five things responses, etc.
Happy Canada Day! It's a gorgeous one here in my little corner of the country, and I've just returned from sitting in a park in the sun for a while, catching up with good friends.
And the newest attempt in my perpetual quest to find the perfect sunblock--L'Oreal Ombrelle, spf 45, separate sunblocks for face and body--just may be a winner. The face formula in particular is grand: super lightweight and non-greasy. The body formula still feels a bit stickier than I'd like ideally, but it's as close to being actually fragrance-free as I've yet found in a sunblock, and that's worth a whole lot. It also appears to be quite effective at the blocking the sun part, which is also important. I am one of the most susceptible people to the sun that I've ever met. If I'm going to have exposure for more than about two minutes I need sunblock, and I regularly get sun through lots of sunblock. So the battle between me and the sun (which I love; staying out of it is not an option, though I have more or less given up on beaches after the second-degree burns through multiple sunblock reapplications I got the last time I was in Florida) wages full-force every summer.
--
So many of you have probably seen the awesome Discovery Channel commercial that's been making the rounds. If not, go watch it. Really.
Then, if you're a BSG fan, go read this Discovery Channel commercial-inspired picspam. Freaking hilarious!!! A bit Adama/Roslin-swayed, but not so much so to prevent enjoyment by fans of all stripes.
--
Yesterday I solicited five things prompts. And I've written a few of them, and I remember why these are so fun but also why I don't particularly excel at the genre. I need multiple drafts! But that's not the point, so I have refrained and throw them out, for better or worse, more or less as they came to me.
For boutondor: Five different alcoholic beverages Aeryn discovered on Earth
1.
Rygel has discovered alcohol mixed with sugar, and the result is terrifying to behold.
2.
Chiana claims whisky is like raslak, strong and rich and variable. Aeryn's never much cared for raslak-it dulls her senses but never her mind, and right now she needs the opposite, needs her reflexes sharp but wishes her brain would shut off-so she declines as Chiana passes the bottle around.
3.
There really is no excuse for eggnog. Jack explains that it's a holiday tradition, and John drinks with gusto, but not even Rygel will touch the stuff.
4.
Caroline drinks white wine and leaves pink lipstick marks on the rim of the goblet. Because of the lipstick, Aeryn has the idea that the wine is sticky, and she's surprised, when Olivia offers her some, to find it cool and smooth and comfortably bracing. Aeryn likes it, though she can't quite bring herself to feel similarly about Caroline.
5.
She can't ever decide whether beer actually tastes like fellip nectar or if it's an arbitrary connection she makes when she's seeking familiarity. Sometimes when she swallows the beer she thinks if she squeezes her eyes shut tight enough, she can hear and smell and see her own familiar worlds. And sometimes she tastes only strange and bitter liquid.
--
For liminalliz: Five Things that Happened [after the events of Revelations] (BSG, spoilers through 4.10 Revelations, and prompt edited to eliminate possible spoilers). Credit to runawaynun for the idea for number 5--I do hope you don't mind that I've stolen it in this small way.
1.
Three months after the first bitter taste of Earth, the fleet landed for good. There were habitable areas on the southern continents: some vegetation and even a few resilient animal species. No humans anywhere. The weather was better than New Caprica, but the terrain was worse. They dug in deep, though, put down roots. It didn't feel like the promised land, but it was going to be home.
2.
Laura Roslin did not die on Earth. She tried to settle with the rest of the fleet. She made speeches of encouragement and slept in a tent like everyone else and would have planted seeds and built cabins if she'd been strong enough. But one night she couldn't get warm, and the next morning Bill brought her back to Galactica, praying to the gods he didn't believe in for one more miracle.
Four months after first landing on Earth, Laura Roslin died on Galactica, and the people spun and doubted prophecies while those few who knew and loved her grieved. Four months and three days after first landing on Earth, she was the first person to be buried in its soil.
3.
In the first year on Earth, 32 babies were born. Of the girls, more than a third were named "Laura." The rest were quite deliberately named anything else.
