Sam Carter/Amanda Tapping Discussion/Appreciation

[Skydiver]

there is nothing wrong with flexing your fanfic wings. in fact, i would like to encourage each and every writer to try something different. Always written sam fic, try crawling into daniel's head. or jack's or teal'c's

who knows, you might find a nitch that fits you. I never dreamed of writing teal'c fic until i was challenged one day and i did and i have a sporatic series of teal'c fic that i play with and i enjoy writing him.

some of the writers whose work i enjoy the most have branched out. they try different things, and there's nothing at all wrong with that

a writer finds his/her voice through experimentation so please, keep playing around.

[astrogeologist]

Here's another little Sam collage that I was playing with tonight.
It's made especially for AstroG and everyone else who enjoys seeing
Sam fly.

Give Me Wings

Kat

Wow! Five star, Kat! What a beautiful collage!

[tsaxlady]

Right,
I've not had chance to catch up with all the post from last night - but I just had to log on from work for a rant.

Volume 40 rip off alert!!

ONLY 3 EPISODES on the disc - Sacrifices, Endgame, PU.

NO AUDIO COMMENTRIES

EXTRAS? The making of a supa soldier, (the on topic bit) Convention experience with AT, Convention experience with MS - and thats the lot really apart from prod des and trailers

OH AND IT IS THE SAME INFLATED RIP OFF PRICE. I'M SO DISGUSTED WITH MGM!!!!

OK Rant over

will join you in a more relaxed mood tonight!!

Yeah apparently the boxsets will have the commentaries and other features though (at least thats what I recall someone saying on these forums, from the recent convention).
Which I dont mind, because I go for the boxsets anyway. Although the Region 4's might be different...

In Vancouver when I asked Martin Gero about the commentaries he said that they are not on the single disc because with 2 shows (SG-1 & Atlantis) and the early release dates overseas they just did not have time to get the commentaries ready but that they would be on box sets.

[astrogeologist]

What episodes throughout the series does AT do the audio commentaries for? I know of two right now, Ascension and Avenger 2.0...

She also does Death Knell, Lost City and Resurrection.

[astrogeologist]

Here are some images and sounds from the director's special on Avenger. The first pictures of Amanda are when she's standing outside Felger's door and she's asked about Sam's relationship with Felger. (you're right Kat, Amanda has a great giggle and an infectious smile!)

The second set of pictures show Martin Wood demonstrating how Felger should kiss Sam. I loved the look on Amanda's face when Martin says "When you kiss Amanda...," and then she bails before Martin can finish the kiss.

click here to listen




click here to listen



NC

Just wonderful, NC! I love the bit where Martin Wood refers to Felger in Season 8... and Amanda says Season What? LOL!

[astrogeologist]

YES!!!!
I have the exact same problem, which is why I absolutely adore your fic Sky, as well as some of the other fic writers we have here in our thread.

Hell, I'll even read about Sam gardening her flowers if it's a Sam focused gen fic!

That one dead basil plant? (sorry, couldn't resist)

[ForeverSg1]

i can see what the femslashers see. in fact, iirc, rite of passage is referred to as 'the eps where cassie gets two mommies' or something like that.

of course, after years of wathing the j/d, s&j crowds turn the smallest little exchange into 'proof positive' it only reaffirms my belief that folks see what they want to see. and there's nothing wrong with any of it

usually my one issue with ship or slash pairings is, to make it work, often the characters are warped a bit. in s&j, jack is this huge closet romantic who just thinks he's not worthy of washing sam's feet. and sam is this emotionally messed up woman who's about as strong as a wet washcloth.

in slash, daniel is often this 98 pound weakling, adored by everyone, but who ignore him and take him for granted until he's selflessly injured, then tehy all see the errors of thier ways and it's a mass infirmary vigil around thier 'widdle spacemonkey'

and jack is often super romanticized in slash too. i think there's even a fic or two where he serenades daniel

anyway, not all ship/slash fic have bad characterizations. some are very true to the characters.

