#Ra!Daniel Jackson

[artistic-lightcycle]

Remember the poll? Well have a false god Ra!Danny sketch. And yes it got a little spicy Jack/Daniel undertone

[kr-yoongi]

Stargate SG-1 S01E10ㅣThor’s Hammer

[andyevej]

There can only be one Ra // WIP

still on my grind of never finishing anything

[bardicious]

Ra!Daniel Concepts I created earlier. Still working on his face. Bleh

[utterrandomnesswithlulu]

Flashback Friday: Stargate (Movie)

Released in October 1994, Stargate centers around linguist and Egyptologist Dr. Daniel Jackson, who joins a military mission to unlock the mysteries of a metal ring unearthed, that ends up being a portal to another planet and galaxy. On today’s Flashback Friday, we’re exploring the world, mythologies, characters, and galaxy of the movie Stargate.

THROUGH THE STARGATE

Directed by Roland Emmerich and co-written and produced by Dean Devlin, the movie became the foundation for the televised spin-offs such as Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, Stargate: Universe, Stargate: Origins, and more. While we’re only exploring the movie in this edition of Flashback Friday, it should be noted that the spin-off is still being created today.

In the movie, we are first introduced to Professor Langford (Erik Holland) and a young girl, Catherine Langford (Kelly Vint Castro) who arrives at an archeological dig in 1928 Egypt. Before being escorted to something that was found, Catherine picks up a necklace of an Eye of Ra on a table displaying objects, pottery, and more found during the dig. She goes to her father, Professor Langford, who is looking into an excavated hole where a large metal ring is being pulled into an upright position.

Fast forward and we’re following an elderly woman, which we can quickly identify as an older Catherine Langford (the late Viveca Lindfors) because of her necklace. Catherine is attending a symposium on Ancient Egypt, which is being presided over by Dr. Daniel Jackson (James Spader). During this symposium, Jackson is postulating that the great pyramids of Egypt couldn’t have been built by the Ancient Egyptians. His peers disagree with him, asking if they didn’t build it. Who did? Caught off guard, he says he doesn’t really have any ideas about who built it, which disgruntles his peers even further. As the other professors and doctors leave, they mock Jackson, saying that “men from Atlantis” or “aliens” built the pyramids. Poor Jackson is left nearly by himself in the middle of his own symposium. Outside, Jackson is confronted by Catherine, who offers him a job in Colorado to translate hieroglyphs. Having nothing to lose, he takes Catherine’s offer.

In a suburban area, we are outside a home following two military men looking for Colonel O’Neil (Kurt Russel). They find him inside a child’s room. He seems sad and distant. We even spot him hiding a gun underneath a pillow. At this moment, we can assume and theorize that Colonel O’Neil is mentally in a dark place. The military men inform O’Neil that he’s been “reactivated” for duty. When the men leave, they comment on how rough the Colonel looks and seems. Through this off-handed dialogue, we learn that O’Neil’s child accidentally shot himself.

Jackson is being escorted through a re-purposed nuclear silo and is shown cover stones by Doctor Barbara Shore and Doctor Gary Myers (Rae Allen and Richard Kind). He quickly fixes the translation that Meyers did. The hieroglyphs now read “million years into the sky is Ra, Sun God/sealed and buried for all time/his Stargate.” Jackson asks why the military is so interested in 5’000-year-old tablets, which O’Neil interrupts that his report says 10’000 years old. Catherine isn’t happy about the sudden appearance of O’Neil, who is now taking over operations. Jackson, on the other hand, is astonished that the cover stones are closer to 10’000 years old than his predicted estimate of 5’000. Shore assures Jackson that the number is indeed correct because “sonic and radiocarbon testing” confirm the date.

This, by the way, would have only worked if organic material was found on the cover stones because carbon dating doesn’t work on metal or stone. Now I don’t know anything about “sonic dating,” but unless organic material was present (i.e. wood, flesh, bone, plant life, etc.) they wouldn’t be able to carbon date. But semantics, because you know, this is a movie. Jackson says that 10’000 years ago the Egyptian culture “didn’t exist.” If we’re going off the Old Kingdom era of Ancient Egypt civilizations timeline, which started approximately in 2686 B.C., then Jackson would technically be correct. We don’t get an idea of how far back in Ancient Egypt’s history Jackson was going back but even if Jackson was going far, as, in the Predynastic era, it only comes up to 6’000 years if our ending date is 1994, which is when the movie was released.

Jackson asked if a coffin or a tomb was found underneath the cover stones, but Shore says no, that something much more interesting had been found. Before Shore could elaborate on what had been found, O’Neil interrupts her saying that the information had now become classified. Once again, Catherine is none too pleased about O’Neil stepping on their toes. She mentions to O’Neil that they promised her “complete autonomy” over the project and she’s owed an explanation. He says that plans have changed, and he’s there just in case she succeeds.

For 2 weeks, Jackson agonizes over the hieroglyphs in the center of the cover stones. At first, he believes that they could be a form or hieratic or cuneiform, but actually, they’re constellations. FYI, this took two years for Catherine’s team to translate the other hieroglyphs. When he presents his findings to General West (Leon Rippy) and Catherin, he hypothesizes that the symbols are some kind of address, with six destination symbols and a seventh being the point of origin. Catherine vaguely says “he did it,” but Dr. Myers says that the hypothesized 7th symbol is “nowhere on the device.” Obviously, we’re asking what device at this point. There is a brief pause when General West glances at Colonel O’Neil, who seems to give him a “go ahead” gesture. I find it a bit odd that a General seems to be seeking permission from the Colonel before Jackson is shown the Stargate.

Jackson is quickly shown to a control room, where he can identify the 7th symbol. They enter the address and the Stargate springs to life. A probe isn’t through which lands in the Kalium Galaxy, while this Galaxy is fictional (to show the distance between the earth and this planet) the constellation it’s based on is real (Caelum Constellation). This real Galaxy is approximately billions of light years away, or according to Catherine, “on the other side of the known universe.”

After receiving pictures of the Stargate from the other side, they realize that the mission probably won’t be able to be completed because the symbols are different compared to their own Stargate. Jackson says he’ll be able to translate the symbols once they’re through the gate. Having confidence in Jackson’s abilities, they proceed through the gate. Which, honestly, looks like a thin pane of shimmering blue and white water, both beautiful and eerie at the same time. Before leaving, Catherine gives Jackson her Eye of Ra necklace, saying it has brought her luck, and they’re off through the Stargate.

They are transported to a pyramid with no hieroglyphs, and the planet has three moons. O’Neil tells him he wants to leave within the hour, but Jackson reveals that he can’t because he doesn’t have the address for them to go back to. Jackson assumed that there would be a cartouche or cover stones, like the one they found on Earth. The soldiers are pissed, but O’Neil seems to have an alternative mission. He can be seen prepping a bomb and detonator.

