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I know I'm a little slow on the uptake, but I just now checked my e-mail!!! Wow I wonder if I start saving now will I be able to attend in 2007??? I can't imagine how awesome that will be!!
... something's been really niggling at me for (a good many months now) I'm finally going to just bite the bullet and address it here, or rather ask a question if I might.
Why is it that people so often apologize for writing or recommending something that has "S/J" in it? I don't mean overtly, necessarily, but there's always that undertone of, hey I read/wrote this really neat story, it's got all this great stuff in it, some S/J, but ...
What's the "but" for? I find it most prevalent in Samanda, too.
Okay, rationally, I recognize that there's a lot of really terrible/trashy dime-store-romance-novel type Sam/Jack fanfiction out there, and that stuff makes me cringe too, but ... I really think we don't ned to feel as though even the stuff that is good needs to be apologized for.
It's more than just warning folks who don't like Sam/Jack when people make a recommendation. It's bigger than that. The undertone demands clemency; it's sort of saying, hey, this is S/J, BUT wonder of wonders ... it's also good. As though S/J as a concept deserves to be anathema. Who made that decision?
I'm guessing that's some kind of weird SG-1 fan culture thing that well pre-dates my involvement here. But I often feel as though I want to say something about it. You don't often see those kinds of caveats on recommendations for other types of fanfiction pairings and scenarios. Granted, there's probably a lot more really terrible writing out there within the S/J genre, because there are a lot more people out there writing dime-store-romance first and SG-1 fanfiction second, but again, it doesn't seem right that when there IS a good story out there with a S/J twist, we need to place it under so many kevlar caveats, we can't find the author anymore. It really ... FEELS WRONG. It also makes me twitchy and indignant.
Sam/Jack is not a dirty little terrible scenario. It's one of many possible scenarios out there that (if done well) can be quite powerful as an addition to a great story arc. Likewise with any other relationship pairing or interpersonal character dynamic we choose to showcase within fanfiction.
Some time, a long time ago, I'm guessing there was a great big fan "war" somewhere and people got all hot and bothered over the idea of Sam and Jack - likely in some earlier season when it would have been really jumping Amanda's (now famous) shark to see those two officers end up in a romantic way together. I get that, too. But ever since then, I'd wager, it's become a gulity-pleasure for a lot of great authors to even admit to - something they read/like/write but don't cop to, or which they try to edit OUT of their work because it's so "uncool" to have it there. And (god forbid) there's any RST involved.
That really bites, you know? Because it meansthere's less great S/J fiction being written and it means that manyauthors who are interested in it, and really could write great S/J into their fiction won't do it, or will tone it down to almost nothing, because of that weird stigma thing.
There. I said it. It really makes me whinge, eh?
But there's got to be a way to "un"black-list S/J. Especially because I think that Sam can explore some of the strongest parts of her psyche within that context, if it's well and respectfully handled. *sigh*
/end rant
personally, for me, i know this is a *sam* friendly thread, which 'can' mention s/j ship (or any other sam/ship) when we're talking about *sam*. but, peronsally, for me, i've also felt a bit uncomfortable mentioning it sometimes because... i've been given a hard time about it.
doesn't stop me from mentioning s/j, but it also doesn't always make me feel welcome.
i have an OT question which i want someone to answer (at least try) in the samanda whinge nuts thread. please.
i wrote a letter to a website last night and saved it to (what i thought) was notepad. when i tried to open the letter today, i found it had been saved (or became) an ms-dos program. how???
when i tried to open that program, it said it had/was performing some illegal maneuver (hope the prison time won't be too stiff? ) and that it can't open it. i want a copy of this letter!
can anyone suggest anything?
please reply in samanda whinge nuts. i know i could have asked there, but i think there's more traffic here than in the off topic areas.
