It's Gen Fic Day!

[fignewton]

Happy birthday, moonshayde!

We're commemorating two years' worth of gen recs over at stargateficrec with SG-1 Gen Fic Day!

Reply to this post with commentfic, drabbles, links to new works or WIPs, and fic recs - anything, as long as it's gen and SG-1.

If you've written a ficlet for Alphabet Soup, include it in the comments here or supply a link to the fic on your own LJ. I'll collate them all into one big Alphabet Soup when we've got Daniel completely defined from A to Z! There are still a few letters left to claim if you want to join in the fun.

This post will remain open for submissions until Thursday morning my time, which is midnight or so on the West Coast in the States.

Write! Post! Comment! Squee! Have fun. :)

ETA: There are still ten hours or so left on the official deadline. It's bedtime in my part of the world, but I wanted to point out there are three letters left for Alphabet Soup: O, R, and Y. If you'd like to take one and help us finish, just leave a comment so that others will know not to claim it.

I'd love to wake up tomorrow morning and find our Alphabet Soup all done! :)

Comments

B is for Book

[uniquinum.livejournal.com]

It's too long, so I have to link it.

B is for Book (http://uniquinum.livejournal.com/59189.html)

Re: B is for Book

[tejas.livejournal.com]

B is also for beautiful, and so is the story. Very nice.

Gis for Glasses and Grief

[sg-wonderland.livejournal.com]

http://sg-wonderland.livejournal.com/

L is for Loss of Language

[sg-wonderland.livejournal.com]

L is for Loss of Language
(because I’m really a glutton for punishment)


Early season seven. Sam/Daniel friendship
Word Count: 264


It’s taken me the best part of two months but I’ve finally learned to give him his space. Leaping to hug him automatically, I’ve discovered, is the worst thing you can do. Colonel O’Neill got a sock in the jaw for hugging a not-expecting-it Daniel. Which led to a magnificent bruise and remorseful, stammering apologies, the like of which I haven’t seen in nearly seven years.

It’s an awful lot like piloting an aircraft you’d grown so familiar with over the years, only to have the manufacturers whip out a new-and allegedly improved-model and expect you to ooh and aah over the changes. But after your initial enthusiasm, you realize that none of the buttons are where they’re supposed to be and suddenly, it’s like flying a completely different ship because the pieces no longer fit.

The expression of disbelief hasn’t changed all that much over the years. You can just see it better now because he hasn’t quite got the veiled look back in his repertoire.

“How many?” He asks, his arms firmly wrapped around himself, as if no one knows how to comfort him but him.

“Twenty-seven at first. Counting off-world languages, you’re over thirty now.”

Fear and frustration emanate in equal waves. “How can I not remember? Any of it?”

I walk over to him slowly, clenched hands at my side, although they are itching to wrap around him. “It’ll come back, Daniel. It will.”

I hope, I add silently.

Re: L is for Loss of Language

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

the pieces no longer fit

Yeah. An apt metaphor for descended Daniel, I think.

Great Sam POV. Lovely fic.

M is for Mint Julep

[sg-wonderland.livejournal.com]

Jack/Daniel friendship
Word Count: 257

M is for Mint Julep

Jack took a big drink and promptly spit it back out. “What the hell is this?”

“It’s a mint julep, Jack. They’re traditional drinks at the Derby.” Daniel frowned at him. “You don’t like it?”

“I think it’s a waste of perfectly good whiskey.” Jack poured the remainder of his drink down the sink and replaced it with straight whiskey. “Are you sure you made it right?”

“Well, I couldn’t exactly get all the ingredients right.” Daniel sipped his with a hopeful look that quickly turned into a frown of his own. “Do you think it’s supposed to taste like that?”

“See, I told you. Here, have some whiskey.” Daniel followed his lead and switched his drink for plain whiskey. “Just out of curiosity, what is the recipe?”

“You have to have cold spring water.”

“Colorado Springs. Plenty of fresh water around here.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly know where any springs were so I used distilled water. I didn’t have a sterling silver cup to mix it in or a sterling silver spoon to crush the mint with so I used a glass and a metal spoon. And I couldn’t fine the specific kind of sugar so I just used, you know, regular sugar.”

“Cheer up, Daniel, at least you got the whiskey right. We’d better go rescue Teal’c. Last I heard, Carter was trying to explain stud service to Teal’c.”

Daniel jumped up, then darted back for the whiskey bottle. “Oh, this I’ve got to hear.”

Re: M is for Mint Julep

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Hee hee hee! So do I! Daniel's a wise man to keep the whiskey bottle. :)

Daniel Alphabet Soup - F is for Friendship

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

Hallmark Moment

“What is it?” Jack asks, holding the piece of card away from him, pinched between two fingers like it’s something he’d rather fling away.

