Shippy meme

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Meme snagged from penny_lane_42:

Comment on this entry with a pairing I ship from one of my fandoms and I will tell you:

1. When I started shipping them
2. What I think their challenge is
3. What makes me happy about them
4. What makes me sad about them
5. What moment I wish had never happened
6. Who I'd be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other
7. My happily ever after for them

It occurs to me that, since I rarely talk about any other fandoms, you probably don't KNOW what pairings I ship. (And, to be fair, with the exception of Veronica/Logan, I don't think there's any pairing that comes even close to the crazy fangirling that Spuffy inspires.) I don't really want to list them all out here, so how about I list the fandoms, and if you don't know which pairings I like in that fandom, ask and I'll tell you, then you pick one. Is that too complicated, lol?

BtVS and AtS (obviously), Veronica Mars, The West Wing, Friday Night Lights, How I Met Your Mother, Battlestar Galactica

Comments

Re: Hi there!

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Hmm, let's go with Spike/Angel, then, since I only like Spike/Dawn in very specific situations (either post-series or when it's disturbing and wrong).

1. When I started shipping them - It was definitely well after I'd watched both series. I don't have very good slash goggles, so even with AtS S5, it still took reading fanfic to see the shippiness.
2. What I think their challenge is - Oh, so many things, lol. For one thing, their relationship has a lot of sibling rivalry overtones, which can be difficult to get past. Note: I don't see it as an obstacle for shipping them, the way I see Buffy/Faith's sibling rivalry as making the pairing weirdly incestual. Probably because they're vampires, so all their relationships are incestual to some extent. I think it's an obstacle for THEM - it's hard to be a couple when you're so fiercely competitive with the other person. I think, possibly for that reason, they both hate to admit how much the other one means to them. That's why I see them together most believably in a post-NFA situation where they've lost absolutely everything, when all they have left is each other.
3. What makes me happy about them - The snark! God, I can't stand schmoopy Spangel. If they're not snarking at each other, I don't recognize them. Also, I love their complicated history - and the fact that it's so LONG. How can you know someone for a hundred years and not feel close to them?
4. What makes me sad about them - Angel has a tendency to belittle Spike, which I think goes back to the sibling rivalry thing. He's the older one, and he feels the need to put Spike in his place. (I'm also not a fan of overtly dom/sub themes with them, which seems to be popular in fic, especially Angelus-rapes-William.)
5. What moment I wish had never happened - Hmm, I can't think of anything offhand. There are a lot of individual moments I don't like about both characters, but none that really relate to their relationship.
6. Who I'd be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other - Spike with Buffy, obviously. OTP! And Angel with Faith, which makes a nice little parallel, since I see Angel and Buffy as being very similar, and Spike and Faith also as similar, so you end up with similar dynamics when you switch up the pairings. I also love Angel with Darla. I think Darla honestly was Angel's most significant relationship. He seems to put a lot of stock in Buffy, and she certainly had a huge impact, but with Darla it goes back to the history thing - you can't know someone for 250 years and not have them shape who you are.
7. My happily ever after for them - This is more of an angstily ever after, I think, lol, but post-NFA, they're the only ones who survived. Both having lost everyone who was important to them, they cling to each other and do their best to continue fighting the good fight. And neither one of them ever gets the shanshu (because that would only come between them).