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I said I've been considering writing something about shippy fic and/versus intense gen, and the intense emotional bonds in source canons that are often turned into romance/desire in fanfic. And, firstly, you should take 'write something about' to mean 'ramble nonsensically about for a while', because I'm not sure how much sense this-all is going to make. Also, it's about personal tastes more than anything, I suspect, with maybe some patterns drawn across it, so. Grain of salt, always, yes?
Sex, Emotion, Shipping and Gen
I suppose firstly that I should give a quick overview of my own approach to shipping. This post, about being asexual and the way it might affect my views, probably helps. I should also clarify that I don't usually have ships or OTPs ... on their own merit? *shakes head* Not sure how to phrase this. I don't usually have OTPs first. What I usually get from canon is a favourite character or characters, who I then will read shippy/gen fic on dealing with a variety of relationships that character has. I might have a preference for some of those relationships over others, but it doesn't usually reach OTP levels.
The usual exceptions to this are where both characters in question are beloved by me, and where ... I wish them to keep an orbit around each other, to maintain a connection. Aziraphale/Crowley is the foremost example of this, for me. Perhaps also Holmes/Watson. The A-team, whom I never wanted to see part. And the thing is ... in those circumstances, I don't particularly care if the relationship is sexual or not. In some cases, I actually prefer if it isn't (A-team, for example). It's not an OTP in the classic sense, I think. That's why I tend to draw a line between pairing and shipping in my head. A pairing is two/more characters I don't mind seeing get it on. A 'ship is two/more characters whose relationship, regardless of its nature, is one I recognise the strength of/want to see endure. And yes, I realise these are definitions no-one else in fandom recognises. *shrugs sheepishly* But that's just the way it shakes out in my head. Terminology is funky.
This means that what I'm looking for in a 'ship isn't sexual compatibility, but a depth of emotional connection which, depending on the 'ship and fic in question, may or may not have a sexual element attached. So, for me, the line between 'intensely emotional gen' and 'shippy' is ... kind of ridiculously fluid, at times. Some bonds/'ships, I will cheerfully add sex into the equation, and read/write it happily. Others, I'll read/write the sex part less happily, but embrace it because most of fic involving that relationship involves the sex, too, and I don't mind overly much. Others, I can't add sex into the equation, and will seek out gen fic for that relationship, even in fandoms where gen is quite rare/less emotionally orientated (I can't bear Wincest, for example, or Batcest, or A-team sex - it does seem to primarily be in relationships that have a powerful familial element (canonically or in my head), for me).
The kinds of bonds that push my buttons are ... varied. *grins sheepishly* Things like intense familial bonds, whether by blood or by choice - one of my earliest fandoms was DC Comics, and the Batfamily bonds, but also things like the angels and the Winchesters in SPN, the Five in Sanctuary, the Firefly crew, the Addams family. Family-style bonds, depending on the relationship, are the ones where I have most trouble adding sexual elements to it. Heh. But the depth of history, the familiarity, the trust, particularly in families that stuck together through adversity (though, it must be said, darker takes on family loyalty tend to worry me - I have a lot of vaguely triggery associations around families, so I have to be careful there).
Then team/fealty bonds where the people go through intense emotional and physical pressures together and try their best to keep each other sane through it. A-team, a lot of war movies, stargate teams, etc. This one ... wow, this one pushes buttons. When someone stands beside you through fire, again and again, when someone fights besides you no matter how many times you yell and fight and sometimes hate each other, when you hold someone's life in your hands and vow to keep it safe, when someone bleeds with you and stands with you and falls with you, protects you and is protected ... The strength of this one kills me, sometimes. With this one, whether or not sex is involved is largely irrelevant, for me. Sometimes it's nice, sometimes it gets in the way, sometimes it adds a whole other level, but ... There's something about this one all on its own. It crosses with a lot of the others (family and partnership, sometimes hateships (enemy mine), etc), and just ... does things, to me. This one is part of why I loved, say, Castillo's relationship with his subordinates in Miami Vice, even though I never saw the Crocket/Castillo pairing. They will go to the wall for him, every time, will go against the brass for him, and he will destroy anyone or anything that touches them. I love that. So damn much. And the A-team, here. The Magnificent Seven, too. Particularly when the people within those bonds hated each other (and they sometimes did), but would never ever let each other fall.
