2012 Recap
I can't believe I'm writing the sixth year in review! Seven years of active SG-1 fandom. ::squishes team thoroughly::
In fandom
sg1_debrief is happily still around, but I'm no longer tagging for the comm - with the lower volume of SG-1 related posts in LJ these days, the two new owners (Magnavox and Eilidh) have taken over tagging on their own. I'm sorry to no longer be a part of it, but I'm grateful to the two of them for making sure that the best source for SG-1 activity on LJ is still with us.
redial_the_gate finished S10 but we never got round to the movies. Um, oops? :) Of the four mods, one is completely out of fandom and two are mostly out of fandom (on LJ, anyway). I hope we'll do AoT and Continuum someday; the comm was truly wonderful and it deserves to go out with a bang, rather than a whimper.
We celebrated SG-1 Gen Fic Day three times this year and had three Alphabet Soups: Cameron Mitchell, Bra'tac (and Jaffa), and SGC personnel. I am so happy that despite the shrinking of the fandom, there is still enough fannish love - for gen fic, no less! - to make the Soups happen. I think there's enough room for another two or three Soups, too, in the coming year.
gate_women is one of those comms that should see more enthusiastic participation, and for some reason... doesn't. I'm sorry about that, although I didn't manage to finish the year's 12 in 12 challenge (make 12 posts there over the course of 12 months) - I think my total clocked in at nine. That has more to do with my lack of writing (more on that below) than my lack of interest. I still love the concept of the comm, though, and I hope to see more activity there in the coming year.
I suppose that my really big fandom change is taking over ownership of stargateficrec. Earlier this year, I was offered the position of "Staff Reccer," although I've taken to calling myself "Reccer at Random" instead - instead of signing up for specific categories, I was given an open field to rec whatever I wished. Then, in late October, angelsgracie asked if I would be willing to take over ownership of the comm. That change took place at the end of November.
Running the comm itself is relatively low-key, I think, but I'm still in start-up mode and trying to tweak things into being as reccer-friendly as possible, with the maximum ease of navigation. I hope this year will see more reccers and a more streamlined comm.
Canon vs. Fanon? ::looks shifty:: Oooh, look! Something shiny that goes *boom*! ::runs through the Gate::
In recs
As I wrote above, the big reccing news is taking over stargateficrec. The new responsibility in the last months, together with less fannish time available (and, maybe the random reccing thing lends itself to less reccing per month - still not sure about that) means that I made less recs this year. Still! 92 recs in multiple categories bring the total up to 842 recs over at figs_sg1_rec. That's a pretty amazing total, when you come to think of it - nearly all gen, too! \0/
sg1genrecs, my DW baby, is sadly barely limping along. The stargateficrec thing doesn't give me much time to devote to it. I do hope I'll manage more activity there in the coming year.
In fic
This year's writing total was just over 19,000 words. Sigh for my lovely plans to write more. All gen, natch, and mostly in the PG range.
I took on a new project this year: On the Outside, Looking In. The idea was to write an episode-related drabble for every single ep in the show, plus the movies - only the drabble has to be from an outside perspective (that is, someone who is not a member of the team).
It's been a fascinating process. Some of the drabbles have been scenes from the show from a minor character's POV; others have been missing scenelets, or post-episode scenelets, some with minor characters and some with OCs. I like the way it makes you see the episodes just a little differently. It's also been interesting to write these drabbles, one after another, in episodic order; it gives the show a certain flow that way. Case in point: Allegiance, a fabulous S6 episode that involves hostilities between the Jaffa, the Tok'ra, and Earth, is immediately after Abyss and The Other Guys, both of which involve the deaths of Tok'ra operatives. When I realized that, the drabble for that ep became the resentful perspective of Ocker, the Tok'ra's chief of security. It's not a POV that I'd considered before, but the process laid it out for me.
It's also been fun to squeeze in as much Paul Davis as possible :) not to mention lots of perspectives from Goa'uld and Tok'ra (both symbiote and host), as well as MacKenzie and Makepeace!
The only problem, I suppose, is that despite the drabble-sized lengths of the ficlets, it takes much longer to write from the different angle. My original intention was to write all ten seasons and three movies over the course of the calendar year (and thus assure myself of writing a minimum of 21,000 words, by the way). Sadly, that didn't happen; the series is only written through S6. Let's hope it gets finished in the next few months!
Other than that, I got little writing done: just my three Alphabet Soup contributions, another happy drabble entry, and some Vala backstory.
O is for Optimism. Cam has always been an optimist; it's kept him going for a long time now. But sometimes, he needs a little proof. Major spoilers for Continuum, including AU canon character deaths, and a certain episode in S2. 1,290 words. Rated PG.
