To ship or to slash

[woodface]

I'm a shipper. When I watch a show/movie, I tend to pick out a couple that I like and I will squee until they get together (and longer if it's written well). I can give you a long list of pairings in shows that I either adore or just like. (Sam/Jack, Harm/Meg, Carter/Abby, Carter/Lucy, Mark/Susan, Lorelai/Luke, Paris/B'Elanna, Dax/Bashir, Crusher/Picard, John/Aeryn, Wes/Fred, Han/Leia, ... heck I even have a Smallville pairing and I think the show isn't all that great.)

BSG should be no different. In a way it isn't. I'm all for Adama/Roslin and am open for Lee/Cally, Lee/Roslin and maybe Kara/Helo. By default, though, my ship would have been Kara/Lee. Would have. Oh, I see a lot of potential for angst. I can see the basis they're trying to bring in canon but it's just not working for me. I have read some fics (two?) that I like because they end up being unrequited. I truly believe that any attempt of Kara and Lee getting together will result in a messy fall out and them never speaking to each other again. I can not see them being fluffy and all lovey duvey. It was proven to me yet again that I can not make this pairing work in my mind as I tried a (what appeared to be) well written fic with some smut in it and ran off as soon as the smut would have ensued.

So why don't I get Kara/Lee? Big factor is the squick. Emotional incest anyone? Kara is not in love with Lee, she's in love with his brother and he's the next best thing. Hence why anything between them would fail because she would soon enough realise that he is in fact nothing like Zak. So yes, I'm squicked by Kara/Lee. And yet, this is not the main reason why I can't get into it.

When I first saw the mini while being in Chicago lyssie announced rather loudly that Kara is girl!Jack and needs a blonde viper pilot to frak with. I brushed the idea off because Kara soon proved to me not to be girl!Jack at all. Only, the blonde viper pilot stayed in my mind. So my mind breathed life into BSG!Sam and she and Kara have been everything that I can not see Kara and Lee be. (Yes, in my head Kara/Sam is messed up but not in a fatal way as Kara/Lee is. The fact that Sam is a complete Mary Sue is something my mind happily ignores, thank you very much.) But alas, now I am incapable of getting into Kara/Lee because Kara is so damn hot and cute when she's with Sam. I'm kinda saddened that this has messed up my ability to squee over Kara and Lee, but as long as Lyssie is willing to satisfy my strange obsession, I shall be a happy Mary Sue slasher. I do try to be open minded for where canon is going with Kara/Lee and maybe, who knows, at some point I will grow to like the pairing. For now though? Bring on the slash, bitch!

Comments

[splash-the-cat.livejournal.com]

Bring on the slash, bitch!

Words I never though I'd hear come from you. :)

[woodface]

Come to think of it. I hadn't really expected it myself either.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

*laughs*

I'm actually kind of disturbed that I basically don't care about any pairing that might happen on the show because I already have Sam/Kara.

Which is weird, since I can't pair Sam with any other female and have it work in my head (someone out there wants Kara/Sam/Aeryn, btw). Janet/Sam just... They're best friends, I can't do it. Sam/girl!Jack only works because, well, it's girl!Jack. Sam/Elizabeth Weir kind of works, either blonde or brunette (although now I see Sam giving her sex so Sam can go save Jack, which is really sad...). Sam/Jennifer Hailey? Uh, no. That would be like Sam/Cassie. Can we say mother/daughter? I thought we could.

sigh.

Hrm.

So, it's Sam/Kara.

Conversely, I could probably pair Kara with anyone because she's... into sex and gender doesn't come into it. For her, sex isn't about emotions, it's about getting pleasure (and maybe giving it).

*distracted by shiny thing*

[woodface]

I can only slash Sam with girl!Jack or Kara too.

Kara? Ugh let me tell you now that I will never read Kara/Boomer. Kara/Cally I just might be tempted to. Kara/Roslin would be odd as I'm kinda seeing a mother /daughter potential right there. But Kara/Sam is the way to go for me. I think I actually prefer Kara with a girl. And I get what you mean. I am very much satisfied with Kara/Sam and it's odd that it has completely taken over my need for another pairing. I have some interests but nothing that grabs me because I keep thinking "okay, how will Sam fit into this episode?"

This is so your fault!

