stunt_muppet (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stunt_muppet) wrote2009-10-01 02:15 am
stunt_muppet) wrote2009-10-01 02:15 am
why did this take so long. D:
And for some reason I felt obligated to finish it tonight, so now I'm up way too late again and I'm already all thrown off for this week and have missed stuff, this is just bad karma. I was doing so well. D: After this I'm done. I promise. I'll get back on track.
Ahem. The answers to the shipping meme, all 7 pages in Word of them. I talk a lot.
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elyssadc asked me about Doctor Who (Old-School)
+OTP: Tie between Three/Jo and Two/Jamie (only reason I don’t write loads of fic for the latter is because I find them both maddeningly difficult to write). I’m not sure if they’re my actual OTPs or if I’m just enamored of them at the moment, but they’re both built on very deep friendship and care and actually address the power imbalance between the Doctor and his companions rather than pretend it doesn’t exist, and, in so doing, put them on somewhat more equal footing. Also they both engage in lots of clinging and hand-holding and snuggling and other Personal Space Failures.
+ Runner-up: Three/Liz/Brigadier, either as an OT3 or in any of its permutations. Every side of that triangle is complex and tense and fraught with personal failings and interplays of power, authority, respect, and even affection. The Doctor strains against the Brigadier’s authority, rails against him, calls him a fascist and a murderer to his face, but is still reliant on the Brig’s good graces to have any hope of repairing the TARDIS, and despite their ideological differences won’t allow anyone else to harm him; The Brigadier respects the Doctor’s expertise and seems almost fascinated by him – and yet he is quick to metaphorically yank on his chain when he steps out of line, and at the same time considers the Doctor his personal responsibility and is fiercely protective of him. Liz has little patience for the Doctor’s condescension but their relationship is more functional than hostile, and she has a kind of frustrated, head-shaking affection for him; for all that he talks down to her he seems to respect her in a way he doesn’t respect many other people. And Liz and the Brig are all about the snark and verbal barbs and bristling under orders (or, in the Brig’s case, under Liz’s superior scientific knowledge and thus authority in instances where such knowledge is essential) except when they both freak out in their own very restrained and dignified way when the other is in trouble. So, yeah. I can ship each side individually but (until Liz leaves) I always feel like I’m leaving the other one out.
Also, Ben/Polly, because even though so few of their episodes survive they have this lovely dynamic where Polly doesn’t want to like Ben as much as she does, and both argues and flirts with him as a way of covering up how deep those feelings run, and yet as so much fun with him and teases him when he’s in a bad mood and clings to him when there’s trouble. And Ben is just so eager to be impressive but still so fundamentally decent and protective of Polly despite needing her help so darn often and he goads her on and flirts right back sometimes. And they’re the only people in the world, so far as they know, who have lived through the things they’ve lived through, and they have this whole long history that nobody knows about but them, and…oh, they’re lovely.
+ Honorable mention(s): Four/Sarah (well, Doctor/Sarah, really), Four-or-Five/Adric (stop that), Jamie/Victoria (in such a way that it doesn’t conflict with Two/Jamie), Barbara/Ian (cause it’s book canon, bb), Five/Nyssa (I really think she works best with him out of all his companions), Doctor/Master (Three/Delgado!Master primarily, though I love it like pie on TV but don’t read too much fic about it), Everyone at UNIT/Everyone else at UNIT (c’mon, Bell, Hawkins, get your kits off and get in there too).
+ Crack pairing(s): Jo/Victoria, Polly/Benton, Liz/Martha, Polly/Victoria, Polly/Dodo, Jo/Jamie, One/Steven, Steven/Sarah Kingdom, One/Vicki, Liz/Shalka!Nine (counts as Old School, hush). They’re not all crack by the literal definition of crack pairing – I can take them seriously and some of them have even met in canon – but they’ve got little to no fic and some of them, no matter how seriously I *could* take them, are mostly in fun. If I talked about all of them I’d be here all day, so just enquire if you’re curious.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: I don’t know that there are any Old Who ships that I actively dislike. I’m not that enthusiastic about Four/Romana – I read some fic about it and recognize it as important, but I don’t squee over it like I do some of my favorites. And I want to say that I don’t like Five/Turlough but I have a feeling I’ll find Turlough less annoying if I watch more of him, so that seems unfair. I don’t think it’ll ever be one of my favorites, though.
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brewsternorth asked me about Law&Order
+OTP: At the moment, Connie/Michael. After that one episode where she had to defend a suspect and punched holes in Michael’s case I’ve started to kind of ship it in a weird, power-struggly sort of way. Doesn’t hurt that after that I get the feeling that the normally confrontational and kind of condescending Michael is a little bit scared of her. Connie so wears the pants.
+ Runner-up: If we’re talking about the entire extended L&O-verse, draw between Munch/Fin and Olivia/Alex. I can’t decide whether I ship the first of them as an actual romance or as a Heterosexual Life Partner sort of thing, but I love them and the way their personalities play off each other and the way they slowly bond over the course of the series despite having completely opposite backgrounds. And Alex/Olivia is just barely subtextual, but they still get these awesome confrontations over cases where neither of them yields and both obviously respect and admire the other even when they think they’re wrong and afterwards they go have mad hot make-up sex.
+ Honorable mention(s): …I don’t think I ship anyone else? I don’t know, I didn’t really do shipping in this fandom. Maybe Munch/Casey? I’m ashamed to admit it because of the reams of badfic surrounding it and how it comes across as Pair the Spares, but they do have a few good battles of wits in the series and match each other snark for snark, which I like in a pairing.
