(no subject)

[thegrrrl2002]

First of all, a big thank you for all the warm birthday wishes. You're all so sweet! And thank you for the cards and pressies. ::stares at DH's ass:: Um, yeah. I can safely say that forty-three doesn't feel all that much different than forty-two. And it's a prime number! Woo!

/geek.

Anyway, I had a quiet, Stargate-filled night last night, but we're going out to dinner with friends tonight. I intend to celebrate quite heartily.

And Reckoning, Part II, was certainly a lovely present.



When I bitched about Part I last week, folks told me to wait for Part II, because it was much better. And they were right. I enjoyed this enormously. Yeah, yeah, a grand battle where the fate of the universe hangs in the balance...but ::squee!!::replicators! Baal! Jacob! Braytac! Siler! Daniel playing mindgames with RepliCarter! And I have to admit, I think the replicators are great. They creep me out, so bug-like and relentless and when they came pouring through the Stargate at the SGC, I panicked, dorky little fangirl that I am.

I so loved Daniel's scenes with RepliCarter. I loved that he was strong and fearless, and that he turned the tables on her and took control over the replicators. Even if only for a minute. I didn't expect it, and it was fabulous. I also didn't mind that no one mentioned Daniel until the end, because of course, they were all rather busy. (Still annoyed that it wasn't acknowledged in Part I, though.) I also loved Jack with a gun, rescuing Siler and his folks. "Blast Door" just slayed me though. Even in the middle of all that, he's still so Jack. I'm really going to miss him. ::sniffles::

Carter and Jacob are always terrific together. Yeah, sure, she figured out the ancient puzzle a little too quickly. I could have done without that plot point, considering everything else that was going on, but I was having too much fun to care. Especially when Baal joined in. The three of them trying to work together was priceless. (Selmak can't work under these conditions." LOL!) And, as someone on my flish pointed out, that machine was the same on from "Window of Opportunity", right? That made me smile.

And should I be filled with lust-addled shame because I was overjoyed that Baal escaped with his life?

I even enjoyed the Big Dramatic Moment when the weapon was firing. All those gates activating? Way cool. I love seeing the Replicators crumble into little bitty bits. It's so satisfying.

And then Daniel died. I hated that. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. But then the ship broke apart and--and-- WAH!!

I have to go and watch "Threads" now. ::kisses kylielee1000::





Letters from Pegasus

Yup, a clip show that made me cry.

This is one of my favorite eps, right up there with "The Defiant One". I love the character moments in it. Bates really moved me with his message to his little brother, and then being so fatalistic (or maybe just realistic) with Ford afterward. And Zelenka, well, everyone knows how much I love him. He's so darn sexy when speaking Czech, isn't he? I loved the awe and wonder of his message, and I thought it was a brilliant touch not to do it in English. Ford was sweet, Carson really made me laugh, and Rodney--well, Rodney made me laugh and cringe and sniffle. Pure Gold. Absolutely. Weir broke my heart, too, with her notes to all the families of the victims. I so loved and appreciated that the show acknowledged the people who died.

With all those messages, I really got a sense of their isolation, that they all expected to die far away from home without their loved ones knowing exactly what happened.

I also thought the subplot with Sheppard and Teyla gathering intelligence on the fleet was very well done, too. The conflict between the two of them worked for me. I could see her point of view--she grew up with this threat, she's lost many people to the Wraith, and being able to save a few is very important to her. And Sheppard, well, he's a soldier, on a mission. His ' you can't save everyone' line really got to me. And having to witness the culling was hard enough, but when the folks were running toward the jumper, and got swept up in the beam, the ensuing silence was absolutely haunting.

I'm torn about Weir giving Sheppard the assignment of the message to Sumner's family. On the face of it, it seems a bit cruel, but then again, maybe it's really what Sheppard needed to do, a confession of sorts. Either way, his message was very heartfelt and touching.

That series of "goodbyes" at the end? Just stab me in the heart, why don't you. Just like RepliCarter did to Daniel.

And who was Sheppard saying goodbye to? He certainly made it sound like he didn't have any family back home.

All in all, a great ep.

Comments

[helleboredoll.livejournal.com]

Mmmm... DH's fleshy, slap-jiggling ass. Nice icon. Isn't that Century Hotel clip fabulous?

[troyswann.livejournal.com]

I agree on all points re: Letters. My fave ep. Well, 'cept Siege II.

