Teyla fen and Sam fans

[tielan]

Is there anyone reading this LJ, incidentally, who is both a fan of Teyla and a fan of Sam?

Anyone for whom the two characters (not the men they're associated with) are the focal interest of the two shows? I can't be the only person in SG1 and SGA fandom to prefer Sam to Daniel as well as Teyla to Elizabeth. And yet...

And yet.

Comments

[toasteronfire.livejournal.com]

Me me!!

Well, sort of. Sam is my focal interest on SG1, but my fangirl heart will always belong to McKay on Atlantis. Teyla is my number one gal though. :)

[tielan]

Oh, good. I was kind of beginning to wonder if there were any left.

It feels like most Teyla fans went underground when they discovered Season Three was a bust for anything about Teyla.

[toasteronfire.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've been disappointed by the lack of Teyla this season but the talk from Joe M. about a Teyla story or arc next season keeps me going. She has so much potential and I keep on waiting for TPTB to do something awesome with her.

I gripe a lot about all the problems with s3 and Atlantis's PTB overall, but in reality it would take either Hewlett leaving or canon S/W for me to dump this show cold turkey. Even really crappy eps like Irresponsible and Irresistible can be partially redeemed by their MST3K potential. Heh.

[tielan]

It's the fact that Mallozzi spoke to Rachel about her lack of story in S3 that gives me hope. It's one thing to lie to fans, another to lie to an actress you're going to see nearly every day for 8 months of filming, and who you've already disappointed the previous year.

And, after watching Submersion and Vengeance, my hopes are a little higher than before - even amidst the rather vicious gloating of some fans that "it's all going to be about her long-lost brother - hahahaha!"

God, I hate fandom.

I'm hoping for some Sam/Teyla interaction in S4, although given how long it took them to get any Teyla/Elizabeth in the show, I'm not holding my breath.

[tv-elf.livejournal.com]

Fans of them over and above everyone else? Or just fan? I like the characters of Teyla and Sam. But, I've never really been a one-character gal. (Well, Teal'c for the pretty.)

[tielan]

Mostly fans of them over-and-above everyone else.

Because I keep coming across fans who are all, "Oh, I like Teyla, I just don't pay any attention to her in my fic, keep her firmly in the background, and don't think she's half as wonderful as [insert favourite character here]."

And the handful of Sam-oriented fans I knew from SG-1 mostly seem to hold the attitude of, "Teyla's a stupid whore-alien because she has boobs and wears low-cut tops."

[tv-elf.livejournal.com]

I just don't get that. If I'm going to write fic for a show, I'm going to do my best to cover every character, or at least give them a mention. But I'm odd.

[rhianona]

I'm with you on Teyla. Not so much on Sam. Part of this is quite simply that until I was a junior in uni, I was going to be an archaelogist. In fact, I was telling my boyfr. the other day that if I could go back, I would have majored in linguistics and gone for a paleolinguistics degree. So, my infatuation with Daniel as a character is, in a sense, a sympathetic reaction to him being an archaeologist and me really wishing that I hadn't given up on it and gone for it as a career.

I don't find Sam to be a very compelling character. She is too much of a caricature, in my view and while I find her story lines interesting to an extent, I don't like how they push her one way and then pull her another. OTOH, after Daniel, she's my favorite.

[tielan]

It's interesting: I've seen a lot of discussion among Sam-fans about how she and Elizabeth are going to interact in S4...but nothing on Sam interacting with Teyla.

Mostly, I was curious if there are any Sam-fans out there who also liked Teyla and saw her as a worthwhile and interesting character.

I like Daniel - hell, I like all the characters. But that's me: I'm a bit of a freak in fandom.

[rhianona]

Sam interacting with Teyla.

So beyond me thinking that bringing Sam to atlantis is a mistake, I think part of the reason people don't think of this is because the assumption most fans are going to make is that the three characters Sam is going to interact with and have issues with are Elizabeth, john and rodney. This is not to say she won't interact with Teyla, just that unless sam joins the team on missions, or takes over for Elizabeth, she's not going to have cause in terms of what is one the screen for interaction. Think about it - how often are Teyla and elizabeth on the screen together and interacting? Rarely outside of this season.