One of the boys, a blue-eyed, red-faced, squalling thing, came into the world without much fanfare on a Tuesday afternoon. His mother was delighted, his father aloof but pleased, and Dr. Cottle proclaimed him perfectly healthy and normal.
This baby's visitors were somewhat more distinguished than average. The admiral shook the father's hand while his own son, the president, cooed at the child. D'Anna led the Cylon contingent with rapt adoration, proclaiming the baby a miracle, a gift from God. "All children are gifts," the admiral replied.
4.
Twenty-seven years after they arrived on Earth, when they could keep her flying no longer, Galactica was decommissioned for the second time. Parked on a plain west of the city, near the Laura Roslin and William Adama Memorial, the hulking ship looked old and battered in the sunlight. It will be converted into a museum.
Admiral Thrace stood in front of the gathered crowd, made a speech about survival and salvation, and thanked the gods the Old Man didn't live to see this day.
5.
443 years after they arrived on Earth, the University of New Kobol hosted the Laura Roslin 500th Anniversary Symposium. Academic opinions of Roslin had swung the gambit through the years, from Roslin the goddess to Roslin the monster and back again. The historians of the present prided themselves on having reached a more balanced view: Roslin the flawed human, who made good decisions and bad, who irrevocably shaped the course of history, for better or worse. They called this view "objective," with no small amount of smugness.
--
And do I lose my "I am not a crazy shipper" cred if I admit I had way too much fun writing these next ones? whyoffry wanted "Five times Adama PULLS THE FRIGGIN' TRIGGER AND KISSES ROSLIN" (wording and capslock hers!), to which chaila43 replied, "How about five times LAURA takes matters into her own hands and kisses BILL." So between the two of them they got me to write ten kisses between a couple for whom the romantic relationship is not the main draw for me. And I wallowed a little shamelessly in the shippiness, for which I do not actually apologize.
Spoilers through "Revelations," warnings for angst and excessive sappiness.
Five Times Bill Adama Kissed Laura Roslin
1.
She's sleeping now, Cottle says, and seems to be out of the woods. Bill moves through the dark and quiet sickbay and stands by her bed. Even Billy has gone, no doubt dragged off by Dee to get some much-needed rest. Bill watches her sleep, matches his own breathing to her steady and even breaths, allows himself to be hypnotized by the regular rhythm of the heart monitor. Something unfurls inside him, muscles he's been clenching for months finally relaxing. She's going to live.
He runs his fingers across the back of her hand, brushes a lock of hair away from her face, and places a feather-light kiss on her lips before slipping away to let her rest and heal.
2.
Her transport to New Caprica leaves in ten minutes, and she's come to say goodbye. He grips her hand and promises to visit and wishes her luck. She smiles bravely and starts to go, and just before she reaches the hatch he hears himself calling, "Laura, wait!" She turns back, pleased surprise on her face, and before he can remember why it's a bad idea, he kisses her, quickly and roughly. She grins as she pulls back, her hand gripping his shoulder. "See you soon, Bill," she whispers.
3.
"I have something I need to tell you," she'd said, walking into his quarters with purpose and gravity. And she sat on his couch and held his hand and told him her cancer had returned.
He can't think about this, can't face it, can't lose her, not now with Kara dead and Lee angry. So he holds on to Laura, and when she smiles and brushes her fingers across his cheek, he kisses her, whispering "stay" across her lips.
4.
He had stopped drinking eventually and fallen asleep on the couch while she continued to work, ignoring him pointedly. When he wakes, it's 3 am, a hangover has set in, and she's in bed. He stumbles to the head, and on the way back he stops near his rack and watches her sleep.
He isn't sorry they argued. Battling with Laura is something he relies on: she keeps him sharp and grounded, she makes him earn it, she reminds him that she's still right here, closer than ever, in his head, in his space. He is sorry that he was drunk, that they went to bed without reconciling. They don't apologize to one another, but they always make peace.
"You okay?" her voice comes from the bed.
"Headache," he admits. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"Mmm," she replies. He watches her shift back into the shadows, making room for him in the bed. "C'mere."
