Hello, I got here from the Slut Story, and I haven't actually seen Epiphany yet, but I dig the recap. Especially the whole in your bed vs. at your back thing. It's not that John's the only character who functions that way; traditionally a character's first loyalty must be to their team or crew. But for others it's more of a conflict, sometimes, leading to trade-offs and doubts and regrets.

Shep is totally not Kirk, but I have to point out that Kirk isn't fanon Kirk, either. I mean, yeah, in a sense he's a big old space slut, but it's usually more a case of working the charm to get what his crew needs, or alternately being drugged/mindwiped and marrying the chief's daughter or whatever.

The above take on Rodney's opinion of John's charm and use thereof seems spot-on to me, and helps me understand the Slut Story better. Some people view sex as a fun thing you should have lots of and don't go much beyond that unless dragged into it. Which is fine, until they end up around/with people who can't comprehend such an attitude.