As the base camp is set, Jackson finds an animal that drags him to a mining site. O’Neil tells Jackson to translate, but he doesn’t understand them, only commenting that the language sounds familiar. But something happens before Jackson can say a word. They all bow down to him before being ushered into the town. We find out that they think Jackson is a God, specifically Ra.

A sandstorm kicks up and they’re stranded in the town while the others are at the base camp. That night, a party is held in their honor. When Jackson tries to talk to them again, he is escorted away and a woman, Sha’uri, is introduced to him. Sha’uri communicates to Jackson that she’s seen the symbol that they’re looking for to dial Earth. Unfortunately, the point of origin symbol is too worn away to make out. O’Neil decides that they need to head back to base camp now that the sandstorm has let up. However, the base camp has been overtaken by people wearing metal jackals and hawk heads after a large pyramid spacecraft landed.

O’Neil tries to arm the bomb only to find that it’s missing. The group eventually surrenders and is captured by the jackals and hawks’ masked people. They are presented to someone who claims that they’ve come to destroy him. They bring out the bomb, to Jackson’s disbelief. After revealing the people under the metal masks, O’Neil takes the opportunity to fight his way out, in the process, Jackson is injured, possibly even killed and Colonel O’Neil is recaptured and thrown into a cell with the surviving members of his team.

Meanwhile, in the town it is attacked by spaceships, Kasuf (Erick Avari) tells Skaara (Alexis Cruz) that they were attacked because they let the strangers in and displeased the Gods.

Jackson comes out of a sarcophagus, being healed. We find out that this person wearing a large pharaoh-like mask is pretending to be the God Ra (Jaye Davidson), and tells Jackson that he modified O’Neil’s bomb tenfold and intends to send it back to Earth. This is punishment for overthrowing him centuries ago and sealing the gate to keep him from coming back. Saying that there is only one Ra.

Meanwhile, Sha’uri tells Skaara and other villager boys the story that is written on the cave walls where the gate address was found. She tells them where they came from and why they can no longer live as slaves.

Ra is holding an execution of O’Neil’s men and demands the presence of the villagers. Ra has one of his men hand Jackson a staff weapon and orders him to execute O’Neil and the others. Seemingly obeying orders, Jackson walks down but is distracted by Skaara, who is reflecting sunlight off a lighter that O’Neil gave him. Seeing this, he continues on and opens the staff weapon and looks up to see Skaara reveal a gun hidden underneath his robes. Quickly, Jackson fires back at Ra and the boys fire the guns into the air as a distraction. They run into the crowd and are given robes to hide.

Jackson, O’Neil, the men, and some of the villagers escaped to the caves and O’Neil isn’t happy that the boys have guns or that Lieutenant Kawalsky (John Diehl) is suggesting that they fight. Jackson reveals that O’Neill had a bomb. Slowly, O’Neil tells them what his actual mission was, which was to blow up the Stargate at any given sign of danger. O’Neil also reveals that this was a solo mission, more specifically a suicide mission. He was going to send everyone back through the Stargate with Jackson. Jackson mentioned that it isn’t this planet’s Stargate that poses a threat, but the one back on Earth. O’Neil agrees, but they can’t do anything about that because they’re stuck.

Later, one of the boys, Nabeh (Gianin Loffler) comments that “husband don’t do this kind of work.” Turns out that Kasuf presented Sha’uri to Jackson and now that they were married according to their customs. Sha’uri didn’t want to mention this to Jackson because she feared that he didn’t want her. But Jackson does have feelings for her as well, so it works out in the end.

Jackson sees Skaara the next morning drawing “the day of their victory” on the cave wall. Jackson realizes that the pyramid Skaara is drawing is the point of origin for the planet. They can officially go home now that they have the address completed.

Using the caravan of the minerals being delivered as cover. They are able to infiltrate Ra’s ship. Kawalsky and some of the boys are caught outside after being locked out of the pyramid. As they attempt to hold their position against ships, inside O’Neil, Jackson, and Sha’uri push forward. Ra orders his men to send the bomb just as O’Neil finds it. O’Neil begins to assemble the bomb and vows to stay behind to make sure it goes off. Within seven minutes, Ra’s men show up and kill Sha’uri. Remembering being brought back by the sarcophagi, he tells O’Neil to wait for him. As Jackson is transported by the rings to the main ship, he tries to save Sha’uri. O’Neil fights one-on-one with Ra’s man as the bomb continues to countdown. Outside, as Kawalsky tries to fight off the ships, one of the village boys, Nabeh, is killed. They’re slowly being picked off one by one. Knowing that they're running out of options, they decide to surrender. Sha’uri is revived but Jackson is caught by Ra and nearly killed by a device on Ra’s hand, but with good timing on O’Neil’s part, Jackson and Sha’uri are saved and O’Neill sent Ra a present–Anubis’ (Carlos Lauchu) head. With less than two minutes left on the bomb, O’Neil tries to turn it off, only to realize that the bomb has been rigged and now is unable to be turned off.

Things begin to be turning around for the men outside as the rest of the town shows up in their defense, outnumbering the Horace guards. Inside, Ra knows he’s beaten and begins to retreat. Jackson and O’Neil panic as they can’t disarm the bomb but they both come up with a plan and send the bomb via the rings onto Ra’s ship and blow it up. O’Neill and his men go back through the Stargate. However, we find out that Jackson is remaining behind with his wife, Sha’uri, and the villagers.

CONCLUSION

Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin’s Stargate are unencumbered by CGI, have complicated characters, and are rich in their story. I loved this movie growing up, and it’s still a favorite. I rate it 4.0/5. Television shows, animated series, and web series expand on the foundation that the movie built. Its backstories actually are nicely fleshed out and left enough wiggle room for the expansion of the subsequent shows and other spinoffs that came later.

Have you watched this movie? Do you like it? Why or why not?

[roseunspindle]

Only one Ra

[madebysamael]

Raise your hand if you remember Stargate!

First and foremost - credit goes to @catastrfy for hir awesome concept of a Stargate crossover with Aziraphale as archaeologist Daniel Jackson and Crowley as the alien Ra. 

