Character Manifesto: Sayid Jarrah
Fandom: Lost
Character: Sayid Jarrah
Pairings Included in Manifesto: Shannon Rutherford/Sayid Jarrah, Juliet Burke/Sayid Jarrah, Kate Austen/Sayid Jarrah, Sun Kwon/Sayid Jarrah, with a nod to Claire Littleton/Sayid Jarrah
Blurb: When one thinks of Sayid, the following adjectives are usually the first to spring to mind: awesome, hardcore, fierce, etc. Because of, you know… this:
Thing is, there’s a lot more to Sayid than just fixing communication devices and killing people with dishwashers (as though that weren’t enough). He also has a heart the size of a planet (we are ignoring the zombie-dom, okay?). He’s the one everyone trusts and who is always willing to drop everything to help out, save someone, or give a pep talk. What humanizes him is that, despite being such a BAMF, he sometimes he needs someone to save him and give him a pep talk, too… hence why he’s so good in so many pairings!
Sayid didn’t spend much actual screentime with his canon love interests, so it’s easy to imagine him with a wide range of people. He is super sexy with pretty much everyone. This is partly due to the aforementioned badass/heart-of-gold duality, which makes him go all ‘protector bear’ with everyone. (Rawr.) It’s also partly due to the fact that Naveen Andrews eyefucks everyone in a ten-mile range (and I think they can’t help eyefucking back).
On top of his insta-chemistry with the entire cast, whenever he’s actually, in the text, supposed to be interested in someone, you are reminded that underneath this tough soldier guy lies a ridiculously old-fashioned cheeseball with deep-seated self-loathing issues who desperately needs a hug. He’s a great mash-up of character traits. Chivalrous + dangerous + angsty = swoon-worthily romantic.
Shannon/Sayid: Opposites Attract
One of my favorite things about Sayid is how, despite being so smart and capable, living with these crazy castaways often leaves him fondly befuddled. For example, when they talk about holding radios over their heads or how their brothers are in love with them. This lends an oddly ADORABLE edge to his otherwise super serious persona. This quality is most pronounced with Shannon/Sayid, which slaps two complete opposites together and produces something unexpectedly sweet. She stops being so selfish; he learns to loosen up. They’re both so broken, and yet being together helps them shed their baggage, which is exactly what they both need.
Even though they don’t initially seem to have anything in common, it weirdly works. Go back and watch how happy he was in seasons one and two, and then contrast that with how depressed he is for the rest of the series. They argue sometimes and have their fair share of Lost's requisite over-the-top drama, but overall, they are really happy and cute and stable. They are one of very few pairings with a normal progression (working on a project, flirting, going on a date, moving in together). So refreshing!
My favorite kind of ship is someone stoic with someone snarky, and their epitomization of this contrast makes the fic for them so much fun to read. However, on the other side of the coin, Shannon DID die (far too soon) and Sayid DOES spend most of the series being an angst machine (she’s also quite a tragic character, in her own way). Throw in the remnants of Boone/Shannon and you have the makings for some delicious angst.
Juliet/Sayid: Badass Love!
This ship brims with so much potential that I’m firmly convinced that there are three reasons why Juliet and Sayid spent almost zero time together:
1. The hotness would have melted the screen.
2. Their combined intelligence, badassery, and overall flawlessness would have completely destroyed the plot, because all problems would have been solved within two episodes of them starting to work together.
3. With a ship this good, everyone would have stopped caring about the triangle/love rhombus/whatever anymore, which is a problem because without Juliet involved in it, there would have been no tidy resolution (or candy bar machine scenes, but that's neither here nor there).
Because clearly, they are best characters ever and would have been perfect together. Brilliant, resourceful, ruthless, kind, dangerous, loyal to a fault, stoic but possessing the exact same sense of dry humour. UGH! What a waste. Thankfully, there is fic… not much, but still.