R is for Reassessment. Bra'tac dismisses the idea of Tau'ri as worthy allies... but then he has the chance to actually meet them. Spoilers for S1, particularly Bloodlines. ~1,200 words. PG.
V is for Victuals. Aliens, civilians, military personnel -- they all need feeding. That's Sophie's job, and she's proud to do it. No real spoilers. 510 words. Rated G.
Happiness Cubed. Ten prompted happy drabbles. Team friendship, mostly, with Janet and Siler for additional squee. G.
A Most Successful Treasure Hunt. Pre-series Vala, trying to find enough trinkets to keep going. 1,730 words. Rated PG-13 for references to certain Goa'uld habits.
Favorite fic bits
In no particular order, just because it's fun to do this:
Sam stalked furiously ahead. Daniel tried to reason with her, but Jack, deciding it was a lost cause, kept several prudent paces back.
"You don't have to take it personally," Daniel said mildly.
"Yes, I do," she snarled back. "These people have broken science."
"We've had this discussion before," Daniel persisted. "We agreed that even when the math contradicts it, it could --"
"Daniel. The sky is literally falling. I am offended on behalf of the rational universe!"
"Par for the course, then?" Daniel suggested lightly, and as Sam advanced on him, Jack wondered when Daniel had developed a death wish.
-- Happiness Cubed
As the chappa'ai opened, the two Goa'uld moved forward, arm in arm. Apophis, focused on their departure, did not see Amaunet glance backward. She, however, clearly saw the Tau'ri, crouching at bay.
Say nothing, her host commanded, summoning its puny will and focusing its fading control on this single point. The child is gone. You have your pharoah. There is nothing for you here.
Amaunet paused, then turned her head back, lips pressed together as she stepped through the chappa'ai. This silence was her own choice, she told herself. Her choice alone.
The Go'auld have always excelled at self-deception.
-- Secrets: On the Outside, Looking In
Orkum and his squad flung the disheveled Tok'ra at their master's feet, an offering and a triumph.
Zipacna's eyes glowed his approval. Secure in his might and power, he strolled over to the prone figure and prodded it with an elegant shoe. "I sense you are Tok'ra," he murmured, "yet you wear the costume of the despised Tau'ri. Which part of you will suffer more, I wonder? Tell me of the formula, and you will die relatively quickly."
The Tok'ra rolled over, gasping, fists clenched in pain. No, not pain -- a faint crunch --
Orkum suddenly found it hard to breathe.
-- Last Stand: On the Outside, Looking In
Vala closed her fingers over the strange device and let her eyes fall shut, trying to remember.
Qetesh and Bastet, stalking around one another with haughty sneers and hungry eyes. Qetesh inwardly mocking Bastet's penchant for leather and spikes, even as she dropped poisonously sweet compliments of transparent insincerity from Vala's tongue.
They'd been discussing certain favorite pastimes and the inevitable damage done to the slaves involved. Qetesh had never bothered fixing her favorite toys when she broke them; she merely found another human to satisfy her. Bastet preferred keeping her pets so that she needn't be bothered with training new ones.
"But such a bother to heal them, Bastet," Qetesh had purred. "Unless, of course, you're finding it hard to find new playthings."
"Not at all," Bastet had snapped back, her fist tangling a little more tightly in the long, blond hair of the lo'tar kneeling at her side. "Pain and pleasure, Qetesh darling. Hurt them, then heal them. The results are marvelous."
"No human slave will sully my sarcophagus," Qetesh had declared. "Perhaps you're a little less fastidious."
"My sacophagus is mine alone," Bastet had said haughtily. "The k'haz al'sh'fa serves me well enough." The dark eyes glowed with sudden, gleeful maliciousness. "Oh, of course, I'd forgotten. You never learned to use one, did you...?"
Vala opened her eyes and stared down at the thing in her hand. "K'haz al'sh'fa," she said aloud. "A device that heals."
She swallowed hard against her sudden surge of hope. Could she use this device to heal herself?
Qetesh had never mastered it.
The thought of taking Qetesh's bitter legacy -- the ability to manipulate naquadah, even after the snake was gone -- and using it do something that Qetesh couldn't had her lips curving into a delighted, vindictive smile.
-- A Most Successful Treasure Hunt
Master Sergeant Sophie Wilkes never got below Level 24 at Cheyenne Mountain, but that didn't matter. Her kingdom was Level 22: the general mess, the officer's mess, and the main kitchens. She supervised round-the-clock meals for a military base that never quite seemed to manage a regular schedule, taking the most bizarre situations in stride.