On the otherhand, you've just given me a plot bunny so...

[tielan]

Oh, I think that bringing Sam to Atlantis is all kinds of trouble. I loved Sam in SG1, but I'd really rather she didn't come to Atlantis - I'd rather have Teyla and Elizabeth written for than have Sam come over.

That said, I'll deal with Sam being in Atlantis - as long as she doesn't take over the show and start solving every problem, making all the snarky comments, and hamming it for the camera when things go wrong.

Wait! Rodney's already doing that...

I'm hoping that Sam's going to be more like Caldwell - occasionally in the city, more of a recurring character than a regular one. In to save the day every now and then.

...now I have the Chip 'n Dale, Rescue Rangers themesong in my head, except it's S-S-S-Sam and Cam, Rescue Rangers!

*facepalm*

[ryf.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, sort of. I love Sam and Daniel equally. And I have grown to love Teyla as well as Elizabeth.

[(Anonymous)]

I have always been a huge fan of Sam and although I love Daniel, Sam always won out just slightly as my fav SG-1 character. Teyla is without a doubt my favorite character in SGA and the stargate universe entirely. I am not holding my breath but I hope that Sam and Teyla have at least some interaction/scenes together, it would be very interesting to see. What can I say I always have found the smart, kick-ass females the most compelling characters, and Teyla and Sam personify these traits.

[tielan]

Sam and Teyla are just easier for me. The girls who get physically involved in the situation - the doers.

I like doers.

[basement-apt.livejournal.com]

Teyla is my main reason for watching SGA. I'm not sure why, but I am so enthralled with her character, while I'm less interested in Elizabeth.

I have to admit I'm completely in love with the Vala character on SG-1, but previous to season 10, Sam had the same position in SG-1 as Teyla in SGA.

If either of them were gone there's a good chance I wouldn't be interested anymore. So you aren't the only one to prefer them!

[tielan]

Teyla was my first interest in SGA, I didn't really warm to Elizabeth until later - she seemed mighty standoffish and prissy for someone who was stranded in another galaxy, possibly for good.

[alliesings.livejournal.com]

I definitely prefer Sam to Daniel. I find Daniel-centered episodes boring, but I enjoy exploring every aspect of Sam in the show, even the Pete thing because it was something she had to get out of her system IMHO.

Teyla has been my favorite character on SGA, and Elizabeth didn't hold much interest to me until we started pairing her with Ronan ;) (Maybe it's because I saw her too much as a Daniel clone, and I found that boring the first time.)

Teyla had the most potential out of the Season 1 cast to be interesting, to explore her culture and backstory. But, as a fanfic writer, I've had a really hard time finding a voice for her. I partially blame TPTB for not giving us enough, but it's also that I associate better with GirlGeeks than WarriorChicks.

I've explored her in relation to several of the male cast of both series in short pieces that are still hidden away, but only because that's the kind of writer I am. It's not that I don't appreciate her as an individual, but that I always define characters by their relationships with those around them. Hubby sees that as a huge flaw in my writing, but I just see it as who I am.

[tielan]

Most fans seem to have trouble writing characters outside their experiential sphere. Teal'c, Teyla, and Ronon are technically 'alien', and probably the most difficult to write for - both for TPTB and the fans.

I think most writers have given up on Teal'c entirely.

Teyla's both easier and more difficult than Teal'c because TPTB haven't made a point of exacerbating her cultural difference the way they did with Teal'c. And people (particularly Americans and particularly in our very emotionally-driven culture of the west) seem to think of 'emotionless in appearance' as 'emotionless in feeling' and therefore uninteresting.

Actually, Ronon's probably easiest for most people because of this - he's an emotional person. So they write him reacting, reacting, reacting.

Ronon's the reaction man - the instinct. Rodney's the solution. John's the action. Which, to most people's minds, means there's no 'sole purpose' for Teyla. Which, to my mind, is about as sane as saying that someone's whole existence is meaningful solely because they are black, or an accountant, or a good singer.

