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xparrotSo I guess it will come out eventually (and let it be stated for the record that this is ALL ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
naye'S FAULT)...after steadfastly resisting for over three years, I have tumbled into that pit from which no fangirl can return unchanged, those few who make it out at all.
Which is to say, I've started watching Stargate: Atlantis. Have thus far seen up through 2x14, "Grace Under Pressure" (in a week. We go quickly. This is actually slower thangnine would prefer to marathon anyway, but I keep applying the brakes...that burning rubber smell wafting to you from the Japanese isles is fangirl brains melting)
My thoughts, the short version: I am a lemming, cheerfully following the droves of most other fangirls into the sea. I love McKay with unholy love...i..ness; and Sheppard has such fluffy hair that I have to love him, too. The other chars are also enjoyable, and everything else - I was once a fan of SG-1, I know the drill. 'tis fun stuffs, if a bit silly in a we're-in-another-galaxy-but-parallel-cultural-evolution-still-leads-to-vintage-wooden-desks-no-really; that's about the size of it.
My thoughts, the long version. Most of these ramblings are copied from the endlessly long emails I'm subjectingnaye to; they're totally random and not at all meaningful. Any comments/shared squee welcome, though please, please don't spoil me for anything after what I've seen (that's 2x14 so far). I've picked up a few things to come via fangirl osmosis, as half my flist is into SGA it seems; but I'd rather not get any confirmation of anything...
So. I was a fan of SG-1 back in the day, quit it sometime before Daniel died For Longer Than Usual (may have to watch the rest of it sometime, especially with the addition of Ben "I make these leather pants look better than you could ever imagine" Browder, because, um, yesssss...) SGA is basically more of the same. Different characters, so different dynamics; but the basic idea - the structure of the universe and scifi McGuffins; stories alternating between examinations of individual alien social microcosms, inter-stellar/galactic conflicts, and team h/c; the contrasts of scientists vs the military; the exploration of modern 21st century Earth/America entering the dangerous universe beyond our solar system...that's what Stargate's been about since the movie, and SGA isn't doing anything new there. Which is A-okay with me, because the Stargate 'verse is a pretty fascinating one, with a wide range of possibilities, and I don't think that well's run dry yet.
If anything I think SGA might suffer more when it tries not to be like its predecessor - they couldn't make the Wraith be too much like the Goa'uld, and ended up with a main enemy more nonsensical and therefore quite a bit less scary. I'll save the rant for another day...gnine and I have been trying to make some sense of the Wraith, will have to see if the later seasons follows any of our theories. The rant about how disturbingly inhuman all the human societies of the Pegasus Galaxy are...that too will wait.
This is my first SGA post, so I'm mostly going to squee. About what SGA does right, as SG-1 did before it (though I think SGA might have more consistent characterizations overall) - the characters are an awful lot of fun.
So, my general thoughts on everyone (and not an original insight among them, I'm sure, but hey, this is how I get my kicks):
Rodney McKay. Is love and love and love. I knew he would be, but it's still nice to have it confirmed. Really, this will surprise absolutely no one, because I love assholes (especially insecure ones), and I love geniuses (especially convincing ones) and the combination pretty much slays me dead. From the very beginning, I liked how he's always jittering and talking almost too fast to understand (if not nearly as fast as his brain is working, one gets the feeling his mouth is always barely keeping up, hence the total lack of brain-to-mouth filter) and might be hypoglycemic and allergic and always comes through when you need him. And his worried face is just...um...I guess I'd have to call it the cutest thing ever. Which is good, because he gets to use it all the time.
I love that he is believably a super-genius because he thinks so damn fast, and not just in his field of expertise. He really does come across like he operates on a different level from most other people, able to play out and predict the outcomes of half a dozen scenarios before everyone else has even grasped what's going on. A lot of TV geniuses tend to be brilliant in their specialties of science or math, but strangely lacking in things like basic common sense; McKay is cursed with an abundance of everyday logic as well as the advanced science kind. Which means he panics all the time, because he's realized a dozen ways he could die before most people have even noticed they're at risk.
Of course, to balance this, he's a jerk and an ass with utterly no social skills. He likes humanity as a whole, but not individual humans all that much; he doesn't understand people, and doesn't bother trying to understand people because he's got better things to do. And most of the time he keeps too busy to notice how incredibly lonely he really is. Which, because I'm a fangirl lemming, makes me coo and aww and want to see him snuggled. Even though he'd hate it because he doesn't appear to like physical contact much more than I do.
