Daniel Jackson/Vala Mal Doran Ship/Discussion/Appreciation Thread

[Kalliope]

Oh, how could I forget:

Spoiler:

"Where's My Daniel?" That pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

Also, should I post links to my post-ep fics here, even though not everyone has seen the new eps yet?

Defiinitely! And these who haven't seen the new eps yet can always bookmark your fics and read them later

[Tucker Case]

Hey! A first post! Welcome!

I like the witter, snarkier, less angelic side Vala brings out in Daniel. I mean, I love sweet Daniel, he's got marvelous integrity, and diplomatic smarts, but really- you have to have more than one setting for a character

I like that she does this, too. It’s been too long since someone’s kept that side of him stirred (Jack went soft on him some time ago and things have not been the same since).

At this point, what Daniel and Vala are, more than anything, is a hoot - light and fun and entertaining – and I’m loath to pick apart their motives to the point where the fun is lost. But part of what allows for the fun is that there’s something real simmering underneath: Vala isn’t a stock over-sexed flirt (this isn’t Suzanne Sugarbaker in space), and Daniel isn’t an apoplectic killjoy of the Darren Stevens order. Vala is, more or less, just

Spoiler:

a girl doing "what a girl’s got to do" to get by in the circle she runs with; but the things she’s doing – and I think it’s worth noting (obvious though it is) that it is the things Vala does that Daniel reacts to, and not the bawdy, but ultimately harmless, things she says – are taking their toll on Daniel.

Daniel’s as hilarious as he is in his frustration and annoyance with Vala precisely because

Spoiler:

she’s given him good reason to be so frustrated and annoyed. His hopes have been overturned, his life is suddenly at risk if he takes a step too far in the wrong direction, and he could, quite frankly, be excused for reacting a whole lot more explosively than he does. His better moments – hurling the pillow across the infirmary, and consulting Teal’c on the likely outcome, not if, but when he kills her – are in response to real and understandable frustrations. But the best, though, I think, come when he settles into that quiet slow-burning snippiness that was his calling card in the original film – the judicious little asides of snark that bubble up between moments of wonder.

That’s my Daniel.

And while Vala is bringing out this “wittier, snarkier, less angelic” side of Daniel, he – perhaps in spite of himself, but it can be hard to tell with Daniel – is bringing out little glimpses of the “truth” about Vala.

Vala gets away with her outrageousness, at this point, because it doesn’t reflect who she really is – and I think this is where she differs from Anya, as there was always a certain ingenuousness to Anya’s friskier proclivities (although that “candour” is, I think, what made Anya easier to take) – but is simply her way of catching others off-guard and maintaining some semblance of control in situations where she controls very little, and she handles it with flair and, for the most part, a fluorish of wit; and, if she’s particularly vulnerable to Daniel, then the suggestive shots she fires at him are going to be particularly loaded.

But, while Daniel

Spoiler:

simply ignores Vala’s little verbal volleys (it’s my post, I can alliterate if I want to ), Vala does react to the not-so-meaningless things Daniel says (or doesn’t say, as the case may be).

Claudia did say that Daniel would be the one to get too close, the one who would get Vala to reveal more of her true self –

Spoiler:

and he’s already doing it, by refusing to respond to the games and the façade and, instead, giving her something more genuine to respond to herself: His very real annoyance and honest misgivings and misunderstanding – and, for the moment, disinterest (or apparent disinterest, depending how you want to look at it. )

Because that might be where it starts, at least as far as Daniel is concerned: When Vala’s utterly winsome, radiant and, yes, genuine smile when Daniel first enters the briefing room is met with an abrupt, “Okay, where is it?” Seems he’s only interested in her tablet and – typically, for Daniel – completely oblivious to her obvious pleasure in seeing him again. Who knows what would have come out of her mouth if Daniel had opened with, “Nice to see you” instead.

Which isn’t to say that Vala’s behaviour is Daniel’s fault, only that there is a reactionary side to a good deal of what she says, that there is a “front” in play, and one that is vulnerable when Daniel’s around. And if you weren’t sure of it with the smile in the briefing room, there’s no doubt of it when she snaps, “You don’t know anything about me!” when he casts aspersions about the “truth” of her spirit.

And I love the way he, rather than back down or in any way “apologise” for having hurt her feelings, he calmly informs her that the only reason he knows nothing about her is because everything that comes out of her mouth is a lie. He can only call what he sees. If she doesn’t like the call, then it’s up to her to let him see something different, something real (and this is where I start to think Daniel just might know exactly what he’s doing).

All of which is, of course, precisely the sort of over-analysis I did say I was loath to delve into this early in the game, did I not?

Also about Avalon?

Spoiler:

I thought that Daniel should try to pull the sword from the stone... if anyone could, it would be daniel. but he didn't even try...

That's pretty typical of Daniel, though, isn't it?

Spoiler:

Far be it for Daniel to think of himself as rich enough in knowledge and true enough in spirit to pull the sword from the stone. I found it odd, though, that no one - and I guess I'm thinking Teal'c, here - advised caution when Mitchell tried his hand at it. Good lord, anything could have happened.

"Anything" probably will.

Tucker

[ValaMalduran]

All of which is, of course, precisely the sort of over-analysis I did say I was loath to delve into this early in the game, did I not?