With team bonds, I will often sub-ship people within the bond, or 'ship individuals within it with outsiders, too. Team-bonds are a particular kind of 'ship for me, in that they're largely a huge connection that needs to be acknowledged if you 'ship/pair one of their members with someone else. I need the fealty and the teambond to be acknowledged, even in the cases of 'True Love' level shipping. In SGA, for example, I often pair Rodney/Radek, but you have to acknowledge the depth of Rodney's connection with his team. With M7 Chris/Vin, I tend to prefer if they acknowledge at least Buck. Etc.
There's also partnerships (or trines - the ST:TOS power trio come under this for me), particularly those formed in adversity. A lot of cop shows - particular ones that come to mind would be Crockett and Tubbs from Miami Vice, and Lynley and Havers from Inspector Lynley. Starsky & Hutch is a particular one of these always did seem vaguely sexual to me (I could honestly swear there was one episode that had Hutch attempting somewhat obliquely to come out to Starsky, so). Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin the same, I can take them either way because I could see it happening, but I also adore gen, particularly h/c or domestic gen, with those two.
Also pairs like Holmes and Watson, who had a partnership that was essentially a marriage/fealty bond combined, and with whom I have particular trouble drawing the line between 'shippy' and 'emotional gen', because ... well, a Holmes&Watson fic where they will gladly live and die for each other, hold hands with each other, profess genuine love for each other both in moments of extremity and in quieter moments, and never in the fic happen to have sex ... that could be a shippy fic leading up to sex, or that could be the actual canon, and genuinely platonic. I never saw canon Holmes/Watson as sexual, but the love genuinely cannot be doubted. They were each other's touchstones. Lynley and Havers the same. I didn't care if they ended up in a romantic relationship. It would have been nice, but it wasn't necessary. What I cared about was that he would always be there when she needed him, and vice versa, that their loyalty to each other would continue to trump anything that came their way, that he could keep poking her out of her shell, that she would keep reminding him that he wasn't as rarified and isolated as he sometimes felt, that they would keep standing for each other, and protecting each other, and being there for each other when the shit hit the fan. *smiles* Whether or not they eventually ended up having sex was largely irrelevant to me and my investment in the 'ship. Um. Quite a lot of my OTP style 'ships tend to be this. Aziraphale/Crowley also come under this
Then less positive connections, too. Dedicated enemies, whose depths of connection are manifested through hate and obsession and fear and pain and repeated attempts to destroy each other, cycling connections that keep coming back and cannot be exorcised. Things like Doctor/Master in Doctor Who, which had moments depending on regenerations that were more sexual than others, and moments that were nearly fraternal, and moments of teeth-clenched alliance, moments of sacrifice and pain, of forgiveness and hate, moments where one of them murdered the other (that one went both ways), moments when one (usually the Master, the Doctor more in NuWho) desperately sought out the other in extremis ... There was love there, and hate, and connection. It became an increasingly sexual connection in NuWho (overtly, anyway), but the sheer depth of history and pain and emotion attached was never really in question, whether as teasing rivals (Three and Delgado), desperate enemies (Four and Crispy, Four and Ainley, Five and Ainley, Seven and Ainley, Ten and Simm), reluctant allies (Three and Delgado, Four and Ainley (briefly), Five and Ainley (except that Five, possibly in revenge for his death as Four, kept turning on the Master), Six and Ainley, Ten and Simm) ... I 'ship it, okay? When we get up to NuWho, it seems more sexual to me, and there are moments in the old series too, but mostly ... It's not a bond you can ignore. Heh. Aziraphale/Crowley, in my head, also had a lot of this in their backstory, before they settled, after millennia, into the partnership we know today.
