Spontaneous Musings

There's an article about fanfiction, fandom and shipping in the new romance magazine Blush, that's just been launched. (Got it via Smartbitches. )

1. Critiques?
( tiny print and what is cult not cult )
2. Wrong-headed shipping or shipping bad guys with heroes...such as Kylo Ren and Rei, or Draco Malfoy and Hermonine, or Angelus and Buffy.

Quibbles aside..I don't ship the way the person being interviewed does. I don't really do or tend to do "wrong-headed" shipping. With a few rare exceptions -- and usually those are one's that fit the story thread and are canon. I don't tend to ship counter to the canon.
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3. Canon vs. non-canonical shipping (not to be confused with m/m or f/f slash - which can be canonical or non-canonical depending on the series.).

Per the above, I ship with the canon or with the story-thread. And don't have a lot of patience for shipping against the story-thread. It's rare that I'll ship characters that aren't going to end up together, aren't written to be romantic love interests, and aren't written to be friends. And if they are friends or lovers or married and the story-thread leads to their inevitable separation and the demise of their relationship in a convincing manner that tracks -- and shows why, doesn't tell, I'll go along with it. (See Buffy/Angel above as an example. The writers successfully broke that ship up for me in S1 Angel.)
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4. Where the line should be drawn regarding shipping...

( shippers who try to influence the writing of the show )

5. My ships or the one's that I have shipped the hardest in recent years and still do to an extent?

Canonical Ships:
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Nothing new though. I don't ship much any longer. Shipping for television shows is ridiculously painful.

Non-canonical?
( Read more... )
But I can't say I was passionate about any of them.

I was thinking about this after reading a reply to another post, regarding character and relationship shipping.

Like most people, I suspect, I tend to love the characters that I personally can relate to the most or if I don't, fascinate or interest me. I often can't explain why I like them or why they fascinate me. Sometimes I'll write a post or meta in an attempt to figure it out. It's like writing fanfic, I guess, you play with the characters or bits that bug or intrigue or interest you? (shrugs)

There's not that many television series that I've gotten obsessive about or shipped characters on. Nor would I necessarily state that all the television series that I've been obsessive about were high quality or worth mentioning. Some are guilty pleasures, which I'm tentative about voicing aloud, for fear of being judged. (Alas, I still care far too much about what others think. I know should care less, but well...I'm not quite there yet.) All tend to be serials. I'm not a fan of non-serials, I like character stories more than plot driven ones; it's how I roll. And I have a weakness for the soap opera genre. If you hate the genre, don't tell me. It's not that I don't care, it's that I do, perhaps more than I should, and it hurts me. Feels like someone ripping apart a favorite toy. Have you ever had that happen? Had someone take a toy that you loved and rip it to pieces? Or stomp on it with their dirty boots?

I'm ashamed to say, I'm not much different. I have stomped on favorite toys with dirty boots -- in part because the toy in question irritated me or made me angry. I think it's hard sometimes to realize there's another perspective, another way of seeing it. There's this brilliant song in Sondheim's "Into the Woods", which has always haunted me -- No one is alone. One of the stanzas states that you have to remember, that while there are people on your side, there are people who are not, and there is always someone on the other person's side too, no one is alone.

Okay, tangent. But, I was thinking about this...because while there are characters I love in television shows, there are equally characters I despised. I'd go online and discover much to my considerable chagrin that are people out there who loved the characters that I despised. I'd think, what - is this bizarro land? How can you possibly like let alone love this character? And how can you hate my favorite character? Are you crazy? What universe are you residing in? I could not wrap my mind around it. How could there be people who liked Harmony? Or Robin Wood? Or that mean girl, Cordelia?? Or gasp, Warren Myers? WTF? What in the heck was so appealing about that scene stealing Andrew? Why didn't people like Connor? Why didn't they love Willow? How could they hate Buffy? Why did they hate Spike? How could they? Didn't they see how cool Darla and Drusilla were? Why did they think Buffy/Angel belonged together still? Wasn't it obvious that was a high school romance that could not work? Also, Angel was sooo much older than her? How could people ship Buffy and Giles?

But alas, they did. Not only that, they wrote lengthy posts on why and supported their rational. Still felt like bizarro world, but they had a right to their point of view, even if it skewed with my own. I found people who shared my own, of course. But often they had bizarre views as well - such as there was no way Spike would ever attack Buffy, when it was clear to me that he would. Or saw the characters very differently than I did, almost as if we were watching separate shows.