He slides into bed and curls around her; she hooks a leg around his and looks at him across the pillow. Neither speaks-this is concession, but perhaps not yet forgiveness-but he leans in and brushes his lips across hers.
"Sleep," she whispers.
5.
He had promised to let her go. She made him promise her, made Lee promise her to make sure Bill kept the promise. He assumes Lee agreed in good faith, but he never trusted himself to keep his own. He would try, but he didn't think he could live without her.
But as she lies in sickbay near death, he thinks perhaps she gives her strength to him. Just enough strength to let go. Lee leans over her, whispers something Bill can't hear, kisses her cheek. Kara hovers at the end of the bed, not too close and not too far away.
And Bill holds her hand and kisses her lips as she gives him the last of her breath, and at least for today, he will keep his promise.
Five Times Laura Roslin Kissed Bill Adama
1.
They've been curled up on the sandbags together for over an hour, away from the noise of the party. They're high, and he launches into another verse of his stupid song, and she raises up on one elbow giggling as her hair falls down to tickle his face. "Don't you like the song?" he asks, grinning as he breaks off singing.
Her aim is slightly off, and her lips land on the side of his mouth, which makes her laugh harder. He laughs as well, rare sound, and she listens for a moment before stopping his mouth with her own.
2.
It's been two weeks since the conversation in the ward room, books and flirting and memories of New Caprica. Bill hasn't brought it up since, his sense of the weight of their responsibilities clearly having won the day. This evening they worked through the dinner they shared, and Laura has commandeered his desk for a few hours after dinner, before returning to Colonial One. He's sitting on the couch, allegedly going over reports but actually watching her work.
"Would you stop that?" she asks finally, with half a smile.
"What?" He doesn't even try to look innocent.
She gets up and moves to the couch, holds his face in her hands, and kisses him soundly. "There," she says as she sits back, trying not to laugh at his shocked expression. "There was a conversation a couple of weeks ago that we never finished."
3.
His face breaks into one of the biggest smiles she's ever seen from him. He believes in Earth because he believes in her, and she's not dying. Not yet, not today. She isn't ready yet. She holds his hands and grins back, and finally breaks into a laugh as she watches him sit there smiling.
"What's so funny?" he asks, laughing as well.
She kisses him then, still smiling as she pulls him closer, sharing her faith and drawing strength from his.
4.
He doesn't understand the weight of the words she's just spoken. He doesn't understand that she doesn't love people or need people, that she hasn't said these words in almost thirty years. She may explain this to him later, or she may not. In the meantime, she holds on tight.
He kissed her brow, but she kisses his lips. He tastes different than before. Perhaps he hasn't changed, but she has, and she wonders if he can tell, if she tastes different to him, this kiss distinguished from all the ones that came before because she has let something go. He breaks the kiss and pulls her close again. She feels his tears as he buries his face in her neck, and she thinks perhaps he understands after all.
5.
After the initial shock and disappointment of Earth, they all return to Galactica. Laura calls a strategy meeting in Bill's quarters: Bill, Lee, Kara, and Helo, along with D'Anna and some of the other Cylons. They schedule planetary recon missions; they'll look for habitable space on this planet. There is no plan if they can't stay.
Following the meeting, the Cylons and Helo leave first, Lee and Kara hanging behind. Lee and Bill both look lost; each seems to expect the other to comfort him. Laura calls Kara to her.
"This is not your fault, you know that," she says firmly.
"I am the harbinger of death, Madam President." Kara's face is unreadable, her voice bitter.
Laura shakes her head, places her hands on the younger woman's shoulders. "If I thought you were to blame, I would tell you so, believe me. But no one is dead yet. This isn't over."
Kara nods faintly, and Laura releases her, watches her go. Lee follows, and as the hatch closes behind them, Laura feels Bill's arms reach around her. "It isn't your fault, either," he whispers.
She can't reply, can't think, can scarcely breathe, so she turns and kisses him a little desperately. No one is dead yet, she repeats to herself, and that's hope enough.
