a. Sam was my 'in' into Stargate. It took me a long time to get past MacGyvver, but I did because there was a great, athletic, capable, woman, scientist on screen. She was more stereotypical in early seasons, bad with people, uber-feminist and unable to dress in appropriately sized clothes unless they were a uniform. When she stood up straight and got more secure in later seasons, though, I loved her.
During my initial viewing of the first probably 5-6 seasons of Stargate, I was on board with the Jack UST thing, but the longer it got drawn out without development or resolution, the less patience I had with it. I know how an analytical mind like hers works (like mine) and I have a lot of trouble with the idea that she could leave something so completely unfinished for such a long time. That she might not understand it? Oh definitely possible. That she would never figure it out? Not bloody likely.
So at some point I started differentiating in my head between traits that were consistent with a scientific brain and those that weren't and I came to this huge existential crisis of a story called One Half of the Equation. I let Sam try to deal with everything with science and I let her fail, and then I let Daniel, who is much more emotionally aware if not emotionally intelligent, come in and pick her up somewhat. That catharsis was enough to open the door to writing a lot more of Sam after that.
b.I love that she is so analytical, that she can break things down into fixable parts and get it done. She's committed, she's driven, she's focused. She's working hard at work worth doing and she's surrounded by really good people. I have so much respect for her.
c. This is actually not a fault, per se, but I think it's a major facet of her personality that emotions are difficult to understand. If she knows what to do with them, then she will (witness, Cassie), but if they confuse her, she will either put them away and deal with them later, or get incredibly awkward. I see Sam throwing herself into her work to avoid thinking about complicated emotional situations quite often, actually. Machines make *sense*, people do not, and she doesn't have a manual for people, can't see their workings most of the time.
d. I find it ridiculously easy to write Sam. It's just figuring out the story to tell that gets me. But her thought processes are very much like mine, so it fits with my analytical progression through ideas and stories and thoughts and sentences.
e.from One Half of the Equation: Still, the loyalty was touching. Sam wondered if what she felt was home, or just the support of people who knew she could blow up stars and didn’t want to mess with her.
or, the Principle of Exclusion: “Me and Rodney? There is no me and Rodney.” She was trying to follow the conversation. Honest she was.
or, The Sky Is Falling: “Daniel has this theory,” she said, “that you know you’ve given up when you let yourself get drunk with the locals.”
“Really?” He asked, “Talk to him lately?” It was clearly the wrong thing to say, but the words were somersaulting out of his mouth before he heard them.
“Jack did,” she snapped, “Eudora. Daniel didn’t, in Caledonia.”
“I know Sam, I did my homework, once upon a time…”
“I didn’t, at the alpha site, on the Prometheus.”
“That’s other planets, Sam; this is Earth. Well, the Prometheus… you know what I mean.” He suddenly felt old and creaky, curling up on his side to soak up the warmth of the fire, though all he really felt was a few withdrawing licks of light and heat on his knees. “This is months and seasons and it’s time to appreciate that we’re in France, even if we just pulled a bunch of vines to plant wheat.” It was a weird rationalization on their part, to drink in honor of the vines that were sacrificed, but who was he to argue?
“Are you giving up on me?” Spelling it out because obviously he was in no condition for subtlety, but she sounded young when she said it.
f. Yes, one of the stories I'm working on is Sam and Teal'c friendship, post-finale. I'm really looking forward to the last conversation in that one.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-09-12 10:10 pm (UTC)During my initial viewing of the first probably 5-6 seasons of Stargate, I was on board with the Jack UST thing, but the longer it got drawn out without development or resolution, the less patience I had with it. I know how an analytical mind like hers works (like mine) and I have a lot of trouble with the idea that she could leave something so completely unfinished for such a long time. That she might not understand it? Oh definitely possible. That she would never figure it out? Not bloody likely.
So at some point I started differentiating in my head between traits that were consistent with a scientific brain and those that weren't and I came to this huge existential crisis of a story called One Half of the Equation. I let Sam try to deal with everything with science and I let her fail, and then I let Daniel, who is much more emotionally aware if not emotionally intelligent, come in and pick her up somewhat. That catharsis was enough to open the door to writing a lot more of Sam after that.
b.I love that she is so analytical, that she can break things down into fixable parts and get it done. She's committed, she's driven, she's focused. She's working hard at work worth doing and she's surrounded by really good people. I have so much respect for her.
c. This is actually not a fault, per se, but I think it's a major facet of her personality that emotions are difficult to understand. If she knows what to do with them, then she will (witness, Cassie), but if they confuse her, she will either put them away and deal with them later, or get incredibly awkward. I see Sam throwing herself into her work to avoid thinking about complicated emotional situations quite often, actually. Machines make *sense*, people do not, and she doesn't have a manual for people, can't see their workings most of the time.
d. I find it ridiculously easy to write Sam. It's just figuring out the story to tell that gets me. But her thought processes are very much like mine, so it fits with my analytical progression through ideas and stories and thoughts and sentences.
e.from One Half of the Equation: Still, the loyalty was touching. Sam wondered if what she felt was home, or just the support of people who knew she could blow up stars and didn’t want to mess with her.
or, the Principle of Exclusion: “Me and Rodney? There is no me and Rodney.” She was trying to follow the conversation. Honest she was.
or, The Sky Is Falling:
“Daniel has this theory,” she said, “that you know you’ve given up when you let yourself get drunk with the locals.”
“Really?” He asked, “Talk to him lately?” It was clearly the wrong thing to say, but the words were somersaulting out of his mouth before he heard them.
“Jack did,” she snapped, “Eudora. Daniel didn’t, in Caledonia.”
“I know Sam, I did my homework, once upon a time…”
“I didn’t, at the alpha site, on the Prometheus.”
“That’s other planets, Sam; this is Earth. Well, the Prometheus… you know what I mean.” He suddenly felt old and creaky, curling up on his side to soak up the warmth of the fire, though all he really felt was a few withdrawing licks of light and heat on his knees. “This is months and seasons and it’s time to appreciate that we’re in France, even if we just pulled a bunch of vines to plant wheat.” It was a weird rationalization on their part, to drink in honor of the vines that were sacrificed, but who was he to argue?
“Are you giving up on me?” Spelling it out because obviously he was in no condition for subtlety, but she sounded young when she said it.
f. Yes, one of the stories I'm working on is Sam and Teal'c friendship, post-finale. I'm really looking forward to the last conversation in that one.