Over time, it occurred to me, of course, that people do not think the same way. We focus on different things. Different things irritate us. Or urk us. Or trigger us, in different ways. Willow's voice irritated some people. Some had issues with her redemption and the character grated on them. While Cordelia and Harmony irritated me. Heck, Cordelia's voice apparently irritated me, I realized this last night while watching Lucifer, where the actress made a brief guest-star experience. Yep, something about her voice and acting style irritated me. As did the actress playing Harmony. So it wasn't just the characters they played but the actresses themselves. I don't know why. It just is. They irritated me. But others loved them to pieces, thought they were amazing. Go figure.

By the same token, for some odd reason, the characters of Willow, Spike, Buffy, and Giles fascinated me. Giles -- mainly due to the actor who portrayed him, Anthony Stewart Head. I'd seen Head several years prior in a stage production of Chess, and fell in love with him. He was subbing for his brother Murray Head at the time. Then I followed him through various Taster's Choice commercials on to VR5 and finally Buffy. I started watching for Head, almost stopped because I was disappointed in the lack of a substantial role for the actor. I was also, fascinated by the character of Angel -- who seemed to have lots of dark secrets. Xander made me laugh for the most part, and I enjoyed the character and found him interesting up until the actor's personal demons caught up to him and he derailed taking the character along with him. (This happened sometime around S5 -S7, which is why Xander began to disappear from the story a bit. It wasn't that the writers lost interest in the character so much as the actor had serious issues and it interfered with his work. It happens.) Faith disappointed me, I wanted more and felt somehow swindled or let down by the writers. She was interesting, but fell into cliche, without ever quite rising above it. So much wasted potential there. I felt they handled Spike better -- he could have easily gone the route Faith did. But they managed to keep him more ambiguous and didn't fall as easily into cliche as they did with poor Faith. But others didn't see it that way. They saw it the exact opposite. They loved Faith and hated Spike and thought Spike was a walking cliche and that the writers ruined the character. Some thought Spike ruined the show, like Fonzie did Happy Days -- someone even wrote a lengthy post or essay on this. See, bizarro world. Up is down. Green is blue.

It's hard to ship characters or relationships with others. Oh, on shipping? I've even run into arguments regarding whether "ship" should just be used in regards to "relationship shipping" as opposed to "characters". And that it is inaccurate and wrong to use the word in regards to shipping a character, because that just isn't done. And what the hell am I doing? This is weird! So not only did people disagree on how I saw the characters, their relationships, and back stories, but also the word or semantics I used to describe how I felt about them.

The semantic's arguments drove me crazy, I'll admit. I'll try to explain why -- I think it goes back to having a speech impediment when I was in school and having people constantly make fun of me or correct my speech. They still do occasionally, because I have a sort of aphasia when it comes to uttering the correct word. Sometimes I'll say a completely different word than I thought I said. (It's a genetic quirk, my mother and brother do it too.) I'll think for example "wrote" but will say "route" sometimes will even write it. I won't know I said the other word. It's why I prefer writing -- you can go back and edit. You can't with speech. People also don't tend to be very patient, and will often be cruel about it and judgemental.

See, here is the problem with people, I think, and this goes beyond this post...people have difficulty wrapping their minds around the fact that other people don't think or see or view or taste or smell or perceive the world the same way they do. We don't. It's not possible. It's why life is so hard but also so interesting...because trying to connect, truly and authentically connect to another human soul is difficult. And can seem impossible. It rarely seems to happen. When it does -- it is magic. We gravitate to that person, who seems to "see" us. Or at least I do. Wow, I'll think, you get me! You see Spike the exact same way I did! This is so cool! Let's be buds. Of course, a little while later, you discover, okay that's the only thing we have in common, so not going to work out. But what the hey, it was fun while it lasted.

I thought this today when I read a long response to another post. While reading it in my email, since I don't have lj access at work...I thought, damn, I don't agree at all. We seem opposed. I don't like those characters. I like these characters. Did we see different shows? I was grumpy and in a foul mood already. But luckily I have no access to lj at work...so I was prevented from responding on the fly. Most posting mistakes are made on the fly. There's something to be said - for thinking it over. Although I've made colossal posting mistakes after taking a week to think it over. So there's that.