but, for me, the bad characterizations are often what turns me off of some fic. I personally have found sam/jack ship authors who write them the closest to how i see the characters on the show, so it's the easiest for me to read.

i would LOVE to read some nice gen sam fic. the 'problem' is, most of the 'gen' writers focus on daniel or jack. pitifully few of them use sam as thier focus so if i want my fix of sam, i'm probably going to have to read a ship fic because, for the most part, the sam/jack crowd are the only ones who write the character in anything but a supporting role

Yeah I have to agree with your opinions. I've really come to view these same issues regarding 'ship' within fanfic. I admit I like the relationship of S/J onscreen, but in fanfic I have found myself more often than not cringing at the sugary sweet rapport they seem to have with one another. It's almost enough to put me into diabetic coma. Luckily for me, I have managed to weed through those types of stories and found some very good authors, many who are amongst us, who have done an excellent job of writing the characters as I see them in my own mind and on-screen.

But as you say, we each see things in scenes that we wish to see. We each have our own individual likes and dislikes. I actually prefer the humor and personal relationships that were developing between all four characters in the first five seasons moreso than I was interested in seeing the Badass Inter-Galactic Gou'ald Busters, but that's just me. I know others really liked to see the big gun scenes and watching things explode, as did I. However, as much as I enjoyed these moments, I think I would have quickly lost interest in the show if this was as deep as the storylines went.

I don't think adding a relationship aspect into a storyline is a necesarrily a bad thing...it's just a matter of having too much of a good thing and learning, as AstroG put it, how to balance it all out. I mean most people enjoy having a big piece of cake every now and then, but if you eat cake every day for every meal eventually you start to get sick of it and you don't want to ever see another piece of cake again. I think that's what has happened to many of the viewers over the past few years, myself included.

For me personally, I've always wanted to have my cake and eat it too. I want to see all the great action, the light-hearted humour, the intense drama, and the personal interactions all wrapped up in one shiny, little package. Even if we were given seven exceptional episodes in a row with Sam being the brilliant scientist and saving the world, I would still really miss not seeing her in action and vice versa.

One can only hope that the writers can manage to step back from their grand story and make sure that this year Sam gets a broader range of story arcs and that they don't become centered around one particular aspect of what makes Sam such a great character.

Kat

[Strix varia]

To comment on a thread many pages in the past, here are some random thoughts on Vala’s wardrobe, PU, and scantily clad aliens….

I didn’t hate Prometheus Unbound, but I think that mixing sex and violence in an attempt at humor sends the wrong message to society in general. I think the writers thought it was funny to have Vala and Daniel beating up on each other in some sort of warped sexual flirtation. I found it to be vaguely disturbing, something I would call “a really bad idea” on a philosophical level, even though some of the lines did make me laugh.

However, they did set Vala’s personality in that episode, and it’s pretty obvious that she uses her sexuality for power. Because of that, I wasn’t surprised to see her dressed in black leather, dominatrix style, in season 9. Disappointing, maybe, but not surprising given how they set her up in PU. It doesn’t seem like they’re taking a complete 180 with her character, at any rate.

Like it or not, science fiction has a long history and tradition of dressing women in as little as possible. When you think about it, Stargate has actually been very good about putting their extras into ample clothing over the years. It would have been very easy for TPTB to skimp on costumes for every ancient culture they ran across off-world. You know, a lot of those warmer ancient cultures didn’t share our Puritanical / Victorian heebeegeebees about nudity, and the goa'uld were certainly set up as sensual connoisseurs from the very beginning.

I think TPTB have been remarkably conservative in not exploiting the flesh when they easily could have. Yeah, there have been a few episodes where the native guards had magnificent abs and biceps, and the women showed their sexy belly buttons, but really, not very often in the grand scheme of things. Going through screen captures for each of the seasons, you really don't see a lot of bare bodies. (Maybe the weather in Canada contributes to that, I don’t know.)

