seldear | Ship Manifestii: On Ships and Shipping

Ship manifestii found here: Sam/Jack, Ron/Hermione, Harry/Luna, Kara/Lee, Batman/Wonder Woman, Faith/Wes, and Sheppard/Teyla.

My Ship Manifestii: Thoughts on Ships And Shipping

I've come a long way since my first viewing of 'SG1: There But For The Grace Of God'. When I first arrived in SG1 fandom, I was very much of the opinion that Sam/Jack was the only possible relationship to ship. How much I've learned since then!

My progression through the types of OTP I support has changed with the various fandoms in which I've been involved. I went from 'canon shipping' to 'non-canon shipping' and have reached a point where I hopefully don't need constant validation of my preferred OTP - or to bash/dismiss another character to achieve it. If they're friends and of the appropriate sexual inclination, then there's possibility. And fanfiction is all about the possibility.

Sam/Jack was very much canonically endorsed. Whatever fans have to say against it, the constant implications from TBTB and the actors indicated that they were playing it up. It may not have been outright canon (sparking outrage from disappointed fen) but in the end, the writers wrote it and the actors acted it, and even if it wasn't the be-all and end-all of the story, it was one of the many dynamics in the show.

Ron/Hermione was another 'preferential ship' where the creator of the universe seemed very much inclined towards the pairing, dropping hints and writing scenes between them all through the books. I like the fact the they are very adolescent, that they behave consonant with their age and emotional maturity (or lack, thereof).

Even Bruce/Diana (Batman/Wonder Woman) had its preferential status in the Justice League animated series, although it wasn't as overt as John/Shayera (Green Lantern/Hawkgirl). I like John/Shay, but the characters don't drag at me as hard as Bruce and Diana. It may very well be the addition of Clark-Superman to the mix and the unique connection between the three of them: respect, trust, and affection, carefully balanced.

Faith/Wes was my first hiccup in the preferential pairings - even Joss Whedon, the great master of twisted-up 'ships, wasn't going to give these two crazy, screwed-up kids a chance. Besides, Wesley is doomed to love 'em and lose 'em. I figured it would be nice for him to have someone who really is doomed. A Slayer lives to Slay, and then she dies.

I don't know why I liked these two: possibly it's just because at the point where things actually become possible between them (instead of just twisted and sick) they're both weary and slightly jaded. And, I think, because they've both been through the wringer, and while it darkened Wesley's puritan strain, it cleaned Faith up and set her on the path of, if not righteousness, greyscale - more or less.

Plus, it seems proper that the extra Slayer and the unwanted Watcher should find hints of themselves in the shattered fragments of the other, and become, if not whole, then at least a little less cracked.

Truly told, Harry/Luna was just a pipe-dream, although I imagined JKR would give both Neville and Luna a bit more to do in the plot of HBP; then again, she severely cut down both Ron and Hermione's involvement in the story - to the sound of much screaming on behalf of the Harry/Hermione fen, whose argument for their ship seems to be based on the percentage of time that the two characters spend with each other. Again, like Faith/Wes, my enjoyment of this pairing is in the potential rather than the actual.

I like Kara/Lee as a working pair with issues. It has some degree of preferential writing - at the least, the dynamic between them is something that can't be ignored or dismissed, although it can be reduced to a psychosis on both their parts. Would I want to see them get together? Someday, maybe.

Like Faith and Wes, Kara and Lee have some seriously dysfunctional segments in their relationship, and there's a lot of issues to be dealt with before we have anything that even halfway works between them. And it wouldn't be hugs and kisses and happily-ever-after, even if they did escape the Cylons and find their way to Earth. These are two people who would still have personal issues in ten, twenty, thirty years time after love and frakking and shared experience and everything. Happily Ever After is so not in their diary.

Finally, Sheppard/Teyla is one of those pairings that seems to have very little to commend it. Whatever coinage it began with has been spent, and most people are looking for something with a little more payoff. But Sheppard/Teyla still draws me on, the mirage in the desert - nothing more than a vision with perhaps a little possibility behind it. Once again, potential rather than actual.

I think, if there was anything to connect all these 'ships - with perhaps the exception of the Harry Potter 'ships - it would be the kind of female character I'm drawn to: someone who can physically kick ass, and who has potential for more. A feminine mystique doesn't hurt either.

Sam, Teyla, Faith, Kara, and Diana are all the kinds of girls who keep their own counsel, and kick their own opponents butts rather than leaving it to be 'saved' by the guys. The interaction with their guy can be potential or actual, but the man has to be a match for them. Preferably not just a match, but something infinitely more delicate and indefinable: a balance.

And as most people reading this already know, I'm a sucker for balance.

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Here endeth the manifestii.