#Stargate Analysis

[the-bi-space-ace]

Daniel Jackson & Why Stargate SG-1 is the Best Show in the World

Here we go again. Listen, my obsession with this show knows no bounds and I’m going to simply have to take you through my thoughts on every character. 

Strap in. It gets long.

Daniel Jackson. Linguist and ancient aliens believer (Daniel. It really is your worst quality. Even worse that YOU WERE RIGHT HOLY MOLY) and he figured out how to dial the Stargate and get it to work. A character known for his intelligence and empathy, his moral compass and being petty as fuck. A man who pushes those around him to be better people, and to think outside of themselves. Also he has allergies which plays into a very cute intro to his character in the show where Jack literally tosses a tissue box into the Stargate to make contact with Jackson. Let’s get into it. 

We open season one with the SGC traveling back to Abydos where they left Daniel Jackson in the og movie after disaster struck (that disaster you may ask??? ….. I have no clue I haven’t watched it yet BUT I DIGRESS). There’s a problem. Aliens came through the Stargate and took one of their own. They need to talk to Daniel, to the Abydonians, and what follows is unfortunate. 

You see, they defeated Ra in the movie, a parasite pretending to be a god, and thought they were done with this villain. Unfortunately they’re facing a new one, same shit different name: Apophis - brother of Ra. And it turns out they aren’t finished with stealing and enslaving people. Now, the genre of villain they’re against is swift, cunning, technologically advanced, and ruthless. The Goa’uld. They attack Abydos and take a young boy named Skaara and Sha’re, Daniel’s wife, captive along with the SG team member. 

Ugh. Sha’re. Daniel is so sweet to her. They’re so clearly in love. Daniel Jackson has my favorite quality in a man which is that one of his primary personality traits is that he loves his wife. Ugh. It kills me that the Goa’uld took her away and he spends the next few years desperately tracking her down. The Goa’uld end up possessing both Sha’re and Skaara and it leads to Daniel Jackson rejoining the SGC and joining Jack O’Neill and Sam in SG-1. 

It’s important to note a few things about Daniel here that inform me about why he is the way that he is. He was orphaned as a child, he lost his wife whom he loved very much, and he is extremely empathetic. He basically imprints on every being he comes across that doesn’t have a family and that kills me. He’s desperate for connection and he tries to understand the motives and meaning behind everything. He cares about people. He cares about culture. He cares about respecting things you don’t understand. 

While we’re on the subject of imprinting, let's talk about Daniel and his friendships. We’ll start with Sam and Daniel. True science besties. I love every interaction between these two. It's like they found their platonic soulmate that they’ve spent their lives looking for. They info dump with each other, bask in each other’s intelligence and value it even when they have zero clue what the other is on about. Their friendship is pure and quick and beautiful and I can’t talk about Daniel without touching on how he quickly latches onto his friends and makes them important and how it makes his life fuller to have them. He does the same with Jack. They clearly care deeply for each other and Daniel finds a safe space in Jack. A space where he can push and be angry and ask questions and share how he feels and never receive rejection from Jack. Yes, they fight and argue and disagree but it is (typically) a safe disagreement where they’ll mend anything they hurt. Then there’s Teal’c. Teal’c, the man who is… kind of responsible for taking Sha’re from him. A man that Daniel wants to hate but can’t. Because Teal’c is a changed man. A man who had little choice. A man who Daniel has come to recognize as a friend and ally. This. This is big for Daniel. 

Imagine. Your wife is taken from you. The man responsible for choosing her to take is now saying he is going to help you defeat your enemies. He lives on earth with you. He is treated as an honorable man and warrior. He is part of your team. Your everyday life. And you forgive him. You forgive because it’s the right thing. You forgive because you know it’s not his fault. You forgive because your heart is big enough to do so. To not assign blame where it’s unfair. That is Daniel Jackson. That is who he is. And fuck do I admire this in him. If it were my partner taken, life stolen from them, parasites taken over their body and using them to harm people. If I had to look at the man who chose her every day I might not be so forgiving. I might not have it in me to see a difference. This quality is something I admire because it is something that would be excruciating for me. 

Speaking of excruciating things: watching Daniel’s face when someone he loves is in danger is like getting stabbed through the heart. One of the moments that sticks out in my mind is when Jack and Teal’c are trapped on a submarine that is being overrun by Replicators. Their only hope at not letting these bastards take over the earth is to blow it up, with both of them on it. Jack tells them to prepare to do it and Daniel is immediately against it. Jack takes his helmet off so he can hold the camera up so Daniel can see his face, can talk directly to him, and tells him to do it. When Daniel, in desperation, pushes again Jack reiterates that he does not want to die by the replicators. He doesn’t want his life to be over that way. Daniel has to let him and Teal’c go. Daniel eventually gives in but he refuses to look away while two of his friends die. (Spoiler alert is that they get saved at the last minute, thank fuck.) 

