oh tee what?

[unamaga]

Some Buffy stuff still left! Get it while it's...not gone.

Now. I want to talk about McShep for a few minutes here. Please feel free to go about your business if this isn't your bag, baby.

I'm relatively new to the SGA fandom - although I've read and written so much damn fic you couldn't tell. I've only been involved properly since August, having mainlined all the episodes some time in late July. So, taking all this into account, it's really, really weird that I feel so protective of my 'ship, isn't it? While I was in Supernatural and Harry Potter fandoms, I had a few 'ships I followed fic in, and usually they were pretty flexible. I didn't mind if Dean and Sam got it on with a girl in fic, or if Remus and Sirius wanted to include James Potter in their sandwich of manlove. More bodies, more interesting, I always said! As long as there was some form of gay and no one repulsive was involved, I was a pretty happy camper.

But with Rodney and John, I find myself making weird, distressed faces when someone else is involved. This is upsetting to me! I don't know why it makes my soul hurt when Teyla, who I love with all of my heart, joins in. Or why the thought of Jack Harkness making out with John Sheppard has me shrieking in protest. Someone please explain! Jack Harkness is a hotass of epic, epic proportions! I should be pleased by the aesthetics!

Is this what it's like to have a true OTP? D: D: D:

[Poll #1118472]

Comments

[kashmir1.livejournal.com]

Yes. That is what it's like. :D

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

juuuuuulie! it's distressing.

[amberlynne.livejournal.com]

I beta'd a fic where John and Rodney ended up with their alternative selves (John/Rod, Mensa!Sheppard/Rodney) and I found it very distressing. I can only stand them with anyone else if it's OT4. It's kind of frightening, really.

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

Augh!

Aside from being distressing, that is really, really Freudian. Talk about loving yourself. :O

[schneestern.livejournal.com]

Aww baby, you are so adorably mono-fannish. And I love you. And I will possibly shut up about distressing things like Jack Harkness doing John Sheppard up the ass. I will just yell Ianto/Jack at you and all will be well.

ALSO! NAKEDDDDDD! (god i need new icons)

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

IANTO/JACKKKK!

[jb_slasher]

Well, it's obvious I don't know anything yet because I've only started easing into SGA from the end of October, though that started with reading McKay/Sheppard ficlets even before seeing the show at all.

Usually with new fandoms, at least in the beginning, I'm pretty open to reading anything involving my favourite character/either half of my favourite pairing but I can establish my own favourite pairing pretty early on and then read exclusively that. In SGA's case, even before seeing the show, McKay/Sheppard. That was a real head start. And until now, I've been reading it exclusively. (Well, there has been one exception just recently but that was Daniel/Rodney/John omg oops, I am weak when it comes to smart people. theyresoSMART. :D)

I guess my line is that when I discover my pairing, I stick to it, and rarely even consider reading moresomes. (And OT4 hasn't even crossed my mind in a serious fashion yet but I think this is due to me not seeing Ronon in the show at all just yet. I'm still melting from "The Siege", need to unravel brain first before continuing.)

May lack coherence as I haven't really done anything except sleep. Sleep-fuddle is fun.

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

I was EXACTLY like that in the beginning too! I was coaxed into reading McShep before I even knew what the characters really looked like, so it was almost like being indoctrinated, I think.

OT4 is my one exception to McShep, and even then it's restricted to certain authors I know I can trust to give me the kind of McSheply satisfaction I require.

[hebrew-hernia.livejournal.com]

This one time I read a really good John/Rodney/Teyla and Ronon/Keller fic and actually enjoyed it. But honestly, the only way I can stomach that threesome is IF Ronon is with someone else. Other than that, it's McShep and OT4-- AND it makes feel all unhappy inside when the OT4 starts any way other than McShep and Teyla/Ronon pairing off and then deciding "hey guys, we all love each other, so let's do this," usually with drugs or tech or almost!dying involved. The one exception to that, of course, is 3 Lovers, which is in my top three favorite fics in SGA fandom and probably any fandom-- but even that hurts my heart a little, and I would not come close to treasuring it as much as I do without that one McShep moment in the middle of the night. Oh, and the one where John walks in on a Rodney/Teyla/Ronon threesome, but really, it's McShep all the way.

They just-- they just GET each other. ESPECIALLY in BAMSR (best acronym ever, because I pronounce it "Bam, sir"!)... I think I'm going to finish & post my meta tonight. OH RODNEY.

