Pandemonium

Had a long scary dream last night. I was staying in a house on the outskirts of Baghdad with my son, Jonathan, who was a child again aged about six. Kept seeing missiles flying over - long grey shapes in the dusty air - wondering if they'd pass overhead, and where they'd land. Some of the missiles looked like they were heading straight for us, but they continued on. Some exploded closer than others, then plumes of smoke would drift across - sometimes sandy coloured, sometimes grey or black. Wondered if we should try and make a run for it, or if that would be more dangerous as the missiles didn't seem to be hitting houses. Didn't fancy being caught out in the open. It was very realistic. And scary.

Have just finished reading part 8 of Dangermouse's 'Mission Impossible' series, of which more anon. It's too late right now!

Well, I seem to have made Euphrosyne very happy. I sent her a greetings card with a vignette from 'Paradise Lost' along with some feedback for her two latest fics., 'Closing the Abyss', a J/D tag for 'Abyss' which is really good, and 'Babes in the Wood', a Jack/Harry Maybourne tag for 'Paradise Lost'. She's the only writer I've come across who slashes those two and she's damn' good at it! Euphrosyne is one of my favourite writers although her hurt/comfort is a little too strong on the 'hurt' part for some people. Fortunately, I have a strong stomach. 8-) Anyway, her website URL is:

http://www.darkgate.ws/euphrosyne.html

so you can check it out for yourself. If you don't go a bundle on pain, try 'Lost and Found'. It's gorgeous. 8-)))

So I've spent the last couple of hours creating a link to this journal from my website, or so it seems. {rolls eyes}

One thing I forgot to mention is that I don't just write Stargate fan fiction as Hatshepsut; I also write slash fiction as Alphekka. Slash fiction, if you haven't come across the term before, involves a relationship between members of the same sex. Some slash fiction can be pretty graphic, so it's not for under-18s, though this isn't always the case. The slash refers to the printer's solidus symbol - / - used to separate the names of the characters being 'slashed', such as Jack/Daniel or simply J/D.

Of course, slash as such isn't depicted on screen, nor would we want it to be, any more than we want to see 'ship, i.e. a romantic relationship between two opposite sex characters, on screen either. Unfortunately this has been strongly hinted at on screen in the episode, 'Divide and Conquer', which succeeded only in dividing fandom. 8-( The Stargate 'ship is usually between Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter, which makes any such relationship very unequal besides the fact that it breaches the 'Chain of Command' protocol.

Jack and Daniel, on the other hand, are pretty much equals. Daniel can, and often does tear Jack a new one if he disagrees in principle with what Jack's doing or the way he's doing it, in a way that Sam cannot. They are nevertheless very close friends and there is much chirpy banter between them. They often finish each other's sentences too, or say the same thing simultaneously. Sweet! {g}

I've read very little 'ship fic. that I've found plausible. Much seems to be written by teenagers (or the 'young at heart' {g}) who seem to see Jack and Sam in pretty much the same light as Romeo and Juliet, despite Jack's being in his mid forties and Sam in her late thirties.

One really good 'ship fic. I read some time ago was Suzie Bagley's 'Frozen Flame' which won three awards in the 2002 Stargate Fan Fiction Awards. The 'ship there though is between Daniel and the S.G.C.'s C.M.O., Dr. Janet Fraiser, and kept me up until the early hours for several nights running. It's a novel length work and can be found at:

http://my.execpc.com/~tbagley/FF.html

Anyway, I'm toying with the idea of recording the fics. I read here, so that I can keep track of the ones I've enjoyed, my memory not being what it once was.

Time flies when you're having fun, so they say. Conversely, it passes very slowly when you're not - like when you have labyrinthitis. For anyone who hasn't come across this before, it's kind of like having a really, really, REALLY bad hangover without the earlier pleasure of anything alcoholic. The world is spinning, and not just on its own axis. You think that if you lie down, it'll stop - only it doesn't. It's not quite so bad if you can stay still for a reasonable length of time, but you can't. Sooner or later, you're going to have turn over because, now, your back's beginning to complain and the nauseating dizziness starts up all over again...