And yet the reason I and everyone else can love him is because Rodney actually does care about people, so very deeply, which is where the worried face comes in. Because he wears his heart on his sleeve, which usually manifests in really obnoxious pettiness, but when someone he knows is in danger, pretty much all he cares about is getting them out of it, by any means necessary. He'll fold like a wet paper airplane under torture if it's just himself or his pride at stake, because he can always talk himself into a logical reason to give his interrogators what they want; but if there's peoples' lives at risk than he's capable of whatever act of courage he needs to do. He can get completely obsessed with fascinating scientific phenomena, but when someone's in danger all his attention shifts to getting them out of it; one hundred percent focus on solving the puzzle, none left over to be amazed or intrigued or anything else. And he's so quick to blame others for their mistakes, but that's at least partly because he's so quick to accept blame, too, and one way he handles guilt is to try to spread it around.
It's all part of Rodney's trust and self-esteem issues, because as loudly and deservedly confident as he is in his scientific abilities, one gets the feeling sometimes that that is all he's confident in, that he doesn't see himself as having much worth other than that. So if his science fails, then basically he's utterly failing as a person. It's interesting, too, because as much as he boasts about his mad brainiac skillz, the way he cares about people is just as worthy a trait - he's so bad at relating to other people, but he's so quick to realize when someone might be in danger, and so quick to guilt over someone's death even if there's nothing he could've done...because he's Rodney McKay and therefore he should've been able to think of something in time. It's really a very admirable quality, but unlike his IQ, he doesn't seem to think of his compassion as anything special; he never tries to show it off or prove to others that he cares, he just feels, so very much. And the Pegasus galaxy is really hard on him, all these people dying and every single time it hits him so hard.
And then there's the fangirl bait woobieness of his char - I've barely glanced at SGA fic, but I toldgnine that I bet there isn't a h/c fic over 15 pages that doesn't mention either the allergies or the hypoglycemia at least once. I know my fellow fangirls! Claustrophobia, allergies, hypoglycemia...not that you can really tell how real any of those are, because of the rampant hypochondria. Which, again, is because he thinks way too much and way too quickly and it's probably not really a good thing that Rodney knows the symptoms of any number of scary medical conditions. naye theorizes that the dangerous allergy might be real and is the cause of the hypochondria; if your body turns on you once, you're primed to think it will again. The hypoglycemia especially amuses me because it seems pretty convincingly accurate. gnine is mildly hypoglycemic and she acts a lot like Rodney when it comes to eating regularly - it's not a serious condition, in that he's not going to die or go into shock if his blood sugar drops...but he will get (more) cranky, goes off his game and probably gets awful headaches and, yeah, it's better if he eats.
So. Yes. Rodney equals love.
John Sheppard is also love: awesome, way-too-laid-back, Mensa-test-passing and Star-Wars-quoting, fluffy hair love. He's not as original a character as McKay (who really isn't quite like any TV hero I know of), but he's an awful lot of fun. (He also really should have been named Jeff or Jase or ANYTHING BUT JOHN, because I have too many Johns in my fan-vocabulary already, what with Sheridan and Crichton and Stewart (Green Lantern and Daily Show)... I can't call him John so I will stick to Sheppard.) My first impression was: cute-hot and sweet and heroic and very hard to dislike, which pretty much sticks. Even if you were making an effort not to like Sheppard, it would be an effort to constantly maintain it. Easier to just give in and love.
And this goes for in the show as well, because pretty much everyone falls in love with Sheppard, often at first sight, including his entire team + Weir, the leader boy in "Childhood's End" and various others on a dozen different worlds, any extant Ancients, ascended or otherwise (even those in VR simulations); and of course the entire city of Atlantis, which was crushing on him so hard from the moment he stepped through the gate. I mean, it lights up when it sees him. Uh, literally. You can't blame them, either, I mean - "rakish is the word" (it really is) - his hair is so very fluffy, and his eyes are such a lovely shade of intense...
(Oddly enough, it's Sheppard who's pretty much screwing me regarding pairings in this show. I came into it open to slash, but the more I watch the less I really can see it. And that's mostly due to Sheppard. He's got this sort of low-key sexual chemistry with absolutely everyone he comes across, and yet I can't see it being realized. He practically seems asexual to me, by how little he seems aware of or cares about how people are interested in him. Such as from the moment he met Teyla, whenever they're alone together, there's sparks flying, she's thinking, casually, "Yep, I'd totally tap that, if he wanted," while Sheppard's all, "Whee, new friend, isn't talking with friends fun! And she's hot, too! Cool!" He seems aware she's a hot chick, but it doesn't seem to occur to him to pursue this. He'd much rather have her friendship. Heck, he even says kissing her was out of character, and I can't tell if it's the kissing a teammate that's OOC, or just the kissing without a totally established reason and relationship and picnic date and whatnot.
