Canon vs. Fanon, part 16: Clumsy, Sneezy Geek

[fignewton]

In honor of redial_the_gate doing Daniel's last canonical sneeze this week with One False Step, I hereby present the next installment of Canon vs. Fanon: Clumsy, Sneezy Geek.

Daniel's status as a civilian and scientist - or, if you prefer, a geek - is one of his greatest charms. The contrast with his military teammates, his ability to argue against orders and sidestep the rules when necessary, even the floppy hair of the first two seasons - all this enhances the character and improves the storyline. However, some fanfic writers tend to seize upon the geek stereotype and apply it with the broadest of strokes, forgetting that Daniel is a character and not merely a cliché. So let's look at canon, and determine which geek characteristics fit Daniel... and which ones don't.

(Daniel's glasses and nearsightedness have already been covered here.)

Recap: Canon is defined as anything we see on screen during Stargate: The Movie or episodes of the show; show supersedes movie when there's a contradiction. Fanon is defined as widely-accepted concepts that often appear in fanfic, but do not have any actual basis in canon. And the "personal fanon opinon" at the end is just that - personal opinion, based on my conclusions but not canonical in themselves.

Please remember that the purpose of these essays is not to mock or denigrate authors who use these fanon tropes, but to point out that they are, in fact, fanon and not canon. As always, if you have further evidence to support my analyses, or evidence that contradicts it, I welcome any and all discussions in the comments.

[General note: I am no longer warning for S9 spoilers, although I will continue to do so for S10.]

Daniel can't handle a weapon properly - he fumbles with the safety, aims poorly, and hates to fire a gun.

It is certainly true that early-season Daniel had lesser weapons skills than Sam and Jack, although that edge has long since disappeared by Enemies in Season 5, when Daniel efficiently takes part in the shoot-retreat-reload escape from the Replicators. But even in the movie, Daniel wasn't completely inept in handling firearms: he shot and killed two of Ra's soldiers, one with a pistol and the other with a staff weapon. So while Daniel, in the first seasons, was less proficient than his military teammates, he never fumbled his weapon.

(He might be less expert at reloading under fire, as in Forever In a Day, when he struggles to reload his pistol after he skillfully shot and killed the Jaffa who was standing only three feet away from his wife. But he knows what he's doing, and he'll do it well.)

As for Daniel hating to fire a gun... Yes, Daniel prefers a peaceful solution when possible (unless a Goa'uld is involved). But that doesn't make him a pacifist.

For further discussion on these common fanon tropes, Daniel's supposed pacifism and his weapons skills were thoroughly analyzed right here.

Conclusion: While early-season Daniel isn't the expert that years of military training would give him, he handles a weapon efficiently, and he has no trouble using one when the situation demands it.

Daniel is clumsy: he'll trip over his untied shoelaces, leave a trail of spilled papers in the halls of the SGC, and stumble over stray rocks when the team is hiking over rough ground.

This is one of those popular fanon clichés that baffle me, quite frankly. How often do we actually see Daniel acting clumsy on screen? It's much more common to see Daniel looking as if he's about to trip over two left feet than to actually see him stumbling! A certain lack of grace should not be confused with clumsiness. There's also Daniel's tendency, in the earlier seasons, to dress in baggy clothing, which can make his movements look awkward. A closer look at canon, though, shows that Daniel is rarely, if ever, clumsy. Let's take a look at times when Daniel shows agility, and when Daniel might seem clumsy, but isn't.

Stargate the Movie. Daniel brings a double armful of drawings of the coverstone, plus a star chart, into the briefing room to report to General West, Catherine Langford, and the others. Despite the awkwardness of the large rolls, Daniel manages to drink his coffee, park the empty coffee cup on a stray pipe, and carry the rolls into the room without actually dropping any. He does dump the rolled charts rather unceremoniously into the middle of the table, but there isn't anything inherently clumsy in it.

The only incident which might mark Daniel as clumsy is when he discovers the domesticated mastadge. He's too busy feeding "Little Bit," as the mastadge is called in the novelization, to realize that his foot is caught in a loop of its harness. When the mastadge spooks and runs, Daniel gets dragged along after it - which actually leads them to Nagada and the Abydons.

Is it clumsy to get a foot caught in a leather loop without noticing, or merely distracted carelessness? I would personally vote for the latter. If you feel it's the former, then you can call it clumsy; you'd best savor it, though, as it's the only incident that qualifies!

Broca Divide. When the team recovers (thanks to SG-3) from being ambushed by the Touched right after they come through the Stargate, Daniel struggles awkwardly to his feet, his night-vision goggles askew on his face. This is no more or less clumsy than the other members of SG-1, who were also sprawled on the ground from the attack.

Later, when he attempts to rescue Melosha, there's nothing awkward in how he drops his gun and lifts an unconscious Melosha in his arms. Stupid, maybe, but not clumsy!

Thor's Hammer. Daniel has no trouble navigating the beams above the river on their way to the labyrinth; when it's time to bid Kendra farewell, he rather nimbly hops down the steps to give Kendra the Sagan box off the MALP.

The Torment of Tantalus. Daniel has no trouble dodging debris when he and Jack make their final run to the Stargate.

Bloodlines. When Sam and Daniel are ambushed after they stole the symbiote, Daniel runs for cover as smoothly as Sam.

TBFTGOG. Daniel falls down the stairs as he comes through the wormhole, but since he was partially propelled by a staff blast wound to the shoulder, it can't be called clumsy.

Within the Serpent's Grasp. Does Daniel's tumble down the DHD stairs, which knocked off his night-vision goggles, qualify as clumsiness? Not when Sam and Jack fell at the same time, no. Daniel's fall was more spectacular only because he was the only one standing at the head of a flight of steps, rather than with both feet planted safely on level ground.

Need. Daniel races nimbly through the trees to catch Shyla and pull her backward before she can topple off the cliff. Was it Daniel's clumsiness that caused him to lag behind and get caught in a near-fatal rockfall? I'd ascribe it more to the chains that still hobbled his feet together.

Thor's Chariot. Daniel shows wariness, not clumsiness, when he carefully navigates the beam over the chasm to reach Gairwyn. Both do fall, but it's because of the quake, not Daniel's lack of balance.

1969. There's nothing clumsy about the way Daniel climbs up the crate that houses the Stargate to release the clamps.

Rules of Engagement. Daniel executes the rapid crawl down-hill as flawlessly as the rest of the team.

The Devil You Know. Daniel does a superbly subtle job of palming the communicator when he deliberately allows himself to get knocked into the table.

New Ground. Daniel races through a firefight and skids into the pit with the DHD, easily ducking a shot that gets too close.

