kazbaby's brother's family needs a hand. They just had a beautiful baby girl, but she came a month early and is going to be in ICU for a while. On top of that, they'd recently moved and found a job that wasn't, a home that wasn't and now are faced with dealing with that on top of their newborn's health issues (fortunately, it looks like she's going to be fine, but it's going to be a while). Lack of health insurance is the least of their worries at the moment.

Here's the link to the relevant post on her journal.

I know this economy has us all struggling to some extent, but if you've got a bit you can spare, think about sending it to kazbaby to pass on to her brother (check the post above for details).

This is one of those "pay it forward" moments. I know I've been in dire straits in the past and had friends (many of them fandom friends, too) who were able to help me keep my head above water. I will never be able to repay them except by helping others when I can. Don't *ever* think that $5 laying in the bottom of your purse or in the change can on your dresser is too little; that it won't matter. I can remember crying with joy over a $5 bill someone sent me once during some of my darkest days. To this day, I don't know who sent it to me, but that $5 let me put gas in my car so I could go to work for the rest of the week and I thank that anonymous donor every time it comes to mind.

Fandom is more than a shared love of a show or a universe. We're a community, we're family and I will never, *ever* forget that.

The mods over at spoilersforncis have shown their true colors. This post seriously crossed the line for civil discourse. Below I offer the first line and the last line of the entry. Needless to say, people are bailing on the comm right and left.

This is the slightly extended post that Joey made a few days ago about Tony/Ziva
...
Oh, and if you don't like Tony/Ziva, do not comment on this post, we get it, you hate it, we're tired of the same argument.

I get the feeling they're starting to realize that not only do Shane Brennen's "spoilers" not really mean what they want them to mean but they're also feeling the backlash from the rising tide *against* making *any* ship canon on that show. Between online polls and just about every forum and comment page I can find, the folks who want to see Tony/Ziva move from subtext to text are in the minority (a generally less logical and literate minority as well). (Even some fans of the ship are stepping up and agreeing that they want it kept to subtext.)

I see this has come up again.

I like warnings. I like them as a reader and I like them as a writer.
( mentions of standard warnings included under the cut )
So, I'll keep using warnings (and try to remember to use a cut if it seems it could be something triggering) and I'll keep seeking them out. And I'll also keep avoiding authors who don't use them as a matter of course, unless someone I trust recs a story to me.

ETA: donutsweeper offers this analogy

I'm probably one of the few folks on my flist who didn't care for Battlestar Galactica. I pretty much enjoyed the first season. It didn't grab me by the throat like some shows do, but I made a point to watch it. Then came the second season and it lost me. I've caught the odd episode since then, but nothing in the last two seasons. Oddly enough, it wasn't until tonight as I was skimming my flist that it hit me why I lost interest so rapidly and so completely.

One reason was obvious to me from the start. I really don't care for soap operas and BSG got way too soap opera for me way too early. Who sleeps with whom; cheats on whom; pines for whom adds up to a big fat naptime for me. I'm one of those women who apparently don't exist: one who watches SF for, y'know, the action/adventure/science fiction plots, not the romance (though I see nothing romantic about cheating or pining or whatever). Maybe if I'd gotten more invested in the characters before they started bed hopping it would have been different, but I didn't, so it wasn't.

What hit me tonight was the other thing that had been niggling at me whenever I thought of BSG.

Religion.

I'm areligious. More than that, I am a non-believer. I don't believe in a god, I don't believe there is no god. I think it's a supremely unimportant question in the grand scheme of things. I also understand that others feel differently, and that's cool. However, I feel like I spend half my life doing battle against people and institutions who want to strip me of my right to believe, or not, as I see fit, my right to raise my child as I see fit, who tell me that I'm somehow not worthy to even exist because I don't subscribe to their particular religious dogma. As a result, overtly religious overtones in my fiction are a huge turn off. I get far too much of that in the news, thank you very much.

And then I think about how much I adore Supernatural.