Then, and I have a real soft spot for this one, particular since it has a high tendancy to lead to Enemy Mine situations, there's hunter/prey relationships. I've been attached to it ever since a) The Incredible Hulk, as a child, and b) Les Miserables as a young teenager. There is a level of intensity, though more distant than most, involved in hunting someone/running from someone. Getting to know each other from a distance, adversarial, learning how the other thinks, slipping inside their heads. Becoming very emotionally powerful symbols for each other (Valjean became such a powerful symbol for Javert that the conflict with his beliefs drove him to death). Prison Break's Michael/Mahone, though more S2/S3 had this, too. The Fugitive, most versions (I have a major soft spot for TV version, though, because of the number of times Gerard and Kimble had to work together, or one had to save the other, or Gerard ending up trusting Kimble with his son's life, and that one episode where Kimble saves Gerard and Gerard has a small rant/breakdown at him for being so goddamned saintly when Gerard knows he's doing his job, and has faith in it, and also knows full well Kimble could have let him die and no-one much would have blamed him, and for god's sake, man, could you be less of a plaster saint, just once? I just ... I love that). The level of trust built up, like in White Collar backstory, or The Fugitive, where the hunter and the hunted know what the other will and will not do, will and will not allow. The pain. The kind of possessiveness. Like how Top Cat and the gang could make Officer Dibble's life hell, but no-one else could. *grins sheepishly*
This one pushes all kinds of buttons for me. But, for all the intensity of the relationships, a lot of these I prefer as gen. Much as I like the idea of a lot of the pairs settling down into more established orbits around each other, and much as I adore the Enemy Mine situations they keep getting into, the idea of some of them having sex is a bit ... weird (and we are staying away from the cartoons on this one, yes sirree, lets not go there). White Collar, I can see, as long as it's part of the OT3. Fugitive, maybe, although there's Gerard's family to deal with in the original (movie-verse, not so much, but movie-verse fanfic tends to be ... a bit weird. Or maybe I'm just vaguely traumatised by that one fic ...). Jack McGee/David Banner ... though, actually, I have read fic (you really have to scrounge for this fandom, though), but usually more gen-ish. Heh. Michael/Mahone, though, I'll have happily. *grins*
Older couples, too, or at least ones where the immediate sexual edge has toned down, and the relationship is more about the love and intimacy associated with lives lived together for a long time than about the sex. *shrugs* I love a lot of these. Vimes/Sybil, from Discworld (which balances interestingly against Vimes/Vetinari, which is somewhere between fealty, enmity and brothers-in-arms). Helen/James, balanced against Helen/John (though, in Sanctuary I tend to 'ship all the Five as this weird, century-long entangled mess of connections, some of which are more sexual than others, but all of which resonate). Aziraphale/Crowley can go this way, depending on my mood (that is, if you're adding sex to them at all, when did it happen? Early in the day, back when they were enemies? In the early years of the Arrangement? Or post-Apocalypse? Because if it's the latter, they count simultaneously as a new couple, and a really, really, really old one, on account of the 6000 year courtship ...)
*focuses* Right. Right. Where were we? Because I was supposed to have a point, not to ramble through the many and varied relationships in fictionland that I loved. Hmm. But, yeah. Those are some of the canon (or, well, canon-ish) types of relationships/bonds that tend to lead me into 'shipping. As in, seeing and approving the depth of emotional connection. (This can happen even if the characters in question never met, or met only as enemies or whatnot, because my understanding of the characters means that I think that, if circumstances allowed, they WOULD have that depth of connection). Whether I then also pair them, as in add the sexual element when writing/reading fanfic on the canon, really depends on the characters in question, and possibly also my mood on the day. A lot of the time, though, I'm equally happy with genfic on the bonds as much as pairing-style shippy, and sometimes I tend to prefer genfic. Which in some fandoms can be ... difficult -_-;
Thing is, though, when I look at it, I'm pretty sure the reason I 'ship the pairs I do is exactly the same as the reasons other people 'ship them. It's the bond that leaps out, that grabs people, the raw depth of connection. I'm pretty sure quite a few people who 'ship, say, Wincest, aren't just doing it because they look pretty together, but because Sam and Dean Winchester have one of the most obsessive, desperate, soul-deep connections in fictionland. There are honest-to-gods lovers who would balk at the things those two boys do for each other (and, occasionally, to each other). Shippy fanfic (classically shippy, I mean), I'm pretty positive, is seizing hold of exactly those same things I am.