The Serpent's Venom. If Daniel was as clumsy as fanon suggests, would Jacob really give him the job of reprogramming a mine that would explode if it even touched another object?

Ascension. Despite his fumbling to carry umpteen books and a fresh cup of coffee and get to the phone in his office before the caller gives up, Daniel doesn't actually drop anything. He does spill a little coffee, yes. But it hardly qualifies as clumsy under the circumstances.

Proving Ground. Daniel takes out four trainees so quickly and smoothly that not a single one has a chance to fire back.

Summit/Last Stand. Daniel manages to deftly inject both Yu and Osiris with the Reol substance; later, when fighting for his life, there is no clumsiness and awkwardness as he bolts for the escape pod and programs the pod to eject immediately.

I didn't include examples from Season 7 and beyond, since none of these tropes are common in post-Descension Daniel.

Conclusion: Despite the occasional air of gawkiness, Daniel is never really shown to be clumsy or fumbling on the show.

Daniel is careless with his gear: he'll leave his weapon lying on the ground, leave equipment behind when he's busy filming some interesting writing, or forget to bring his pack.

I'm actually unsure how this fanon started. In the movie, Daniel is pretty skeptical when he investigates the pockets of his vest to see what he's been given for the trip. He tosses the foot powder aside, muttering about the lack of suntan lotion. But other than that, we see Daniel being careless with his gear twice in the entire series:

Broca Divide. Daniel puts down his weapon to pick up Melosha. With his hands full, he is unable to fight back when the Touched grab him.

Maternal Instinct. Daniel deliberately removes his weapons and vest before entering the temple in Kheb. At the end of the episode, after the intensity of seeing thousands of Jaffa killed and Oma leave with the child, he seems to have forgotten them entirely (along with his shoes).

ETA: shutthef_up pointed out that when Daniel awakens in Crystal Skull, he tosses his vest aside when he chases after Teal'c. It does seem deliberate, though, not careless. Perhaps he needed to lighten the load so he could catch up with Teal'c?

That's it. There is no other scene (and if I'm wrong, please do correct me) throughout the series in which we see Daniel carelessly dropping his gear or leaving things behind because he's too preoccupied with his work.

Conclusion: Daniel doesn't always treat his own reference books with the proper care, but we have no real canon to suggest that he's careless with his gear.

Daniel is allergic to nearly every type of food that doesn't taste like chicken as well as every type of pollen found throughout the galaxy; he carries an emergency allergy kit just in case an acute attack of asthma endangers him off-world.

That's exaggerated even for fanon, I know. :) But while I've never actually seen all of those elements in a single fanfic, I've certainly encountered one trope or another with annoying frequency.

The asthma usually crops up in kidfic, when Daniel has been mysteriously downsized by some alien plot device artifact. Invariably, kid!Daniel suffers from a wide range of allergies as well as asthma. This may be because an early kidfic used asthma and allergies for drama, and others assumed there was canonical basis for it. But as we've mentioned pretty often in these discussions, our canon knowledge of pre-teenaged Daniel is limited to five things: his birth date; the use of the nickname "Danny" when he was a child; the witnessing of his parents' deaths when he was eight; the trip with Nick for waffles after the funeral; and Nick's refusal to take custody of him. Any other common factor that is found in fanfic is fanon.

So let's take a look at what is actually canonical about Daniel's allergies:

Stargate the Movie. Daniel first sneezes into his sleeve and blows his nose loudly on a handkerchief as he descends in the elevator of Creek Mountain (later retconned to Cheyenne), accompanied by Kawalsky..

"Cold?" Kawalsky asks politely.

"Allergies," Daniel answers hoarsely. "It always happens when I travel."

Here is the first suggestion that the allergies are induced by travel. The novelization vaguely implies that it's a psychosomatic reaction to the death of his foster parents' when they were flying, but that's not canon.

Later, Jack stalks on inspection along the line of soldiers ready to go through the Stargate with him. They are helmeted, standing at attention, with weapons on display. Jack looks at his watch and snaps, "Anybody has anything to say, now's the time to say it." His reply? A loud sneeze from Daniel, dressed in sloppy BDUs and baseball cap and standing at the end of the line. Jack's expression as he looks at him speaks volumes.

Daniel's next sneeze takes place as the natives escort him and the others back to Nagada. One of the boys gleefully snags his used handkerchief, to Sha'uri's amusement and Skaara's indignation. Skaara snatches the handkerchief back and eagerly returns it to Daniel, who accepts it with a bemused smile.

This incident proves useful the following morning, when Jack has trouble getting Skaara and the boys to understand that he's looking for Daniel. It's not until Jack mimes a sneeze that Skaara understands that Jack is looking for "Chicken Man."

So, the movie gives us three sneezes and a flat statement that the sneezing is caused by allergies, which flares when Daniel travels. How about the series, then?

COTG. "Daniel was a scientist. He sneezed a lot. Basically, he was a geek, sir."

Daniel's allergies play a rather significant role, as Jack tosses a Kleenex box through the Stargate in lieu of a MALP. Daniel's reply: THANKS. SEND MORE. When they go through the Gate, Kawalsky gives Daniel an extra small package as a gift.

After Daniel returns to Earth and Jack takes him home, Daniel vigorously blows his nose. Jack comments, and Daniel says apologetically, "Sorry. Gate travel always seems to make my allergies..." He blows again, and wipes at his eyes. "Sorry."

Again, the suggestion that his allergies are travel-induced. This seems to be borne out with his next sneeze, which is right after they travel through the Gate to Chulak and Daniel asks plaintively, "Anybody got a Kleenex?"

Broca Divide. Daniel's allergies actually become a plot point (Oh, Stargate) as he and Janet Frasier are immune from the disease that is devolving everyone else: "I checked the files. Both Dr. Jackson and I have acute rhinitis caused by severe allergies... I take strong antihistamines every day. So did Dr. Jackson. I have no histamine for the microbe to feed on. Just like the Untouched, the organism starves in my body."

Interestingly, Daniel sneezes just as he and Teal'c head back to the planet. Surely Janet would have made sure he took his regular dose before going back? Of course, when Daniel is being held captive by the Touched, he can't keep to his regular dosing schedule and the medication wears off.

Singularity. When they return from Hanka after being exposed to Nrrti's victims, Daniel sneezes right before they go through decontamination. Everyone looks at him nervously, and Jack says, "Allergies, right? Right?"

The Gamekeeper. They emerge from the Stargate to find themselves in a beautiful garden. Sam observes, "Well, this is beautiful." Jack says dryly, "Yeah, but where's there's a garden, there's snakes."