+ Crack pairing(s): Olivia/Brian Cassidy. Even though he was only in the first season, they did date briefly and he did confide in her about the pressures of being in SVU. I still kind of want to write fic where they meet up while he’s in Narcotics and it’s treating him even worse. And I would ship Van Buren/Ed Green or Van Buren/Lennie Briscoe if Van Buren weren’t married and Briscoe weren’t such a mess that I can’t see him getting into any kind of relationship.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: I’m not much of a Jack/Claire shipper anymore – not because I particularly dislike it but because there’s only so much you can do with it, you know? And I never saw any romantic chemistry between Jack and Abby or Jack and Alexandra.
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rainbowstevie asked me about NCIS
+OTP: Gibbs/Abby. The hugs! The forehead and cheek kisses! The Caf-Pows! How ferociously protective of her he is even by Gibbs standards! How she’s the only person he allows to correct him! I love Abby in general, and I really think her enthusiasm and sly wit and open expression of emotion are good for the closed-off Gibbs. Yeah, the relationship has shades of father/daughter, and I don’t doubt that part of his affection for Abby stems from wanting to have someone to care for, but he just…respects her and engages in her teasing and I think he’s kind of in love with her/wants her but feels guilty about it because she’s so young. (Deep dark secret confession: Older man wracked with guilt and shame about being attracted to a younger woman/man and refusing to act on it out of decency = one of my rather ironclad kinks. I don’t know why, it’s probably unhealthy, but there you go.)
+ Runner-up: McGee/Abby. She flirts with him, you know, all the time. And her teasing often takes on a distinctly provocative tone, which is all the more fun because McGee gets so flustered by it. And they’re prone to adorably geeking out together until Tony starts giving them Looks. Also, judging by “Kill Ari”, I kind of think McGee’s…curious about BDSM but too shy to do much beyond investigate, and you know Abby would be happy to help him explore.
+ Honorable mention(s): Ducky/Abby and Ducky/Gibbs. Ducky and Gibbs are canonically very close (or at least as close as you can be to Gibbs); Ducky knows how to read him and communicate with him in a way most of the rest of the team doesn’t. They’re very contrasting personalities but they sort of understand each other, and I personally like the contrast between Ducky’s cool temper and Gibbs’ repressed Gibbs!rage. Also, Ducky is always a perfect solicitous gentleman around Abby and holds her in very high esteem, and while he’ll offer advice or comfort her if she needs it he never imposes on her and respects her boundaries and her independence. Also, she’s unfazed by his profession and he’s unfazed by her attire despite his age, and they’re both layered and surprising people with more in common than they probably think they have.
+ Crack pairing(s): I don’t know if I have one? Maybe Gibbs/Ziva. Or Abby/Kate. THE SHOW NEVER SAID THEY DIDN’T.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: Tony/Gibbs is apparently the Big Slash Ship in this fandom, but I honestly don’t see it. They have the sort of complex paternal relationship that I normally like, but for some reason this one doesn’t go anywhere for me. I think despite Tony’s storied sex life I find him a little too immature to ship with anyone; he’s like a big kid in a man’s body. It doesn’t help that Tony vacillates, for me, between “lovable man-child with a fundamentally decent interior” and “I’m going to start slapping you now and I may never, ever stop”.
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gorengal asked me about CSI: Vegas
+OTP: Nick/Warrick! In the early seasons they’re teasing and sweet; as the series progresses we see more depth and intensity to their friendship, and they’re each so clearly the most important person to the other, understanding and responding to each other in a way few other people on the team do. And they still joke and kid and have an honestly good relationship at the best of times, which I love. Also, “CSI-3 seniority, sweetie.” :D
Yeah, I basically stopped watching the show after Warrick got Character Derailed. Maybe you could tell.
+ Runner-up: Warrick/Catherine or Catherine/Greg. Dammit all, Catherine deserves a successful relationship after every single one she’s had on the series has ended either disappointingly or homicidally. And I though she and Warrick had great chemistry in the early seasons and exchanged a lot of sly, knowing looks; with Grissom off in his own head Warrick seemed to be the closest person on equal footing with Catherine, though he’s still her subordinate. And…okay, fine, Catherine/Greg is mostly due to Lady Heather’s comments that Catherine would make a good dominatrix combined with Greg’s flirtatiousness and my sneaking suspicion that he’s a bit subbier than he likes to let people think he is.
+ Honorable mention(s): Grissom/Sara (I like how it was mostly played out offscreen, but I thought it had a few problems, and I don’t really seek out fic for it), Sara/Greg (I like the way her cynicism plays against his exterior bubbliness and how he seems to be able to draw a laugh out of her), Grissom/Catherine (for the snark, mainly, as I think an actual relationship would be something of a trainwreck).
+ Crack pairing(s): Greg/Lady Heather. Again, canon doesn’t say they didn’t. And Greg did shove markers up his nose that one time. And seems willing to at least don showgirl getup for lolz. Surely Lady Heather could make something of that.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: Nick/Greg. It’s another one of those really prevalent, popular ships that I simply don’t understand the origins or appeal of at all (a la Tony/Gibbs, above). I mean, yeah, they’re both cute, but Nick’s way closer to Warrick than he is to Greg, and in turn Greg seems a lot closer to Sara (and more flirtatious to Catherine).
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kindkit asked me about New Who:
+OTP: Er…I can’t remember what I ship here. I think Ten/Donna is my favorite at the moment, but I don’t OTP it – I can ship them with someone else easy, and I don’t think their relationship is canonically romantic (as I do for some of my other OTPs). I just like it because it’s fun and Ten and Donna bounce off each other with energy and wit, but Donna’s also exactly the sort of friend Ten needs.