It's just, because I have this very clear and entirely self-constructed divide between 'shipping' (emotional) and 'pairing' (sexual) in my head, I don't have the immediate leap between an intensely emotional canon bond and a sexual fanfic one (well, not always, anyway). There are exceptions, of course (I have a hard time reading Starsky/Hutch as non-sexual, even if the point in the series where they started is unclear), but still. I think it's just that I have a clearer divide between emotional and sexual in my head. I genuinely cannot read the Winchesters as sexual, for example, even while at the same time recognising that the depth of their emotional bond is practically unparalleled. The A-team the same. *waves hand*
Like I said in the 'asexual ramblings' post, I do think a lot of that is because sex is seen as one of the most powerful shorthand indicators of intimacy/emotion/connection, which is why a lot of incredibly intense canon bonds tend to be translated into sexual ones in fic. Any and all of the bonds I mentioned above can and do have (often primarily) sexual interpretations in fic. And quite a lot of those relationships can have sex added to them (all of them, really, it's just some that I, personally, can't read that way).
I think ... I just sometimes would like it if people remembered that a lot of the time, adding a sexual slant is just that. An addition. The depth of the canon bonds is already there. And will be there, even in genfic, if you've got characterisation right. And some of them ... more so in gen, really. Teambonds tend to get shortchanged by 'shipfic a lot, for example. Family bonds. A lot of incredibly strong male/female friendships get dissed because, "for fucks sake, why don't they just admit they love each other and get married, already?" I mean, I loved Harry/Murphy from the Dresden Files for years, but not as a sexual relationship (both of them have their reasons to avoid it, up until recently), but because they were ... brothers-in-arms, and hunter/prey in the early days, and she sacrificed so much to stand beside him, and he loves her with all his heart and stares at what she has become in raw awe, and it's just ...
I have a thing for emotional genfic, yes? I love shipping fic, I gleefully pounce on shippy fic for some of my 'ships, but for others, I genship. A lot. Because ... Well. Because sometimes I don't want the emotional shorthand that is sex. I want the full, unpacked, variety-of-human-connection exploration that can come with the best gen (and the best canons). I want teamfic, and enemy-mine fic (look, it's a massive kink, okay? *grins sheepishly*), and sacrifice fic, and ... Lots, yes? Lots and lots. There are a lot of things you can explore in a sexual relationship, there are a lot of things you can explore around a sexual relationship, and quite a lot of the time that is exactly the kind of fic I want. But others ... Sometimes, with others, I can't help but feel that the sex gets in the way. That it's become the only acceptable explanation for a love or a connection that deep, that the only way you can live and die and stand and love someone is when you're also having sex with them. And that ... that worries me, sometimes. That idea. Because ...
Because a brother-in-arms who holds his comrade's body in his arms has a shatteringly deep bond with her, regardless of whether or not he knew her biblically. Because a brother can have a desperately deep relationship with his brother, even if they're not bumping uglies. Because ... because there's more, there are other kinds of love, of hate, of connection, of meaning, and those others kinds are as deep, as powerful, as devastating. And I love shipping fic, I love it desperately, but there are times I feel it ... cheapens that, a little. That we've defaulted onto shorthand, a lot of the time, onto a specific translation convention, and we've forgotten the range and depth of meaning of the original. Holmes doesn't need to be sleeping with Watson for Watson to be the one person in the universe who can bridge the gap between Holmes and the rest of humanity, for Watson to be the one who loves him, and admires him, and shelters him, and is protected by him, for Watson to be the one man in creation with whom Holmes might lower his barriers and admit emotion, the man Holmes might ask, in desperation, to do this 'as you love me', and mean it. I mean, he can sleep with him, but it isn't necessary. That love is there regardless.
So. Um. Yeah. I love gen, is what I'm saying? I genship. I have a tendancy, in some fandoms more than others, to really, really wish other people did too -_-; Because there really is more, sometimes, and the more we default onto translation, the more I fear we'll forget the original existed. That we'll start to think that sex really is the only way to love someone. And, possibly because I am what I am, I kinda really don't want that to happen. *ducks sheepishly*
(And also? Looking back on that, I begin to realise that the 'ships that come closest to OTPs, for me, seem to be those that cover multiple types of bonds within the one relationship. Aziraphale/Crowley, which covers 'dedicated enemy', 'old established couple', 'brothers-in-arms' and 'partnership', all at the same time. *grins* Holmes/Watson, which gives 'brothers-in-arms', 'partners' and 'established couple' (they've been living together for quite a while). Doctor/Master, which is primarily 'dedicated enemy', but also 'hunter/prey' and sometimes (and originally, in their youth) 'brothers-in-arms' ... Huh. Apparently, we can add 'brothers-in-arms' as a defining relationship for me, too. Also, those OTP 'ships are actually ... usually ones where the sexual element is one I can take or leave, too. Heh. I genship. I mentioned that, right? *grins faintly*)
Right. Okiday. Finished now, yes? *shakes head at self, wanders off*
I suppose firstly that I should give a quick overview of my own approach to shipping. This post, about being asexual and the way it might affect my views, probably helps. I should also clarify that I don't usually have ships or OTPs ... on their own merit? *shakes head* Not sure how to phrase this. I don't usually have OTPs first. What I usually get from canon is a favourite character or characters, who I then will read shippy/gen fic on dealing with a variety of relationships that character has. I might have a preference for some of those relationships over others, but it doesn't usually reach OTP levels.