And, a belated Happy Birthday! I'm sorry I missed it. I'm so glad I get to hang out with you around here. :)

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

First: HAPPY BIRTHDAY (yesterday)! And yay for more celebrating tonight!

Reckoning 2: yeah, that was the payoff, there. Jack was *perfect* and... *SNIFFLE*! And who doesn't love seeing Evil!Daniel come out to play?

I have to say that between some of the stuff that Jack did in R1, and the stuff here and the stuff that MS does as Daniel in those scenes... it does prove that when they feel like they can get their teeth into a scene, they still give it their all. Daniel in those scenes was wonderful, and even more so because, when we got back out into the "real world" where Replicarter had to kill him? Daniel suddenly seemed so different. It was all incredibly effect.

But yeah, let's get back to "It's a *blast door*!" and Jack's arms and.... *oh*. *sigh*

I'm pleased that Baal got away, yes, but I am equally pleased that he *had* to, because within seconds of cornering him, the Jaffa just *opened fire*! (Bra'tac, with a P90, too, and how interesting is that? isn't that the first time we've seen him using a Tau'ri weapon?) YES! I couldn't be more pleased that nobody tried to go the route of, "And now that we have captured you, we will... put you on trial... consider sparing you and just imprisoning you because you worked with us sort of... parade you around as a captive for all to see... etc." Nope! Capture him, and shoot him dead the next damn second! Because he's BAAL, dammit, and just because he did some ambiguous stuff doesn't erase everything else he's done.

No hemming and hawing or heroes acting stupid because they're heroes. Thank GOD. (I'm still glad he got away, sort of... but at least I don't have to feel like he got away just because we gave him all the chance in the world to do so.)

As for Daniel being dead? Pfft. Like Jack, I'm just not buying it, sorry.

Atlantis: yes. I thought it was true of "Citizen Joe" to a certain extent, but this is finally the Clip Show in which they figured out how to do a Clip Show and yet use that to their advantage, to make it even more effective. Wow. For once, for ONCE the clips were all used in the right way, to support the drama of the main story, and it worked, totally. Good for them.

And yeah, they did an amazing job with the range of everyone's messages. Terribly affecting, and effective.

One thing about the subplot with Teyla and John... this is a discussion that deserves more attention than a passing mention, but I'm interested in the fact that... there are a lot of times (and the recent plague episode was one, this is another) where... I just don't *like* John. I am not *with* him. I think he's wrong, which is more annoying because he is so dead sure that he's *right*, and I think he's arrogant, and it's gradually coming home to me that he is not a natural people-person.

It would take a much longer post for me to do justice to all of these ideas, why I think them and what I think it means. I do realize that some of it is that... well, I can't help it, even if it's unfair, but I continually compare John-as-military-leader to Jack. Totally unfair, but still. I've spent years and years discussing Jack's actions as a leader, and sometimes defending what he's done. So maybe it's not surprising that that's the yardstick in my head, and John, poor John, is not measuring up on it.

What it comes down to, of course, is that John is *not* Jack, obviously. In so many ways, and that contributes to the kind of leader he is. I am just not *with* John on many of the things he's done, and yet... I'm finding that I think that makes him very *interesting* to watch. I don't mind that he's not perfect, or not as good a leader as I would like him to be (or not the *kind* of leader I'd like him to be) -- but I haven't yet figured out whether the show knows this and is deliberately making him flawed, or whether it doesn't quite realize why as an audience member I might not cut John the same slack, or give him the same respect, I've given Jack over the years. And, I wonder if other viewers/fans see it, that way, at all.

Plus, I think it creates a *very* interesting contrast with Ford, who I think embodies some of the strengths that John lacks, and.... that makes me sad.

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

Glad you had a good birthday! Prime numbers are indeed excellent things.

[moonie]

OMG YOUR ICON. *dies*

And psst, belated bday capspam coming up...

[coreopsis.livejournal.com]

And should I be filled with lust-addled shame because I was overjoyed that Baal escaped with his life?
Dude. If that's wrong, I don't wanna be right. Baal is hot. And amusing. Evil, yes, but hot.