This film probably didn’t win any awards, but look - the moment young Samael laid eyes on Ra, sometime back in late 90s or so, a queer awakening was unlocked. I was useless. Smitten beyond belief. (Never mind that whole “evil alien pretending to be a sun god” thing…) I had no words to describe the intense fascination/infatuation on an extremely androgynous person yet, but Ra was one of the ones that started it all. What better way to honor that than with a ridiculous crossover? 😉

P.S. I typoed this as "God Omens" in the tags at first, which is totally what this crossover should be called now

[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 :)

[bookaddictedrose]

~~~Rose's Book Diary~~~ The Grandest Game Pt 1

By Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I GOT THE BOOOOKKKK!!!

Pre-reading thoughts here

Prologue: Rohan, 1 year ago

Not sure how I feel about Rohan?

I don't like the Proprietor. He gives Dumbledore vibes (yes I'm a hater)

Chapters 1-3: Lyra

Nooo Lyra 🥺 she's gone through so much 😭

The test taking? I'm taking notes ✍️

So SOMEBODY sent her the letter 🧐 hmm...

Chapter 4: Gigi

Gigi's entrances always remind me of Percy Jackson: no context at all, just a bunch of ADHD chaos.

Katara is the therapy attack cat and we love her.

Everyone has trauma 😭 and Gigi's falling apart

So Savannah's gonna get the ticket...but I'm sure Gigi's gonna get in

Gigi protecting Savannah 🥺

Chapter 5: Rohan

So he got TWO??? damn

Wait did Gigi get her card? Give her a card 🔫

Another gun at the back of your head, another tenner, Rohan

GIGGGIIIIIIII

I'm writing this as I read, so prepare for a lot of crazy and chaos

I would like to see Rohan in "nothing but a lush Turkish cotton robe" 😏

SORRY not sorry

Odette Morales... possibly Alice Hawthorne

Brady Daniels... hurt Gigi? 😡

Knox Landry... no clue at all

The queen 👑 *cue dramatic music*

Chapter 6-8: Lyra

Jamesonnnn :) with a helicopter!

GRAYSONNNN

She still knows his voice 🥹

She thinks he didn't care 😭 tbh he was kinda an asshole to her

Rohan... There is chemistry between him and literally everyone else

Odette has reverse violet sorrengail hair lol

Who chose the Hawthorne Island. Seriously.

Gives caraval. "Explore this foreign place all you want, but return before sundown or you're kicked out of this mysterious, prestigious, invitation-only game."

Jameson watching Grayson watching Lyra. That's all.

The ruins 🙀

Oh my god Grayson literally just popped out of nowhere. Just poof.

THE CLIFFFFF

he knows her voice 🥰

"stay away from the cliffs" ain't no way—

Chapter 9-11: Gigi

So Savannah did come...and is colder than ever.

Hmm, mysterious new person. That gigi finds attractive. What about slate 😭

XANDER

I need to see Xander and Gigi together. They would be the best of friends 💜

So Savannah's competition, too, huh? 🤨

Viking style epics are the best. Let Gigi win, if only for that 😭🙏

Caffeine.

So I'm getting some tension between our beloved sisters...

MANGA...RA. immediately anagraming it.

OMG DID YOU KNOW IF YOU GOOGLE ANAGRAM IT WILL SAY DID YOU MEAN: NAG A RAM

Anagram. The anagram for "mangara" is anagram.

Unless someone erased letters??

I love opera glasses! Opera glasses, wine, ball gowns and violins. 🍷

I like Odette. And ponies.

Sooo Brady and Knox are friends, and they're discussing a dead girl?

I thought em*ly wasn't in the book??

"the world just loves women who try. Unless and until we try too hard. FROM ONE WOMAN WHO TRIED TOO HARD TO ANOTHER" 🥺

This is just a bunch of confused ADHD thoughts, but thanks for staying!

Come back for part two!

[artistic-lightcycle]

"And what am I supposed to be? Your First Prime?" *Chuckle* "My First Prime? No, you've always been more than that, Jack.."

Ra!Daniel AU.

bloody version under that cut, CONTINUE WITH CAUTION!!

[relatableblorbopoll]

Preliminaries

Here's how it will work:

The first round will consist of 18 polls of 6 participants each, the first two places get a place on the bracket

For the second round, there will be 12 polls of 6 participants each, the first two places get a place on the bracket

The third round will consist of 4 polls of 12 participants each where there will be a (metaphorical) knife battle to the death where only one character from each poll will get in the bracket

All pairings of groups are randomly generated

Check after the read more for the full list of participants and for the groups of the first round of preliminaries

Group 1 poll

Nimona (Nimona)

Twelfth Doctor (Doctor Who)

Blue/Green Oak (Pokémon Green/Blue/Red)

Jack Reacher (Reacher Series)

Tsubakura Enraku (Len'en Project)

Albedo (Genshin Impact)

Group 2 poll

Jessica Day (New Girl)

Daniel LaRusso (Karate Kid)

Omota Uramichi (Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan)

Jack Spicer (Xiaolin Showdown)

Hatsune Miku (Vocaloid)

Eichi Tenshouin (Ensemble Stars)

Group 3 poll

Conner Bailey (The Land of Stories)

Lucy Honeychurch (A Room With A View)

Greg Heffley (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)

Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb)

Akaashi Keiji (Haikyuu!!)

Burgerpants (Undertale)

Group 4 poll

Legosi (Beastars)

Stephen Stills (Scott Pilgrim comics)

Sunny (Omori)

Tony Stark (Marvel Avengers)

Rookie (Club Penguin)

Charlie Morningstar (Hazbin Hotel)

Grupo 5 poll

Melissa Chase (Milo Murphy’s Law)

Candace Flynn (Phineas and Ferb)

V-Flower (Vocaloid)

Ciaphas Cain (Warhammer 40k)

Percy Jackson (Percy Jackson series)

MK (Lego Monkie Kid)

Group 6 poll

Jesper Fahey (Six of Crows)

Crowley (Good Omens)

Dave Strider (Homestuck)

Junior (Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race)

Kim Dokja (Omnicient Reader's Viewpoint)

Donutella (Tokidoki)

Group 7 poll

Rigby (Regular Show)

Angua (Discworld)

Cao Weining (Word of Honor)

Aang (Avatar: The Last Air Bender)

Okuyasu Nijimura (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure)

Shin Tsukimi (Your Turn to Die)

Group 8 poll

Stanford Pines (Gravity Falls)

Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic The Hedgehog Franchise)

Jonathan Sims (The Magnus Archives)

Ford Prefect (The Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy)

Shaun Murphy (The Good Doctor)

Sonic (Sonic The Hedgehog Franchise)

Group 9 poll

Overlord (Bad End Theater)

Denji (Chainsaw Man)

Abed Nadir (NBC Community)

Entrapta (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Gren (The Dragon Prince)

Ocean O'Connell Rosenberg (Ride The Cyclone)

Group 10 poll

Nagisa Ran (Ensemble Stars)

Waver Velvet (Fate series /The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II)

Shuichi Saihara (Danganronpa V3)

Opossums (real life)

Midori Takamine (Ensemble Stars!! Music)

Seven of nine (Star Trek)

Group 11 poll

Mae Borowski (Night in the Woods)

Shigeo Kageyama / Mob (Mob Psycho 100)

Barry the Quokka (The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog)

Kaveh (Genshin Impact)