The usual exceptions to this are where both characters in question are beloved by me, and where ... I wish them to keep an orbit around each other, to maintain a connection. Aziraphale/Crowley is the foremost example of this, for me. Perhaps also Holmes/Watson. The A-team, whom I never wanted to see part. And the thing is ... in those circumstances, I don't particularly care if the relationship is sexual or not. In some cases, I actually prefer if it isn't (A-team, for example). It's not an OTP in the classic sense, I think. That's why I tend to draw a line between pairing and shipping in my head. A pairing is two/more characters I don't mind seeing get it on. A 'ship is two/more characters whose relationship, regardless of its nature, is one I recognise the strength of/want to see endure. And yes, I realise these are definitions no-one else in fandom recognises. *shrugs sheepishly* But that's just the way it shakes out in my head. Terminology is funky.
This means that what I'm looking for in a 'ship isn't sexual compatibility, but a depth of emotional connection which, depending on the 'ship and fic in question, may or may not have a sexual element attached. So, for me, the line between 'intensely emotional gen' and 'shippy' is ... kind of ridiculously fluid, at times. Some bonds/'ships, I will cheerfully add sex into the equation, and read/write it happily. Others, I'll read/write the sex part less happily, but embrace it because most of fic involving that relationship involves the sex, too, and I don't mind overly much. Others, I can't add sex into the equation, and will seek out gen fic for that relationship, even in fandoms where gen is quite rare/less emotionally orientated (I can't bear Wincest, for example, or Batcest, or A-team sex - it does seem to primarily be in relationships that have a powerful familial element (canonically or in my head), for me).
The kinds of bonds that push my buttons are ... varied. *grins sheepishly* Things like intense familial bonds, whether by blood or by choice - one of my earliest fandoms was DC Comics, and the Batfamily bonds, but also things like the angels and the Winchesters in SPN, the Five in Sanctuary, the Firefly crew, the Addams family. Family-style bonds, depending on the relationship, are the ones where I have most trouble adding sexual elements to it. Heh. But the depth of history, the familiarity, the trust, particularly in families that stuck together through adversity (though, it must be said, darker takes on family loyalty tend to worry me - I have a lot of vaguely triggery associations around families, so I have to be careful there).
Then team/fealty bonds where the people go through intense emotional and physical pressures together and try their best to keep each other sane through it. A-team, a lot of war movies, stargate teams, etc. This one ... wow, this one pushes buttons. When someone stands beside you through fire, again and again, when someone fights besides you no matter how many times you yell and fight and sometimes hate each other, when you hold someone's life in your hands and vow to keep it safe, when someone bleeds with you and stands with you and falls with you, protects you and is protected ... The strength of this one kills me, sometimes. With this one, whether or not sex is involved is largely irrelevant, for me. Sometimes it's nice, sometimes it gets in the way, sometimes it adds a whole other level, but ... There's something about this one all on its own. It crosses with a lot of the others (family and partnership, sometimes hateships (enemy mine), etc), and just ... does things, to me. This one is part of why I loved, say, Castillo's relationship with his subordinates in Miami Vice, even though I never saw the Crocket/Castillo pairing. They will go to the wall for him, every time, will go against the brass for him, and he will destroy anyone or anything that touches them. I love that. So damn much. And the A-team, here. The Magnificent Seven, too. Particularly when the people within those bonds hated each other (and they sometimes did), but would never ever let each other fall.