“It is a card,” Teal’c intones, with all the gravity Jack has gotten used to over the initial few months. Sometimes, just sometimes, Jack thinks maybe Teal’c is having them all on.

“I can see that,” Jack says, sounding a little exasperated and finally holding the card properly. It has tulips on it.

Dear God.

“I am just following your custom of celebrating a relationship with a card.”

“What relationship?” Jack asks, getting very nervous by now and deciding to tackle one confusing thing about the sentence just uttered at a time.

“I and Daniel Jackson are friends. I believe we have reached a place where he no longer thinks of me as…” Right at that moment Teal’c actually grimaces and Jack thinks that maybe it’s the first real expression he’s seen on the other man’s face.

Jack feels like a heel, well and truly.

“Sure, sure,” he says, nodding. “So, what did you want me to do?”

“Help me with the message,” Teal’c says, holding out a pen. “There is an inscription in the card but it is far too generic.”

Jack nods again and then stops because Teal’c is looking at him with his eyes narrowing. “Okay, alright,” he finally says and squares his shoulders. “But for this, I need cake, and maybe Carter.”

“Indeed.”

Re: Daniel Alphabet Soup - F is for Friendship

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, just sometimes, Jack thinks maybe Teal’c is having them all on.

Hah! Just wait, Jack - you'll soon discover that it's always.

Poor Teal'c, trying to get it right.

::hugs all four of them::

I can haz self-pimp nao?

[rydra_wong]

walked right out of the machinery (season 6 AU, Jack-centric, novel-length, PG-13/R for violence and language)

Gen like a gen thing *g*.

Re: I can haz self-pimp nao?

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. Such a powerful fic.

And while I don't think there's anyone in LJland who hasn't read it yet, I'm honored to have it linked to Gen Fic Day! :)

H is for Heliopolis and J is for Jack

[lokei.livejournal.com]

H- Heliopolis

Before he finishes tumbling down the ramp, Daniel knows he'll never stop dreaming about it. Yes, the sputtering of the failing gate was terrifying, and yes, Jack was probably right to drag him through it, and yes, three of the four alien languages are beyond his comprehension for the moment—but those runes, and the promise of an alien Rosetta stone, and that universal language—

For a moment all was delineated with that clarity he has had only once before, standing in front of that first event horizon—for that one perfect moment, everything else in all the worlds went away. Former losses, fresh ones, the kinds that still had the power to make his chest seize in the middle of the night—all paled and faded into silence in the face of such possibility.

Daniel knows he will be seeing those glowing atoms rotating above his head for the rest of his life, surely as if he had remained forever on Heliopolis in their silent company.


J- Jack

Funny, Daniel muses, how an instant can have such an impact on an entire life.

Daniel knows all about instants: instants in which ropes give way and stone falls, instants in which a career-making presentation turns into an emptying hall of laughing, pitying peers, instants in which the glory of the whole world is outshone by the wondrous shimmer of a gateway to the stars.

Somehow, he's gotten the impression that Colonel O'Neill knows all about instants, too. How they mark a man indelibly, make a father into a mourner, make a soldier into a shell.

Some instants make a nuisance into a friend.

The staff weapon primes as they struggle on their knees before Ra.

Funny how an instant can last so long when you're trying to save the life of a friend you didn't have an instant before.

Jack, Daniel thinks. And he jumps.

Re: H is for Heliopolis and J is for Jack

[tejas.livejournal.com]

Oh, so nice!

[fic-zat.livejournal.com]

because I do write gen (actually, I seem to have avoided picking a style at all, unless "not too long" is a style)

Christmas Present (http://fic-zat.livejournal.com/676.html) - Sam's first Christmas on Atlantis

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Great!

Sam love is always a good thing. :)

(and your icon is absolute LOVE. You must comment to Kalquessa's "B is for Boys" with that icon!)

Daniel: A to Z - my letters, let me show you them

[tejas.livejournal.com]

Many thanks to aelfgyfu_mead for her excellent Gen beta services! Couldn't have done it without you! You kept me on track.

Letter I: "Who Am I?" (http://tejas.livejournal.com/52728.html)

Letter Q: "Quickly!" (http://tejas.livejournal.com/52884.html)

Letter W: "Words of Beauty/Love/Life" (http://tejas.livejournal.com/53082.html)

(X is not yet finished, sadly, but should be up later today.)

Letter X: "Xeno-stuff" (http://tejas.livejournal.com/53381.html)

Re: Daniel: A to Z - my letters, let me show you them

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

An embarrassment of riches, wheee!

::bounces off to read::

Shameless self-pimping

[tejas.livejournal.com]

I've only written one longish gen and it's actually the gen version of the slash story. See, some people have slash glasses, but I have slash eyes for this universe. :-) When you were doing your "We need more Gen" campaign last fall, I took a good long look at this one and realized just about anyone else would have written it gen to start with. :-) So I polished up my gen glasses, got a gen beta and there it was. In the end, there was surprisingly little to change.

