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So now I'm thinking about why I do get so...twitchy when any of my preferred pairings threaten to become canonical, even as I'm squeeing. That they have very little chance of becoming canon is actually one of the big draws of slash to me. And also what toppled me back over to some het pairings in Doctor Who. I didn't always used to feel that way. And I still do enjoy canon pairings...just not fannishly as a general rule. Breaking it down, when a pairing crosses the line over into canon from UST there are a few options.
1. The relationship develops exactly as I'd want it to. This would be the John/Aeryn experience for me. This is...nice. I won't deny it's a bit thrilling to see it unfold on screen like that. But apart from a bit of post episode flaily squee hands it pretty much eliminates my motivation to do anything like read fic, or to meta, or most of the obsessive fannish type things that usually accompany a 'ship for me. Because, there it is. Right there in text, on the screen. Nothing further from me required but to sit back and make some happy sighing noises. That's awesome and all, but it's the interactive nature of fandom which is why I'm here. What if is always more exciting to play with than what is.
2. The relationship develops on screen in ways I wouldn't prefer. That'd be Spike/Buffy for me for those of you playing along at home. Perversely I'm more likely to hang on to a 'ship in the fannish sense if this is the case from a desire to fix it. But I'm also a bit of a canon whore, in that while I'm all in favor of jumping off from canon at any point to play, things that have happened in text have happened. Which means that unlike a 'shipper fic that I don't care for, where I can just hit the back button and forget about it, I have to work around what's given on screen. Or completely reassess my own take on it. There's fannish fun to be had in them thar hills, to be sure. But really, I'd rather have those myriad of options play out extra textually because then I'm never stuck with anything I can't just brush off.
Either way, it sort of feels like the show itself is horning in on my fun. I watch my shows for the story and for the characters. I come to fandom for my 'ship whore needs. If the 'ship is part of the story then it might function as an illumination of character or dynamics in ways that I can play with fannishly, but not as a 'ship whore if that makes any sense at all. The exception being, of course, the OT3 (which is probably one of many reasons why I loves me some OT3) in which the canon 'ship becomes one unit on a different subtextual playground.
So, um, yeah. Kissing in trailers might cause me to make flaily hands of glee, and no doubt quite a bit of actual episode squee, but there's also a part of me going "well, shoot...who do I play with now?" accompanied by a bit of pouting. This is probably completely nonsensical and silly, but there you have it.
Now I am off to eat cookies and finally get started on that Buffy rewatch.
1. The relationship develops exactly as I'd want it to. This would be the John/Aeryn experience for me. This is...nice. I won't deny it's a bit thrilling to see it unfold on screen like that. But apart from a bit of post episode flaily squee hands it pretty much eliminates my motivation to do anything like read fic, or to meta, or most of the obsessive fannish type things that usually accompany a 'ship for me. Because, there it is. Right there in text, on the screen. Nothing further from me required but to sit back and make some happy sighing noises. That's awesome and all, but it's the interactive nature of fandom which is why I'm here. What if is always more exciting to play with than what is.
2. The relationship develops on screen in ways I wouldn't prefer. That'd be Spike/Buffy for me for those of you playing along at home. Perversely I'm more likely to hang on to a 'ship in the fannish sense if this is the case from a desire to fix it. But I'm also a bit of a canon whore, in that while I'm all in favor of jumping off from canon at any point to play, things that have happened in text have happened. Which means that unlike a 'shipper fic that I don't care for, where I can just hit the back button and forget about it, I have to work around what's given on screen. Or completely reassess my own take on it. There's fannish fun to be had in them thar hills, to be sure. But really, I'd rather have those myriad of options play out extra textually because then I'm never stuck with anything I can't just brush off.
Either way, it sort of feels like the show itself is horning in on my fun. I watch my shows for the story and for the characters. I come to fandom for my 'ship whore needs. If the 'ship is part of the story then it might function as an illumination of character or dynamics in ways that I can play with fannishly, but not as a 'ship whore if that makes any sense at all. The exception being, of course, the OT3 (which is probably one of many reasons why I loves me some OT3) in which the canon 'ship becomes one unit on a different subtextual playground.
So, um, yeah. Kissing in trailers might cause me to make flaily hands of glee, and no doubt quite a bit of actual episode squee, but there's also a part of me going "well, shoot...who do I play with now?" accompanied by a bit of pouting. This is probably completely nonsensical and silly, but there you have it.
Now I am off to eat cookies and finally get started on that Buffy rewatch.
.