It's more than just warning folks who don't like Sam/Jack when people make a recommendation. It's bigger than that. The undertone demands clemency; it's sort of saying, hey, this is S/J, BUT wonder of wonders ... it's also good. As though S/J as a concept deserves to be anathema. Who made that decision?
It could be argued that there's a strong bias against heterosexual pairings in the Stargate fandoms, and that heterosexual canon pairings bring out some seriously rabid anti-fen. And, yes, there have been ship wars over 'whose pairing - if any - is right' and a lot of feelings hurt.
On the whole, I think that any heterosexual pairing carries with it a lot of the stigma of the romance genre: second-rate, trashy, pulp-fiction, brainless stuff.
Ironically, the 'male' version of the romance genre - the blow-em-up, shoot-em-out, race-em-through-the-narrow-streets, explosions-explosions-explosions movie genre that is basically trashy, brainless stuff - is considered 'cool' and 'okay' for all that it's nothing more than self-insert wish fulfilment - which is probably a gender-bias commentary on our society.
Originally posted by minigeek
That really bites, you know? Because it meansthere's less great S/J fiction being written and it means that manyauthors who are interested in it, and really could write great S/J into their fiction won't do it, or will tone it down to almost nothing, because of that weird stigma thing.
I know that one reason I'm writing less S/J fiction is because I more or less stopped watching the show back in Season 7. A lot of S/J writers have drifted from the fandom since RDA left the regular cast, and quite a few are bitter at what they term the 'lack of resolution' between the characters.
So a lot of the people who were writing S/J in Seasons 4-6 aren't doing as much writing in that genre any more.
*dryly*
And if you want to realise how good Sam/Jack has it in the fandom, try shipping John/Teyla in Atlantis. Sam/Jack is a walk in the park with pink fluffy bunnies hopping all around compared with the bile and vilification involved when one ships John/Teyla.
Personally, I write what I want to write with the characters who engage me. My single-character focus is Sam in SG1, just as my pairing focus is Sam/Jack. Always has been.
I agree jckfan. Even just as a fun keepsake. I think it'd be a sweet gesture to send an appropriate fruit-salad ensemble to Amanda. Especially if (someone far better at figuring out this sort of thing than I am!) were to discern what she should have and figure out what we'd need to do to get ahold of it!
we could always send amanda a *real* fruit salad; just saying it's the best we can do.
Well, you can always count on the substantive discussion being here, no matter what! My only complaint is that it takes me too long to get caught up with the ongoing discussions when I've been away from the thread!
Although I'm arriving after just about everything that can be said has already been said, I admire everyone here for the polite discourse with which you aired your opposing viewpoints. It was hic comitas regit at its best.....
.....and the reason this is the best thread on the forum!!!!!
oh my gawd, that fic was great! it was one of the first fics i'd read and i'm still blown away by it.
i'm still blown away by 'banshee'... and haunted by it. it sooooo needs a sequel! (and i can't send feedback to her because i'm not a member of fanfic.net)
speaking of haunting fics... if you don't mind a weird fic, i recommend 'one', by Pariskhevi Kalodimas.
Well, you can always count on the substantive discussion being here, no matter what! My only complaint is that it takes me too long to get caught up with the ongoing discussions when I've been away from the thread!
Although I'm arriving after just about everything that can be said has already been said, I admire everyone here for the polite discourse with which you aired your opposing viewpoints. It was hic comitas regit at its best.....
.....and the reason this is the best thread on the forum!!!!!
Same happens to me, sg1fan. Everything that needs to be said has been said, leaving me nothing to add. So I am living vicariously through other peoples posts!
In the Kingdom of Hope, there is no Winter
Life is too short for drama & petty things,
so kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly & forgive quickly!
Attendee of Shore Leave28, AT2 and AVALON
Proud Member of the Sam is a Great Character Thread
Hic Comitas Regit
Member of the Ship, Ship Hooray Special Ops Team
Member of Gategrrlz Gone Wild (proud Shore Leave 28 attendee).
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