We watch this despair each and every time one of his loved ones is in danger. We watch his expression, his heartbreak, his feelings of powerlessness. He’s desperately done everything he can to keep them safe. Daniel is not a soldier. He is an academic. He doesn’t have the training that the rest of them do. He hasn’t been taught how to handle battlefields and death and loss like they have. Watching his friends get hurt or die is so devastating for him. They are his family. Losing them is like losing everything he has left, especially since losing Sha’re and leaving everyone on Abydos. His heart holds all of them so dear. 

We know he values his friendships, but what about the times he makes friends with beings from other planets? One of my favorite times is with an Unas who kidnaps him to sacrifice him. Now, Daniel spends a lot of time trying to communicate with this Unas. He shares food with him, talks, they play games. All while he’s being dragged through the wilderness to be slaughtered. He starts to understand the Unas, to learn that he has a connection with this one. Eventually this connection is what saves him in the end. Daniel even goes on a rescue mission to save this Unas when he gets captured in a later season. 

Then we have Reese. Oh, Reese. I liked her. She was an android responsible for creating the Replicators, a dangerous villain in later seasons of SG-1. Daniel spends time bonding with her, learning about her, and figuring out why she made the Replicators. She was lonely. She spent her life being told she was ‘made wrong’ and that she needed to be ‘fixed’. She was sad and emotionally uncontrolled. I’m about to be annoying about this but this is why Daniel bonds so well with her. She was lonely. She wanted friends. She wanted kinship. Daniel so desperately wants these things. He’s so lonely, has been since childhood. He sees himself in her. And when she dies he’s heartbroken. It’s the first time you hear him cuss at Jack, a line that will live in my head forever: You stupid son of a bitch. Now, Jack isn’t stupid. Daniel knows this. Daniel is angry. But Jack was just trying to protect him, doing the thing he does to show his love, and it was rejected. This moment stings. It stings because of the context. It stings because of when it happens. It stings because of what happens only a few episodes later. 

Daniel dies. Daniel dies because of his empathy and action. He dies protecting people. He dies. And it’s heartbreaking. Watching everyone say goodbye to him is one of the most tear-inducing moments so far. (I cried for… a long time.) Teal’c honors him in a way culturally significant to him with tears in his eyes. A man that is usually stoic and a strong silent type letting himself mourn a friend he’s grown to love. Sam cries and reminds him that she loves him and she wishes she could do more for him. He can’t even respond to her at that point but she sits with him and takes in what little time they have left. And Jack, well, he makes a joke. He tries to be serious about it but it’s too uncomfortably close to talking outright about his feelings so he makes some joke about how Daniel has been a pain in his ass for five years and despite all of that he has grown to admire the man that Daniel has become. It’s so painfully Jack O’Neill that it’s charming and gets Daniel to smile. (CAVEAT Daniel is not like… dead dead… I’ve been informed that he returns and my sadness over it is only temporary since the character will be back soon… and yet I still cried for over an hour over him.) 

The worst part is that there is a chance for him to be saved. But he stops them so he can ‘ascend’ and ‘do more’. And how does he stop them? Well, he talks to the one person he knows will respect his decision, the one person he knows will let him go, the one person he knows he can trust to have the responsibility to take care of it. Jack. He tells Jack to let him go, to make them stop, to let Daniel move on. And Jack, despondent and unhappy as he is to do it, does. It is horrible to watch. Daniel standing in front of Jack, crying, telling him he’ll miss everyone while Jack says ‘yeah. Me too.’ and lets Daniel go. Ugh. It kills me. He says at some point during the episode that his life is worth no more than anyone else’s. That he hasn’t done much. He’s not done enough to help. Oh boy. He’s so wrong. He’s so unbelievably wrong it hurts. He’s an idiot. Not enough? Daniel, sweetie, you’ve given your life to this. You’ve saved civilizations, saved earth, saved Skaara, what more do you need to know that you have done miraculous things? His low self esteem hurts me here. He doesn’t believe he’s done good, that he is good. How does a man who has given his life to this cause think so little of himself? Well, I think it stems back to his parents. 

