fun and friendly place for us all. And she will be missed.

Death leaves a heartache
no one can heal;
Love leaves a memory no
one can steal.
(from an Irish headstone)

This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/39232.html.

Answer for question 4176.

magickmoons — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 19:15:15 GMT

Oh gosh, this is a hard one to answer! Particularly because it would change over time, as age and experience impacts the way I hear the songs. At this time and place, I would say it's a toss-up between the Jesus Christ Superstar movie soundtrack (Ted Neely and Carl Anderson FTW!) and Sara Bareilles' Kaleidoscope Heart which always evokes such a range of emotions from me, although The Blessed Unrest (also Sara B.) is a close second.

2014 Fic in Review

magickmoons — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:16:13 GMT

Wow! I looked over my list and found that I posted 21 stories this year -- over 36,000 words!! The shortest was 350 words (I didn't do a single drabble this year?!?); the longest, about 13,600.

I submitted three Alphabet Soup entries, participated in a couple of JDJunkie's Thons and the JD Ficathon, added installments to my Opening Doors series and my Countdown to 2010 series, answered a couple of challenge at Event Horizons, and wrote lots of random birthday fic. Plus, I poked at a bunch of WIPs, including a fic that is now officially a year late, which is currently at 10,000 words (instead of the predicted 3,000).

The List:

December Posting Meme, December 29 (a day or so late)

magickmoons — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 06:19:33 GMT

My fannish trajectory or history for princessofgeeks

Warning: massive long rambling post ahead. Seriously, folks, I don't even know what I've said here...

I've always found comfort in fannish-type activities. I tend to find something I like and immerse myself in it. I am very loyal in my fannishness -- both in strength of affection and duration. There are some fandoms that I simply appreciate, rather than play any active role. These include The Lord of the Rings novels and The Chronicles of Narnia, both of which I was introduced to before I was 10. To this day, I love to discuss and dissect these works, but usually in a more face-to-face setting.

I was into fanfiction (although I didn't know that was the name for it, nor did I ever actually write anything down) by the time I hit my pre-teens. I think at that point it was Fame and Star Wars that held my interest, got my mind thinking about different 'what if' scenarios, etc... I found, by that point, that TV shows and movies made great talking points, especially given that I suck at small talk!!

So, most of my early fandoms heralded a lifelong interest in sci-fi/fantasy. I discovered Star Trek: The Next Generation and followed the franchise through Deep Space Nine and Voyager. I eventually found a crowd of sci-fi geeks, and we would spend many nights at Denny's in deep conversations starting with Star Trek and ending with diagrams of the nature of time sketched onto paper napkins. Definitely some awesome times!

I found online fandom when I discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I consider my true leap into Fandom. I loved the show and was busy telling anyone who would sit still for long enough how awesome Joss Whedon was, and then somehow stumbled across these Yahoo groups that were talking about the same things I was. Of course, I pretty much lurked, but there was really such a feeling of belonging to see that so many other people were as passionate about something as I was.

This is also when I first discovered transformative works. I think it was the videos that I found first, just absolutely awed by how people could make this visual story to match a song, and have it work so well. From there, it was a very short step to mainlining fanfiction stories. Yahoo groups led to ff.net, and that's where I stayed for a long time. I don't know what prompted me to write, just an idea popping into my head I suppose. It had been a very long time since I had written anything, but I was really enjoying it. I never really finished anything back then, though. Lots of stories in Buffy, and later Angel, fandoms still sitting unfinished on my hard drive, carried through at least two new computers.

As the Buffy online fandom started to die down, and my favorite authors stopped posting or moved on to different fandoms, and as my RL circumstances changed, I kind of dropped out of online fandom for a time. I stopped writing again, but I would sometimes go back and re-read my favorite stories.

Then, I was introduced to two new (to me) sci-fi, when my husband and I started dating and had a 'share our sci-fi' fest. I showed him Firefly, and he showed me Farscape and Stargate SG-1. My love for SG-1 was almost instantaneous, especially for Daniel and Jack.

I remember deliberately sitting down at a computer and searching out SG-1 fanfiction. Google was my friend, and soon led me to Livejournal and AO3, where I discovered a lot of really awesome fic. And with LiveJournal, I actually found myself stepping out of the shadows a little bit, speaking up every now and then, joining communities, etc... It was like a whole world was opening up!

I started writing in SG-1 pretty much at the same time that I started writing in the Bones fandom. I think we all know which one stuck! Bones was okay, but felt way too formulaic for me, and I never really felt the need to seek out anything more than just reading some of the fic (which got old pretty quickly), and writing the one story.