"And flowers," Daniel adds, and sneezes violently. "Way too many flowers." Oh, and Daniel? Shaking off your hand like that is disgusting. Take some Kleenex along next time, will you?

One False Step. Daniel sneezes when they first arrive on the planet, when they inspect the plants near where the UAV fell, and when they meet the aliens, prompting the fear that his allergies might have somehow been the cause of the aliens' illness.

There is no other reference to Daniel's sneezing or allergies after Season Two. Presumably, Janet got the right dosage for his antihistamines.

Fast forward to Season Seven, where a descended Daniel spends three months off-world without access to medication before traveling through the Stargate to Earth. No sneezes. No mention of allergies. Perhaps Ascension is a cure for rhinitis, although I can't imagine it really catching on. Even more interestingly, AU Daniel of Moebius is much more near-sighted than our Daniel, but does not suffer from allergies at all.

So where does that leave us? Daniel sneezes most often when he has just traveled through the Stargate or is exposed to pollen. Passage through the Gate would expose a person to a drastic shift in climates, which might account for it. He does sneeze on other occasions, though - sometimes just before going through the Gate, or even when walking across a desert. So while his allergies are excaberated by travel or pollen, Daniel's histamine count is high enough to cause sneezing even when travel or pollen is not a factor. So yes, he suffers from allergies. But there has never been any suggestion that he's allergic to any kind of food or that he would have difficulty breathing under regular circumstances (aside from a runny nose).

Conclusion: While floppy-haired Daniel didn't get his allergies under complete control until the end of Season Two, there is no canon reference to Daniel sneezing after One False Step, and Descended Daniel does not seem to have any allergies at all. The suggestions that Daniel suffers from food allergies or breathing difficulties are completely fanon.

Daniel, particularly in the first three or four seasons, is bullied by SGC personnel who are contemptuous of civilian geeks (especially Marines, and particularly Makepeace).

Other readers' mileage may vary, of course, but there are very few fanon tropes that will make me hit the back button faster than this one. (Danny and Saint Daniel probably take precedence, although there's a lot of Saint Daniel that leaks into this fanon, anyway.) There are two reasons: first, because there is no canon proof of this outside the movie; and second, because there is plenty of canonical evidence that Daniel would most emphatically not shrink back from a confrontation with anyone who tried to bully him.

Stargate the Movie. The Daniel who is willing to throw away his academic career for the sake of what he believes to be academic truth isn't someone who backs down from confrontations. On the other hand, the Daniel who is confronted by the military is clearly nervous, even as he shows confidence in his conclusions: he has that nervous giggle and, in contrast to his dealings with his fellow civilians, is positively diffident in voicing his opinions and suggestions.

This only increases when they go through the Stargate and Daniel is forced to admit that he'd been counting on the existence of tablets or other carvings to get them back to Earth, and the team's anger turns into outright bullying. He prudently stays behind Jack for protection after Kawalsky shoves him to the ground. When Ferretti later throws his suitcase at him, Daniel ducks to avoid the blow, then turns around to collect his things without any kind of protest.

Daniel proves himself to the team when he's on Abydos, though, and once the series begins, we never see Daniel backing down from being bullied. Ever.

Let's take a look at some of the times when Daniel confronts bullies, and how he reacts:

Enigma. Maybourne does his very best to bully not only Daniel, but the entire SGC. Daniel deliberately places himself in the line of fire when he helps get the Tollan out.

Politics. Daniel faces down Kinsey in the face of open mockery.

Secrets. On his knees before Heru'ur, who sneers, "You will serve me," Daniel says, slowly and deliberately, "No, I don't think so."

Fair Game. Included for the sake of completion. Daniel does act meek and submissive around the Goa'uld - "That boy can really grovel when he has to" - but this is out of political necessity for Earth's sake (and also, clearly, to spare Teal'c the discomfort of seeing to the "petty needs of the Goa'uld), not because of personal fear or timidity.

The Devil You Know. SG-.75 and Martouf are on their knees before Apophis, at his mercy as he gloats over them. Daniel's response? "Your mate, Amaunet, is dead. Sorry to ruin your day." Deliberate pause, then, "No, actually, I'm wrong about that. I'm not sorry."

The First Ones. Included for the sake of completion. Chaka isn't a bully so much as asserting his position as alpha to Daniel. Daniel recognizes this and follows the rules of a primitive culture.

The Curse. Osiris: "I will rule without opposition!"

Daniel: "No. No, you won't rule at all. See, we don't worship false gods any more."

Osiris: "What do you know of my queen?"

Daniel: "She was trapped, like you." Then, almost taunting, "We have the jar."

Ascension. Simmons tries to intimidate Daniel: "Need I remind you, Doctor Jackson, of the dangers that we're trying to defend Earth against?

Daniel looks at him and says with false earnestness, "Oh, could you? I mean, go slow."

Later, in The Fifth Man, when Simmons blusters about Sarah Gardener and declares, "Your entire life is our business!" Daniel leans back and says politely, "You know, do I need to call an attorney, or...?"

Beast of Burden. Burok's bullying and killing of the caged Unas leave Daniel gritting his teeth and glaring, and agreeing with Jack that there's no peaceful way out.

The Sentinel. Daniel refuses to be intimidated by the NID agents' sneers.

Kershaw, sarcastically: "I feel better just knowing there's an archaeologist watching our back."

Daniel holds up a knife and says brightly, "Yeah. Which end do the bullets go in, again?"

Evolution. Rafael has Daniel tied to a chair after starving him for two days, and Daniel is still snarking. "I'm an archaeologist. It's what I do - I look for artifacts. Found one! Seriously, I'm an archaeologist. You guys can look me up on the internet if you want. You have a computer?"

Heroes. Woolsey leans over Daniel and threatens him, "If you fail to testify here today, I will have you jailed until such time that you do."

Daniel says flatly, "You fire me. You throw me in jail. You do what you want," and stalks out.

Affinity. Daniel translates for the NID when Krista's life is threatened, but he seems more annoyed than frightened. Even when they're ordered to turn around and face the wall to be shot, he is still quietly reassuring Krista, "It's going to be okay."

Reckoning. "A little more time in Danny's world." 'Nuff said.

Moebius. Included for the sake of completion. Even AU Daniel stands up to Apophis and refuses to buckle under torture.

Origin. Despite what he later confesses to Jack as genuine fear, Daniel stands toe-to-toe with the Doci and argues passionately for the rights to freedom of thought and choice.

Prototype. Daniel, despite the personal connection and antagonism, responds coolly and calmly to Khalek.

