minxy | Hiya there, computer people

I spent the weekend travelling over ocean, via man and woman-power, 30 miles to the islands just off the shore of my town. Most people take the dayboat; we go by outrigger canoe and camp for two nights. It was epic. Also, I have crossed the line from 'pleasantly tan' to 'California surfer chic' or, as we in Scifi fandoms may better understand: 'so freakishly out of proportion with eye and hair color lighter than skin tone, it is clear that the biped standing before you is an alien of some kind.'

But I'm embracing that my lifestyle here has some drawbacks. Like the fact that my biceps are larger than some (skinny) guy's I know. But anyway.

(Did you need someone squashed? I could totally smash anyone my flist needed squashed, srsly.)

While I was away, it turned over into International Blog Against Racism Week 2008 (

ibarw)! This is frequently an occasion for me to fangrrl Teal'c and his epic awesomness, but this year (unless for some reason I come up with something to say about Teal'c) I shall most likely blog about the books I read for

50books_poc which was intended to encourage reading of books by authors of color. I didn't manage 50, I don't think, but there are some incredible authors that really really deserve pimping, so that post is coming.

[eta: past Teal'c meta includes this post, this one, aaaaaaaand, yes, this one. There are many fic recs in there too, as you may imagine.]

I shall at this point, though, just take a moment to self pimp and tell you that I have written yet another Teal'c story. Only this is Teal'c's friendship with VALA, which felt like such an odd thing to take on, and now I've written it, I'm shocked that there aren't *more* Teal'c and Vala stories. I mean, is that not a fascinating friendship? And they clearly get along so well despite having every reason not to.

Anyway, at the intersection of

ibarw and the

gateverse_remix, I give you: Without Fear of Wind or Vertigo (the Joker's Wild remix). Worksafe, spoilers for the series finale. My story, yay! Remix of

holdouttrout's fantastic Jester's Silence. Also gen, also worksafe.

It is also the one week anniversary of the Gateverse Remix 2008! (Link goes to the masterlist) All stories went live last week, and the last straggler late stories should be rolling in over the next day or two. As such, allow me to point you to a couple of the OUTSTANDING remixes that came in this year (not a complete list, obviously, go check out the masterlist and feed the authors yay!)

My very favorite set of stories (original and remix) are from

synecdochic and

raqs, respectively. They are the story of Daniel struggling to come home, and Jack figuring out what he has and what he needs. Beautiful, psychologically complex, and the remix adds an incredible layer with Daniel's smart, smart and detached POV. There are slash undertones, and it's recovery from a complex injury, but no one does PTSD like these authors do. Strongly recommended. all men will be sailors until the sea shall free them from

synecdochic and ...and the truth shall set you free (the freedom remix) from

raqs. R rated, but worksafe-ish.

synecdochic's remix this year was a Lovecraft-style remix of a dream

sidlj wrote for Daniel. In the Fullness of Time (The Shores of Lost Carcosa Remix) is from Sid's In the Fullness of Time. I love this for the change in style, as opposed to POV, which takes it from a strange and revealing dream to a remarkably creepy story of love vs. madness in the search for the Lost City. Does anyone else remember Syne remixing a dream in funky style last year for the remix? I'd say she was falling into a pattern, except all of these are so clearly not what you expect. Fascinating to watch an author do such unusual things, really.

Another favorite is the Atlantis story blinking in the sun from

minnow1212. This is a Teyla who belongs, who negotiates and translates and is patient and wonderful. Elizabeth is here in her memories, as are Athosians that few remember except herself, her relationship with Ronon is elegant friendship and John and Rodney are so alien and fond. Extraordinary story, a remix of

raisintorte's Black Light in a Shady Alien Motel Room, John POV. Possibly not worksafe due to creative euphemisms.

Lastly, with the award for most dramatic structural remix,

rigel_7 did a multimedia remix (Spatial Orientation, appropriately) of

lokei's Learning Curve (Tilt). Fantastic tone, and I adored the advertisements in the magazine layout. Worksafe.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Syne is da bomb. *nods vigorously*

You wrote a very interesting and dream-like dream, with incredible moments like the books crumbling to ashes and stuff. That alone was great material! And then Syne writes a remix and I'm all, "Holy CRAP."

I knew that was going to be a kick-ass assignment, though. I am an evol mod, made her step outside of her comfort zone.

Well, you should totally continue to embrace the evol-ness, if it produces stories like this. :-)

Hee! Well, I may have to start going to 'why yes, I did assign my kick-ass writer friends to one another, why do you ask?' anonymous meetings. Between you and I, though, sekretly I'll still embrace teh evol.

In celebration of Teal'c, I will indulge in a wee bit of self-promotion and point you in the direction of this fantastic anthology: Teal'c Alphabet Soup (http://sg-fignewton.livejournal.com/69669.html).

I love it when you indulge. I've read *great* stuff out of Teal'c's alphabet soup; thank you for the link so I can go back and be more comprehensive about reading the rest!

You do know that whole color reversal thing is superhot, right?

i'm excited that you liked my remix and sheepish that i haven't read more of the remix stories, including yours!! perhaps on friday when i'm sitting at home with a recovering sk... (he's got outpatient things to do that day.)

That is so, so funny to me, coming from a person with possibly the most gorgeous skin ever. You do realize that my inability to maintain my natural skin tone is damaging in the long term, right? Nevermind that I look younger than I actually am right now. Someday, this is going to catch up with me.

It's just that I can't help it, after a point. You spend 4-5 hours paddling around and after a while you *can't* reapply sunblock and have it stick to salty wet skin.

I would love to have you read my story; I'm not going to lie to you, it's really quite excellent. Also I just love to see what you think.

Beautiful women can't be bothered to fuss with their skin. If you have some sun damage and start showing it in your forties and fifties, believe me, you'll still be a beautiful woman, all the more interesting and attractive for your obvious enthusiasm for the outdoor life. It's those of us who are hothouse flowers who have to baby our skin to keep looking this way.

You SHOULD worry about skin cancer these days and get yourself screened frequently. I've just had so many friends with growths removed. The sun wasn't this dangerous when I was a kid, but it is now.

If you really WANTED sunblock to stick, you could use a microfiber towel to wipe off the water (absorbs many times its own weight, wrings out instantly) and then schmear on something that will sink in and/or stick. But the best thing is to apply before you go out, as the ingredients really do sink into the skin and work for even longer than the product may stay on the top of the skin. Mexoryl-based sunscreens are very protective and last really well. I think the only one available in the U.S. is the Anthelios product.

But honestly, that's only for medical reasons, if you were interesting, not cosmetic. You are going to look awesome even when you're showing the effects of the sun years from now because, frankly, you look awesome. :-)

Hiya there, computer people

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