Battle Cry (http://www.stargatefan.com/archives/viewstory.php?sid=31) "In war, there are no unwounded soldiers." ~Jose Narosky
Jack, Daniel, friendship, h/c

Re: Shameless self-pimping

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Hey, if it's gen, we want the link!

D is for Death

[shutthef-up.livejournal.com]

Many thanks to surreallis for the beta! U will be up a little later today!

D is for Death.

“Don’t you ever give up?” Jarrod asks him, slumped in his cell.

“Not until I’m dead… and sometimes not even then.”

No human being should die as many times as he has and still be around to tell the tale. Not that he’s talked much about it, even with his teammates, people who’ve gone a round or two with Death themselves.

Cheating Death, either by Ascension (twice) or sarcophagus (three times that he remembers clearly) or Laying On Of Hands by alien beings (at least once, maybe more), in no way erases the memory of dying. He’s died sharp and quick, slow and agonizing and pretty much everything in between, so Daniel feels uniquely qualified to have an opinion on the best and worst ways to go.

Lying in his bed on those nights sleep doesn’t immediately take him (and despite what Teal’c and others, might think, once he decides to sleep Daniel rarely has trouble achieving it), he imagines he can feel the scars beneath his skin. The marks may not be visible, but they linger beneath the surface, etched into the very cell structure of muscle and bone.

Some mornings when he twists a particular way, Daniel’s sure he can feel the pull of his healed abdominal muscles, where Sam’s Replicator double impaled him on her sword-arm. Stretching his arms over his head, he has the body memory of a staff blast to the left side of his chest and for just a moment he feels his heart flutter as if it too remembers struggling to pump just long enough for him to reach the sarcophagus on Apophis’ ship.

Other times it’s an odd moment of dissonance, like a faint double exposure on a photographic negative. For a few agonizing seconds, he feels the burning pain and hopelessness of lying in a bed, dying of radiation poisoning. It feels like he’s rotting from the inside out and it takes another moment or two for him to regain his equilibrium. It only hits him in idle moments when he’s running low on either caffeine or blood sugar, but it tends to linger, coloring his mood until he manages to immerse himself in either mental or physical activity.

Since he retook human form for the first time, he’s been more conscientiousness in the care and feeding of his body. If his teammates find it odd, they don’t mention it. He supposes the reason is obvious enough; you never value what you have until you lose it. So he spends more time in the gym with Teal’c and Sam and sparred with Jack when he was around. He could see the envy behind the older man’s eyes and it was painful for them both. Daniel never knew how to tell Jack that retaking human form doesn’t erase the prior wear and tear. It’s not like a sarcophagus. What Daniel got back was exactly what he’d left behind, no more, no less.


If he’s more… decisive, than he used to be, more willing to take up a gun rather than run his mouth, well, he’s learned. He doesn’t want to die anymore and as… final as it may seem, he sort of hopes the next time he dies will be his last.

Re: D is for Death

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is fantastic. Such an intelligent look at descended Daniel, and the changes that we see in him. And so bleak to think that his body has never truly forgotten its multiple death throes.

Really excllent stuff!

T is for Temper - part 1

[randomfreshink.livejournal.com]

What's Chosen

Daniel stood with the whip in one hand, as close to losing it as he could remember--and for an instant, pretty sure he was about to be knocked on his ass. He didn't care. And then the other guy blinked, seemed to realize who'd stopped that last blow, and he dropped his end of the whip and stepped back. But Daniel, blood singing and heart pounding, has had it.

He's seen domestic disputes before on Abydos, told himself it was tradition--their laws--and looked away. This, however, is prejudice, and just stupidity, and the injustice is still digging under his skin.

It'll leave him shaking and sick afterwards--he's been though it before. Fights that left him on the ground usually. And one time when he really lost it that he doesn't remember--after his parents died, when his next memory was of sitting in a hospital, dried blood flaking from his fingers and a reed-thin voice that came out when he tried to ask what happened. It's still a blur--he can still hear his parent's yelling, and his own. The sound of stone. But he has no memory of screaming his voice away, nor does he recall clawing at rock with bare nails.

This moment, however, has become as crystalline as that second when the chain snapped.

And he's almost managed to hold back the heat flaming up from his belly to burn on his face. But Sha're has backed away, and Kasuf has approached with small bows.

With a nervous glance for the other man, and then at youth on the ground, and finally a worried stare for Daniel, Kasuf asks, "Good son?"

Kasuf has used the same tone as when he thought Daniel to be Ra's emissary--and Daniel knows he can use that, because he will do whatever it takes to get this to stop.

"Good father--there will be no more of this."

"But..." Puzzled, Kasuf searched for his words in the crowd, then looked back and offered, with almost an apology, "The woman, she dishonors her husband two-fold...this one was Ra's."