Ethon. Daniel believes he has witnessed the deaths of not only the Prometheus, but also the rest of SG-1: "Don't you ever give up?" "Not until I'm dead... and sometimes, not even then."

So, there's a clear, distinct pattern that Daniel not only refuses to be intimidated by bullying behavior, but is usually inspired to react forcefully to such treatment. How about when Daniel deals directly with SG teams or personnel other than SG-1?

COTG. Despite the very brusque manner Hammond uses with him when they first meet (and really, Daniel, your timing was lousy under the circumstances), Daniel refuses to back down when Hammond suggests at the briefing that he remain at the SGC instead of joining the team to go to Chulak.

Broca Divide. Makepeace and his team are oozing testosterone, but Daniel has no trouble snarking at SG-3. Makepeace declares, "Don't you worry, boys. That's why the SG-3 Marines are coming with. You can count on us to watch your backsides."

Daniel says dryly, "Actually, it's more my front side I was worried about."

TBFTGOG. AU General Jack is impatient and abrasive, yet Daniel persists in talking to him until he finally gets through.

Into the Fire. Makepeace is brusque and rather dismissive of Daniel when he gets him and Sam out of Hathor's fake SGC, but there is no bullying involved. Daniel has no trouble being sarcastic and stubborn throughout.

Shades of Grey. Makepeace's interactions with Daniel are polite, if somewhat distant. Daniel responds with sarcasm rather than conciliation.

Enemy Mine. Colonel Edwards is infuriated when Jack insists that they all fall back: "This is my command! You are here at my request!"

Daniel snaps back at him, "You're in charge of a mining operation!"

Later, back at the SGC, Daniel sighs to Jack, "I just spent a lot of time breaking you in. I just didn't want to have to start with a new colonel."

Does that sound like someone who is intimidated by bullying behavior to you? And in the end, Edwards does listen to Daniel, and the treaty with the Unas goes through.

It is also worthwhile to note that Daniel is used to working with other teams: he's with SG-6 in A Matter of Time, SG-11 in Prodigy, and with unspecified SG teams in Double Jeopardy and Avenger 2.0. If he was routinely bullied and harassed by other teams, would he really work with them on a regular basis?

So, it's clear that canon gives us no incident in which Marines (or any other members of SG teams) try to bully Daniel, and that Daniel doesn't back down when anyone does try to intimidate him, SGC personnel or otherwise. In addition, there's canonical proof that Daniel tends to get rather aggressive when he's mocked for being a geek:

Rules of Engagement. The team has been shot with intars and just awakened. Hibbard has threatened both Jack and Sam for speaking, and Daniel points out reasonably, "We’re just trying to understand. If we’re supposed to be dead, how are you supposed to kill us again?"

Hibbard marches right up to Daniel and points his weapon directly between Daniel's eyes. "You wanna find out, Four-eyes? Huh?"

There is a beat of silence. Then, despite the weapon aimed at his face, Daniel says coldly, "'Four-eyes?'"

Hastily, Jack says, "Easy, big fella. Just... play dead."

"Indeed," Teal'c agrees.

The dialogue here strongly suggests that both Jack and Teal'c are used to Daniel reacting badly to such insults.

Then, of course, there's the famous scene in Upgrades, when the guy at the bar calls Daniel a "geek." And seriously, why? The only way Daniel could've looked less like a geek at that moment is if he'd donned a leather jacket and possibly gotten a tattoo. Daniel pauses, turns, and says carefully, "Excuse me?"

"Let it go," Jack mutters.

"No," Daniel says. "Not this time."

Again, there is the clear implication that Daniel has been insulted in Jack's presence in the past, and he's used to Daniel getting angry about it. The only difference is that this time, the Atenik armbands leave Daniel (and Jack and Sam) uninhibited enough to resort to violence.

To be fair, Jack's familiarity with Daniel's reaction also suggests that Daniel has been called a "geek" or the like often enough for Jack to know how Daniel will respond. But there is no indication that these incidents occurred in the SGC, and we can definitely infer from canon that Daniel would not take such treatment lying down.

Conclusion: Outside of the movie era, there is no canonical basis for the soldiers in the SGC to bully Daniel, and it completely contradicts canon to suggest that Daniel would allow himself to be intimidated by such bullying.

My personal fanon opinion? Daniel's clumsiness is more one of anticipation than reality - you might think that he's going to fumble with something or trip, but he never actually does. Actually, when I was trying to think of possible canon sources for Daniel's clumsiness, I kept flashing on scenes from Superman: the Movie with Clark Kent. :) Those of you who have been around for a while are aware that I do think that Daniel and Clark have a lot in common, but Daniel doesn't hide behind a facade of clumsiness!

As for Daniel's supposed carelessness - well, it doesn't fit very well with his vocation, does it? Both archeology and linguistics demand a painstaking attention to detail. Would a person trained to be so careful really be messy and careless?

The allergies, at least, have a solid basis in canon... as long as they're kept to sneezes and pollen. But food allergies and asthma? Complete fanon, and, to be frank, often overly exaggerated.

As for Daniel getting bullied by SGC personnel - it's not only a contradiction of canon, but an insult to the people who make up the SGC. No one is going to be allowed to step through the Gate without undergoing the most stringent of reviews, including psychological screening. We know that potential recruits are subjected to rigorous testing. With civilian scientists such an important part of the SGC's makeup, it's only reasonable to assume that SGC personnel are carefully screened to avoid potential conflicts. Who in their right mind would risk losing the prestige of an SGC posting by starting trouble with any civilian on base, much less the premier one? I will also mention that the number of bullies in the military is a lot smaller than popular media would suggest, and since the SGC gets the best of the best, the ratio there will be reduced accordingly.

I must also confess that I have a much stronger tolerance for Makepeace than most people in the fandom. He may have betrayed the SGC, but he acted with courage and risked his life more than once to save SG-1. I see him as a person who did the wrong thing for the right reason. (We will not go into my opinions of Maybourne here...) Because of that admittedly minority opinion, I have even less patience for Shades of Grey stories that depict Makepeace as abusing his position as CO of SG-1 to beat up or threaten Daniel.

Anyone is, of course, still welcome to write "Daniel gets bullied by meanies and is protected by Jack or Teal'c or Sam" fics. But they're not based on canon, and I, at least, won't be reading them.

"Anyway, I'm sorry, but that just happens to be how I feel about it. What do you think?"

ETA: Whee! Now with gleeful commentfic from 6beforelunch!

