#rodney mckay my beloved

[sga-owns-my-soul]

okay the thing about tao of rodney that always gets to me is the way rodney just. accepts that he’s gonna die and decides instead of using his new powers to save himself he’s gonna use the time he has left to make as many improvements for the people he’s leaving behind as possible. not even just his team and atlantis but the whole of human civilization. the team never stops looking for a solution and the only reason rodney goes along with any of that stuff is for their sake. he’s already accepted his fate but he’s willing to do anything for the people he loves and i just. idk i think it’s such an incredible episode to showcase rodney’s character growth.

[acabspocky]

McShep SFW Turnons!

McKay:

- John being good at math, but pretending it's literally no big deal

- The way John rolls his eyes

Sheppard:

- Rodney being argumentative during a post-mission debriefing

- That little finger snap thing Rodney does when he figures something out

[sga-mcshep-4ever]

"We recommend closing the bulkhead door." "Oh, good thinking. What else?" "We're still working on the problem. We'll get back to you. Atlantis base out." "Thanks for calling! Anybody else claustrophobic, or is it just me?" Why'd you close the door? "So that when the stargate shuts down and the forward section is severed, we're not directly exposed to space."

[heavenssexiestangel]

Post 9 of your favorite characters and let people guess your type

I wasn't tagged, I just saw this game around and wanted to play :)

Gadreel obviously :) (Supernatural)

Arthur Ketch (again, obviously) (Supernatural)

Dean Winchester (Supernatural)

John Reese (Person of Interest)

Jack Dalton (Macgyver 2016)

Alastair (Supernatural)

Athos (The Musketeers)

Rodney McKay (Stargate: Atlantis)

David (The Lost Boys)

Tagging: @ladyknightskye @nickelkeep @acaademicqueer and anyone who wants to do it :)

[hetchdrive]

"Grace Under Pressure" makes me so emotional, like... Rodney Mckay's built his entire sense of self around being The Smartest Person In Any Given Room and then when he's alone with himself in a desperate, dangerous, unsolvable situation, he conjures up the one person who has ever consistently proven to be, by the only metric he cares about, "better", and he tells her she's wiser and understands other people more, and the advice she gives him is to stop trying to save himself and let the others find him. And Sam Carter isn't really there, she represents his best self, his wiser self who can connect with others in a way he repeatedly fails at, and his best self knows that the others will find him. Stop trying to be the best. You can't save yourself, but you don't have to, because your friends will save you.

[thebroccolination]

OW, GRACE UNDER PRESSURE, OW

So I'm in the middle of rewatching "Grace Under Pressure" for the first time since maaaybe? university? many years ago and I'm losing it because I fully forgot that one of the reasons this episode is so beloved is not only because it's Rodney all alone with a head injury, it's also Rodney trying to convince himself that anyone cares enough about him to try and save him.

Meanwhile: EVERYONE IS TRYING TO SAVE HIM.

ESPECIALLY JOHN SHEPPARD.

CARTER: Look, I hear what you're saying and I'm telling you -- you're wrong. You have some very smart, very motivated people on the surface, and the only thing any of them are working on right now is rescuing you. McKAY: Oh, come on! They are planning my memorial service. CARTER: If your plan fails -- and it probably will -- you could jeopardise their plans. [GateWorld - "Grace Under Pressure" Transcript]

I completely forgot the whole Atlantis portion of the episode over the years and basically only retained how incredible of an actor David Hewlett was in it.

MEANWHILE! John is all, "I will absolutely order that scientist to risk his life to save my scientist, and I will pretend I have any authority to do so because my scientist is in danger and I am prepared to make all kinds of unethical decisions for his sake," and now I'm ensconced in all the mcshep feelings of my past.

SHEPPARD: Well, Doctors Moore and McNab are here to study the ocean on M8R-1229, which happens to be under a thick sheet of ice, so they brought a thousand-foot cable and a pretty powerful winch to lower their instruments. WEIR: OK. SHEPPARD (gesturing to a nearby scientist): And Edgar over here is responsible for the magnetic grapple designed to lower the F-302s into our Jumper Bay. WEIR: And you intend to put the two together. SHEPPARD: Like chocolate and peanut butter.

It's absurdly emotion-fueling that John's really not a social person, but look at him assembling his own li'l team of people to go save his shouty nerd boyfriend. :')

McKAY: Well, we'll never be able to stop it. CARTER: I'm not saying that we could -- we're just trying to buy time here. McKAY: In order to make death as long and as drawn-out as possible, huh?! CARTER: Just max it out, McKay.

I'M NOT OKAY! JUST! RODNEY DOWN THERE ALL ALONE TRYING TO TELL HIMSELF OVER AND OVER THAT THE PEOPLE HE CARES ABOUT, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE HIS EXTENDED FOUND FAMILY WHOMST HE'S SAVED OVER AND OVER, WON'T JUST WASH THEIR HANDS OF HIM BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO SAVE HIM.