Nine/Rose might be here too, as it was my first ever Doctor-companion team and it was before the Doctor/companion canonical romance started to annoy me.
+ Runner-up: Nine/Rose/Jack. It’s a little more difficult to negotiate than some of my other OT3s, because of the way Nine latches onto Rose and Jack’s status as the newcomer, but they do get such wonderful banter together. I can ship it so long as I don’t start thinking about how problematic and horrible it’d be.
+ Honorable mention(s): Rose/Handy (because it could either be a lovely, interesting mess or a screaming flaming twenty-car trainwreck depending on how you read it; neither is exactly what the other wants and Handy still hasn’t even figured out who he is), Martha/Donna (they were awesome together in the Sontaran two-parter and it makes me very sad that they didn’t spend The Doctor’s Daughter together), Rose/Donna (the only way I can be persuaded to accept JE as canon is if Rose falls for Handy because he’s part Donna and thus AWESOME. And if DoctorDonna somehow retains her memories and goes off on adventures.)
+ Crack pairing(s): Rose/alt!Sarah Jane Smith (I’ve read awesome fic for them that makes excellent use of the altverse and what Sarah’s life would have been like without the Doctor, so naturally I want more), Nine/Lynda-with-a-y (NOT DEAD NOT DEAD), Mickey/awesomeness, Rose/Jo, Martha/Liz. Also Rose/Benton and Martha/Harry, because livii is a bad influence.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: I don’t actually dislike the Big Three in this fandom – Ten/Rose (well okay, I don’t like their endings, but I’ve griped about that before), Ten/Martha, and Ten/Simm!Master - but I’m not that enthusiastic about them, and at various junctures all three of their fandoms have annoyed me for one reason or another, and I don’t generally seek out fic for any of them unless it comes recommended. (I used to read Ten/Martha, but what isn’t bad is often kind of painful to read what with the unrequited love and the embarrassment and Ten’s general cluelessness and there’s only so much of that I can take.) However, “everyone” doesn’t like these, so I don’t know if that counts.
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kayliemalinza (eventually) asked me about Star Trek: Reboot
+OTP: Kirk/McCoy! Plays right into all my buddy!slash weaknesses – they’re argumentative and frustrate each other but stick by one another and spend most of their time together, getting each other more than anybody else. They express affection in odd ways. They’re a pairing of a wilder, more out-there partner with a more grounded partner who’s unfazed by their weirdness. Also, nothing says “I love you” like “I might throw up on you”.
+ Runner-up: Spock/Uhura. I’m usually just okay with canon romances, but I really liked the way this one was handled – it was there, but it was understated and didn’t take over the whole plot. Granted, it also left Uhura with little to do in the second half of the movie, but that’s as much the fault of the story, as it focalized on Kirk and Spock after that, as it is of the romance. I do hope she gets to do more awesome things in the Inevitable Sequel, though.
Also Kirk/Pike, because I simply can’t pass up a senior/subordinate father/son-with-complications relationship. Also because I’m shallow and they’re both ridiculously good-looking, but then, so is everyone in this movie.
+ Honorable mention(s): Spock Prime/Kirk (because it’s deliciously complicated given that NuKirk isn’t Spock’s Kirk, not quite the one he knows, but they’re still, in a way, the same person, and now Spock’s stuck in his world, and Kirk doesn’t really know him yet and has to reconcile Spock Prime with the Spock he’s familiar with and oh, my heart), Kirk/Sulu (DEATH-DEFYING MIDAIR HUG OF GREATNESS), oh what the hell – Kirk/everyone.
+ Crack pairing(s): I really don’t know what’s crack in this fandom beyond, I don’t know, Scotty/tribble. No matter what odd combination of characters you come up with, someone’s written or drawn it. So I’ll go with the ones that I ship on spurious reasons or who haven’t met. Sulu/Pike (parking brake!), Kirk/Chekov (no real reason, but he could be all big-brothery and captainlike to him), Chekov/Scotty (Maths! Geekery! Engineering! Corrupting dubiously innocent young officers!), McCoy/Joycelyn (yes, I know they’re divorced; no, I don’t mean getting them back together; ask Kaylie, it’s kind of her fault), Chekov/Jo Grant (it’s a critical mass of cuteness, Captain!), Gaila/McCoy (GAILA LIVES).
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: I know it’s The Original Pairing and all, but Kirk/Spock didn’t really ping me in this movie – and this was when I’d already seen the movie once and was looking for it. I’ll read it if it’s good, and I ship it on principle because hey, Kirk/everyone, but I don’t seek it out with the same appetite as Kirk/McCoy. That and the racewank over Uhura soured me on the pairing a little – it’s not fair, and I’m trying to shake the association, but there it is.
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biichan asked me about Middleman
+OTP: Tie between Wendy/Tyler and Wendy/Lacey. On the one hand, Tyler is the most unbelievably perfect boyfriend in the whole world, and he and Wendy are so adorable together it makes me flail and make undignified squeaking noises, especially when they play unbelievably violent video games together. On the other hand, Lacey is probably the most unbelievably perfect girlfriend in the whole wide world and she and Wendy make me do the same squeaking-noises thing, like during the Art Crawl – they’re the best of friends and they lean on and care for each other so much. Possibly I could resolve this with Wendy/Lacey/Tyler? I can convince myself that Lacey/Tyler is possible sometimes.
+ Runner-up: Middleman/Wendy. Look, I know I shouldn’t ship it, I know they were explicitly set up as father/daughter, but…but..damn it, I can’t help it, what do you want me to do when he gets that upset over her potential death?