It didn't matter if it was a delicately-worded order for "vegetarian, organic foods for our... current refugees" or a personal request from General Hammond for a good steak meal with all the trimmings for "an old friend and former general, who will be visiting us today incognito." A muttered instruction to make sure that the officer's mess never ran out of blue jello or decent coffee left her unfazed. She dealt with finicky civilians and starving Marines with equal aplomb.
Her tenure at the SGC began with a relatively low security clearance and strictly need-to-know information, but as time went by, Sophie's security rating rose and her knowledge of the people she fed increased. Part of this might have been attributed to her calm reactions to situations such as "the petty demands of our visiting dignitaries," as Doctor Jackson disgustedly phrased it, but she suspected that General Hammond had been more impressed with her ability to keep a temporarily-incapacitated SG-1 amply stocked with pie and other desserts.
-- V is for Victuals
Reviewing the recap
My favorite story this year (of my own): I'm tempted to say Outside, both because it's the most time-consuming and the most interesting. But I'm happiest with O is for Optimism, in which I coherently tied Continuum to S2 and wrote a pretty decent Cam (I admit that he and Vala are my least favorite team members).
Most fun story: Definitely V is for Victuals. It's so short, but I grew very fond of Sophie while I wrote it, and she fits very well into my personal head canon! I see her played by Holly Robinson, by the way - and not only because that's tremendous fun on the meta level. :)
Hardest story to write: Without question, On the Outside, Looking In. It's not only the challenging aspect of the different perspectives, as I wrote above; it's also finding the outside perspective in every. single. episode, whether I like that episode or not! (I firmly assert that there's at least one good scene in every ep, but that doesn't mean that every ep is easy to write about.)
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? Much, much less. ::mutters::
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?: Outside is giving me a very good perspective on the overall arc of the show and the way the characters' relationships develop. It's still an ongoing process, and one that I'm very much enjoying - even if it does slow my writing down!
Did you meet last year's goals? Not really, no. I didn't increase my writing output, nor did I get to write longer fic. My rec volume dropped, too. OTOH, I definitely enjoyed more gen squee. :)
Do you have any goals for the coming year? Write something that's at least 10,000 words in length - maybe that poor Clark and Daniel fic, or the Sha're perspective I've been wanting to write for so long. Write more in general. Get stargateficrec running smoothly, and rec more myself. And, as always, enjoy more gen squee!
Previous yearly reviews: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007.
In fandom
sg1_debrief is happily still around, but I'm no longer tagging for the comm - with the lower volume of SG-1 related posts in LJ these days, the two new owners (Magnavox and Eilidh) have taken over tagging on their own. I'm sorry to no longer be a part of it, but I'm grateful to the two of them for making sure that the best source for SG-1 activity on LJ is still with us.
redial_the_gate finished S10 but we never got round to the movies. Um, oops? :) Of the four mods, one is completely out of fandom and two are mostly out of fandom (on LJ, anyway). I hope we'll do AoT and Continuum someday; the comm was truly wonderful and it deserves to go out with a bang, rather than a whimper.
We celebrated SG-1 Gen Fic Day three times this year and had three Alphabet Soups: Cameron Mitchell, Bra'tac (and Jaffa), and SGC personnel. I am so happy that despite the shrinking of the fandom, there is still enough fannish love - for gen fic, no less! - to make the Soups happen. I think there's enough room for another two or three Soups, too, in the coming year.
gate_women is one of those comms that should see more enthusiastic participation, and for some reason... doesn't. I'm sorry about that, although I didn't manage to finish the year's 12 in 12 challenge (make 12 posts there over the course of 12 months) - I think my total clocked in at nine. That has more to do with my lack of writing (more on that below) than my lack of interest. I still love the concept of the comm, though, and I hope to see more activity there in the coming year.
I suppose that my really big fandom change is taking over ownership of stargateficrec. Earlier this year, I was offered the position of "Staff Reccer," although I've taken to calling myself "Reccer at Random" instead - instead of signing up for specific categories, I was given an open field to rec whatever I wished. Then, in late October, angelsgracie asked if I would be willing to take over ownership of the comm. That change took place at the end of November.
Running the comm itself is relatively low-key, I think, but I'm still in start-up mode and trying to tweak things into being as reccer-friendly as possible, with the maximum ease of navigation. I hope this year will see more reccers and a more streamlined comm.
