Saturday morning thingies and a discussion.

[zinnith]

* Morlocks: Why David Hewlett and Robert Picardo can't stop laughing - A spoilery interview with David and Robert. I've missed these two! Oh, and apparently David is going to twitter his way through the film when it airs on SyFy, so big YAY! for those of you who get to watch it on TV.

* I've been having these strange vertigo attacks all week. I feel fine, then the whole world tilts and whirls around for a second, and the next moment I'm fine again. I have no idea why but I suspect a combination of stress and some kind of ear infection thing that doesn't quite want to break out. Very annoying, especially as I never know beforehand when they'll hit.

* I had planned on writing so many fills for the hawaii_50_hc commentfic meme, but people keep filling my favourites before I can find the time to do it! Not that I'm complaining of course...

* I found out that University of Borås offers the librarian program I want to get into as a part time distance course. I've spent most of the week on their online application site with the cursor hovering over the 'send application' button. Haven't had the guts to actually click it yet, but I have until October 17:th.

* An interesting discussion I got dragged into earlier in the week:

What makes you ship a pairing?

Be it het, slash or femslash - what makes you sit up and decide that those two (or three or four or whatever) were made for each other? When you watch a show, is it important to you that there is a pairing for you to ship? How often do you ship canon pairings? If the writers break up your ship (canon or not) is that a show-ender for you? Do you enjoy watching a show more if you have a vested interest in a ship? For how many of your favourite shows do you have an OTP?

Come play with me!

Comments

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

EEE! I'll be back to play--gotta go to work now! :-) But this looks like a fun topic and will give me lots of things to think about at work today--YAY!

On another note, I've had stealth!vertigo before and it isn't fun. :-( Hope it resolves soon!

[mesmorizee.livejournal.com]

What makes me ship a pairing?

Um... This is a really good question and I wish I could write down my thoughts on this subject in a short comment. Unfortunately this has taken the form of an essay and will most likely take the rest of the day to write... Thanks for giving me something to do in between boring chores such as cleaning the apartment and doing laundry. :D

I'll make a post about my thoughts on this later this evening. XD

[zinfic.livejournal.com]

Yay for essay \o/ I can't wait to read it!

Cleaning and laundry needs to be done in short spurts with plenty of more interesting things inbetween. On the upside, I managed to come up with a survival strategy for the winter today while I did my chores. Who needs a therapist when you can talk to yourself while you mop the floor?

Looking forward to your thoughts!

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Had to come back, :-)

First--online course that allows you to pursue your dreams? CLICK IT!

Second: shipping in shows. What makes me ship two characters together is *chemistry*. I don't actually ship Kirk/Spock in ST:TOS--however even as small child, I saw the power of Kirk/Spock/McCoy against the dark forces in the universe. I didn't know what a bromance was, but that's how I saw them. Ditto Neal Caffrey and Peter Burke of White Collar. There's chemistry between the actors, supported by snappy dialog and clever writing. It helps to find the actors visually appealing, but the appeal of the *character* is ten times more important to me as a viewer.

Shipping is not paramount to watching a show for me, though it appears mandatory for *writing* about a show's characters. Some of my favorite shows are ensemble casts with no one I particularly ship--but an ensemble cast has to have a strong, lynchpin character around which the show revolves for me to really enjoy it.

I will say that my favorite ships are the ones I create myself. Shows based on the premise of a ship, such as The Scarecrow and Mrs. King (or Castle today) do draw me in--but maintaining UST for prolonged periods is a very thin line to walk without crossing over into unbelievability, and yet most writers don't know how to depict an interesting established relationship--so getting the two shipped characters together onscreen often seems to be the death of my interest, if not the show itself.

If the show pairs one of my shipped characters with someone else, I can usually write around it in my head (I make up stories for for most of the shows/movies/books I watch/read, even if I only write in one or two fandoms), UNLESS they marry them off. For example, in my fanon mind, none of Rodney's relationships with women last (I can give you LOTS of reasons as to why I think his relationship with Keller was doomed, starting with the all the ways in which it was unequal...), therefore, I can create various scenarios in which he eventually gets together (or even together *again*) with John. Marriage is a deal-breaker for me. So while I enjoy watching Caffrey and Burke in action, I still think of them as a bromance, and don't slash them. Peter is just too in love with El and I'm not seeing the threeway everyone else seems to see!