[poohmusings.livejournal.com]

Omg, may I steal your icon, Julie? Pretty, pretty please? I'll even beta your next fic if you let me. (Oh, okay, I'll beta the fic regardless, but pweeeeeeease? *g*)

[splash-the-cat.livejournal.com]

HA! You may have it for a future favor as yet unspecified (or you can just have it because I am easy.) :)

[woodface]

You're EASY?

HA!

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

My question is, do you really need to pair with BSG? Are you pairing people up just because you feel the need to pair? For some reason when I watch BSG, who's getting together with whom/it is very low on my importance scale.

[woodface]

No, I don't. It's just that I usually end up liking a pairing if I watch a show. I feel that it would have been Kara/Lee in this case. Although I have to admit that I do think I'm less shippy than usual with BSG, I could quite happily do without. I'm just amused that I think I would have shipped Kara/Lee if it wasn't for my slash pairing. Of course, I can be wrong and still wouldn't have shipped it anyway.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I... well, personally, I just love the Old Married Couple vibe. And also, er, if I were attracted to men having sex, I would SO be a slashista.

But, anyway.

I just like screwing with peoples' lives. Or they look cute together. Or, or... Iwanttopretendoneofthemisme.

Yup.

I am simply shallow.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

It is, it is! *dances*

Mwah.

Of course, it's also just because they are so cute/pretty together. Siiiigh.

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

With the caveat that I'm not a shipper to speak of anyway, I'm right there with you on the "Kara/Lee would SO not work" thing. Truthfully (and with the understanding that I've only seen up through "Litmus"), I don't even see it being sold to me. On his end, I see some undercurrent of attraction and affection but no interest in getting romantically entangled with his dead brother's fiancee; and on hers, I see sisterly heckling and, really, no attraction. Just don't see it.

Thanks for the insightful musing. It's interesting in and of itself, and also serves to remind me how glad I am that my brain just isn't wired to invest that much in pairings most of the time.

[woodface]

*pats*

They're just HOT!

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

For some reason when I watch BSG, who's getting together with whom/it is very low on my importance scale.

And see, this is me with pretty much everything. And I'm still all disoriented wondering at what point it became the exception...

[woodface]

*nods* I get that. I'm with out on how you see Kara/Lee. I just keep wondering if I see it like this because that's how it is on screen or because I'm off in my slashy universe. I just don't know but maybe if you have that same impression, then I might still think this even if I wasn't playing with Sam and Kara.

[woodface]

Heh, it's just very funny watching a new fandom get its knickers in a twist about what is the pairing to go with. *g*

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

No argument there -- it's bloody hilarious. All the more so because pairings were never the primary overriding concern in any fandom I've been in prior to, I think, Buffy. (Unless the source material was specifically about a couple, of course, e.g. Beauty and the Beast.) But in recent years, it's invariably the first thing on most people's minds.

I mentally demarcate a lot of things as coming into general fannish culture through Buffy, but how much that's because of Buffy itself (which is perfectly possible, since it's such a HUGE fandom, full of people who were previously unaware of fandom and who therefore invented their own way of doing many, many things), and how much is because Buffy happened at the same time as online fandom in general was exploding.

It's definitely a complex combination of the two, but we'll probably never be able to entirely trace how much is from where.

Or maybe it's just because I've drifted into hanging out with a bunch of gooby shippers, and my perspective on fandom is skewed. ;->

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

Which reminds me, I really must get around to making those "pairing-indifferent" icons. *g* (I know we were saying "ship-indifferent" before, and it sounds better, but too much of a majority uses "ship" to refer only to het. "Pairing" seems to be the only way to sidestep the gender-match polarization. Which is the really tiresome part. I have no problem with people being goobey, just with their getting all bent out of shape over who it's "right" to be going goobey over...)

[woodface]

Stargate has really been my first online fandom (there is Harm/Meg but that was already well and dead when I was into it). It's striking how many shippers moved over to Weir/Sheppard. What however blew me the most was that there were already speculations about pairings before Atlantis was launched.

The one thing that got to me the most was however that I found out that apparently people ship a pairing even if they don't like one half of it all that much. I wonder how many people are getting into Kara/Lee just because they find Apollo is so pretty.

Then again, I'm for Sam/Kara cause they're so pretty together. Can't complain ;o)

[woodface]

You shall go goobey over Sam/Kara, damnit!!!

