Title: MVP (74k) Author: Speranza Pairing: Sheppard/McKay Postcard: here Summary: "All right, all right, nothing to see here," he heard Sheppard say. "You've seen one giant snake, you've seen 'em all."
First of all--thank you! Im so glad you liked it! And I appreciate your comments about the sex and the heroism, because man, if I got that stuff right, I'm rockin. *g*
The other part--I got the feeling that John is very much in love with Rodney here, right from the start, but is a bit afraid that Rodney is only in this for the sex. His willingness to do whatever Rodney wants, "Tell me what you want," John murmured, hot against his face. "I want to make sure you're getting what you--" , and the attempts to distract him and apologize with sex whenever they are having an argument seem a little desperate to me, like he's really afraid of losing Rodney. --well, I obviously have an opinion about this, though I'm reluctant to bring it out, because your interpretation is entirely reasonable and mine is no more valid than yours, now: the words are what they are. But I'll say this much--I'm not so sure it's "love" right from the start, though you're bang-on with the neediness: John is, I think, totally desperate for what Rodney's offering. I just think that Rodney ends up offering more than John was expecting, and that John didn't see it for a while because he wasn't even looking for it. But your interpretation is as good as mine!
well, I obviously have an opinion about this, though I'm reluctant to bring it out, because your interpretation is entirely reasonable and mine is no more valid than yours, now
I got the feeling from this, and something you said in comments to your last story, that you don't really want to talk about your interpretations because you're afraid that your readers will feel that it invalidates their interpretations - if so, don't worry about that with me. I will gleefully continue to read this as John being desperately in love, because that thought makes me happy.
But I'm also always interested in the author's opinion - partly because I'm always curious what other people think, and the writer is bound to have some interesting thoughts about their story, and partly because, as a writer myself, I'm trying to learn how the better writers imply things like characterization/motivations - which is easier to do when I know what the author actually had in mind.
It's true--I am reluctant to discuss my interpretations!--because ultimately I have to stand by the words on the page, and they might not reflect what I "intended" or whatever. But since you ask: in this case, I think it's totally reasonable to believe that John's in love with Rodney from word go, though what I was trying to show was a John who was desperately in need of *something* before that something becomes Rodney in particular. Rodney, in my view, is a real gift to John, and a much much better gift than he'd allowed himself to expect--so it's not so much that John isn't in love with Rodney, but that "love" isn't even on the table for him at the start: he's just really happy to have sex with someone he likes and trusts. I was trying to make John's comments a little non-responsive to the situation--actually, in my own head, John's talking to HIMSELF in that first scene, giving Rodney the assurances that he himself wants, assuming that Rodney's much more like him/John than Rodney is, which is why Rodney's all Buh, whatever? because they're totally not the same. But John--it's NICE of John to try to assure Rodney the way he himself wants to be assured: it's a do by others as you would wish to be done by moment, even though, as Shaw once noted, this is kind of a stupid rule because people's tastes might not be the same. And I think it takes John a really, really long time to realize how much Rodney's actually offering him, and when he does? This is a totally happy every after, forever and ever amen kind of thing. *g*
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sga_flashfic2006-03-01 11:50 pm
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The other part--I got the feeling that John is very much in love with Rodney here, right from the start, but is a bit afraid that Rodney is only in this for the sex. His willingness to do whatever Rodney wants, "Tell me what you want," John murmured, hot against his face. "I want to make sure you're getting what you--" , and the attempts to distract him and apologize with sex whenever they are having an argument seem a little desperate to me, like he's really afraid of losing Rodney. --well, I obviously have an opinion about this, though I'm reluctant to bring it out, because your interpretation is entirely reasonable and mine is no more valid than yours, now: the words are what they are. But I'll say this much--I'm not so sure it's "love" right from the start, though you're bang-on with the neediness: John is, I think, totally desperate for what Rodney's offering. I just think that Rodney ends up offering more than John was expecting, and that John didn't see it for a while because he wasn't even looking for it. But your interpretation is as good as mine!
no subject
I got the feeling from this, and something you said in comments to your last story, that you don't really want to talk about your interpretations because you're afraid that your readers will feel that it invalidates their interpretations - if so, don't worry about that with me. I will gleefully continue to read this as John being desperately in love, because that thought makes me happy.
But I'm also always interested in the author's opinion - partly because I'm always curious what other people think, and the writer is bound to have some interesting thoughts about their story, and partly because, as a writer myself, I'm trying to learn how the better writers imply things like characterization/motivations - which is easier to do when I know what the author actually had in mind.
no subject