FIC: Must Have Learned Them From A Million Stars [SG-1, Sam & Daniel, PG]

[minervacat]

This fits into the Valentine 'verse, one of (at least) two stories that (will eventually) come before the Daniel/Vala/Cam arc, but unlike the stories already written, which fit necessarily together, this story can be read on its own. When I was working on this, I called it "the one about everything I know about Sam Carter".

Title: Must Have

Comments

[synecdochic]

oh God, babe, this is perhaps the most perfect Sam voice I've ever, ever read, and I can't even begin to articulate all the points when I looked at it and just got that breathless swell of emotion deep in the pit of my chest because it's just so right. Every single last word of it, every observation, every time Sam circles around and keeps coming back to the same conversations and realizations, it's all perfect. Note-perfect down to the last little echoes, and so damn true, and I love how integral Jack and Teal'c are to this story even though they don't even appear there. I love that awkward moment of time when everything was ending, those interstitial weeks, and Lord, this story is the essence of everything that I love about it: that awkward figuring-out-what-next, wanting to tie up loose ends and at the same time not knowing even where to start

[minervacat]

the more time i spent with this story, the more time i spent thinking, "geez, it's cam who i ping to first and foremost, but JESUS CHRIST, WHY? i'm JUST LIKE sam carter!" so it makes me happy, happy, happy that the voice works for you, because i was so sure that it was just me in there, and of course because you know i love how you write sam, so it's wonderful glee-worthy praise. *clappy hands

[synecdochic]

It doesn't feel like you at all -- or if it is, well, you and Sam overlap to a scary scary degree. Because this feels exactly like how I see Sam, this wonderfully round three-dimensional woman who's full of flaws and contradictions and confusions, and seriously, it's just note-perfect voice and tone.

And I totally disagree with you about "how Daniel sees Sam" not being in there. Because it totally is. You do the same thing I do when you're writing tight third person limited like this; you have your viewpoint character make observations about the other character's actions, and then whatever spin the vp character puts on it doesn't matter, because the reader's formed her own impression. I totally have a strong and solid sense of what Daniel's thinking about Sam right here; it's hard to put into words, but it's sort of this hopeless love thing, where he loves her and respects her but he can't articulate it and he's painfully aware of all sorts of regrets that they both carry. The two of them have such a weird level of connection; they

[minervacat]

The two of them have such a weird level of connection; they get some things without even thinking about it, and totally miss other things that might be totally obvious to someone else.

*clappy* that's EXACTLY it, exactly how i saw them in this story, and even how i see them reflected in parts of "sun-bleached history" -- i wanted to write something that would inform their conversation toward the end of that, and i think (i hope!) i've succeeded. so yay, thank you for that validation (and for the technical explanation of what i'm doing, because i'm very clear that it's what i do, especially in tight third person, but i don't know that i could have verbalized it.)

and thank you, again. just. you know what i mean. *hands*

[minervacat]

aw, geez, thank you so much -- i'm so glad you like this sam, because the more i wrote, the more i really got to like her tremendously, and i'm so glad that other people feel that way. <3

[minervacat]

sometimes, coherency is overrated. :) and thank you again, you have made me all blushy with glee.

[abyssinia4077]

I'm flailing here because I love these two and their friendship and you got it down so very, very right that I want to sit here and quantify how perfect it is

[minervacat]

thank you so much; this story really started because i got hung up on season six, on why daniel made an effort to interact with jack and teal'c, but not sam -- that bothered me, and i started to wonder if it bothered sam, too, because i've always been so fond of her friendship with daniel, from "children of the gods" right now, and then all of a sudden, i had a story on my hands. i'm glad that worked for you, and that i found the right tone, the right angle, for their friendship. and yes, it really is all about the whole team, all at once, even as it's about sam and daniel, because i can't isolate any of them from the team. so thank you, so so much. i'm thrilled you liked this.

[abyssinia4077]

i got hung up on season six, on why daniel made an effort to interact with jack and teal'c, but not sam -- that bothered me, and i started to wonder if it bothered sam, too,

I get that. It's something I've been talking and thinking about ever since I caught season 6 a few months ago (I'm, um, really new to the show). I spent a while trawling for every fic I could find that dealt with the issue - because Sam is so surprised in "Full Circle" to learn that Daniel visited Jack and Teal'c and, as you said, her friendship with Daniel is so strong from so early on. Plus, you posted this story at a perfect time for me, because I'm just starting season 9 :)

You really did find the right tone for the friendship - it's the perfect mix of distance and intimacy - cuts close to the bone while still feeling very real, not getting too sappy. It's like, there are things they've earned the right to say to each other that other people haven't.
And, you've been recced because, really, everyone in the fandom ought to see this.

[minervacat]

i'm new to the fandom, myself -- i started watching sg:a in the fall of '05, but only started watching sg-1 last summer, and i've read a ton of fic written in the fandom before i started watching, but none that answered that question, of season 6 and daniel and sam, to my satisfaction. i'm thrilled to know that i'm not the only one who asked that question. :)

and thank you so much for the rec -- you've made me blush and stammer, and you are far too kind. thank you.

[lnboz]

This story made me cry - it's so beautiful, and so Sam, and so perfectly about the regrets and hopes and secrets and joys of their (and the team's) strange but wonderful friendship.

[minervacat]

awww, hon. thank you so much. ♥

[fialka]

Ah. I have been trawling the LJverse looking for good Samfic, for which I've suddenly developed a ravenous appetite since the show ended. And look -- three course meal, with wine, even!

And I have to share -- years ago I shared a teeny tiny office with another colleague, both of us working under a boss who was 127 years old and batshit crazy. I had these little round red stickers we were using for something (can't remember what) and every time the boss burst in and did her flappy bat thing I'd write that phrase keep passing open windows on a sticker in teeny tiny letters that the bat couldn't read and slap it somewhere A. could see it. Until one day the boss said, what are those red things? A. and I looked around and they were literally *everywhere* -- on the window and the shelves and the desks and the chairs and the endless stacks of papers and you name it. The room looked like it had chicken pox. Some of them were in such odd places, I'll bet you anything they're still there

[minervacat]

that story about the little red dots makes me very happy, because clearly you know exactly what daniel is referring to. :)

thank you so much; i'm so glad that i could scratch an itch, and that you liked this.

[thassalia]

And now I'm off to read...well, pretty much everything you've written. Wheee! and thanks!

Dude, you will be so happy you did!! Her writing's just glorious:)