Canon vs. Fanon? ::looks shifty:: Oooh, look! Something shiny that goes *boom*! ::runs through the Gate::
In recs
As I wrote above, the big reccing news is taking over stargateficrec. The new responsibility in the last months, together with less fannish time available (and, maybe the random reccing thing lends itself to less reccing per month - still not sure about that) means that I made less recs this year. Still! 92 recs in multiple categories bring the total up to 842 recs over at figs_sg1_rec. That's a pretty amazing total, when you come to think of it - nearly all gen, too! \0/
sg1genrecs, my DW baby, is sadly barely limping along. The stargateficrec thing doesn't give me much time to devote to it. I do hope I'll manage more activity there in the coming year.
In fic
This year's writing total was just over 19,000 words. Sigh for my lovely plans to write more. All gen, natch, and mostly in the PG range.
I took on a new project this year: On the Outside, Looking In. The idea was to write an episode-related drabble for every single ep in the show, plus the movies - only the drabble has to be from an outside perspective (that is, someone who is not a member of the team).
It's been a fascinating process. Some of the drabbles have been scenes from the show from a minor character's POV; others have been missing scenelets, or post-episode scenelets, some with minor characters and some with OCs. I like the way it makes you see the episodes just a little differently. It's also been interesting to write these drabbles, one after another, in episodic order; it gives the show a certain flow that way. Case in point: Allegiance, a fabulous S6 episode that involves hostilities between the Jaffa, the Tok'ra, and Earth, is immediately after Abyss and The Other Guys, both of which involve the deaths of Tok'ra operatives. When I realized that, the drabble for that ep became the resentful perspective of Ocker, the Tok'ra's chief of security. It's not a POV that I'd considered before, but the process laid it out for me.
It's also been fun to squeeze in as much Paul Davis as possible :) not to mention lots of perspectives from Goa'uld and Tok'ra (both symbiote and host), as well as MacKenzie and Makepeace!
The only problem, I suppose, is that despite the drabble-sized lengths of the ficlets, it takes much longer to write from the different angle. My original intention was to write all ten seasons and three movies over the course of the calendar year (and thus assure myself of writing a minimum of 21,000 words, by the way). Sadly, that didn't happen; the series is only written through S6. Let's hope it gets finished in the next few months!
Other than that, I got little writing done: just my three Alphabet Soup contributions, another happy drabble entry, and some Vala backstory.
O is for Optimism. Cam has always been an optimist; it's kept him going for a long time now. But sometimes, he needs a little proof. Major spoilers for Continuum, including AU canon character deaths, and a certain episode in S2. 1,290 words. Rated PG.
R is for Reassessment. Bra'tac dismisses the idea of Tau'ri as worthy allies... but then he has the chance to actually meet them. Spoilers for S1, particularly Bloodlines. ~1,200 words. PG.
V is for Victuals. Aliens, civilians, military personnel -- they all need feeding. That's Sophie's job, and she's proud to do it. No real spoilers. 510 words. Rated G.
Happiness Cubed. Ten prompted happy drabbles. Team friendship, mostly, with Janet and Siler for additional squee. G.
A Most Successful Treasure Hunt. Pre-series Vala, trying to find enough trinkets to keep going. 1,730 words. Rated PG-13 for references to certain Goa'uld habits.
Favorite fic bits
In no particular order, just because it's fun to do this:
Sam stalked furiously ahead. Daniel tried to reason with her, but Jack, deciding it was a lost cause, kept several prudent paces back.
"You don't have to take it personally," Daniel said mildly.
"Yes, I do," she snarled back. "These people have broken science."
"We've had this discussion before," Daniel persisted. "We agreed that even when the math contradicts it, it could --"
"Daniel. The sky is literally falling. I am offended on behalf of the rational universe!"
"Par for the course, then?" Daniel suggested lightly, and as Sam advanced on him, Jack wondered when Daniel had developed a death wish.
-- Happiness Cubed
As the chappa'ai opened, the two Goa'uld moved forward, arm in arm. Apophis, focused on their departure, did not see Amaunet glance backward. She, however, clearly saw the Tau'ri, crouching at bay.
Say nothing, her host commanded, summoning its puny will and focusing its fading control on this single point. The child is gone. You have your pharoah. There is nothing for you here.
Amaunet paused, then turned her head back, lips pressed together as she stepped through the chappa'ai. This silence was her own choice, she told herself. Her choice alone.
The Go'auld have always excelled at self-deception.
-- Secrets: On the Outside, Looking In
Orkum and his squad flung the disheveled Tok'ra at their master's feet, an offering and a triumph.
Zipacna's eyes glowed his approval. Secure in his might and power, he strolled over to the prone figure and prodded it with an elegant shoe. "I sense you are Tok'ra," he murmured, "yet you wear the costume of the despised Tau'ri. Which part of you will suffer more, I wonder? Tell me of the formula, and you will die relatively quickly."