SHEPPARD (over radio): All you have to do is open your door and walk to my Jumper. (Sam smiles.) CARTER: I told you they'd come up with something.

NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, I'M GOING TO GO REREAD WRITTEN BY THE VICTORS AND CRY MYSELF INTO OBLIVION

[spurious]

what was the moment where you said yes to McShep?

OKAY SO.

Obviously you, audioletter my beloved wife know all this but. I’m not sure I’ve talked about how I got into SGA/mcshep on my tumblr so.

After finishing the x-files in 2022, my wife’s Zaddy Husband Mitch Pileggi beckoned us to watch Stargate Atlantis (because we couldn’t stomach Walker Texas Ranger). We’ve both been in fandom for a Long Time and thus remembered the years that McShep reigned supreme, and starting the show we said to each other “haha wouldn’t it be funny if we became ride-or-die mcshep shippers?”

……..yeah.

From the very start of the show, basically every single time John and Rodney were on screen together we’d go “haha mcshep lol”

So now I’m like. trying to excavate my memories to figure out when it Became Real for me.

I do tend to love buddy slash pairings and ships where one person is shrill while the other is chill so it’s not, like, surprising to me in hindsight that I did end up shipping mcshep? And then the SGA fandom being so friendly and active just…allowed my fixation the space to flourish.

But anyway, let’s see what the first McShep thing I saved to my camera roll was!

*drumroll*

It’s this art by the amazing @luluxa:

So at this point I think I was still at the “no no, I’m saving this fanart to my phone ironically” stage.

Now, this was October 30th. By November 3rd, I have photos of a trip to mandarake where I was really hoping to find SGA doujinshi cause I SWEAR I’d seen it before (I’ve not managed to find it yet. Japanese fans why. You guys love generic white guys mcshep should be massive here)

The first fic I have bookmarked is from November 2nd with the note “oh no I have feelings about McShep now” and it is Counting Down by @alienfuckeronmain, which is a post-trinity fic.

HOWEVER. I also have a Grace Under Pressure coda bookmarked from a day or so later, and this tracks with my impressions: this is the episode that most intensely sticks out in my mind as being emotionally memorable and something I needed to be reading fic about. Soooooo I guess it was Rodney that got me, and the need to process my emotions about episodes by reading other people’s processing, and, uh, now here I am almost two years later!

SO. To get to the actual question, several paragraphs and approximately a day later, I don’t know that there really was a single moment that put me there, as opposed to a series of moments enacted onto an already-primed pump? Because truly I should know by now that the danger of doing something ironically is that you end up doing it ronically, but. I remember devouring the fic I could find that was non-spoilery as we were watching (lots of episode tags) and it definitely shaped my perspective on John and Rodney’s interactions.

But essentially, this is a ship archetype I tend to like, and Rodney McKay is absolutely the type of horrible little gremlin man I tend to like, and the fic was good, and. Here we are lmao

[incoming-wormhole]

autistic Rodney McKay my beloved

[the-mushroom-faerie]

ok buckle up because I'm going to go on a Stargate Atlantis gush so long I'm not going to bother turning it pink

this series is EXACTLY WHAT IVE BEEN NEEDING ok ok listen yes it has scary monsters and fight scenes and blowing stuff up BUT it also has substantial fluff

we get to see the characters making a home in small ways from a favourite food in the cafeteria to rc car races in an unused hallway

THEY CALL THEMSELVES A FAMILY THATS MY LIFELINE A FOUND FAMILY CALLING THEMSELVES A FAMILY

the words "we can't tear this family apart" in life threatening situations give me life and they are said a bunch of times

the creators hate killing characters off as much as we hate losing them so a lot of mc deaths get "well, actually"d in a way that made sense (such as getting really upset that my fave Carson died only to have his clone be rescued half a season later and be reintegrated into the mc circulation)

and the series finale was AMAZING. spoiler alert skip this paragraph if you don't wanna read details about the finale. it gave a reasonably hefty threat for a finale, but everyone survived (other fave Ronan got well-actually'd and I'm thankful because he's the teddy bear protector and I would've cried) and found a home. atlantis is on earth, the family is together, and it ends with the well-loved all mc's are on a balcony overlooking a beautiful view and saying that theyre each other's home and there are always going to be other adventures. - end finale spoilers -

even the bad guys are personified. you mightve seen my post about Todd, and Todd is The Original Funnyman. this guy has the best sense of humour in the whole show. then there's Michael, and you feel for him. the replicators... uhh... yeah most of the replicators are unremarkable personality-wise, but hey they're robots.

now for mc's. this is a no-rodney mckay-hate blog, so if you say anything hateful about him I'll stab u. yes he's arrogant and a know-it-all and he thinks he's better than everyone and has the social skills of a stale cracker BUT he has GROWTH and is slowly RECOGNIZING AND TRYING TO TREAT PEOPLE BETTER and he's My Boi so fite me 9/10

Sheppard is hilarious and is responsible for the awful placeholder names for individual wraith. he has serious Burnt Out Gifted Kid Vibes and is definitely smarter than he lets on. atlantis crew is definitely the first Family he's had and feels safe with. I love him 11/10

