As I understand it, the writers and producers and such are not allowed to read fan fiction, because there is a risk of being sued for Anonymous Fan Fiction Author #17's "intellectual property" if something that is read somehow, accidentally finds its way into a script. (However, stealing from every other Sci-Fi show in existence is perfectly okay, because everyone does it and it's impossible to tell who first had any given idea.)

So my incredibly biased, rude theory is that they write their own. They call them, oh, screenplays that didn't make it to production, or deleted scenes, something like that. Their own wank-material, in which the socially inept television writer astrophysicist gets the hot intern cute botanist and gives it to her, but good. And then they forget that didn't actually happen on the show, so in their own personal versions of canon, Rodney and Katie were totally getting it on. They don't identify with Ronon as much, so they forget to write their little fap-fap piece about the big, scary Satedan and the cute new head of medicine. Until there's a new intern with great boobs the socially inept astrophysicist is put into close proximity with the cute new head of medicine, and then they go, "Heeeeey..." and it starts all over again.

It all comes down to the Stargate writers' inability to follow that all-important rule, "show, don't tell." They told us Rodney and Katie were together, and we didn't see it -- we couldn't, because it wasn't there -- but we went, "Huh... okaaaay, if you say so." They showed us Ronon and Jennifer doing a significant amount of emotional bonding, and then literally laughed at us for assuming there was a relationship there, because they didn't tell us it was.

This, in my not-so-humble opinion, is their only sound argument against slash. Particularly of the McKay/Sheppard variety. They've showed us again and again the close-knit emotional bond between Rodney and John, to the point that even my slightly-homophobic mother wonders if they aren't just a little queer (she wonders the same of Jack and Daniel) but they haven't told us they're together. And as long as they keep showing us one thing and telling us another, they can keep believing what they're telling us. I say let them believe it. But I also say that they need to learn a little bit more about effective storytelling, because if people who don't even watch the show frequently are getting that the two male leads are making with the Brokeback love offscreen...



For once I was actually pleased with a relationship being shoved down my throat presented by the Stargate PTB. I hated Daniel Jackson/Vala Mal Doran. I hated Rodney McKay/Katie Brown. I still hate Jack O'Neill/Sam Carter and John Sheppard/Teyla Emmagan. But I actually kind of liked Ronon/Jennifer, despite being, on the whole, thoroughly irritated with Keller as a character. They were cute, and we were actually given a glimpse of them connecting.

My hatred for the aforementioned pairings is not based solely in my love of slash; on the contrary, my love of slash is based on chemistry between characters as presented on the screen by the actors. My hatred of these pairings is based in how they are presented. (Well, I can't really speak for Daniel/Vala, to be fair. I am still boycotting most of seasons nine and ten of Stargate: SG-1 because of a deep-seated revulsion to Vala Mal Doran in general, and an inability to deal with her on-screen for more than twenty minutes without going into fits of irritation.) John is unable to even hug Teyla without looking like he wants to quantum-leap out of his body. Rodney was as awkward with Katie after year of supposed off-screen dating as he was during her first on-screen appearance. Sam, an intelligent, empowered military woman, becomes a bubble-headed, weak-willed pod person whenever the possibility of a relationship with Jack crops up. If you have to make a character something other than who they are to make a relationship 'work,' it's either bad writing, or it's bad matchmaking. Probably both.

So Ronon/Jennifer worked for me, in that the writers presented an episode in which they connected emotionally (if not physically; darn smoochus interruptus) and the actors presented believable chemistry. I thought it was going to be the first canon 'ship that didn't make me want to at best, cringe, and at worst, gouge out my eyes, every time the couple in question was on screen together. Then the Powers That Be decided anyone who bought into the Ronon/Jennifer pairing was a fool because they didn't say anything about them dating in the time between episodes (which, for us, was two weeks, but apparently for the Lanteans, was several months, though no passage of time was noted in dialogue or other markers, like the size of Teyla's bump, as she was conspicuous in her absence.)

Did I miss the issuance, at the start of the series, of psychic hats which allow us to read the minds of the production team? No? Good. It is the writers' responsibility to communicate things like relationship development and the passage of time to the fans through the media of the program itself not through snide comments about said fans in online blogs. In case you've forgotten, PTB, we're (mostly) intelligent human beings, and it's the fans whose continued support ensures your continued paycheck. You should learn to treat us with a modicum of respect, both onscreen and off.