Half Sick of Shadows

We’re delighted to announce Catch A Spark!

This is a low-stakes exchange for John Sheppard/Elizabeth Weir fans who can’t wait a full year for the next Sparktober! All creators are welcome, regardless of level of experience or how long you've been Sparky fans.

Quick Information

What You'll Exchange

Fanfic: one complete standalone fic, minimum of 500 words

Fan art: one original, finished work on unlined background (manips are okay for treats but do not fulfill your assignment)

GIF set: minimum of 2 complex GIFs (overlaying multiple scenes, adding thematic quotes etc.) OR 4 simple ones (maybe recoloured, and/or captioned, but otherwise visually the same as canon)

The Key Dates

Sign ups open: March 1, 2026 Sign ups close: March 15, 2026 Assignments out: March 22, 2026 Fanworks Due: May 3, 2026 Works Revealed: May 10, 2026 Creators Revealed: May 17, 2026

All deadlines are at 9am UTC

"I'm going to be a mummy." Drusilla is preparing Darla's body for burial. When Darla rises, she'll be all nice and pretty!

You think that waiting a full year until the next SPARKTOBER event is way too long?

So do we!

That's why we came up with the idea of a midterm sparktober exchange.

✨ Stay tuned! ✨

that’s chronic pain. that’s specifically the type of chronic pain I’m referring to.

and I’m absolutely not mad at those people, not in the slightest, but I’m furious at everyone and society as a whole that’s convinced them that they don’t count, that chronic migraines aren’t a genuinely debilitating form of chronic pain and disability.

A Christmas Toast by dkwilliams for adabsolutely Closing Up Shop by Merfilly for pennywashburne Secrets by dswdiane (pinch hit) for Black Dwarf A Lesson in Steel by Raine_Wynd for coralysendria Cornuacopiae by merriman for havocthecat Temporis Partus Maximus by Banbury for morgynleri Properly Executed by Nicky_Gabriel for Banbury Kastagir's Hotel Américain by pennywashburne for Merfilly Follow The Gleam by hafital for raine The Road Forward by havocthecat for argentum_ls Tales of SG-1 by Morgyn Leri for teratornis Destinations by dswdiane for hafital Silver Seed by adabsolutely for nicky_gabriel Midnight Train by mackiedockie for dswdiane Metaphorically Speaking by argentum_ls for brightknightie Orogenesis by Teratornis for killabeez Hakobore by Brightknightie for merriman Hard Truths by Black_Dwarf for mackiedockie Prophecies For An Immortal by coralysendria for dkwilliams The Pirate, The Rebels, The Thief, and Her Lover by killabeez for unovis

And now some guessing stats! Thanks to @killabeezish for getting these together!

nicky_gabriel, I regret to inform you that your random guesses did not bear fruit this time, but I still like your style. merriman, on the other hand, managed to get 4 right by rolling the dice! (impressive) LS also got 4 right.

dswdiane and pennywashburne played it close to the vest, guessing only 3 each—but all 3 correctly, for a 100% score.

hafital got 6 right, and dkwilliams had 7 correct.

teratornis got an impressive 11 right! But was outdone by...

black_dwarf retaining the crown with 14 correct guesses!

Well done, guessers! @havocthecat, black_dwarf  and merriman also get a special prize for managing to fool absolutely everyone.

If you'd like to join the 2025 Guessing Game, where the particpants (some of them) try to guess the authors of the various fics, you can join us at the 2025 Guessing Game Post on Dreamwidth.