And who was Sheppard saying goodbye to? He certainly made it sound like he didn't have any family back home.
I think he was just saying a general goodbye to Earth. Saying it because it was expected. I could be wrong and we find out next season that he was talking to his mother/uncle/best friend/pet monkey/whatever. In fact, I kinda wish they would prove me wrong because that means we'd get some flippin' backstory for him already. *g*

Also, it's terribly cool that you're a prime number. I'll be one too in November. heh.

[clarkangel.livejournal.com]

LFP. Loved the messages. Liked Weir's praise for everyone. Wanted to smack Teyla. John was right about this. She was very disrespectful and from the woman who called John on his actions in Hot Zone, she did what she called him on .Underminded his authority.

Her TOO MUCH I FEAR? WTF? He's saved her and supported her and respected her and that girl dissed him. I understand she wanted to save those people. She accused him of thinking he had the right to decide. But SHE Decided those people were more important than the INTEL needed by Atlantis. To Save Atlantis the Athosians and Earth.

He said it, he would have saved them all. Shep is flawed. I prefer his to Jack any day. But it's not really something you can compare. Jack has been a leader for a long time. Shep never was .He was a loner and ran missions from what I can gather. He never wanted to be a leader and he got thrown into this. He's feeling the guilt of having awakened the Wraith and to watch him watching them CULL was chilling. ANd his "I'm good" to Weir was heartbreaking. As was his message to Sumner's family.

Looked like two messages. The GOOD BYE was in a different spot and if he had NO family he'd have no reason to say it at all. Just my thoughts.

I thought everyone was great this ep. Loved Zalenka's message.
But I wanted to smack Teyla for her emotional blackmail. And I wanted to hug Shep. Joe just hit every emotional button. And the cool thing is with Shep is that we're seeing his journey. He's come a long way from teh guy who had never heard of the GATE and stepped through into a world and a position he was so unprepared for. And still is. But he's doing the best he can and I love him for it.

Someone commented about him being wrong and so sure he's right.
That can be said of them all. And Sheppard does what he does for the right reasons, as they all do. Other than Kavanaugh !LOL

I want Shep to stay flawed and human and real the way he is. It's a big part of why I love him. He's so freaking human.

Oh..and the pretty doesn't hurt !LOL

Good ep. Did I mention I loved Zalenka???

[destina.livejournal.com]

Carter and Jacob are always terrific together. Yeah, sure, she figured out the ancient puzzle a little too quickly.

At least they joked about it, in good humor; it was a little meta-referential, which always bugs me, but they were clearly pointing out the weakness of packing all of this into two episodes. *g*

And should I be filled with lust-addled shame because I was overjoyed that Baal escaped with his life?

You should be! *g* Also, his little eye-roll with his back turned to Anubis turns me on in ways that are bad, and wrong, and dirty.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Last night was so good!

And should I be filled with lust-addled shame because I was overjoyed that Baal escaped with his life?

Shame will only distract you from the lusting. Best not to waste time with it.

[miera-c.livejournal.com]

poor Sam. "You know, you blow up one sun..." heh

I think Shep's goodbye was just how he ended the recording / they wanted a montage of everyone saying goodbye so they had him say it even though there's no one in particular for him to say it to, as he says he has no family.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_bettina_/]

Happy belated Birthday!

[barkley.livejournal.com]

Happy Prime Number Birthday! There can't be anything bad about that, can there? Glad it was a good one.

And Sheppard seemed to just be giving a general goodbye on the tape. Maybe to the people in the SGC?

And you should in no way be ashamed that you are pleased that Baal escaped because he's the best Goa'uld they've ever had.

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm still feeling pretty festive.

And you should in no way be ashamed that you are pleased that Baal escaped because he's the best Goa'uld they've ever had.

He is, isn't he? Smug and superior and ruthless and conniving. He has lots of things going on. And then there's that eyebrow...

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

The icon is skater_g8r's doing, as is this one. And she is fabulous. Just like the Century Hotel clip. My god, I watched that kiss a zillion times.

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

I loved and hated "Siege II" *g*

And thank you for the Birthday wishes! A belated Happy Birthday to you, too, you had one recently, right? Or am I getting senile?

It's fun playing with you, too. *g*

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. Jack's arms. Lovely, just lovely.

but I am equally pleased that he *had* to, because within seconds of cornering him, the Jaffa just *opened fire*!

I loved that. Those Jaffa don't kid around with those guns, do they? It was perfect. They just wanted him dead. I can appreciate that.

there are a lot of times (and the recent plague episode was one, this is another) where... I just don't *like* John. I am not *with* him.