Kate/Sayid: If Only…
In the first 8-9 episodes, you can totally tell that the initial plan was to have a Jack/Kate/Sayid love triangle (it really was!). And their dynamic keeps popping up throughout the series as they continue to have adventures together. They are IMMEDIATE friends, getting one another in this really quiet but palpable way (that first hike, her helping him with all his projects, them both having a negative gut reaction about moving to the caves, her pining over him when he was with Rousseau, the entire story arc where they go to rescue Jack in S3, etc.). Kate is her best self when she’s around Sayid---badass, capable, resourceful, open, a good friend. And he's really caring and chivalrous with her (hand kissing!).
Kate and Sayid are very similar characters---nomads with terribly dark pasts who inadvertently hurt the people they want to help, and who just want to feel like they are “good” people despite being convinced that they are inherently not. There’s a mutual respect and kinship here combined with a complete lack of judgment that I think both of them needed. It’s all the good things about Shannon/Sayid, except that he actually has more in common with Kate. With bonus ass-kicking awesomeness.
Sun/Sayid: Spies R US
This is a pairing that only makes sense during the Oceanic Six period, specifically, the two years after Nadia died (and Jin was presumed dead) and they were both being masters of international espionage… or something. But during this brief period, it really works, albeit in a super angsty way. They’re both so very depressed, completely unable to move on with their lives, and suffering from the same self-destructive need for vengeance. It's nice to imagine that if only they had been there for one another they would have saved one another.
Claire/Sayid: What's with all the hand-holding?
Alas, despite the obvious potential for hot zombie love, I have never found fic for this pairing, so I will just leave you all with this (there are multiple scenes!!):
RECS:
Fic Rec #1: Untitled
Pairing: Shannon Rutherford/Sayid Jarrah
Author: yahtzee
Link: http://yahtzee63.livejournal.com/157389.html#cutid4
Rating/Warning(s): PG
Why This Must Be Read: A lovely ficlet that catalogues all the ways in which they are so different and shouldn’t work, but leaves you with a sense of why they’re so good together.
Fic Rec #2: with these things there's no telling
Pairing: Shannon Rutherford/Sayid Jarrah
Author: pastparticiple
Link: http://pastparticiple.livejournal.com/973.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG13
Why This Must Be Read: Not sure how else to describe this except to say that I am a huge Shannon/Sayid junkie, but that the first part of this contains possibly my favorite S/S bit of dialogue ever---so them. Cute, angsty, and bittersweet with great character voices.
Fic Rec #3: And These Shadows Keep On Changing
Pairing: Shannon Rutherford/Everyone, but ultimately Shannon Rutherford/Sayid Jarrah
Author: anitchka
Link: http://anitchka.livejournal.com/592300.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG13
Why This Must Be Read: This is mostly Shannon character study as she deals (terribly) with Boone’s death, but then Sayid comes at the end and is his usual flawless self, doing just the right thing and proving forever why he’s such a great guy and boyfriend.
Fic Rec #4: Sometimes We Get a Second Chance
Pairing: Shannon Rutherford/Sayid Jarrah
Author: ozmissage
Link: http://ozmissage.livejournal.com/71858.html#cutid3
Rating/Warning(s): PG13
Why This Must Be Read: An imagining of the alt that ended up getting jossed, but one that provides so much hopeful closure that your heart sings. She’s so playful and he’s so confused, but there’s so much joy at being together again.
Fic Rec #5: Phantasma
Pairing: Shannon Rutherford/Sayid Jarrah
Author: anitchka
Link: http://anitchka.livejournal.com/591060.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG13
Why This Must Be Read: Heartbreaking fic about Sayid seeing Shannon’s ghost in O6 times. You really feel that even though he went back to Nadia, he never got over Shannon.
Fic Rec #6: Getting to Know You Again
Pairing: Shannon Rutherford/Sayid Jarrah
Author: toestastegood
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/fic_flail/125770.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG13
Why This Must Be Read: A little interlude set between finding one another in the alley and the final scene. They eat French fries and make out and are so. happy.
Fic Rec #7: Man’s Best Friend
Pairing: Shannon Rutherford/Sayid Jarrah
Author: flaky_artist
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/paths_uncrossed/2877.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG
Why This Must Be Read: 108 words of Vincent the Dog POV that will make you cry
Fic Rec #8: Sheherazade
Pairing: Juliet Burke/Sayid Jarrah
Author: halfdutch
Link: http://halfdutch.livejournal.com/456087.html
Rating/Warning(s): R
Why This Must Be Read: This is such a believable take on what might have happened had they spent more time together that I sometimes forget it isn’t canon. It builds a relationship while exploring the theme of Juliet having read everyone’s files while she remains an unknown, which makes the ending beautiful.