+ Honorable mention(s): Middleman/Lacey. Sexy Boss Man. That’s my argument, really. I need to actually see the episode where they go on a date. And then write fic. (No, I haven’t finished the series. I don’t want it to be over. :( )
+ Crack pairing(s): Uh…1969!Middleman/Ida. More textual than you think! She wears rollerblades around him and everything. Also, Wendy/Mirror!Middleman, because I’m a shallow, shallow person.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: …I don’t know? I kind of like all of them, really. I guess I don’t really ship Noser with anyone, but Noser needs no shipping. Although I think I’d read him with Wendy or Lacey. I’d also read fic where he’s actually a manifestation of Kokopelli, but that’s just me.
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nentari asked me about CSI: Miami
+OTP: Horatio/Marisol. Yes, still. It’s just…the more I look at and think about their relationship, the more I realize how dark you could make it if you wanted to – you could go into how direly he needs someone to rely on him, how much he craves being needed, and counterpose that with how she wants someone to take care of her, how she seems to know how to get what she wants but is used to having people give her what she wants in one way or another. It’s kind of dysfunctional, and yet still kind of sweet, and I don’t know if they honestly would have made it past the first year of marriage if she’d survived but it at least would have been interesting.
Also, Alana de la Garza. Hello, girlcrush.
+ Runner-up: Horatio/Yelina and Horatio/Ryan. The former’s pretty much canon, and it comes so close to working but it runs headfirst into the roadblock of Horatio’s issues, which are kind of what make it interesting. Plus, I mentioned that the women we see Horatio with tend to be people who need him and who he can offer a shoulder and a “there, there” to; Yelina doesn’t need him for that but seems to like him anyway, which in turn intrigues and attracts him but also discomforts him to the point where he pushes her away. And Yelina, for her part, wants to pursue him and knows he wants the same but doesn’t insist on overstepping those boundaries they’ve built around each other, suggesting that those rules and barriers are a safety measure for her as well, perhaps for denying her own dissatisfaction with her marriage or for preventing what she suspects might be another ill-advised relationship.
Horatio/Ryan is the hell all over Season 3 and 4 and I don’t know why more people don’t ship it. Ryan’s the only person Horatio trusts during the debacle with the lab mole, and Ryan in turn looks up to him and prizes his confidence in him and turns to him both for help and for approval. Horatio trusts Ryan more than anyone else at the lab even though Ryan’s the newcomer among them, the one that’s worked with them for the shortest time – though it’s interesting to note that he was the one that picked out and accepted Ryan for the job. Hmm.
+ Honorable mention(s): Calleigh/Eric, or at least the more subtextual flirtation of the early season before it became this big dramatic Thing that ate up Calleigh’s character and most of Eric’s. Eric/Speed, especially given Eric’s hallucinations after his (first of, what, fifty?) headshot. Horatio/Stelter, because what the hell else did they want us to think of that, seriously, the constant attempts to reconcile and the rejected offers of sympathy and the inexplicably matching clothes point me in a certain direction that I suspect many viewers can follow.
+ Crack pairing(s): Ryan/Alexx. I can’t sincerely ship it since Alexx is married and I don’t want to break up her marriage, but she’s very protective of Ryan and he of her, and they’re always right by each other’s side when one of them’s injured or in danger, and she calls him her hero that one time, and he’s clearly in awe of her but tries to hide it. And she dotes on him a bit even if she calls him on his screw-ups as often as she does Eric. It’s all a bit mother/son, which makes it extra-icky that I ship it, but whatever.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: Eric/Ryan. Again, I just really don’t see it. I don’t see their rivalry as sexual tension; I can’t really see how it’d even go there, and to be honest Eric reads to me as almost aggressively straight. I mean, he doesn’t have to be, but he does have, um, a good deal of evidence in favor of him being at least a female-preferential bisexual.
Also Horatio/Speed. I guess I can see where it’s coming from, but I started watching the show after Speed had already died, so I didn’t latch onto him and start shipping him with people the way I did Ryan. And…I don’t know. Just didn’t click with me, I suppose.
Ugh. SLEEPS. Needs it now. *collapses* Memes are so stressful sometimes.
Ahem. The answers to the shipping meme, all 7 pages in Word of them. I talk a lot.
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elyssadc asked me about Doctor Who (Old-School)+OTP: Tie between Three/Jo and Two/Jamie (only reason I don’t write loads of fic for the latter is because I find them both maddeningly difficult to write). I’m not sure if they’re my actual OTPs or if I’m just enamored of them at the moment, but they’re both built on very deep friendship and care and actually address the power imbalance between the Doctor and his companions rather than pretend it doesn’t exist, and, in so doing, put them on somewhat more equal footing. Also they both engage in lots of clinging and hand-holding and snuggling and other Personal Space Failures.
+ Runner-up: Three/Liz/Brigadier, either as an OT3 or in any of its permutations. Every side of that triangle is complex and tense and fraught with personal failings and interplays of power, authority, respect, and even affection. The Doctor strains against the Brigadier’s authority, rails against him, calls him a fascist and a murderer to his face, but is still reliant on the Brig’s good graces to have any hope of repairing the TARDIS, and despite their ideological differences won’t allow anyone else to harm him; The Brigadier respects the Doctor’s expertise and seems almost fascinated by him – and yet he is quick to metaphorically yank on his chain when he steps out of line, and at the same time considers the Doctor his personal responsibility and is fiercely protective of him. Liz has little patience for the Doctor’s condescension but their relationship is more functional than hostile, and she has a kind of frustrated, head-shaking affection for him; for all that he talks down to her he seems to respect her in a way he doesn’t respect many other people. And Liz and the Brig are all about the snark and verbal barbs and bristling under orders (or, in the Brig’s case, under Liz’s superior scientific knowledge and thus authority in instances where such knowledge is essential) except when they both freak out in their own very restrained and dignified way when the other is in trouble. So, yeah. I can ship each side individually but (until Liz leaves) I always feel like I’m leaving the other one out.
