New Fic: Cultural Drift

[gabolange]

Title: Cultural Drift
Universe: Stargate: SG-1
Character/Pairing: Daniel Jackson. Team friendships, background Sam/Jack.
Rating: PG
WC: 5968
Spoilers: Set mid-season 9.
Beta: pellucid, who deserves a great deal of pie for her boundless patience. All errors are mine

Comments

[pellucid]

Among the awesome things about this fic is the way I love it more every time I read it. As I said, I really do think draft pi pulled the pieces together even better than I had imagined, but even the bits that have been there all along I seem to love more and more.

I've been very intentionally trying to quash my Janet bias and not fangirl all over that conversation in beta, but now that it's posted: OH JANET!!!!!!! I adore that conversation, and I really do think it captures not just Janet but also the role she played in Daniel's life, grounding him, being the person he can talk to, standing in that in between place as SG-1 insider and outsider. It's not a particularly 'shippy conversation, yet to my admittedly Daniel/Janet-tinted view of the world, it's possibly the best Daniel/Janet moment I've read in ages--not because it's 'shippy but because it's so them. It's everything I ever loved about them

[gabolange]

I think the idea of suggestive silence is a powerful theme throughout, actually--because it's important with the conversations he has in his head with Janet, but it's also a really telling bit of his present relationship with Sam and Jack, individually and together. They rely on each other to know each other's tells and have absolute faith in each other, but they're not really talking and it makes a difference.

But, yes, I continue to be quite squeeful that the Janet section works so well for you. Because I miss her, too, and I think she played this terribly important role in Daniel's life, just as she did in Sam's and Jack's.

It's everything I ever loved about them.

Awwww. Thank you.

And thank you for your help and encouragement as I put this whole thing together piece by piece. I am so very pleased you like it and that it's something you can keep coming back to. :)

[pellucid]

And there's the whole issue of the silence of the tablet, the space between the recorded origins and the unknown ending. Also the silences surrounding the legends of SG-1 itself far in the future. This story is so much about words but perhaps even more about silence. Is silence context? If so, maybe that's why Plato's absolutes will always be insufficient.

[gabolange]

I think silence is context, because I feel like this story--with the tablet, with Sam and Jack, even a little bit with Janet--is so much more about all the things they haven't said. Because Sam and Jack don't talk, and Janet left his life mid-conversation, and Daniel's left being the only one who's really interesting in talking but is surrounded by silence or its near-equivalent.

Plato's absolutes will always be insufficient for so many reasons, but I do think this is one important one. Nothing exists in a vacuum!

[annerbhp]

Absolute, complete, spectacular love for this. I love these kind of fics, the ones that crawl inside a characters head and look around and give us so much about this time that must have been so off-kilter for all of them, but Daniel most of all because in a way he's the one being left behind and that's never been him before. He'd always been the one to move on to bigger things and I love the part of him that is a bit petulant, like he can never quite get over being an orphan. And I actually quite like the idea of Daniel being oblivious to just how deep and damaged the thing between Jack and Sam really was. Plus, Daniel's relationship with Jack has got to be one of the most complicated and nuanced of all of them and you've just nailed it here.

Um, yeah. Just trying to say I really liked it. :D Gorgeous and thinky.

[gabolange]

I see so many stories wherein Daniel is this huge proponent of Sam and Jack together, and while I think that he would get there eventually, I don't think that's where he would start. Because I don't think he ever knew how deep their feelings were, or how much they mattered. But that's the 'shipper in me talking! :)

And I'm glad Daniel's relationship with Jack worked for you here! I find their dynamic hard to nail down, because they're so very close and trust each other entirely, and yet when push comes to shove, they don't actually have very much in common. It's hard to get the nuance right, because it shifts with the context.

Um, yeah. Just trying to say I really liked it. :D Gorgeous and thinky.

Thank you so much! I am really glad you liked it! :)

[syxp]

Wow.
That was a great read. I loved the language history woven through the story, it made a great Daniel voice.

Now I miss Janet. She was wonderful in this too.

sharon

[gabolange]

Thank you so much! In my mind, Daniel never stops thinking or trying to piece things together using theories and history and all the ideas he's collected over the years--and I'm so glad that comes through and works for you!

And yeah, I definitely miss Janet. I wonder what they'd have all done if she'd stuck around.

I'm so glad you liked this! Thanks for the comment!

[beanpot]

Oh wow - this is fantastic. I love Janet in here, and I love Daniel who seems to love them all so much, and yet doesn't seem to know they love him too.

Most excellent.

[gabolange]

I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you! :)

here via annerb

[stargazercmc]

I love, love, love this. Such a rich, complex look into Daniel's brain.

I just have no words except these: gorgeous, beautiful, phenomenal, amazing.

Thank you SO MUCH for sharing it with us.

Re: here via annerb

[gabolange]

You're very welcome! Thank you so much for your kind words--I'm so glad this little foray into Daniel's head works for you! :)