Anyway, that is now happily in the past - at least I fervently hope it is! - so on to the good times. 8-)

A week ago, I and a couple of friends, Sheila and Maralyn, went to the Alternative Therapies Day at Market Rasen race course - not actually on the course. It's the annual fund raising event for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in our area, and is a very good and very well organized day out. My first stop was the Willingham Hall specialist chocolate stall, which does tastings 8-))) and bought some Chilli Chocolate. This, though you might boggle at the idea, is *gorgeous*. Apparently the combination of flavours goes back to the Aztecs. My next stop was Ellen who reads runes. She's a lovely lady and very good. The year ahead looks pretty promising with nothing particularly bad in the offing. I'm definitely going to hold her to the latter... {BG}

Besides a large number of stalls selling books, health foods and such like, there are alternative therapists giving treatments, so I tried the acupressure on my back which was wonderful. Just as the lady was finishing, a local press photographer showed up, so if the lens didn't crack, I might be in the local paper - shudders! Then there was an introductory Pilates session. I have come to the conclusion that I am totally unco-ordinated. {rolls eyes} It was a lovely day out though, mild and sunny too, which really made the swathes of daffodils glow. Eat your heart out, Wordsworth!

Also in the last week, I finished writing 'Double Trouble?' and uploaded it on to my website, and on Tuesday, I went over to North Ferriby to visit friend and fellow writer, Wadjet. We swapped our latest writings and 'did lunch' - a literary luncheon? LOL! - at Oliver's in Swanland (which doesn't have any swans). Actually, given that the name derives from some old Viking called Svannr or Sveinn, I suppose it's not all that surprising really.

What sort of things do we write? Well, we're both fans of a science fiction programme called 'Stargate S.G.-1' which is a spin-off from the film, 'Stargate' starring James Spader and Kurt Russell. For those who are unfamiliar with this film, the Stargate was discovered at an archaeological dig at Giza, Egypt, in 1928. When activated, it connects to a Stargate on another planet, Abydos, by a 'wormhole'. The journey through the wormhole takes a matter of seconds - no spaceships required. 8-) Dr. Daniel Jackson, archaeologist and linguist, (Spader) deciphered the glyphs to work out how to activate it.

Enter suicidal U.S.A.F. Colonel Jack O'Neil - one 'L', no sense of humour {g} - (Russell). He has a mission to to go through the Stargate, assess any threat to Earth and if found, stay behind to blow up the 'Gate after Daniel has worked out the code for the return trip for himself and the rest of the men. Of course, it ain't that simple... At the end, Daniel choses to remain behind on Abydos with his native wife who was a gift from her father, the Abydonian's chief.

The T.V. programme begins about a year down the line when the Stargate is activated from the other end of a wormhole. Ace villain Apophis and his Jaffa (henchmen) come through and capture a U.S.A.F. woman officer. Colonel Jack O'Neill - two 'L's, wacky sense of humour - (Richard Dean Anderson) is recalled. He returns to Abydos along with astrophysicist, Captain (later Major) Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) et al. They meet Dr. Daniel Jackson, now played by Michael Shanks. He has discovered that there are Stargates on a great many planets scattered across the galaxy, not just the ones on Earth and Abydos.

Apophis comes through the 'Gate on Abydos, and his Jaffa kidnap some Abydonian natives including Daniel's wife, Sha're. Daniel and the U.S.A.F. officers follow them to the planet Chulak where they are captured. They are freed when Teal'c, 'First Prime' of Apophis, changes sides. He longs to free his people from domination by Apophis and other 'goa'uld' System Lords - snake-like parasites that take over humans as 'hosts'. He believes O'Neill and his team can achieve this aim. Unfortunately, Sha're has been taken as a host by Apophis's mate Amonet, thus losing all control of her own body to the murderous goa'uld, though her consciousness still exists within it.

Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Sam Carter and Teal'c then become the Stargate Command flagship team, S.G.-1. Their mission is to explore other planets, and find allies and advanced technology to defend the Earth and its people who known as the Tau'ri on other worlds. Most of the inhabitants of these other worlds are descendants of people taken as slaves from Earth through the Stargate by goa'uld System Lords who base their identities on various Earth mythologies, especially the Egyptian pantheon. S.G.-1 also aims to defeat the Goa'uld and rescue Sha're and her brother, Skaara, who has also been taken as a host.

There is a wealth of fan fiction on the Internet based on this programme and its central characters, including some of Wadjet's and mine. 8-)
If anybody's interested, my Stargate fiction, written under the penname of Hatshepsut, is at:

http://www.pandemonium.me.uk/stargate.htm

And now I'm going to have tea and watch 'Buffy, T.V.S.' and 'Angel'. 8-)))