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

First off, your icon has made me GIGGLE every single time I've scrolled past. Oh John, your stupid, gorgeous face.

I've been very picky about my OT4 fics thus far. I kind of got burned with one a while back that was more John/Teyla than anything else, which was OBVIOUSLY NOT RIGHT. Ahem. I'm calm, I'm rational. NO I'M NOT, and it's really frightening to me. :O

[summertea.livejournal.com]

I'll read breakup-/death-fic but end up being all emotionally agitated. >: And then have a horrible need to read happy sappy fic afterwards. I can't ever get myself to read moresome/ot4/half of the 'ship fic because again! I start making the >: face inwardly.

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

Ugh, yes! I know exactly what you mean with the >: face. Thank god there's so much happy fic in this fandom. I don't know what I'd do with myself otherwise. :O

Teal Dear Alert:

[gaffsie.livejournal.com]

It's weird, but I have no problem reading fics where John is together with people other than Rodney, but I cannot, will not, read fics where Rodney is with someone besides John.

I once stumbled upon a Rodney/Katie fic by accident (there should be a law against tagging fics 'gen' just because the relationship could be considered canon), and the feeling of discomfort was so great that I couldn't finish it. I just kept asking myself, "But what about JOHN?!", and it made me sad.

The thing is, my personal view of McShep is that Rodney could find a healthy relationship with someone else, whereas John is a freak (and I mean that in the kindest way possible. I love the guy, but he's a freak) whose only shot at love is with Rodney. Which sounds awfully melodramatic, but my point is that he doesn't seem to 'click' with anyone but Rodney.

So, reading a story where John lives happily ever after together with Ronon doesn't make me feel sad for Rodney's sake, because then I just assume that in that particular story, Rodney isn't in love with John. Reading about Rodney and Ronon, however, makes me feel kind of sick, because then John would be all alone.

Maybe it's related to the way Rodney is often the driving force in any given McShep story. If he wants John, he'll get him in the end; whereas John could go on secretly pining for Rodney from afar forever unless there is some kind of outside interference.

And those are my confused thoughts about everyone's favourite OTP.

Re: Teal Dear Alert:

[countess7.livejournal.com]

I cannot, will not, read fics where Rodney is with someone besides John.

that is a MASSIVE lie! (http://countess7.livejournal.com/4846.html?thread=34030#t34030)

McShep is TRUTH! That's why it hurts to see them with other people.

[saekokato.livejournal.com]

I only have OTPs in the sense that there is one pairing in a given fandom that I prefer over all of the others. Like in SGA, I prefer to read McShep, but I'll read anything that comes with a high enough recommendations.

My only true constant has to be that I hate reading death-fic. I hate it with a passion most reserve for child molesters. The only exception that I have ever made on this front (in that I will re-read this story over and over because it is awesome) is freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose. Because, like I said, awesome.

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

OH man I hate death fic too. Up to the point where I'll actually rant for hours on end at some poor unsuspecting someone if the author doesn't warn for it at the beginning.

[grammarwoman]

I'm relatively new to the SGA fandom - although I've read and written so much damn fic you couldn't tell. I've only been involved properly since August, having mainlined all the episodes some time in late July.

I just had to quote this part, because it is scarily close to my experience (except for the writing part). I got the seasons 1 & 2 DVDs from the library over the summer, and, uh, acquired season 3 in time to be caught up for the live viewings of season 4. I ship McShep to a ridiculous degree, enough so that I've got my husband making "Kiss him already!" comments while watching SGA.

Reading fic with other partners for them is awkward -- it has to be really, REALLY well done, and bonus points for leading them back to each other at the end.

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

We should start a club because my entrance into SGA is almost the SAME! I mainlined S1, S2, and half of S3 in March so that I could be caught up when the midseason break was over. And it's all David Hewlett's fault :P

[liamar13.livejournal.com]

oh hon i know what you mean. maybe its just something about john and rodney that inspires such loyalty. i dont mind with my other otp *coff*J2*coff* but with mckay/sheppard the only way i can read them with someone else is if i know they will get together at the end and have lots and lots of sex :D besides they are so meant for each other, yo. anyone can see that. and this is true in this or any other universe! J+R 4EVA!!!!!! \o/

[aesc.livejournal.com]

*hides face* I don't mind OT4, so long as John and Rodney get to spend most of their, um, time together. Some of it has to do with John being all, "grrr, my team," which... *flaps* Yes.

But as for them with other people, I can take it only if I get a written guarantee they're together in the end.

