Fandom Shipper Questions

[shadowkat]

Have some questions for shippers? (I'm trying not to answer or judge here - because I want to understand perspectives that are different from my own. I'm not sure I'm really a shipper, because while I care about relationships, I care about story more. Happily Ever After is not an ending I want or crave really...although it would be nice on occasion, since tragic endings get rather old.)

Which comes first and foremost or is the most important to you: Ship or Story? Characters Emotional Arc or Ship?

*Do you read a book series or watch a tv show/series solely for the romantic relationship ignoring the rest?
* Or is the "ship" just icing, making the show that much more tasty?
* Or is the characters arcs and their story/overall plot what is important? (ie. even if your favorite "ship" never comes to pass or doesn't work out - that's fine as long as it makes sense to the character's arc and is interesting and crunchy? The story comes before the ship?)

This question is the result of latest flirtation with a fan spoiler board for a urban fantasy novel - where I noticed the vast majority of posters were saying - while the book is good, I'm frustrated because I'm not sure about my ship? Or I'm so happy - my ship may happen! Or I threw the book across the room because it killed my ship? Or my dream is for the character to have her moonlight wedding...with T or I or A? The book in question is NOT a romance novel. So this begs the question - is a happily ever after romance necessary?

Is the ship the reason you are watching or reading? OR is it secondary? Or does it depend on the story? ie. For House and Sherlock - you only watch for House/Wilson or Sherlock/Watson - ignoring everything else. Or for Buffy, you only watched for Buffy/Angel or Buffy/Spike? Yet for another show, say BSG, you didn't ship at all and watched for the entire story?

And to what degree has shipping influenced your fanfic/meta writing? Or for that matter, your abhorrence of shipping influenced your writing, involvement in fandom, and reactions to it?
If Whedon, for example, had killed Spike off in the comics and had Buffy and Angel become a full-time heroic couple - would that have influenced how you viewed the comics? Or what if it was the opposite, if Angel died or was exiled, and Buffy and Spike rode off into the proverbial moonlight (sunlight is a bit hard on vampires)? How would you view say Doctor Who - if Ten had fallen in love with Martha Jones instead of Rose Tyler? And how does this influence your reactions to other's in fandom - do you find shipping a positive or negative or a bit of both kind of thing?

Comments

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I think it's really in how you interpret that last season to be honest. And I'm admittedly of two minds about it. Since I'm not sure the plotting totally works and that arachnid episode is my least favorite episode next to Jeremiah Crichton.

There's two interpretations that I've read to date, yours and oursin who brought a completely different view to my attention about a year or so ago.
At least I think it was oursin.

The other view - states looks at John and Aeryn's relationship through the lense of post-traumatic stress disorder or how people react to a sustained amount of violence, torture and the fear of it over a lengthy period of time.

For example: John's use of the drug - he starts using it long before Aeryn returns, and in a situation that has zip to do with Aeryn. It's to focus, to override Graceila's unique brand of torture. Then slowly, he starts using it more and more - to focus, to not allow his emotions/feelings for Aeryn to rule him. At the end of Dog With Two Bones - John realized he had to decide between Aeryn and returning to Earth (wormholes). He chooses Aeryn, but she leaves and doesn't allow him to come with her. So at the start of S4 he decides to return to Earth - to figure out the wormhole technology no matter what. But his feelings for Aeryn, his emotions keep getting in his way.

Aeryn and John in effect change places, Aeryn had shut herself from all emotion, she stopped feeling. And even tells John at the start of S3, that feeling love or passion for a crew member puts them at a disadvantage. It cost Zahaan her life. Aeryn learns this is not true or isn't working for her. John, OTOH,
decides that shutting off his emotions, letting the "scientist" take over, and focusing solely on wormholes is the answer. He believes his pursuit of Aeryn is a weakness.

In the Arachnid episode (can't remember the name of it but it's the one in which he reveals the reason he's been using the drugs, or at least I think it is) - John says that he can't let anyone know how much he cares about Aeryn or the baby because they'll use Aeryn and the baby against him. (This would include Scorpius, but I think it is pretty much everyone - since he takes the drug on Earth as well.) Keep in mind - John has seen Aeryn die because of him. And Scorpius used Aeryn's condition - the living death - to get on Moya. Also, John got captured by Scorpius in the first place because of Aeryn. From John's perspective - Aeryn is his achillees heel. Hence the drugs.

That actually works for me.

Could it have been written better? Definitely. But the show was written so fast, that I give them a pass. (They were apparently filming and writing season 4 and 5 back to back - so had a very quick filming schedule.)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

To clarify: Even though S5 never aired, they'd planned on filming it right after the last episode of S4 within the same year. Farscape had one of the fastest filming schedules out there - which amazes me. The first season they actually filmed two episodes at once, sometimes three at once - but stopped when they realized it was killing their actors and crew - both Claudia Black and Anthony Simuco got injured.