Anywho...after I read the response a second time, I realized the individual was simply being candid or authentic. They were trusting me with their views and hoping somehow for a connection. It didn't exactly come, but that's hardly their fault or mine. It just is, what it is.

I see this all the time on social media -- people hunting connection, and rarely finding it. Too often you sit there with your thumb hanging out in the wind, no takers. Crickets heard in the silence. Others, you have an insane number of responses, and yet still no connection, everyone has misunderstood your post or taken what you said out of context - reacting emotionally to a phrase here or there that triggered them. They didn't listen to what you said, they didn't hear the post. They just reacted to the portions that they felt related directly to them or affronted them. And then there are the times, in which magically, people get it. The connection happens. Somehow you connect with that guy in Sweden or in Brazil, or that gal in England or France or Canada. Half a world away. So far, in fact, it seems insane that you did connect, that they found you.

It's those rare moments that are addicting and bring me back time and again. I never know what post will bring them on. What will click. It's like sending a message out in a bottle, and suddenly having someone send one back. Except faster, oh so much faster.

To truly connect with another soul, another mind, is a wonderful feeling. But it happens so rarely in today's world. People don't take the time to listen, I think. There's too much noise, too much to do, too much to read, too much...I was wandering about in Barnes and Nobel the other day and felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new releases...so many, and I got depressed. Instead of excited. It depressed me and I walked out, thinking, too many books, no way to know which to read. And why am I bothering to write ...when there are so many other tales and stories out there. Who would want to listen to me? Me, a small, little voice in the wilderness? What could I possibly say that hasn't already been said? What story could I tell? Even now, I wonder that...amidst a thousand, more than a thousand posts...why would someone read this one? It's long. It's rambling. And it goes off on tangents.

And yet, I continue to write and continue to post. Am doing so now, even though I should be in bed listening to the rain fall outside my windows. I try to connect to you through characters in a long ago canceled television show entitled Buffy the Vampire Slayer, even though, to be honest, I've long since given up shipping or caring about them. Having moved on in the interim. But old habits, die hard. And this topic seems easier than most somehow...yet, false too. So..the loneliness seeps in, not from being alone, but from the sense that I can't quite connect. Can't quite be me. Candid. Authentic. Without somehow cutting off bits and pieces of myself. And wondering, if anyone out there perhaps..feels the same.

Sometimes I wonder if it is safer to ship in private? To love a specific romantic relationship between two decidedly fictional characters without a soul knowing. Used to be that way up until...roughly 2001/2002. And I wonder sometimes if that makes more sense. Over time, I've found that it is easier somehow to defend explain why I love the fictional characters that I do without too much sturm and drang, but discussing fictional relationships specifically "romantic" ones is another matter entirely. One thing is clear, it's best if you do not care what others think or can shrug off their opinions - something I've found is a lot easier said than done.

And people do have such strong opinions on fictional character's romantic relationships (short-hand? Ships) particularly regarding thos romantic relationships that make them see "red" or that they despise, although often they usually aren't that straightforward regarding it. It's usually a barrage of moral out-rage or turpitude that anyone could possibly think XYZ and ABC could be happy together.
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Why do I like the fictional romantic relationships that I do? I'm not sure I know or that it is necessarily important that I do. Some things are unknowable after all or should be. I know that my tastes change like the wind.

But I do know... that there is a pattern in the "fictional" relationships that appeal to me...and the is the gender power-play. Two people struggling to come to a common place. Equals. In power. In view. The push-pull. The banter. But mostly? It's the feeling of two people who are equally matched. They've met their match, their equal. No not soul mate. Not that. More someone who gets you, who understands your values, not your interests, but what means the most to you, what you would die for, what is the most important thing to you. Who knows your weaknesses, your triggers, and what
makes you tick...yet is your shadow self, the other side. The complement. The yang to your ying. I look for those relationships in fiction. The other bits whatever they might be are just gravy, sometimes lumpy and unappetizing, and sometimes perfect and rich.

Favorite Romantic Ships include.