Goodness. I believe his parents loved him more than the moon and all the stars. I believe they raised that boy with attention and affection and love and care and it is a damn shame that they died. It’s a damn shame they died at the same time. It’s bullshit that Daniel watched it. He watched both of his parents die when he was around 10-12 years old. He became an orphan in an instant. He went from two loving parents to the foster system in seconds. Now, he didn’t have to go to the system. He had a grandfather that could have adopted him but the man didn’t. He had a career more important than Daniel. I wouldn’t make the same choice if it were me. Hell, this little baby lost everything in a day and he needed someone. He needed love. He needed a home that was familiar. And instead of taking on the responsibility, instead of working through his anger and helping him cope you left him. My sympathies lie with Daniel here because I love him so deeply so I get angry when I think about little Daniel having a family member that could take him and instead being given up because of… what? A career? Some things are more important. (Sidenote that I am not condemning people for prioritizing themselves instead of having children… I am not ever going to have children and that is completely of my own free will and choice and wants and needs. What I am saying is that Daniel’s grandfather chose to leave him for the sake of himself and I think this rejection is where Daniel’s low self esteem comes from.)

His grandfather’s rejection is the start in a long line of rejections. Rejection from his peers, rejection from superiors, rejection from society. He finally finds somewhere he feels he belongs (Abydos) and that is gone too. In the blink of an eye. He thinks he isn’t good enough. And I think that blows. (Another side note that I think Daniel has at least ADHD if not also Autism and since I have both of those things I get really fiery about Daniel so… I’M BIASED OKAY.) He spends the rest of his life searching for connection, community, love. Hell, he even tries to infodump to Jack in episode one and faces yet another rejection of his skills and interests and I can’t help but feel like that hurts. Now, Jack does this song and dance often throughout the show with Daniel but it starts to feel more like they’re purposefully winding each other up and not like Jack is trying to hurt him. But… a different post for a different day. 

Now, I won’t lie. I am super drawn to characters like this. I had a huge crush on Milo from Atlantis as a kid and Daniel is very very close to that character in a lot of ways. The floppy hair, the glasses, the nerdiness, the excitable way he talks. So… I’m a little biased… but this character… this character rules. He’s sweet and kind and sometimes so petty it makes me laugh. He’s funny and charming and GOSH I JUST LOVE HIM OKAY. HE’S STUPID CUTE IT MAKES ME MAD. But. He has flaws. Flaws that make me like him even more but flaws nonetheless. He can be one track minded. He takes things into his own hands and puts himself in danger and puts his team in uncomfortable positions because of it. He lets his emotions get the better of him. He compartmentalizes by throwing his all into things like working and solving something. He’s a great man. But he’s confused and scared and has such low self-esteem it hurts. 

His flaws are on full display when he puts himself in immediate danger to stop Jack from destroying a ship that is about to wipe out a civilization that they helped get a new home for. Daniel has talked to this person, knows that he can prevent two civilizations from being destroyed, but Jack is focused on helping the one they’ve already connected with. Daniel disobeys Jack’s order. He puts himself in the path of an explosive in order to convince the other person to cease unintentionally destroying the planet in order to find another solution. While Daniel does succeed and it is the right thing he still puts Jack in a situation where he has to choose to sacrifice Daniel if he is to complete their mission and save a whole group of people. It isn’t fair. It hurts Jack, pisses him off, but Daniel isn’t putting that piece of it as his top priority. He’s putting saving two whole civilizations of history, art, and passion as his top priority. He doesn’t think past the consequences of what he’s doing. 

Another case like this is in season one, The Torment of Tantalus, where they find a device that contains information well beyond our wildest dreams. ‘Meaning of life stuff’ as he likes to say. He values this preservation of history and knowledge. Even more than his own life. His one track mindedness here almost gets him killed. Jack begs him to go, tries to force him, but Daniel refuses and again forces Jack to make the choice to leave him behind and get everyone else to safety. Now, Daniel does end up following and getting out of there but it does take him a little bit of time to come to the conclusion that he does have to leave. He can’t just give up his life to stay behind on a planet about to be destroyed by a storm. 

I want to touch on his pettiness for a moment because it is damn entertaining to watch him get… petulant for lack of a better word. I have never seen a man more willing to mouth off to high ranking government officials or question his bosses or down right taunt someone holding him captive. He will say some stupid joke in the driest tone I’ve ever heard and all I’m thinking is: yep this is the day he gets punched in the face. This is it. They’re going to do it. This man does not know when to shut up. My dear, sweet boy sometimes you have to SHUT UP!!! Self preservation, Daniel! Ever heard of it?!?! By far the best part of his pettiness is the looks him and Sam share when someone says something stupid. Some high ranking officer saying something stupid or derogatory? Sam and Daniel are sharing a ‘do you hear this guy?’ look. Someone being a bit too mouthy for their liking? They’re side-eyeing each other. They are true best friends. Having silent conversations with one another while everyone else in the room argues. I love their very first meeting. Sam geeking out over the dialing device while Daniel watches her like ‘who is this and why is she literally the most amazing person I’ve ever met’. Them interacting that whole first episode is just the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. They are best friends, your honor. I cherish them.

