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So it occured to me that at some point, probably in the next year, I'm going to have to delve into romance if I want to keep improving as a writer. PG-13 romance, to be sure, but romance of some kind. It's part of the human condition, after all, and therefore part of storytelling.
That leads me to difficulties within the scope of SG-1 in terms of canon. Now I could go AU and have a good time, I certainly did with 'Daniel in Wonderland'. I'd run into the same problems, though.
I don't feel able to write Sha're, and with not personally seeing the viability of the regular fan-favorite pairings.... Well, maybe Daniel/Janet, but I don't want to do that to Daniel. It's bad enough as is, and he's had enough heartache for ten guys. I could do something with Daniel and Keira, but I'd rather not. For one thing, I don't think his feelings were seriously engaged, so any story I wrote there would be about the nature of redemption, etc, not romance.
Anyway, I'm working on a video and was looking at frames in 'Icon'. There's definately something there. From what I remember of the dialogue, there was an attraction between Leda Kane and Daniel that was mostly subtext as she was married to Jarrod Kane. I seem to remember that is was acknowledged, or hinted at, by Leda when Daniel left, but not really by Daniel. Looking at the video without sound, you get a rather different picture of things, though. Daniel doesn't look uninterested at all, or like he's merely feeling compassion for her.
I think I might have found me some non-team, canon 'ship. Sad 'ship based on loneliness and shared tragedy, 'ship that doesn't even get as far as holding hands, but 'ship. ;)
Thoughts?
That leads me to difficulties within the scope of SG-1 in terms of canon. Now I could go AU and have a good time, I certainly did with 'Daniel in Wonderland'. I'd run into the same problems, though.
I don't feel able to write Sha're, and with not personally seeing the viability of the regular fan-favorite pairings.... Well, maybe Daniel/Janet, but I don't want to do that to Daniel. It's bad enough as is, and he's had enough heartache for ten guys. I could do something with Daniel and Keira, but I'd rather not. For one thing, I don't think his feelings were seriously engaged, so any story I wrote there would be about the nature of redemption, etc, not romance.
Anyway, I'm working on a video and was looking at frames in 'Icon'. There's definately something there. From what I remember of the dialogue, there was an attraction between Leda Kane and Daniel that was mostly subtext as she was married to Jarrod Kane. I seem to remember that is was acknowledged, or hinted at, by Leda when Daniel left, but not really by Daniel. Looking at the video without sound, you get a rather different picture of things, though. Daniel doesn't look uninterested at all, or like he's merely feeling compassion for her.
I think I might have found me some non-team, canon 'ship. Sad 'ship based on loneliness and shared tragedy, 'ship that doesn't even get as far as holding hands, but 'ship. ;)
Thoughts?
He also had a kind of flirty thing going with Daria Voronkova (http://www.stargate-sg1-solutions.com/wiki/Daria_Voronkova). In a deleted scene, he mentioned taking her out to lunch before returning the the base. Maybe they've kept up their relationship from there -- she looked like she wanted to coach him on his Russian. ;)
But, yeah, Leda Kane is such a tragic story -- again a sad thing for Daniel. I had heard that there was supposed to be a kiss, but perhaps that scene was cut because MS would have objected to Daniel in a such a relationship with a married woman.
Daria seemed like yet another of those things where Daniel doesn't not like her (yikes! double negative!), but isn't all that interested, either. Kind of a one-sided thing where any response if just a reflection of him liking women just fine. ;)
The video footage of him and Leda really struck me because I can't remember seeing Daniel act in quite that way with anyone other than Sha're.
There was definitely communication going between the SGC and Rand after the events of "Icon" -- at least until Rand quit talking to them when the Prior came.
But I don't think that Leda and Daniel ever carried their feelings further. There was a lot of mutual respect between Jarrod and Daniel -- enough there even in "Ethon" that suggested that Leda and Jarrod were able to resume their relationship as a married couple. I don't think that Jarrod would have come to Daniel like he did if Daniel had pursued Leda.
Daniel's words in "Unending" kind of seal the deal that he hasn't had any kind of romance since Sha're. I came away from that outburst of his that he needed to love someone before there was sex. The movie showed that quality and I really think that if he was ever in a relationship before "Unending" that he would not have said the things that he did.
I didn't mean to suggest that Daniel was having that kind of a relationship with her, just that there is a...tenderness of sorts. Some quality in the tone and body language that wasn't seen with other women other than Sha're, although clearly with Sha're there was a great deal more than that. So whatever the writers, director, and actors decided the level of affection was, I think it's safe to say that it was something different.
I don't take much in Unending very seriously, although that is meaningful because it applies to events before they were stuck in time. Thing is, it's hard to make fit with canon.
I don't actually think he was talking about sex. There was a very strong implication that he had sex with Keira, so I don't think that could be the case.
I'll have to go back and refresh my memory of Icon, everything I'm seeing is telling me that this was more than just casual, and definitely the most serious thing since Sha're. I don't think they were intimate, but I think it's very possible that there was love. They were together for quite a while as she nursed him back to health.
These things make his statement in Unending a little problematic for me. At the same time, I don't think the writers were thinking as much about canon as they were about granting a wish for 'ship fans in the final episode of the show, and doing it in a way that wouldn't affect future events.
I would be very interested in what MS might have to say about Daniel's feelings for Leda. It's kind of surprising that it's never come up, isn't it?
It might have been through MS that the talk started that there had been a kiss written into "Icon", but that it was removed from the script. I think that the DVD commentators almost said it, but fell short. I'm not sure. I remember that there was an interview with MS about "Icon" and he mentioned romance for Daniel in it, but didn't give any details because it was before the episode had aired.