selenak

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

I'm with 1

12_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.