My brain isn't completely back on line as far as words are concerned, although I've been poking along with a beta. Between the antibiotics, the pain meds, and the cough meds, it's cloud city over here. However, it was a bad night for insomnia since I've been sleeping 12-16 hours a day for the past week and my body said enough of that.

Thankfully, there was my PDA loaded with all my favorites. One of last night's comfort fics was the Checkmate 'Verse by beadattitude. Transformation fics in SGA seem a natural with all those weird machines left behind by those wacky Ancients. Some transformation fics work for me, some don't.

I love this one.

It is, plain and simple, a love story. Yet, it's more. The interactions between a transformed John and the city's various inhabitants is explored wonderfully, adding another dimension to what could have been just Rodney takes care of John - he changes back - they live happily ever after. Rodney shines with his knowledge of cats, yet John the human is still very much there inside a different body, forcing Rodney to tread a very narrow line to avoid offense and future recriminations.

I wanted to create a cover for the series, but couldn't decide which of the several I roughed out to finish. I finally went with two.



Click for Full Size


Click for Full Size and Animation

I hate when I'm suffering from writer's (and artist's) block, mostly because I feel so unproductive. After all, it's not as if I can focus on my real life job instead. :-/

As a result, I've begun reviewing my CLex collection with an eye to FINALLY updating the rec lists. That's right, I'm actually going through over 5000 stories: sorting, weighing, discarding where necessary, and writing up the survivors.

Of course, that means I'm also revisiting my criteria because they are REC lists, not all-inclusive theme lists. I suspect that stories will fall off the lists this time around because of broken links, but also because two plus years after the initial posts my tastes and my tolerances have evolved.

You may end up going through the revised lists and saying, "But so-and-so's classic story such-and-such isn't on the list!" You are welcome to make recommendations here, but I may end up rejecting them because of several reasons:

1. I don't care for the storyline/plot/characterizations. With very few exceptions,that means:
a. Slave-fic (alien overlords may end up on exception list)
b. Character-bashing (except Lionel and the canon baddies)
c. Het and that includes gender-benders written for the sake of het (threesomes okay)
d. Excessive out-of-character behavior unless specifically written as crack-fic
e. Stories without a plot written just for the sake of sex
f. Underage and dub-con and non-con written for titillation, not logical progression of plot
g. Disturbing scenes involving body fluids, orifices, mutilation, mental and physical abuse
h. Negative/stereotypical behavior based on color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation
i. I've read the exact same plot too many times and there's nothing special about the story

2. Bad grammar, spelling, and punctuation. A few mistakes are fine. I make them myself. However, I'm a beta. I can't turn that internal editor off. It's literally painful when I encounter six mistakes in the first three hundred words. It may be the most fascinating plot line ever with incredibly adept characterizations, but if the story changes tenses and POV's randomly along with egregious abuse of lose/loose, they're/their/there, you're/your, and its/it's - it won't be appearing on the lists.

With any luck, the reading and sorting will kickstart my own work. If not, at least one item on my to-do list will end up crossed off. :-D

Daughter and I stayed up much too late last night/this morning (2:30 AM) to watch The Lost Room. I wasn't expecting much based on the previews of other shows that ran before getting to the main menu (I mean REALLY bad), but this mini-series was surprisingly good. Decent acting, great mystery, wound up well but could easily have kept going. Daughter agreed.

I could readily watch this a few more times and will probably end up ordering a copy because I can see making either a CLex or McShep adaption or even both since I could take them in entirely different directions with characterizations and incorporating canon.

And did I mention the story was good? :-D