'ships meme, from various people on my flist

[selenak]

"One true foursome" ship:
(Two couples.)

I'm with 112_12_12 on that one. The Fanged Four - Angel(us)/Darla, and Spike/Drusilla. They actually weren't together that long in that combination - a measly 20 years, as opposed to the forty years Dru was with Angel and Darla, and the century Angel and Darla were together alone before that, but still. Those flashbacks were glorious. (And great examples of the Rashomon principle in crossover storytelling, as the same events in the episodes Fool for Love and Darla looked quite differently, depending on the pov.)

Not that we ever saw them on screen at the same time, but I also have a soft spot for Jack/"Laura" (Irina) and Arvin/Emily (from Alias) back in the 70s, and love fanfic that explores what it must have been like.


"Canon" ship:

Lois Lane/Clark Kent in Lois & Clark. My favourite incarnations of these iconic characters, the ones that pull of both the best friends becoming lovers and the triangle-with-yourself angle. Whether they spar, flirt, or investigate, they're just fun together.

Close runner up: Jin/Sun from Lost. By far my favourite romance on this show. Seeing as the characters start out as married and estranged, it is told without any of the usual tropes - no building up UST, for example; it's a layered relationship and wonderfully acted and written.

"Not quite canon but should be" ship:

I can't list either Doctor/Master (Doctor Who) or Londo/G'Kar (Babylon 5) here as I think both of these are canon, we're just not given graphic on screen details, that's all. So - Buffy/Faith (BTVS), in that canon deliberately plays with subtext but leaves it open whether one of them will ever take it further.

Runner-up: Laura Roslin/Tom Zarek (Battlestar Galactica). Damm it, Moore. Their scenes in early s3 were such a tease, and so were their scenes in s1 and s2. Would have been way more interesting than what you went with.


"If this happens I'll stab my eyes out with a spork" ship:

My eyes are safe, but I felt the emotion behind the statement when it did happen: Kara/Lee in Battlestar Galactica. My relief when it blessedly ended is still overwhelming.

"You are one sick bastard" ship:

John Crichton/ Scorpius from Farscape. My problem here is that what fanfic there is is non-con, which is one of my anti-kinks. Otoh, I can see why, because the obstacles to John saying yes voluntarily are, err, enormous, no matter how much the show plays that entire relationship as a twisted courtship. But I just love their scenes together on screen and still wish someone would pull off a convincing scenario in fanfic that doesn't include John being forced into it.

"I dabble a little" ship:

John Locke/ Benjamin Linus from Lost. I mean, strictly speaking it's a triangle they have going with the island as the third and domineering party, but their relationship with each other is just fascinating, and the chemistry is amazing. I'm not actually sure I want it to be sexual; hence "dabble" and "little". But I do wish it would spawn more fanfic of any kind.

"It's like a car crash" ship:

In the sense of "messed up and doomed but compelling to watch": Wesley/Lilah in Angel. As opposed to most people who liked that ship in this sense, I also was okay with it ending, and thought their scene in Home was the perfect final note.

In the sense of "even the very thought freaks me out": with kindkit on this one. Martha/Master. He enslaved her family and brutalized her planet. She despises him. Also, check out Lucy in LotTL if you want to know how the Master does treat a human he's involved with. Lastly, I find the justification for this I've seen - "Martha deserves a time lord, the Master is hot, clearly they should be together" - absolutely idiotic.

"Tickles my fancy but not quite sold yet" ship:

Peter/Elle, from Heroes. I mean, I enjoyed their scenes together, which were far more interesting than either Peter/Simone in s1 or Peter/Caitlin in s2 plus avoid the shmoop Peter/Claire would have were they not related, and made the fanon about Peter as a manipulative, somewhat masochistic bottom canon .*g*. But Hiro/Charlie aside, Heroes has a track record of fail when it comes to textual romances, so I'm not sure whether or not I want it to go there. Also, there is the danger of redemption-through-sex which is so not what I want for Elle.

"Makes no canon sense but why they hell not" ship:

Darla/ Buffy. I mean, there is basically no way you could pull this off in canon, but a while back, rozk wrote an AU in which it was believable.

Wesley/Buffy. Again with the AU; I've seen stories in which season 6 era Buffy and season 4 era Wesley, who have a lot in common at that point of their lives and of course have the uneasy backstory, meet again.


"Everyone else loves it but I just don't feel it" ship:

There is no universally loved 'ship. Even the most popular ones have their detractors. Wait, make that "especially the most popular ones". So, in the sense of "many love it but I just don't feel the love, without being violently disposed against it which would put it in the "spork my eyes" category instead":

Jack/Ianto in Torchwood. I find them believable as a couple in s2 in a way I didn't in s1, but I still am completely uninterested, finding their scenes with other characters more compelling than the ones they have with each other.

