pondering on pairings

[xparrot]

How can you like a pairing when you hate one character in the pairing? Do any of you do this? I often have my favorite characters in a pairing (sometimes to the point that I'll stray from my OTP to see my favorite with others - for all I am obsessively McSheppist, I will on occasion indulge in Rodney/various-others, because it's fun to see Rodney getting love.) But even when I have a favorite, I'll still like the other character, else I wouldn't be able to understand what they see in each other. I don't think I've ever had a preferred pairing (not just romantic, friendship, either) that I actively disliked one member. How do you manage it, if you do? How do you explain your favorite char's tastes, if you can't see the appeal yourself? I'm genuinely curious; I can't figure out how it would satisfy me to read or write something like that (break-up fics aside. And I only like writing break-up fics, I don't like reading them...)

(...Brought on by a discussion with another SGA fan who detests Rodney but apparently reads McShep.)

(...while I'm at it, did anyone see The Scene in "Miller's Crossing" as Rodney selfishly and deliberately dumping the problem of feeding Todd onto John? I'd never encountered that interpretation before, and it kind of boggles me. What with Rodney begging John to let him sacrifice himself, and then trying to sneak around John's back later anyway. Yes, Rodney can be an arrogant ass, it's part of his charm. But there's more to him than that. I always saw John as the selfish one in "Miller's Crossing", not allowing his teammate to give up his own life - and I love John for that crazy selfishness, even if it was Rodney's choice; I love that John couldn't. But I didn't suspect that Rodney expected that - I thought he went to John partly to get his affairs in order, but mostly because he needed John's help to do it. Without John's orders, the Marines would've shot Todd the moment he laid a hand on Rodney, and that wouldn't have helped anyone. Rodney went to John prepared for an argument - but not for John's flat refusal. And I think he probably struggled to come to terms with what John did, but in the end forgave John, because John needed his acceptance, and Rodney understood why John did it, even if he couldn't have done the same. It never crossed my mind that he was actually manipulating John to kill for him. I wonder how arrogantly selfish that makes him in "The Shrine," then, taking up John's valuable time demanding comfort and beer, just because he's losing his mind...)

Comments

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hmmm - that's an interesting case. I've don't think I've ever had a character that I originally liked that I started to hate - I've had hated chars I've learned to like, and I've had chars I've felt neutral about that I start to dislike. But I don't usually go from like to hate. I will start to hate certain pairings, and I will hate certain characterizations in fanfic (or sometimes in canon) but once I love a char, that pretty much stays a constant for me.

Much as I love Rodney, even I have trouble reading fics skewed too much in his favor - part of the reason I love him is because he is such a flawed personality, and he's not as interesting if those flaws are taken away.

Regarding "Miller's Crossing" (these are all my own interpretations, my own views of the chars; YMMV. As I just said, I like Rodney for his flaws; so too do I like John better when I see him as a flawed character):

Rodney's an adult. I think he can be allowed to be responsible for the consequences of his own actions.

Which is why I call Sheppard selfish, because Sheppard denies Rodney that responsibility. There's no way Rodney could've given his life to Todd alone - he needed someone to make sure Todd finished the nanite reprogramming after he was dead. So naturally Rodney went to his teammate for help, and he gives no sign that he was expecting John to react as he did. Instead of accepting John's refusal, Rodney begs him to let him go through with it; and when John still refuses, Rodney tries to go behind his back and give himself to the Wraith anyway.

While Rodney's seen John do a lot for his team, he'd never seen John refuse to let a teammate choose to sacrifice themselves (at least as far as I recall) - and he has seen John choose to sacrifice himself, so how could he have known that John wouldn't allow him to make the same choice. It's akin to John ordering Rodney to vent the air in "Midway", even though it could've killed John - and Rodney obeys then, honoring John's choice. John is willing to put his sacrifice on Rodney's conscience; but John won't let Rodney put his sacrifice on John's conscience in turn - he'd rather put another death on both his and Rodney's consciences. It was Rodney's choice to offer his own life, but John changes the rules and offers someone else's - that's why I call him selfish.

(I reiterate - I am not criticizing Sheppard for his double standard; on the contrary, I absolutely love John for it. I think it's selfish and noble and frighteningly, brilliantly human, beautiful proof of how deeply John can love.)

Really, I think most self-sacrifice is both selfish and noble, and to my mind Rodney's offer in "Miller's Crossing" and John's flight with the nuke in "The Siege" are comparable. I wouldn't put down John's sacrifice; it was a damn brave act, however much it might've hurt his friends.
(I don't believe John's suicidal, either; he's maybe a bit too willing to throw himself into harm's way for the sake of his loved ones, but if he wanted to be dead he would've been a long time ago. Suicidal types don't last long in Pegasus...!)