Off-World Incident #21

Title: Off-World Incident #21
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Author: Me.

It all happened so quick really. Colonel O'Neill was leading us through the swamp this planet seemed to be covered in. Daniel and I were talking about the possible implications of a planet where the Goa'uld had never ventured too, but a civilization had developed on. Teal'c had our six covered, making sure none of the undetected anything tried to get us.

"O'Neill!"

I heard Teal'c's shout and looked to my commanding officer. He had been standing just a few feet before Daniel and I, and now there was a bunch of scuffle marks in the muddy grass and no sign of him. Teal'c pushed past me and knelt by the pool of water in front of us.

"He is in here." Teal'c informed us and I pulled off my pack as I knelt by my Jaffa friend.

"I'll go in." I stated and pulled a rope I had packed in my bag out. Teal'c and Daniel grabbed one end of the rope and I wrapped the other end around my wrist before sliding myself into the obviously deep pool of water.

I looked around as best I could under the water and spotted the Colonel struggling weakly to get out of his pack.

I kicked off the rough walls of the odd pool and propelled myself to the Colonel. As I unclipped the heavy pack the Colonel's movements slowed. He was going to lose consciousness.

You may not have noticed, but Colonel O'Neill is a little bigger than I am. I certainly noticed as I wrapped my arm around his waist and yanked on the rope, while swimming upward as much as I could. The rope tightened on my arm and I kicked my feet to speed up the process of Daniel and Teal'c pulling us to surface.

I'm pretty sure I was just about to pass out when I felt strong arms pull me out of the water. The weight of the Colonel left me and Daniel told me to take deep breaths. I did as told and moved to where Teal'c was with the Colonel.

"Teal'c. Is he breathing?" I asked the Jaffa.

"He is not." Teal'c's so calm. How the hell can he be so calm!!!

I moved to the other side of Colonel O'Neill unbelievably fast and checked his pulse. "He's got a pulse." I told them as I began mouth-to-mouth. I had my ear over his mouth, to check if he was breathing, when he coughed up water into said innocent ear.

"Roll him over." I instructed, and Daniel and Teal'c helped me roll him onto his side.

He continued to cough up water and take in air as I rubbed his back.

"Carter?" He gasped out.

"Yes, sir."

"Wha happened?"

"You fell into the pool." I explained vaguely.

"And..." He prompted. He's good.

"And I took off my pack, grabbed a rope and jumped in after you." I was a little worried about how he was going to react to me jumping into an alien pool of water. It may have been the slightest bit senseless, but I'd rather get reprimanded by my CO than have to speak at his memorial.

"Thanks." I wasn't really expecting that.

"No problem, sir." A breeze blew and I realized just how cold I was. "Why don't we head home, sir?"

"Good idea Major." He rolled onto his back and I grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled him up to his feet. Then he said something I don't think I've ever heard him say. "Lead us to the gate Daniel."

*the end*

Murphy's Laws: They Should Be Common Knowledge

This is some important information that I think everybody should know.

Murphy's Laws (well...some of them)

1. Anything that can go wrong, will.
Meghan's addition to Murphy's First Law: Anything that can't go wrong, will go wrong faster. (i.e. The Titanic)

2. If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.

3. If everything seems to be going well, you've obviously overlooked something.

4. Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.

5. It is impossible to make things foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

6. Anyone who isn't paranoid, simply isn't paying attention.

7. When working toward the solution of a problem, it always helps to know the answer. Provided, of course, that you know there is a problem.

8. Behind every small problem is a larger problem, waiting for the small one to get out of the way.

9. Chaos will win over order, because it is better organized.

10. Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself.

11. There is never time to do something right, but there is always time to do it over.

12. If everything has been going wrong, something is bound to go right.

13. In the end, only entropy wins.

I believe Murphy had it right.

My Own 'What If' Question

This a prompt I thought up last night as a what if.

What if Major Carter went to Atlantis and Major Sheppard was the 2IC of SG-1 (under Colonel O'Neill)? How would things be different? The same?