Teyla is awesome and would absolutely kill for her adopted earth family. also turns out to be Best Mum 10/10

Ronan. my beloved puppy Ronan. played by the absolute unit that is Jason mamoa. he is a man of few words and many guns. atlantis crew saved him and he's the last of his people and now the base is His Home. Sheppard calls him "chewie" affectionately and Ronan smiles every time. 20/10 I would absolutely feel safe with him around

Dr Carson beckett. a Scotsman who will even try to heal his enemies. besties with Rodney McKay and keeps him in check. he's so lovable and sweet 11/10 his clone goes away for the Pegasus galaxy version of doctors without borders 9/10 I'm just glad he's back

Radek zelenka. his most common subtitle is [mutters in Czech] he's so soft and squishy I love him. he shares a braincell with Rodney and they finish each other's sentences it's like they're very competitive twins 10/10

Elizabeth weir. not quite the Mum but definitely the Older Sister In Charge. I miss you so much. rip 11/10

there are a lot more that I love but I'm just gonna leave it here. you should absolutely go watch it.

[sga-owns-my-soul]

sorry i had to

[acewithapaintbrush]

Thanks ffor the tag @rinnysega

Tag 3 people you want to get to know better (gonna steal your idea, 3 is a good number)

Three ships: uff there have been/are soooo many so I'm just gonna say three of the most recent or most on my mind. Always on my mind is Shadow/Sonic. Yes you read that right, I'm a sonadow girl, loud and proud. A recent but very beloved ship is Leonardo and Usagi (Leosagi). So cute. And last but not least Steddie (Steve and Eddie from Stranger Things)

First ever ship: so long ago but I think it was McShep (John Sheppard and Rodney McKay from Stargate Atlantis - still love that ship btw)

Last song: Royality

Last movie: Strange World

Currently reading: The Vinyl Detective: Attack and Decay by Andrew Cartmel

Currently watching: A documentary about the Skinwalker Ranch

Currently consuming:

Currently craving: Some peace and quiet so I can work on some diy projects that have been on the backburner for way too long. Also new Ghost Files and Puppet History

Thanks again for the tag, this was fun!

I'm tagging.... @glitternightingale @greenvillainredemption @breannasfluff

[sga-mcshep-4ever]

"If I understand you correctly, you won't be able to access the flight controls." "Yes, Elizabeth, it's an extremely intriguing conundrum, and one that I would love to discuss with you in detail until the stargate shuts down and this ship is cut in two—" "Rodney, calm down—" "We have less than thirty-eight minutes." "Hold on. Why thirty-eight minutes?" "Because that's the maximum amount of time a stargate can remain open in non-relativistic conditions. It's one of the more immutable laws of wormhole physics and, oh, my, look at the time. It's now more like thirty-five minutes. Are we all caught up?"

[darsynia]

A person again

Might be a person again-- I have always seen this place as more of a supportive fannish place to spend time, but had enjoyed looking at the pictures so much I forgot to follow *writers*! I do love the gifs but I don't make gifs myself, I write!

If anyone has favorite writers on here that they follow I'd love it if you'd drop them here! I know I need to build up rapport and following, but that works best if you're both giving and taking, hehe.

Favorite characters are Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, Remus Lupin, Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, and Toby Zeigler (John Sheppard and Rodney McKay as well but my beloved SGA fandom has mostly retired now).

((though I'm asking for recs, mostly this is to reassure people who I've just followed that this isn't a bot/dead blog, too))

[hetchdrive]

Meredith Rodney McKay my fucking beloved

[sassycordy]

serving found family since 2004💓

[tomwambsmilk]

tom wambsgans' name doesn't sound as strange and bizzare when you also love a guy named meredith rodney mckay

ASFADGYCASTG ANON PLEASE. I am laughing so hard, what IS this???? I think I've talked about stargate on this blog once, MAYBE twice, and the fact that his name is MEREDITH Rodney Mckay is not, like, deep lore, I guess, but this means that either a) you happen to also watch Stargate so you knew that already, or b) you don't watch Stargate but you were so curious about my taste in men that you googled him. I genuinely don't know how to process this. And the fact that you said this on anon is unnecessarily foreboding. I don't do a ton to keep my fandom identities separate - my main is in my succ blog bio - and yet this somehow still feels like a very bizarre form of blackmail.

Anyways. I contend that Tom still wins the bizarre name contest because 'McKay' is an exceedingly normal last name, and he goes by 'Rodney', not Meredith. Also Rodney has the backstory of his parents being kind of shitty to lean back on as an excuse. What does Tom have, huh? Just whatever ancestor needed a surname and decided 'Wamsbgans' was a good and normal and appropriate name to have.

(That being said I don't know that I've roasted Tom's last name on this blog??? I think 'Wambsgans' is definitely funny just because it has certain Vibes, but idk that I've ever openly roasted it. Maybe I'm wrong though.)