Runner-up: John/Aeryn in Farscape, Doctor/Rose in Doctor Who. (Any incarnation of the Doctor, to make that clear.)


"When all is said and done" ship:

Londo/G'Kar in Babylon 5 for epicness (and the best example of how to credibly pull off a mortal enemies to friends/lovers development without compromising either character), and Londo and Vir in the not romantic but crucial loving relationship ship sense. Can't elevate one above the other.

"Guilty pleasure" ship:

Arvin Sloane/ the Bristows from Alias. Either Jack or Sydney. He loves them both, and it's screwed up to the nth degree, especially with Sydney where it's mostly but not completely paternal.

"I can't believe I read it and liked it" ship:

I once read a Blake's 7 fanzine in which Avon, Servalan and Blake crash on a planet, and the sex that happens isn't either Blake/Avon or Avon/Servalan but Blake/Servalan. Trust me, the writers actually pulled this off.

Favourite older/younger ship:

Duncan/Amanda from Highlander. What? She's over a thousand years old, I'll have you know, and he's a measly 400.

My first, "I could never abandon you" ship:

*tries to think back* ....Garak/Bashir on DS9? It's certainly the first ship I explicitly sought out fanfiction for, and it's still one of the few where I avoid reading either participant in another pairing.

Favourite devotion ship:

Other than Londo 'n Vir as mentioned above, Peter and Nathan from Heroes. Their co-dependence keeps saving the world, you know.

Favourite never-met ship:

I did promise to write a Londo/Chiana story for andrastewhite, I had great fun with my Quark/Chiana story ages back, and I'm still proud of pairing up Bill Adama with Lwaxana Troi.

Favourite "Awwww!" ship:

Hiro/Charlie in Heroes. 'Twas adorable. If we're talking friendship, then also Hiro and Nathan. Flying Man and Teleporter Guy, all the way.

Favourite perverted ship:

Fanged Four interpersonal relationships? Otherwise, see "guilty pleasure".

Favourite dominance!battle ship:

Doctor/Master from Doctor Who. This has the advantage of featuring two people who go through personality shifts (though some core elements remain the same) and different bodies, which means you can approach them from so many different angles.

Comments

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I wrote a Crichton/Scorpius story once that wasn't actually non-con, but given that it basically involved breaking Crichton down to the point of self-destructiveness, maybe it wasn't much better. :)

Lastly, I find the justification for this I've seen - "Martha deserves a time lord, the Master is hot, clearly they should be together" - absolutely idiotic.

OMG, do people actually say that? *does the faceplam-headdesk dance of fannish despair*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

...and then they go on about how Yana proves the Master is at his core a really nice guy, which proves the Master clearly would be single-mindedly devoted to Martha, never ever make thoughtless and/or insulting remarks and treat her like a treasure.... yeah.

...can I find your Crichton/Scorpius via your userinfo, just to check?

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

*makes inarticulate, strangled noises* Have they ever actually watched the show?!

You can find it via my fic index (http://astrogirl2.livejournal.com/470471.html). Actually, here: "Warm in the Night, Cold as a Stone" (http://astrogirl2.livejournal.com/321244.html). Note that it's an explicit NC-17. Sort of a PWP with horrible angst, really. :)

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Holy fuck. Sorry about the swearing but just... Holy fuck. Doctor Who fandom really is one of those where, even when you think you've seen the worst of the lunacy, there's EVEN MORE.

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

...and then they go on about how Yana proves the Master is at his core a really nice guy

*spits out tea*

which proves the Master clearly would be single-mindedly devoted to Martha, never ever make thoughtless and/or insulting remarks and treat her like a treasure.... yeah.

Wishful thinking, much?

I often think people should skip fanfiction altogether and go for RPF instead. That way everyone knows that they are just writing about a personal fantasy that just happens to look like actor xz.

[ide-cyan.livejournal.com]

breaking Crichton down to the point of self-destructiveness

That would seem to be the most likely possibility. Although, I wonder: if Crichton hadn't stumbled into Moya's escape at that particular moment, and found himself the target of Crais's vendetta subsequently, might he have encountered Scorpius under better circumstances? Found his way to the Gammak base to research wormholes along with him, possibly *without* getting tortured for having infiltrated the base under false pretenses? Moya & co might have had less trouble after them, although they would have had to contend with Aeryn minus Crichton's influence, and Chiana probably wouldn't have been so lucky as to escape brainwashing, Jool might never have awoken unbutchered for spare parts, and so forth.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

If you change the circumstances of their first meeting and take out the torture, that certainly would make a difference. I could see Aeryn minus Crichton still adapting to Moya & Co. and changing from her original Peacekeeper self, possibly via bonding with fellow warrior D'Argo, and her experience with Pilot. Chiana, though, would probably have been doomed...