Also, Ben/Polly, because even though so few of their episodes survive they have this lovely dynamic where Polly doesn’t want to like Ben as much as she does, and both argues and flirts with him as a way of covering up how deep those feelings run, and yet as so much fun with him and teases him when he’s in a bad mood and clings to him when there’s trouble. And Ben is just so eager to be impressive but still so fundamentally decent and protective of Polly despite needing her help so darn often and he goads her on and flirts right back sometimes. And they’re the only people in the world, so far as they know, who have lived through the things they’ve lived through, and they have this whole long history that nobody knows about but them, and…oh, they’re lovely.
+ Honorable mention(s): Four/Sarah (well, Doctor/Sarah, really), Four-or-Five/Adric (stop that), Jamie/Victoria (in such a way that it doesn’t conflict with Two/Jamie), Barbara/Ian (cause it’s book canon, bb), Five/Nyssa (I really think she works best with him out of all his companions), Doctor/Master (Three/Delgado!Master primarily, though I love it like pie on TV but don’t read too much fic about it), Everyone at UNIT/Everyone else at UNIT (c’mon, Bell, Hawkins, get your kits off and get in there too).
+ Crack pairing(s): Jo/Victoria, Polly/Benton, Liz/Martha, Polly/Victoria, Polly/Dodo, Jo/Jamie, One/Steven, Steven/Sarah Kingdom, One/Vicki, Liz/Shalka!Nine (counts as Old School, hush). They’re not all crack by the literal definition of crack pairing – I can take them seriously and some of them have even met in canon – but they’ve got little to no fic and some of them, no matter how seriously I *could* take them, are mostly in fun. If I talked about all of them I’d be here all day, so just enquire if you’re curious.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: I don’t know that there are any Old Who ships that I actively dislike. I’m not that enthusiastic about Four/Romana – I read some fic about it and recognize it as important, but I don’t squee over it like I do some of my favorites. And I want to say that I don’t like Five/Turlough but I have a feeling I’ll find Turlough less annoying if I watch more of him, so that seems unfair. I don’t think it’ll ever be one of my favorites, though.
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brewsternorth asked me about Law&Order+OTP: At the moment, Connie/Michael. After that one episode where she had to defend a suspect and punched holes in Michael’s case I’ve started to kind of ship it in a weird, power-struggly sort of way. Doesn’t hurt that after that I get the feeling that the normally confrontational and kind of condescending Michael is a little bit scared of her. Connie so wears the pants.
+ Runner-up: If we’re talking about the entire extended L&O-verse, draw between Munch/Fin and Olivia/Alex. I can’t decide whether I ship the first of them as an actual romance or as a Heterosexual Life Partner sort of thing, but I love them and the way their personalities play off each other and the way they slowly bond over the course of the series despite having completely opposite backgrounds. And Alex/Olivia is just barely subtextual, but they still get these awesome confrontations over cases where neither of them yields and both obviously respect and admire the other even when they think they’re wrong and afterwards they go have mad hot make-up sex.
+ Honorable mention(s): …I don’t think I ship anyone else? I don’t know, I didn’t really do shipping in this fandom. Maybe Munch/Casey? I’m ashamed to admit it because of the reams of badfic surrounding it and how it comes across as Pair the Spares, but they do have a few good battles of wits in the series and match each other snark for snark, which I like in a pairing.
+ Crack pairing(s): Olivia/Brian Cassidy. Even though he was only in the first season, they did date briefly and he did confide in her about the pressures of being in SVU. I still kind of want to write fic where they meet up while he’s in Narcotics and it’s treating him even worse. And I would ship Van Buren/Ed Green or Van Buren/Lennie Briscoe if Van Buren weren’t married and Briscoe weren’t such a mess that I can’t see him getting into any kind of relationship.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: I’m not much of a Jack/Claire shipper anymore – not because I particularly dislike it but because there’s only so much you can do with it, you know? And I never saw any romantic chemistry between Jack and Abby or Jack and Alexandra.
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rainbowstevie asked me about NCIS+OTP: Gibbs/Abby. The hugs! The forehead and cheek kisses! The Caf-Pows! How ferociously protective of her he is even by Gibbs standards! How she’s the only person he allows to correct him! I love Abby in general, and I really think her enthusiasm and sly wit and open expression of emotion are good for the closed-off Gibbs. Yeah, the relationship has shades of father/daughter, and I don’t doubt that part of his affection for Abby stems from wanting to have someone to care for, but he just…respects her and engages in her teasing and I think he’s kind of in love with her/wants her but feels guilty about it because she’s so young. (Deep dark secret confession: Older man wracked with guilt and shame about being attracted to a younger woman/man and refusing to act on it out of decency = one of my rather ironclad kinks. I don’t know why, it’s probably unhealthy, but there you go.)
+ Runner-up: McGee/Abby. She flirts with him, you know, all the time. And her teasing often takes on a distinctly provocative tone, which is all the more fun because McGee gets so flustered by it. And they’re prone to adorably geeking out together until Tony starts giving them Looks. Also, judging by “Kill Ari”, I kind of think McGee’s…curious about BDSM but too shy to do much beyond investigate, and you know Abby would be happy to help him explore.
