pairing thoughts on 'The Long Goodbye'

[tielan]

I've wanted to get this out for a week, but I thought I'd wait until things cooled down a little - and until the thoughts in my head had a chance to settle down. I think they're all sorted out now.

The Kiss

Am I the only person in the fandom who is going to call this the 'not-Shep/not-Weir' kiss? Because it was neither Sheppard nor Weir doing the kissing - or even choosing who was going to kiss who.

From what I saw, it was Phoebus who chose Sheppard to be Thalen's host. I took it to be primarily on the grounds that Sheppard's knowledge would make him a dangerous 'enemy-ally' (as Thalen, who Phoebus intended to fight) but a worse 'enemy-enemy' (as Sheppard, who would fight Phoebus).

And the kiss seemed to be part of this whole UST-challenge thing that Phoebus and Thalen had going, not any residual thought-feeling-desire on the part of either Shep or Liz. Shep looked about as enthusiastic at playing the part of 'husband to the alien who's imprinting Liz' as he did at discovering he was going to go bug-nuts in 'Conversion'; Liz's sink into the bed at the end suggests she wishes the damn thing had never happened.

...

Am I missing something?

The Confession

Uh, under duress, peoples! Thalen would say anything to keep his life at that point - wouldn't you? However, the fact that he chose to pick the "he cares about you more than you know" to say on top of "You kill me, you're killing him [Shep]" indicates that Thalen (and therefore probably Shep) thought that it might stay Teyla's hand. Which suggests that Thalen (and Shep) thought there was something there.

Except that Teyla isn't encouraging Shep. She doesn't encourage him after this ep, she didn't encourage him after 'Conversion'. I don't think Teyla's interested in John that way right now. It's a possibility, but it's not anything she wants at this moment.

Which says to me that if anyone's interested in anyone else, it's Shep who's interested in Teyla, but Teyla isn't interested back.

This seems to be reflected by the actors: Joe Flanigan says there's emotional tension between John and Teyla, but Rachel Luttrell doesn't seem to have a relationship preference for Teyla at this point.

Final Pairing Thoughts

None of this affects fanon, the pairings I like, or anyone's enjoyment of the show, unless you have to have your pairing canon. This is just the way I'm reading the episode cues.

Comments

[astropoet.livejournal.com]

Why? Why is she not interested? She isn't betrothed or married to someone else, she's not been showed to be a maiden, etc. Hmmm. That's the interesting bit. Not to say that John isn't, like, irresistable or whatever, but still. He's hot enough! ;)

Don't take this the wrong way, but I couldn't resist.

Why would she want Sheppard when she's got that big hunk of burnin' love Ronon? I wouldn't want Sheppard if Ronon was around. ;)

More seriously (barely), Sheppard doesn't look like he wants relationships, he seems to spend most of his time fending off/being chased/snogging alien chicks. If I were Teyla I wouldn't touch him with a bargepole (not without a few medical tests)

[valeria-sg-1.livejournal.com]

Thank you for pointing out that the only thing Sheppard might have brought back through the Stargate is some kind of exotic STD!!!

Unfortunately, John is no Jack O'Neill. That's why I prefer not to get involved in actual ships on the show when it comes to him.
Fanfic I read and write, Shep/Weir, and that's because *I* have a morbid attachment to Elizabeth, and I'm more comfortable writing her than Teyla. Not because I'll ever want to see them get together.

I trust Elizabeth and Teyla to be smarter than that. I, myself, wouldn't want to sleep with him if I were one of them. I would jump at the occasion if I were one of the alien chicks. I'd make sure to wake up and leave before he does, though. Maybe leave him tied to the bed.

John Sheppard is a one night man, and our heroines know it. He's trouble with a capital T and complication with a capital C.
And btw, looks rather pathetic next to Ronon :P

[astropoet.livejournal.com]

One thing I HATE about the S/W & S/T thing as it kind of promotes the idea that they're fighting over Shep, when I'd like to see them be more friendly, and get past any Shep nonsense.

I found Teyla quite easy to write, I wrote a fic a while back and I wrote a S/T chapter, not shippy but friendshippy. She's a bit of a blank slate i have to say, so I was able to project onto her what I wanted the character to be without sporking "canon" too much.

I also wrote a fic based which was based on Shep and his little "friends" and our heroines. I'm proud particularly of the first scene.

http://astropoet.livejournal.com/130736.html#cutid1

[tielan]

I think the idea that the girls are fighting over Shep (in canon) as a bit ridiculous, based on their behaviour.

Liz might be one-sidedly interested in Shep, but that could also pass for friendly concern. Teyla seems to like Shep as a friend and colleague, but isn't about to take anything further than their sparring bouts.

And the two women seem quite friendly, even if they don't have a lot of interaction.

I have problems with Teyla/Ronon as romance. I keep seeing a sibling vibe.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm afraid I have this basic mistrust of the PTB and their ability to deal with romantic relationships, so I always fear for the worst.

However, Weir and Teyla do seem quite friendly, but more scenes between them, even a whole eppy would be great.

I can see where the R/T vibe could be construed as sibling, and since it's not defined then we're free to see what we want. What is great about their relationship is that they seem to bring each other to life, whether romantically or not. I found Teyla to be of little interest last season, but Ronon seems to have given the character an opportunity to open up in the scenes between them.

[astropoet.livejournal.com]

OOps that was me.