The only real exception to this was the ascended Ancient, and then in "Epiphany" the almost-ascended almost-Ancient, and I'm kinda wondering if that's some weird activation of his Ancient gene. Otherwise...yeah, asexual, and as much with the guys as with the ladies. Weir and Ronon both want into his pants, and Rodney maybe has got a boy-crush, but Sheppard's just not interested; I don't think he's playing hard-to-get so much as hoping if he ignores the problem it'll just go away...
--Excepting his hard-on for weaponry of all kinds. He is totally turned on by Ronon's gun. I mean, his actual gun. Pavlovian reaction indeed.)
Sheppard also is great fun when he's got a giant plastic bug attached to his neck, or is mutating into a giant plastic bug (I'm sorry, but those eyes? were the smex), or driving McKay nuts referencing time travel by DeLorean, or in general being way too smart for a dumb soldier...tricking the Wraith Queen in "The Hive" after seeing through her tricks? Yeah, that was awesome. He's rather scarily good at lying and suppression and repression, and uniquely gifted to deal with virtual reality; the way he handles himself in "Home" is worthy of John Crichton, and I mean that in the most complimentary way.
And of course he's got the Leave No Man Behind thing, with the Orders? What Orders? My Team's In Trouble! amendment, and the additional proviso of Never Ever Ever Tell Him You Have Killed One Of His People, Or God Forbid Actually Kill One Of Them, Because Bad Things Will Happen To You, which is required of any SG team leader.
As for the other chars:
I like Teyla, and am most amused that they made Teal'c into a hot alien babe, but she's got Teal'c's problem; the char herself is cool and brimming with possibilities, but the writers don't quite seem to know what to do with her. She's also got a bad case of Stiff Alien Speech that makes me pity the poor actress (don't get me started on SG and language, just don't), but I'm gradually learning to deal with that. At least they mastered her wig enough that she can put her hair up in battle! I like her best when they allow her to loosen up and bring on the funny, which she can with poise and adroit wit. My favorite scene with her so far was when she was faking technobabble in "Aurora".
Also like Ronon, a lot. I was fond of Ford but he never had much character (until now, and I gotta say I much prefer him as semi-crazed kick-ass super-steroids vigilante, hope he comes back someday); Ronon, as of "The Hive," is simply Bad Ass, what with the sword and gun and knife and ass-kicking and pulling knives out of everywhere, and that will get me every time. He also has Brendan Fraser's voice and easy-going attitude, which predisposes me to fondness. And he's Hawt, which never hurts. The only problem with the trenchcoat (if you can really say there's a problem with a trenchcoat, without being oxymoronic) is that it covers up those arms.
The one problem with Ronon and Teyla is that they have almost no relationship with McKay thus far. I'm hoping this changes; one of SG-1's strengths was that there were strong, unique relationships between all four teammates, in all directions. So far in SGA, Sheppard has a great dynamic with everyone, and Ronon and Teyla already have established a bond, but McKay is closer to his science team and Weir than his off-worlding teammates, except for Sheppard. But I've got another season and some to watch yet, so that might change.
Don't have a lot to say about Weir; I don't really care for her but don't have many particular reasons for that. The actress can grate on me sometimes, and she doesn't strike me as that effective a leader...she's not confident enough when she has to be, and she can be terribly demoralizing on occasion (Her pep talks to her people in stressful situations tend to go along the lines of, "Well, we're probably going to die now. Hopefully not, but probably. I think you're all really great, so sorry about the whole dying thing.") But I don't really dislike her, she's just sort of there. I wish she'd loosen up and let herself make friends with someone besides Sheppard, especially since Teyla does see the kinship between them and they have a lot in common. (Especially since female-female friendship is way too rare a thing in SF TV, and SGA needs help with its female characterizations anyway; they badly need a woman or two on their regular writing staff.)
Dr. Carson Beckett is...ahhh...well, I'm afraid his accent biases me so much that I can't pass honest judgment on him, but he's so very sweet and kind and nervously funny that I adore him, and think I would even if he weren't Scottish...but as he is, and with those blue eyes...nope, I can't be objective at all, so I'll just sit here and draw little hearts around him. And Zelenka and McKay is my favorite comedy duo. Poor Zelenka. Being one of Rodney's only real friends just isn't easy.
Then there's the guest stars! Asst. Director Skinner is kicking more butt than ever, captaining a spaceship and getting possessed by a Goa'uld! Kaylee is a baby Wraith! Chief O'Brien now leads underground mole-Nazis! It's awesome.
