Bread and Circus

I'm rewatching Stargate Atlantis because I've never gone through the series consecutively, and I have some time off between finals ending and graduation. I read a hell of a lot of SGA fics back when it was still on (and afterwards to feed my sad feels) but never got around to documenting them, and now I find myself remembering bits of them and forgetting what they were called. I found one of them again recently after much Googling. I remember reading this before bed and laughing myself to sleep. It's still amazing. Every time I read "Jag ser mig som miljardär, du då? du då?" I die a little.

Four Blatant Lies About Atlantis (And One Thing That's Totally True) by sabinelagrande

Final episode of Endgame tonight! If you're Canadian, tune into Showcase tonight at 10PM (I think? Unless they switched the time) for Endgame's last episode of season 1 (see what I did there?) "Deadman Talking," guest starring Paul McGillion a.k.a Dr. Carson Beckett from Stargate Atlantis fame. 

I, along with the rest of the non-Canadian international fanbase will be streaming it as soon as it's available online which, from the fervour of the Save Endgame movement, should be pretty soon.

I've been busy getting screenshots for Texts From the Huxley (as well as cross-posting the non-lomoed versions on Fuck Yeah Endgame), so I feel like I've watched all 12 episodes (mm, not too keen on 12, but it had some terrific Danni and Pippa development) multiple times. #11, oh god, #11. I could watch that episode all day. It's like...the Holy Grail of Sam. Saaaam why are you so adorable?! (And slashable, cough)

Here's to Endgame! Let's keep up the good work and let Showcase know we want more freaking Arkady Balagan.

So everyone has an opinion, right? (I've heard yours, I've read your rants, and I've enjoyed them immensely)

Television Without Pity: Spare the Snark, Spoil the Networks, is a website for the t.v discussions inside all of you, just waiting to spill out. Here, fans can discuss what was the best new television series of the year, which character really REALLY needs to get killed off, and which worst pairing was probably created when the writing staff was out doing shots at the local Cattle Annie's.

Right now, TWP is having a polling contest to gather a general consensus about just these sort of things. As I understand it, a batch of polls goes out every week culminating with a list of "____ of 2009" (insert name of desired poll in blank) in the end.

So go to the polls

As I got this information through one of the Stargate Atlantis comms, I only thought it appropriate to give you some Stargate themed polling questions I found that were posted earlier.

( See examples )

The season and series finale of Stargate Atlantis is tonight on the SciFi channel at 9PM. This is such a sad day for my science fiction world. I remember the days of Stargate SG-1 and how I was determined not to like Stargate Atlantis because I felt like it had cancelled SG-1.

I can't remember when I got into Stargate Atlantis. As it was with most shows, it was probably over the summer when I was at home and had to watch something on t.v. I got totally sucked in. I used to be on the SG-1 side of the SG-1 vs. SGA battle, but now I really couldn't choose. (Now I'm apparently involved in the Battlestar Galactica original vs. newer version a.k.a GINO)

The cast has been so easy to love.

SHEPPARD'S TEAM (the main cast):



Name: Teyla Emmagen
Personality: serene and cool (traits I aspire to but will never be able to attain).
Importance: She brings really unique cultural insight into the show and lets the Atlantis crew and viewers know more about the civilizations explored in the show.
Good at: Playing the ambassador role (making sure the natives don't shoot Dr. McKay)
                Beating up Marines





Name: Specialist Ronon Dex
Personality: a complete bamf, but shows an endearingly gruff caring side around people close to him. (and his gun is the most friggin cool weapon in the show). Completely straightforward and unpretentious to a fault.
Importance: Authority on survival (was on the run from the enemy by himself for 7 years, hopping from planet to planet). Also adept in tactics and weaponry. Can destroy just about anything.
Good at: Also good at joining Teyla in beating up the Marines. Earth people, pfft. They haven't been running for their lives from live sucking predators with bad hair for x number of years.



Name: Doctor Rodney McKay
Personality: He's iked within the fanbase for being unlikable. Doctorates in astrophysics and mechanical engineering. An uber geek. Awkward, bad with people, and Grade A abrasive personality.
Importance: Chief Science Officer for the expedition. He's an expert in Ancient technology, the Stargate system, and naquadah (superheavy metal that facilitates in amplifying energy)
Good At: Pissing off the natives, blowing things up, eleventh hour saves, geeking out




Name: Lt. Col. John Sheppard (USAF)
Personality: Pretty laid back and sarcastic. People who meet him usually like him. He's not good at following orders. Likes math; He got into MENSA but didn't accept the invite. Has the ATA gene, which allows him to activate Ancient technology.
Importance: Chief Military Officer of Atlantis. He's good at thinking on his feet and adapting. He's kind of the middle man: good at fighting, but not like Ronon; okay at diplomacy, but not like Teyla; reasonably smart, but not like McKay. But he has a way of keeping them all together and thinking in ways they haven't considered.
Good At: Having weird hair. Pissing off the enemy. (McKay does this naturally. Sheppard gives an A for effort.) Accidentally activating weird Ancient devices. Only guy that can beat McKay at chess. Can fly just about anything.



It's great how this show breaks stereotypes. Sheppard likes math and randomly hops out spouting geekese. Mckay, the 'geek,' actually gets the girl (I feel she was better with Ronon. But whatever), Teyla isn't just some pretty alien that will eventually be paired up with some character in the show (she ends up marrying her childhood friend Kanaan. I approve!), and Ronon is...Ronon.

The humour in the show is what people love best about Stargate. It's very intense life or death (and many times foreign otherworldly) material. I mean, come on- this is survival in the Pegasus Galaxy. But with the humour, there's always that ground, and even though there are dark episodes and the characters go through a lot, they try not to take themselves so seriously. (Robert Picardo, who was in the show and also on Startrek Voyager, says this was a breath of fresh air, even though Startrek was awesome in its own right)

Some of the best moments in the show for me are when McKay and Sheppard are geeking out (Sheppard is what I like to call a closet geek) and Teyla and Ronon are kind of staring blankly/rolling their eyes because they don't understand the Earth references. Actually,  a lot of people on Earth would probably not get the geek references... That does not stop Mckay and Sheppard from putting them through X-files and Back to the Future marathons during team bonding nights.

            
Best recent moment was in The Prodigal, when Teyla is walking her really cute baby Torren through the Atlantis city hallways at night. Sheppard and Mckay are randomly racing remote control cars through the hall and almost make her fall on her face.

To conclude, I have grown to love you, Stargate Atlantis and will probably cry after tonight's last episode. (Will probably cry again after the movie. Like with SG-1's Ark of Truth and Continuum, Atlantis will be getting a two hour movie)



You will probably be seeing more posts that will be ranting against Stargate Universe. Even though the producers said they did not cancel Stargate Atlantis to make way for Stargate Universe, who do they think we are- idiots? They said they were going to do a new show to appeal to younger audiences too. I am so insulted. Even though I fit into their little demographic bracket, I've been following Stargate for 5+ years, and I liked it because it was an intelligent show. I don't need them to dumb it down and cheapen it. Bleh. Anyway, this is just based on what I saw online, but the feel is so different and wrong from the rest of the franchise that I still feel/want to believe that it's some kind of joke.  (UPDATE: I've heard it was a spoof from SG-1 200th episode) I will actually start insulting the show after the first episode. It's only fair.