[identity profile] gardendoor.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] ship_manifesto
Title: Bang! Holy Grail Time
Author: Gardendoor
Spoilers: Through end of Sentinel, minor spoilage for SG-1 1st season and Meridian
Email: gardendoor AT hotmail DOT com
Personal Website: The Gardendoor Fan Fiction Archive



While many writers attempt crossovers, some more successfully than others, it's unusual to find a pairing that is both highly popular and easy to write. Blair Sandburg and Daniel Jackson, though, fit the bill perfectly. When I first read this pairing, I'd actually never seen either show, and had never even met the SG-1 crew in fanfic, but I was struck by how the two characters complemented each other, how they comforted each other, helped each other gain perspective and find their way past seemingly impossible, life-changing obstacles: the loss of a wife, the death of a career, years of unrequited love for a seemingly indifferent partner.

Blair and Daniel are both crackpot theorists whose theories were unexpectedly proven right, ripping them from quests for dry, dusty footnotes to the shock of life-or-death reality. They each find themselves risking their necks and even dying for their best friends, gruff military-types who jokingly disparage them as geeks. They're both extraordinarily bright and energetic, throw themselves wholeheartedly into their work, and go toe-to-toe with people when their principles are stepped on. And both are spiritual seekers who keep an open mind about the supernatural. Even their quirky backgrounds lend themselves easily to connection, always the hardest sell in any crossover: Daniel Jackson was orphaned at an early age, Blair Sandburg's flaky single mother could easily have left him with friends or lost custody of him temporarily, making it plausible for the two boys to have grown up together. But as they've both studied in obscure libraries and traveled extensively to exotic backwaters, they could meet up any number of ways.

Despite the many similarities, though, Blair and Daniel aren't clones. They aren't even equals. While Daniel gets ribbed for not being military and being a bit of a geek, he's a PhD who knows dozens of languages and cultures. He's one of the two amazing brains of the team, and is respected for his unique strengths by his teammates. Despite his academic background, he's never objected to carrying a gun as part of SG-1, or even using said gun. He's been described as the conscience of SG-1, and he does fight for his convictions, but he's a cultural relativist, rarely objecting to offensive customs within another culture, only within his own. For example, while he's completely against the Goa'uld or anyone else enslaving or wiping out a culture, when facing cultures that seem to believe in marital rape (Broca Divide) or the death penalty (Cor-Ai), he seems content to just observe and analyze unless goaded by his friends into action. But the real kicker of inequities is that while Blair is the one who meditates, the one who has been charged with the responsibility of shaman, Daniel is the one who has ascended to a higher plane and learned the secrets of the universe. The only time Blair even had a vision was when he was piggy-backing on Jim's.

Blair was a child prodigy but tapered off, and is still struggling to get his doctorate at age thirty despite starting college at 16. He has to fight to be heard by Jim and the Major Crimes department, even when he's proven right over and over. He hates guns, preferring to use his wits or handy pieces of furniture to defeat any criminals stalking him. He's hyper where Daniel is mellow, the eager kid brother. And despite his many years as an anthropologist, he's anything but relative when it comes to ethics; he'll jump right in there if he feels someone's being hurt or taken advantage of. Usually when he's paired with Daniel he's relieved by the opportunity to be treated with respect and gentleness by someone who shares his interests. But Blair has something Daniel does not: He knows, because of the Sentinel-Guide link, that he is irreplaceable to Jim, no matter what frictions divide them. Jim will always need his Guide. Daniel has no such assurances from Jack, and is also stuck in the "Don't ask, don't tell" trap that could cost both him and Jack their careers as members of SG-1 if they even raised the possibility of a relationship.

The advantage of a similar-but-not-the-same pairing is that Blair and Daniel each know where the other is coming from, and they can see in each other's lives a glimpse of how their own lives could be different. They can goad each other into changing course or pulling themselves out of a rut because they're alike enough to know exactly which arguments will best persuade. But because of their work commitments and their wanderlust natures, this pairing lends itself more easily to on-again, off-again romance or wacky, one-time comedic disasters, not pledging undying love and setting up housekeeping. Dangermouse was my first introduction to the joy of Daniel/Blair, and Caro Dee's Dog Series is also really good. Learning Experience was a cute glimpse into an early B/D ship, and I've always liked the way Tryst shows how they can help each other and find common ground even when they aren't the primary pairing.