Daniel, above all, is the definition of what it means to have a found family. His was taken from him and he spends his life finding a family again. The great thing is that he does find it. He finds it and he holds on so tight. I’m still working through the seasons of Stargate but Daniel is an interesting and beautiful character. He’s traumatized and sad but he’s also wonderfully complex and still learning. 

If you haven’t watched Stargate consider this: the found family trope runs rampant here. There’s plenty of content to watch, plenty of relationships to explore, and plenty of things to be said about this show. Plus, you could write some damn good fic about it if you wanted to :)

#Daniel Jackson #Stargate sg1 #sg1 #Stargate spoilers #this show was released the year I was born #I am the age that Michael Shanks was when he did season one of Stargate SG-1 #just think about that for a second #also all the gifs of daniel are cute #i didn't even SCRATCH THE SURFACE OF THIS CHARACTER HOW IS IT 3000 WORDS LONG #anyway watch stargate sg-1 #i have a slight crush on daniel jackson shut up #i like them smart and opinionated #I could go into a whole other thing about how he's never afraid to push back but another post another day #this is already too long #ily ok bye #i have raging adhd #Stargate Analysis

[cobalt-knave]

GOD I am still thinking about the moment at the end of Stargate SG-1 s08e07 "Affinity" when Teal'c's neighbor Eric puts Teal'c's forehead tattoo design on his skateboard.

Because it takes the symbol of Teal'c's god (false god) (dead false god) and turns it into a symbol of Teal'c. Not his past, not the destruction he caused or people he killed, not his present, not the times he has saved the Earth itself from ruin, but him. The effect he left on the people around him: kindness, strangeness, solidarity, little bits of everyday heroism. All things that that neighbor wanted to remember him by.

Just. The way the symbolism changes, man.

#stargate sg1 #teal'c #analysis #meta

[inessencedivided]

how have I never noticed......I just now realized that vala is a mirror of sha're...as a recovered goa'uld host, and a love interest to daniel, she's living the future that sha're never got. even adria is a reflection of what kind of threat shifu could have been if things had gone differently...

#i know this is so obvious but don't bully me i never did well with literary analysis!!! #sg1 #daniel jackson #vala mal doran #stargate #sha're

[rjalker]

pro tip: if the moral of the story is that "slavery is only bad when it happens to the protagonist" the story isn't actually anti-slavery.

#writing tips #writing advice #The Murderbot Diaries #Stargate #media literacy #Media analysis

[frostysfrenzy]

You Changed Me

AKA Sam and Daniel, Season 5 (and 6)

First of all. MERIDIAN. Hi @riverageleis @gatefiles @fighting-naturalist and anybody else I'm forgetting in my squad of people that go feral over this scene like me

She thinks he’s dying (and she’s right, obviously), and so she pours it all out. 

“I don’t know why we wait to tell people how we feel.” There’s just so many feelings, so much heart, so much love for him that’s put out on the table, explicitly. She tells him that she sees what really matters, who he truly is. She tells him that it’s changed her. And you can see it. Throughout season 5, and even before, you see her tend to take his side more and more in the humanity debate. She defends his arguments and holds to it as best as she can. 

They’re still partners in crime, getting held hostage and escaping together, sharing little phone calls for info when they’re away, sharing their embarrassment at Jack’s diplomatic skills and defending each other’s opinions on how situations should be handled (Namely in red sky). 

There’s the shine that Jacob takes to Daniel, the familial relationship very evident. And he’s the one there to try to save Daniel, with Sam right by his side, having already tried and painstakingly failed herself. All she wanted was to help, for him to be ok, to bring him back. 

She’s in his office, combing through his belongings, cherishing the memories (and his journals). 

“We don’t know that he’s really dead.” “And that’s the problem!” It’s the not knowing that does her in, he’s gone, and nobody, not even Daniel knew what it would entail. And she didn’t care. She didn’t care that he achieved some great feat, that he became some higher power, as intriguing as that may be in some other scenarios. Because they were a team, a family and she simply would rather just have him back. 

Even months later, she’s fully accepted Jonas into the team, practically being his one woman defence squad (another trait that screams Daniel) but to her it still feels like they just lost Daniel, and she’s terrified of having to go through that again with Jack. 

But she gets him back, she sees him again, it’s just like old times, solving the puzzle. She finally gets her dose of dealing with ascended Daniel and his sudden disappearances, not knowing how to react and wanting to know everything when he comes back. Still, she trusts him on the tablet and his plan. She’s the one to officially say that he may not be around anymore, because she knows that he would always hold up his end of the bargain when it came to SG1. She knew that he may actually be gone, she just didn’t want to admit it straight up, but she’s the first to ask Skaara if he’s heard anything on Daniel. She just got him back, but luckily she and the rest of the team won’t have to let go for long.