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I've seen AUs along those lines somewhere...

[x-los.livejournal.com]

WAIT. WAIT. I did not understand you meant that zine was going to be Blake/Servelan. Now---now I'd just so befuddled I wand to read it and cry into its pages in wonderment since it does indeed, as you say, actually work.

Also Martha/Master might provide an interesting fic if someone dealt with all the HORRIBLENESS of what would draw either of them into it/how it would function? But I have a hard time seeing Master w/ Human Wimmins. Not from a 'silly OTP kid, monolithic views of pairings are for kids' thing. Though I admit, I have my squicks. and know myself to be sadly loyal to a pairing once I’ve decided that that’s just how the characters MO/emotional dynamics work.

I just have trouble wrapping my brain around 'and then the most arrogant, intelligence obsessed, single-minded alien ever born formed a meaningful connection with a newly-introduced member of a species he found primitive, and then their relationship was functional and of some duration, and also the sex was good.’ I mean, no hate on Martha, she’s a good character who has done some awesome things—she would have to be nuts to want in on his crazy. And then she’d have to like, wait for him in a UNIT lab (conveniently, she has that passcode…) with a white wig and a frilly shirt avec girly velvet jacket to distract him for more than five minutes from 1) evol and 2) the Doctor. I dunno that he was even much invested in Lucy, and she was, er, crazy about him.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

The fanzine in question (http://fanzines.ashtonpress.net/down.htm). *veg*

she would have to be nuts to want in on his crazy

Yes, exactly. Martha was both sane and self-reliant enough to recognize an emotionally unhealthy situation when she saw it and get out of there with the Doctor. To get into one with the Master, of all people, she'd have to be - well, either completely broken down or otherwise not Martha anymore. And I love her being Martha. And sane.

[x-los.livejournal.com]

Oh thanks! *pops off to read--4:14am, what 4:14 am?*

[elisi]

In the sense of "even the very thought freaks me out": with [info]kindkit on this one. Martha/Master.
You know, I read a fic that made it work. I'd never have thought it possible, but... it was a DW/LoM crossover, where Sam was the Master and slowly began regaining his memories - Martha was sent back in time by Jack because the Doctor had gone missing. [There were explanations for how he'd found out about 'Sam' etc] The clever bit was that the Sam parts of the Master had integrated, and so he (for the first time) really had people he genuinely cared about (shades of chipped!Spike!) - oh and he and Martha pretended that they were married to explain why she suddenly turned up. (Their bickering was *fantastic*! And Gene...)

It was the sort of fic I usually avoid - it was by a first time writer without a beta and she so, *so* needed one, I kept wincing - but all the character stuff was *excellent* and I couldn't put it down. (It became rather cracktastic towards the end, but still... inspired writing.) I can find it for you if you like, but it is LONG!

ETA: Couldn't help myself... went and found it: Master on Mars. I'd forgotten just how addictive it is... *re-reads another chapter*

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Errr. Seeing as decades as Yana - or at the very least 17 years, if we go only by the time we have Chantho to stand witness for - did not stop him from killing Chantho, undoubtedly the person Yana cared for and was attached to most, with no more hesitation or regret than, well, killing an insect, I very much doubt some years/months as Sam Tyler would make a difference. So I can't even believe in this premise. Also, I don't see Martha/Sam Tyler (with Sam as Sam), either, though this might be coloured by some hostility towards Sam due to the ending of s2, admittedly. And frankly, I can't see Martha being anything but revolted at the thought of even touching the Master. Some hostility is entirely without UST and with reasonable revulsion for general mass murder and the personal degredation and enslavement of one's family. I can't see her look at him and not think of Tish, Francine and Cliff, barely recovering from what he did to them. If you want Spike comparisons - if Spike, instead of protecting Dawn, had ever harmed her or Joyce, there is no way, absolutely no way I could see Buffy ever going near him with other than lethal intent.

So no. Won't read. I have only a few squicks, but this is one of them. Ew. And no. Just no.

in defense of Martha/Master

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

I see it like this...

He's controlling Earth basically by mind-control through the Archangel network. Martha overthrows him by telling stories about the Doctor...my personally favorite way to understand this is that she is using the Archangel network backwards to do reverse mind control on the Master, By using the force of human thought to concentrate his mind on the Doctor she's using all the collective power of the Doctor/Master connection, the Doctor/human connection and the Master/human connection to shake the Master out of his mental control. But this is pretty intimate - she's mucking about in his mind. She's feeling his unrequited love for the Doctor (or what he feels as unrequited love, even if we know the Doctor loves him back) and reinforcing it with her own. And yes this is all in order to destroy him, but there's still a connection there.

