Because characters are usually so obvious. There's The Hero. And The Girl. And The Sidekick. Very rarely is there The Bitchy Scientist Who Really Says What We're All Thinking. And I love that! Maybe it's that part of my personality that is fed up of me being too nice all the time.
Because Rodney is not used to being appreciated. The only thing that ever got him any attention was his brain. He's smart. He can do things that other people can't. So much of his self esteem is wrapped up in his brain that he doesn't see the other parts of himself that are great. And so many people see being athletic or handsome as better things. They're definitely more obvious things.
So Rodney started telling people about how clever he is. Look how smart I am! How intelligent! Look how I saved your life, not the brawn, but me, the brain! So he regales us with tales of his brain and belittles everyone elses brain because he needs to have some way of getting love.
But it backfires most of the time. People get irritated by him and don't like being called stupid and they drift from him. So he feels the need to point it out more. A constant circle where Rodney pushes more and more people away.
But that's why I love him and why I love McShep. Because you can see from the pilot that John is amused by Rodney. Boom - he doesn't back off from Rodney's brash boasting, he steps up to the plate and leaves Rodney almost speechless that the handsome, athletic Major has brains. Then John picks Rodney to be on his team. It makes sense for the show, but from a character perspective it's an unusual choice that pays off.
It's not for nothing that you see how the people who like Rodney best are the ones forced into spending time with him - i.e. his team. And John seems to embrace that. He doesn't let Rodney's comments phase him - he gives it back. He's used to people fawning over him for his brawn and good looks. But now there's someone who thinks he's amazing because of him brain.
And yes - as Katie said it, Rodney will just steam-roller over John's need to hide himself. Barging into his quarters to talk which eventually ends up with him being more than happy to have Rodney in his quarters to talk. (And no - I'm not just talking fic - this is canon!)
I know that McShep needs more work theoretically than Due South but because we're playing with what we're given the potential for meta is so much greater. See above for proof!
And finally, I love Rodney because even though he's so loud and brash, when he does the heroic thing he says nothing at all. He walks into the black cloud, he wants to be out there with John, fighting. He does the space-walk and will get into the VR-pod.
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Because characters are usually so obvious. There's The Hero. And The Girl. And The Sidekick. Very rarely is there The Bitchy Scientist Who Really Says What We're All Thinking. And I love that! Maybe it's that part of my personality that is fed up of me being too nice all the time.
Because Rodney is not used to being appreciated. The only thing that ever got him any attention was his brain. He's smart. He can do things that other people can't. So much of his self esteem is wrapped up in his brain that he doesn't see the other parts of himself that are great. And so many people see being athletic or handsome as better things. They're definitely more obvious things.
So Rodney started telling people about how clever he is. Look how smart I am! How intelligent! Look how I saved your life, not the brawn, but me, the brain! So he regales us with tales of his brain and belittles everyone elses brain because he needs to have some way of getting love.
But it backfires most of the time. People get irritated by him and don't like being called stupid and they drift from him. So he feels the need to point it out more. A constant circle where Rodney pushes more and more people away.
But that's why I love him and why I love McShep. Because you can see from the pilot that John is amused by Rodney. Boom - he doesn't back off from Rodney's brash boasting, he steps up to the plate and leaves Rodney almost speechless that the handsome, athletic Major has brains. Then John picks Rodney to be on his team. It makes sense for the show, but from a character perspective it's an unusual choice that pays off.
It's not for nothing that you see how the people who like Rodney best are the ones forced into spending time with him - i.e. his team. And John seems to embrace that. He doesn't let Rodney's comments phase him - he gives it back. He's used to people fawning over him for his brawn and good looks. But now there's someone who thinks he's amazing because of him brain.
And yes - as Katie said it, Rodney will just steam-roller over John's need to hide himself. Barging into his quarters to talk which eventually ends up with him being more than happy to have Rodney in his quarters to talk. (And no - I'm not just talking fic - this is canon!)
I know that McShep needs more work theoretically than Due South but because we're playing with what we're given the potential for meta is so much greater. See above for proof!
And finally, I love Rodney because even though he's so loud and brash, when he does the heroic thing he says nothing at all. He walks into the black cloud, he wants to be out there with John, fighting. He does the space-walk and will get into the VR-pod.
And I love you too xx