Letting the whip drop, heat incinerating his skin, Daniel shredded the last restraint of impartial observation.

"Once Ra's?" Arms thrown wide, he turned to the crowd, asked in Abydonian, "Were you not all once Ra's? Are you not the people who ended that?"

He can keep telling himself he's just observer, a scientist. But he's not, damnit. This has become his life. But he has just started to realize what it means to be these people's savior--god, he's never had or wanted this kind of responsibility. Which is one more reason this must end.

It's just wrong.

Scanning the crowd, searching for someone who will see truth, he knows these people are far from civilized. Right now, he's not that different--he also wants to beat a man just about to death. The only real difference is that he's learned how to make words as damaging as fists.

"Did Ra not beat you and starve you and kill your families for no better reason that it was his whim? Is that how you wish to live still--as the way it was with him for your god?"

He walked to the crowd's edge, had them fall back as he shouted, "You fought for what's right. Your loved ones died. And yet--you watch this..." he pointed to the half-naked couple in the street, dirt streaked and bloody, cowering, afraid now to even look at each other. "Are you still Ra's children?"

"No!" The shout lifted high and sharp, and Skaara stepped out, flanked by his friends, his back to the others now. "We are not Ra's!"

Daniel waited, but Skaara couldn't make that last step, so Daniel did it for him.

He went to the youth in the street, held out his hand. He heard the intake of a dozen quick breaths cross like a desert breeze. Ra's chosen had no home, no family--they'd been touched by the gods, and so became untouchable. After all, why would anyone return to a mortal life? Unless you'd been abandoned by the gods.

They were dead to their families--walking ghosts. Shunned, feared, sometimes hated. Arrogant, spoiled, untrained for any work, and terrified by a world they no longer knew. Sometimes fed or given clothes out of mercy, or in case they might still hold sway with Ra's favor.

Daniel only looked at and saw the same puzzled emptiness he'd once had in his own life.

T is for Temper - part 2

[randomfreshink.livejournal.com]

What's Chosen - part 2

The boy stared up at him, eyes wide and wary, suspecting a trick--Daniel had seen the jokes played on Ra's chosen, and they were never kind. But he kept his hand steady, and when the youth took it, he pulled him up, then dragged off his outer robe and offered it. Then the other man--the one who'd been using the whip on these two, moved, started to take his wife, and she cried out, and Daniel really lost it.

He turned, kept his voice low, stepped between the woman and her husband.

"No. You're not going to touch her. Not unless she says, and if you do and I hear, I will have them unbury the Stargate so I can call O'Neill back. And he will take you with him, and I will let him, and you will live the rest of your days beneath the weight of a mountain, never knowing the sun again, or clean air, or a kind word. You will die with no sons to carry your name and no daughters to sing of you to their children, so that your soul will wander forever in darkness, forgotten by all."

He spoke fast, mixed English and Abydonian, and stray bits of Coptic Egyptian creped in, but the man seemed to get the point. Or maybe it was having someone in his face and damn well meaning every word.

The man glanced at the crowd--and Daniel knew he was looking for support. Even one voice added to this man's would make a rift in the community that might never heal--and, damnit, this would just go underground.

Scooping up the whip from the dirt, Daniel advanced on the man. "The gods have short memories--but your neighbors have long ones. They will tell me if you ignore the new law." Turning, Daniel held up his arms. "No man, no woman, no child may be beaten. Those are the old ways. You have elders. They will hear when wrong has been done, and will decide what is fitting punishment."

Throwing the whip down, he turned, strode for his own house, because he couldn't stand to stare at that bastard one second more. He didn't look back and he didn't stop until he'd stepped into cool shadows. And then he put his hands on the wall and put his head down, and pulled in long breaths as he tried to stop shaking inside.

"Danyel?"

Sha're's voice, soft and uncertain, slapped the back of his neck like cold water, so that he turned and slumped against the wall. He'd acted like an idiot, and he could just about hear the gossip that'd start. Maybe he could pass this off as sunstroke--but one glance at Sha're's face told him no.

Knees giving, he sank to the floor, then looked up, winced and asked, "How bad?"

She came to his side and knelt before him. "Not as bad as when you said we must not take down the wadjet--that Ra's eye must stand to speak of our past. Or when you told the women they could no longer wash cloth in the city well. Or when you demanded that..."

"Oh, god, I shouldn't have stayed." With a groan he pulled his knees tighter and put his head onto them.

Sha're's voice--still soft, but now uncertain tugged at him. "Danyel? Husband? Does this mean if ever I find another more to my liking, you would not hunt for me and find me and beat me for it?"

Her voice held a teasing note, but he found it suddenly difficult to breath. If she left--dear god, what if she got tired of him, or when she found out just how difficult he was to live with? He was already making her into something of an outcast, just because he couldn't keep his mouth shut and let things be. And...