So that's basically where I stand on everyone thus far. Haven't started reading the fic yet (...for the most part...) and am looking forward tofriendshipper's especially, since it's been a long time since we've had a shared ficcing-fandom, and she also brings on the gen h/c which I have a hunch is going to be my SGA meal of choice. None of the pairings, het or slash, do much for me (as I said, I see chemistry between Sheppard and everyone, but don't see anything happening from it and don't really have an interest in reading it, and I suspect the McShep is going to work for me as Jack/Daniel always did - I'll enjoy reading it, but as a sort of AU from the show, as I can't quite imagine it really happening with the chars as given. Which isn't to say McKay and Sheppard's relationship doesn't fascinate and intrigue me, and is definitely my favorite relationship in the show, but in a platonic way.)
Now, I just wanna watch mooooore.gnine, get home faster! *whine*
naye'S FAULT)...after steadfastly resisting for over three years, I have tumbled into that pit from which no fangirl can return unchanged, those few who make it out at all.Which is to say, I've started watching Stargate: Atlantis. Have thus far seen up through 2x14, "Grace Under Pressure" (in a week. We go quickly. This is actually slower than
gnine would prefer to marathon anyway, but I keep applying the brakes...that burning rubber smell wafting to you from the Japanese isles is fangirl brains melting)My thoughts, the short version: I am a lemming, cheerfully following the droves of most other fangirls into the sea. I love McKay with unholy love...i..ness; and Sheppard has such fluffy hair that I have to love him, too. The other chars are also enjoyable, and everything else - I was once a fan of SG-1, I know the drill. 'tis fun stuffs, if a bit silly in a we're-in-another-galaxy-but-parallel-cultural-evolution-still-leads-to-vintage-wooden-desks-no-really; that's about the size of it.
My thoughts, the long version. Most of these ramblings are copied from the endlessly long emails I'm subjecting
naye to; they're totally random and not at all meaningful. Any comments/shared squee welcome, though please, please don't spoil me for anything after what I've seen (that's 2x14 so far). I've picked up a few things to come via fangirl osmosis, as half my flist is into SGA it seems; but I'd rather not get any confirmation of anything...So. I was a fan of SG-1 back in the day, quit it sometime before Daniel died For Longer Than Usual (may have to watch the rest of it sometime, especially with the addition of Ben "I make these leather pants look better than you could ever imagine" Browder, because, um, yesssss...) SGA is basically more of the same. Different characters, so different dynamics; but the basic idea - the structure of the universe and scifi McGuffins; stories alternating between examinations of individual alien social microcosms, inter-stellar/galactic conflicts, and team h/c; the contrasts of scientists vs the military; the exploration of modern 21st century Earth/America entering the dangerous universe beyond our solar system...that's what Stargate's been about since the movie, and SGA isn't doing anything new there. Which is A-okay with me, because the Stargate 'verse is a pretty fascinating one, with a wide range of possibilities, and I don't think that well's run dry yet.
If anything I think SGA might suffer more when it tries not to be like its predecessor - they couldn't make the Wraith be too much like the Goa'uld, and ended up with a main enemy more nonsensical and therefore quite a bit less scary. I'll save the rant for another day...
gnine and I have been trying to make some sense of the Wraith, will have to see if the later seasons follows any of our theories. The rant about how disturbingly inhuman all the human societies of the Pegasus Galaxy are...that too will wait.This is my first SGA post, so I'm mostly going to squee. About what SGA does right, as SG-1 did before it (though I think SGA might have more consistent characterizations overall) - the characters are an awful lot of fun.
So, my general thoughts on everyone (and not an original insight among them, I'm sure, but hey, this is how I get my kicks):
Rodney McKay. Is love and love and love. I knew he would be, but it's still nice to have it confirmed. Really, this will surprise absolutely no one, because I love assholes (especially insecure ones), and I love geniuses (especially convincing ones) and the combination pretty much slays me dead. From the very beginning, I liked how he's always jittering and talking almost too fast to understand (if not nearly as fast as his brain is working, one gets the feeling his mouth is always barely keeping up, hence the total lack of brain-to-mouth filter) and might be hypoglycemic and allergic and always comes through when you need him. And his worried face is just...um...I guess I'd have to call it the cutest thing ever. Which is good, because he gets to use it all the time.
I love that he is believably a super-genius because he thinks so damn fast, and not just in his field of expertise. He really does come across like he operates on a different level from most other people, able to play out and predict the outcomes of half a dozen scenarios before everyone else has even grasped what's going on. A lot of TV geniuses tend to be brilliant in their specialties of science or math, but strangely lacking in things like basic common sense; McKay is cursed with an abundance of everyday logic as well as the advanced science kind. Which means he panics all the time, because he's realized a dozen ways he could die before most people have even noticed they're at risk.
Of course, to balance this, he's a jerk and an ass with utterly no social skills. He likes humanity as a whole, but not individual humans all that much; he doesn't understand people, and doesn't bother trying to understand people because he's got better things to do. And most of the time he keeps too busy to notice how incredibly lonely he really is. Which, because I'm a fangirl lemming, makes me coo and aww and want to see him snuggled. Even though he'd hate it because he doesn't appear to like physical contact much more than I do.
