fictional couples I fancy

[rose_griffes]

Since bsg_epics was asking about fandom pairs we like and why, here, have a post I started a few weeks ago and then forgot about. Probably because I was writing Zoe Morgan/John Reese fic again. (Heh.)

Let's start with pre-online fandom days--what I remember of them, anyway. (I didn't find online fandom until 2006, even though it was around before then.)

Northern Exposure
ship during the show: Maggie/Joel
after the show? none
canon: Maggie and Joel had lots of deliberate UST, one hookup that both decided to ignore, and then I don't remember. I really resented how the show handled this pair after a while, so I may be blocking it from memory.
fandom:no idea, don't care


Ultraviolet (British show, one season with 6 episodes)
ship during the show: none the first time I watched
after the show? Angie/Vaughan as I watched the second time
canon: Vaughan has unrequited feelings for Angie
fandom: hah, I've never found any Angie/Vaughan fic. Slash pairings dominate, from what little fic I found. Or Angie/Pearse (which, er, induces a bit of an ack, no! reaction from me).


The Pretender
ship during the show: none
after the show? Miss Parker/Jarod for the maybe someday factor
canon: some Miss P/Jarod UST, especially if you count her pointing guns at him/having secretive phone conversations about catching him and returning him to jail The Centre.
fandom: Miss P/Jarod is definitely a favorite ship, from what little fic and meta I've read for the show.


Buffy the Vampire Slayer
ship during the show: none outside of a mild appreciation for canon pairs as they happened
after the show? Buffy/a normal human dude (someday when she's cookies)
canon: Buffy/Angel and Buffy/Spike and Buffy/normal human dude Riley were all canon.
fandom: *laughs and laughs* I think the Bangel and Spuffy shippers are still duking it out? Not many fans out there saying, "Hey, Buffy and some random human dude should totally live happily ever after!"


Firefly
ship during the show: Zoe/Wash; some appreciation for Inara/Mal, although my favorite interactions were River/Simon (non-shippy)
after the show? let's not discuss how Zoe/Wash went in the movie, okay? Also, my Inara/Mal tendencies died a messy death at some point.
canon: Zoe/Wash was canon, Inara/Mal verbally sparred a lot (and sparred with swords once, right?)
fandom: I don't know.


Angel
ship during the show: mostly none (some pro-Fred/Wesley feelings)
after the show? none, because Joss Whedon is cruel. (I do read shippy fic for lots of pairings, including Cordelia/Angel, but I haven't sought out any particular pair. There needs to be more Faith/Wesley fic, though. *nods*)
canon: So it looked like Fred/Wesley was going to happen, and then Fred/Gunn happened instead (a ship I rather enjoyed anyway)... and then Fred/Wesley did happen for basically one episode before Fred's disappearance. Joss Whedon is EXTRA-CRUEL.
fandom: *shrugs* I haven't read much fic for the show.


Lost
ship during the show: mostly none, some pro-Juliet/James feelings
after the show? Juliet Burke/James Ford, although I really don't seek out much Lost fic or meta.
canon: It would never have occurred to me to put those two together, but I really liked how they interacted when the show made them a canon couple... before the show took that away.
fandom: I'm not sure which was more popular, Kate/Jack or Kate/Sawyer. Either way it wasn't my pair that got the fannish attention most of the time.


Veronica Mars
ship during the show: mostly none, I was okay with the canon pairs as they evolved.
after the show? Veronica/Logan
canon: Veronica/Logan was canon in fantastic and horrible ways. I really didn't have a huge preference during the show; I was fine with Veronica/Piz, for example. It's only post-show that I started rooting for Veronica/Logan in a someday when they're not totally toxic way.
fandom: Veronica/Logan is probably the dominant pair?


October 2006: I discovered fanfiction and online fandom and (eventually) LJ.
Battlestar Galactica
ship during the show: seasons 2-3 Kara/Leoben (in a more screen-time way); season 4 Kara/Sam
after the show? Kara/Sam!!!
canon: yeah, both pairings had their canon moments
fandom:Kara's most popular partner in fandom was and is Lee.


Life
ship during the show: none
after the show? still none
canon: n/a since I didn't ship (much) but canon gave the BIGGEST HINT EVER that Reese/Crews is the pair, right at the end of the show.
fandom: Reese/Crews dominated, but Charlie/Ted was also a popular pair.


Doctor Who
ship during the show: er... once they got married I really did root for Amy/Rory. Same with Martha/Mickey. But that left a lot of time before those marriages when I didn't ship any pairs.
after the show? still love both pairings. I also like River/Eleven.
canon: Yes (barely) for Martha/Mickey. (A brief mention of marriage--no lead-up, no follow-up.) Yes definitely for Amy/Rory. Yes definitely for River/Eleven as well.
fandom: I'd say that those who like Martha/someone generally prefer Martha/Ten. Though that ship is dwarfed by the popularity of Rose/Ten. Amy/Rory seems pretty popular, but I don't know how it compares to Amy/Eleven or River/Eleven.


Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
ship during the show: none
after the show? I do love Sarah Connor/James Ellison post-finale
canon: aside from Jesse/Derek, the show was pretty gen.
fandom: Sarah/Derek was popular before Jesse showed up, right? After that I'm not really sure.


And now the shows that are still on air...
Parks and Recreation
ship during the show: Leslie/Ben, but I still watch for the ensemble cast
canon: YES IT IS!
fandom:ALSO YES! The vast majority of P&R fic is Leslie/Ben fic. LOOK, A SHIP I LIKE THAT THE MAJORITY ALSO LIKES!!!! WHEEEEE!!!


Fringe:
ship during the show: Olivia/Peter, but not in a "swallow up all other concerns" way
canon: yes
fandom:depends on where you hang out... my f'list is decidedly not in favor of this pair, but I think in general it has more supporters than detractors? Hm. I honestly don't know. The fandom is small enough that it's hard to spot trends.


Person of Interest
ship during the show: mostly none; John Reese/Zoe Morgan, in an incidental way
canon: Yes? If you count Zoe telling John to take her out for drinks... Otherwise no.
fandom:Hah. Last time I checked, I'm the only one who's written any fic for them. (Aaaaaand apparently I can't stop.) Fandom's preferred pair is Reese/Finch.


So. I tend to get by with whatever canon ships exist, even if I don't love them. I don't often get very invested in them. When the show is over I may pick a favorite pair, which may or may not have been part of the show canon. Definite preference for married couples, yep. I also like couples comprised of of [a stoic or emotionally-flawed character] and [an emotionally-aware or stable and open character]... particularly if it's the man who's more aware/stable. That probably shows in my Kara/Sam YAY attitude; they're my favorite couple on this list. Also part of my love for Sarah Connor/James Ellison and Zoe/Wash and Olivia/Peter and Miss Parker/Jarod. And even Angie/Vaughan and Leslie/Ben to a certain degree. Heeee...

Oh, and even though I usually prefer canon couples during the run of a show, they're not usually the couples that fandom prefers. Hm. Plus after the show is over, anything goes.

Comments

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

I used to wonder what happened to your Leoben/Kara love after the show. Interesting.

It's funny you think of Peter, Leoben, and Sam as stable. I never thought about them quite that way. Heck, I'm not sure who was stable on BSG except for maybe Helo. I sometimes think the stable guy is so boring, though. Like Riley. Gosh, was he boring. I never wanted Buffy to have a normal life. I hope she never did.

I liked Juliet/James. I liked Juliet more than I thought I would and it worked for them somehow. Juliet was pretty cool by the end of the show.

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

I definitely don't think of Leoben as stable. Er, except for his Kara obsession. And shipping them was moooooostly about CKR/screentime. Peter: maybe consistent more than stable. Certainly he falls into the caretaker role, which is another aspect that will lead me to like a character more. Sam: more stable than Kara? Emotionally stable to a greater degree than most other BSG characters... especially considering all of his background.

Aw, Juliet. She was really interesting. She got some character development that I found unexpected and pleasing.

[icepixie]

Northern Exposure

!!! I had no idea you were an NX fan! I'm always excited to run into another, as it's my favorite show. :D

Maggie and Joel had lots of deliberate UST, one hookup that both decided to ignore, and then I don't remember.

They actually got together for about a year in season five, but then in the last season, Rob Morrow left the show a half-season before it was canceled, so Joel first went crazy for a few episodes and moved out to the hinterlands (seriously, I have no idea what was going on there) then went back to NYC, while Maggie stayed in Cicely. I...basically refuse to acknowledge the sixth season exists.

my f'list is decidedly not in favor of this pair, but I think in general it has more supporters than detractors?

FWIW, everyone on my flist who watches the show ships Olivia/Peter. I didn't realize there were people who weren't into them until fairly recently, when I started looking for Fringe content on friendsfriends.

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

I haven't watch NX since... it was on air? I wonder what I would think of it now? My dad has the season one DVDs--maybe I'll give them a try next time I'm visiting my parents.

A lot of people on my f'list want the Olivia only show. I sort of get that, but I really do like Peter and his story and growth, a lot of which comes from Olivia herself.

[icepixie]

I got into NX while it was in reruns about twelve years ago, when I was a teenager. I enjoyed it a whole lot then, but I found I liked it even more once I bought the DVDs about five years ago. It really holds up well, IMO. (Though my favorite season is the third. S1 is good, but they don't really find their groove until the last episode of it.)

I sort of get that, but I really do like Peter and his story and growth, a lot of which comes from Olivia herself.

I agree! I feel like the show and Olivia's story would both be less interesting without Peter there.

[nicole-anell.livejournal.com]

This was such an interesting epics topic!

I feel like I mostly have your experience in OTPs -- I tend to like canon couples if anything, but very rarely the Big Ship that's popular in fandom. And definitely have your tendency for the strong if erratic girl and supportive, sometimes more passive guy.

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

*fistbump of solidarity*

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

I am so glad you're on the Ellison/Sarah bandwagon!!!!!

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

It's only logical! And hot! ;0)

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

Jayne/Kaylee... yup, that's definitely an odd couple! ;-)

Aw, Jarod/Miss P would be a fun pair to write, I bet.