OTPs, John and Rodney in Fandom.

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So, equuscentric asked a question over at sardonicsmiley's Unpopular Opinion Post:
how can you love McShep when you have so much hatred for one of the pairing? That sort of thing would totally yank me out of a pairing, so it doesn't make any sense to me.

It's a completely valid question. And I do think it would be hard to ship a pairing if you *hated* half of it, but still, I think a lot of people do it.

I know I don't care for John all that much, but I still ship John/Rodney. I think the reason why I can do it though, is because it's *canon* John I'm not crazy about. Once you get into fic though, it's like he's a different character. And author's have a chance to give us more history, and an inside view of his emotions. So I've come to love Fanon McShep, and I'll be totally honest here and say, especially this past season, I don't really see McShep in canon.

What about you guys?

And while we're on the topic, equsscentric also said: What starts to get my hackles up is that many people, for some reason,seem to feel that they have to praise Rodney at John's expense. Rodney being rude is "snarky" and fun, while John being rude makes him an asshole. Why is it more acceptable in Rodney but not in John? It's all in perception, and the fandom's perception is skewed toward Rodney at the other's expense.

While I can't disagree that fandom, especially the fics I search out, have that skewed perception, I don't know how out of line it is. I've spoken to paradise_city about this in the past (seriously, what aspect of SGA haven't we discussed :P) but part of the reason why I feel ok in doing this, is because of what we see in canon. Yes Rodney is rude, and sarcastic and has flaws and makes mistakes, but they call him on it in canon. They don't really do that with the other characters. The best example I can think of is, of course, Duranda.
John woke up the Wraith, and just got a "It's not your fault". Carson killed half a planets population, and got a pat on the back. One of the things that got me the *most* about it though, is that near the end of that ep, we see Teyla come through the gate into the control room, and we can hear Elizabeth losing it, and totally reaming Rodney where everyone can hear. Now, she's gotten angry with John in the past, but she has always taken him aside and made her displeasure known with stony words and raised eyebrows, but with Rodney, she totally loses it. Rodney is the Chief of Science, and she totally dressed him down in front of some of his people and where anyone could hear about it. Rodney is going to have enough troubles with his staff getting over what he did, but how are any of them going to respect him, when they saw his superior show so much disrespect?
I don't blame Weir for yelling at him, but I do blame her for doing it in a public manner. At least Sheppard kept it at a private level once they were out of the heat.

Same thing goes with Rodney being an ass. We all know he can be an ass, but it's mostly because he's sort of oblivious about people, and can get really wrapped up in himself. We all know he acts this way, and acknowledge it. It's been acknowledged on the show, both by other characters (Sam has said the most outright, but Weir has with raised eyebrows and disapproval, John has with looks and head slaps and I'm sure the others have indicated to Rodney when he's been out of line too) and by Rodney himself (confessions to Sam and Jeanie, and even himself in Grace Under Pressure).

John on the other hand, I think Elizabeth was the only one who really called John on his actions, and that had more to do with command issues than his behaviour. John can be outright mean to others, especially Rodney. I think it's made worse by the fact that John does know people, and knows Rodney, and he has to know as he's being an ass what he's doing, and it's effects on people. Or at the very least should recognize the fact soon after doing it. Also, they never acknowledge John as being an ass on the show. You never see the members of his team call him on it, like they will for McKay sometimes. You never see John react when he says things like that. And it's further aggravated to me, because John has the reputation of being all smooth and lovable, completely ignoring that aspect of his character. Fandom takes Rodney's flaws and makes them better, that's what we're supposed to do, but we seem to as a whole, ignore John's a lot more (granted I know there are fics out there, especially set after Trinity where John is a complete asshole, but those are just as bad, since they ignore John's other qualites).

I think the Rodney fans feel the need to pick on these points, not just with John, but with other characters, because Rodney is the only one who really gets picked on in canon. Carson and to some extent Elizabeth had some personal self doubt, and Carson called Elizabeth on the whole Allies with the Wraith thing, but other than that, I can't think of anything. But still, even when the others are being called on what they do, they seem to still get respect from those doing it, whereas I don't always get that feeling when they call Rodney on his shit.

Please feel free to disagree with me, and I'd love some examples, because it could totally be selective memory on my part. And equsscentric I hope you realize I'm not trying to pick on you, but you just got me thinking, and said it in a really clear way for me to respond to.

ETA: equuscentric would like to add that she does love Rodney if anyone where to think that (although personally, I didn't get any Rodney hate vibes of what she said, and you'll certainly see that if you read the thread linked above), you can read her response here.

Comments

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That is what it all boils down to for me.
*nods* While I agree with equuscentric that Rodney is a strong enough character that we don't need to character assassinate, I think it's one of the ways we use to compare and contrast the characters. Rodney is the more developed character because of these things, and we kind of want that for the other characters too, so we can understand them. But also so we don't have to feel so protective of our character, because we can see that others are picking on him.

I have read a some fics where John is mean to Rodney, especially of the Post Trinity variety, but then again, I like fics, that many consider bad!fic, because sometimes I'm just in the mood for something that is overly dramatic and can make me cry.
But yeah, for the most part, the fanfic in this fandom is pretty awesome, and we see them more as equals, or as embracing their flaws and living through it.

And I haven't watched House for a while, but I saw the first two seasons. That quote sounds so very apt for Wilson though. :)

[keewick.livejournal.com]

I have read a some fics where John is mean to Rodney, especially of the Post Trinity variety, but then again, I like fics, that many consider bad!fic, because sometimes I'm just in the mood for something that is overly dramatic and can make me cry.

I binged on woobie!Rodney post-Trinity fics awhile back and found the wildly OOC melodrama that was featured in that genre to be surprisingly satisfying. I'm actually in that bad!fic kind of zone right now Harry Potter-wise. I reread this epic, super melodramatic Harry/Draco fic the other day that reads like a B rated version of some of the best stuff HP fandom has to offer. The problem really is that the author isn't subtle at all. She tells instead of shows over and over again, brutally (and unashamedly) hitting the reader over the head with whatever truth she wishes to impart. Still, her stuff is v.v. engrossing and warranted a second read through on my part whereas a lot of high quality fic lands in the other pile of stuff I wouldn't want to return to because it's just too real, if you know what I mean.

To this day, I haven't read the SGA classic Freedom Is Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose because no matter how good it is, it's still death!fic (and not even the kind of death!fic where one or both of my OTP are ascended and therefore have a chance for a reunion in the foreseeable future) and I draw the line at that level of angst thankyouverymuch. ;)

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Really, there's a big difference between badfic and bad!fic, and there's just something so great about the latter. I remember for a while back in the QaF fandom, we were just having such fun with bad!fic. There was that comm, _bestoftheworse and so many great reads, like that fic were Justin was Amish, the one where Brian was an early 20th century gangster, Justin had Turettes, Miss Meko's entire works, etc. It was great, and I just ate them up. Then people just started posting badfic and they're not fun :(
At least SGA fandom has crack fics down to an art form. :P I sometimes find it sad looking back that we never had any Penguin B/J fics, but then again, QaF fandom totally beats SGA when it comes to Hustler fics, so I suppose it's ok :P

[keewick.livejournal.com]

I sometimes find it sad looking back that we never had any Penguin B/J fics, but then again, QaF fandom totally beats SGA when it comes to Hustler fics, so I suppose it's ok.

So true. ;)