+ Honorable mention(s): Ducky/Abby and Ducky/Gibbs. Ducky and Gibbs are canonically very close (or at least as close as you can be to Gibbs); Ducky knows how to read him and communicate with him in a way most of the rest of the team doesn’t. They’re very contrasting personalities but they sort of understand each other, and I personally like the contrast between Ducky’s cool temper and Gibbs’ repressed Gibbs!rage. Also, Ducky is always a perfect solicitous gentleman around Abby and holds her in very high esteem, and while he’ll offer advice or comfort her if she needs it he never imposes on her and respects her boundaries and her independence. Also, she’s unfazed by his profession and he’s unfazed by her attire despite his age, and they’re both layered and surprising people with more in common than they probably think they have.
+ Crack pairing(s): I don’t know if I have one? Maybe Gibbs/Ziva. Or Abby/Kate. THE SHOW NEVER SAID THEY DIDN’T.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: Tony/Gibbs is apparently the Big Slash Ship in this fandom, but I honestly don’t see it. They have the sort of complex paternal relationship that I normally like, but for some reason this one doesn’t go anywhere for me. I think despite Tony’s storied sex life I find him a little too immature to ship with anyone; he’s like a big kid in a man’s body. It doesn’t help that Tony vacillates, for me, between “lovable man-child with a fundamentally decent interior” and “I’m going to start slapping you now and I may never, ever stop”.
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gorengal asked me about CSI: Vegas+OTP: Nick/Warrick! In the early seasons they’re teasing and sweet; as the series progresses we see more depth and intensity to their friendship, and they’re each so clearly the most important person to the other, understanding and responding to each other in a way few other people on the team do. And they still joke and kid and have an honestly good relationship at the best of times, which I love. Also, “CSI-3 seniority, sweetie.” :D
Yeah, I basically stopped watching the show after Warrick got Character Derailed. Maybe you could tell.
+ Runner-up: Warrick/Catherine or Catherine/Greg. Dammit all, Catherine deserves a successful relationship after every single one she’s had on the series has ended either disappointingly or homicidally. And I though she and Warrick had great chemistry in the early seasons and exchanged a lot of sly, knowing looks; with Grissom off in his own head Warrick seemed to be the closest person on equal footing with Catherine, though he’s still her subordinate. And…okay, fine, Catherine/Greg is mostly due to Lady Heather’s comments that Catherine would make a good dominatrix combined with Greg’s flirtatiousness and my sneaking suspicion that he’s a bit subbier than he likes to let people think he is.
+ Honorable mention(s): Grissom/Sara (I like how it was mostly played out offscreen, but I thought it had a few problems, and I don’t really seek out fic for it), Sara/Greg (I like the way her cynicism plays against his exterior bubbliness and how he seems to be able to draw a laugh out of her), Grissom/Catherine (for the snark, mainly, as I think an actual relationship would be something of a trainwreck).
+ Crack pairing(s): Greg/Lady Heather. Again, canon doesn’t say they didn’t. And Greg did shove markers up his nose that one time. And seems willing to at least don showgirl getup for lolz. Surely Lady Heather could make something of that.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: Nick/Greg. It’s another one of those really prevalent, popular ships that I simply don’t understand the origins or appeal of at all (a la Tony/Gibbs, above). I mean, yeah, they’re both cute, but Nick’s way closer to Warrick than he is to Greg, and in turn Greg seems a lot closer to Sara (and more flirtatious to Catherine).
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kindkit asked me about New Who:+OTP: Er…I can’t remember what I ship here. I think Ten/Donna is my favorite at the moment, but I don’t OTP it – I can ship them with someone else easy, and I don’t think their relationship is canonically romantic (as I do for some of my other OTPs). I just like it because it’s fun and Ten and Donna bounce off each other with energy and wit, but Donna’s also exactly the sort of friend Ten needs.
Nine/Rose might be here too, as it was my first ever Doctor-companion team and it was before the Doctor/companion canonical romance started to annoy me.
+ Runner-up: Nine/Rose/Jack. It’s a little more difficult to negotiate than some of my other OT3s, because of the way Nine latches onto Rose and Jack’s status as the newcomer, but they do get such wonderful banter together. I can ship it so long as I don’t start thinking about how problematic and horrible it’d be.
+ Honorable mention(s): Rose/Handy (because it could either be a lovely, interesting mess or a screaming flaming twenty-car trainwreck depending on how you read it; neither is exactly what the other wants and Handy still hasn’t even figured out who he is), Martha/Donna (they were awesome together in the Sontaran two-parter and it makes me very sad that they didn’t spend The Doctor’s Daughter together), Rose/Donna (the only way I can be persuaded to accept JE as canon is if Rose falls for Handy because he’s part Donna and thus AWESOME. And if DoctorDonna somehow retains her memories and goes off on adventures.)
+ Crack pairing(s): Rose/alt!Sarah Jane Smith (I’ve read awesome fic for them that makes excellent use of the altverse and what Sarah’s life would have been like without the Doctor, so naturally I want more), Nine/Lynda-with-a-y (NOT DEAD NOT DEAD), Mickey/awesomeness, Rose/Jo, Martha/Liz. Also Rose/Benton and Martha/Harry, because livii is a bad influence.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: I don’t actually dislike the Big Three in this fandom – Ten/Rose (well okay, I don’t like their endings, but I’ve griped about that before), Ten/Martha, and Ten/Simm!Master - but I’m not that enthusiastic about them, and at various junctures all three of their fandoms have annoyed me for one reason or another, and I don’t generally seek out fic for any of them unless it comes recommended. (I used to read Ten/Martha, but what isn’t bad is often kind of painful to read what with the unrequited love and the embarrassment and Ten’s general cluelessness and there’s only so much of that I can take.) However, “everyone” doesn’t like these, so I don’t know if that counts.