The Tok'ra rolled over, gasping, fists clenched in pain. No, not pain -- a faint crunch --
Orkum suddenly found it hard to breathe.
-- Last Stand: On the Outside, Looking In
Vala closed her fingers over the strange device and let her eyes fall shut, trying to remember.
Qetesh and Bastet, stalking around one another with haughty sneers and hungry eyes. Qetesh inwardly mocking Bastet's penchant for leather and spikes, even as she dropped poisonously sweet compliments of transparent insincerity from Vala's tongue.
They'd been discussing certain favorite pastimes and the inevitable damage done to the slaves involved. Qetesh had never bothered fixing her favorite toys when she broke them; she merely found another human to satisfy her. Bastet preferred keeping her pets so that she needn't be bothered with training new ones.
"But such a bother to heal them, Bastet," Qetesh had purred. "Unless, of course, you're finding it hard to find new playthings."
"Not at all," Bastet had snapped back, her fist tangling a little more tightly in the long, blond hair of the lo'tar kneeling at her side. "Pain and pleasure, Qetesh darling. Hurt them, then heal them. The results are marvelous."
"No human slave will sully my sarcophagus," Qetesh had declared. "Perhaps you're a little less fastidious."
"My sacophagus is mine alone," Bastet had said haughtily. "The k'haz al'sh'fa serves me well enough." The dark eyes glowed with sudden, gleeful maliciousness. "Oh, of course, I'd forgotten. You never learned to use one, did you...?"
Vala opened her eyes and stared down at the thing in her hand. "K'haz al'sh'fa," she said aloud. "A device that heals."
She swallowed hard against her sudden surge of hope. Could she use this device to heal herself?
Qetesh had never mastered it.
The thought of taking Qetesh's bitter legacy -- the ability to manipulate naquadah, even after the snake was gone -- and using it do something that Qetesh couldn't had her lips curving into a delighted, vindictive smile.
-- A Most Successful Treasure Hunt
Master Sergeant Sophie Wilkes never got below Level 24 at Cheyenne Mountain, but that didn't matter. Her kingdom was Level 22: the general mess, the officer's mess, and the main kitchens. She supervised round-the-clock meals for a military base that never quite seemed to manage a regular schedule, taking the most bizarre situations in stride.
It didn't matter if it was a delicately-worded order for "vegetarian, organic foods for our... current refugees" or a personal request from General Hammond for a good steak meal with all the trimmings for "an old friend and former general, who will be visiting us today incognito." A muttered instruction to make sure that the officer's mess never ran out of blue jello or decent coffee left her unfazed. She dealt with finicky civilians and starving Marines with equal aplomb.
Her tenure at the SGC began with a relatively low security clearance and strictly need-to-know information, but as time went by, Sophie's security rating rose and her knowledge of the people she fed increased. Part of this might have been attributed to her calm reactions to situations such as "the petty demands of our visiting dignitaries," as Doctor Jackson disgustedly phrased it, but she suspected that General Hammond had been more impressed with her ability to keep a temporarily-incapacitated SG-1 amply stocked with pie and other desserts.
-- V is for Victuals
Reviewing the recap
My favorite story this year (of my own): I'm tempted to say Outside, both because it's the most time-consuming and the most interesting. But I'm happiest with O is for Optimism, in which I coherently tied Continuum to S2 and wrote a pretty decent Cam (I admit that he and Vala are my least favorite team members).
Most fun story: Definitely V is for Victuals. It's so short, but I grew very fond of Sophie while I wrote it, and she fits very well into my personal head canon! I see her played by Holly Robinson, by the way - and not only because that's tremendous fun on the meta level. :)
Hardest story to write: Without question, On the Outside, Looking In. It's not only the challenging aspect of the different perspectives, as I wrote above; it's also finding the outside perspective in every. single. episode, whether I like that episode or not! (I firmly assert that there's at least one good scene in every ep, but that doesn't mean that every ep is easy to write about.)
Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? Much, much less. ::mutters::
Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?: Outside is giving me a very good perspective on the overall arc of the show and the way the characters' relationships develop. It's still an ongoing process, and one that I'm very much enjoying - even if it does slow my writing down!
Did you meet last year's goals? Not really, no. I didn't increase my writing output, nor did I get to write longer fic. My rec volume dropped, too. OTOH, I definitely enjoyed more gen squee. :)
Do you have any goals for the coming year? Write something that's at least 10,000 words in length - maybe that poor Clark and Daniel fic, or the Sha're perspective I've been wanting to write for so long. Write more in general. Get stargateficrec running smoothly, and rec more myself. And, as always, enjoy more gen squee!
Previous yearly reviews: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007.