Yusuke Kitagawa (Persona 5)

Nanami Kento (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Group 12 poll

Rod (Avenue Q)

Missi (Vampair Series)

Lia (The Music Freaks)

Sand (Only Friends)

Pa Jindapat (Bad Buddy)

Sara Murphy (Milo Murphy’s Law)

Group 13 poll

Cecil Gershwin Palmer (Welcome to Night Vale)

Noah (Total Drama Series)

Basil (Omori)

Stanley Pines (Gravity Falls)

Wen Ning (Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed)

Nick (Only Friends)

Group 14 poll

Oz Vessalius (Pandora Hearts)

Sound (My School President)

Luz Noceda (The Owl House)

Gundham Tanaka (Super Danganronpa 2)

Saiki Kusuo (Saiki Kusuo no Psi Nan/The Disastrous Life of Saiki K)

Drew (The Music Freaks)

Group 15 poll

Wen Kexing (Tian Ya Ke / Faraway Wanderers)

Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Nico di Angelo (Percy Jackson Series)

Heinz Doofenshmirtz (Phineas and Ferb)

Reki Kyan (Sk8 the Infinity)

q!Quackity (QSMP)

Group 16 poll

Parker (Leverage)

Gudetama (Sanrio)

Finn the Human (Adventure Time)

Rain O'Fire Frazier (Worm)

Piper Mclean (Heroes of the Olympus)

Norma Khan (Dead End Paranormal Park)

Group 17 poll

Berdly (Deltarune)

Hamlet (Hamlet)

Squidward Tentacles (Spongebob)

Hunter (The Owl House)

Szeth-son-son-Vallano (The Stormlight Archive)

Nami (One Piece)

Group 18 poll

Tobias (Animorphs)

Isaac O'Connor (Paranatural)

Trisana Chandler / Tris (Emelan book series)

Sokka (Avatar: The Last Air Bender)

Haruhi Fujioka (Ouran Highschool Hostclub)

Shinji Ikari (Evangelion)

[jadelotusflower]

Rewatch: Stargate (1994, dir. Roland Emmerich)

What to do when there's so many shows and movies on the to watch list? Revisit shows and movies I've seen many times before of course! Maybe I'm just in need of some comfort viewing right now.

I can't remember when I first saw Stargate. It certainly wasn't at the cinema, but probably rented from the video store (yes, I am an Old) and was certainly keyed to my preteen interests: mythology and Soft(TM) male protagonists.

Over the years and though several rewatches, online fandom, and my love of behind the scenes featurettes, director's commentaries, and retrospectives, I've also gleaned quite a bit of background tidbits and trivia, and I have many thoughts! Most of them through the lens of nostalgia, but that can't be helped.

Are you ready to go back to Titanic Stargate?

The much maligned Pharaoh's head, but it makes for a symbolic opening, trying to find the meaning to the different patterns before the whole picture becomes clear.

David Arnold's theme remains a banger. One of the GOATs.

I'm watching the Extended Edition/Director's Cut, which opens in the North African Desert 8000 BCE to depict Jaye Davidson being abducted, which is only seen in flashback in the theatrical cut. It's atmospheric, but it does tip the hand of the narrative a bit. The stronger opening is probably:

Giza, 1928, where the Stargate is unburied. Even this scene is extended, where the fossilized head of an Anubis is also found. It reveals the sinister undertone far too soon, imo, and it was the right choice to cut it.

Present Day! Love of my life Daniel Jackson ruins his career by arguing that the Egyptian pharaohs of the IVth Dynasty did not build the great pyramids. He does not claim (as the show later does) that aliens built the pyramids. Important distinction!

"Is there a lunch or something, that everybody...?" lol, James Spader is great. This was the first role I ever saw him in, and didn't realise this was actually playing against type a bit, but I have been a fan of his ever since.

Shoutout to Viceca Lindfors, who plays Catherine with steely grace.

Jack O'Neil (one L) aka Kurt Russell (two L's), in a great character introduction that is ruined by some voiceover exposition. We get everything we need to know from his scene without it, except that Tyler shot himself with Jack's gun, but honestly it would have been more impactful if that detail was held back from the audience and revealed in the later scene with Daniel.

The great Richard Kind everybody! He will later appear in an extremely tone deaf episode of Stargate: Atlantis, but here he's Dr Gary Michaels, aka the guy Daniel gets to show up by swanning in and correcting his translation.

Daniel: That's a curious word to use, isn't it? Michaels: ...Yeah

Rae Allen plays Barbara Shore - you may remember her as reporter Gloria Thorpe in Damn Yankees. It's a shame neither of these characters ever turned up in the show, I like them both.

"You must have used Budge, I don't know why they keep reprinting his books." LOL, Daniel with his petty academic grudges. Although as I understand this is a valid criticism, as Budge's translation methods were very much outdated by the 90's. But Budge conceivably could have been a contemporary of Catherine's father, which is interesting to think about.

Jack arrives with his haircut to correct Daniel's assumption that the hieroglyphs are 5000 years old - they're actually 10,000 years old, which Daniel ironically finds ludicrous. To pick some nits, according to the opening Ra arrived on Earth in 8000 BCE which is presumably where the 10,000 number came from, but doesn't take into account Ra establishing a culture and ruling on Earth for however long before the rebellion, which is when the coverstones would have been carved.

Leon Rippy plays the General West and his utter disdain for Daniel despite him solving "in fourteen days what they couldn't solve in two years" kind of gives me life. His surly "any time" and passing over the reference materials without looking at them is so great. Fantastic performance in a tiny role.

Several people are smoking in this scene, including Jack and Barbara. It's easily forgotten just how common casual smoking was back in the day - 1994 seems a little late for it to be so prevalent, but it gives the room that atmospheric haze.

Emmerich was also a big smoker, so ...

Unrealistic that Daniel would be presenting his theory without running it past Catherine and the team first, but hey it's a movie, dramatic effect and all that.

Important to note that Daniel's contribution isn't only realising that the symbols were star constellations, but the purpose of the symbols, being a map to determine a course and destination. He also deduced that seven symbols were needed, realised that the seventh symbol was below the cartouche not inside it, and then identified the seventh symbol on the gate itself.

This is a really nice illustration to Daniel's core strength - he's not just a repository of knowledge, he's a puzzle solver.

Some small character beats - Michaels questions Daniel twice, while Shore reaches out to pat Katherine's hand in victory when West orders Daniel be shown the Stargate. Again, they should have been brought back for the show!

