Link and Meme
Feb. 6th, 2011 03:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieAmazing wind-powered creatures made of PVC pipe. They're REALLY COOL, you should watch the video.
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deborah_judge did this, and since I haven't done it in a couple years, I figured I'd do the same. The idea is to list your pairings and look for patterns. As I am a fannish butterfly, if I listed every pairing I ever shipped, I'd be here all day. So I'm just going to list my OTPest of OTPs, which at the moment are defined by whether I can see myself ever writing (more) fic for them.
Babylon 5
Ivanova/Garibaldi
Ivanova/Delenn
BSG
Roslin/Adama
Cupid
Trevor/Claire
DS9
Bashir/Jadzia Dax
Due South
Fraser/Thatcher
[I guess RayK/Stella technically falls into this category because I have another dance-related fic I'd like to write for them someday, but I think I mostly like them because OMG BALLROOM DANCING rather than them being an OTP.]
Earth 2
Julia/Alonzo
Northern Exposure
Maggie/Joel
Slings & Arrows
Geoffrey/Ellen [I'm mostly interested in writing about Geoffrey, but in my head, he comes as a package deal with Ellen. They're interesting in their own right, too.]
Warehouse 13
Myka/Helena (H.G.)
And a few more that, while I don't ever plan to write (more) fic for them, I've grandfathered in because of their massive effect on my teenaged psyche:
Farscape
John/Aeryn
Moonlighting
Maddie/David
X-Files
Mulder/Scully
Doggett/Reyes
Patterns? Heh, I think the biggest is that I am perfectly content to let canon lead me around by the nose as far as who I should ship. (Excepting B5, anyway, and probably W13, though I have a tiny spark of hope that they might, someday, make that one canon if H.G. ever comes back. They definitely played with the subtext over the past season.) I'm kind of blind to most subtext, so it's good if canon spells things out for me with giant flashing "THESE TWO HAVE UST AND/OR FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER, PAY ATTENTION" signs, even if they get canceled before they can deliver, or decide to go in another direction. And I'm a pretty visual person, so I like seeing my pairings being shippy on my screen.
One thing that matters a lot to me is whether I can see the characters staying together for a long time. I have an intellectual understanding of why pairings that would obviously last about two weeks appeal (and an understanding that one person's "they'd last two weeks" is another's "they'd live happily ever after"), but I personally can't enjoy them. I like writing about how people make life choices when it affects someone besides themselves, and about the little events that have passed into the lore of a relationship (in-jokes, common reference points and memories, etc.).
Another thing I think is important is that almost all of my OTPs are united by something bigger than themselves, or perhaps some ideal they share. Fighting crime, military service, sheer survival, colonizing a planet, putting on a good play...there's usually an element of working together that I can exploit either from a logistical standpoint or as a kind of touchstone between them that lends resonance to a story. Obviously, this comes from the fact that most TV shows I like feature co-workers, but when there are options, I do tend to gravitate toward those who know each other from work.
I am a giant, unabashed fan of banter and snark, and most of my pairings feature characters who needle and joke with one another, often as their way of flirting. I also enjoy pairings where I can basically imagine them acting like a couple of twelve-year-olds; my fics frequently feature poking, teasing, tickling, and other physical interaction that can either remain chase or lead up to something less PG. (Not that I ever write those parts, but I like to imply. ;))
I'm not much of a multi-shipper. B5 is my big, glaring exception to this, because I ship everyone with everyone, especially Ivanova, but in general, I only pair a character with one other person.
...You know, looking back over this, I think the one thing that can be said about my OTP preferences is that I don't really have a pattern. I think my character and show preferences are much more uniform.
*
deborah_judge did this, and since I haven't done it in a couple years, I figured I'd do the same. The idea is to list your pairings and look for patterns. As I am a fannish butterfly, if I listed every pairing I ever shipped, I'd be here all day. So I'm just going to list my OTPest of OTPs, which at the moment are defined by whether I can see myself ever writing (more) fic for them.Babylon 5
Ivanova/Garibaldi
Ivanova/Delenn
BSG
Roslin/Adama
Cupid
Trevor/Claire
DS9
Bashir/Jadzia Dax
Due South
Fraser/Thatcher
[I guess RayK/Stella technically falls into this category because I have another dance-related fic I'd like to write for them someday, but I think I mostly like them because OMG BALLROOM DANCING rather than them being an OTP.]
Earth 2
Julia/Alonzo
Northern Exposure
Maggie/Joel
Slings & Arrows
Geoffrey/Ellen [I'm mostly interested in writing about Geoffrey, but in my head, he comes as a package deal with Ellen. They're interesting in their own right, too.]