Fic Rec #9: put out the fire (with gasoline)
Pairing: Juliet Burke/Sayid Jarrah
Author: colourmayfade
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/lostsquee/649466.html
Rating/Warning(s): R
Why This Must Be Read: Juliet and Sayid as spies working for Ben during O6 times! They’re so competent it takes your breath away. It feels a bit like Alias, in the best possible way. And then they find redemption in each other. The end. Perfection.
Fic Rec #10: And I Swerve Out of Control
Pairing: Juliet Burke/Sayid Jarrah
Author: slybrunette
Link: http://slybrunette.livejournal.com/195053.html
Rating/Warning(s): R
Why This Must Be Read: They’re both desperate for something; it’s the what that he can’t grasp.
Fic Rec #11: Just another word for nothing left to lose
Pairing: Kate Austen/Sayid Jarrah
Author: aboutbunnies
Link: http://aboutbunnies.livejournal.com/37885.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG13
Why This Must Be Read: alt!verse Sayid and Kate say, “Screw this” to the whole ‘let’s go to a concert with psychos’ idea and, instead go on the run together. It’s believable and it’s sexy and it’s 100% them in all of their badass misfit glory.
Fic Rec #12: whiskey river don't run dry
Pairing: Kate Austen/Sayid Jarrah
Author: flaky_artist
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/paths_uncrossed/22688.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG13
Why This Must Be Read: His chest aches with his own grief, but he would gladly add to it if he could steal hers away.
Fic Rec #13: A Volatile Combination
Pairing: Kate Austen/Sayid Jarrah
Author: toestastegood
Link: http://toestastegood.livejournal.com/182973.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG13
Why This Must Be Read: This story spells out for you exactly why they would have been perfect together.
Fic Rec #14: follow the yellow brick road
Pairing: Kate Austen/Sayid Jarrah
Author: mollivanders
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/prefer_my_life/19070.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG13
Why This Must Be Read: An AU where the plane lands just in time for the country to be decimated by nuclear bombs. Kate and Sayid end up traveling together and being angstily sort of in love.
Fic Rec #15: These Days
Pairing: Kate Austen/Sayid Jarrah (with slight Nadia Jazeem/Sayid Jarrah)
Author: levitatethis
Link: http://levitatethis.livejournal.com/59746.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG13
Why This Must Be Read: It's more Dharma Days friendship fic than anything, but the suggestion that this will slowly move into other territory provides the most believable set-up for this pairing that I've ever read.
Fic Rec #16: You Were As Flowers
Pairing: Sun Kwon/Sayid Jarrah
Author: Zelda_zee
Link: http://zelda-zee.livejournal.com/251443.html
Rating/Warning(s): NC17
Why This Must Be Read: I don’t know… they just feel so right together. Zelda_zee writes perfect characterizations and really sells this as a way for both of them to heal.
Fic Rec #17: One Wrong Too Many
Pairing: Sun Kwon/Sayid Jarrah
Author: Zelda_zee
Link: http://zelda-zee.livejournal.com/258672.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG13
Why This Must Be Read: Sun and Sayid make amazing partners. With bonus hurt/comfort. Mmmm.
Fic Rec #18: It Is Always Nice to See Old Friends
Pairing: Sun Kwon/Sayid Jarrah
Author: ozmissage
Link: http://ozmissage.livejournal.com/10944.html
Rating/Warning(s): PG13
Why This Must Be Read: It is nice to pretend, even if it is only for tonight.
Fic Rec #19: dust off our memories
Pairing: Sun Kwon/Sayid Jarrah
Author: crickets
Link: http://crickets.livejournal.com/342194.html
Rating/Warning(s): R
Why This Must Be Read: In so many fics, Sayid is this calming, comforting presence, even with all his darkness. This is an excellent example, where he helps Sun.