*( Buffy and Spike aka the all too controversial Spuffy )

*( Starbuck and Lee Adama )

*( Aeryn Sun and John Crichton )

*( Doctor Who and Doctor Song )

* ( Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet )

*( Lymond and Phillipa in the Chronicles of Lymond, last three books of the series. )

Romantic relationships...are in the eye of the beholder I think. For me...they are brilliant dances either in words or bodies across the screen or page. Carey Grant forever bickering with Rosalind Russell and Kate Hepburn, or John Wayne fighting with Maureen O'Hara...or the frenetic dancing of Bernado and Anita in their playful song America. Filled with color and contrast, not simple, not clear, and always surprising. The conflicts more internal than externalized, no Romeo and Juliets...more Helena's and Demetrios or better yet? The lovely lead in Twelth Night who dresses as a boy and romances her erstwhile Lord, while wooing his lady-love. Or Benedict to his Beatrice.
The words matter. The ability to converse. To speak. To banter. To talk forever and a day. I can't imagine a relationship lasting longer than a few moments without the ability to talk and converse. To meld minds. As Spock might say. The physical after all is fleeting, we all grow old, our bodies all wither, vampires we aren't, gods nor zombies neither...just frail bits of flesh and bone..and if we can't speak, banter, converse, meet on the mental level and the level of the heart...where are we?

For me...it's always about the words. The dance of quips. Spike and Buffy who start their relationship exchanging quips and insults. Dancing with words, then dancing with bodies. Aeryn and John who argue philosophy. Eliza Doolittle says don't speak, show me, yet...if she didn't love words, she'd love Freddy not Henry Higgins, ass that he is. Even Starbuck and Lee with all their physicality, are about their words...their hearts on their sleeves as they scream them to the universe.

Snagged from everyone in LJ existence. (mine was snagged from herself_nyc although saw it first from scrollgirl. As an aside - there appears to be an equal number of B/S and B/A shippers on my flist. Which makes posting on either ship in my lj, or the characters Spike and Angel somewhat dicey. And may explain why I tend to avoid it or do it behind cut-tags. What they have in common? They both listed it as number one. Neither seems to really understand the others ship, although generally speaking they are tolerant of it or they wouldn't be on my friends list. And I wouldn't be on theirs.)

I'm going to do this - been dying to since I read everyone else's during lunch, I read my flist during lunch but am too scaredy cat to respond or post at work on most occassions - it's not private or secure, so there's a huge risk involved. (As another aside, only the women on my flist did it, what's up with that? I know for a fact several of the guys on my flist ship, they just may do it the way I do it - which is no, I really don't, but yes there are ships I adore and if the writers weren't sadistic monsters, I'd totally go for.) For the reason just explained - I don't seriously ship character relationships. I've watched and read too many serials and tv shows in my life time and know that writers are sadistic creatures that like to endlessly tease their readers/audience, and will inadvertently, often without much explanation destroy, break up, or what have you a favorite relationship. The hotter the relationship, the more fannish you are about it? The more likely they will find a way to break it apart. Sadists. )

Name your 10 absolutely favorite couples (het/slash/canon/fanon) and ask people to see what trends they notice about your couples. Try to pick different fandoms. These are ships that I would and have been known to actually fanfic about and made up stories in my head about.

1. Spike/Buffy (BTVS)
2. Doctor Who (ten and possibly 11 and 12)/Doctor River Song (Doctor Who)
3. Scott Summers/Jean Grey ( X-men Comics)
4. Aeryn Sun/John Crichton (Farscape)
5. Phillipa/Lymond (Chronicles of Lymond by Dorothy Dunnett)
6. Lt. Paris (I think it is Paris - portrayed by Robert Duncan McNeil who now directs Chuck episodes)/Torres (Voyager - I think I only watched Voyager for that ship and it is the only one I really had for the Star Trek serieses).
7. Harry Dresden/Lt/Sgt. Karrin Murphy (The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher)
8. Apollo (Lee Adama and just Apollo)/Starbuck (Kara Thrace and just Starbuck) - BattleStar Galatica and BSG - I'm consistent. They were my ship in the original Galatica and the new version.
9. Sawyer (James Ford and James Le Fleur)/Juliet - Lost
10. Spike/Angel (Angel the Series)

Runners up - Barney/Robin - How I Met Your Mother , CJ Craig/Reporter Guy (West Wing),
Josh/Donna (West Wing), and Vicky Bliss/Sir John Smythe (Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters - which isn't a fandom so does not count).

( trends I see because I can't resist the urge to analyze myself...the whole contemplating navel deal is just irrestible. )