And yet the reason I and everyone else can love him is because Rodney actually does care about people, so very deeply, which is where the worried face comes in. Because he wears his heart on his sleeve, which usually manifests in really obnoxious pettiness, but when someone he knows is in danger, pretty much all he cares about is getting them out of it, by any means necessary. He'll fold like a wet paper airplane under torture if it's just himself or his pride at stake, because he can always talk himself into a logical reason to give his interrogators what they want; but if there's peoples' lives at risk than he's capable of whatever act of courage he needs to do. He can get completely obsessed with fascinating scientific phenomena, but when someone's in danger all his attention shifts to getting them out of it; one hundred percent focus on solving the puzzle, none left over to be amazed or intrigued or anything else. And he's so quick to blame others for their mistakes, but that's at least partly because he's so quick to accept blame, too, and one way he handles guilt is to try to spread it around.
It's all part of Rodney's trust and self-esteem issues, because as loudly and deservedly confident as he is in his scientific abilities, one gets the feeling sometimes that that is all he's confident in, that he doesn't see himself as having much worth other than that. So if his science fails, then basically he's utterly failing as a person. It's interesting, too, because as much as he boasts about his mad brainiac skillz, the way he cares about people is just as worthy a trait - he's so bad at relating to other people, but he's so quick to realize when someone might be in danger, and so quick to guilt over someone's death even if there's nothing he could've done...because he's Rodney McKay and therefore he should've been able to think of something in time. It's really a very admirable quality, but unlike his IQ, he doesn't seem to think of his compassion as anything special; he never tries to show it off or prove to others that he cares, he just feels, so very much. And the Pegasus galaxy is really hard on him, all these people dying and every single time it hits him so hard.
And then there's the fangirl bait woobieness of his char - I've barely glanced at SGA fic, but I told
gnine that I bet there isn't a h/c fic over 15 pages that doesn't mention either the allergies or the hypoglycemia at least once. I know my fellow fangirls! Claustrophobia, allergies, hypoglycemia...not that you can really tell how real any of those are, because of the rampant hypochondria. Which, again, is because he thinks way too much and way too quickly and it's probably not really a good thing that Rodney knows the symptoms of any number of scary medical conditions. naye theorizes that the dangerous allergy might be real and is the cause of the hypochondria; if your body turns on you once, you're primed to think it will again. The hypoglycemia especially amuses me because it seems pretty convincingly accurate. gnine is mildly hypoglycemic and she acts a lot like Rodney when it comes to eating regularly - it's not a serious condition, in that he's not going to die or go into shock if his blood sugar drops...but he will get (more) cranky, goes off his game and probably gets awful headaches and, yeah, it's better if he eats.So. Yes. Rodney equals love.
John Sheppard is also love: awesome, way-too-laid-back, Mensa-test-passing and Star-Wars-quoting, fluffy hair love. He's not as original a character as McKay (who really isn't quite like any TV hero I know of), but he's an awful lot of fun. (He also really should have been named Jeff or Jase or ANYTHING BUT JOHN, because I have too many Johns in my fan-vocabulary already, what with Sheridan and Crichton and Stewart (Green Lantern and Daily Show)... I can't call him John so I will stick to Sheppard.) My first impression was: cute-hot and sweet and heroic and very hard to dislike, which pretty much sticks. Even if you were making an effort not to like Sheppard, it would be an effort to constantly maintain it. Easier to just give in and love.
And this goes for in the show as well, because pretty much everyone falls in love with Sheppard, often at first sight, including his entire team + Weir, the leader boy in "Childhood's End" and various others on a dozen different worlds, any extant Ancients, ascended or otherwise (even those in VR simulations); and of course the entire city of Atlantis, which was crushing on him so hard from the moment he stepped through the gate. I mean, it lights up when it sees him. Uh, literally. You can't blame them, either, I mean - "rakish is the word" (it really is) - his hair is so very fluffy, and his eyes are such a lovely shade of intense...
(Oddly enough, it's Sheppard who's pretty much screwing me regarding pairings in this show. I came into it open to slash, but the more I watch the less I really can see it. And that's mostly due to Sheppard. He's got this sort of low-key sexual chemistry with absolutely everyone he comes across, and yet I can't see it being realized. He practically seems asexual to me, by how little he seems aware of or cares about how people are interested in him. Such as from the moment he met Teyla, whenever they're alone together, there's sparks flying, she's thinking, casually, "Yep, I'd totally tap that, if he wanted," while Sheppard's all, "Whee, new friend, isn't talking with friends fun! And she's hot, too! Cool!" He seems aware she's a hot chick, but it doesn't seem to occur to him to pursue this. He'd much rather have her friendship. Heck, he even says kissing her was out of character, and I can't tell if it's the kissing a teammate that's OOC, or just the kissing without a totally established reason and relationship and picnic date and whatnot.