Of course, I've bounced around different corners of the SG-1 fandom as well, but I really felt like I found my home once I found the J/D. We can pretty much thank AO3 for that. I remember when I was devouring fanfiction, I would pick someone who'd left kudos or comments on a work I liked, then see if they had any stories bookmarked and pop on over there. I'm pretty sure that's how I found most of the writers I read most frequently.

SG-1 is the first fandom where I've actually spoken up, and our J/D corner of fandom is probably the first place where I've reached out. It's such a mainstay for me: writing, reading, discussing, thunking. I love the mix of intelligent discussion, humor, and support that I've found. Sometimes things just line up in the right way, and I think that's what happened here for me.

Calendar of Requests:
on Dreamwidth
on LiveJournal

This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/38624.html.

100 Lines

magickmoons — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 03:08:44 GMT

I'm doing a challenge on Habit RPG which I thought might be fun to track in my journals. The challenge is: Each day listen to a song, any song and write down your favorite lyric from that song. Winner will be randomly selected from active players in March). It doesn't specify how to pick the song, so, most days, I am loading my whole playlist and then hitting random, and going with whatever comes up next. I will admit that on a couple of days when my schedule is packed, I've just said whatever comes up next while I'm driving - these will be limited as my daughter usually has a strong input into music while I am driving, and it will either be songs from the Mamma Mia! soundtrack or Sara Bareilles.

My List
Lyrics [Date: Song by Artist (Album)]

I might forget you / But not forgive [2/16/15: Seven Years by Natalie Merchant (Tigerlily)]

I hear she still grants forgiveness / Although I willingly forgot her [2/15/15: Liquid Diamonds by Tori Amos (From the Choirgirl Hotel)]

I bet you knew it would come / That's just like you to sit back / And just play it dumb [2/12/15: Stupid Thing by Aimee Mann (Whatever)]

Finally I can see you crystal clear / Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your shit bare [2/11/15: Rolling in the Deep by Adele (21)]

And now we're staring down truth neither one of us wants to know [2/10/15: Islands by Sara Bareilles (The Blessed Unrest)]

Here come the Jets / Like a bat out of hell / Someone gets in our way / Someone don't feel so well [2/9/15: The Jet Song (West Side Story)]

A time to cast away stones / A time to gather stones together [2/8/15: Turn! Turn! Turn! by The Byrds (Singers & Songwriters: The 1960s)]

I don't claim to know much / except soon as you start to make room for the parts / That aren't you it gets harder / to bloom in a garden of / Love love love love [2/7/15: Bottle It Up by Sara Bareilles (Little Voice)]

After you've got your converts you make them / Twice as fit for hell as you are yourselves [2/6/15: Alas For You (Godspell soundtrack)]

What do they got? A lot of sand / We got a hot crustacean band [2/5/15: Under the Sea (The Little Mermaid)]

Her eyes are black as leather / And her hair is killer red [2/4/15: All American Girl by Melissa Etheridge (Yes I Am)]

What the hell? / He said, Nope, you are earth bound / Blow them seeds away / Maybe one will make a sound, make a sound [2/3/15: Not Dying Today by Tori Amos (Abnormally Attracted to Sin)]

Its toes are black, its fur is blue / I swear that all I tell you is not made up [2/2/15: The Backson Song (Winnie the Pooh soundtrack)]

You wonder what the king is wishing tonight? / He's wishing he were in Scotland fishing tonight! [2/1/15: I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight by Richard Harris (Camelot)]

Mother mother, can you hear me? / Sure I'm sober, sure I'm sane / Life is perfect, never better / Still your daughter, still the same [1/30/15: Mother Mother by Tracy Bonham (The Burdens of Being Upright)]

Say you're happy now / Once more with feeling [1/29/15: What You Feel (Reprise) by BtVS Cast (Once More With Feeling Soundtrack)]

Cause when I look down / I just miss all the good stuff / When I look up / I just trip over things [1/28/15: As Is by Ani Difranco (Little Plastic Castle)]

Let the sun fade out to a dark sky / I can't say I'd even notice it was absent / Cause I could live by the light in your eyes [1/27/15: I Choose You by Sara Bareilles (The Blessed Unrest)]

I know who can love my many selves / The wife, the bitch, the rapunzel [1/26/15: Mississippi by Paula Cole (Lilith Fair: A Celebration of Women)]

It's not the devil's land, you know it's not that kind / Every devil I meet becomes a friend of mine / Every devil I meet is an angel in disguise [1/25/15: Jonas & Ezekial by Indigo Girls (Rites of Passage)]

Gazing from my window to the streets below / On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow. [1/24/15: I Am a Rock by Simon & Garfunkel (Greatest Hits)]