#stargate sg1 #sg1 #daniel jackson #sam carter #samdaniel analysis #otp: i knew i'd like you

[twotales]

Okay guys, just hear me out, Colonel Sumner is important! You may hate him or you may not care about him but I love what he represents, and I'll tell you why:

The Rising Part 1:

Clearly, he is written to be disliked, I feel like we all know that especially since we are seeing him through John and he has his authority issues, but he was also written in that way so when you see him in Part 2 it feels like a more dramatic change.

And the thing about Sumner is I get where he's coming from in his feelings toward John. I don't agree, but I can see it.

I mean they have been prepping and training for months or years in the SGC and suddenly a random major with a shady history just pops up? The guy outranks everyone but him!? Whaat? I'd be wary as well. Especially if I were in charge of all military personnel. (Below Elizabeth.) Then of course Sumners gotta be all toxic masculinity and power assertive during Part 1 because he represents the military, of course he does, and because of this it will really solidify the message in Part 2. 

When he meets the Athosians I know he is an asshole and clearly being sexist. I also know they are running out of time, the city is about to flood! Their whole expedition is at risk and that is probably all Sumner sees. Athosians will take time, therefore he cannot wait because just like the whole of Atlantis does after, he cares more about the expedition than others. He may have gone about it a dick way but he is portraying the message that's repeated the entirety of the show where they will stop at nothing to keep their people from harm.

The Rising Part 2:

Like I said, they have established this guy as military personified, as the powerful tough guy, and in his first scene you see of him in P2 he's freaking out, for him at least, and it's got you like "Oh fuck."

Then he's in the prison with the Athosians and they are doing the blame game and he says "how do they know they didn't tip off the wraith," and the thing is the Athosians are wary but look at Teyla's face, she GETS it, she said so earlier that they weren't friends yet, she understands why he would feel that way. But then when one of the Athosians is taken and Teyla tries to take his place Sumner jumps up and says he is their leader.

This is another personification of our humankind. The fact he is willing to sacrifice himself for others. People he just met, it's not a part of a mission, nobody commanded him to do it. No, of his own free will he tried to take the athosians place, tried to keep Teyla from being taken. 

This feels so utterly Tau'ri and so Stargate that it hurts.

This is the moment I realized there was more to him than being a dick, which I am sure is the intent but it's just such a crucial moment to set up the next few scenes.

He barely reacts to that wraith dropping down, he does, but he's so brave. This is the very first real interaction between the wraith and them so he has to make a good strong impression. He knows he can't show fear because these aliens might deem our whole species as weak. Especially with all the enemies in our own galaxy the SGC have had to face.

So, he cannot show fear, he doesn't show fear.

Until the moment he realizes that they eat us, that they are all probably going to get eaten, and that any misstep with him could spell disaster for Earth. The look on his face when the mask drops and he's just a terrified little human, a mere shadow of the man he has shown himself to be.

Fucking terrifying.

But then he swallows it, he remembers his training, he puts that brave face on and you see the instant "Fuck you" written all over it when she tells him to kneel.

Just so like us Earthlings.

Then she makes this man kneel with her fucking mind and you're like "OH FUUCK."

And in the end, when he dies, it's doing more than show what could happen to humans, does more than show what sort of danger they have gotten themselves into, it shows that the personification of the military is gone, that this show is different, that it's more civilian and science-based (at first.) 

It shows this isn't SG1, it's motherfucking Stargate Atlantis bitch!!

And we wouldn't have any of that without Sumner.

@itstartedwithalex Thank you for encouraging me to share these thoughts with our community and thank you @stargatelov3r for asking my thoughts on Sumner in the first place. 💚

#sga #stargate atlantis #colonel sumner #the rising #rambling analysis #rambnalysis 🤣 #had a tag from someone saying he deserved to die #no my dudes #he had to die #but he didn't deserve it #he is more than what he seems #he is a crucial element to our beloved show #and I'm going to give him all the props he deserves #thank you colonel sumner #you are important #and you deserve love from our fandom #even if it's just love for what you represent

[sga-owns-my-soul]

3, 12, and 30 for the ask game!!

ahh thank u friend!!