The only real exception to this was the ascended Ancient, and then in "Epiphany" the almost-ascended almost-Ancient, and I'm kinda wondering if that's some weird activation of his Ancient gene. Otherwise...yeah, asexual, and as much with the guys as with the ladies. Weir and Ronon both want into his pants, and Rodney maybe has got a boy-crush, but Sheppard's just not interested; I don't think he's playing hard-to-get so much as hoping if he ignores the problem it'll just go away...
--Excepting his hard-on for weaponry of all kinds. He is totally turned on by Ronon's gun. I mean, his actual gun. Pavlovian reaction indeed.)
Sheppard also is great fun when he's got a giant plastic bug attached to his neck, or is mutating into a giant plastic bug (I'm sorry, but those eyes? were the smex), or driving McKay nuts referencing time travel by DeLorean, or in general being way too smart for a dumb soldier...tricking the Wraith Queen in "The Hive" after seeing through her tricks? Yeah, that was awesome. He's rather scarily good at lying and suppression and repression, and uniquely gifted to deal with virtual reality; the way he handles himself in "Home" is worthy of John Crichton, and I mean that in the most complimentary way.
And of course he's got the Leave No Man Behind thing, with the Orders? What Orders? My Team's In Trouble! amendment, and the additional proviso of Never Ever Ever Tell Him You Have Killed One Of His People, Or God Forbid Actually Kill One Of Them, Because Bad Things Will Happen To You, which is required of any SG team leader.
As for the other chars:
I like Teyla, and am most amused that they made Teal'c into a hot alien babe, but she's got Teal'c's problem; the char herself is cool and brimming with possibilities, but the writers don't quite seem to know what to do with her. She's also got a bad case of Stiff Alien Speech that makes me pity the poor actress (don't get me started on SG and language, just don't), but I'm gradually learning to deal with that. At least they mastered her wig enough that she can put her hair up in battle! I like her best when they allow her to loosen up and bring on the funny, which she can with poise and adroit wit. My favorite scene with her so far was when she was faking technobabble in "Aurora".
Also like Ronon, a lot. I was fond of Ford but he never had much character (until now, and I gotta say I much prefer him as semi-crazed kick-ass super-steroids vigilante, hope he comes back someday); Ronon, as of "The Hive," is simply Bad Ass, what with the sword and gun and knife and ass-kicking and pulling knives out of everywhere, and that will get me every time. He also has Brendan Fraser's voice and easy-going attitude, which predisposes me to fondness. And he's Hawt, which never hurts. The only problem with the trenchcoat (if you can really say there's a problem with a trenchcoat, without being oxymoronic) is that it covers up those arms.
The one problem with Ronon and Teyla is that they have almost no relationship with McKay thus far. I'm hoping this changes; one of SG-1's strengths was that there were strong, unique relationships between all four teammates, in all directions. So far in SGA, Sheppard has a great dynamic with everyone, and Ronon and Teyla already have established a bond, but McKay is closer to his science team and Weir than his off-worlding teammates, except for Sheppard. But I've got another season and some to watch yet, so that might change.
Don't have a lot to say about Weir; I don't really care for her but don't have many particular reasons for that. The actress can grate on me sometimes, and she doesn't strike me as that effective a leader...she's not confident enough when she has to be, and she can be terribly demoralizing on occasion (Her pep talks to her people in stressful situations tend to go along the lines of, "Well, we're probably going to die now. Hopefully not, but probably. I think you're all really great, so sorry about the whole dying thing.") But I don't really dislike her, she's just sort of there. I wish she'd loosen up and let herself make friends with someone besides Sheppard, especially since Teyla does see the kinship between them and they have a lot in common. (Especially since female-female friendship is way too rare a thing in SF TV, and SGA needs help with its female characterizations anyway; they badly need a woman or two on their regular writing staff.)
Dr. Carson Beckett is...ahhh...well, I'm afraid his accent biases me so much that I can't pass honest judgment on him, but he's so very sweet and kind and nervously funny that I adore him, and think I would even if he weren't Scottish...but as he is, and with those blue eyes...nope, I can't be objective at all, so I'll just sit here and draw little hearts around him. And Zelenka and McKay is my favorite comedy duo. Poor Zelenka. Being one of Rodney's only real friends just isn't easy.
Then there's the guest stars! Asst. Director Skinner is kicking more butt than ever, captaining a spaceship and getting possessed by a Goa'uld! Kaylee is a baby Wraith! Chief O'Brien now leads underground mole-Nazis! It's awesome.