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

What however blew me the most was that there were already speculations about pairings before Atlantis was launched.

*nods vigorously* I just sat back and blinked in confusion at that one...

Then again, I'm for Sam/Kara cause they're so pretty together. Can't complain ;o)

Hey, as long as you're honest about it, and aren't declaring war on people who see it differently, I don't see any problem. It's the ones who consider their One True Pairing to be the One Truth, full stop who make me nuts...

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

*giggle* It's very likely. But only for the duration of when I'm reading your fic...

[woodface]

You mean Sam/Kara isn't the only true way to go? *gasps in horror*

*g* Nah, know what you mean =o)

[woodface]

Well, at least it's something!

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

*chuckle* See, that's the thing: I think romantic pairings are fun to play with once in a while, especially in fic. It's just that it's a small element of a very big tapestry for me.

The advantage is that it allows me to enjoy good fic that is pairing-centric once in a while, without having to worry about whether it's the "right" pairing. I can go "Yeah, I can see that under these circumstances" or just plain "OMG they are so cute/hot/whatever," and then when I'm done enjoying the fic, go merrily back to canon unscathed. Or maybe not unscathed, but occasionally going "Hmmmmm, this could feed into that," as one of the zillion things that might be cool about an episode.

I think people miss a lot by worrying about developments only, or even mostly, in terms of how they affect one's pet pairing. But then, that's clearly how a lot of people enjoy it, so it's not my place to get in the way. *shrug*

[stars-like-dust.livejournal.com]

I think part of the reason Kara/Lee interests me so much is that is SO MESSED UP. I love messed up 'ships. But we've discussed this. A lot. And Julie at a lot of popcorn. ;)

Bring on the slash, bitch!

*so totally amused*

[woodface]

I think with me it is so that I am only interested in ship fics. My filosophy is that if I want gen, then I'll just watch the show. To be honest; at this point in SG it's mostly the ship that is keeping me watching because I'm bored with the plots and storylines. I think it really depends a bit on my mood.

[woodface]

*pats Claira*

One really must wonder where she keeps her supplies.

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

My filosophy is that if I want gen, then I'll just watch the show.

Which is fair. I think there's a lot more that doesn't fit inside the framework of the show than just ship, but that doesn't mean everyone is interested in all of it.

As for watching a show for the ship... It's probably better than just watching it out of habit, which I've done more than once. I try not to. If I'm not interested in what canon is doing anymore, I try to stop watching. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't, it's usually because all my friends are still talking about it. *g*

[woodface]

I guess I just watch mostly for the plots and read fic for the romance. I have a different attitude when I write myself or it's fic by someone who I know writes very good.

Ah, watching out of habit might be something that I have done. Although, I just don't watch all that many shows. I think the one show that I stopped watching because it was turning into a habit and it just did not speak to me anymore was The X-Files.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm not sure what inspires me to "ship" for a show. One thing - tt seems to happen later on for me, once the characters are a bit more developed. But beyond that, I'm not sure what makes go from fan of the show to fan of the pair.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Well, there is the cuteness factor. :D I could see myself getting into the Charlie/Claire pairing on Lost simply because they are like puppies in human form.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

But in recent years, it's invariably the first thing on most people's minds.

Yeah, that's been a head-scratcher for me too. Even though I lurve the Sam/Jack pairing on SG-1, the humor and the self-snark have been the bigger reasons I keep watching. The Sam/Jack thing didn't even happen for me until several years after I saw the first episode.

[woodface]

I'm trying to rembember what made me a shipper for SG but I just can't put my finger on it. Partly because SG used to be something I watched long before I knew online fandom or the term "ship". So by the time I got into the fandom (through SJ fics btw) it pretty much was a matter of recognising that I actually was a shipper.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

Yup. It was the same for me.

[starbuck92.livejournal.com]

Big factor is the squick. Emotional incest anyone?

THANK YOU.

I was against Kara/Lee from the beginning. Relationships between people where one person was once with a sibling don't work! I have a major ew factor when it comes to Lee and Kara hooking up. I hope it stays unrequited on the series. Much prefer their relationship as strictly close friends.

[woodface]

So do I but I don't think it's going to stay that way. I guess I'll have to somehow see that stay openminded for it.

[starbuck92.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I don't think it will affect the show...too much.