SGA Guide: John/Cam

[skieswideopen]

somehowunbroken and I are putting together a page on John/Cam for sga_guide, and we'd love to get feedback from other John/Cam fans to make sure we're fairly representing this section of fandom.

The purpose of this page is to provide a starting point for people who are interested in John/Cam. We're aiming to provide a bit of context, some info on what this section of fandom looks like, places to go look for other John/Cam fannish material, and a sampling of fannish works (fic, art, vids, etc.).

What we're looking for from you is any comments you might have, especially any major tropes we missed that frequently show up in John/Cam works, suggestions for other fannish works that you consider touchstones for the pairing, and anything else you think we're missing...or that you don't think should be included on the page. (We're trying to keep the total number of fannish works to twenty-five or fewer, so if you're going to suggest a few, it would also be helpful if you indicated which ones you thought should be taken down to make room. The things we were looking for in deciding what to include are touchstone works, stories that highlight common John/Cam tropes, stories everyone seems to have read and loved, and so on.)

Comments are unscreened, but feel free to PM or email me with feedback if you want to. Crossposted to the sg_flyboys community on LJ.

John Sheppard/Cameron Mitchell

Other Names for Pairing: flyboys
Appearances: Episode 10x03 of SG-1: "The Pegasus Project"
Canon pairing or not? No

Brief Overview

Basic Information

John Sheppard and Cameron Mitchell are both career Air Force pilots who, by very different paths, end up in the Stargate Program: one as the military commander of Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy and the other as the leader of SG-1 on Earth. They only appear once together on-screen over the course of all three shows, making this emphatically not a canon pairing; however, the similarities in their ages and careers and interests create a lot of common ground for a relationship.

Screencap courtesy of Gateworld

Key Scenes & Episodes

John Sheppard and Cameron Mitchell are on screen together exactly once, for three minutes and fifteen seconds in SG-1 10x03, "The Pegasus Project." The first part of this time is spent in a meeting with the rest of SG-1, Rodney McKay, and Elizabeth Weir; the last thirty seconds shows the two talking, mostly about how to handle Rodney McKay.

The other key episodes for this pairing are the SGA episodes "The Return, Part 1" and "The Return, Part 2" (3x10 and 3x11). While Cameron doesn’t appear in these episodes, the six weeks John spends stationed at the SGC after the Atlantis Expedition is forced to return to Earth are frequently used by fic writers as an opportunity for John and Cam to interact.

Major Fannish Tropes

There are a few Stargate-specific tropes and scenarios that consistently show up in John/Cam fic:

*John starts SGA as an Air Force officer with a black mark on his record, one whose suitability for his chosen career is sometimes questioned. Cam starts his stint on SG-1 with a record that’s described as "impeccable." A number of stories play up this contrast between the golden boy who follows the rules, and the maverick who breaks them.

*There are quite a few stories that assume John and Cam have known each other for a long time--often before either of them entered the Stargate program. This is, a trope that probably arises out of the fact that they’re both career Air Force pilots of roughly the same age, making it quite plausible that the two of them have crossed paths in the past.

*One of the main obstacles faced by this pairing is that they’re stationed in separate galaxies; perhaps not surprisingly, there are a number of stories that try to fix this by arranging for them to be in the same galaxy, either by having Cam reassigned to Atlantis, or by having John end up at the SGC instead of being sent to Atlantis. A popular subset of the latter trope involves John becoming a member of SG-1.

*There are a number of stories in which Cam tries to cheer up John when John’s stuck on Earth during "The Return" or following "Enemy at the Gate," an effort that often results in the two of them getting together if they aren’t already in a relationship.

*There are also a number of stories that highlight the contrast in their relationships with their respective families, often by having Cam taking John home to meet his parents, and having his parents treat John as family.

*John and Cam are often shown bonding over sports and/or cars.

Primers, Meta, Reccers/Rec Lists, and Guides

*John And Cam Are Awesome (And Here's Why): The 'No Penguins' Edition A somewhat humorous look at the relationship in less than 1000 words. (Created October 2010, last updated October 2010)

*sg_flyboys runs an annual thing-a-thon exchange and is open for John/Cam posting the rest of the year.

*sg_flyboys is a DreamWidth John/Cam community that’s open to all John/Cam discussion and material.

Fanworks Sampler

Fan Fiction

*Here is No Water (8676 words, NC-17) by frostfire_17 - This story was one of the early touchstones in the John/Cam fandom. Set in Afghanistan before either man enters the Stargate program, it plays up the golden boy/screw-up trope in the context of an antagonistic attraction, leading to a couple of hot but complex sexual encounters.

*The Towers On The Heights Reach To Heav'n's Own Blue (9200 words, R) & Steal The Thunder From The Sky (9500 words, NC-17) by minervacat - "Towers" is technically gen, but it’s an excellent precursor to "Steal The Thunder From The Sky,: which is probably one of the mostly widely recommended John/Cam stories out there. In "Towers" Cam starts up an email conversation with John about football while John works on setting up a soccer league on Atlantis. In the sequel, which is definitely not gen, Cam invites John to accompany SG-1 to the NCAA Final Four.