Date: 2004-09-21 06:27 am (UTC)
beccaelizabeth: my Watcher tattoo in blue, plus Be in red Buffy style font (Default)
From: [personal profile] beccaelizabeth
I agree the two have a lot in common. But you seem to be writing about fanon Blair and Daniel, and slash fanon at that. In canon they arent in love with their partners, just good friends. And while it is canon that a Sentinel needs a partner, I think the Sentinel-Guide bond is largely a fanon creation, as is the idea that the Guide is irreplaceable. Jim is cranky and does not play well with others, so anyone being his partner would be tricky, but as long as someone knew as much about his needs as a Sentinel as Blair does theres nothing in canon to say they couldnt be his backup.

Date: 2004-09-21 07:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] castalie.livejournal.com
Hi there,

Just saw your comment and I'm a bit intrigued by it *g* Of course you're right when you say that technically and from a strictly canon base, neither Daniel nor Blair are in love with their partners - though I'd also add that this would be opened to interpretation because as a SG and TS slasher myself, I'd tell you that they're madly in love with their partners *g* But yes, you're right anyway because canon? They're not technically in love with their partners. Sure enough, that's why slash enters the scene and slash always is in the eye of the beholder, I'll as we all know *g*

Also, apart from a very selective few, every pairing written in that community is actually fanon since for 95% of them, they aren't canon at all and won't ever be - so in a way, this pairing was as valid as any other, though, it didn't have the same canon basis at all the others maybe - as in, admittedly, those character never even met.

As for the Sentinel/Guide thing as it's written in the TS fandom, it's definitely a fanon interpretation indeed, because that's an angle that was never developed in the series - and we're always moaning about the lack of real Sentinel/Guide mysticism, though there was still some nice material to work with - so yeah, back on track, it's true the strict Guide thing we see in fanfic isn't canon like you said, but as soon as you touch the fandom and its stories, I think it's inevitable this subject comes to the surface. Or there would be something missing, do you see what I mean?

So huh... hope I didn't offen you at all, because it wasn't my intent, but I was a bit intrigued by your comment, so I wondered about some of the things you said *g*

Date: 2004-09-21 07:55 am (UTC)
beccaelizabeth: my Watcher tattoo in blue, plus Be in red Buffy style font (Default)
From: [personal profile] beccaelizabeth
I figure the idea for the ship manifesto things is to take canon and explain how those characters could actually work in a relationship. You can take canon and then get J/D and J/B. And you can take canon and extrapolate to the Sentinel-Guide thing. But this essay takes both those steps as givens at the outset. So its like its two steps out from canon and doesnt prove the first step. Which is fine but not what I was expecting here.

also, especially because this is a crossover pairing, not everyone reading this will know about the shows, so it seems to me more important to make clear what is canon and what is not, so as not to confuse the newbies.

Date: 2004-09-21 08:05 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] castalie.livejournal.com
Okay I get your point then *g* Those other pairings do have a canon basis since they're all from a same show, whereas this one takes two characters from two different shows and fandoms and put them together even though they don't belong to the same universe - I thought maybe that's why you'd written the comment in the first place, but I didn't want to assume, and like I said, it intrigued me.

I was surprised to see how many people who were into SG were also into TS and vice versa, so hopefully, this essay will have its readers. Daniel/Blair is, in a way, one of the few oxover pairings that almost seem validated fanon-wise - that as well is pretty interesting and always amused me *g*

Date: 2004-09-21 08:21 am (UTC)
beccaelizabeth: my Watcher tattoo in blue, plus Be in red Buffy style font (Default)
From: [personal profile] beccaelizabeth
My point wasnt that the pairing was without canon basis, because obvious, my point was only that the things said about the individual characters were extrapolations from canon not canon per se.