The most obvious for me is I wouldn't have to choose whether to read SG-1 fanfiction or Atlantis fanfics. Major Sheppard is my favorite charater in Atlantis (the other characters are cool too). And Colonel O'Neill is my favorite character in SG-1. I think there would be problems with all of SG-1 being male. Sam is the majority of Stargate SG-1's girl power. Without her it would be all guys and SG-1 would have no scientist, except for Daniel, who couldn't help them with blowing up suns and building naquada reactors. I don't know how having Jack O'Neill and John Sheppard on one team would work. They're both good leaders. I think they're so alike in personality that they annoy each other. Major Sheppard kinda seems like Atlantis' Jack to me. Atlantis would have problems too. I think putting Sam Carter and Rodney McKay on the same land mass for along time, with them trying to compete with ideas and theories, they'd probably try to kill each and other would have to intervene. Plus, the dynamic between Weir and Carter would not be the same as the dynamic between Weir and Shepard is now. Just as the dynamic between O'Neill and Sheppard would be different than the dynamic between O'Neill and Carter is now. I like the dynamics as they are now. I don't know how I'd like the new ones. My decision is that Major/Lt. Col. Sheppard should stay on Atlantis and Major/Lt. Col. Carter should Sg-1. And they should bring back Jack! If they feel like doing an episode of either SG-1 or Atlantis with John Sheppard and Jack O'Neill on the same planet. And possibly even on screen together that be really cool, in my opinion. I did see Rising, but another one with both of them would probably make me melt into goo because they're both good-looking, funny characters/actors.

Two Writing Prompts

I actually wanted to do some writing before I go to bed tonight, and while I work on my Version #2, so I found another prompt. I almost passed this one by, but I decided to go back to it. I like it. It makes you think.

Usually, envy is portrayed as a purely negative emotion. Do you believe it is possible to harness the power of envy as a positive motivator?

Yes I do. I think I use envy as a motivator to make myself a better person. I think a person can use envy to motivate themselves to do better or do something more interesting. Envy can be a negative emotion, but if used well and kept controlled it can easily be used as a tool. Envy pushes people to be better than others. How it is achieved is up to us. I figure I'll use envy as motivation to maintain good grades and push myself in the areas I wish to excel in.

*And another prompt because I feel like it and I didn't particularly like my answer to the first one.*

What cliche describes you?

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try, try again. Most definitely. I'll try at something for hours until either I get it or I seriously need one of five things: food, drink, a bathroom stop, sleep, or chocolate. This applies to everything except homework/schoolwork. I don't really spend any of my home time on that. The cliche most describes me when I find something new that interests me or strikes my interest. I can spend days working on a project on my computer or hours cleaning my room, if I feel like it.

*Despite the time stamp on this I'm finishing it at about 2:45am. So, I guess I'm gonna get some sleep.*

The Internet!! It Was! And I...OMG!!

I'm back. We didn't have internet for a few days, but we got it fixed and now I'm back.

This is a freewrite I did for 11 minutes on the 18th (Saturday):

I'm handwriting this because at the moment internet is down and I can't type it straight into my blog. The reason internet is down is some BS I don't know much about. We got a new modem today. It's supposed to be faster than our other one. It worked through the afternoon, but now it's not. And that means no phone because that goes through our internet. I haven't read fanfiction since Thursday. Maybe Wednesday. Somebody's coming on Monday. It's Saturday today. AAAHHHHHH!!! How will I survive?!

I was having trouble posting today. I kept getting an error "553 Permission Denied." I signed out, deleted all my cookies (bye cookies) and signed back in twice, trying to publish each time unsuccessfully. It's a bummer. I want it to work for me.

Even if I can't read fanfiction, I do have an idea for a story written down, as well as all my stuff for Atlantica if I still want to do it. I'll try writing it slower this time.

Since I wrote this freewrite I posted the post that wouldn't post before. We obviously have internet back. I hand wrote three pages of the Stargate SG-1 story mentioned. It's the one inspired by the 'looking in the mirror' prompt. I hope to get it up this week. I'm on vacation for now. I have also read enough fanfiction to make up for the days I missed. Approx. 14 stories in three hours. I feel better already. Atlantica is a series of stories inspired by a line from Stargate Atlantis. The line where Lt. Aiden Ford proposes that they name the planet that Atlantis resides on 'Atlantica'. I like the name and I created a planet of my own called Atlantica. I would like to try to write about it.

A Different Face Stares Back

This is one of two prompts that struck my interest today. I'll mostly likely do the second one tomorrow.

You wake up, go to the bathroom and look in the mirror. A different face stares back at you. Begin your story.

Version #1:

*This hooks onto the story before this starting with the line "the clock winked."*

It's interesting somedays when you look in the mirror you see just you. The same person you see every other morning. And some mornings you look in the mirror and see a face that's different in some way.

That's the kinda morning I'm having. I'm here standing in front of the mirror, and the face staring back at me is the same. The person behind the face is what's new today. It seems like every other day I see a child behind the face, or a teen. Today it's different. Today I see a young adult.