[rinsbane.livejournal.com]

eeep, this is me! For three years, I read and wrote just about every imaginable pairing - het, slash, you name it - in HP, and then I hit SGA in June and WHAM! McShep! *headdesk* And, see, for all those years, I was staunchly, and I mean staunchly anti-OTP. Because duh. Why limit yourself. I hated it when people would only read my Snarry and be so kind and generous about it, and then be like, ewww, something else exists? about all my other stuff.

but then SGA. *scuffs toe* Because I love John and Rodney so much.

Also, I'm kind of in awe. That you're so recent to the fandom and still write such good shit.

[morebliss.livejournal.com]

I really just want it to be the John and Rodney show all the time. About the only person I don't mind joining in their special sextime fun is Lorne. But even then only once in a while.

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

LORNE! Lorne is the exception to all rules, I think, because he's just so down home and laid back that you know he would never get between them. D'awww. (Plus, he and Cadman? Yeah. Aherm.)

[tty63.livejournal.com]

I'm willing to read pairings other than McShep, but usually only when I'm reading stuff by authors who write ridiculously hot McShep as well as other pairings or if it's by an author that I know will write it well and convincingly. Actually, thinking about it, the only other pairings I've read were McKay/Beckett (which I can only read occasionally, and then only certain authors and even then I prefer McKay/John/Beckett) and Sheppard/Lorne (only one, written by icarusancalion and therefore practically guaranteed to be good). But I'm a McShepper at heart and would rather see them together and alone than anything else. I can't read pairings involving either John or Rodney if it's het. My brain just doesn't like it. Even looking at Sheppard/Weir or John/Teyla icons or banners makes me cringe.

With a McShep established relationship I'm willing to add other people to the mix. But I'm less okay with OT4 fic. I think it's the addition of het. Sigh. I'm a straight female and I don't read het anymore. I blame fandom. ;) One addition I'm fine with is a John or Rodney from another universe or a character who was played by Joe Flanigan or David Hewlett or Joe Flanigan or David Hewlett themselves. My brain has no issues with that. (One example is yin_again's Snakes and Lawyers 'verse (http://yin-again.com/xoindex.htm#1). You might even be okay with it. :) It's McShep, I promise.)

Within McShep I've read break-up fic by accident and liked at least one, although it still makes me feel a bit hollow if I think about it for too long. I don't mind break-up fic when they get back together in the end, but every once in a while there's a fic where they stay apart. I read death-fic when it's well written because I don't mind crying from time to time. However, I do like to be warned beforehand. One thing that I love is when one character "dies" and then is found alive. I love the happiness when they come back.

Yup, this is what it's like to have a true OTP. It was a bit of a surprise after the Harry Potter fandom, where I'd read almost any pairing. Out of curiousity, would a Jack Harkness/John/Rodney fic be okay with you? I get the impression that you don't like threesomes or moresomes when it comes to McShep.

[mausi.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm just ... randomly stalking your LJ and thought I'd answer.

I'm slightly willing to read other pairings -- slightly because the only other pairing I'm willing to read is Rodney/Teyla, and then I have to be in the mood for it. Very, very rarely I get a crazy urge for John/Rodney/Chuck or John/Jack, but it's weird because most of the time I can't even read Mensa!Rod/Canon!John because it wierds me out.
I'm more willing to read Rodney/Teyla -- and, on occasion, OT4 -- if there's no sex involved. Cuddling is more doable than porn, so.

Um, anyway. Hi!

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

I will read John or Rodney with alternative versions of their lover (so Rodney/AU-John or John/AU-Rodney), but at the end the right universe's participants have to be paired :) Also, while OT3 not so much, OT4 is my love! Team love, yes! Leaving one member out, though, not good :(

[crazyace86.livejournal.com]

Oh, I used to be the same way with McShep. Didn't want no one else in on the lovin'-- then I read several very good Rodney/Ronon and fell in love with that pairing, too. So while McShep is my OTP and I'm convinced that they *so* belong together, I'm willing to look at another things now.

Never John/Liz or Rodney/Liz, though. Just... No.

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

Elizabeth is like...a mother figure in my eyes. I don't want to hear about her sexy sexin'! She can have sexy sex, sure - I love her to death, she deserves some booty - but it should be off in that dark corner where I can't accidentally catch a glimpse and be scarred for life.

[traffic-west.livejournal.com]

*raises eyebrow* I seem to remember someone enabling Shep/Dean Winchester fic not so long ago, lady.