[neffitti.livejournal.com]

Everything you just said was spot on, and really needed to be said, so as a huge Teyla fan Thank you for saying it.

[tielan]

You're welcome!

Only...who's listening? Other than people who are already Teyla-fans?

[million-moments.livejournal.com]

I'm the girl who dreams of writing Sam/Teyla fic :p

[tielan]

Why don't you?

*curious*

[million-moments.livejournal.com]

Teyla, in my head, totally bisexual. My favourite Teyla 'ship is actually Teyla/Sora (followed closely by Teyla/Carson). But Sam is kind of straight. So I can see Teyla being interested in Sam as this warrior/leader/scientist person all rolled into one. But I can't get over my preconceptions of Sam's sexulaity to write it :p I think if I was ever given it as a prompt in a ficathon I could do it...

[tielan]

You can't do them 'just friends'?

I mean, I can concede the Teyla-bi, Sam-straight thing, but does the story have to be about a relationship?

My personal take on Pegasus sexuality is that they can screw who or what they like, but het sex is (at minimum) necessary for the maintenance of a constantly-depleted population base, hence a level of heteronormativity exists in all Pegasus cultures. In the Pegasus galaxy, I'd imagine, one can be heterosexual or bisexual in sexual practises, but not exclusively homosexual.

[million-moments.livejournal.com]

I am trying to figure out a fic set in "The Pegasus Project". I was dissapointed Teyla wasn't in that episode and would like to write the fic where she and Sam meet for the first time.

[pixiesio.livejournal.com]

I do like both, but I happen to like Liz as well. ;)

[tielan]

Hey, I like Liz!

I just dislike "Lizzie".

[pixiesio.livejournal.com]

*snorfle*

[ladyjax.livejournal.com]

I like them both bunches (but I think you knew that). As it so happens my very first story for SGA was Sam/Teyla (lite on the shippiness and more of an explanation about why Sam would even go to Atlantis): Rubicon (http://wraithbait.com/viewstory.php?sid=2633)

Anyway, here's something that a lot of people don't consider: that the writers don't know how to let the women characters they created live and work in the same space with each other.

I was rewatching the SG-1 ep, Rite of Passage, recently. It's so obvious that Sam, Janet, and Cassie are their own type of family. The scenes with the three of them together are very effecting and in their own way powerful. The obvious friendship and love (however people want to interpret that) between Sam and Janet is definitely the result of years of experience in and around each other. There's a comfort level there that doesn't always show through when Sam is off with her teammates.

Plus watching Janet play mama bear (threatening to shoot Nirrti) just made my day.

I would have liked Elizabeth and Teyla to have those moments too, especially since Elizabeth is aware from the very beginning how much she doesn't know about Teyla's people or Teyla herself. We get glimmers of it in Intruder in season two at the end of the ep. Teyla asks Elizabeth about what happened on Earth and just as Elizabeth is about to say something, poof, one of the guys show up and it gets shelved. Teyla even looks annoyed for a hot minute.

I guess my point is, I should be able to see those other relationships on screen just like I get the ones between John and Rodney or Jack and Daniel to the point of nausea. If they make these women and yet don't use them fully, it's much easier for cranky fans to rush around saying, "Oh, they don't *do* anything like the boys do so they're less important," or "they're shallow, one-dimensional."

To which I reply, "why do you have so much invested in male characters in the first place?" and "What's so hard about having women interacting with each other across a broad spectrum of experiences and emotions?" followed up by, "y'all know these are women written by men, right?"

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

Sort of. I'm more interested in Daniel or Vala than Sam but I'm still happy with her character. Teyla interests me a little more than Weir characterwise, but not much more generally in the show as they write it, and obviously I have love for Weir largely tied into the squeefulness over M/W still.

What the focus for me watching SGA or SG1? Actually nothing in particular anymore - general hope that it'll get better and/or live up to the potential I once saw? Yeah, I'm a little bitter of a fan by now. I still love the shows but I don't like them so much half the time. Odd but true.