There's a star map in the control room, implying that they had at least an idea that the Stargate was a transportation device, making the team look even more foolish for not figuring out (in two years!) that a) the symbols were star constellations, and b) that seven symbols (address + point of origin) were needed.

Daniel assures West that he can decipher the gate on the other side in a stunning display of hubris - a character flaw that will stay with him in some form through all ten seasons of the show.

Although West doesn't actually ask Daniel how he will make the Stargate work for the return trip, so that's kind of on him.

Jack correctly deduces that Daniel's full of shit, then goes to look at the Anubis head found in the Giza sequence. Again unnecessary inclusion imo, Jack's motivation works better as ambiguous at this point.

Everyone has their own little character moment before going through the gate - Jack grits his teeth and raises his gun, Brown looks back to the others, Porro kisses a St Christopher medallion.

Daniel toying with the event horizon was a Spader addition (much to the chagrin of the VFX supervisor!)

Foreshadowing for the Abydos point of origin symbol.

"That's a nice tent! Oh, we each get a tent, that's nice."

A snarky Ferretti (the great French Stewart) throws Daniel's suitcase at him, scattering his books on the sand. Daniel is completely nonplussed, starts to gather them up and then sits down to munch on a 5th Avenue bar. I love original recipe Daniel. Don't get me wrong, I love show Daniel too, but the OG, man, just 100% unbothered when antagonised.

Although to be fair, Ferretti's frustration is justified (if not his reaction) so that probably is a factor in Daniel's (lack of) response.

Daniel feeds a mastadge chocolate and gets dragged across the dunes and slobbered on for his trouble. But he doesn't hold a grudge, because he goes from "get away from me" to patting the creature on the snout in about three seconds.

Sha'uri, my beloved!

Important to note that while the other water-bearers keep their eyes downcast, Sha'uri is the only one bold enough to look up and make eye contact with Daniel, who smiles at her.

Daniel, in return, is the only one to say thank you.

She's also very wary of Daniel at this stage, here and on the walk back to Nagada - she laughs at Skaara and Nabeh taking his handkerchief, but tenses up when he looks her way. Does she know at this stage that he has been earmarked as her husband?

It makes me curious, because I don't think that it's ever explicit in the film that Sha'uri is Kasuf's daughter and Skaara's sister (although it's implied), but it makes sense that she is the daughter of the chief and would therefore make a high status offering (ugh I feel gross typing that) for an emissary of Ra.

We know that Ra surrounds himself with child slaves (the creepy implications of which I don't want to think about), and it's unclear how old Sha'uri is meant to be (Mili Avital was 22), but I wonder if the reason why she was not married already is that this was always the role intended for her - to serve Ra in some capacity, perhaps (in tv show timeline) as a host for one of his underlings.

If so, it makes her fate in the show even more tragic.

Brown takes a picture on their approach to Nagada which is a nice little character beat - I wonder where that camera ended up? Derek Webster also had bit parts in Devlin/Emmerich joints Independence Day and Godzilla, fwiw.

"Ferretti, say again." Great line reading from Russell - he gets flack for being humourless/not being Richard Dean Anderson, but I think he has great presence in the role and character at this point - RDA!O'Neill is the product of Russell!O'Neil's experience in this film.

A sandstorm approaches and in the extended sequence there's a miscommunication that Skaara (Alexis Cruz) clears up. I like this addition, as it gives more scope to the connection between Jack and Skaara - he sees that Jack is the one in charge, but also that he's willing to listen, and Jack sees that Skaara is brave enough to face a threat, but also clever enough to diffuse the situation.

"Well that would have been an excellent reason to shoot everyone." lol, and people say snarky!Daniel was a show-only thing.

Trying to learn the word that means "sandstorm" from Kasuf and the incredulous/frustrated little laugh after is a nice touch too.

Erick Avari steals every scene he is - he was also in Devlin/Emmerich's Independence Day ("what's with the golf balls?!?" was an ad-lib), and of course he's great in The Mummy (the delivery of "Do you really want to know, or would you prefer to just shoot us?" is perfection.)

He was only 42 during this movie! Hasn't aged a day since.

A great deal of Kasuf came from Avari as well - the role was only a few lines in the script and was mostly developed during rehearsals - the same was true for Alexis Cruz as Skaara.

While "tastes like chicken" was in the script, the clucking like a chicken came from Spader.

Pivotal scene, because it really shows Sha'uri's courage - her fear is palpable, first at her duty to offer herself to Daniel then at what his rejection may mean for her and her people. She is confused by his behaviour, delighted when they are able to exchange names, but guarded again when he draws in the sand. At this point she doesn't know if he is an emissary of Ra testing her resolve, but she takes the chance and fixes his drawing to make the symbol from Earth, then takes him to the hidden catacombs.

Sha'uri's leap of faith here is underrated I feel - she's been watching Daniel so closely and makes a very correct judgement about his character - there is something in him that she recognises, and decides that she can trust. At this stage she probably knows that she is safe with him, but she wants to go beyond that and actually connect with him.

Also she's wearing red here, the same colour as Kasuf and some of the other elders wear, which does imply it's a colour of status.

LOL, this scene would never happen today.

It was almost cut from the movie! The studio's focus was on the action and wanted to eliminate a great deal of the character stuff, resulting in the film testing very poorly. Devlin/Emmerich redid the cut to put everything back in and (surprise surprise!) the next audience screening was much more favourable.

Because Jack's character arc doesn't work without this scene! We need to see Jack actually bond with Skaara, to gift him the lighter, be amused when Skaara mimics him and takes a drag of the cigarette, then for things to turn when Skaara innocently reaches for Jack's gun and he blows up.

"I guess the word dweeb doesn't mean anything to you guys, does it?"

Too good! Too pure for this world!

The hidden catacombs fascinate me - the entrance is blocked with rocks so presumably Sha'uri hadn't been there for some time. Is it something she came across as a child? Was it secret information handed down through the generations, perhaps from her mother?