*Never As Bad As Anticipated (Until It Is) (72 923 words, NC-17, also features minor Emmagan/Kanaan, Brown/McKay) by bluflamingo - Cam is sent to take command of Atlantis at the start of season four instead of Sam Carter. This was the first John/Cam Big Bang, written by one of the best known John/Cam authors, and it did a lot to raise the profile of the pairing and attract new John/Cam fans.

*Imaginary Boys (27 362 words, NC-17) by busaikko - This fic addresses a couple of popular tropes, including John and Cam getting together during The Return, and a transgendered MTF John. It also features a Cameron Mitchell who is less easy-going and accepting than he’s usually written, which is an interesting variation.

*Stranger Here Myself (5100 words, PG-13) by slybrarian - This is one of a multitude of John/Cam fic in which John gets dragged home by Cam, in this case for Thanksgiving. It also features Cam coming out to his parents, another popular trope.

*Sports as a Metaphor (3300 words, PG-13) by etain_anders - An excellent example of the very popular trope "John and Cam get together during 'The Return.'"

*Last One Out of the Circus (5100 words, NC-17) by tesserae_ - Set during the other main John/Cam episode, "The Pegasus Project," Cam touches something he shouldn’t.

*Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (4500 words, NC-17) by alizarin_nyc - This is one of a handful of John/Cam stories set in the AU created in the SGA episode "Vegas." In this story, a Cam who never got out of his wheelchair meets former homicide detective John Sheppard.

*Expatriate (3504 words, NC-17) by ltlj/Victoria Custer - This is part of the Retrograde series, an AU in which Atlantis remained isolated for longer than a year, and in which reconnecting with Earth did not go smoothly. It features the popular trope in which two characters have to pretend to be attracted to each other for their own safety, leading to mutual recognition of their actual attraction.

*Red Ribbon (14 800 words, NC-17) by scrollgirl - This is the first in a series that addresses a common fanfic trope: genderswitching. In this case, John is temporarily turned into a woman, which leads to John and Cam getting together.

*What Happens Next (13 860 words, PG-13) by bluflamingo - This one does another common trope: kid!fic. John shows up Cam’s doorstep with a two-year-old child who calls him "Dad."

*Age of Minority (14 000 words, NC-17) by bluflamingo - Another popular fanfic trope is rapid de-aging, in which the characters regress to childhood. In this one, Cam and Sam go back to age sixteen, which has repercussions for Cam’s relationship with John.

*By the Banks of the River Styx (3773 words, PG-13, features major character death) by skieswideopen - Apocafic in which Cam is the last man on Earth.

*This Delicate Thing We’ve Made (~93 000 words in five parts, NC-17, includes graphic depictions of violence and sexual abuse) by race_the_ace - This series in AU from the very beginning. John’s the perfect officer inside the Mountain, but he’s got a dark past that he doesn’t let show. Cam gets past his defences and they create a life together. There are a lot of dark topics in the series, and it’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s well worth the read. (Unfinished - the author anticipates two more stories in the series.)

*Midnight Train (~6000 words, PG-13, features traumatic injury) by miss_zedem An AU in which John is Cam’s physical therapist after his accident. It’s certainly not the story as we know it, but the author weaves the story believably, and by the end you can certainly believe that things could have happened this way.

links to tags at major archives and collections:

*John Sheppard/Cameron Mitchell Index at Crossroads - This is a very comprehensive list; probably the most complete list of John/Cam fic out there
*John Sheppard/Cameron Mitchell tag on Archive of Our Own
*John Sheppard/Cameron Mitchell tag on Stargate Fic Rec
* John Sheppard/Cameron Mitchell tag on SGA Newsletter Delicious
*John Sheppard/Cameron Mitchell tag on Kinkmeme Delicious
*The Big List of John/Cam fanfic - It hasn’t been updated since October 2010, so a bit outdated now, but it’s a reasonably complete list of fic written before then.

Fan Art (manips, icons, drawn art, comics, photocomics, photography, etc.)

*Trapped and Bored by calcitrix
*Showdown by calcitrix
*Tulips by clayeer

Fan Vids

*The Travelling Song by entninja
*Average Superhero by DoubleTreble1518
*Dirty Little Secret by colls
*If They Could Read My Mind by colls
*Fast Cars by colls

Audio Fic, Podfic, Filk Songs, and Radio Dramas

*Falling From the Sky Now and Then, written by torakowalski and read by twasadark - Cam helps John steal a puddlejumper while John’s stuck on Earth during "The Return." (4500 words, R)
*Why John Sheppard gets a reminiscent smile on his face when he thinks of chocolate chip muffins, written by minnow1212 and read by twasadark - A sweet first time story that takes place after John’s ATA gene gets him temporarily summoned to Earth. (1780 words, PG-13)

links to tags at major archives:

*The John/Cam tag @ Jinjurly's Audiofic Archive