I saw a post by someone on YouTube talking about how there aren't enough Stargate fanfics that aren't... shippy. You can gather from my handle that I love a good shippy fanfic, but I had been thinking about doing a Sam and Janet friendship story anyway, so - YouTuber whose name I can't remember, this one's for you.
I own nothing, etc. May be added on to as the mood strikes.
"Why was that movie all about boys?" Cassie grimaced as she, her mom, and Sam exited the movie theater.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Well, it was a teen rom-com, so boys were naturally going to come up..." Frankly, Sam hadn't really been a fan of the movie herself. It reminded her of her own awkward high school years, when most of the girls she knew didn't like the "teacher's pet" and most of the boys liked her far more than she wanted. It was no wonder she'd spent the majority of her early adult life pushing for people to take her seriously and not look at her like a Barbie doll.
Sam could see Janet pursing her lips and giving her some sort of look as Cassie responded. "You know, Sam, there are so many stories that revolve around 'finding your soul mate,' or needing to be in a relationship. It's like society says your life is totally worthless unless you get married and have 2.5 children!"
She's got a point, Sam thought. However, this wasn't something she'd really expected a fourteen year old girl to pick up on...
"Cassie's got a new history teacher," Janet explained, glancing at her daughter as they walked out to the Frasier family car. "They've been exploring more sociological topics - especially feminism."
"I bet," Cassie began as they opened the car doors and started settling into their seats, "that that movie doesn't even pass the Bechdel test."
Sam's eyebrows came together in confusion. "The what now?" She looked over at Janet, who looked just as bemused as she was.
"The Bechdel test," Cassie reiterated. "You know - a movie only passes it if it features two women who have at least one conversation together that isn't about boys." The look on her face screamed, "Duh!?!"
"Oh," Sam answered, eyes wide as she took in this new information.
Cassie tilted her head as she stared at Sam. "You're into science, Sam. How have you not heard of that?"
Sam met Cassie's eyes in the rearview mirror as Janet began backing out of their parking space. "I'm into hard sciences, Cass. Sociology's on the softer side."
"Well," Cassie moved on. "A lot of movies don't pass the test. I mean, some of them don't even have two women talking to each other at all."
"For some of them, it just wouldn't fit," Janet chimed in, trying to encourage her daughter not to vilify every single movie that didn't pass the test. "Take World War II movies, for example. If you're making a film depicting the battle at Normandy, it's going to have an all-male cast."
"Point," Cassie acknowledged before firmly setting her chin. "But I can still be mad that society tends to look at romantic relationships as the be-all, end-all."
Sam gave her a nod. "I'm with you there, Cassie. I'd love to watch a movie where women just hang out together and handle things without anyone trying to set them up." Heck, she'd love that in her own life. She really didn't mind the fact that she worked in a male-dominated field, but some of those men could be quite annoying and overly domineering.
"Me too," Janet concurred, nodding her head as she maneuvered onto the highway.
"You say that now, but you two sure talk about men a lot," Cassie pointed out accusingly.
"Well, we work with a lot of men, Cassie," Janet remarked. "It's a little hard to avoid the topic sometimes."
"But do you ever have a conversation that isn't about guys?" Cassie pressed, still fired up about the topic.
"Well, of course, we do - we talk about you," her mother answered as her mouth quirked into a small smile.
"And sometimes about the boys you mention..." Sam trailed off teasingly. Cassie had just started noticing some of the boys in her class, in spite of her newfound disdain for society's hyper focus on romance.
Cassie grimaced a bit guiltily. "Well, what if we all stopped talking so much about boys?" she asked in an evident attempt to redirect the focus of the conversation.
"What if we started having a Bechdel test night every once in a while?" Sam asked, a growing gleam in her eyes as the idea struck her fancy. "It'd be a real girl's night - no talk about men or boys," she gave Cassie a pointed glance, "or about romantic relationships at all. Just pure girl talk."
"That sounds awesome!" Cassie exclaimed, bouncing up a bit in her seat. She was growing up quickly, but Sam was glad to see there was still some of the young girl she had met three years ago.
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Janet agreed with a smile.
Sam smiled as they continued on to the Frasier's house. This will be fun.