For now, I’m giving TPTB the benefit of the doubt. I can handle Vala in black leather as consistent with her personality. If they’ll get the team out of the sleeveless T’s (per their Air Force advisor’s recommendation) and mostly continue to refrain from going the tacky scantily-clad-aliens route (for males *and* females), I’ll be happy.

And in a lame attempt to throw in some on topic thoughts, I am very happy with what they’ve done with Sam’s wardrobe over the years. You know, Amanda is so beautiful that they must have been fighting the urge to come up with excuses to put her in more revealing costumes at every opportunity, but they have largely resisted. I appreciate that.

[jckfan55]

You might try Sassinak by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon. Elizabeth Moon was in the military, so she understands what it means to be a female soldier. If you haven't read Robin McKinley's _The Hero and the Crown_ and _The Blue Sword_ I would highly recommend them. The former won a Newbery, the latter was a Newbery honor book. Both feature very strong female heroines. They are fantasies, though, rather than science fiction. Harry (a woman!) actually reminds me a lot of Sam... tall, blonde, and kicks a**.

I didn't know that about Elizabeth Moon. I've enjoyed her Heris Seranno and Esmay Suiza series. Started with "Once a Hero" and then found all the books that came before that. David Weber's Honor Harrington series also has strong women. Both these series are military SF, but have good character development, IMO. Weber gets a bit technical, so I kind of skim over those parts. I think one of the things I like about Stargate is that it isn't just action/adventure(which I enjoy) but has characters you care about.

[1speed4Sam]

The big day is tomorrow and I'm taking 1s4S out mountainbiking during the day (at least I will be biking 1s may well be walking). As the weather forecast is good he's threatened me with wearing lycra cycling shorts - maybe I should get a photo and post for you all?

Hopefully after the ride he'll be tired enough to be happy crashing on the settee whilst I ply him with as much Stargate as he can take, but not too tired to fall asleep - see the fine line I have to pedal!!! Oh and I have to make dinner for us as well - the things I do for Samanda!! At least my alcohol will be safe as he will be driving!

I'm sure 1s will post his thoughts on Stargate on monday!

Citizens of Samanda,

I am delighted to announce that the Big Day was a complete success. I have finally taken my first step towards full citizenship (which I hope you won’t mind me saying took about 20 minutes longer than it should have… ), and am now eagerly awaiting the next stage in my education (or “Season One”, as I believe it is called). I have also come to the astonishing realisation that I live just a short tram ride away from the Stargate itself, although in this reality it is called “Starr Gate”, and is disguised as a go-karting track.

Hopefully, the next edition of the “Oh Yea Times” will contain a full report of my initiation into the ways of Samanda - among the highlights, watch out for the Royal Accountant's majestic "uncontrolled dismount" (luckily, she bounces quite well), and the recipe for her speciality dish of pasta, courgettes / zucchini, Parmesan cheese and crème fraiche (a delicious feast, and the side-effects do wear off after a day or so ).

I would also like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the Royal Accountant for her efforts in showing me the way forward, and especially for ensuring I was able to enjoy Stargate The Movie in complete comfort and safety - the additional wrist and ankle restraints fitted to the settee to prevent me falling off in moments of intense excitement were a particularly nice touch. And for those who care about these things, I can confirm that the RA only consumed a single bottle from the Royal Liquor Cabinet in my presence. Of course, what happened after I had left is anybody’s guess…

Finally, apologies to anybody who was looking forward to seeing a photo of a middle-aged bloke in lycra shorts, but it turned out to be a bit too cold for that kind of thing. Maybe next time, eh?

1s4S

[astrogeologist]

To comment on a thread many pages in the past, here are some random thoughts on Vala’s wardrobe, PU, and scantily clad aliens….