He can be pretty annoying. I'm with you on "Hot Zone"--I think he was wrong. And the fact that he never ever, not once thought he was wrong makes me what Weir to slap him down in a big way. And I'm glad, too. I don't want him to be perfect. He's in a position he never expected to be in, in a strange galaxy, and while he's smart and capable, he's also cocky and headstrong and I like the way he clashes with Weir.

but I haven't yet figured out whether the show knows this and is deliberately making him flawed, or whether it doesn't quite realize why as an audience...

I think they're doing it deliberately. It seems like the show is making a point that these aren't the same heroes that we see every week at the SGC. They're nervous and scared and making mistakes. (I loved the briefing at the start of this ep: "Any suggestions?" "Aside from panicking?") I'm really interested in seeing where they go with the character. We know so little about him.

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Feeling very prime, yes indeed. *g*

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Heartshaped, isn't it? *g*

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

As rivier pointed out, Sheppard's goodbye was done in a different room from the Sumner message--you can see it in the background. Very odd.

Mmmm...Baal. Evil goodness, isn't he?

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

He's feeling the guilt of having awakened the Wraith and to watch him watching them CULL was chilling. ANd his "I'm good" to Weir was heartbreaking.

Oh yes, definitely. JF does subtle so very well, doesn't he? I do wish we knew more about what was going on inside his head. He has been thrust into this position, certainly before he was ready for it. There's something behind that easygoing demeanor, I just wish they'd give us a hint as to what it was.

I liked that Teyla was so tough on him. She grew up in a very different world than Sheppard did. Maybe it wasn't the time and place for her to start drawing the line like that, but she's not perfect, either. I thought the conflict was maybe a little forced, but was handled nicely.

[kalimyre.livejournal.com]

I'm still feeling pretty festive.

Festive. *snickers*

Yay for being prime. I'll be a perfect square in August, if that counts for anything. Hmm... and then, in two more years, a cube.

/numbers geek

Baal was great, and yay for him still being out there. I hope we see him again. Also, in an earlier comment, you mentioned something about a clip from Century Hotel? I've seen the pictures, but not an actual motion clip. Where would I find such a thing?

Century Hotel

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh, you must watch the entire segment. It's up here:
http://s28.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2RA15LQQD06GN1FSUO8LZSJBQ5. If you have any trouble downloading it, let me know.

happy (belated) birthday !!

[emyrys.livejournal.com]

I found your stories through chelle's recs, and I've read all of your SG-1 stories (and I loved them all). I friended you so that I would (hopefully) not miss any. (I apologise for not sending any feedback. I think your stories are very, very good, but RL has been a bitch this past winter (starting right about the time I got sucked into SG-1 fandom) and I don't think I've written to anyone in SG1 fandom, yet. )

While I've read everything you've written in SG1, as you may have heard (looks over at chelle's journal), I've been resisting the whole Mckay/Shep duo and so I've been ignoring all of your SGA fics.

However, I couldn't resist reading your sequel to chelle's fic (because someone mentioned you'd hit her kink & it sounded so much like my kink and that I could not resist and oh .........my.......... it was...perfect!!!! wonderful and perfect!!! Between your Mckay & Shepherd & last week's the way they acted in last week's ep, well, all I can say is: resistance was futile. (and I am soooo easy).

Now I have to go tell chelle. Heh.

Sorry for the delay in the fb, but I was feeling pretty lousy the night I read the fics, and so I put off commenting (hoping I could say something witty to you & chelle later). Turns out i was really sick & haven't been online again til tonight.

Also, congratulations on your birthday. I haven't found 43 to be any different than 42, either, but I have to admit that while writing this comment I started to mention that I'll be turning 44 in a couple of months and (there I go again -- taking a couple of deep breaths), well, I think that 44 is going to feel a lot older to me than 43 did. (think i'll go ponder on that one for a bit).

Re: Century Hotel

[kalimyre.livejournal.com]

Squee!!!

Thankyouthankyouthankyou.

This is why I love the internet. NakedKissing!Rodney, yay! (Okay, technically not Rodney, but still. Woot!) You are the queen of awesome.

[bluestarmuse.livejournal.com]

I can safely say that forty-three doesn't feel all that much different than forty-two. And it's a prime number! Woo!

