Mentally ambling

[kriadydragon]

Supernatural has begun. I have SGA season three on DVD to watch at my leisure. Danny Messer on CSI:NY is still hot if not hotter. The circle of television life is complete *Contented sigh*

Some SGA pondering. Don't read if you're tired of me talking about it.

I've figured that it is mostly fanfiction's fault that I get annoyed with McKay sometimes. I love him on the show but the way he tends to be handled in fanfic, sometimes, grates on my nerves. It's not a constant thing. It's just that a lot of writers tend to handle his character in ways that make him, for me, rather unlikeable, but not because that's their intent. For one, they make him "too much" of an answer man if that makes sense. The guy who is supposedly somewhat socially inept on the show suddenly has all the answers when it comes to emotional dilemmas, mostly for Sheppard. For another, I know he likes to insult, but when it comes to him insulting Sheppard, John doesn't smile and put up with it. He sticks up for himself. And I have yet to hear McKay call John idiot or moron (though I am only one episode in to season three). I'm pretty sure that Rodney calling John an idiot to his face would earn him a slap upside the head.

And I can't begin to tell you how much I hate the majority of stories revolving around Trinity. The whole "John is such a jerk for not forgiving Rodney and trusting him again" thing. Trust isn't something you hand out like candy, and forgiving a person isn't the same as automatically trusting them again. You can stop being angry with someone easily enough, but if it involves broken trust then reearning trust is going to take some time. John didn't strike me as being angry with Rodney for the matter, and I felt Sheppard in the right for giving Rodney the chance to earn his trust back. But too many writers use that episode as fodder for "Poor hurt and helpless McKay stories" where everyone is made into a jerk (Sheppard especially) just so we feel sorry for Rodney.

Yeah, I like Rodney up until I read fanfic. Thankfully the actual show makes the dislike very short-lived. He's a really good character, but fanfic does have this rather nasty habit of skewing characterization.

Comments

[clarkangel.livejournal.com]

I've never loved McKay, but fanfic writers of Him, and after TRINITY, that's when I seriously SERIOUSLY loathed McKay and it was a loooong time before I got over it. Even with Adrift. There have been a few McKay fans going, John was such a meanie to poor woobie Wodney. Such a mean/awful/terrible ass! I mean...WTH? What show are they watching?

And I've read some horrific fic that made Rodney into a saint and John into something evil. And the worst are the ones where the writers take all the canon storylines/traits and events that belong to John and give them to Rodney.

So, yeah. For me it's the same. Fanfic has made me loathe Mckay at times. Season 4, so far, is making me actually like him. A bit.

[padawan-aneiki.livejournal.com]

*nods* Hey, I *like* Rodney...and I adore the snark factor between him and John. But I know what you mean when people take characters out of context in fanfic. Sadly, like anything else, you have good fanfic writers and bad ones, and sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince, so to speak.

Which is why I try my best to find the characters' "voices" when I write. If it doesn't sound right to me, I edit and tweak until it does.

[karri-kln1671.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine Rodney ever really calling John an idiot or a moron. I think Rodney finds John too irritatingly intelligent for that.

As John's frustrated grumble in Return 2 reminds us and Echoes very clearly demonstrates, he's often the one that 'figures something out' and then expects Rodney to expand on it, or sometimes simply to make it work. They're a great team, and I think whether he says it aloud or not, Rodney's quite aware of it.

[reen212000.livejournal.com]

As you may gather, McKay is my favorite character. Love Sheppard, but McKay is closer to my heart in personality. However, I'm not a fan of McKay-centric stories. I especially love his snarkiness. Who doesn't? Sometimes, a story doesn't come together for me until I see it from Rodney's point of view. (Gosh, I hope I write him okay!)

I do like a little whumping, but writers tend to make him into a bitch, or a big baby. And the whining! Kids, fellow writers, readers... lend me your pens! Yes McKay has a tendancy to whine about certain things, and I really must hand it to The Hewlett. He's a great actor, and keeps McKay in check.

I get very particular about the McKay in fan fic. Really good Trinity fic is hard to find, especially if you want general angst. There are a couple that I found that pushed my angsty addiction button. I'd share, but ff.net search is offline. Again.

The reason the McKay/Sheppard friendship works is because John can hold his own. It's no fun debating an issue if your fellow banterer capitulates. My favorite line in Adrift? Sheppard: "Dumb this down any further, you're gonna get hit." Love it.

I don't know if anyone's read Seven Days in Atlantis (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3403185/1/), but there's a chapter where Cam Mitchell finds out Sheppard is a mathmatical genius, and of course McKay has to tease. The fic is one of my favorite outsider's POV. Cam sees the relationships and interactions of the Atlantis crew. Well done characterizations. Check it out if you haven't.

Okay, I'm done. Seriously.

[drufan.livejournal.com]

I think they have a yin and yang thing going. In Adrift, you see how they rely on one another professionally and personally. They are willing to take their friendship to the edge and yet Rodney backs down first. And Sheppard accepts his apology. They respect one another. It's a beautiful thing!