H is for History, by Tallulah Rasa (G)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Show: SG-1

Rec Category: Futurefic
Characters: Daniel Jackson, original character
Categories: humor, gen
Warnings: sneak crossover with Highlander
Author on LJ: tallulah_rasa
Author's Website: Tallulah Rasa at AO3
Link: H is for History

Why This Must Be Read: From the first reference to Dr. Daniel Jackson (1964-2002, 2004-2060) you will start grinning at the sheer hilarity of this fantastic send up of the many, many mistakes that inevitably creep into any attempt to understand history without the proper references. It's great fun to see how a 22nd century historian misinterprets so much of what we understand ourselves, even if the humor is bittersweet sometimes!


Early letters to Dr. Catherine Langford, a noted archeologist and perhaps a mentor to Dr. Jackson, are surprisingly metaphorical, and often poetic. In one, he writes:

"…To have a universe of knowledge at your fingertips and to sacrifice it for love seems, in retrospect, the wisest course. You were pulled by a forcefield, a complicated mesh of belief and memory; I was motivated by a sorry mix of tissues and the need to understand — well, everything."

Not the standard language of a scientist, even a social scientist, to a colleague! Interestingly, this is also not Dr. Jackson’s only mention of tissue or tissues; he uses the imagery of "a box of Kleenex" over and over again. The meaning of this symbol is tantalizingly unclear, though many academics have concluded that Jackson’s research was underwritten by a major 20th century corporation, perhaps Kimberly-Clark or Proctor&Gamble.