And something must have shown up in his face because she reached out, cupped his cheek, her eyes serious, all teasing gone.

"If you do not come after me and beat me for doing wrong, how do I know you care, my Danyel?"

He touched her cheek, then wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, pulled her close for a kiss. Then he pulled back. "There are better ways to show you care than by losing your temper."

Smiling, she touched his face. "Not for you, my husband."

Re: T is for Temper - part 2

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, wonderful. Wonderful.

(We'll ignore the kiss at the end, shall we?)

I love the Abydons' honest bewilderment, and Daniel using the power of his status when he has to. I love Sha're's list of everything else he's done that has utterly bewildered them, and the layers of meaning in that last bit of dialogue. And I love Daniel using Jack as the ultimate threat, because hee! For all the poetry and power of Daniel's description of life beneath the mountain, you just know it was the thought of Jack O'Neill stalking back into their life that absolutely made them all back down. :)

P is for Parents

[ryf.livejournal.com]

The human mind works in strange ways. Daniel discovered that multiple times in his life, but he was surprised by his own mind especially when it came to his childhood. He couldn't remember much of his parents, aside from the accident which had been forever burned into his brain, but sometimes he caught glimpses of them. Sometimes it happened in his dreams, sometimes a common sight or scent suddenly seemed to trigger a memory long buried.

Usually, he treasured these glimpses - they were all he had. But this time, they were unsolicited and unwanted.

Standing at the grave of his wife in the hot Abydonian sun, he could remember the first funeral he had ever been to, which had been so very different. It had been a cold and wet day, so much unlike this one. He had known almost none of the people that came to his parents' funeral and expressed sympathy to him, while here he knew everybody's names and loved them all. Which, in a way, made it harder.

He couldn't bear standing there anymore.

"Good son."

Son.

The year on Abydos had been the best of his life so far and Daniel couldn't imagine his life ever being this wonderful again. He had found his soulmate here, his brothers and sisters and also, a father. A father so different from his real father, but a father nonetheless.

"It was a beautiful ceremony good father," he heard himself respond, just like in his vision.

Father.

He would come back. Come back with Sha're's son, who deserved to have parents. And to see the one person he called a father.

[please use yviwriting as author name for the Alphabet Soup]

Re: P is for Parents

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. Absolutely awesome in its sheer simplicity and power. With the extra bonus of another reason why he loved Shifu!

Thanks for the heads-up re the credit. :)

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

Reccing a fic that I recently re-discovered, and which needs to be more widely read due to the fact that it is hilarious and perfect:

Shiny Daniel Trap (http://izhilzha.livejournal.com/150356.html?thread=1292116#t1292116), a comment fic written for a prompt, and its delightful sequel, Shiny Daniel (http://izhilzha.livejournal.com/189864.html). Daniel dies...sort of. And then comes back. Very fun.

I'll just go put the finishing touches on my Alphabet Soup ficlet, now...

[rigel-7.livejournal.com]

*self pimps*

"That inverted bowl we call the sky" (http://rigel-7.livejournal.com/123531.html) (PG)

Shau'ri, Pre-series (and thus technically has hints of Daniel/Shau'ri, but I say it's Gen!)

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

C is for Clothes, which Make the Man

"You know, I can't help noticing that while you guys saved a bunch of my books and artifacts, there's a suspicious lack of anything like clothes in any of these boxes." Daniel casts a sideways glance at Sam, who is filling his new refrigerator with milk and condiments while he unpacks the boxes from Jack's garage.

"Well, we didn't know you'd be coming back," Sam answers. "You died."

"Ascended."

She rolls her eyes. "You need gigantic checkered shirts when you're occupying higher planes of existence as pure energy?"

"I liked that shirt. It was a perfectly good shirt."

"Well, now it's a perfectly good car shammy."

Daniel can't help but laugh at the supreme satisfaction in Sam's voice. Even if he really did like that shirt. "Has my entire former wardrobe been appropriated for car-waxing purposes?"

"No, most of it was donated to a homeless shelter." She finishes with the fridge and comes over to open another box of books. "I kept the most enormous of the windbreakers for Teal'c. Don't worry, I brought over some things I picked up for you to wear, and tomorrow we're going shopping."

Daniel can't decide if he's more amused or frightened by the maniacal glee with which she says that last word.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

::giggles incoherently::

I kept the most enormous of the windbreakers for Teal'c.

You've been reading Jacksonian Fashion, haven't you!?

And if I were Daniel, I'd vote for frightented. :)

U is for Unas

[shutthef-up.livejournal.com]

Come sit by my fire… Unas diplomacy

It takes as long as it takes.

Daniel’s ass is numb from sitting on the hard ground for so long and watching Chaka’s bobbing squat makes his knees ache. He’d make a hell of a catcher for any major league baseball team. Well, except for the non-human part.