Announcing STARGATE FEMSLASH ZINE! A zine dedicated to all things femslash within the stargate franchise

SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN UNTIL MARCH 30TH

Please check the submission rules and guidelines under the cut before you do :)

In the true fashion of zines this will be a lowkey, freely accessible zine where everyone can contribute, no matter their experience and if you don't believe me just know that I have zero experience in doing a zine, so this will be a first for me :)

Please share this post so we reach as many femslashers as possible :)

Submission guidelines

I know there are not thought-crimes but I'm kinda feeling unsure about myself rn. There is a fic that I really liked and I think about rereading it. It also wasn't updated in quite some time and I know that generally authors are often motivated by comments

I'm thinking about making comments as I reread and the put them into the chapters. The thing is, my biggest motivation with it is to encourage author to write more and it makes me feel, idk, slimy? Like, they wouldn't know that that's why I commented and they would be just normal comments (+ I never ever even put anything vagueing about updates like "I can't wait to see how it will turn out!" or something, so I'd certainly not be pushy about it) but still I feel bad like I'm manipulating the author :/

So, yeah. Basically, do feel like underlying motivations matter if there is no discernible difference between the comments?

If you do a good thing for a selfish reason, is the thing still good?

From that author's perspective, I'd say probably.

If I received a slew of comments on one of my fics, I'd be elated. Depending on how many spoons I had, I'd even reply to them all.

It might or might not motivate me to continue writing, though. If I don't have an idea for where to go next then receiving a comment likely won't get me past that block.

As long as you're content with just brightening someone's day without a guarantee that it'll get you what you want in the end, then I say have at it. To paraphrase a post I saw on my dash recently, a rich man who builds an orphanage because of his own selfish reasons has still given orphans a place to go.

"Hey how do you--"

IF TECHNICAL QUESTION: start with books and/or videos online. Practice with cheap stuff. If you still don't get it, reach out to a local class and/or people online who do tutorials and offer a few bucks in tip. Also keep practicing.

IF EMOTIONAL QUESTION: you're an artist babe you gotta reach into your feral guts and give 'em a lil' squeeze. If you don't know how keep experimenting, it's in there. Being an artist is not a value-neutral situation. You're this for a reason. That's why you can't stop asking this question.

"What if people--"

IF THEY DON'T LIKE IT? Fuck 'em

IF THEY WRITE BAD THINGS ABOUT IT? Block 'em

IF THEY DON'T BUY IT? Business 'em. Not an art issue. Business issue. Structure the question in a business risk-reward scenario.

(which a significant part is teaching people in suits the most basic level of humanities they ignored/got out of in college)

(non exclusive list)

How well crafted the artwork is

How well painted, how well it encapsulates the physical form, however it is made

The quality of mateirals and media

The proportions, perspective, in ratio of "desired effect" to "achievement"

The brush strokes, pen strokes

Composition

ARTISTIC PRECISION

(non exclusive list)

"My goal was..." -> the completed piece

"The desired response is..." -> how people perceive it

"The audience reaction desired was..." -> the audience's actual reaction

"My own desired reaction is..." -> your actual reaction

The two axis of precision are not in opposition.

They are not the same thing.

They are often (not always, not necessarily, not intrinsically) related.

"PASS THE REMOTE"

Separate to above and more a studio note than a specific practice.

I ask folks "What do you think?" at the end of big reviews.

I explicitly ask the folks whom are the most junior.

Especially when they've not said anything during the meeting.

I do not need my seats warmed, I need brains.

And.

I need to welcome you, not shine a spotline upon you, to share your thoughts.

Again and again and again and again.

I explicitly ask it warmly and after they have said something, or I make mention of something they have done recently -- this project, a separate project, a sketch, something else entirely they've worked on -- as a warm up.

Putting someone on the spot whom has not spoken in a meeting is a bad idea. I am not here to intimidate you.

Creating a warm and welcoming space to share ideas is a good idea. You're here for a reason.

If you do not contribute, then we should have a quiet chat as to why. If you are uncomfortable in my studio, I need to see what I can do. It is imperative the person in power remembers this inherent imbalance: This is my studio, your brain is your brain, we are working together to make whatever nonsense.

Speaking up in a creative review is difficult.

And necessary.

Creativity is a process of attrition. The sewers are necessary.

"my brother is trans, my sisters are gay, and i identify as afraid"