I didn’t hate Prometheus Unbound, but I think that mixing sex and violence in an attempt at humor sends the wrong message to society in general. I think the writers thought it was funny to have Vala and Daniel beating up on each other in some sort of warped sexual flirtation. I found it to be vaguely disturbing, something I would call “a really bad idea” on a philosophical level, even though some of the lines did make me laugh.

However, they did set Vala’s personality in that episode, and it’s pretty obvious that she uses her sexuality for power. Because of that, I wasn’t surprised to see her dressed in black leather, dominatrix style, in season 9. Disappointing, maybe, but not surprising given how they set her up in PU. It doesn’t seem like they’re taking a complete 180 with her character, at any rate.

Like it or not, science fiction has a long history and tradition of dressing women in as little as possible. When you think about it, Stargate has actually been very good about putting their extras into ample clothing over the years. It would have been very easy for TPTB to skimp on costumes for every ancient culture they ran across off-world. You know, a lot of those warmer ancient cultures didn’t share our Puritanical / Victorian heebeegeebees about nudity, and the goa'uld were certainly set up as sensual connoisseurs from the very beginning.

I think TPTB have been remarkably conservative in not exploiting the flesh when they easily could have. Yeah, there have been a few episodes where the native guards had magnificent abs and biceps, and the women showed their sexy belly buttons, but really, not very often in the grand scheme of things. Going through screen captures for each of the seasons, you really don't see a lot of bare bodies. (Maybe the weather in Canada contributes to that, I don’t know.)

For now, I’m giving TPTB the benefit of the doubt. I can handle Vala in black leather as consistent with her personality. If they’ll get the team out of the sleeveless T’s (per their Air Force advisor’s recommendation) and mostly continue to refrain from going the tacky scantily-clad-aliens route (for males *and* females), I’ll be happy.

And in a lame attempt to throw in some on topic thoughts, I am very happy with what they’ve done with Sam’s wardrobe over the years. You know, Amanda is so beautiful that they must have been fighting the urge to come up with excuses to put her in more revealing costumes at every opportunity, but they have largely resisted. I appreciate that.

Great post, Strix! I still don't understand why everyone's against the sleeveless T's - I wonder if some fans were upset when some of the women wore those tank tops a few times in StarTrek Voyager? I wasn't aware of online fandoms at the time, so I don't know what the fan reaction was... I was OK with it though... actually thought they looked great. In the same show, however, was the 'scifi female costume' that really did bug me - 7of9's catsuit! The mindset that dresses a woman like that as everyday clothing (and she had to wear it 99% of the time) that bugs me.

Vala's costume seems so far from the sleeveless T's... Vala's costume just screams 'sex is a powerful weapon and this woman wields it with a knowing and strong hand'... ugh!

So... I have to admit that I started thinking a bit selfishly last night - what I mean is, maybe if Stargate's PTB are getting pressure to appeal to 'certain demographics'... then maybe we are really lucky that the Vala character will 'bear this load'... so that AT won't be pressured to. As some of you have stated, it's possible that AT would just say - thanks, but no thanks and quietly work out the rest of her contract and then leave. So, I know that I'm being selfish here, but if Vala's costume keeps 'that kind of costume pressure' off of AT and Sam... ?

[astrogeologist]

Yeah I have to agree with your opinions. I've really come to view these same issues regarding 'ship' within fanfic. I admit I like the relationship of S/J onscreen, but in fanfic I have found myself more often than not cringing at the sugary sweet rapport they seem to have with one another. It's almost enough to put me into diabetic coma. Luckily for me, I have managed to weed through those types of stories and found some very good authors, many who are amongst us, who have done an excellent job of writing the characters as I see them in my own mind and on-screen.

But as you say, we each see things in scenes that we wish to see. We each have our own individual likes and dislikes. I actually prefer the humor and personal relationships that were developing between all four characters in the first five seasons moreso than I was interested in seeing the Badass Inter-Galactic Gou'ald Busters, but that's just me. I know others really liked to see the big gun scenes and watching things explode, as did I. However, as much as I enjoyed these moments, I think I would have quickly lost interest in the show if this was as deep as the storylines went.