The wind is blowing to the north-northwest / It smells like sands of the southern island [1/23/15: Sugar Water by Cibo Matto (Viva! La Woman)]

And you hold me and we are broken / Still it's all that I want to do, just a little now [1/22/15: Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind (Third Eye Blind)]

And I know all the games you play / Because I play them, too. [1/21/15: Faith by George Michael (Faith)]

you were always half crazy, now look at you baby / make about as much sense as a nursery rhyme [1/20/15: Two Little Girls by Ani Difranco (Little Plastic Castle)]

And what about the deal / On the flying trapeze / Got a peanut butter hand / But honey do drop in at the Dew Drop Inn [1/19/15: Muhammad My Friend by Tori Amos (Boys for Pele)]

Have you ever been at someplace / Recognizing everybody's face / Until you realized that there was no one there you knew [1/18/15: Have You Ever by The Offspring (Americana)]

Could it be there is a cruel subtext to / All this endless adulation / All this reckless infatuation [1/17/15: Sistersong by Rachael Sage (Smashing the Serence)]

And as the depth of oceans slowly become shallow / It's loneliness she finds... [1/16/15: Rinse by Vanessa Carlton (Be Not Nobody)]

And you think love is to pray / But I'm sorry, I don't pray that way [1/15/15: Tainted Love by Soft Cell (Modern Rock: Dance)]

Every open hand's there to push and shove [1/14/15: I Don't Believe In Love by Queensryche (Operation: Mindcrime)]

I see you, the only one who knew me / But now your eyes see through me / I guess I was wrong [1/13/15: Breakfast at Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something (Home)]

China / All the way to New York / Maybe you got lost in / Mexico [1/12/15: China by Tori Amos (Little Earthquakes)]

O divine master grant that I may / not so much seek to be consoled as to console; / to be understood as to understand; / To be loved as to love [1/11/15: Prayer of Saint Francis by Sarah McLachlan (Radio Sunnydale)]

And it's me who is my enemy / Me who beats me up / Me who makes the monsters / Me who strips my confidence [1/10/15: Me by Paula Cole (This Fire)]

And the sidewalk soldiers sing the midnite blues / While the old men recite their story lines / About when I was young like you [1/9/15: Wild in the Streets by Bon Jovi (Slippery When Wet)]

Now, Andy did you hear about this one? / Tell me, are you locked in the punch? / Andy are you goofing on Elvis? Hey, baby / Are we losing touch? [1/8/15: Man on the Moon by R.E.M. (Automatic for the People)]

Remember me to one who lives there / She once was a true love of mine [1/7/15: Scarborough Fair by Simon & Garfunkel (Greatest Hits)]

You told me last night / You were a sun now / with your very own devoted satellite / Happy for you / And I am sure that I hate you /Two sons too many, too many able fires [1/6/15: Doughnut Song by Tori Amos (Boys for Pele)]

What can’t we face if we’re together? / What’s in this place that we can’t weather? / Apocalypse? We’ve all been there. / The same old trips, why should we care? [1/5/15: I've Got a Theory / Bunnies / If We're Together by BtVS Cast (Once More, With Feeling)]

Now excuse me if I'm not being reverent / But I was hoping for a miracle to hold me, wash me / Save me from my righteous doubt as I watch helpless / And everybody sings [1/4/15: Christmas by Blues Traveler (A Very Special Christmas, Vol 3)]

Like a flower waiting to bloom / Like a lightbulb in a dark room / I'm just sitting here waiting for you / To come on home and turn me on [1/3/15: Turn Me On by Norah Jones (Come Away With Me)]

but one night while sleeping alone in her bed / the phone rang, she woke up, and sat up and said / "what time is it? what time is it?" [1/2/15: Falling in Love by Lisa Loeb (Lilith Fair: A Celebration of Women in Music)]

Just push me 'til I have to fly / I've shed my skin, my scars [1/1/15: Car Crash by Matt Nathanson (Some Mad Hope)]

Some say I'm paranormal / So I just bend their spoon [12/31/14: You Get Me by Michelle Branch (The Spirit Room)]

and it's a long way down / it's a long way down / it's a long way down to the place / where we started from [12/30/14: Ice Cream by Sarah McLachlan (Fumbling Towards Ecstasy)]

Feeling paranoid / True enemy or false friend? / Anxiety's attacking me / And my air is getting thin [12/29/14: Sweating Bullets by Megadeth (Countdown to Extinction)]

Touch me, I'm so beautiful / Rub your hands across my head, just like this [12/28/14: Touch Me Fall by Indigo Girls (Swamp Ophelia)]

I've lost a grip on where I started from / I wish I'd thought ahead and left a few crumbs [12/27/14: Hercules by Sara Bareilles (The Blessed Unrest)]