So that's basically where I stand on everyone thus far. Haven't started reading the fic yet (...for the most part...) and am looking forward to
friendshipper's especially, since it's been a long time since we've had a shared ficcing-fandom, and she also brings on the gen h/c which I have a hunch is going to be my SGA meal of choice. None of the pairings, het or slash, do much for me (as I said, I see chemistry between Sheppard and everyone, but don't see anything happening from it and don't really have an interest in reading it, and I suspect the McShep is going to work for me as Jack/Daniel always did - I'll enjoy reading it, but as a sort of AU from the show, as I can't quite imagine it really happening with the chars as given. Which isn't to say McKay and Sheppard's relationship doesn't fascinate and intrigue me, and is definitely my favorite relationship in the show, but in a platonic way.)Now, I just wanna watch mooooore.
gnine, get home faster! *whine*
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Date: 2007-10-19 12:25 pm (UTC)all the shallow and superficial qualities that draw fangirls like us, like moths to a flame: team-love and h/c and squee and humor and pretty characters and pretty special effects. It's just not a terribly deep show.
I think I said it before, but I really am relieved to hear you say this, because if you took it too seriously...well, I wouldn't want to upset you, if I start poking at the more ridiculous holes in the fabric of their universe. But it is a ridiculously fun show!
It actually took me a few episodes to start liking Sheppard
Hee...I liked him from the start, but part of it was because I was fairly certain they weren't going anywhere with the vaguely-implied pairings...because if there was anything really canon, I'd have picked it up from fandom, and besides it's SG; one of the things I always like about SG was how little a part romance ever played. Even when they were doing the Sam/Jack stuff, it was never that major a deal...these people are too busy saving the universe to get that worked up about a little sex!
And that's interesting about fandom not really wanting to see a character as asexual ... a character who is very clearly sexy, yet not especially interested in having sex, wouldn't really "ping" the fannish radar, at least not in that way.
I think it's that; I also think that maybe many people have a hard time relating to an asexual character. Sex and romance is an important part of peoples' lives - and especially when we're talking entertainment - that a char who doesn't care about that at all comes across as somewhat inhuman, hard to connect with (for most people. Not so much for myself, but I'm, er...there's definitely a reason asexual chars appeal to me personally.)
And he's not innocent, really, with all he's seen -- I just can't come up with the right word to describe the quality that I see in him, but it's very much there.
Weird!!! That's the word I keep using, because...uh...I can't think of a good one myself! ^^; The more I see of Sheppard, the less of a handle I really have on him. He has so many contradictions, that aren't really obvious at first, but...and because we know so little of his backstory, it's hard to untangle him. Dean Winchester has his issues, but most of them are somewhat understandable given his upbringing and such. Sheppard's got to have some serious problems in his past, to account for his attitude, and we know he's got no family left outside of Atlantis...
You get it, too, that he's easy to map interpretations onto him, because it's all but impossible to tell what's going on in his head, a lot of times...and he has to have something going on, because he's not braindead; very, very far from. Though I think he might be able to clear his mind as effectively as a Zen monk, when necessary, even if not in the standard ways...
On a side note, as far as the open-minded thing, he reads that way to me, too.
Given 3rd season, I'd say it's totally supported! Between his asking about a girlfriend or a boyfriend to Ronon in "Sunday", and his so casual "Why don't you make out already" to Radek and Rodney (and I don't know what it says about me that I can imagine Rodney/Radek easier than Rodney/Sheppard), not to mention Sheppard's not exactly a judgmental type at all...I don't see him as homophobic in the least, and considering the way he goes with the flow when a girl throws herself at him, I can easily see him doing so with a boy as well. (it's easier than beating them off!)
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Date: 2007-10-19 06:39 pm (UTC)I think I said it before, but I really am relieved to hear you say this, because if you took it too seriously...well, I wouldn't want to upset you, if I start poking at the more ridiculous holes in the fabric of their universe. But it is a ridiculously fun show!
LOL, no, I'm well aware that their universe is full of holes! But ... as we've discussed before ... I think that's partly why it succeeds so well for me as something to throw my fannish energies into -- there's just so much about the rest of the show that's compelling and fun that the urge to use my fannish powers to plug those holes is irresistible!
