E is for Elegance, by Beatrice Otter (PG)
Rec Category: Bra'tac
Categories: Apophis, Sam, pre-series, character study
Warnings: none
Author's Journal: beatrice_otter
Author's Website: beatrice_otter
Link: E is for Elegance
Why This Must Be Read: Bra'tac is wily and pragmatic and fierce. He also has style, wit, and perception. And in this gorgeous character exploration, it's those very traits that lead him to understanding that Apophis=false god... and that the Goa'uld must be defeated for the sake of Jaffa freedom.
Read this and savor.
He found that his new-found habit of thinking could not be turned off. Attention was good for a Jaffa when it was turned towards the pursuits the gods required, such as battle; in all other cases, it was a distraction. Yet Bra'tac found himself pondering many things.
Their staff weapons, for example. The slaves who crafted them were highly skilled! Each one was carved and assembled by hand, yet each was virtually identical no matter which world it was made on. Bra'tac did not know the secrets of the staff weapon, of course, for that was a secret of the gods and forbidden to a Jaffa, but he could see that in their own way the craftsmen possessed as much precision and perfection as Bra'tac himself did. In fact, Bra'tac found examples of such dedication and care in many places all around him: it was in the way some slaves swung sickles when his company walked past fields. It was in the way the minstrels honed their craft and their stories.
It was an attitude, a way of life in which through practice, skill, and attention, the most difficult things could be done with apparent ease and grace. There was not a word for it, but Bra'tac strove to apply it to all aspects of his life.
Categories: Apophis, Sam, pre-series, character study
Warnings: none
Author's Journal: beatrice_otter
Author's Website: beatrice_otter
Link: E is for Elegance
Why This Must Be Read: Bra'tac is wily and pragmatic and fierce. He also has style, wit, and perception. And in this gorgeous character exploration, it's those very traits that lead him to understanding that Apophis=false god... and that the Goa'uld must be defeated for the sake of Jaffa freedom.
Read this and savor.
He found that his new-found habit of thinking could not be turned off. Attention was good for a Jaffa when it was turned towards the pursuits the gods required, such as battle; in all other cases, it was a distraction. Yet Bra'tac found himself pondering many things.
Their staff weapons, for example. The slaves who crafted them were highly skilled! Each one was carved and assembled by hand, yet each was virtually identical no matter which world it was made on. Bra'tac did not know the secrets of the staff weapon, of course, for that was a secret of the gods and forbidden to a Jaffa, but he could see that in their own way the craftsmen possessed as much precision and perfection as Bra'tac himself did. In fact, Bra'tac found examples of such dedication and care in many places all around him: it was in the way some slaves swung sickles when his company walked past fields. It was in the way the minstrels honed their craft and their stories.
It was an attitude, a way of life in which through practice, skill, and attention, the most difficult things could be done with apparent ease and grace. There was not a word for it, but Bra'tac strove to apply it to all aspects of his life.