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kayliemalinza (eventually) asked me about Star Trek: Reboot+OTP: Kirk/McCoy! Plays right into all my buddy!slash weaknesses – they’re argumentative and frustrate each other but stick by one another and spend most of their time together, getting each other more than anybody else. They express affection in odd ways. They’re a pairing of a wilder, more out-there partner with a more grounded partner who’s unfazed by their weirdness. Also, nothing says “I love you” like “I might throw up on you”.
+ Runner-up: Spock/Uhura. I’m usually just okay with canon romances, but I really liked the way this one was handled – it was there, but it was understated and didn’t take over the whole plot. Granted, it also left Uhura with little to do in the second half of the movie, but that’s as much the fault of the story, as it focalized on Kirk and Spock after that, as it is of the romance. I do hope she gets to do more awesome things in the Inevitable Sequel, though.
Also Kirk/Pike, because I simply can’t pass up a senior/subordinate father/son-with-complications relationship. Also because I’m shallow and they’re both ridiculously good-looking, but then, so is everyone in this movie.
+ Honorable mention(s): Spock Prime/Kirk (because it’s deliciously complicated given that NuKirk isn’t Spock’s Kirk, not quite the one he knows, but they’re still, in a way, the same person, and now Spock’s stuck in his world, and Kirk doesn’t really know him yet and has to reconcile Spock Prime with the Spock he’s familiar with and oh, my heart), Kirk/Sulu (DEATH-DEFYING MIDAIR HUG OF GREATNESS), oh what the hell – Kirk/everyone.
+ Crack pairing(s): I really don’t know what’s crack in this fandom beyond, I don’t know, Scotty/tribble. No matter what odd combination of characters you come up with, someone’s written or drawn it. So I’ll go with the ones that I ship on spurious reasons or who haven’t met. Sulu/Pike (parking brake!), Kirk/Chekov (no real reason, but he could be all big-brothery and captainlike to him), Chekov/Scotty (Maths! Geekery! Engineering! Corrupting dubiously innocent young officers!), McCoy/Joycelyn (yes, I know they’re divorced; no, I don’t mean getting them back together; ask Kaylie, it’s kind of her fault), Chekov/Jo Grant (it’s a critical mass of cuteness, Captain!), Gaila/McCoy (GAILA LIVES).
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: I know it’s The Original Pairing and all, but Kirk/Spock didn’t really ping me in this movie – and this was when I’d already seen the movie once and was looking for it. I’ll read it if it’s good, and I ship it on principle because hey, Kirk/everyone, but I don’t seek it out with the same appetite as Kirk/McCoy. That and the racewank over Uhura soured me on the pairing a little – it’s not fair, and I’m trying to shake the association, but there it is.
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biichan asked me about Middleman+OTP: Tie between Wendy/Tyler and Wendy/Lacey. On the one hand, Tyler is the most unbelievably perfect boyfriend in the whole world, and he and Wendy are so adorable together it makes me flail and make undignified squeaking noises, especially when they play unbelievably violent video games together. On the other hand, Lacey is probably the most unbelievably perfect girlfriend in the whole wide world and she and Wendy make me do the same squeaking-noises thing, like during the Art Crawl – they’re the best of friends and they lean on and care for each other so much. Possibly I could resolve this with Wendy/Lacey/Tyler? I can convince myself that Lacey/Tyler is possible sometimes.
+ Runner-up: Middleman/Wendy. Look, I know I shouldn’t ship it, I know they were explicitly set up as father/daughter, but…but..damn it, I can’t help it, what do you want me to do when he gets that upset over her potential death?
+ Honorable mention(s): Middleman/Lacey. Sexy Boss Man. That’s my argument, really. I need to actually see the episode where they go on a date. And then write fic. (No, I haven’t finished the series. I don’t want it to be over. :( )
+ Crack pairing(s): Uh…1969!Middleman/Ida. More textual than you think! She wears rollerblades around him and everything. Also, Wendy/Mirror!Middleman, because I’m a shallow, shallow person.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: …I don’t know? I kind of like all of them, really. I guess I don’t really ship Noser with anyone, but Noser needs no shipping. Although I think I’d read him with Wendy or Lacey. I’d also read fic where he’s actually a manifestation of Kokopelli, but that’s just me.
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nentari asked me about CSI: Miami+OTP: Horatio/Marisol. Yes, still. It’s just…the more I look at and think about their relationship, the more I realize how dark you could make it if you wanted to – you could go into how direly he needs someone to rely on him, how much he craves being needed, and counterpose that with how she wants someone to take care of her, how she seems to know how to get what she wants but is used to having people give her what she wants in one way or another. It’s kind of dysfunctional, and yet still kind of sweet, and I don’t know if they honestly would have made it past the first year of marriage if she’d survived but it at least would have been interesting.
Also, Alana de la Garza. Hello, girlcrush.
+ Runner-up: Horatio/Yelina and Horatio/Ryan. The former’s pretty much canon, and it comes so close to working but it runs headfirst into the roadblock of Horatio’s issues, which are kind of what make it interesting. Plus, I mentioned that the women we see Horatio with tend to be people who need him and who he can offer a shoulder and a “there, there” to; Yelina doesn’t need him for that but seems to like him anyway, which in turn intrigues and attracts him but also discomforts him to the point where he pushes her away. And Yelina, for her part, wants to pursue him and knows he wants the same but doesn’t insist on overstepping those boundaries they’ve built around each other, suggesting that those rules and barriers are a safety measure for her as well, perhaps for denying her own dissatisfaction with her marriage or for preventing what she suspects might be another ill-advised relationship.