I don't think adding a relationship aspect into a storyline is a necesarrily a bad thing...it's just a matter of having too much of a good thing and learning, as AstroG put it, how to balance it all out. I mean most people enjoy having a big piece of cake every now and then, but if you eat cake every day for every meal eventually you start to get sick of it and you don't want to ever see another piece of cake again. I think that's what has happened to many of the viewers over the past few years, myself included.

For me personally, I've always wanted to have my cake and eat it too. I want to see all the great action, the light-hearted humour, the intense drama, and the personal interactions all wrapped up in one shiny, little package. Even if we were given seven exceptional episodes in a row with Sam being the brilliant scientist and saving the world, I would still really miss not seeing her in action and vice versa.

One can only hope that the writers can manage to step back from their grand story and make sure that this year Sam gets a broader range of story arcs and that they don't become centered around one particular aspect of what makes Sam such a great character.

Kat

Well stated, Kat!

[jckfan55]

What I’d like to see in Season 9:
Cassie, unable to deal with the loss of her second mother, and afraid that Pete could become her stepfather, has become a troubled teen alcoholic. After helping Cassie through a pregnancy scare, and bailing her out of jail numerous times, Sam turns to tough love. Cassie responds by threatening to reveal the SGC and her own alien origins to the press. Sam, desperate, sends Cassie to the Jaffa for a 6 week program to dry out and “snap out of it.”

Just kidding!

You all have such good ideas for Sam, I can only second them.

[astrogeologist]

Citizens of Samanda,

I am delighted to announce that the Big Day was a complete success. I have finally taken my first step towards full citizenship (which I hope you won’t mind me saying took about 20 minutes longer than it should have… ),

The movie doesn't hold a candle to the series, so the best is yet to come, 1s4s! The series is so much more fun - and the series has Sam! (the movie's primary cast was basically men).

and am now eagerly awaiting the next stage in my education (or “Season One”, as I believe it is called). I have also come to the astonishing realisation that I live just a short tram ride away from the Stargate itself, although in this reality it is called “Starr Gate”, and is disguised as a go-karting track.

LOL - at first I thought you might be alluding to Stonehenge or some such... but a go-cart track - LOL!

Hopefully, the next edition of the “Oh Yea Times” will contain a full report of my initiation into the ways of Samanda - among the highlights, watch out for the Royal Accountant's majestic "uncontrolled dismount" (luckily, she bounces quite well)

Yikes!

and the recipe for her speciality dish of pasta, courgettes / zucchini, Parmesan cheese and crème fraiche (a delicious feast, and the side-effects do wear off after a day or so ).

Oooo... that sounds like I'd make you share if you lived anywhere near me!

I would also like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the Royal Accountant for her efforts in showing me the way forward, and especially for ensuring I was able to enjoy Stargate The Movie in complete comfort and safety - the additional wrist and ankle restraints fitted to the settee to prevent me falling off in moments of intense excitement were a particularly nice touch.

LOL again! And am reminded of the Zatarc detector that you will see in a later season...

And for those who care about these things, I can confirm that the RA only consumed a single bottle from the Royal Liquor Cabinet in my presence. Of course, what happened after I had left is anybody’s guess…

Finally, apologies to anybody who was looking forward to seeing a photo of a middle-aged bloke in lycra shorts, but it turned out to be a bit too cold for that kind of thing. Maybe next time, eh?

1s4S

ROTFLOL, 1s4s! Love the way you write - love the humor! You are most certainly a welcome addition to the SaGC thread and Samanda! Please keep posting!

[astrogeologist]

Here's a fanfic that might be along the lines of what a lot of folks have said that they wanted with regards to Sam dealing with the aftereffects of her ordeal with Fifth. Weather - Be warned that it's a dark, edgy and cranky fic, but it does have Sam/Teal'c friendship/comradeship. Off to find something happier to read now...