The symbol for Earth is only visible from inside so she must have explored the catacombs at some point, perhaps wondering what the paintings meant, and she must have been aware that at one point writing wasn't outlawed. I do like the idea that both Sha'uri and Daniel have this great curiosity and yearning to understand - they also share a great capacity for trust and willingness to take leaps of faith that makes them very well matched.

The backstory with Ra changed very late in the process - originally the Egyptian boy was merely appointed as a proxy for the alien creature to rule Earth, not possessed by the alien. This is unfathomable to me and really don't think it could have worked - where's the menace if Ra isn't the actual alien being but just some guy who works for him?

Presumably, it means Spader came back to do reshoots for the tale of Ra's origins, and if you notice he only mentions possession in a closeups where the lighting is slightly different. The frescos in the wide shots also don't match the closeups, which Emmerich himself did.

Brown is the one who gives Daniel a gun. RIP Brown.

Djimon Hounsou as Horus!

The Anubis/Horus/Ra disappearing headgear was one of the few noticeably CGI effects - most of the film was done practically and it shows (in a good way). I will take puppets and props and extras every day over CGI, there's just something more visceral about films made this way.

Daniel dies for the first - but certainly not the last - time.

The extended edition has Daniel walking through Ra's ship after being revived - there's a cat on Ra's throne, and we see more of Ra getting bathed and dressed by his child slaves just to notch up the creepiness.

Whatever happened to Jaye Davidson?

Apparently he had difficulty with the role, no doubt because as written it made no sense, which is why they had to change it in editing, adding the flanges and the glowing eyes.

Davidson was concerned he'd ruined the movie, and apparently was relieved rather than upset to see the final film. I actually think it's a great performance, and Ra has a menace that feels genuinely dangerous.

The Abydonian langauge was based on Ancient Egyptian as developed by Egyptologist Dr Stuart Smith, and apparently great care was taken to make it as authentic as possible. I...don't think the same can be said for the show.

Dr Smith also consulted on The Mummy, fwiw.

O'Neil, Kawalsky, Ferretti, and Guy Who Will Soon Die (Freeman).

Is is Kawalsky or Kawalski? The credits say Kawalsky, but his uniform at the beginning of the film says Kawalski. I personally prefer the latter.

The extended edition has an extra scene following the escape - Jack and Daniel jump on a mastadge which takes off and separates them from the group as Sha'uri and Skaara look on thinking "where are those idiots going?"

They get stuck in a sandstorm where Daniel collapses, and they're only found because the mastadge is so upset about his new friend he wails - this explains why Daniel is coughing and spluttering when they get to the cave.

Many a slash fic has started this way, I'm sure.

I really like Kawalski in this scene - "these kids don't have anywhere else to go" really hits me for some reason. He's bonded with them too.

"I don't want to die, your men don't want to die, and these people here don't want to die. It's a shame you're in such a hurry to."

The pivotal Jack and Daniel scene - this where the reveal about how Jack's son died should have been, so we find out when Daniel does. Then we'd think back on all the previous interactions - Jack knocking the gun from Skaara's hand, being unable to shoot the kids Ra uses as human shields - and be able to read new meaning into them.

A tender moment that I kind of wish they'd let play out a little more, although Avital captures Sha'uri's vulnerability so well. This was her first scene!

While I do love the Daniel/Sha'uri romance, I think she gets unfairly dismissed as just the love interest when she's so much more. Sha'uri is the one who starts the Abydonian rebellion - she's the one who decides that "we can no longer live as slaves" and rallies the boys to save Jack and his men - she's the one who passes on the knowledge of Ra's true identity.

At that point it's unclear if she thought Daniel is dead or just captured - her reaction following the massacre in Nagada perhaps implies the former. When Skaara tells her that Ra has called an execution she's been looking at the cave paintings, so clearly rebellion is already on her mind, and she's willing to go against everything she's been taught to try and save - maybe Daniel - but maybe only his friends, to help them overthrow Ra.

Interesting costume change for Kasuf here - he no longer has his outer robes or headdress, nor is he riding a mastadge - has he been stripped of his leadership role? Horus is now in charge.

Also nice little character beat - while the other have their guns pointed at Horus, Daniel is looking back at Sha'uri.

I do love Skaara's defiance - telling the others not to bow when Kasuf orders them to, and later he'll be the most reluctant to surrender, throwing down his gun in disgust before kneeling.

Sha'uri carries a gun into the pyramid, but I think it would have been better to at least see her try and shoot at the horus guard before she is killed.

Ostensibly this is a plot necessity to get Daniel up into the ship to give him a final faceoff with Ra and setup using the rings to deliver the bomb, but I think it's also needed for the Daniel/Sha'uri relationship - if he hadn't almost lost her and been willing to risk his life to save her, I don't think his choice to remain on Abydos with her at the end would have rung as true.

"I am no longer amused." idc, Davidson is great.

The first - but certainly not the last - time Daniel will get his brain friend by the hand device.

Ra's ultimate downfall is his hubris - if he'd never revived Daniel to make an example of him it's likely he never would have been overthrown, or at least not in the way he was. Yes he may still have had the public execution, and Sha'uri and Skaara may have still tried to rescue Jack and the others, but without Daniel to shoot his staff to set off the disturbance it may not have been successful. Jack wouldn't have been able to properly communicate with the Abydonians to form a plan, Daniel wouldn't be there to reveal Horus as a mortal not a god to Kasuf, etc.

It's interesting to me because as I said above hubris is also Daniel's main flaw, although it manifests differently, but that's what really draws me to these kind of characters - people who are a force for good but in such a way that their idealism and drive could easily tip over into ruthlessness/villainy in the right circumstances, and we definitely see this explored a few times in the show.

Also interesting is even though Kurt Russell gets top billing, it's really Daniel who is our protagonist - he's the one who is the true adversary to Ra, they share the relationship and confrontational scenes - Jack's antagonist is really Anubis.