Date: 2004-09-21 08:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] castalie.livejournal.com
Well apparently, obvious is also in the eye of the beholder - and yeah I get it. And I'll go back to saying that any fanon pairing is an extrapolation from canon not canon per se anyway, even though this one is definitely like the master of it.

Thanks for replying anyway. Have a good day.

Hummmm......actually ???

Date: 2008-01-13 10:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] darkladyz.livejournal.com
Actually? While we have no proof that - in general - *GUIDES* are not fungable.... there is valid enough cannon to believe that in *this* pairing Blair is not replaceable. That would be the action of Incacha 'passing on' the 'way of the Shaman'.

Even if a generic Sentinel could work with any generic Guide ( which I would support to some degree - seeing as how Jim has had two Guides ) we have observed that - the connection once being made with Incacha - that connection remained in force to enough effect to allow the Chopec to find Jim in Cascade. It is entirely plausable that the full 'authority' did not exist in Blair until after Inchacha 'passed the torch'.

Thus whatever the general rule of Sentinels, one could argue that Jim was uniquely connected to Incacha ( perhaps by some unmentioned ritual - perhaps decended from or surviving from - the Temple of the Sentinels ) and though Incacha's devolution thereafter uniquely connected to Blair.

The interesting thing about this read - as contrasted to the 'biology is destiny' read - is that it would therefore be possible for BLAIR to transfer to 'guideship' to a third party. (I note that Incacha did not ask Jim when he transfered his power to Blair - and so we may assume that Blair would not need permission to pass it on.)

Perhaps an interesting flip in the usual fannon power dynamic? Bunny anyone?

Date: 2004-09-21 08:25 am (UTC)
beccaelizabeth: my Watcher tattoo in blue, plus Be in red Buffy style font (Default)
From: [personal profile] beccaelizabeth
Aside from the OTP thing for both of them, I do see how Blair/Daniel could work.

But in my head Jim and Jack would have similar 'grrr, mine' reactions to the idea.

It is also fun mixing these two universes- a Sentinel could fit in to a Stargate team no worries, and goa'uld in cascade would probably blow up about the same amount of stuff as the regular criminals.

Date: 2004-09-21 08:41 am (UTC)
beccaelizabeth: my Watcher tattoo in blue, plus Be in red Buffy style font (Default)
From: [personal profile] beccaelizabeth
and now we're getting into varying definitions of canon, because I would say that while those things are all good indications that can be extrapolated to 'Jim considers Blair irreplaceable as his work partner' or 'Jim loves Blair so much he wants him around all the time' it does not actually add up to canon that 'a Sentinel bonds with a Guide and cannot replace them'. in fact I wouldnt call anything canon that hasnt been actually stated on screen.

This is canon:
"You see, it's suggested in Burton's research, is that when a Sentinel is working his deal, he gets oblivious to the outside world. Sorta like the blinders are on. Usually he had a partner along, someone to watch his back."

and Brackett (I think) calling Blair Jim's guide, but the capital G title Guide and the idea that the Sentinel's partner cannot be replaced, that there is only one Guide per Sentinel, that is all extrapolation. Not canon.

also
why not help Blair find an academic post and just get Megan to back him up after the dissertation mess?
Could be that the police job is in the power of Jim and Simon and the others, but the academic post is not.
Since it wasnt stated in so many words that it was because Jim as a Sentinel could not work without Blair as a Guide, then that isnt canon.

http://tmar.za.net/senses/canon.htm
http://katspace.net/sentinel/canon.php
http://www3.sympatico.ca/kay.simpson/canon.html
three pages about fanon and canon
partly because Sentinel fandom has built on from canon, taken the parts we/they liked best and gone from there, there are a lot of things that are accepted as being true, therefore are fanon, but are not actually spelled out in canon.
I'm not saying fanon is bad, I'm just saying fanon isnt canon.

