Lovely

You may be looking for Lovely – A Little Problem, a Star Trek: TOS zine.

Fanfiction
Title:	Lovely
Author(s):	Martha
Date(s):	finished 13 July 2003
Length:	51,468 words
Genre:	gen, crossover
Fandom:	The Sentinel/Stargate SG-1
External Links:	Lovely (AO3) Lovely (Good morning, Sunshine)
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Lovely is a Sentinel/Stargate SG-1 story by Martha. It's the second part of a series which makes it the sequel to Unsleeping and the prequel to Tatters.

Summary: Daniel Jackson goes looking for peace in the aftermath of "Absolute Power" and "The Light." Unfortunately, he goes looking for it in Cascade, Washington—The Most Dangerous City in America.

Reactions and Reviews

Best FF That Proves Two Things: First, That Even in Gen No Intelligent Human Can Avoid Wondering About the Relationship Between Jim and Blair, and, Second, That There Actually Are a Few Bad Things That Haven't Yet Happened to Daniel Jackson. In the Canon, I Mean. Lovely, by Martha, aka soulcake. The Sentinel x Stargate SG-1, gen.

There's a lot to love about this story. Lots and lots, and not just the plot and the characterization; this is definitely a case of god being in the details. I knew I was going to like this piece as soon as I saw how Martha handled the meeting of Daniel Jackson and Blair Sandburg. And I knew I was going to love it when the aliens showed up. (No, I don't need to tell you which aliens; you'll definitely know them when you meet them.) And then there's the whole crossover thing - this is another story in which both universes retain all their characteristics without sacrificing realism. And this is, for once, a Stargate crossover that really works. For some reason, that fandom is highly resistant to incursion from other canons; most crossovers involving SG-1 just feel forced. Or maybe unbalanced. But that's not true here, which proves that a) Martha is a great writer and b) Jim and Blair are very flexible and can easily slide in anywhere. (I know, bad pun, but it's true. Half the stories on my crossover list involve The Sentinel.)

This is a spooky Sentinel/Stargate crossover, wherein Daniel flees from perceived danger and finds unexpected shelter in Cascade with Jim and Blair. If you love both shows, you will be in heaven; ditto if you are more of a Sentinel fan than a Stargate fan, tho you may be a bit confused as to the details of the Stargate universe. No matter what your fannish leanings are, however, the story is a clever example of how to write a crossover without making either universe irrelevant. And it has a first-class action/adventure plot.

When I saw that Martha had written a Sentinel/Stargate crossover (and a long one too) I just pounced on it. And I was not dissappointed. Lovely prose, good characterisation, banter, Really Bad Things happening, angst, reconciliation and love -- for both sets of characters. There are, I think, references to her previous story Unsleeping (been too long since I've read it, so I'm not sure) but this, while creepy, is not as totally creepy as Unsleeping was; basically because not all the Bad Things are supernatural....Whether something inspired by H.P. Lovecraft could mix with something like Stargate is a moot point, because one is dragged along in the wake of it all. This is definitely AU for the Sentinel, because of decisions that get made at the end. It could be AU for Stargate, but if so, not a great deal; one simply has to put a large gap in between certain episodes.

I discovered this story on one of those monthly visits to Bright Shiny Objects on a lazy Saturday morning when I was just looking for something to kill a little time.

I emerged from the story a few hours later with a new favorite story. Or, at least, a new favorite crossover. This is an amazing story. It's wonderfully written with great character interaction. The great thing is how believable this story is in the context of the two universes. And the believability adds to the creepiness factor which is up there to begin with.

Speaking as someone with limited experience with The Sentinel, Jim and Blair are easily accessible and I believe it works the other way around. But while you don't need much knowledge about the respective fandoms, knowledge doesn't hurt either. There's no painful exposition here. In my opinion, reaching that balance is one of the most important elements of a good crossover.

This delightful crossover meshes the best qualities of both universes. I relished the character insights, and found the use of the series's mythologies to be second to none. There's also moments of unbearable tension and horror. Highly recommended.

This story is wonderful: a fascinating, plot-heavy story in which the characterisations are realistic and the action kept me on the edge of my seat. The relationships between Jack and Daniel, and Jim and Blair are very close but never quite fall over the line into slash. I thoroughly recommend this as an intelligent, well-written, absorbing read.

It's Christmas Eve and Blair rescues a guy who's being attacked in Ranier carpark - but exactly who are these attackers and why is Daniel Jackson on the run, even from his friends?... This story is wonderful: a fascinating, plot-heavy story in which the characterisations are realistic and the action kept me on the edge of my seat. The relationships between Jack and Daniel, and Jim and Blair are very close but never quite fall over the line into slash. I thoroughly recommend this as an intelligent, well-written, absorbing read.

I liked this one too - and given that I invariably *don't* like crossovers, that's saying something :-) Mind you, I think the Stargate & Sentinel universes are probably close enough to allow it without jarring as badly as many others do for me, but I still found this story better than most. I like the characterisation - especially Blair who has edges that aren't quite so warm'n'fuzzy as in much of the fanfic (he's prepared to help Daniel when the latter's in trouble, but later prepared - reluctantly but quite definitely to ditch him rather than risk Jim), the depth in Ellison, and the rather different take on the Men In Black Are After Them cliche :-) I thought Daniel was a bit weak (so okay, he had cause) and I can't stand Carter, so she was no more annoying than normal, but the rest were good, and I liked Blair and O'Neill's scenes together (even though I'm really of the Firm Opinion that these two would mix like oil, water and a very bad-tempered blowtorch). I loved the 'cookery' scene, a good mix of domesticity, tension and edgy humour. And I thought the aliens were *wonderfully* done, totally different, vividly pictured and yes, decidedly creepy while almost funny. One of the best alien encounters I've read. And a tiny point, one I caught on a second reading and realised that it helped the characterisation for me - the way Jim calls Daniel 'Jackson' all the way through, which seems to fits with what I know of how he uses surnames rather than first names - and O'Neill, who canonically calls *his* civilian by his first name, also calls Blair by his first name. A little thing, but it indicates the author's attention to thinking about the *details* of a character's voice.

What Stuck With Me and Why: There are a LOT of TS/SG-1 crossovers, and I'd read quite a few of them by the time I got here. Part of this fic is that Martha is one of the best emotional roller coaster horror writers out there. She can absolutely gut the characters and put them back together again, and I like that kind of thing. This is also one of the first crossovers I read where the characters who meet each other don't like each other. Crossovers are often an excuse to have our favourites hang out and have a party and possibly sex, and it kind of falls into the geek fallacy about how all I like all my friends so all my friends should like each other, no matter how terrible an idea inviting my mom's church sewing circle and my death metal band friends to the same picnic actually is. This story is good people in extremis, who are all hard edges and who don't get along, and it's as easy to see why as it is to see the angles where they would like each other. Again I think it's relating to people forming relationships around obstacles and overcoming differences. Or even not overcoming them, but negotiating them in a way that isn't instant report. Both sets of our heroes have every reason in the world not to trust each other, and they have to work with that. It's pretty great.