With team bonds, I will often sub-ship people within the bond, or 'ship individuals within it with outsiders, too. Team-bonds are a particular kind of 'ship for me, in that they're largely a huge connection that needs to be acknowledged if you 'ship/pair one of their members with someone else. I need the fealty and the teambond to be acknowledged, even in the cases of 'True Love' level shipping. In SGA, for example, I often pair Rodney/Radek, but you have to acknowledge the depth of Rodney's connection with his team. With M7 Chris/Vin, I tend to prefer if they acknowledge at least Buck. Etc.
There's also partnerships (or trines - the ST:TOS power trio come under this for me), particularly those formed in adversity. A lot of cop shows - particular ones that come to mind would be Crockett and Tubbs from Miami Vice, and Lynley and Havers from Inspector Lynley. Starsky & Hutch is a particular one of these always did seem vaguely sexual to me (I could honestly swear there was one episode that had Hutch attempting somewhat obliquely to come out to Starsky, so). Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin the same, I can take them either way because I could see it happening, but I also adore gen, particularly h/c or domestic gen, with those two.
Also pairs like Holmes and Watson, who had a partnership that was essentially a marriage/fealty bond combined, and with whom I have particular trouble drawing the line between 'shippy' and 'emotional gen', because ... well, a Holmes&Watson fic where they will gladly live and die for each other, hold hands with each other, profess genuine love for each other both in moments of extremity and in quieter moments, and never in the fic happen to have sex ... that could be a shippy fic leading up to sex, or that could be the actual canon, and genuinely platonic. I never saw canon Holmes/Watson as sexual, but the love genuinely cannot be doubted. They were each other's touchstones. Lynley and Havers the same. I didn't care if they ended up in a romantic relationship. It would have been nice, but it wasn't necessary. What I cared about was that he would always be there when she needed him, and vice versa, that their loyalty to each other would continue to trump anything that came their way, that he could keep poking her out of her shell, that she would keep reminding him that he wasn't as rarified and isolated as he sometimes felt, that they would keep standing for each other, and protecting each other, and being there for each other when the shit hit the fan. *smiles* Whether or not they eventually ended up having sex was largely irrelevant to me and my investment in the 'ship. Um. Quite a lot of my OTP style 'ships tend to be this. Aziraphale/Crowley also come under this
Then less positive connections, too. Dedicated enemies, whose depths of connection are manifested through hate and obsession and fear and pain and repeated attempts to destroy each other, cycling connections that keep coming back and cannot be exorcised. Things like Doctor/Master in Doctor Who, which had moments depending on regenerations that were more sexual than others, and moments that were nearly fraternal, and moments of teeth-clenched alliance, moments of sacrifice and pain, of forgiveness and hate, moments where one of them murdered the other (that one went both ways), moments when one (usually the Master, the Doctor more in NuWho) desperately sought out the other in extremis ... There was love there, and hate, and connection. It became an increasingly sexual connection in NuWho (overtly, anyway), but the sheer depth of history and pain and emotion attached was never really in question, whether as teasing rivals (Three and Delgado), desperate enemies (Four and Crispy, Four and Ainley, Five and Ainley, Seven and Ainley, Ten and Simm), reluctant allies (Three and Delgado, Four and Ainley (briefly), Five and Ainley (except that Five, possibly in revenge for his death as Four, kept turning on the Master), Six and Ainley, Ten and Simm) ... I 'ship it, okay? When we get up to NuWho, it seems more sexual to me, and there are moments in the old series too, but mostly ... It's not a bond you can ignore. Heh. Aziraphale/Crowley, in my head, also had a lot of this in their backstory, before they settled, after millennia, into the partnership we know today.