--
Stay tuned for more responses as I get to them. And I will try not to be quite so BSG-heavy with the next set!
And the newest attempt in my perpetual quest to find the perfect sunblock--L'Oreal Ombrelle, spf 45, separate sunblocks for face and body--just may be a winner. The face formula in particular is grand: super lightweight and non-greasy. The body formula still feels a bit stickier than I'd like ideally, but it's as close to being actually fragrance-free as I've yet found in a sunblock, and that's worth a whole lot. It also appears to be quite effective at the blocking the sun part, which is also important. I am one of the most susceptible people to the sun that I've ever met. If I'm going to have exposure for more than about two minutes I need sunblock, and I regularly get sun through lots of sunblock. So the battle between me and the sun (which I love; staying out of it is not an option, though I have more or less given up on beaches after the second-degree burns through multiple sunblock reapplications I got the last time I was in Florida) wages full-force every summer.
--
So many of you have probably seen the awesome Discovery Channel commercial that's been making the rounds. If not, go watch it. Really.
Then, if you're a BSG fan, go read this Discovery Channel commercial-inspired picspam. Freaking hilarious!!! A bit Adama/Roslin-swayed, but not so much so to prevent enjoyment by fans of all stripes.
--
Yesterday I solicited five things prompts. And I've written a few of them, and I remember why these are so fun but also why I don't particularly excel at the genre. I need multiple drafts! But that's not the point, so I have refrained and throw them out, for better or worse, more or less as they came to me.
For boutondor: Five different alcoholic beverages Aeryn discovered on Earth
1.
Rygel has discovered alcohol mixed with sugar, and the result is terrifying to behold.
2.
Chiana claims whisky is like raslak, strong and rich and variable. Aeryn's never much cared for raslak-it dulls her senses but never her mind, and right now she needs the opposite, needs her reflexes sharp but wishes her brain would shut off-so she declines as Chiana passes the bottle around.
3.
There really is no excuse for eggnog. Jack explains that it's a holiday tradition, and John drinks with gusto, but not even Rygel will touch the stuff.
4.
Caroline drinks white wine and leaves pink lipstick marks on the rim of the goblet. Because of the lipstick, Aeryn has the idea that the wine is sticky, and she's surprised, when Olivia offers her some, to find it cool and smooth and comfortably bracing. Aeryn likes it, though she can't quite bring herself to feel similarly about Caroline.
5.
She can't ever decide whether beer actually tastes like fellip nectar or if it's an arbitrary connection she makes when she's seeking familiarity. Sometimes when she swallows the beer she thinks if she squeezes her eyes shut tight enough, she can hear and smell and see her own familiar worlds. And sometimes she tastes only strange and bitter liquid.
--
For liminalliz: Five Things that Happened [after the events of Revelations] (BSG, spoilers through 4.10 Revelations, and prompt edited to eliminate possible spoilers). Credit to runawaynun for the idea for number 5--I do hope you don't mind that I've stolen it in this small way.
1.
Three months after the first bitter taste of Earth, the fleet landed for good. There were habitable areas on the southern continents: some vegetation and even a few resilient animal species. No humans anywhere. The weather was better than New Caprica, but the terrain was worse. They dug in deep, though, put down roots. It didn't feel like the promised land, but it was going to be home.
2.
Laura Roslin did not die on Earth. She tried to settle with the rest of the fleet. She made speeches of encouragement and slept in a tent like everyone else and would have planted seeds and built cabins if she'd been strong enough. But one night she couldn't get warm, and the next morning Bill brought her back to Galactica, praying to the gods he didn't believe in for one more miracle.
Four months after first landing on Earth, Laura Roslin died on Galactica, and the people spun and doubted prophecies while those few who knew and loved her grieved. Four months and three days after first landing on Earth, she was the first person to be buried in its soil.
3.
In the first year on Earth, 32 babies were born. Of the girls, more than a third were named "Laura." The rest were quite deliberately named anything else.