Horatio/Ryan is the hell all over Season 3 and 4 and I don’t know why more people don’t ship it. Ryan’s the only person Horatio trusts during the debacle with the lab mole, and Ryan in turn looks up to him and prizes his confidence in him and turns to him both for help and for approval. Horatio trusts Ryan more than anyone else at the lab even though Ryan’s the newcomer among them, the one that’s worked with them for the shortest time – though it’s interesting to note that he was the one that picked out and accepted Ryan for the job. Hmm.
+ Honorable mention(s): Calleigh/Eric, or at least the more subtextual flirtation of the early season before it became this big dramatic Thing that ate up Calleigh’s character and most of Eric’s. Eric/Speed, especially given Eric’s hallucinations after his (first of, what, fifty?) headshot. Horatio/Stelter, because what the hell else did they want us to think of that, seriously, the constant attempts to reconcile and the rejected offers of sympathy and the inexplicably matching clothes point me in a certain direction that I suspect many viewers can follow.
+ Crack pairing(s): Ryan/Alexx. I can’t sincerely ship it since Alexx is married and I don’t want to break up her marriage, but she’s very protective of Ryan and he of her, and they’re always right by each other’s side when one of them’s injured or in danger, and she calls him her hero that one time, and he’s clearly in awe of her but tries to hide it. And she dotes on him a bit even if she calls him on his screw-ups as often as she does Eric. It’s all a bit mother/son, which makes it extra-icky that I ship it, but whatever.
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't: Eric/Ryan. Again, I just really don’t see it. I don’t see their rivalry as sexual tension; I can’t really see how it’d even go there, and to be honest Eric reads to me as almost aggressively straight. I mean, he doesn’t have to be, but he does have, um, a good deal of evidence in favor of him being at least a female-preferential bisexual.
Also Horatio/Speed. I guess I can see where it’s coming from, but I started watching the show after Speed had already died, so I didn’t latch onto him and start shipping him with people the way I did Ryan. And…I don’t know. Just didn’t click with me, I suppose.
Ugh. SLEEPS. Needs it now. *collapses* Memes are so stressful sometimes.
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I'll comment properly later, but right now I'm typing up this fic that SOMEONE prompted me for but I can't for the life of me remember who it was, oh dearie. ^^
P.S. It makes me so happy that you called Pike "ridiculously good looking." I feel less weird and pervy, mebbe.
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It wasn't even the fandom I asked about, but I completely agree about the greatness of Nick/Warrick and the inexplicable popularity of Nick/Greg. On my more cynical days, I suspect that the latter is more popular because Greg is white. *sigh*
I know they were explicitly set up as father/daughter
I can see how the show was trying for that, but that's not how their dynamic reads to me at all. For one thing, they're not that far apart in age--I don't think he could be more than ten years older than her and probably less. And considering we see a romance between the Middleman and Lacey, who if anything reads as younger than Wendy, the age difference clearly isn't in itself an impediment. Plus, the way they relate is just . . . sibling-y, not father/daughter-y. I don't ship them at all, but I don't see the parental thing.
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Gibbs/Abby is beyond adorable. We've only finished season 4 over here - which means the fandom in my country is going to be on the brink of hysteria for AGES because NCIS:LA's Kensi is played by a very popular Portuguese actress and we're still two seasons away from getting to see her in action.
I never got into Nick/Greg either. I mean, I've always got their closeness (and I got stronger vibes off it than of Nick/Warrick, I've got to admit, even though I keep on rewatching Unfriendly Skies for the joy of seeing them play husband and wife :P) but I've always seen it more as a brotherly kind of thing. Sara/Greg was my big ship back in the day, as I loved to see that he was always able to put a smile on her face no matter how stressed out she'd be - plus his puppy-crush on her was adorable.
And I can't see Eric/Ryan either. I've started watching CSI:Miami from the very beginning (but for some reason ended up missing the Marisol season), so I've always been aware of the closeness between Eric and Speed (again, a brotherly relationship only for me) and always felt that Eric, though gradually closer to Ryan, never stopped seeing him as Speed's replacement. *shrugs*
The memory of Speed I feel also worked on the way I see the relationship between Ryan and Alexx, but the opposite way; Alexx was very close to Speed and was devastated by his death (one of the scenes that got me the most in this show was Alexx doing the post-mortem on Speed and crying her eyes out the whole time), and as a result was a big aggressive on Ryan when they first met, but that soon vanished and she quickly took him under her wing. I can't say I actually ship anyone in this apart from Horatio/Yelina (I'm a bit "meh" on Eric/Calleigh and, like I said, I missed the Marisol storyline), but I like almost all of the various relationships we get in this one.
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Basically: KIRK/MCCOY OMG YES. I thought Kirk and Spock had the beginnings of a strong connection and I liked that, but Kirk/McCoy were way cuter.
I couldn't get into Spock/Uhura, because I felt like that's virtually all they gave her to do in the movie. I know she made the translation that set things in motion, but then she spent most of the rest being subject to frequent shots looking The Worried Girlfriend, and not much else, and that was so disappointing. (My friend says that's still more than she got to do on she show, which...really doesn't make anyone sound good.) And on his end, I thought the mom stuff was more effective Proof He Has Feelings. Though the tender way they acted with each other was definitely sweet.
What I mean is that I wanted the movie to be about everything that it wasn't about: namely, Chekov, Scotty, Sulu, and McCoy running around the ship trying to make shit work. Kirk could maybe have a minor role as McCoy's love interest, I dunno. Just gimme more of those other four and I can't really complain.
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