Okay, that took me aback and made me think. Supernatural is not so much steeped in Judeo-Christian mythos (questions of accuracy aside) as completely drowning in it. The difference, I discovered after a few minutes of introspection, is that BSG is all about the believers while SPN is all about the archetypes. I'm reminded of that bumpersticker, Jesus sounds like a pretty good guy, it's his fan club I can't stand. While I can't say I subscribe to any of the primary tenets of Christianity, the mythology (no insult intended to those of you who do believe) is varied and fascinating.

So, that's my confession. I feel for those of you who've had to say goodbye to an old friend tonight with the last episode of BSG. I know what that feels like and it's always sad. I just hope the next New Thing on the horizon is something I'll enjoy, too. :-)

Poll #1322057 Pet Names, Yes or No?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 30

Have you ever used a pet name for an SO?

What pet names do you use?

A while back, I joked about Scrooge/Marley slash.

*headdesk*

charmedstrange1 asked for stats relating to the prevalence of slashers in fandom. I be-bopped out to see what I could find. Now, being the geek knowledgeable person that I am, my first stop, even before Google, was everyone's favorite Aca/Fan, Henry Jenkins. Searched his blog and found numerous entries containing the word "slash" and started to skim.

MY EYES!!!!!

Yes, Dr. Jenkins has committed Dickens slash. I didn't read all of it, just kinda skimmed.

See, I like Dickens. I *love* A Christmas Carol. Sadly, though, now, when the ghost of Marley shows up in his chains, all I'll be able to think of is how do you have makeup sex with a ghost?

And what *is* his safe word?

Doomed! I'm doomed!!!!

Run, don't walk, to this entry over on superbadgirl's LJ. *Great* snippet of an interview of some kind with the cast wherein Matthew Gray Gubler is *very* funny. ;-)

We're watching Fellowship of the Ring and as Gandalf fell into the pit in Moria she says with regard to what usually happens if you fall into a pit, "He's not a Daniel."

That's my girl.

What the *hell* does "teal deer" mean in relation to fanfic?

I took a break from doing housework earlier and started flipping channels. I ended up on a NCIS marathon on USA.

Just what I need. Another show to obsess over.

Don't worry, though, SG-1 is still my OTF. :-) I sincerely doubt I'll get so sucked in I'll be writing fic for it. Given that it took more than 7 seasons before I started with SG-1, I think I'm safe. :-):-)

Our top story tonight concerns reports of cases of Cosmic Giddiness in non-humans in the Pegasus galaxy. The latest from the Atlantis expedition reports that the Wraith have begun exhibiting symptoms of this tragic illness. While little is known at this time concerning the transmission of this disease, the symptoms are unmistakable. Characterized by inappropriate attempts at humor in place of rational thought, CG, was once thought to be isolated to humans alone. The ambassador from the Free Jaffa Nation has indicated their council is considering a quarantine of all known carriers until such time as it is determined if tretonin is enough to restrict it's spread among their people. The Tok'ra have made no official announcement at this time. Officials at the CDC plan to prepare a statement after the Simpsons' marathon has completed running on the Fox Network.

Well, the teaser for tonight's Atlantis looks *startlingly* familiar. I can't remember the title of the fic off hand, but I read it fairly recently. Daniel's had his memory messed with and he can't remember anything about the SGC or the people he knew there. Once Jack and Sam find him, they convince him to go with them and discover that every morning, he's forgotten them again. Eventually, he ties himself to a bed (or has Jack do it) and puts the key or knife on his journal where he's got a note that says 'read me' and his words convince him of what's going on.

I *wish* I could remember the name of this one.

The numbers come from the LJ stats page and from the membership numbers of fandom_counts.

ETA: Updated 6/2/2007

Fandom as a percentage of active LJ journals

32,500 / 1,780,773 (1.8%)

Fandom as a percentage of LJs updated in the past 30 days.

32,500 / 1,017,235 (3.2%)

Fandom as a percentage of LJs updated in the past 7 days.

32,500 / 584,470 (5.6%)