Unpopular opinion? Probably.
The more I think about it, the less I see the Jack/Sam and Daniel/Vala relationships actually working out. And I’m not just saying this as a Jack/Daniel shipper. I just don’t think that they would be healthy long-term relationships
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Sam & Jack are much more comfortable around each other in the later seasons. Any awkwardness they display in their interaction always stems from military no-frat regs. Theirs is an angsty, bittersweet courtship, because they obviously have a 'thing' for each other, but don't want to ruin everything the other person's accomplished with a career-ending indiscretion. In that regard, Jack & Daniel have similar issues, given the DADT policies in place during the series timeline.
Jack & Daniel evolved a communication shorthand to circumvent discovery; their scene at the end of S9's Origin ("Wanna?" "Mm-hmm.") illustrates how well they understand each other; the wordless eye-language that Daniel & Vala use at the end of The Ark of Truth echoes that dynamic.
As far as dealing with "breathing" people, Daniel's never, ever backed down from speaking Truth to Power; has a knack for negotiation & mediation; and follows his tendency to observe a culture before transgressing its customs. Sometimes he stutters or has a hard time getting his ideas across to people he knows, but it's because he thinks more quickly than his mouth can move (which is very fast, heh). He's frustrated when obvious truths to him aren't truths shared by people he cares about.
THAT scene from Unending was lazy writing on Robert Cooper's part. Instead of showing quiet, caring moments similar to ones where Vala gently & compassionately tries to cheer up Daniel (Pegasus Project) or build on Daniel's "time to come home" speech in Memento Mori, Cooper reverted to a rehash of Season 9 Vala in Ties That Bind (OMGWTF) to hook them up. It made Daniel look like a douche and Vala look like a woobie. A relationship with S9 Vala definitely would've been UNHEALTHY. But Vala re-discovered the simpler, trustworthy soul she was *before* Qetesh took her during her time in the Ori Galaxy and with SG-1 throughout S10. The majority (like, 99%) of Daniel/Vala fanfic has them hooking up S10 & beyond. Daniel/Vala hooking up in S9 would've been only about the sex -- a precarious basis for a relationship.
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I think all the team members have varying degrees of the eye-language thing going on, it speaks volumes of their connections. The interplay here is what lends varies pairings and multiples their strengths, the bonds of this team are a thing of beauty any which way you take them.
Daniel's mouth sure has it's advantages... XD
Unending was beautifully ugly. It gives me an appreciation of those who write fiction that has that wonderfully gentle build to an achievable relationship for these two.
The season in which these relationships possibly occur is quite important also. This is quite evident when Sam's discovery of self starting in Grace (S7) quickly ends up in a relationship with Pete, without her fully confronting and dealing with her relationship with Jack. Daniel has a (presumed) one night stand with Kera right after his wife has died and isn't even ready for another relationship until 7 years later.
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I can see Jack & Daniel hooking up in any season, but having the most success in the long term post-Descension, and especially after DADT's repeal.
I'm most comfy with Daniel & Vala hooking up any time after AoT.
(LOL no one's discussing Sam/Janet or Sam/Vala.)
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I did read a retirement fic years and years ago which summed up their relationships beautifully and explored all those nuances that I think Milanthruil was bringing into question earlier about the ifs and hows of their relationship possibly working out. It was fumbling and awkward and shy as hell. I wish I knew where that fic was. *sigh*
Jack and Daniel would most definitely have to hook up post descension, their relationship in seasons 4 and 5 deteriorated to such a point and the things Daniel says to Oma in Meridian leads me to suspect possible depression. (which led a lot of writers to use the idea that Jack was treating Daniel like shit because he couldn't have him.) Personally I think it's a bit from both of them, Jack not wanting to show his feelings for any of his team members after Divide and Conquer and Daniel feeling lost after Sha're/Shifu.
Sam/Janet is all kinds of angsty and sad now, there was a fair bit of it around before Heroes.
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I love it when a couple goes through a "breakup" and then reunites, because it usually makes their relationship stronger by resolving a few ~issues. Jack/Daniel certainly have Issues.
Killing off Janet is just... meh. Even if you were writing what you thought was a series finale, why would her death make it better? I don't get it.
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And when Lost City was supposed to be the finale/end of series movie Jack was going to end up frozen in the ice anyway, which is pretty much death.
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Anyway, if they were hoping to make movies based on the TV series, why kill off a beloved character? No one hated Janet Fraiser. And Teryl certainly deserved to be in a Stargate movie.
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I meant that Daniel sometimes isn't socially aware. He occasionally gets ahead of himself and forgets that he's talking to people who may have differing opinions. And then they say things that may catch him off gaurd because he hadn't thought of it that way. And people who have been dead for centuries tend not to talk back. ;)
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PS: Thanks for having the courage to host an intriguing fandom topic, BTW. Most of the time, fans go anon on this subject, and it divides instead of unites us in further understanding each other.
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I don't know if it was courage so much as lack of sleep. lol I tend to wax a bit philosophical in the wee hours. The original post was totally formulated at like 7am this morning after having been awake since noon. (I probably could have waited a bit in posting to make sure that all my points were saying what I wanted them to. :P)
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