Date: 2004-09-21 09:00 am (UTC)
beccaelizabeth: my Watcher tattoo in blue, plus Be in red Buffy style font (Default)
From: [personal profile] beccaelizabeth
neither was my point about J/B or J/D
it was about the Sentinel-Guide bond
because
"He knows, because of the Sentinel-Guide link, that he is irreplaceable to Jim"
seems to me a false or fanon statement

and that would impact Blair/Daniel
if for no other reason than geography- if Blair is irreplaceable to Jim, then they are pretty much tied to each other, have to stay in the same place. If Blair is replaceable, he can go where he wants when he wants. If he isnt replaceable he has to account for Jim's needs all the time. Big difference.


also, I point things out because I'm one of nature's proof readers. so it was only supposed to be a small mention. but now it is many comments.

Date: 2004-09-24 07:25 am (UTC)
ext_2353: amanda tapping, chris judge, end of an era (sg-1 j/d love is love delectableoomph)
From: [identity profile] scrollgirl.livejournal.com
Heh. You're not the only one who went "eh?" at the Sentinel-Guide link. I do understand where [livejournal.com profile] gardendoor and [livejournal.com profile] castalie are coming from, since this particular piece of fanon is just so pervasive in the TS fandom that it seems reasonable to include it.

That said, I don't think the slashy nature of Jim/Blair and Jack/Daniel is necessarily fanon... But then again, I'm a slasher at heart :) Let's just say that the slash is not-canon, but still a realistic interpretation the original source material.

And with that in mind, I agree with you that I can totally buy Blair/Daniel!

Date: 2004-09-21 08:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] castalie.livejournal.com
Okay, since I replied twice to a comment but didn't comment on your essay as such, I think it's only fair I do it now lol

I was surprised when I saw this essay because I hadn't even thought of a cross-over ship around here, but if there was one to choose, I'd say that Blair/Daniel is indeed the one *g*

SG and TS are two of my three main fandoms and as you can imagine, I read this pairing now and then, because even though we all know that Daniel belongs to Jack and Blair to Jim --well, us SG and TS slashers, I mean-- I appreciate the take at their relationship. It's usually full of cliches, too but what the hell, a cliche isn't always a bad thing and I just like how sweet and hot they are together, how easy-going their relationship is, and how it never really threatens their love for their respective partners. It's like a win-win situation lol

Also, I'm glad you rec'ced Tryst even though Blair/Daniel isn't exactly the main pairing, because that's one of my favourite TS/SG story *g*

Date: 2004-09-21 08:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] castalie.livejournal.com
Ohh Jack/Blair? Hmm no, I don't think I ever read that pairing either - and boy how good would it be? Did you already start writing it? *is eager*

Date: 2004-09-21 08:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] castalie.livejournal.com
Seems like it's four times better than what I was imagining! lol

I'm really curious now, and definitely hope you'll post the series to SG and TS archives - or I'll hunt down your LJ, it's another solution after all *g*

Date: 2004-10-12 09:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] castalie.livejournal.com
I can't believe it! Hear this, I was just going to 'hunt down' your LJ to ask you whether you'd written/finished the story *blink* Talk about a weird coincidence, wow! lol

I'm off to read the story then. Or well, I'm off to save it for later since I'm not sure I'll be able to read it right now *g*

Thanks for the heads up, it's sweet of you to remember I was interested *g*

Date: 2004-09-21 04:52 pm (UTC)
ext_3954: (Default)
From: [identity profile] alicambs.livejournal.com
I adore Daniel Jackson, but find Blair Sandburg somewhat annoying and have never got into the Sentinel fandom. That said, I found your essay interesting and liked you summary of their similarities and differences. You made a good case and I was intrigued enough to look up your recs, only to find that I'd read a couple of them Tryst being the one I remember enjoying the most.

Date: 2004-09-21 05:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] porntestpilot.livejournal.com
Well I have seen this pairing before, Dangermouse I think? But hey, I worship Blair and Daniel as gods basically so them shagging is quite fine by me.

Nice write-up and excellent, fic I may not have read!

Date: 2009-07-15 04:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jen-chan13.livejournal.com
oh my god, YES. i haven't even read it yet - will get back to you - but holy god, YES!!!

Date: 2010-04-26 03:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wingslapped.livejournal.com
I've seen this pairing around, and I like it.

There are a few stories tagged with this pairing on delicious. There has to be more out there.

http://delicious.com/tag/daniel%2Fblair

http://delicious.com/tag/blair%2Fdaniel

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