He marvels that he’s the first… human to appreciate them for what they really are; intelligent beings with culture and language. Even so, he’s barely scratched the surface of who they really are. What’s their family unit structure like and how does it relate to clan affiliation? More intimately, are children born or… hatched? Single births or multiple?

Daniel’s only seen females and juveniles in captivity, but it doesn’t answer any of his questions. As comfortable as Chaka seems to be with him, he’s never spoken of a mate or offspring and Daniel doesn’t want to ask. Doesn’t know how, actually. He has no vocabulary for any social structure beyond clan.

If he can broker some kind of agreement between the Unas of this planet and Edwards can pry open his tiny mind, he just might be able to learn more.

Daniel’s speculation is interrupted when Chaka’s chanting abruptly stops and his head turns to watch the edge of the clearing. An enormous, scarred Alpha Unas steps into view, flanked by his lieutenants. Okay, time to get to work. Daniel ducks his head at Chaka’s example and wonders about his sense of self-preservation.

Re: U is for Unas

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is great: Daniel so easily distracted from looming menace to put on his anthropology hat! And what an interesting thought on Chaka - clearly successful, yes, but happy?

Wonderful stuff!

(And I wonder about Daniel's sense of self-preservation too, heh.)

V is for Victory (probably Part 1)

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

(How a fic idea about post-movie Abydos turned instead into a "Fallen/Homecoming" scene, I'm still not sure. But I may continue on this theme later.) Anyway...

V is for Victory

Daniel Jackson, once Arrom, felt disconnected from the victory celebration going on around him. The SG teams and Langarans who'd returned with them were still giddy with thwarting Anubis. He did not feel so sanguine.

"Hey Doctor J, we still showed them, huh?" One of the marinesslapped his back on his way to the drink table. He merely nodded and waved and moved further away from the crowd.

Sometimes he still felt more like Arrom than Daniel Jackson. Who was he now, and who did he want to be? The memories were returning--ghosts of the past imprinting on new observations. Some were flashes of insight were unconscious: a muscle memory without context. Strange how translating the language of alien computers came to him automatically, but remembering what foods he liked on the commissary line escaped him.

Feeling his current mood was not fit for the celebration, he turned to go, only to be startled to find Teal'c right behind him.

"Teal'c! Nice um-party, right?" he asked with false brightness.

"Yet you do not enjoy it, Daniel Jackson."

"No, I-I..." He felt uncomfortable at this accurate summary of his mood and tried to deflect attention from himself, saying the first thing that came to mind. "I was just...comparing how similar the ritual of celebration is no matter where you go. Food, laughter, music..." He gestured to the boom box playing in the corner.

"You remember other celebrations?" Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

"Some, I guess." He shifted uncomfortably. "Um, specifically I was thinking of one on Vis Uban before...well...when I was there. They called it the Freedom Festival. Shamda told his fables to the youngsters, some of them already able to recite the lesson at the end with him. Then Khordib led the others in a play reenacting when their ancestors threw off the shackles of a false god." He blinked in realization. "I guess it was a Goa'uld. I never thought about it before. They celebrated their victory on their homeworld for three days and nights, then harnessed the power of the chaap'pai themselves, exploring the worlds where the gods had touched. Every year they remembered their victory."

Teal'c nodded. "You felt a kinship to these people."

He shrugged. "They were kind to a stranger who didn't know himself. They accepted me as I was."

He grimaced at exposing this much of his inner thoughts. Teal'c appeared not to notice his discomfort, instead looking out over the crowd. They stood together in silence for several moments. Eventually, Teal'c spoke.

"Oftentimes, I have felt the outsider. Tau'ri customs are strange to me. There are so many festivals: for births, for bondings, even for deaths." He said the last with some distaste and then gave a look that was piercing in its intensity.

He realized Teal'c was referring to Daniel's-his death. He was still adjusting to those memories too--jumbled with no full context or chronology. Sometimes he wondered which of his deaths or near-deaths he was remembering. The more he learned about Daniel Jackson's life, the more he realized showing up naked and amnesiac on a distant world was not necessarily unusual. He began feeling uncomfortable under Teal'c's intense gaze.

He looked away. "I'm not sure I can be who you remember. I'm not sure who I am anymore."

"You can only be who you are now. I expect no less."

"Don't you?" Now he was the one to give a piercing look. "Don't you want your old friend back? Not a man fumbling for who he is and what he's doing here?"

"I hope I am still honored with your friendship, but I do not expect it. I trust in who you were, who you are, who you will be."

He scoffed. "You have more faith in me than I do."

Teal'c bowed his head. "I am confident it is not misplaced."

Re: V is for Victory (probably Part 1)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

The more he learned about Daniel Jackson's life, the more he realized showing up naked and amnesiac on a distant world was not necessarily unusual.

::giggles::

Teal'c and Daniel friendship! ::hugs Aurora:: Wheee!!!