3- Do you like smoothies?

i do but i don't drink them very often bc they're usually made with yogurt and yogurt really upsets my stomach

12- What’s something about your best friend that you love?

okay well i have multiple best friends so i'm gonna brag about you bc i can- one of my favourite things about you is how caring and understanding you are, and how easy it always it to talk to you. whenever i feel worried about telling you something you always immediately ease my anxieties and you're so sweet always and you always make me feel so loved 🥰🥰

30- Is your closet organized? If so, how?

it is organized! i have a spare bedroom in my house that i keep all my seasonal clothes in (right now my summer shirts and dressed are in there) and my Big Fancy Dresses are in there too. my normal closet in my bedroom has my fashionable sweaters at one end, then it's night time t-shirts, then day time t-shirts, then long sleeve shirts, then my grooming work shirts, then warm sweaters/hoodies! it's slightly different in the summer, my long sleeves go to the end after fashionable sweaters and my summer t-shirts go before my work shirts.

#these were good questions! #you're welcome for the most in depth closet analysis ever #also thanks for being my bestie 🥰🥰 #ask games #not stargate

[shannoneichorn]

I know no one wants to cross platforms, but I've got some Stargate folks here who might want to know that I'm live tweeting SG-1 episodes on Mastodon.

"Rules of Engagement" starts here.

"Forever in a Day" starts here.

Highlights:

Okay, I really respect that the writers acknowledged that Daniel has completed the goal he set out on. You'd think something that monumentous would get wrapped into the plot of a season finale or mid-season 2-parter, so there's some comfort for fans (assuming you watched it as it aired) that the character isn't leaving the show.

I really would have liked for there to feel like more risk of that, but Daniel is acting so far outside his normal MO, it feels like a mere crisis of the week, and I think that's a disservice to Sha're (as is her character's oversimplification in the episode so far).

Movie Sha're was curious, rebellious, and brave. TV Sha're is kind of flat TV wife with an accent. The flatness could have been used to emphasize the loss of her autonomy and personality when she became a host, but it's especially hard to show that contrast when lively Sha're was on screen about 6 years prior.

It's hard to believe Daniel might actually leave, because we all know there's nothing for him to go toward. What's he going to do, find a dig to join when he could be out face-to-face with alien civilizations? No one has said that,  but you know every single person in Cheyenne Mountain understands it.

Except Daniel.

Jack literally says this 5 seconds later.  Lol.

"Past and Present" starts here.

"Foothold" starts here.

#stargate sg1 #thoughts and analysis #how to tune out the world #too lazy to finish my blog watch guide #yay tokra

[volixia669]

Something interesting about Stargate being all “Ra Ra, Go US Military” is it does provide a platform to question nuances of one’s beliefs surrounding the military. It sets up various questions but what you believe may alter how you perceive the outcome or just how you perceive the question.

Now, before anyone cancels me for the rest of this post, let me be clear that my beliefs are always subject to change and that they tend to have a decent amount of nuance that I may not always get across but I generally understand not everyone will have my beliefs.

Moving on, I’m at Prometheus Part 1, still at the beginning. But once again we have a journalist looking into Stargate, only this one actually has something. Oh and may have dark money ties but eh, that’s more for the propaganda angle. Focusing just on the journalist, a question arises.

When should a journalist keep quiet/redact certain information?

I’m sure Stargate will go for “any time national security is threatened!” As for me? Well...

I do believe that journalists have a duty to report on corruption, where funds are going, and on what the military is doing. Preventing them from doing so gets us in the position we’re in today where most news corps are too cowardly/too corrupt to do so.

But I do think there are some limits. Now, “national security” is often being threatened by various things, some real, some phony, so that’s not a real limit. But I do think Stargate has a point in that coming out with stories that will get people killed is not good, and this becomes particularly sticky with military operations. Some of which may actually be ethically fine, many aren’t, yet if say, a reporter mentioned on public television where a secret op is happening, that will get soldiers killed.

Incidentally, I have had some issue with the way CNN and some other mass media have handled the war in Ukraine, as they’re literally showing where a bunch of people are hiding, or what equipment they have, which puts those people and soldiers at risk from Russian higher ups using that intel.

Going back to Prometheus, the episode itself had Aired in August 2002. Military action in response to 9/11, according to Wikipedia, was authorized September 13th 2001, with troops deployed October 2001. The War on Terror had begun by the time filming for the episode ocurred.

This puts the question asked in a sticky context. Because yeah, 9/11 was terrible, but it didn’t justify the response. Nor did it justify all the corruption in the military, how soldiers were being treated, and oh the Islamaphobia. So yes, journalists who questioned that were likely correct despite what Stargate might imply. And to imply the journalists questioning the ethics of the war on terror were bad is not that great.

That said...Even in that context, reporting on specific ops while they’re in motion? Reporting on equipment? Putting soldiers lives in danger for a story? That’s where I personally draw a line.

Hopefully it’s where this fictional reporter does too.