The other thing about Martha and the Master...she's his real opponent during the S3 arc. She created him, by identifying the watch, and she destroyed him. The Doctor mostly just angsts shippily.

So Martha/Master appeals to me as an 'intimate enemies' pairing. Written well it can show Martha's strengh, by making her the Master's primary enemy and equal opponent. The end of season 3 also changes when you see it as a 3-way dominance battle relationship between Martha, the Doctor and the Master rather than primarily about the Doctor/Master relationship, and I think I like that.

Re: in defense of Martha/Master

[selenak.livejournal.com]

But why on earth would she even want to touch him? As I said to Elisi above, I can't see Martha look at the Master and NOT think of Tish, Francine and Cliff, in addition to millions of dead bodies. I can't see her as anything but repelled. Just because fandom thinks he's hot - and yes, that would include me - doesn't mean all characters do, and certainly not Martha. She's too quintessentially sane to want being anywhere near him, and unless you take some of her core Martha-ness away, that's not going to change. Of course I realise we all see our own interpretation of the characters, but the Martha in my head, if someone made an allusion to her and the Master in a sexual contect, would throw up in her mouth a little. Just - no.

also...

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

Agreed with your sentiment about Kara/Lee...and I'm feeling pretty much the same way about the Roslin/Adama way canon's been going. (Not to complain too much, since I love most other things about the latest BSG season.) Like Kara/Lee, I just keep wanting them to break up and get back to being each other's checks and balances. What do you think?

Re: also...

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I wish. I think the moment that decided for me I really didn't want them to get together romantically was when in Taking away all your troubles Adama offered to Roslin Baltar could just disappear. She said no, but that proved the balance between them was gone. Plus more recently, Adama in full blown "I can't live without her!" mode was no more attractive than Lee or Kara during s3 self indulgence mode. (Though otoh I did feel for him when he lost it over Saul Tigh.) Mind you, in theory I can seen why Roslin would want someone to relax with who doesn't challenge her (because Adama really doesn't anymore), especially given her life is running out, but in practice I don't want to see it on tv and keep wondering why he doesn't bore her. All this being said? I think the last word has been spoken. Seriously, I don't expect them to break up in what remains of s4, so I've made my peace with that.

[neutralalienist.livejournal.com]

I agree completely on the Fanged Four. And Doctor/Master. And Jack/Ianto, and John/Scorpius, and Wes/Lilah, and Hiro/Charlie. ...I don't really need to do this meme, do I? ;p

Lastly, I find the justification for this I've seen - "Martha deserves a time lord, the Master is hot, clearly they should be together" - absolutely idiotic.

o.o Wah? That makes Martha seem incredibly daft and shallow, of which she is neither. It would have to be very dark and twisted for it to be at all plausible. (And I...still wouldn't read it, probably.)

Yana/Martha could be sweet, though. (And really, all Yana means is that the Master could have been a good person.)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

That he's not genetically disposed towards evil, absolutely. And I think that's why they had Yana hear the drums - to make it clear that they weren't the cause of the Master's cruelty or killing urge, either. Free will and all that. He could have been different, but he chose not to be. This makes him certainly an interesting character, but not a misunderstood woobie.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Hiro/Charlie - sniffle.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

They were so sweet (without being cloying at all) and doomed.

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

Wait, people seriously ship Master/Martha and not just in a "dude, that would be so fucked up" kind of way? *shudders*

Duncan/Amanda was awesome. He definitely needed someone like her to get him to lighten up and have some fun, and she needed him to get her to take life seriously sometimes. I still love Duncan/Methos best, but I don't want to forget how awesome Amanda was, too. One of these days I'm going to have to go back and re-watch some of the non-Methos episodes of Highlander, which I haven't seen in about ten years... :)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

My ode to Duncan/Amanda is here (http://selenak.livejournal.com/359527.html), and it's absolutely compatible with loving Duncan/Methos as well. The Amanda episodes are as rewatchable as the Methos eps, you know.*g*

BTW, your icon is adorable.*g*

[kernezelda]

I once wrote an extremely AU wedding night for Scorpius and John. It was incredibly difficult to do, to the point where I had to walk away from the computer and clear my brain of the mental images. *shudders*

[aralias.livejournal.com]

looks like many others before me have gone down the 'people actually think that?" about martha/master... i can't believe everyone who ships it thinks that. it must be more of a - he finds that she defeated him vaguely interesting, imagines it would really annoy the doctor if he slept with her, and also finds her physically attractive and she... is drugged. or something. even that is not a good basis for a ship.