43 may be a prime number, but 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. ^_~

Happy belated b-day, by the by.

And, as someone on my flish pointed out, that machine was the same on from "Window of Opportunity", right? That made me smile.

You mean I was right? I remember thinking isn't that the machine from the groundhog day episode? It's one of my favourite episodes....I have two favourite scenes, the one with Teal'c and the door [where he appears after each time the loop begins again] and Teal'c and Jack with Daniel decoding the text. Hee.

And should I be filled with lust-addled shame because I was overjoyed that Baal escaped with his life?

Hell no. *g*

Yup, a clip show that made me cry.

I'm not an overly emotionally person, so I didn't cry...but I almost did when I watched Rodney recording a message to his sister. Finally stripped away all of the false bravo and/or other masks he put forward and got to the realness, you know?

Also, yeah, Elizabeth telling Simon not to wait...I just knew she was going to say that. It was still powerful though.

I'm torn about Weir giving Sheppard the assignment of the message to Sumner's family.

I think she did it to help him find a sense of closure. That's what I was getting off of it. He could have said no, you know?

Ta!

[bluestarmuse.livejournal.com]

mother/uncle/best friend/pet monkey/whatever

Pet Monkey? In Antartica? *LMAO* That poor monkey...he probably wouldn't take Sheppard's message because John made him freeze his ass off for who knows how long in the south pole.

Sorry, I know I'm being way weird, but it's all your fault because I'm just sharing what reading that line made me think. Hee.

[inyron.livejournal.com]

That series of "goodbyes" at the end? Just stab me in the heart, why don't you.

Oh, yeah. That was the one that brought out the sniffles for me. :}

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

This should have been the grand finale of an entire season's worth of build-up, shouldn't it? Well, except for the whole Daniel dying thing. I'm not sure that would have been a good way to end a season. But you know what I mean. Each of the storylines were great, and deserve a far more in-depth treatment.

Things would be so different if I were in charge. *g*

Also, his little eye-roll with his back turned to Anubis turns me on in ways that are bad, and wrong, and dirty.

I think I might have actually squealed out loud at that moment.

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Shame will only distract you from the lusting. Best not to waste time with it.

Oooooh, right. I like the way you think. *g*

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

You're probably right about the Shep thing, as much as I'd like to read a whole lot more into it. ::sighs::

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *g*

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

But Sheppard was in a different room!! Yeah, I'm reading too much into that, I'm sure.

Baal is absolutely fabulous. And he has a good fashion sense. Are we sure he's actually a Goa'uld?

Re: happy (belated) birthday !!

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the wonder that is Sheppard/McKay!! *g*

I'm so glad you enjoyed the fic. And my SG1 fics, that's really sweet of you to tell me so. Thank you! Sheppard and McKay are definitely a slashy pair. Big time subtext. And chelle's fics are marvelous, aren't they? I enjoy her work so much. And find it very inspiring. *g*

I think that 44 is going to feel a lot older to me than 43 did. (think i'll go ponder on that one for a bit).

Well, you let me know, because I have no intention of turning 44. I think 43 is old enough, don't you? I'm going to stay here a while. *g*

Hope you feel better soon!

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

"Window of Opportunity" is such a great ep. I loved Jack decoding the text, and surprising Daniel each time he has to explain it. Very fun.

And it's entirely possible all the ancients built their machines the same way. So maybe it wasn't exactly the same one. *g*

Elizabeth telling Simon not to wait...

I had sort of forgotten all about Simon, so that came as a surprise to me. But as you said, it was still pretty moving. Poor guy. After she leaves him a *videotape* telling him she's leaving.

[eregyrn.livejournal.com]

He can be pretty annoying. I'm with you on "Hot Zone"--I think he was wrong. And the fact that he never ever, not once thought he was wrong makes me what Weir to slap him down in a big way. And I'm glad, too. I don't want him to be perfect. He's in a position he never expected to be in, in a strange galaxy, and while he's smart and capable, he's also cocky and headstrong and I like the way he clashes with Weir.

Agreed, about that. I really *do* think it's an interesting thing to get to watch, and the same regarding how all of them are imperfect and showing that they're scared and so on. I hope you're right and it's the result of deliberate planning on the writers' part, as that would be cool.

But it does keep me from really *warming* to him, I guess. Which says a lot about *me*, really; I realize that.