Kasuf arrives with the uprising, and ultimately I do love that all three of our Abydonian family - Sha'uri, Skaara, and Kasuf - play a vital role in overthrowing Ra, even if Jack and Daniel get the credit for actually killing him.

We're meant to be la la la don't think about it re: the child slaves who were presumably still on Ra's ship when it blew up.

And I'm a sap! Skaara and the boys saluting Jack, and getting his salute in return always gets me.

Kawalsky and Ferretti too!

It's very important that Sha'uri is the one who instigates the kiss with Daniel, to balance the earlier scene where he kissed her.

Because it's a relationship that could very easily veer into problematic or feel unearned, but by this point having saved each other's lives, having communicated and bonded and come to understand one another, they do seem to be genuinely falling in love rather than there being any sense of obligation.

I think there might have been an alternate ending - on the bts there's footage of Daniel and Sha'uri walking with the Abydonians. Daniel looks back, presumably at the pyramid, as if reckoning with his decision to stay and a last look back at his life on Earth. Then he puts his arm around Sha'uri and they blend into the crowd as Daniel becomes part of the Abydonian people.

And then they both lived happily ever after and no one ever bothered them again! I choose to see the movie and the show as very similar but different universes/timelines, so hold true to my headcanon that this version of Daniel/Sha'uri got that long and happy life together on Abydos.

But as it is, we get our goodbyes - Skaara gets a handshake of respect from Jack, and Daniel gets some nice closure on his relationships with the three surviving members of the team:

Ferretti - goes from "Isn't there something you should be doing right now? Like getting us out of here?" (throws suitcase) to "I always knew you'd get us back"

Kawalski from - "You're a lying son of a bitch!" to "Thanks Daniel"

And Jack, from "He's full of shit" to "I'll be seeing you around...Doctor Jackson."

Of course this was setting up the sequel in the planned trilogy, but it works well moving on - as I will be - to the show.

[bardicious]

Jack meets Daniel years after the gate to Adydos is buried. Only to find out Ra had survived and taken Doctor Jackson as it's new host.

[the-malewife-ever]

its 5am. i am very tired. i do not want to go through and pick out all the best responses when i have a test today. so what youre getting now is:

every single character that was submitted [unless i didnt feel comfortable adding them to the data]

^ this includes:

- i didnt feel comfortable putting them in [they are a kid is the most likely answer]

- they break the rules

and goodnight everyone im going back to bed you get your pairings later today. feel free to demand your malewife be in the pairings in the notes of this post all you want but be nice

and sorry to the ppl checking the tags in the search bar for ANY of these characters

read more because we got 301 and then some submissions:

The Top Submitted Characters:

Crazy Dave [Plants Vs Zombies] - 14

Kazuki Kurusu [Buddy Daddies] - 8

Hero [Omori] - 8

Saul Goodman/James McGill [Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad] - 7

Tatsu [Way of the House Husband] - 7

Thoma [Genshin Impact] - 7

Laszlo Cravensworth [What We Do In the Shadows] - 5

Percy de Rolo [Critical Role/Vox Machina] - 5

Ron DeLite [Ace Attorney] - 5

Brett Hand [Inside Job] - 4

Puss in Boots [Puss in Boots] - 4

Sanji [One Piece] - 4

Spamton G. Spamton [Deltarune] - 4

Got 3 Or Less Votes:

9 [9 (2009)]

Adrian Graye Vernworth [The Owl House]

Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir [Miraculous Ladybug]

Alador Blight [The Owl House]

Alistair Theirin [Dragon Age]

Andre Legris [Innocent/Innocent Rouge]

Asgore Dreemurr [Undertale]

Axel Summers [Lemon Soda and Coffee (Webcomic)]

The Baker [Into the Woods (1991)]

Bandit Heeler [Bluey]

Barry Draxum [Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]

Beacrox Molan [Lout of the Court’s Family]

Benny [Fallout: New Vegas]

Bilbo Baggins [The Hobbit]

BJ Hunnicutt [MASH]

Bob Belcher [Bob's Burgers]

Briefers "Brief" Rock [Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt]

Brock [Pokemon]

Bruno Buccerati [JoJo's Bizzare Adventure]

Bruno Madrigal [Encanto]

Calculester Hewlett-Packard [Monster Prom]

Caleb Wittebane [The Owl House]

Cardan [The Folk of the Air trilogy by Holly Black]

Cecil Palmer [Welcome to Night Vale]

Chakotay [Star Trek Voyager]

Charlie Kelly [It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]

Chisaki Kai (Overhaul) [My Hero Academia]

Chris Pearson [Dan Vs.]

Chrom [Fire Emblem Awakening]

Clay Rockridge [The Sexy Brutale]

Colin Robinson [What We Do In the Shadows]

Connecticut Clark [FlorkofCows/The Saga of Clark]

Cove Holden [Our Life: Beginning & Always]

Cyclonus [Transformers (IDW1)]

DaLey Vigil [The Great Ace Attorney]

Daniel Cain [Re-Animator]

Darius Deamonne [The Owl House]

Dedue Molinaro [Fire Emblem Three Houses]

Dick Grayson [DC Comics]

Dick Gumshoe [Ace Attorney]

Do Hyun Soon [Flower of Evil]

Ed [Our Flag Means Death]

Eddie Munson [Stranger Things]

Elliott [Stardew Valley]

Faria [Thrilling Intent]

Flex Mentallo [Doom Patrol]

Fox Mulder [The X-Files]

Fukuo [Kiki’s Delivery Service]

Furio Giunta [The Sopranos]

Gao Yizhi [Iron Widow]

Garmadon [Ninjago]

Garry [Ib]

Geto Suguru [Jujitsu Kaisen]

Gilbert Nightray [Pandora Hearts]

Gomez Addams [The Addams Family]

Grover Underwood [Percy Jackson Series]

Hannibal Lecter [Hannibal]

Harrier du Bois [Disco Elysium]

Hazama Masayoshi [Samurai Flamenco]

Heinz Doofenshmirtz [Phineas and Ferb]

Herlock Sholmes [The Great Ace Attorney]

Hordak [She-Ra (Netflix)]

Howl Jenkins Pendragon [Howl's Moving Castle]

Hugh Neutron [Jimmy Neutron]

Hugh Test [Johnny Test]

Ianto Jones [Torchwood]

Ignis Scientia [Final Fantasy XV]

Ingo [Pokemon]

Izzy Hands [Our Flag Means Death]

Jake Sully [Avatar]

James [Pokemon]

Jason Todd [Batman]

Jesus Christ [The Bible]

Joel Hammond [Santa Clarita Diet]

Johnathan Harker [Bram Stoker's Dracula]

John Silver [Treasure Island (1988)]

John Watson [BBC Sherlock]

Jonathan Byers [Stranger Things]

Kaiden Alenko [Mass Effect]

Kai Satou [Your Turn to Die]

Kaito [Vocaloid]

Kakashi Hatake [Naruto]

Katsuya Serizawa [Mob Psycho 100]

Ken [Barbie]

Kermit the Frog [The Muppets]

Kim Dokja [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint]

Kim Gongja [SSS-Class Suicide Hunter]

Kingsley [Papa Louie Games]

Kisuke Urahara [Bleach]

Klavier Gavin [Ace Attorney]

Kojiro “Joe” Nonjo [Sk8 the Infinity]

Laurance Zvahl [Minecraft Diaries]

Lazarus Bleeze [The Hex]

Leon [Pokemon]

Lestat de Lioncourt [Interview with the Vampire (TV Show)]

Lieutenant Columbo [Columbo]

Light Yagami [Death Note]

Link [Breath of the Wild]

The Lobby Boy [The Hotel Podcast]

Loid Forger [Spy X Family]