::bounces off to read the rest::

V is for Victory (Part 2 of 3)

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

He looked at Teal'c and blinked at the Jaffa's sincerity. He sighed. "Jonas talked about me coming back on SG-1. He offered to give up his place."

Teal'c tilted his head and considered this. "What was your response?"

"At the time, that we should talk about it when we weren't thirty seconds away from being discovered by a host of Jaffa."

Teal'c shared his wry smile. "A wise course of action."

"I thought so," he nodded.

"And now?"

He shrugged. " Jonas has made a place for himself here with you. It's not my place to usurp that."

"Mmm." Teal'c considered this. "Jonas Quinn's goal has always been to help his people. " He nodded towards the Langaran delegation. "He has learned much in his time here. And now they talk of him taking a leadership role amongst a new planetary council."

"Really? That-that's great." He blinked in surprise. "I didn't know. I mean, the Kelownans said they'd pardoned him for all past transgressions, and um...the rest of us." He wasn't sure how Teal'c would react to that news. He wasn't quite sure how to react himself. Diplomatically, he continued, "I figure it's a good step. They're realizing how much more there is out there. That infighting amongst themselves is counterproductive."

Teal'c turned from glowering at the Langarans to stare at him again, but said nothing.

Deciding it was best for both of them to change the subject from the bizarre topic of Daniel Jackson's death, he continued with the idea foremost in his mind. "Even if Jonas decides to go back to Langara, that doesn't mean I should replace him. I'm–I think I'm a liability. I shouldn't even be at this party. I only half-remember things, and what I do remember, I have no idea how to live up to. You're the team that does the impossible."

"Much is said of SG-1. Much is embellished." Teal'c responded blandly.

"Really? Not from what I was reading. I'm still trying to live down being a modern day Lazarus. I think some of them expecting me to glow in the dark." He looked down at his hands. "Hasn't happened yet."

"Jonas Quinn informed us that you were the one to crack Anubis's computer codes."

"Well, yeah, but that just...came to me. It was an algorithm of Ancient and Goa'uld and it just..."

Teal'c interrupted. "And after Jonas Quinn's capture, you searched for him."

"Getting lost most of the time," he countered.

Teal'c was unswayed. "You also acted to prevent Anubis from gaining the crystal of naquadria research."

"And almost got myself shot without realizing it. I'm just jumping in without thinking and then I realize maybe I shouldn't be doing this after all."

"Indeed." Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "All impulses and actions I relate to Daniel Jackson, a valued member of SG-1."

"But what if next time I do something that brings down the wrath of these Ascendeds or whatever again? Or make the wrong choice and someone dies or a world is destroyed?" He looked to Teal'c for some kind of answer. "What if I make a mistake?"

"All of us make mistakes, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c's voice was heavy. "We just need to make the best choices we can and try and live with the consequences."

V is for Victory (Part 3 of 3) -- finally

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

Teal'c gazed out over the crowd and straightened, breaking out of his own dark moment. "In this instance, your choices were sound. You insisted on being part of the briefings for this mission, you volunteered to come along when you could have easily stayed here with no condemnation. Yet you were compelled to be a part. You were an integral part of our victory."

"Not me. Others–Jack and Sam..."

"As much for you as anyone. The true victory will be when all the Goa'uld are defeated. But for today, the battle is ours, despite being outmanned, and outgunned. This celebration is one of survival." Teal'c turned to him. "I have observed the Tau'ri find minor victories so sweet because they recognize the frailty of it. Lives are short, therefore every moment is savored. I have come to appreciate certain moments–like companionship amongst friends."

He followed Teal'c's gaze to look out at the celebration. He saw the rest of SG-1 over by the dessert table. He watched Sam shove Jonas in a teasing manner and laugh at some remark. Beside them, Jack was cutting large slices out of the sheet cake. Jack looked up and smiled at him and Teal'c across the room, gesturing to the cake. Jack was inviting him to come, to celebrate. He looked at the team–his team, his friends. Daniel Jackson realized in that moment that no matter what happened in the future, and no matter his doubts, for the present, he was here. Teal'c was right. He must savor the good moments.

Daniel turned to his friend. "Do you want a piece of cake, Teal'c?"

Teal'c smiled at him. "I would, Daniel Jackson."

Fin

(Fig, if you'd rather I make this a link, I can do that. :-D
Now, off to finish moonshayde's birthday prezzie)

Re: V is for Victory (Part 3 of 3) -- finally

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, this was wonderful - Teal'c pointing out that Daniel was doing what he always does, and Daniel knowing all about mistakes and guilt and making him comfortable and... ::happy sigh::

Comment fic is good! Links are also good. Go ahead and post it to your own LJ - I'll want the link anyway when I set up the Alphabet Soup.

A is for Abydos and E is for Exchanges

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

A is for Abydos. This is the angsty one...