I do tend to shy away from discussion of the show's holes that gets too, well, vicious? I know you're not like that, though. In some ways this show seems to have a permanent pass with the "fandom immunity card" for me; I see and acknowledge the holes, I love trying to figure out how to make them make sense within canon (or real life!), or having good-natured gripefests with friends on topics of mutual annoyance ... but my feelings towards the show are warm and fuzzy enough that I have to back away from discussions that start putting a harsh on my squee-mellow. Still ... I had several fandom friends who had a serious falling-out with the show over the Carson and Elizabeth thing, and we still get along fine. We just don't tend to discuss SGA. *g*
I think it's that; I also think that maybe many people have a hard time relating to an asexual character. Sex and romance is an important part of peoples' lives - and especially when we're talking entertainment - that a char who doesn't care about that at all comes across as somewhat inhuman, hard to connect with (for most people. Not so much for myself, but I'm, er...there's definitely a reason asexual chars appeal to me personally.)
I started to say something here about there not being a lot of asexual characters on TV, but actually, thinking about it, in the SF and adventure genres (aside from the testosterone-laced he-man or ladies man type) it's really more the norm than not! It's just not addressed as such; it's simply that sex and romance aren't really a big deal in the context of the show. It's the same sort of implication-by-admission that tends to imply most characters on TV are atheistic in outlook, even though it's never stated as such (although with Rodney, I suppose they did come right out and say it); the relative importance of religion, or sex, or friendship, to the characters' lives, is evident from the amount of space in the source text that's devoted to it. Certainly, if it's not outright stated, there's no reason why fans can't put whatever spin on the character they want in fic and commentary. But the average sci-fi character is not nearly as fixated on love and romance as the average person in real life (male or female) -- fandom, then, tends to focus on that aspect of their lives to the exclusion of almost all else.
It's really interesting to me to look at Sheppard this way, and by extension, at the fanon tropes that surround him and my reactions to them. I generally don't see him as asexual in quite the same way you do, I think, and I can accept the sex-obsessed characterization of him in some fic (depending on how strong it is) even though it doesn't quite jibe with the way that I perceive his reactions. However, I have a really strong knee-jerk reaction to established-relationship slash involving him; I really can't read it, even though I find first-time Sheppard/McKay slash sweet. And I wonder if, on a deep level, it's because I just can't reconcile Sheppard on the show with the idea of Sheppard as one-half of a permanent sexual relationship. Rodney I don't really have the same problem with; and Rodney, in fact, has been established in canon as wanting that kind of relationship. Sheppard, on the other hand ... even in AUs, I can't really relate to a Sheppard who is married or even wants to be. And although I had never consciously thought of him as an asexual person, it fits very well with some of the mostly-subconscious ways that I relate to Sheppard in fic (depending, again, on the story, of course).
Continuing along...
Date: 2007-10-19 06:41 pm (UTC)The asexual thing ... I think we've talked about this a little bit, too, that maybe a certain proportion of h/c fans (not to generalize to ALL h/c fans, of course) are a little undersexed compared to the general population. Maybe we don't see the subtext that everyone else does because it's not as important to us? I know that I used to run into all kinds of trouble in college (luckily not BAD trouble, thank God) because I'd engage in behavior that looked flirty to other people but I was completely unable to see why it read sexually to other people until analyzing after-the-fact.
Between his asking about a girlfriend or a boyfriend to Ronon in "Sunday", and his so casual "Why don't you make out already" to Radek and Rodney (and I don't know what it says about me that I can imagine Rodney/Radek easier than Rodney/Sheppard), not to mention Sheppard's not exactly a judgmental type at all...I don't see him as homophobic in the least, and considering the way he goes with the flow when a girl throws herself at him, I can easily see him doing so with a boy as well. (it's easier than beating them off!)
Beating off, huh? *controls urge to make very bad joke ... barely*
But, yeah, I haven't been able to figure out how much of this is simply that I've read a lot of slash involving him, but I can totally believe in a bisexual Sheppard. (Rodney, not so much; not at all, actually. As open as he is in canon about his interest in Carter and Katie, not to mention a number of other women past and present, I frankly have a very hard time believing that he'd be able to keep his mouth shut about being equally attracted to guys.)
And Rodney/Radek is one of those "OMG, my brain is NOT going there" pairings! I think it's funny how very opinionated I am about non-canon pairings on this show -- I seem to either like them a lot, or be completely squicked out by the very idea. (Or, heck, maybe that's a normal 'shipping response! I'm not a shipper in the classic sense, but it's extraordinarily weird for me to find myself aligned with them even a little, because my brain has never really gone that direction before -- in the past for me, if the couple didn't exist on the show, I couldn't really see them even if I tried.)
I like your comment about Sheppard being able to clear his mind and go Zen; I get the idea that he spends quite a bit of time that way, actually, alert but not really thinking of anything specific, just watching the people around him. (It's actually a little bit amazing how much he watches Rodney in canon -- in taking clips for vids, I've become especially aware of it, because a lot of the group scenes involve Sheppard in the background with his eyes on Rodney, or reaction shots of him responding to something Rodney's said, even if it doesn't actively involve him ...