#stargate sg-1 #media analysis #i'm one of those lefties with complicated takes on military #tbf the stargate program has also been secret for too long but not like THAT'S new for the us military #the show is alright but what's REALLY fun is the ways it can be critiqued

[sassycordy]

I read the John being autistic ask and wanted to point out that it is possible for these neuro divergent behaviors to stem from trauma and that honestly, it is true that the entire expedition probably is neuro divergent. Traumatic experiences change your brain, can literally make you neuro divergent.

Basically, if people on the expedition weren't neuro divergent before, well, they are now.

(Also, I am not disagreeing with the HC, I think it's great! Like, fuck yeah we need more representation, I'll gladly accept John into our autism community rn! I just feel this needed to be said. 💚)

ooooooo wow i did not know that! i’m learning so much from these asks so thank you for educating me ahah. but huh that’s super interesting. and honestly yeah given everything the expedition has gone through, it’s not much of a reach ahah. i would love to read a neuro divergent reading of the entire atlantis expedition (written by someone who is actually neuro divergent ) !!

#sassy cordy responds #let’s pretend this didn’t take me years to answer hehe #IM TRYING TO GET BETTER I SWEAR #stargate atlantis #i would love to read a neuro divergent analysis on teyla & elizabeth & ronon #bc i feel like most ppl tend to focus on mcshep (which same lol) but i think it would be cool to highlight other characters #also no worries anon !!!! i totally get what you mean eheh

[metronn]

if you are interested in reading about stargate + racism and colonialism, may i suggest decolonizing stargate (parts one and two) by mame bougouma diene. these are two short columns published in the online magazine strange horizons - not particularly academically-oriented language, easy to understand, free to read, and a summary of a lot of the issues with white saviourism in the show.

#stargate #there's definitely more in-depth analysis out there though #he only critiques season one in these but i really want to see someone talk about the tokra #like specifically addressing that although many of the goauld are characters of colour... most of the main tokra are white........ curious

[cobalt-knave]

There’s an interesting comparison to be made between the Goa’ulds and the SGC in how people refer to each other and their superiors. The SGC is military; it’s all about rank “General”, “Colonel”, “Captain”, “Sir”. The Goa’ulds, despite having a more, let’s say, intense power structure (”Kneel before your god” and all that), use names without honorifics and/or the Goa’uld calling Jaffa “Jaffa” (they sometimes call them “Jaffa” and sometimes use their names). So, Goa’uld use the non-name to talk down to soldiers, and the SGC uses rank and honorifics to generally talk up to others, indicating respect or deference or the opposite.

The example of Mayborne very specifically calling Teal’c “Mr. Teal’c” comes to mind. It feels more condescending than just using his name because the honorific emphasizes his lack of rank.

There are exceptions -- I know at some point, Apophis is called “Lord Apophis”. And not everyone uses the honorifics/rank at the SGC all the time (Daniel, I am looking at you.). But it was an interesting thread to notice. 

#stargate sg1 #analysis

[skarchomp]

i hope hbomberguy's next video is like a 3 hour analysis of the stargate tv shows and not a scathing takedown of the masterminds behind a github embezzlement scheme or something cuz i think it would be funny to pivot back to that stuff all of a sudden

[the-mushroom-faerie]

fair warning I'm on my soapbox today so this is going to be a kinda rant-y analysis, but here are my SG-1 age headcanons because I do not accept their canon ages. this will be their age in season 1 for continuity's sake, if you want to know their hc ages in a later season... do the math yourself idk

Daniel Jackson

there is no way Daniel is 38. in the movie (I will be including the movie for both Daniel and Jack) Daniel is in a lecture hall and looks very young, maybe this is among his first lectures. in the episode where he meets up with his university friends, they say that he dropped off the radar at that lecture (which makes sense because that's when he joins the stargate programme), and before then he had worked with them and their professor. now this is where I take my conformation that he is very young, because this seems like a post-grad internship very very soon after his uni courses. which means that, including the year he was in abydos, he can't be more than mid 20s. 28 at the oldest in the first episode - that's ten whole years younger than canon.

Jack O'Neill

the show seems to try and make us think that Charlie died many many years ago, but he died within MONTHS of the first abydos mission. he was only like 10, so if Jack had his kid around mid 20s, he should only be mid 30s in the first episode. again, ten years younger than canon. they really seem to forget that Daniel was only in abydos for a single year, don't they? now, RDA did (gracefully, he looks amazing) age like 10 years in half a season, going from completely brunet (male spelling) to salt and pepper hair and gaining a few dignified wrinkles, so I can see how people can think he's older than he is.

Sam Carter

now here, apparently her canon age is YOUNGER than I think it is. I don't think she's 27. there's no way she's younger than Daniel. she's a captain, and an aunt. I think early 30s. she's still younger than Jack, but not 17 years younger.