I'm the same way about McShep although I have read some absolutely stunning teamfic that worked almost as well for me.

[unamaga.livejournal.com]

hey, hey, i was an sga newbie at that point! i hadn't had time to develop my otp yet! *shakes finger*

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

Ohh, I love death!fic, if properly warned before I start reading the thing so I can prepare myself for the gut-punch. It just leaves me so nicely broken inside.

Or, oh, the good old I-thought-you-were-dead-but-OMG-you-aren't-kiss-me-now!fic. ♥

[crazyace86.livejournal.com]

Or, oh, the good old I-thought-you-were-dead-but-OMG-you-aren't-kiss-me-now!fic. ♥

Yes! Those are awesome. There needs to be a rec list of just those, lol.

[melagan.livejournal.com]

I had to read Imperfections again this morning which led to being here and then I had to respond to your OTP question because

Yes!, Yes it's just like that and I've been here since the beginning and it's still just like that. There are a rare few OT4 exceptions. (pointy finger at 30toseoul for one)

a. John and Rodney with anyone else makes me uncomfortable
b. John and Rodney with anyone else just doesn't ring my bells
c. John and Rodney, it's an addiction, it's not going away anytime soon and I love it

Strangely I have no problem with two Joe Flanigan characters (http://melagan.livejournal.com/tag/brendan/vincent) being together...
(in case you don't know who Vincent and Brendan are I've included visual aids)


Vincent (http://melagan.livejournal.com/81635.html)
Brendan (http://melagan.livejournal.com/81789.html)

[jrprongs.livejournal.com]

;grin: This is totally what it's like to have an OTP!--Though, in most of my other fandoms I started out reading almost everything and then wound up scaling back to my OTP. John and Rodney are just so well suited for each other, it's damn near impossible to see them working out half as well with anyone else--they just... fit. SGA is the only fandom I have where I truly cannot stand them with other people--unless it's just a prelude to the McShep.

(And don't feel bad about your distressed faces--I've actually said aloud no no no when coming across het!Shep fic and Rodney-loves-someone-who-is-not-John-or-another-JFlan-character!fic (I can take just about any Hewligan pairing as long as John and Rodney aren't both there--or, again, they wind up together.)

[valoryhope.livejournal.com]

John & Rodney are so good together--they're alike in so many ways, and they complement each other in the ways in which they're different; they've shared so much, and learned to depend on and trust each other so fully--that even though my preference is for a romantic/sexual relationship between them, I can also be happy with stories that are simply about their friendship, as long as the story recognizes the special, unbreakable bond between them that transcends ordinary friendships.

(And, yes, that includes the rest of their team; I'm sure they do care deeply about Ronan & Teyla, but it's simply not as deep or intimate as the bond between John & Rodney...an unspoken bond, of course, because they are guys, after all, and would certainly never TALK about their feelings.)

Having said that, I must admit that I'm insanely jealous on John's behalf when a story pairs Rodney with someone else, or vice versa. And while fan fiction writers usually warn you about the pairings in a story, the TV episodes do not, and I find myself watching tensely each week as the writers tease us with possible romantic involvements for the guys (like Larrin in "Travelers", and the near-miss with Katie Brown, which actually bothered me more in "Tabula Rasa" than in "Quarantine"). Or, even if there's no romantic "rival", the show sometimes ignores or even denies the relationship that's been growing between them for 4 years--but, SGA, thy name is not consistency, and, since we can't depend on the writers, thank god that Joe and David seem to consistently get it and that their performances reflect that.

I guess what I love about McShep is the idea of such closeness, trust, and deep, enduring love between two people--and it IS love, whether you see it as slashy or platonic. And I feel that splitting them up and showing them in other pairings somehow cheapens that ideal; likewise, expanding their sexual activities by adding Ronan, Teyla, Lorne, whoever, is diluting it.

Besides, such plotlines never ring true to me. Neither John nor Rodney is all that great with people; neither of them seems to have had a history of successful romances or even many close friendships. The only reason they're such buddies is that they've been thrown together in life-threatening situations, and, by chance, they found that they also had a lot in common (cheesy sci-fi movies, video games, chess, snarking at each other, and exploring dangerous ruins, to name a few). Their connection is a miracle of serendipity, or simply destiny, whichever you prefer. But the notion that they could easily find a similar connection with other people seems unlikely. And it seems to me to trivialize my OTP ideal.

And now I must apologize for running on at such length. If anyone out there is still with me, thank you for your patience.