It's the morning of the first day of my senior year. I have some bags unnder my eyes, but it's not my fault I couldn't get to sleep last night. Despite the bags, I like this 'new' more mature face.

Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to be completely mature at school. I need to have fun after all.

I think I can find a happy medium between maturity and not wasting what's left of my childhood.

*the end*

A second version is in progress. It's a Stargate SG-1 story inspired by this prompt.

JackFic.com Drabble Words

The following is a list of drabble words from JackFic.com:
Pumpkin
Spooky
Paper People
Maverick
Suspect
Suggestion
Jinx
Rival
Life
Death
Bubbles
Shadow
Homecoming
Boxers
Division
Empty Chair
Joke
Solitary
Obsession
Headache
Memory
Pockets
Moving Day
Tick Tock
Snipiness
Friday the 13th
Smarmy
In Memory
Toothache
Haunt
TGIF
Malediction
Silence
Frosty
Commando

These are supposed to be drabble words for Stargate stories. I may end up using them for short Stargate stories or non-Stargate stories. I doubt any of the stories I write will be a hundred words long.

I have two more prompts that I'm going to start writing the rest of the day and finish when I get home.

I'm having a lot of fun on here. I've missed writing. It's a lot of fun to start and finish a story in the same night, rather than it taking months or a year.

The Clock Winked

I'm really getting into these prompts. I like to choose ones that strike me and get a story or idea going right when I see it. I don't like the ones with word limits (even though I don't really have to follow them). I like being able to write as much or as little as I like. And I don't really word count before I post.

Begin a story with the line, "The clock winked."

The clocked winked. Sounds like an odd thing to think, but at 3:27 in the morning it kinda works. Especially since I have to get up in less than three hours and be more than catatonic for my first day of senior year. Regardless of how weird it sounds, it's the best way to describe that phenomenon that occurs when you look at a digital clock just as the time flicks to the next minute.

So, what am I doing up at 3:27...well, 3:28 now, on the morning of my first day of senior year? Good question. I have no idea. I've been lying in bed since 10 p.m., when I decided I should call it a night. I'm nervous and excited, but I can usually sleep on the last night of summer break.

Maybe I slept too late this morning...afternoon, I am a teenager after all. Sleeping in late is a natural result of staying up until 4 in the morning yesterday working on my computer.

Have you ever had one of those nights where you're exhausted, but you can't get to sleep? You know, the night when you're lying in bed and you want nothing more than to get to sleep, but you can't so you just have to lie there and hope that sleep will take you eventually. And you get so frustrated that you're punching pillows and swearing because it's early morning and you're still just lying in your bed, under your blankets trying to turn your mind off and go to sleep. That's the kind of night I'm having. I'm all tucked in and my hair is brushed, as are my teeth, and I'm lying on my side staring at my digital alarm clock.

3:35.

I would get up and pack my backpack or set out my clothes, just to be doing something, but I'm all packed and ready for tomorrow...today. All I have to do is fall asleep so I can wake up. Sounds easier than it is really.

I've made a significant step in falling asleep. I've rolled onto my other side, so I can't see my clock, and closed my eyes.

Not working yet. Roll over again. All the way. Ouch. I should remember to take my cell phone out of my pocket every night because rolling over onto it is not a pleasant experience.

4:12. What? No way! The last time I checked it was A little after 3:30. That must mean I got *some* sleep, right? That is the logical conclusion, is it not? Let's see, how much sleep did I get? 35, 45, 55, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. That's 37 minutes, I think. Great. I'm going to look awful tomorrow. Whoever decided that photo day should be the first day of the school year was nuts. I mean, it kinda makes sense because we all want to look nice on the first day of school and we do want our school IDs as soon as possible, but still, the first day of school? Ack.

How to read a clock at an early hour of the morning:
Step 1: Open eyes at least wide enough to see things clearly. Check, it's really dark in here. Wait! Maybe my eyes aren't open. Maybe they're closed, and that's why it's dark. Makes sense. This is a brilliant observation.
Step 2: Aim gaze at clock, watch, computer, or time-telling fixture of your choice. That doesn't really work when you haven't completed step 1 yet, but whatever.
Step 3: Read time-telling device of choice for the current time. That's nice. Again, not so helpful when the previous steps we're over looked, but that's okay...

BEEP!! BEEP!! BEEP!!

What the hell! Who's backing up a truck?! And why? Oh wait. That's my alarm clock. Not cool.

"The time is 6:02 and it's beautiful morning outside."