#stargate #stargate sg1 #daniel jackson #jack o'neill #sam carter #mushroom rambles #age headcanons #a bit of a rant #sam doesnt have as deep a dive because i dont have as strong of opinions about her age besides ew no shes not 17 years younger than jack

[frostysfrenzy]

We Want Sam

AKA Sam & Daniel, Season 4

Season 4, in all its glory, still being one of the best overall seasons of the whole series, doesn’t have a ton to offer in terms of key moments, big or small, at least in the first half. I can’t complain though, nerds being nerds and sassing off their enemies is glorious in every way

They’re captured by Martin’s people, they both instantly fall to Denial, but snarky. They’re the first to find a plan to turn back the clock in 2010. She’s the first to take his side in the other side, as she often is. In beneath the surface, they’re the first to have the dream, to have the doubt. He offers her his food, befriending her (and Jack) Against the best wishes of his friend in the mine, who can’t stand them, especially Sam. 

Then we see them nerding together again, working to reprogram the bomb in the serpent’s mouth. She trusts his judgement and when that fails, he instantly trusts hers. We see little moments like Daniel winning the bet with Jack about Sam visiting the planet, because he just knows her. Or her trying to call him when he’s late for work. (This isn’t a dismissal of the Jack scene on the balcony cause HELLO GOOD SHIT REALLY REALLY GOOD). They’re back at the nerding again in the early stages of absolute power, figuring out the weapon. But of course that’s not where that episode ends, and I’ll be the first to admit I may be overanalyzing this one, but here goes. 

Sam starts seeing another side of Daniel, one she can’t stand. She fights him on it, she makes sure he knows how she feels. She believes Teal’c is dead because of Daniel (and while we don’t really get canon confirmation of any of this, she may not be wrong). He listens, but tells her she’s the one that’s really changed. He tells her she was booted from the project because she was starting to crack under pressure. He obviously still respected Jack, it’s safe to say he hadn’t lost all of that for Sam either (though he wasn’t very good at showing that). He’d seen her die in his visions beforehand. And after this she’s locked away, everyone believing she’s insane. She’s the one voice opposing Daniel, and he can’t let her get in the way of the project, or herself. Being the only opposition to a project everyone around her thinks is good can only mean trouble for her. He keeps an eye on her, and doesn’t try to stop Jack, even knowing she essentially sent him. And of course, Sam wasn’t all that wrong, she knows how he works. 

Then we come back to reality and he tells her his dream wasn’t important, because he’s seen so much he doesn’t need any of them to know, least of all the strain it put on their relationship. And she just knows, instinctually, that he’s right, there’s no choice but to let the boy go.

On to Entity, Daniel and Sam are on the same page, wanting to try to communicate with the entity. And even when it proves dire for Sam, he still holds onto that. “She wasn’t wrong to try to communicate with it.” He knows that, he knows Sam knew that. And when it comes to getting her back, he tells the entity “we don’t want your information, we want Sam.” Daniel, and Sam for that matter, have always strived to get as much info on as much as they can. But none of that matters anymore, cause it can’t come at the cost of his friends. He’s the one that realizes she’s in the computer system, stopping them from destroying it, recognizing her communication, leading to her being saved once more.

#stargate sg1 #sg1 #sam carter #daniel jackson #samdaniel analysis #otp: i knew i'd like you

[badstargateimagines]

Stargate Character Analysis

Based on if they would do the caramelldansen dance when it comes on at the shindig

Jack: no because he doesn’t know it but wouldn’t even if he did

Sam: yes and she would encourage everyone else to do it though not aggressively

Daniel: depends on his sobriety levels. No up until about the 1.5 beer mark, grudgingly until the three beer mark, yes at all points after

Teal’c: yes but he thinks it’s some sort of weird traditional thing. He sees no difference between Caramelldansen and the National Anthem

Jonas: yes and he also thinks it’s traditional. He aggressively gets people to join in. He really likes the song

Cam: no he refuses because he thinks it’s ridiculous

Vala: refuses initially but then realizes that the song fucking slaps and the dance is the most important part of it

General Hammond: you might think he doesn’t know it but his grand daughters showed it to him. He will do it but only for a second so you gotta make sure you watch

Apophis: no and he commits 6 counts of space war crimes while everyone’s distracted

Ba’al: he would but it would be very half-assed and he would also manage to commit space war crimes during the song some how

Stinky pete: he unplugs the stereo and is beaten to death by an angry mob (best possible timeline)

#stargate #stargate sg1 #sg1 #bad stargate imagines #daniel jackson #jack o’neill #teal'c #sam carter #jonas quinn #vala mal doran #general hammond #ba’al #fuck it post