Until now I've only seen 'Prometheus Unbound' and it will take quite some time until I see S9. Because of this I completely rely on what's said about their realationship/ friendship on the net. And as long as it's written as intelligent as your post (and -I admit it- as positive toward shippiness) I hugely enjoy it, no matter it were over-analysed.


A.

[Kalliope]

Until now I've only seen 'Prometheus Unbound' and it will take quite some time until I see S9. Because of this I completely rely on what's said about their realationship/ friendship on the net. And as long as it's written as intelligent as your post (and -I admit it- as positive toward shippiness) I hugely enjoy it, no matter it were over-analysed.


A.

Check your PM box

[Tucker Case]

...Because of this I completely rely on what's said about their realationship/ friendship on the net. And as long as it's written as intelligent as your post (and -I admit it- as positive toward shippiness) I hugely enjoy it, no matter it were over-analysed.

Well, that's a relief. Thank you.

I just hope I didn't run the new poster over with the welcome wagon there.

As for the business end of this here post: There’s a rather nice new Interview with Michael Shanks at About.com in which he talks at some length about the Daniel and Vala’s relationship.

Actually, he talks at some length about most of the new characters and character dynamics – including a line about Ben that I thought was awfully sweet – but the stuff about Daniel and Vala begins on the second page of the interview and concludes on the third.

He talks in pretty broad strokes and sidesteps anything too spoiler-y, so it’s a safe read. Too much to cut and paste here, but there are a couple of tidbits I could not resist (and I'll spoiler tag them anyway, in the interest of erring on the side of caution).

For starters, I’m pretty sure that – double-negative tap-dance around the subject notwithstanding – the interview includes

Spoiler:

the closest thing we've had yet to an admission from Michael that Daniel is attracted to Vala. (It’s a back-door admission, but it’s in there.)

I was also very pleased to see him mirror Claudia’s statement (from the GW interview) about how “occasionally Daniel will get close and peel off a few too many layers, and (Vala’s) guard comes up again,” by saying that

Spoiler:

Vala, for her part, will be the one to “draw Daniel out of being so serious and somewhat withdrawn all the time and will kind of lighten things up for him a bit in his life” – and that she will spend most of her time trying to “break open that shell he’s built around himself.”

Gee, to hear him tell it. you'd almost think Vala's going to be a positive influence on Daniel or something.

Tucker

[LMichelle]

I've got a little bit of a post-ep thing in my Live Journal:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/lmi...59.html#cutid1


Lisa Michelle

[valaCB]

Well, that's a relief. Thank you.

IAs for the business end of this here post: There’s a rather nice new Interview with Michael Shanks at About.com in which he talks at some length about the Daniel and Vala’s relationship.

Tucker

sound intersting. going to read it and yours LMichelle

[Kalliope]

I've got a little bit of a post-ep thing in my Live Journal:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/lmi...59.html#cutid1


Lisa Michelle

Thanks for sharing! I love it!

[Alessiana]

Hey! A first post! Welcome!



I like that she does this, too. It’s been too long since someone’s kept that side of him stirred (Jack went soft on him some time ago and things have not been the same since).

>total snippage

Tucker

wow.. great post. probably the best thing i've read on the episode and their relationship. i love your analysis.

is this where you hang out?

[ValaMalduran]

Thanks for the link.

A.

[Alessiana]

I've got a little bit of a post-ep thing in my Live Journal:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/lmi...59.html#cutid1


Lisa Michelle

that is wonderful. both your stories nail their banter. i love it. keep writing please!

[Tucker Case]

i love your analysis.

Thank you. And welcome aboard.

is this where you hang out?

I suppose, if I can be said to hang out anywhere – I’m a bit of an itinerant poster – then, yeah, this is it. It's comfy, I like it.

I like to dip my toes in the Daniel Discussion Thread as well (it’s like the redheaded step-sister to the spectacular Thunk Thread but a bit more my speed, I think). I should probably pop over and babble some. We were under orders from Dana Jeanne to get the thread hopping after the season premiere; I’ve been a bit remiss, there.

While I'm here, though: Success! I said I’d be hunting for a screen-cap of

Spoiler:

Vala, smiling, upon first glimpse of “her Daniel” in the briefing room.

Found one.*

Tucker

* Hats off to the folks at Stargatecaps.com.

[Kalliope]

Thank you. And welcome aboard.



I suppose, if I can be said to hang out anywhere – I’m a bit of an itinerant poster – then, yeah, this is it. It's comfy, I like it.

I like to dip my toes in the Daniel Discussion Thread as well (it’s like the redheaded step-sister to the spectacular Thunk Thread but a bit more my speed, I think). I should probably pop over and babble some. We were under orders from Dana Jeanne to get the thread hopping after the season premiere; I’ve been a bit remiss, there.

While I'm here, though: Success! I said I’d be hunting for a screen-cap of

Spoiler:

Vala, smiling, upon first glimpse of “her Daniel” in the briefing room.

Found one.*

Tucker

* Hats off to the folks at Stargatecaps.com.

THESE are smaller, but their quality seems to be better

[LMichelle]

that is wonderful. both your stories nail their banter. i love it. keep writing please!

I'm glad you enjoyed them! Thanks so much. *feels love*

Lisa Michelle

[brihana25]

Okay... so I finally decided to stick my nose in here.

I'm on a hunt for D/V fic... and I'm guessing that digging through this thread is a good place to start.

Am I a D/V shipper? Well... for the answer to that question, I refer you to my sig.