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When Damian Kindler penned ‘Fragile Balance’ back in season seven, I seriously doubt he had any idea that he would be spawning an entirely new universe for fans to play in.  The plot is a good one; Jack has seemingly woken up one morning to find himself a teenager again, much to the amusement and astonishment of his teammates (more the former than the latter).  With a great performance by Michael Welch (of the ill-fated but excellent Joan of Arcadia) and some research into alien abduction by Daniel and Teal’c (wonderful way of making fun of themselves, like usual), we finally discover that Loki, mischievous, renegade Asgard, has cloned Jack without permission.  The young Jack is just a clone, and a poorly formed clone at that, which will die within days.  SG-1 and Thor to the rescue and in one moment of compassion when Jack decides that he would like his “mini-me” to survive, we are handed an entirely new genre of fic: the mini!verse.

While in typical fashion the show drops mini!Jack and never speaks of him again (he has already served his purpose), fans have latched on to this.  Whatever happened to poor mini!Jack?  Could he really handle going back to high school?  But the majority of fic works under one assumption: SG-1 would never leave a man behind.  Thus we now have a whole host of fics that have Sam or the whole team getting themselves mini-cloned to be with Jack.  Most of the fics deal with what mini!Jack and mini!Sam will do now that they are no longer in the Air Force.  So there is a lot of high school Jack and Sam ‘going steady’ type stuff. 

To be honest, this is the main reason I’ve never really been a fan of the whole mini!Jack or mini!team genre, even though I did massively enjoy Fragile Balance.  Recently, however, I have tripped over a few fics that have completely changed my mind.  The average mini!fics that I had originally read never really dealt with the fact that it would be in no way easy to suddenly find yourself 15 years old again.  Mini!Jack lost not only his entire life, all his friends and his job, but he is also now treated as a naïve kid when he in fact has 50+ years of experiences that the average person could not even imagine.  Even if the realm of fanon creatively has supplied mini!Jack with his mini!team, or even just Sam, (and heck, wouldn’t it be convenient to have a spare set lying around in case something happened to the originals?), it wouldn’t just be all good times and teenage pranks.  For me, anything with mini!team would have to be laced with angst, as I don’t imagine them just suddenly throwing themselves into chem lab and mindless high school ritual with gleeful abandon.  Would they eventually resent their decision to give up everything for mini!Jack?  Not to mention that mini!Jack and mini!Sam would have all the same issues getting together as their older counterparts have, possibly even more.  So I can’t see them just ‘going steady’ all of a sudden.  How do you stop desiring one version of a person and learn to accept a copy that looks nothing like them? 

These were my main issues with the genre as a whole.  But I have had my eyes opened with some exceptional fic.  Enough so that I am now actively looking for anything else as good as these. 

I am now a fan of the mini!verse.  :)

Untitled and Unwritten by Lyssie

 This is a dark, angst heavy look into what life might be for mini!Jack and mini!Sam.  There is rage, indifference, confusion and sexual dysfunction just as you might expect between the two.  There is certainly a dark edge here, even though it bleeds into the realm of the original characters in a somewhat positive way.  This story is heartbreaking and tremendous and definitely worth a read.  Certainly opened my eyes to the potential in the mini!verse genre. (She's got to be tired of me fangirling her. :P)
 

Toy Soldiers by Sharim

This is another great fic that deals with the consequences of Sam shrinking herself in a realistic manner, not being afraid to explore anger and ambivalence.  There is major tragedy in this story with the original characters, including a heartbreaking scene between Jack and mini!Sam that makes this whole thing worth reading.  But there is a slight silver lining as always and I personally would love to see were the author could take these characters next. (Yes, that was me begging for a sequel.  :)

Monkey Screaming by SGCBearcub

 Absolutely amazing.  A very long read with enough detail and research to make even Jean M. Auel and Diana Gabaldon balk.  The second part, Mirror Image, is an in depth look at the psychological connection between the team members and what happens to them when they try to let go of their previous identities, with an emphasis on Sam and the Major/Colonel relationship. Brilliant angst.  The third part, Silk and Chains, presents the group with a project that will help them not only find independence and new focus for their new lives, but also allows them to rediscover each other and what it really means for them to be a team.  I love that this author is not afraid to bring in the originals as well and that the author either knows everything or is a very dedicated researcher.  Either way, something to be in awe of.  A must read.  And I have even heard whispers of another sequel for what is turning into a series. 
 

Duality, Dichotomy, Divergence, and Division by Christi

These aren’t angst heavy like the others, but still deal with the idea in a realistic, enjoyable manner (i.e. in character!!).  These are the stupid cutest of the stupid cute minifics.  Christi swears she is done with this, but I don’t really believe her.  :)

All I Can Taste is Champagne by Lyssie

And last, but not least, how can you resist a fic about two snarky teenagers getting self-defense lessons from a local police officer that finds them a little too disturbingly familiar?  Oh, the absurdity!  Oh, the snark!  Wonderfully done.  :)