Warehouse 13
Myka/Helena (H.G.)
And a few more that, while I don't ever plan to write (more) fic for them, I've grandfathered in because of their massive effect on my teenaged psyche:
Farscape
John/Aeryn
Moonlighting
Maddie/David
X-Files
Mulder/Scully
Doggett/Reyes
Patterns? Heh, I think the biggest is that I am perfectly content to let canon lead me around by the nose as far as who I should ship. (Excepting B5, anyway, and probably W13, though I have a tiny spark of hope that they might, someday, make that one canon if H.G. ever comes back. They definitely played with the subtext over the past season.) I'm kind of blind to most subtext, so it's good if canon spells things out for me with giant flashing "THESE TWO HAVE UST AND/OR FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER, PAY ATTENTION" signs, even if they get canceled before they can deliver, or decide to go in another direction. And I'm a pretty visual person, so I like seeing my pairings being shippy on my screen.
One thing that matters a lot to me is whether I can see the characters staying together for a long time. I have an intellectual understanding of why pairings that would obviously last about two weeks appeal (and an understanding that one person's "they'd last two weeks" is another's "they'd live happily ever after"), but I personally can't enjoy them. I like writing about how people make life choices when it affects someone besides themselves, and about the little events that have passed into the lore of a relationship (in-jokes, common reference points and memories, etc.).
Another thing I think is important is that almost all of my OTPs are united by something bigger than themselves, or perhaps some ideal they share. Fighting crime, military service, sheer survival, colonizing a planet, putting on a good play...there's usually an element of working together that I can exploit either from a logistical standpoint or as a kind of touchstone between them that lends resonance to a story. Obviously, this comes from the fact that most TV shows I like feature co-workers, but when there are options, I do tend to gravitate toward those who know each other from work.
I am a giant, unabashed fan of banter and snark, and most of my pairings feature characters who needle and joke with one another, often as their way of flirting. I also enjoy pairings where I can basically imagine them acting like a couple of twelve-year-olds; my fics frequently feature poking, teasing, tickling, and other physical interaction that can either remain chase or lead up to something less PG. (Not that I ever write those parts, but I like to imply. ;))
I'm not much of a multi-shipper. B5 is my big, glaring exception to this, because I ship everyone with everyone, especially Ivanova, but in general, I only pair a character with one other person.
...You know, looking back over this, I think the one thing that can be said about my OTP preferences is that I don't really have a pattern. I think my character and show preferences are much more uniform.
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no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 12:01 pm (UTC)::wants with grabby hands:: Your last dancing-fic made me so happy, I'd love to see more. Any chance you'd write one post-canon?
Geoffrey/Ellen is exactly the sort of relationship I like, except canon gave it to me onscreen so I don't feel the need to write it. Which just makes me love on 'Slings and Arrows' even more.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 02:33 pm (UTC)The idea I have spans from their first meeting to a post-canon reconciliation-type deal, so in a way, yes. I want to do a little snippet for each of the dances that make up the standard ten-dance championship competition, either reflecting the mood of or actually referencing the dance in each snippet. So far, this is all I have: "There's a saying among people who know them that Argentine Tango is the romance, American Tango is the marriage, and International Tango is the divorce. Having now experienced all three, Stella is inclined to agree with that assessment."
It's on the back burner for now, since three, or possibly four, Fraser/Thatcher fics are currently eating my brain. Two of them are further established relationship things set in my inadvertent series, and one is called, "Four Cliches Meg Thatcher Found Herself Playing Completely Straight, and One She Subverted with Not Inconsiderable Glee"--except it might become Three Cliches, because one of them got freaking gargantuan and now wants to be its own fic, argh.
Geoffrey/Ellen is exactly the sort of relationship I like, except canon gave it to me onscreen so I don't feel the need to write it. Which just makes me love on 'Slings and Arrows' even more.
Aw. I like when that happens.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 04:29 pm (UTC)Squee!! ::wants::
"Four Cliches Meg Thatcher Found Herself Playing Completely Straight, and One She Subverted with Not Inconsiderable Glee"
That sounds fun too. Yay for happy cracky dS het.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 09:24 pm (UTC)Heh. A couple of the scenarios have definitely had some applications of crack...
no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 08:48 pm (UTC)Oooh, I, too, would like to read this particular story!
no subject
Date: 2011-02-07 09:25 pm (UTC)(BTW, I do have a short Ray/Stella/dance fic already, if you're interested.)