Shipper tendencies

[gategrrl]

Can someone explain to me why there's such a compelling need to sexualize and Romantic-ize characters? I've been there myself, but I seem to have gone past that as a "serious" endeavor. I'll *play* with characters and their sexuality -- but the *need* to pair them up romantically just isn't a priority, and it seems so unnecessary, and somewhat Mary Sueish, especially if it's certain types of het and slash writing.

It's not so much the sexualizing -- that I get, it's fun to imagine your favorite characters whupping it up with the whipped cream and cherries, and get down and dirty and sweaty. But at the same time, what I'm puzzled more about is the need to Harlequinnize decent characters who already have complex, nonsexual relationships with each other, that get totally boring when they DO get together.

Anyone?

Comments

[graculus.livejournal.com]

There's the Jack/Daniel fics I categorize as "Jack must be Daniel's care giver because Daniel can't even tie his shoe laces on his own, but is oh so important to the Stargate program/Jack/Jack's penis."

To me, that view of the Jack/Daniel dynamic says equally bad things about both characters: Jack wants to have someone who will utterly rely on him and Daniel is incapable of independent thought. The vibes are more incestuous than anything else. *shudders*

For me, the attraction for Jack/Daniel (or Daniel/Teal'c) is how you get two canonically strong independent and intelligent (well, Jack *was* intelligent till the DOED got to him) individuals and get them together. If you don't see them as independent and intelligent people, then why on earth would you care what they got up to?

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I don't want to even go with all the nasty psychobabble variations of thought that can fit into that line of reasoning in a slash pairing. Especially the Jack/Daniel dynamic. There are some seriously messed up stuff out there, Grac.

The funny thing is that for slashers (and even gen) what brings us to love Jack and Daniel so much is that spark that is between them. That spark is dependent on their individual and independent personalities.

Then, there are some you take what made us see slash in the first place and bastardize it.

Bleh.

[amycooper.livejournal.com]

Amen.

Sometimes, when I'm reading a fic, I wonder if the reader of the fic and I are watching the same show. Maybe there's some other show out there called Stargate and it has characters with the same names and different personalities. I'll make a point to not look for it in the TV guide.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

The funny thing is that for slashers (and even gen) what brings us to love Jack and Daniel so much is that spark that is between them. That spark is dependent on their individual and independent personalities.

You'd think that, but sometimes I read stuff and wonder if people have actually ever seen the show when they have Daniel crying because he ran out of coffee and Jack treating him like a three-year-old. And then sometimes they have sex. *shudder*

People who're writing (myself included) are doing it because they need something from the end result. It could be strokes from other people, it could be the creation of a 'perfect' environment in which they wish they lived, it could be the resolution of something about the show or the characters that vexes them. Or a dozen other things. That's not restricted to any genre, because I've seen the same things popping up all over the place.

Sometimes 'Jack' and 'Daniel' are just convenient names to hang onto two male characters who happen to be doing something that might loosely be linked in some way to this long-running tv show...

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

You'd think that, but sometimes I read stuff and wonder if people have actually ever seen the show when they have Daniel crying because he ran out of coffee and Jack treating him like a three-year-old. And then sometimes they have sex. *shudder*

I am getting that squishy feeling again. Ugh.

I will not go into the various pop psyche on this ;)

Double Ugh.