What they don't say is that they're inside and it's only beautiful out if you lived in a colder, darker place before moving here. Like a cave in Antarctica. It's cold outside and and there are leaves all over the place.

"Get up!"

"I am up!" Hey! My first intelligent words of the morning.

My Mom comes out into the living room all dressed and ready for work. She looks way more awake than I am.

"You were sleeping like a log this morning?" She tells me.

"What?"

"I was up at 5:30 getting ready. I could have moved a circus in outside your room and you wouldn't have noticed."

"I didn't get to sleep until after four." I yawn to prove it and pull myself out of bed. Now I'm really glad I have all my clothes and stuff laid out because I'm too tired to think.

"Well, have a good day at school."

"Thanks Mom. Have a good day at work."

I look over at my clock one last time before getting dressed, and the clock winks.

Old Proverbs Hold True...Most Of The Time

Yesterday I had to do an SAT essay, which I'm not allowed to discuss, but this kinda reminded me of what I was writing about.

It has been said, "It is not the destination that makes the journey worthwhile." Describe some of the times in your life when this proverb held true.

This proverb olds true a lot in my life. When I build websites I think up a design and draw it out and build it. I try to do things that I've never done before, or have little experience in when I make a new site. When I finish that project I'm pleased that I was able to accomplish it, but it was more fun for me to have a project that I was focused on, that made me think and look up new things. I have more fun when I'm working on something, even if I'm stuck and it annoys me, than when I finish and I'm trying to think of a new project to apply myself to.

I have been in a situation when the proverb did not hold true. When I went to Westpoint Military Academy for the Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts Invitational Camporee with my girl scout troop we had to sit in a car for nine hours to drive there. We got in a small accident on the way and it was boring. In that case spending the time at Westpoint made travelling out of my home state worthwhile.

Colonel Jack O'Neill

I created this next prompt. It's like a character study and a writing prompt all in one.

Think of a person. Describe their personality, how they act, etc. What are their mannerisms? Are they funny mannerisms? Annoying? Helpful? Are there some of that person's traits that you would like to have? Why?

*As a note I am doing this about Colonel Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neill of the show Stargate SG-1. For those who watch it I'm doing it from the point of view of Major Samantha 'Sam' Carter.*

Colonel Jack O'Neill of SG-1. United States Air Force. Earth. Chicago to be specific. It's been about seven years since I met him in the briefing room and nine since I first started working on the dialing computer and other systems for the gate. Of course at that point we didn't know what it did. How to activate it.

Seven years. I can hardly believe it's been that long. I still remember orally sparring with him in the briefing room and my first trip through the gate.

"I adore you already, Captain."

He's charming. And a damn good leader. We've never been in a situation that we haven't all come back from. In the end. I'm not saying we haven't died, because we've had our share of death. We've all lost family members. I think we've all died at one point or another. Except maybe Teal'c, he's pretty hard to actually kill. A few close calls though. It's been less than year since Daniel returned from ascension. He kept calling the Colonel "Jim". Colonel O'Neill grumbled, but I could tell he was glad Daniel was back. We'd all missed him.

I've learned a lot from him as a leader. I still don't understand exactly how he does it. SG-1 is the most eclectic team on the planet and he manages to keep us organized and together to also be the best team on the planet. We're all so different. Daniel is the scientist. He studies 'rocks', as the Colonel puts it. Teal'c's a warrior all the way. With what he says he's been a warrior since he was a kid. It's part of the Jaffa culture and his skills as a fighter, observer, and knowledge of the Goa'uld are an asset to the team. I'm a scientist too. I study 'doohickies'. Also Colonel O'Neill's wording. I'm a theoretical astrophysicist, but I'm also a Major in the US Air Force. I adhere to the same rules the Colonel has to. I'm his second-in-command and to date I've only had to take command of the team twice. The first he was stuck in the infirmary due to an arrow to his arm. General Hammond sent Daniel, Teal'c and I, we're not really SG-1 without the Colonel, to the planet SG-10 was stuck on. The second time was a couple months ago. The Colonel stuck his head in the Ancient Repository of knowledge, for a second time. The first time it happened the Colonel was able to contact the Asgard and get help. This time we couldn't reach them. He resigned. He gave control over to me so that he wouldn't endanger any of us. It's scary to be in command. Did you know? And yet he does it everyday, like it's just a way of life for him. Which it is. He's been doing it so long it comes naturally. I've seen the way people will fight for him.