Comments

[martyfan.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything you said here, and would like to add that as far as Daniel's allergies go, there is one reference past season two. However, it is in a deleted scene, so it doesn't strictly count as canon since it wasn't in the actual episode. In "Ripple Effect," in season nine, DesertCamoDaniel is interrogated by our SGC, and during the questioning he takes a dose of meds and explains that they're for his allergies. However, as this version of Daniel is also married to a still-living Sha're, and his Abydos is still around, his situation cannot be directly applied to the "canon" Daniel. :)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Good catch! And oooh, don't you wish that scene had made the cut? We needed more interesting AUs a lot more than we needed to know about Martouf's love life. And Sha're! And Abydos!

Ah, well. At least your AU canon is made of win. :)

[beanpot.livejournal.com]

As for Daniel getting bullied by SGC personnel - it's not only a contradiction of canon, but an insult to the people who make up the SGC.

What drives me nuts about this particular fanon myth is that it is often used to set up Daniel (or any other geek) to be rescued by someone else and lead to their one true love. I have huge issues with accepting any member of SG1 as a wilting Victorian flower who swoons onto chaise lounges at the drop of a hat.

Or that the bullies run rampant through the SGC. Because more often than not, it turns out the only members of the military that aren't bullies in these fics are Jack and Sam.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

I can't speak to the ship fics, as I don't read those. But I've read enough annoying gen fics that mae Daniel a "wilting Victorian flower" (hee hee!) to get the point. :p

bullies run rampant through the SGC

I'm not the only one who finds that downright offensive? Oh, good. :)

[shutthef-up.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm delighted to see another Fanon vs. Canon!

There is no other scene (and if I'm wrong, please do correct me) throughout the series in which we see Daniel carelessly dropping his gear or leaving things behind because he's too preoccupied with his work.

I can think of one other occasion. While it's not because of preoccupation with his work, it's rather nonsensical anyway.

Crystal Skull: When Teal'c goes back to the cavern to collect the skull, Daniel has recovered and runs after Teal'c. As he runs across the narrow bridge/path, he strips off his tac vest and tosses it down the chasm. I have to assume his sidearm is still attached. No, I have no explanation for that despite it being one of my favorite episodes. But I also wouldn't use it to illustrate him being consistently careless. It's a one-off and it isn't accidental. It's intentional, though we don't know why he did it.

The only other observation I've made is that early-season Daniel *was* a bit sloppy with his tac vest and holster. He often doesn't zip up his vest or fasten the belt and the thigh strap hold-down for the holster is often very loose which makes the holster flop around. In fact, when running, you can often see him reach down with his right hand to stabilize it. This isn't really a *clumsy* thing as much as a bit of casual disregard for military completeness. In One False Step when he feels terrible and is following Jack back to the Stargate, he carries his vest, straps dragging through the dirt until he eventually gathers them up. Slowly over the seasons, Daniel takes more care with the tac vest, until in later seasons when it's properly zipped and snugged. It was done so gradually that I find it hard to point to exactly *when* he began taking more care, but he was definitely pretty comfortable with it after returning from his first Ascension.

Thanks again! I love these posts!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, good catch with Crystal Skull! Will edit to include. Maybe it was to run more quickly after Teal'c? He barely made it through as it was.

(And WORD on that being such a great ep, all round.)

You've made that observation about early Daniel before, and I love it for what it says about him. But no, I wouldn't call it careless or sloppy as much as inexpert. The straps dragging through the dirt while he practically staggers - yes, I love that scene too! And it's an even better reflection of Daniel's gradual evolution into solider than his use of the P-90, I think.

Glad you're enjoying these! :)

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

"Oh, could you? I mean, go slow."

Just--yay. One of my all-time favorite Daniel lines. :-)

And ITA with this whole post!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, we all do love our snarky Daniel! Glad you like. :)

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

I always figured the military-bully thing is taken from the movie when they did initially bully him and he did have to prove his worth. But it's very true we don't see it much at all beyond that except for occasional people like Simmons who, well, treat everyone in SGC like that.

The clumsy thing...Daniel, when he isn't paying attention, especially earlier on, is less graceful than Jack and Sam, etc. Not tripping-over-shoelaces but I think maybe it ties with the absent-minded-professor cliche which Daniel can occasionally fit (we see he had it more in "Chimera" - the dreams where he's working so hard he's ignoring Sarah). Also, maybe people watched Window of Opportunity and Daniel getting his papers knocked out of his hands one too many times and assumed it happened more often?

We also have in Serpent's Venom the opening bit where the elevator opens and Daniel is in the middle of the hallway doing something with his bag. I've always assumed that maybe his zipper split open or something - if he hadn't dropped things it's an odd place for him to be packing.

But when he's doing something that requires dexterity and detail-attention, he certainly has that in spades. Which makes sense.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

As I said, the military-bully thing is unquestionably canon from the movie. But it's only the first half of the movie, when Daniel is not only useless but (as they see it) has deliberately lied and gotten them stranded. Kawalsky, who knocked him down, is actually the first one to call him "Daniel" instead of Jackson. And since show supersedes movie...

As I pointed out, the people who try to intimidate Daniel aren't aiming specifically at him, but at getting everyone in the SGC to do their bidding. Daniel is just as intractable as everyone else. :)

Also, maybe people watched Window of Opportunity and Daniel getting his papers knocked out of his hands one too many times and assumed it happened more often?

Hee! Really, it's the only time we see him too absorbed in his work to be knocked over, but half the fics out there seem to have airmen dodging Daniel as he walks through the halls, reading at the same time!

Re Serpent's Venom: I just assumed that Daniel had grabbed a few books at the last minute and then stopped at the elevator to pack them properly instead of lugging them under his arm. I do that all the time myself. :)

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

Oh, you poor dear! Having to check all those Daniel moments throughout the early years! Oh the torture! *evil grin* [/brer rabbit].

I think Daniel being absorbed in something is canon...did you cover this in the care and feeding chapter of this thing? But yes, I agree, he's not clumsy or careless.

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

Oh I found it! In that pacificism chapter. And I mentioned "Between Two Fires" there too, though not by name.

Here's the thread link specifically about the floppy gun holster etc (http://sg-fignewton.livejournal.com/7522.html?thread=93538#t93538)

I thought I'd bring it up because I was apparently pithy in one comment (for a change. Heh.)

[princessofg.livejournal.com]

I think, along with you, that the clumsiness thing is pretty much all based on the mastadge incident. I've looked for it in canon and it's just not there.

The allergies are canon, but I do think Ascension/Descension must have fixed them.

There is one other event where Daniel leaves a set of binoculars or nighscopes -- it's the end of Season 1/beginning of season 2 cliffhanger when they're on Apophis or Klorel's ship -- the binocs are lying there and everyone has a bad moment of wondering if the Jaffa will see them and thus notice that the team is hiding in the room... But no one notices them lying there.