Then, and I have a real soft spot for this one, particular since it has a high tendancy to lead to Enemy Mine situations, there's hunter/prey relationships. I've been attached to it ever since a) The Incredible Hulk, as a child, and b) Les Miserables as a young teenager. There is a level of intensity, though more distant than most, involved in hunting someone/running from someone. Getting to know each other from a distance, adversarial, learning how the other thinks, slipping inside their heads. Becoming very emotionally powerful symbols for each other (Valjean became such a powerful symbol for Javert that the conflict with his beliefs drove him to death). Prison Break's Michael/Mahone, though more S2/S3 had this, too. The Fugitive, most versions (I have a major soft spot for TV version, though, because of the number of times Gerard and Kimble had to work together, or one had to save the other, or Gerard ending up trusting Kimble with his son's life, and that one episode where Kimble saves Gerard and Gerard has a small rant/breakdown at him for being so goddamned saintly when Gerard knows he's doing his job, and has faith in it, and also knows full well Kimble could have let him die and no-one much would have blamed him, and for god's sake, man, could you be less of a plaster saint, just once? I just ... I love that). The level of trust built up, like in White Collar backstory, or The Fugitive, where the hunter and the hunted know what the other will and will not do, will and will not allow. The pain. The kind of possessiveness. Like how Top Cat and the gang could make Officer Dibble's life hell, but no-one else could. *grins sheepishly*
This one pushes all kinds of buttons for me. But, for all the intensity of the relationships, a lot of these I prefer as gen. Much as I like the idea of a lot of the pairs settling down into more established orbits around each other, and much as I adore the Enemy Mine situations they keep getting into, the idea of some of them having sex is a bit ... weird (and we are staying away from the cartoons on this one, yes sirree, lets not go there). White Collar, I can see, as long as it's part of the OT3. Fugitive, maybe, although there's Gerard's family to deal with in the original (movie-verse, not so much, but movie-verse fanfic tends to be ... a bit weird. Or maybe I'm just vaguely traumatised by that one fic ...). Jack McGee/David Banner ... though, actually, I have read fic (you really have to scrounge for this fandom, though), but usually more gen-ish. Heh. Michael/Mahone, though, I'll have happily. *grins*
Older couples, too, or at least ones where the immediate sexual edge has toned down, and the relationship is more about the love and intimacy associated with lives lived together for a long time than about the sex. *shrugs* I love a lot of these. Vimes/Sybil, from Discworld (which balances interestingly against Vimes/Vetinari, which is somewhere between fealty, enmity and brothers-in-arms). Helen/James, balanced against Helen/John (though, in Sanctuary I tend to 'ship all the Five as this weird, century-long entangled mess of connections, some of which are more sexual than others, but all of which resonate). Aziraphale/Crowley can go this way, depending on my mood (that is, if you're adding sex to them at all, when did it happen? Early in the day, back when they were enemies? In the early years of the Arrangement? Or post-Apocalypse? Because if it's the latter, they count simultaneously as a new couple, and a really, really, really old one, on account of the 6000 year courtship ...)
*focuses* Right. Right. Where were we? Because I was supposed to have a point, not to ramble through the many and varied relationships in fictionland that I loved. Hmm. But, yeah. Those are some of the canon (or, well, canon-ish) types of relationships/bonds that tend to lead me into 'shipping. As in, seeing and approving the depth of emotional connection. (This can happen even if the characters in question never met, or met only as enemies or whatnot, because my understanding of the characters means that I think that, if circumstances allowed, they WOULD have that depth of connection). Whether I then also pair them, as in add the sexual element when writing/reading fanfic on the canon, really depends on the characters in question, and possibly also my mood on the day. A lot of the time, though, I'm equally happy with genfic on the bonds as much as pairing-style shippy, and sometimes I tend to prefer genfic. Which in some fandoms can be ... difficult -_-;
Thing is, though, when I look at it, I'm pretty sure the reason I 'ship the pairs I do is exactly the same as the reasons other people 'ship them. It's the bond that leaps out, that grabs people, the raw depth of connection. I'm pretty sure quite a few people who 'ship, say, Wincest, aren't just doing it because they look pretty together, but because Sam and Dean Winchester have one of the most obsessive, desperate, soul-deep connections in fictionland. There are honest-to-gods lovers who would balk at the things those two boys do for each other (and, occasionally, to each other). Shippy fanfic (classically shippy, I mean), I'm pretty positive, is seizing hold of exactly those same things I am.
It's just, because I have this very clear and entirely self-constructed divide between 'shipping' (emotional) and 'pairing' (sexual) in my head, I don't have the immediate leap between an intensely emotional canon bond and a sexual fanfic one (well, not always, anyway). There are exceptions, of course (I have a hard time reading Starsky/Hutch as non-sexual, even if the point in the series where they started is unclear), but still. I think it's just that I have a clearer divide between emotional and sexual in my head. I genuinely cannot read the Winchesters as sexual, for example, even while at the same time recognising that the depth of their emotional bond is practically unparalleled. The A-team the same. *waves hand*
Like I said in the 'asexual ramblings' post, I do think a lot of that is because sex is seen as one of the most powerful shorthand indicators of intimacy/emotion/connection, which is why a lot of incredibly intense canon bonds tend to be translated into sexual ones in fic. Any and all of the bonds I mentioned above can and do have (often primarily) sexual interpretations in fic. And quite a lot of those relationships can have sex added to them (all of them, really, it's just some that I, personally, can't read that way).