He seems so irreverent. He'll disobey orders if it's not, morally, the right thing to do. He pisses people off, but if you pay attention, you'll realize that it's only the people that are morally wrong that he annoys. Sure he annoys us sometimes, but he tries to make up for it afterwards. He's got a great sense of humor and he plays with his gameboy or his yo-yo in his freetime on base. He's like a big kid.

He does tend to get fustrating at times. His strengths are strategies and planning. He pretends to be so clueless sometimes. And he does it so well that even I start to believe it. And then he says something so deep and insightful and on a rare occasion, even scientific that it shocks me, and I remember that it's ploy. What's fustrating is that it works so well. If he's busy keeping us safe from unfriendlies it gives us a chance to grow in our fields. To think up new ideas, and it keeps us on our toes. That's probably how Daniel and I have gotten so good at working quickly, and together. It's made the whole team stronger.

I'm so used to thinking on my feet for the well-being of SG-1 and here I am. Sitting under the ice of Antarctica. In a room built by the Ancients, the gate-builders. Staring at my CO, my friend, my mentor. And I feel so helpless. I can't think of a way to help him. And the SGC is under new management. And most of all, I miss him. The way his eyes glaze over when I explain something scientific. The way he doodles when he gets bored in Daniel's briefings. The jokes, I miss the jokes. Just simple things. The way he responds with a flippant, "ya think?" when one of us says something obvious. And the "for cryin' out loud" when something minor goes wrong.

And looking at him in there is kinda creeping me out. He's just frozen and it's like he's looking right at me. Through me. It's scary to see him like this. It's not like he looks worse than he usually does, quite the same actually, he's just so still. He's never still in real life, unless there is need to be. He's always playing with a piece of equipment in my lab or an artifact in Daniel's office. And it seems like he's never in one place unless he's eating or sleeping (or unconscious).

"Major Carter?"

I turn away from my frozen CO to Dr. Lee. "Yes?"

"I think I may have figured something out about the way Colonel O'Neill wired the rings to cut through the ice. I was wondering if you'd like to come see."

"I'll be right there, Doctor." With the Dr. Lee headed back to the cargo ship and I turned back to the Colonel. "We'll get you out, sir."

*THE END*

Of Jack O'Neill's mannerisms I like his morals. He refuses to leave anyone behind. Even if the person is not from Earth. I love his humor and his ability to lead a team of people that are so different. I also like the dumb act he puts on. It's a strategy to get the rest of SG-1 on their 'A' game and get others to underestimate his mental strength. He's brave and courageous and would do anything to save the members of SG-1, human and alien. He gives most people a fair chance to get in his good books, though most people that deserve to be on his bad side make it there quickly. He judges quickly about people and is usually right about people. Despite the fact that's he's a character I admire him.

Blogger's Random Question & Cliches

I'm starting by expanding the answer for the 'random question' I was given. I typed a long answer and then had to type a short answer to fit. Here goes...

"When you hesitate before hitting the snooze on your alarm, are you being lazy?" -- I am NOT a morning person. And as such I believe I can answer this. I don't push the snooze on my alarm. If for some reason I'm awake before my alarm, but don't want to get up (as is usually the case), I set the alarm for a later time. I don't like lying in my bed and waiting for the alarm to go off. If I wake up to my alarm I listen to the station I have my radio alarm set to and sometimes I sing with the music. Or wait for them to say that it's a snow day and I don't have school. That's nice too. Hesitating to press the snooze on your alarm is not laziness. It's tiredness. Mornings should not be counted for, or against laziness, in my opinion. I'm never awake enough to realize I'm being lazy.

My first writing prompt is from Creative Writing Prompt #6 (from creativewritingprompts.com (the address is in my links). The prompt is as follows:

List down all the cliches you can think of, then choose the one you're most familiar with, or the one that strikes your fancy. Make that the first line of your poem [post]. You can take the cliche literally or figuratively.

CLICHES
If at first you don't succeed try, try again.
It's been done before, it can be done again.
It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
cliched bad guy: oily skin, creepy voice, sneaky, etc.
One man's ceiling is another man's floor.
One man's paradise is another man's hell.

If at first you don't succeed try, try again. This line gives me hope. To me it means, "If you keep trying you'll succeed, no matter how long it takes." I like this cliche. It's fun. If something goes wrong the first time it just means you've learned something new to take with you for your next attempt. Learn from your mistakes, or from other's mistakes. It's a good way to get through life. Just keep trying your best and learning new things. In the wise words of Dory (yes, the fish from Finding Nemo), "just keep swimming, just keep swimming, what do we do? We swim, swim, swim!!" Just keep trying. Try, try, try, try, try. Take things with you. Memories and experiences make a person who they are.