That may be where some of the "careless with possessions" thing comes up.

Ever since Daniel shot the tank of Goaul'd larva, I've thought the whole pacifism thing was just fanon. Part of the Sain Daniel thing. I like Saint Daniel more than you do, but I do have my limits....

Thanks for the "No Shrinking Victorian Violet" stuff.... I thought it was an artifact of slash but it's in GEN FIC TOO? OMG.

Loved it, as always....

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Good catch on the binoculars, although he certainly picked them ASAP. I actually watched that scene carefully to determine if it was absent-minded carelessness or not. It wasn't - they were perched on his head when he fell down the stairs, and they fell off. There was no time to get them when they had the mad scramble to hide. As soon as the Jaffa left, though, he retrieved them.

As I said in the pacifism post, "You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." People convince a deserve for peace with pacifism, and the two just aren't the same.

I thought it was an artifact of slash but it's in GEN FIC TOO?

Hee! Someone who knows the ship side of things better than I do might want to run a comparison on how many of the gen stories are written by authors who do ship, too. That might account for it.

Thanks for the kind words!

[redbyrd-sgfic.livejournal.com]

There is another realistic (though completely unsupported in canon) explanation for the allergies... it's very common for allergies to change in severity over time. My father never got hayfever when he was young, but developed it slowing through his forties, and now suffers quite severely in late summer (probably due to ragweed, a common local allergen-generator). I know another man who had allergies severely when he was younger, and now almost never needs medication for them. It's quite possible that Daniel's allergies have simply diminished over time.

And on the carelessness question, I will note that Daniel does seem to accumumate clutter in his office, which might lead some people to think that he's careless. I suspect that he is rather simply busy and getting pulled from one project to another a lot, since his home, on the few occasions we've seen it, is much neater.

And lastly, Fig, please *do* tell me your thoughts on Maybourne (or point me at a link or prior discussion if I've missed it). Maybourne's characterization is something I've been grappling with in one of my WIPs and I would love some new ideas. Feel free to email me or post the comment to my last journal entry if you don't want to discuss it here.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's a lovely plausible explanation, including the fact that Descended Daniel was more fit than pre-Ascended Daniel. Might that account for the shift in allergic reactions?

Clutter=carelessness? You may be right in your thinking on how the trope started, but that doesn't make much sense to me.

Maybourne. Oooh, Maybourne. I will always and forever think of him as smarmy pond scum. :) I'm pretty sure I went into detail when I did my discussion post on Enigma. I'll go check... Aha. It was a brief observation in the post itself, but it sparked lots of interesting discussions in the comments, including a lengthly comparison to Vala. As always, my flist does all the hard work. :)

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Yay for another canon vs fanon! Klutzy Daniel is one of my pet peeves, too! Maybe that's why we both like "Contrary to Popular Belief" by Pewter--great spin on that tired topos.

I do like occasionally seeing Daniel's allergies, probably because I have them, but food allergies are very different than pollen allergies, and we have no indication Daniel has any--nor asthma, as you say!

I will note that one can be very good at one's job and still be occasionally careless, though not necessarily clumsy. A medievalist who shall remain nameless works extensively, and very well, with manuscripts. However, he has been known, in his excitement, to throw unique medieval manuscripts across a seminar table! It's quite shocking! I can see Daniel occasionally being careless with something--but not a weapon. One might actually damage a medieval manuscript, or a scroll, or an artifact--but one won't usually shoot somebody that way. Daniel respects weapons enough to be careful with them. (He doesn't respect them so much when they're pointed at him, though, as you've noted!)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Yes, Pewter's fic is a great example of the layers and layers of Daniel that simply get buried when writers take the easy fanon way out.

I like the allergies because - well, they make him more human. Show me just one Mary Sue out there with a chronic case of the sniffles! :)

And fair enough, yes, a person can be meticulous in one aspect of their lives and careless in another. It's the wild leap to clumsy that has me scratching my head.

[lokei.livejournal.com]

*cheer* Many of those tropes make me nuts, so I love the way you tracked them all down and eliminated them. *waves pennants*

I must admit that I personally love to have my written Daniel juggling far too much to carry, which is, as you point out, canon, but precarious piles are not necessarily going to fall, they just freak out everyone around them, and that is the fun part. I sometimes even suspect Daniel occasionally does it on purpose, just to watch people sigh in relief when he doesn't drop anything.

Stubborn, argumentative, snarky Daniel SO doesn't fit the 'delicate flower' stereotypes, and it's marvelous to revel in all the ways his snark nearly gets him killed or fired. Love that man. *chuckle* I particularly appreciated the way you picked out the contrast of Daniel's little tete-a-tete with Apophis in "Devil You Know," too, as that is a central point in the episode tag(s) I'm currently pondering (I think one's going to end up gen and one isn't, so far...we'll see if they either of them see the light of day).

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Whee! Canon bravely struggles through to victory!

LOL, yes - it is unquestionably canon for Daniel to run around holding way too much at once. WoO too, and Serpent's Venom, as mentioned in the comments above. So many examples, but the Leaning Tower never quite topples. :) (And YES I can see Daniel doing it deliberately, just to watch random airmen twitch!)

it's marvelous to revel in all the ways his snark nearly gets him killed or fired. Love that man.

A woman after my own heart! Or at least my own archeologist. :)

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

As usual, you and other commenters have covered anything and everything I could have added to the conversation, so this is me commenting to say I love it when you post these! Yay!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Whee! And thanks. :)

[6beforelunch.livejournal.com]

With civilian scientists such an important part of the SGC's makeup, it's only reasonable to assume that SGC personnel are carefully screened to avoid potential conflicts. Who in their right mind would risk losing the prestige of an SGC posting by starting trouble with any civilian on base, much less the premier one?

Seriously. You'd have to be nuts. Not to mention that by season 3 or so, Daniel probably has a decent hardcore reputation, and by season 7, even the military guys would probably think twice about taking him on in a fight. Sure, he's not military, but he's spent years fighting with Jack O'Neill and Teal'c, and that sort of private tutoring beats boot camp any day.

But, yeah, getting back to the main point, there's probably no quicker way to sabotage your SGC career than to pull crap with a guy who's skills are so highly valued that he gets sent to Russia to smooth over international incidents as a matter of routine.

I mean...