E is for Exchanges. And this is the fluffy one. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/traycer_/]

I am here, and as usual, I am late. *blushes scarlet* My submission is pretty much done, but I was hoping to spend just a little more time with it, and I was hoping that since you are still taking claims... *sigh* Would it be okay if I turned it in tomorrow afternoon? *ducks head and shuffles feet* Please??

I am going to try to spend some time with it later today, and may get it ready to submit tonight, but just in case... Although, if you really do need it tonight, please let me know and I will submit it as is.

Thanks for doing this! I loved the "Defining Sam A-Z", I can't wait to read all the Daniel goodness!!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

A 12 hour or so delay is no big deal. If you can get it in tonight, that's great. If not, we'll leave a place for it and fill it in later.

Could you just tell me what the title is, though? "S is for...?"

I agree - Alphabet Soup is so much fun! Hooray for all these wonderful authors!

Y is for Yu

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

Dr. Weir was called away for a phone call, so Daniel escorted the Goa'uld to the restricted quarters where their "guests" would rest while awaiting a response from the rest of the system lords. Daniel still marvelled at her bluff to take all of Ba'al's territory in exchange for destroying him for the Goa'uld.

No one attempted to talk while they walked the corridors. Daniel's fluency in their language was too well known. He squared away Camulus and Amateratsu; all that was left was Yu and his Jaffa.

"My first prime is to attend me." Lord Yu stated as Daniel pointed out the separate VIP quarters.

"O-of course. But as you may recall from when you were here with Cronus, we do keep access restricted. Your first prime will have to remain with you in your chambers. It is for your protection as much as theirs."

Yu nodded. "A wise course of action to adopt."

The Jaffa entered the room first to do a security sweep. Yu paused outside the door to wait, and Daniel stood with him.

"As oldest and most powerful of the system lords, the others allow me my minor concessions. Such as keeping my loyal Jaffa with me at all times." He leaned closer to Daniel. "He does all the work of a lo'taur now. I no longer trust human slaves."

Daniel held his breath for a moment. Yu was partly senile, but he was no fool. He had discovered Daniel's past deception in impersonating his slave.

Gathering himself, Daniel responded in what he hoped was a bland tone. "Perhaps you need not have slaves at all."

Yu shot him a look. "They have served their uses for both of us at times."

"The difference is one of necessity versus choice, Yu Huang Shang Ti." Daniel maintained a stony facade, although his thoughts roiled. How many times had he wondered about Jarren and what had happened to the man after Yu left the summit? Daniel remembered his conversation with Ba'al's slave on that space station, the young man's zeal in hoping he'd be graced with a symbiote. Was it better or worse that Jarren now was apparently dead? At the time, he hadn't even argued with Jacob to leave the man unconscious in Yu's palace. They thought Yu would never be returning to his home.

Yu had escaped death that time. Daniel had died and returned. And now here they both were, using diplomacy as a disguise for battle.

Their verbal chess match was interrupted when the first prime returned, nodding satisfaction with the room. Yu continued to stare at Daniel. "I hope you learned the lessons you were taught at the summit well, Daniel Jackson."

"I have learned many things in my travels," Daniel responded cryptically.

"As have I," Yu answered and entered the room.

Daniel waited for it to be shut before racing back down the corridor to double-check the transmission the delegation sent. He'd just had a first-hand reminder of what he'd tried to convey to Elizabeth. Never trust a Goa'uld, especially one that may have a score to settle.

Re: Y is for Yu

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. When I thought about Yu, I automatically assumed it would have be to set in the context of Summit. I never really thought about what it must have meant for them both to meet again in New Order!

Very thought-provoking. Very good. :)

R is for Ra and Reality

[sg-wonderland.livejournal.com]

R is for Ra and Reality
Jack/Catherine Langford friendship
Word Count: 217


I was quite unprepared for the knock on my door and equally as surprised to see Colonel O’Neill on the other side of it. “Dr. Langford, may I come in?”

“Of course, Colonel.” He follows me into the sitting room, declining my offer of tea. “May I ask what this is about?”

“I couldn’t speak to you on base.” His eyes are automatically checking the doorways.

“We’re quite alone, I assure you.”

His relief is evident. Reaching in his pocket, he removes a velvet bag and hands it to me. “What’s this?” I untie it and slide my fingers inside, freezing when I realize what it is. The Ra pendant lies cold on my palm. “Why?”

“It’s the reason I couldn’t tell you on base.” He urges me to sit and then tells me the truth of what really happened on Abydos. I’m shocked as the reality of what they’ve done sinks in. “I’m relying on your discretion to keep us both safe. Me and Daniel.” He leaves without another word.

*

Every morning now, I take the pendant from its plush velvet case, clasp it around my neck and say a prayer that it will continue to bring both of them luck and blessings.

Re: R is for Ra and Reality

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

Aw, that's always a scene I wonder about. Catherine learning what really happened on Abydos.