Luigi [Mario Franchise]

Luo Binghe [The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System]

Mac McDonald [It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]

The Man in the Yellow Hat [Curious George]

Manolo Sanchez [The Book of Life (2014)]

Mario [Mario Franchise]

Marshall Eriksen [How I Met Your Mother]

Marvin [Falsettos]

Mendel Weisenbachfeld [Falsettos]

Me [The Mod]

Michael [The Good Place]

Miles Edgeworth [Ace Attorney]

Min-Gi Park [Infinity Train]

Minato Namikaze [Naruto]

Momo [Stray]

Mr. Mime [Pokemon]

The Narrator [The Stanley Parable]

Naven Nuknuk [Epithet Erased]

Oliver Queen [DC Comics (Green Arrow)]

Olruggio [Witch Hat Atelier]

The Onceler [The Lorax]

Palamedes Sextus [The Locked Tomb]

Paper [Inanimate Insanity]

Peeta Mellark [The Hunger Games]

Percy Jackson [Percy Jackson Series]

Peter Nureyev [The Penumbra Podcast]

Preminger [Barbie: Princess and the Pauper]

Qifrey [Witch Hat Atelier]

Quirrel [Hollow Knight]

Ramsey Murdoch [Epithet Erased]

Randy Valentine Jade [Dialtown]

Redd Rockridge [The Sexy Brutale]

Reigen Arataka [Mob Psycho 100]

Ronaldo [The Vampire Dies in No Time]

Rouxls Kaard [Deltarune]

Roy Mustang [Full Metal Alchemist]

Ryoji Kaji [Neon Genesis Evangelion]

Ryuuji Takasu [ToraDora!]

Samwise Gamgee [Lord of the Rings]

Sasuke Itachi [Naruto]

Satan [Puyo Puyo]

Satoru Gojo [Jujitsu Kaisen]

Seven [Zero Escape]

Shinya Fujikawa [Corpse Factory]

Sig Curtis [Full Metal Alchemist]

Silco [Arcane (Netflix)]

Sojiro Sakura [Persona 5]

Sokka [Avatar: The Last Airbender]

Soldier [Team Fortress 2]

Spirit Albarn [Soul Eater]

Spongebob Squarepants [Spongebob Squarepants]

Steve Harrington [Stranger Things]

Steven Grant [Marvel]

Suoh Tamaki [Ouran High School Host Club]

Sword Boyfriend [Transistor]

Tanjiro Kamado [Demon Slayer]

Thomas Sharpe [Crimson Peak (2015)]

Tohru Adachi [Persona 4]

Tom Wambsgans [Succession]

Travis Matagot [Campaign Skyjacks]

Tsukasa Jinguuji [Fabiniku (Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout)]

The Tumblr Boyfriend [Tumblr]

The Twelfth Doctor [Doctor Who]

Tyrell Wellick [Mr. Robot]

Vanitas [Vanitas no Carte/The Case Study of Vanitas]

Vash the Stampede [Trigun]

Victor Nikiforov [Yuri on Ice]

Waymond Wang [Everything Everywhere All At Once]

Whizzer Brown [Falsettos]

William "Spike" Pratt [Buffy the Vampire Slayer]

William “Dex” Pointdexter [Check Please!]

Yeza Brenatto [Critical Role]

Yoo Joonghyuk [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint]

You [The Voter]

Zagreus [Hades]

[bagheerita]

Ten characters Ten fandoms Ten tags

List your 10 favourite characters from 10 separate fandoms, then tag 10 people

Tagged by @chaniis-atlantis and @ladyaldhelm ❤

also known as, who are the first 10 characters who came to my mind too bad for the properties I only thought of after that

Todd the Wraith (Stargate Atlantis)

Garak (Star Trek Deep Space Nine)

Hild (The Last Kingdom)

Elrond (Lord of the Rings)

Nightcrawler (X-Men comics)

Entrapta (She-ra and the Princesses of Power)

Yusuke Urameshi (Yu Yu Hakusho)

Daniel Jackson (Stargate SG1)

Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Luke Skywalker (Star Wars OT)

NPT: @tiltingheartand @only-in-december @portlandwithyou @drummerhummer @mx-seraph

@massharp1971 @stars-burn-out @riftbard @the-itzy-bitzy-spider @stinalotte

tagging the last 10 people in my activity who haven't already been tagged (that i'm aware of) so feel free to ignore me as always :)

[halloweenvalentine1997]

A recommended list of books I own and read

The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Fatal Flowers by Rosemary Daniell

Suicide Blonde by Darcey Steinke

The Prince of Lost Places by Kathy Hepinstall

What Remains of Me by Alison Gaylin

Never Look Back by Alison Gaylin

If I Die Tonight by Alison Gaylin

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

I Am the Only Running Footman by Martha Grimes

The Deer Leap by Martha Grimes

The Old Contemptibles By Martha Grimes

The Anodyne Necklace by Martha Grimes

Help the Poor Struggler by Martha Grimes

And Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Watching You by Lisa Jewell

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell

The Truth about Melody Browne by Lisa Jewell

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

A Judgment in Stone by Ruth Rendell

A Demon in my View by Ruth Rendell

Wonderland by Joyce Carol Oates

The Accursed by Joyce Carol Oates

The Doll Master by Joyce Carol Oates

Night Gaunts by Joyce Carol Oates

The Female of the Species by Joyce Carol Oates

Pursuit by Joyce Carol Oates

High Lonesome by Joyce Carol Oates

I Know You Know by Gilly Macmillan 

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy

Over Tumbled Graves by Jess Walter

Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson

The Sundial by Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

All Around the Town by Mary Higgins Clark

Southern Cross by Patricia Cornwell

Dead Run by Erica Spindler

Carrie by Stephen King

The Shining by Stephen King

Bag of Bones by Stephen King

The Stand by Stephen King

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

The Right Hand of Evil by John Saul

A Season in Purgatory by Dominick Dunne

The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

Dream Girl by Laura Lippman

Every Secret Thing by Laura Lippman

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett

The Third Twin by Ken Follett

Vanish by Tess Gerritsen

Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison

When Shadows Fall by J.T. Ellison

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Villette by Charlotte Bronte

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The Turn of the Screw & Daisy Miller by Henry James

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

The Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews

Garden of Shadows by V.C. Andrews

My Sweet Audrina by by V.C. Andrews

The Cutler series by V.C. Andrews

The Logan series by V.C. Andrews

The Hudson series by V.C. Andrews

Ruby by V.C. Andrews

Pearl in the Mist by V.C. Andrews

The 9th Girl by Tami Hoag

The Elizas by Sara Shepard

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

Wait for Me by Sara Shepard

Nowhere Like Home by Sara Shepard

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

A Spy in the House of Love by Anais Nin

Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Summer by Edith Wharton

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott

The It Girl by Ruth Ware

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule

If You Really Loved Me by Ann Rule

Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule

Every Breath You Take by Ann Rule

The Blooding by Joseph Wambaugh

Slenderman by Kathleen Hale

Breaking Blue by Timothy Egan

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory

Dead Man Walking by Sister Helen Prejean