Daniel yanked his T-shirt over his head and bent to lace his boots. The four in the morning phone call had been interesting, especially since Daniel had, for once, been home in bed at an hour when you would actually expect him to be. General Jack O'Neill--and didn't that still sound weird to say--had woken him up and with barely a hello to give Daniel time to open his eyes, said, "Daniel. Unas on 661 are getting uppity and we've got allies on that planet. Go...do whatever it is you do to get them to not kill anyone. SG-9 is going as your back up." And then five minutes later another phone call while Daniel was still struggling to put his pants on. "Also, pick me up some bagels on your way in. The good ones. From that place. You know the one." Click. And two minutes after that. "Nevermind about the bagels, situation's getting more tense by the minute. I'll send Walter. Just get your ass in here."

So Daniel was running on five hours of sleep, under-caffeinated, and trying to remember how to say 'negotiate' in Unas when Captain Brian Cooper walked in. It wasn't like the newest edition to SG-9 had done it on purpose, but he couldn't have picked a worse time to screw with Daniel if he'd tried.

"You're the civilian."

Daniel rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand and slipped his glasses on. Even sleep addled, he registered the disdain.

"Doctor Daniel Jackson."

"Huh," Cooper said. "Been waiting for you for over forty minutes."

Daniel finished pulling on his jacket and turned to face Cooper. "Sorry about that, I've been asking Sam to install a teleportation device in my house but she never does seem get around to it."

Cooper either didn't catch or ignored the edge in Daniel's voice. Since Daniel's penchant for biting sarcasm had once been registered as a lethal weapon on an alien planet (interesting mission report, that; Jack had never lobbied harder to keep a piece of alien technology than the muzzle the highly sound sensitive and empathic Erksnqy species had forced Daniel to wear), it was probably the latter.

"I don't see why we need a history geek along to go shoot a bunch of animals," Cooper said.

Daniel blinked, twice. Opened his mouth. Closed it. A marine wandered into the locker room, took one look at Daniel's face, and headed right back out.

Cooper, interestingly, didn't get shipped off to scrub toilets in Alaska. Having been subjected to a tired and coffee-deprived Daniel Jackson in full pissed off rant mode, Jack decided he'd suffered enough. He was studiously avoided by most base personnel for a few weeks, though, lest his stupidity earn them Daniel's ire by proxy.

A year or so later, when all had been forgiven, and Cooper had proved that he really was a the valuable member of the SGC that the folks at the Pentagon said he'd be, the incident was far enough in the past to be joked about.

Sitting on some desert planet or another, Reynolds had slapped him on the back and said, "Look in the bright side. At least you didn't insult Sergeant Harriman. I hear they ship people off to Antarctica for that."

[beanpot.livejournal.com]

Hee! Tis awesome and I love the last bit as Harriman is god of the SGC. Fear his Wrath.

[uniquinum.livejournal.com]

You do this so well.

I'm reminded very strongly of two fics I've read.

To quote one "With the intricate work you do, you're more in control, and aware, of every movement you make - if you weren't, you'd be breaking stuff left and right,"

I can't for the life of me remember what the other fic I was thinking of when I read this post originally... :(

Meh...

Once again, well said.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

That's a lovely quote. Do you have a lin to the fic?

Glad you liked the post. :)

[flingslass.livejournal.com]

I'll have to go back and read the rest of these but they're a bit too deep and meaningful at the moment (sorry PMSing and have got the can't be bothereds. Tomorrow I will have the eat anything that doesn't run away as long as it's junk food.)
Iwill say that I find myself nodding with agreement with what I have read so far. Thanks heaps for being a gen fic fan, I don't feel so lonesome :)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Poor gen fans, all lonely on the moon! We have to stick together, really. :)

[boogieshoes.livejournal.com]

i think, the further people go down along the road of time, the more people tend to forget the influence Senfandom has had on SG-fandom. especially with the gun thing, and the bullying thing, i think a lot of people conflate Daniel with Blair. Blair *does* have an aversion to guns (he can fire them, but he doesn't like them so much he's more likely to take one apart a la Macguyver than use it as a weapon in and of itself), and police department bullying is Sen-fanon, too.

plus, a lot of people went from TS to SG-1 - you can see it in the number of cross-overs from circa 5-6yrs ago now. i expect a lot of the attraction was that there was another geek character 'like Blair' in SG-1, but the two don't really read a lot alike to me. however, i think that it's entirely probable, that this early between-fandoms movement influenced early-fanon Daniel enough that those characteristics now seem set in stone, whether they're true to canon or not.

-bs

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

This is a very interesting theory, and I do hope that those familiar with The Sentinal fandom will pick up on this and expand it. :) My knowledge of TS actually comes from all those crossover fics you mentioned.

Is Blair considered clumsy, then?

this early between-fandoms movement influenced early-fanon Daniel enough that those characteristics now seem set in stone, whether they're true to canon or not

Quite possible, yes. Indicative of a good grasp of the characters - not so much!

I really do like the theory. We take Daniel's dislike for weapons for granted, but really, has he ever stated that he hates guns of the like? Just because it's not his weapon of choice (words are!) doesn't mean he automatically hates him. And he does use them when he needs to...

Hmmm. Very thinky here. I'll have to ponder further. :)

[luzitasg1.livejournal.com]

Great discussion! I particularly agree that the trope of Daniel being victimized by bullies is totally off. Even in the movie, when Daniel really was being bullied and could be thought to lack the skills to defend himself, his reaction was not so much to be intimidated as to ignore the hostility. And movie Daniel wasn't entirely our Daniel.

Daniel's refusal to bend to superior force when he feels he is right is one of the defining elements of his character. And he always had a lot of aggression in his personality, even in the early seasons. It was just more covert than it became as the series progressed. Early-season Daniel is absent-mindedly, off-handedly snarky; late-season Daniel is more pointedly snarky. Even if I imagine Daniel before the series, as a geeky outsider teen, I can envision him ignoring bullies but not giving in to them.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

And movie Daniel wasn't entirely our Daniel.

Now, that's a very interesting statement. I know people who have trouble translating movie!Jack into series!Jack, but I've never heard of people having the same problem with Daniel - probably because MS did such a great job of channeling Spader. :) Would you care to elaborate?

Other than that, yes - it's an integral part of Daniel's self to dig in his heels when he feels that he's right. Letting bullies step all over him? Not this guy, nope. :)

Thanks for joining the discussion!

[sg-wonderland.livejournal.com]

Oh, where, where, where to start? First, double squee for two of my very favorite pissy Daniel scenes. 'Four eyes' from a kid who hadn't even shaved for the first time and 'geek' from a redneck in a bar! Just gotta say, if I saw Daniel in a bar, I wouldn't be giving him grief, I'd be giving him my phone number.....