So I turn the radio on, turn the radio up / And this woman was singing my song / Lover's in love, and the other's run away / Lover is crying 'cause the other won't stay [12/26/14: Stay by Lisa Loeb (VH1 Storytellers)]

Well, it goes like this / The fourth, the fifth / The minor fall and the major lift / The baffled king composing Hallelujah [12/25/14: Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley (Grace)]

In the touch of a friend / In the breath of a child / In the eyes of a soldier coming home / To his mother's grateful smile [12/24/14: December Prayer by Idina Menzel (Holiday Wishes)]

I'm so hard to handle / I'm selfish and I'm sad / I've gone and lost the best baby that I ever had [12/23/14: River by Robert Downey Jr (A Very Ally Christmas)]

Will I choose water over wine / And hold my own and drive? [12/22/14: Drive by Incubus (Make Yourself)]

I want to kill this killing wish / There's too many stars and not enough sky [12/21/14: The Waitress by Tori Amos (Under the Pink)]

But deep in the dark, someone set the spark / And then it no longer mattered [12/20/14: In the Heat of the Summer by Judy Collins (Forever: An Anthology)]

'Cause every monkey needs alone time / To eat bananas in the sunshine / It's feast or famine, it's a fine line / It doesn't mean my monkey doesn't love you [12/19/14: My Monkey by Jonathan Coulton (Joco Looks Back)]

Give me life, give me pain, give me myself again [12/18/14: Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos (Little Earthquakes)]

This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/38387.html.

December Posting Meme, December 26

magickmoons — Sat, 27 Dec 2014 05:59:39 GMT

Post about a good memory of holidays from a previous year for lolmac

It's funny, but I don't have a lot of specific memories around holidays. But when I think back for a 'good' memory, there are three that spring to mind:

Sitting on my living room floor, playing Final Fantasy (I think it was VII), which I had just gotten for Christmas, while my SO slept on the couch behind me. It was very peaceful -- just us, no running around -- and fun -- learning a new game that I was enjoying.

One of my last Christmases when I was living with my parents, somehow a good number of my friends ended up at the house on Christmas night. It was snowing (pretty unusual for my area), and we had a snowball fight in the front yard.

My daughter's first Christmas, which was also either the first or second Christmas that I hosted in my house. It was my husband, me, my step-son, and my mother-in-law. We waited to open gifts until my parents came over early afternoon. It was everything Christmas should be - family and fun and love and warmth. My most special memory of that is my daughter (about 8 months old at the time) opening a gift from my mother. My mom had made her a Winnie-the-Pooh bear. My daughter pulled it out of the gift bag and gave it a huge kiss on the nose. It was so cute!!!

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This entry was originally posted at http://magickmoons.dreamwidth.org/38075.html.

December Posting Meme, December 25

magickmoons — Fri, 26 Dec 2014 18:11:18 GMT

Turkey or Ham? for helmos

As a general rule, I prefer turkey. Probably mostly because I love stuffing and gravy. Plus, I also love the way a golden-brown turkey looks in the middle of a holiday table!

I do like ham more these days than I used to. But if I do have a ham for the holiday, I much prefer a honey-baked type with lots of wonderfully crusty glaze.

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December Posting Meme, December 22

magickmoons — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 20:00:21 GMT

What I think of holiday decorations for lolmac

Holiday decorations are wonderful!!! At the appropriate time.

<rant>
Anything I see prior to Thanksgiving gets a bah humbug from me. I remember when I was growing up (and oh God, I've turned into that person!!), it was like a switch was thrown on the day after Thanksgiving and everything was green and red and silver, with trees and bows and wonderful window displays downtown. It was magical and really boosted the holiday feelings.

This year, I was shopping in Target before Hallowe'en. There was a wall in the seasonal section that still had the Hallowe'en banner above the shelves. The shelves, however, were full of Christmas stuff. Gah!!
</rant>

I tend to like the decorations that focus on the natural aspects of the season, like evergreens and silvery stars, candlelight. I also like more serious-themed decorations rather than cutesy, although with kids in the house, there is a certain cutesy minimum that must be maintained!

Unfortunately, I rarely get my act together in time to really get as much done as I hope to. But we always manage to get a tree up and decorated. I usually try to throw some evergreen garlands around, maybe decorate the front porch a bit.

We love to take driving tours of the neighborhoods and see the lights and decorations that other people have put up. I'm always amazed at what people can do. I tend to prefer lights over the big blow-up balloon things that have started taking over, but those can be fun too. The people across the street from us have blow-ups for every holiday, and my daughter loves seeing what they put out next!

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