One of the boys, a blue-eyed, red-faced, squalling thing, came into the world without much fanfare on a Tuesday afternoon. His mother was delighted, his father aloof but pleased, and Dr. Cottle proclaimed him perfectly healthy and normal.
This baby's visitors were somewhat more distinguished than average. The admiral shook the father's hand while his own son, the president, cooed at the child. D'Anna led the Cylon contingent with rapt adoration, proclaiming the baby a miracle, a gift from God. "All children are gifts," the admiral replied.
4.
Twenty-seven years after they arrived on Earth, when they could keep her flying no longer, Galactica was decommissioned for the second time. Parked on a plain west of the city, near the Laura Roslin and William Adama Memorial, the hulking ship looked old and battered in the sunlight. It will be converted into a museum.
Admiral Thrace stood in front of the gathered crowd, made a speech about survival and salvation, and thanked the gods the Old Man didn't live to see this day.
5.
443 years after they arrived on Earth, the University of New Kobol hosted the Laura Roslin 500th Anniversary Symposium. Academic opinions of Roslin had swung the gambit through the years, from Roslin the goddess to Roslin the monster and back again. The historians of the present prided themselves on having reached a more balanced view: Roslin the flawed human, who made good decisions and bad, who irrevocably shaped the course of history, for better or worse. They called this view "objective," with no small amount of smugness.
--
And do I lose my "I am not a crazy shipper" cred if I admit I had way too much fun writing these next ones? whyoffry wanted "Five times Adama PULLS THE FRIGGIN' TRIGGER AND KISSES ROSLIN" (wording and capslock hers!), to which chaila43 replied, "How about five times LAURA takes matters into her own hands and kisses BILL." So between the two of them they got me to write ten kisses between a couple for whom the romantic relationship is not the main draw for me. And I wallowed a little shamelessly in the shippiness, for which I do not actually apologize.
Spoilers through "Revelations," warnings for angst and excessive sappiness.
Five Times Bill Adama Kissed Laura Roslin
1.
She's sleeping now, Cottle says, and seems to be out of the woods. Bill moves through the dark and quiet sickbay and stands by her bed. Even Billy has gone, no doubt dragged off by Dee to get some much-needed rest. Bill watches her sleep, matches his own breathing to her steady and even breaths, allows himself to be hypnotized by the regular rhythm of the heart monitor. Something unfurls inside him, muscles he's been clenching for months finally relaxing. She's going to live.
He runs his fingers across the back of her hand, brushes a lock of hair away from her face, and places a feather-light kiss on her lips before slipping away to let her rest and heal.
2.
Her transport to New Caprica leaves in ten minutes, and she's come to say goodbye. He grips her hand and promises to visit and wishes her luck. She smiles bravely and starts to go, and just before she reaches the hatch he hears himself calling, "Laura, wait!" She turns back, pleased surprise on her face, and before he can remember why it's a bad idea, he kisses her, quickly and roughly. She grins as she pulls back, her hand gripping his shoulder. "See you soon, Bill," she whispers.
3.
"I have something I need to tell you," she'd said, walking into his quarters with purpose and gravity. And she sat on his couch and held his hand and told him her cancer had returned.
He can't think about this, can't face it, can't lose her, not now with Kara dead and Lee angry. So he holds on to Laura, and when she smiles and brushes her fingers across his cheek, he kisses her, whispering "stay" across her lips.
4.
He had stopped drinking eventually and fallen asleep on the couch while she continued to work, ignoring him pointedly. When he wakes, it's 3 am, a hangover has set in, and she's in bed. He stumbles to the head, and on the way back he stops near his rack and watches her sleep.
He isn't sorry they argued. Battling with Laura is something he relies on: she keeps him sharp and grounded, she makes him earn it, she reminds him that she's still right here, closer than ever, in his head, in his space. He is sorry that he was drunk, that they went to bed without reconciling. They don't apologize to one another, but they always make peace.
"You okay?" her voice comes from the bed.
"Headache," he admits. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"Mmm," she replies. He watches her shift back into the shadows, making room for him in the bed. "C'mere."