No, Daniel doesn't wimp out and he doesn't back down from a very personal attack. Even early Daniel, COTG, challenges General Hammond, demanding quite stridently to be put on SG-1. Got any qualifications, son? None whatsoever, but I'm still going through that gate. Daniel and General Hammond showed a marked lack of respect for each other in the very early days, something I'm glad the writers recognized as a stereotype and stopped.

The writers nearly made early Daniel a cartoon character and I'm also glad they put the brakes on that one. He's clumsy, he sneezes, he trips over his own shoelaces, he MUST be a geek!!

Although I cannot picture a picked-on Daniel cleaning anyone's clock, I also cannot envision him sitting down and crying because he was being picked on. This is, after all, a child who had seen alot more of the dark side of life than any other child he was liable to encounter, and how, realistically, could they hurt him any worse than he'd already been wounded? I’ve always thought Daniel would have been one tough little kid.

I wince (and usually click off) fics in which Daniel is picked on within the confines of the base. I mean, who would put up with that? General Hammond? I don't think so. Jack? Not even close. Teal'c, Carter? This is not a teen-age band camp. It's a military base, protecting Earth's biggest and most dangerous secret. This is the elite of the elite, the best of the best, not just anyone gets a pass in that door.


Daniel holds up a knife and says brightly, "Yeah. Which end do the bullets go in, again?" Love, love this scene, as much for Daniel as the look that Sam and Jack, simultaneously give Grieves after he offers to show Daniel.

I just want to add a little something about ‘Shades of Grey’. The drawing straws thing aside, did anyone think anyone but Daniel would have the guts to beard the lion in his den? And for the record, Daniel only backed down when he got his feelings hurt. Not because he was afraid, or intimidated, but because he was hurt.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I really disagree that Daniel and Hammond were hostile to one another at the beginning. Daniel shoved his way into Hammond's face at the moment when the general also saw men he'd sent on a mission only a few hours ago being brought back in urgent need of surgery. As I mentioned in the post, it was really bad timing on his part!

The next time we see them interact? Hammond is polite. Daniel is equally polite, even deferential - but stubborn, and refusing to stay behind. That relationship doesn't change over the years, although it does soften with time. So where do you see a "marked lac of respect for each other"?

Other than that, I do agree that some of Daniel's characterization in the movie was a bit stereotypical, particularly in how utterly clueless he was about tents and such when they first went through the Gate (the man's been on digs before!). But cartoon character? No? He's not clumsy and he doesn't trip over his shoelaces - in fact, those are the very tropes that we disprove here!

This is the elite of the elite, the best of the best, not just anyone gets a pass in that door.

Yes and yes and YES. I've seen some authors suggest that politics (NID, Kinsey, etc.) might plant bullies or incompetents at the SGC, but no matter what backing someone might have, they'd still have to pass evals before they ever got to go through the Gate.

Nice thought, with SoG - Jack tried to loom at the door, and it didn't work. Daniel only backed off at a rejection of friendship, not at threats.

[randomfreshink.livejournal.com]

Y'know, maybe the 'clumsy' impression or vibe comes not so much from action, as just from Daniel's vibe. He does have a high personal energy, and it seems to bring this feeling of 'disorder' -- not that he's unorganized (it's cannon that when he has an idea, it never takes him long to find the reference he's thinking about).

But he's been seen to come into a number of meetings (starting from the movie and on) with papers and books, and they're never stacked, but seem sort of put togehter in some way that makes sense to Daniel -- presentation order, perhaps.

This is reflected in his office as well, which I think was only tidy for a very short time post the aborted trip to Atlantis (which brings up the feeling that it took him awhile to give in and unpack again).

So, maybe it is that feeling of loose cannon -- must drive the military guys crazy, too. It's the potential for disaster that always seems a bit higher than usual with Daniel around.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree that it's more vibe than anything else - Daniel does give you the idea, sometimes, that he's about to trip over his own feet. And yet he never actually does. :)

And yep, we see lots of clutter and disorganization, which isn't the same thing as clumsiness and carelessness. LOL on whatever arcane filing system he uses that only he understands!

I read a post-Fallen fic that deals with that. Jack trying to figure out Daniel's filing system. If I can dig it up, I'll link it.

It's the potential for disaster that always seems a bit higher than usual with Daniel around.

Well, that goes without saying. :)

[lokei.livejournal.com]

*howls with laughter* Oh, there's a mistake no one makes twice. The bagels were my favorite touch, though the muzzle ran a close second--poor Daniel! *snicker*

[eryndil.livejournal.com]

This is great - really interesting and well-researched analysis. It's nice to see people looking beyond the stereotypes and seeing the character as he is. Impressive range of references to episodes too! I can't think how many you had to watch to get those examples - tough job eh!

My thought about the 'carelessness' is this: as you have said, we very rarely see Daniel being careless with his kit or anything important. However, he has certain priorities which may be slightly unusual e.g. it's more important to research an ancient artifact than to keep his stuff tidy. I think this may give some people the impression that he is generally careless. I must admit, this is one side of Daniel that I completely identify with!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

::nods gravely:: Yes, it's a terrible burden that these canon vs. fanon posts impose on me. The things we do for fandom!

I do agree that Daniel's priorities might be, hm, a tad unique. :) Certainly, no one's going to argue that he doesn't tend towards clutter! But clumsy and careless does NOT equal messy and disorganized, despite what many authors try to imply.

Interestingly, his apartment is always quite neat, despite all the stuff he has on display. One assumes he has a good cleaning service to get rid of all the dust. :)

I'm glad you liked the post!

[maimat.livejournal.com]

I've been browsing the canon vs fanon and its awesome. You're pointing out a of of the reasons I got sick of some of the fanfic, reminding me that not everyone out there agrees with the fanon stereotypes, and helping me come back to the fandom. YAY!!! I beginning to remember what I miss about SG1.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Such a lovely compliment. :)

It's ironic that I read first the scripts online, then devoured the fanfic even as I slowly began to watch the show. And so many of the fics I read, back at the beginning, were riddled with fanon. Some of it's not so bad, of course - just exaggerated extrapolation. But some of them really do push my buttons. Or possibly my back button. ;)

Anything that brings anyone back to the fandom is good news to me! Thanks for chiming in.

[vikki.livejournal.com]

Daniel deliberately places himself in the line of fire when he helps get the Tollan out.

And can I say that little hand-behind-the-ear "What I can't hear you you're not making any sense" gesture when Maybourne threatens court-martial is absolutely delightful. Also awfully baiting.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Don't you just want to squish him? :D

Snarky Daniel - never-be-bulled Daniel - is such love!