It's harder to explain the difference between a must-see show for me, one I enjoy and will record to watch later, and one I will record and watch when I remember it's there--verses ones I *wanted* to like and just couldn't get into. It is usually something about the main character or the actor that plays them that just misses the mark for me in the shows that I couldn't get into--not the lack of shipping. Rizzoli and Isles just begged to be shipped together, and yet I tried watching the show several times before I had to give up.

I really like In Plain Sight--though what Marshall has for Mary is unrequited. I also have to be in the right mood for IPS, which means it often sits on the TiVo for months. I LOVE The Closer and will mainline Brenda Leigh when I get the DVD of the entire season--but sometimes The Closer will break my heart a little. :-( I enjoy Castle--and thought this season opener was a good,interesting step toward character growth for both Castle and Beckett--I want to see where they take this. :-)I still sort of like The Mentalist--solely because I like the characters and enjoy watching Simon Baker in action. TM is my go-to 'dinner' show--something to watch while eating dinner at D's.

The shows that compel me to write stories are few and far between. Looking at the pattern, they contain strong leads that I usually ship, but a strong set of secondary characters as well. Star Trek, BSG:TOS, SGA. It would appear I have a space theme too! *facepalm*

[zinfic.livejournal.com]

I will click it! Any day now!

I completely agree about the chemistry! That's the basis of all my ships to date. But I think there's a difference between chemistry and romantic chemistry. Take McShep for example - I'm finding it difficult to see them as anything else than soulmates meant to be together forever and ever. Steve and Danno can go either way - I enjoy imagining them in a relationship, but I'm perfectly happy with them being BFF's. Then there are pairings like say, Harvey and Mike from Suits. They have chemistry, yes, and it's fun to watch them interact, but I can't for the life of me see them in a romantic relationship or understand why nine tenths of the fandom is Harvey/Mike slash. Not judging the people who do slash them, of course - I just can't see it personally. (The only slash pairing I can see for Suits is Harvey and Louis in an extremely secret love/hate d/s thing where Louis dominates the shit out of Harvey in revenge for all the times he mocks him professionally. In my mind, it's completely consensual and they both get off on it, but no one at Pearson Hardman can ever know and I'll just stop talking now...) The same goes for Peter and Neal - I love friendship fic, but I can't see the two of them in a romantic relationship. I will admit to reading the odd threesome fic though, and I love how the slash part of fandom loves Elisabeth so much that it went for the OT3 instead of trying to get rid of her or making her invisible.

I think I'm more likely to find a slash ship when I get into a show or a movie through fandom instead of the other way around. I had been reading McShep for almost a year before I got my hands on season 1 of the show and I got to know the characters through fic. The same goes for Due South with Fraser and Kowalski - I went into the show expecting to see two guys hopelessly in love with each other and that is what I saw!

When I first watched Star Trek, I was twelve and I didn't even know slash existed and I haven't been able to get into TOS slash later, though I love Kirk/Spock/McCoy friendship fic. However, I came out of the movie theatre after watching the reboot with the very strong urge to write Kirk/McCoy slash because everything about them just screamed at me that they were so doing it. Just the reboot version though. Weird.

When I find a show first and the fandom later, I'm more likely to go with the canon ships, if I ship anyone at all. Take Leverage for example - I love how cute Hardison and Parker are together and how very gentle and patient he is with her, fully aware of her issues and still willing to give her the time she needs and put in the work it takes to hopefully make it last. If the writers break them up, I will be very cross.

[sgamadison.livejournal.com]

Well, you make a good point about the difference of coming into fandom by way of fic or through the show first. However, I read a lot of SGA fiction before I ever read any slash. As a matter of fact,I'd never read any slash all until I hit the SGA fandom!

I do see what you mean about Steve and Danny. And the guys in Suits as well. I haven't seen Suits myself yet, but I feel the same way about White Collar; I just can't see Peter and Neal as anything but uneasy friends. The version of the movie or show does have a lot to do with it however! I was never much of a Holmes Watson shipper until the 2009 movie! :-)

[the-cephalopod.livejournal.com]

Ooo, the librarian course sounds excellent - and perfect for you! Have you applied? If not, DO! *hugs* cep xxx

[zinfic.livejournal.com]

I did! Now I just have to wait and see if I get accepted. *crosses all fingers and toes*

[the-cephalopod.livejournal.com]

Thats fantastic! When will you hear? *crosses finger and toes too* cep xxx

[zinfic.livejournal.com]

Mid-December, I think, so I have a lot of time to freak out before then! :)