I think ... I just sometimes would like it if people remembered that a lot of the time, adding a sexual slant is just that. An addition. The depth of the canon bonds is already there. And will be there, even in genfic, if you've got characterisation right. And some of them ... more so in gen, really. Teambonds tend to get shortchanged by 'shipfic a lot, for example. Family bonds. A lot of incredibly strong male/female friendships get dissed because, "for fucks sake, why don't they just admit they love each other and get married, already?" I mean, I loved Harry/Murphy from the Dresden Files for years, but not as a sexual relationship (both of them have their reasons to avoid it, up until recently), but because they were ... brothers-in-arms, and hunter/prey in the early days, and she sacrificed so much to stand beside him, and he loves her with all his heart and stares at what she has become in raw awe, and it's just ...
I have a thing for emotional genfic, yes? I love shipping fic, I gleefully pounce on shippy fic for some of my 'ships, but for others, I genship. A lot. Because ... Well. Because sometimes I don't want the emotional shorthand that is sex. I want the full, unpacked, variety-of-human-connection exploration that can come with the best gen (and the best canons). I want teamfic, and enemy-mine fic (look, it's a massive kink, okay? *grins sheepishly*), and sacrifice fic, and ... Lots, yes? Lots and lots. There are a lot of things you can explore in a sexual relationship, there are a lot of things you can explore around a sexual relationship, and quite a lot of the time that is exactly the kind of fic I want. But others ... Sometimes, with others, I can't help but feel that the sex gets in the way. That it's become the only acceptable explanation for a love or a connection that deep, that the only way you can live and die and stand and love someone is when you're also having sex with them. And that ... that worries me, sometimes. That idea. Because ...
Because a brother-in-arms who holds his comrade's body in his arms has a shatteringly deep bond with her, regardless of whether or not he knew her biblically. Because a brother can have a desperately deep relationship with his brother, even if they're not bumping uglies. Because ... because there's more, there are other kinds of love, of hate, of connection, of meaning, and those others kinds are as deep, as powerful, as devastating. And I love shipping fic, I love it desperately, but there are times I feel it ... cheapens that, a little. That we've defaulted onto shorthand, a lot of the time, onto a specific translation convention, and we've forgotten the range and depth of meaning of the original. Holmes doesn't need to be sleeping with Watson for Watson to be the one person in the universe who can bridge the gap between Holmes and the rest of humanity, for Watson to be the one who loves him, and admires him, and shelters him, and is protected by him, for Watson to be the one man in creation with whom Holmes might lower his barriers and admit emotion, the man Holmes might ask, in desperation, to do this 'as you love me', and mean it. I mean, he can sleep with him, but it isn't necessary. That love is there regardless.
So. Um. Yeah. I love gen, is what I'm saying? I genship. I have a tendancy, in some fandoms more than others, to really, really wish other people did too -_-; Because there really is more, sometimes, and the more we default onto translation, the more I fear we'll forget the original existed. That we'll start to think that sex really is the only way to love someone. And, possibly because I am what I am, I kinda really don't want that to happen. *ducks sheepishly*
(And also? Looking back on that, I begin to realise that the 'ships that come closest to OTPs, for me, seem to be those that cover multiple types of bonds within the one relationship. Aziraphale/Crowley, which covers 'dedicated enemy', 'old established couple', 'brothers-in-arms' and 'partnership', all at the same time. *grins* Holmes/Watson, which gives 'brothers-in-arms', 'partners' and 'established couple' (they've been living together for quite a while). Doctor/Master, which is primarily 'dedicated enemy', but also 'hunter/prey' and sometimes (and originally, in their youth) 'brothers-in-arms' ... Huh. Apparently, we can add 'brothers-in-arms' as a defining relationship for me, too. Also, those OTP 'ships are actually ... usually ones where the sexual element is one I can take or leave, too. Heh. I genship. I mentioned that, right? *grins faintly*)
Right. Okiday. Finished now, yes? *shakes head at self, wanders off*
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