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

[theclexfactor.livejournal.com]

No, I don't do this. It's pretty much why I've gone hardcore Clark/Bruce and have to be in the mood for Clex nowadays. It's not even that I hate Lex because I don't, I just lost a lot of love for him over these last three seasons and can't imagine Clark still wanting to be with him though I don't doubt that he still has love for Lex. But with comics canon being so wonderfully gay (especially the S/B title) I can't help but LOVE SuperBat. And it helps that, even though that fandom on LJ is considerably smaller than the SV!Clex fandom, there are still a number of wonderful writers that I look forward to reading. Plus a couple of them are converts *eg*

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I can read Clark/anyone, but I can't do this with either Lex or Bruce, and I actually love Bruce a lot. I just can't stand him with anyone else, lol. (Unless it's Bruce/other with his secret love for Clark...then it's okay *g*)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah...I rarely fall out of love with a char I love; I'll usually reject the show first. So in the case of Lex & Clark, I pretty much ignore most of the later seasons (the multiple canons for Superman make this easy!) I'm used to this - I've had a riverboat on the Nile for a long time! XP Clex is a bit odd for me anyway, because I usually go for fluffier pairings - but they're OTP enough for me that even though I agree Clark would probably be happier with Bruce, I can't help but still want Clark/Lex over anything.

And yes, I have some favorite chars that I can see with anyone, but others I can't split up. Partly because I'll have little interest in reading about my non-favorites, and partly because I'll become obsessed with a particular reading of a pairing and won't bear it otherwise. So even though Lex is my favorite, I can't really get into Lex/other unless, as you say, it's Lex/other with his secret love for Clark (he & Bruce will just have to battle it out! XD)