He slides into bed and curls around her; she hooks a leg around his and looks at him across the pillow. Neither speaks-this is concession, but perhaps not yet forgiveness-but he leans in and brushes his lips across hers.
"Sleep," she whispers.
5.
He had promised to let her go. She made him promise her, made Lee promise her to make sure Bill kept the promise. He assumes Lee agreed in good faith, but he never trusted himself to keep his own. He would try, but he didn't think he could live without her.
But as she lies in sickbay near death, he thinks perhaps she gives her strength to him. Just enough strength to let go. Lee leans over her, whispers something Bill can't hear, kisses her cheek. Kara hovers at the end of the bed, not too close and not too far away.
And Bill holds her hand and kisses her lips as she gives him the last of her breath, and at least for today, he will keep his promise.
Five Times Laura Roslin Kissed Bill Adama
1.
They've been curled up on the sandbags together for over an hour, away from the noise of the party. They're high, and he launches into another verse of his stupid song, and she raises up on one elbow giggling as her hair falls down to tickle his face. "Don't you like the song?" he asks, grinning as he breaks off singing.
Her aim is slightly off, and her lips land on the side of his mouth, which makes her laugh harder. He laughs as well, rare sound, and she listens for a moment before stopping his mouth with her own.
2.
It's been two weeks since the conversation in the ward room, books and flirting and memories of New Caprica. Bill hasn't brought it up since, his sense of the weight of their responsibilities clearly having won the day. This evening they worked through the dinner they shared, and Laura has commandeered his desk for a few hours after dinner, before returning to Colonial One. He's sitting on the couch, allegedly going over reports but actually watching her work.
"Would you stop that?" she asks finally, with half a smile.
"What?" He doesn't even try to look innocent.
She gets up and moves to the couch, holds his face in her hands, and kisses him soundly. "There," she says as she sits back, trying not to laugh at his shocked expression. "There was a conversation a couple of weeks ago that we never finished."
3.
His face breaks into one of the biggest smiles she's ever seen from him. He believes in Earth because he believes in her, and she's not dying. Not yet, not today. She isn't ready yet. She holds his hands and grins back, and finally breaks into a laugh as she watches him sit there smiling.
"What's so funny?" he asks, laughing as well.
She kisses him then, still smiling as she pulls him closer, sharing her faith and drawing strength from his.
4.
He doesn't understand the weight of the words she's just spoken. He doesn't understand that she doesn't love people or need people, that she hasn't said these words in almost thirty years. She may explain this to him later, or she may not. In the meantime, she holds on tight.
He kissed her brow, but she kisses his lips. He tastes different than before. Perhaps he hasn't changed, but she has, and she wonders if he can tell, if she tastes different to him, this kiss distinguished from all the ones that came before because she has let something go. He breaks the kiss and pulls her close again. She feels his tears as he buries his face in her neck, and she thinks perhaps he understands after all.
5.
After the initial shock and disappointment of Earth, they all return to Galactica. Laura calls a strategy meeting in Bill's quarters: Bill, Lee, Kara, and Helo, along with D'Anna and some of the other Cylons. They schedule planetary recon missions; they'll look for habitable space on this planet. There is no plan if they can't stay.
Following the meeting, the Cylons and Helo leave first, Lee and Kara hanging behind. Lee and Bill both look lost; each seems to expect the other to comfort him. Laura calls Kara to her.
"This is not your fault, you know that," she says firmly.
"I am the harbinger of death, Madam President." Kara's face is unreadable, her voice bitter.
Laura shakes her head, places her hands on the younger woman's shoulders. "If I thought you were to blame, I would tell you so, believe me. But no one is dead yet. This isn't over."
Kara nods faintly, and Laura releases her, watches her go. Lee follows, and as the hatch closes behind them, Laura feels Bill's arms reach around her. "It isn't your fault, either," he whispers.
She can't reply, can't think, can scarcely breathe, so she turns and kisses him a little desperately. No one is dead yet, she repeats to herself, and that's hope enough.
--
Stay tuned for more responses as I get to them. And I will try not to be quite so BSG-heavy with the next set!