Looking For Shippers and Non-Shippers To . . .

[UberAeryn]

Compose written arguments for and against ship; not necessarily Stargate ship, but ship in general. If the authors give me permission I'll post everything I receive on my site, provided I have an equal number of pro and con arguments.

I'm not trying to resolve anything, because God knows THAT will never happen, I'm just interested in why fans think the way they do and that it would make for interesting reading.

I'll also provide a forum for discussion if necessary.

If interested, e-mail me; if not, then off I go!

Aeryn

[DownFallAngel]

If you really wanna know why shippers ship, or why there are anti-shippers, then go and head into the shipper threads, and just read the posts. Alot of it is speculation, and "I wishe Jack does marry Sam" stuff, but some people do argue these points.

You might just wanna post this info in the actual ship threads.

[UberAeryn]

If you really wanna know why shippers ship, or why there are anti-shippers, then go and head into the shipper threads, and just read the posts. Alot of it is speculation, and "I wishe Jack does marry Sam" stuff, but some people do argue these points.

You might just wanna post this info in the actual ship threads.

I haven't gone into the ship threads for specifically that reason. I want noromo opinions, ship opinions - not speculation.

I'm looking for people who can formulate credible arguments on both sides.

[David]

Aeryn, I'm moving this to our Fandom section. Thanks!

[UberAeryn]

Kewl.

[michelleb]

Ok, here goes.

Why do I ship? Because I can't not ship is the short answer. Since I started watching sci-fi, I have shipped. For the Doctors and his companions and Avon and Cally, up to Aeryn and John and Sam and Jack.

I enjoy the science fiction. I love the idea that stories can be told have no boundaries. That anything and everything is possible, and will happen and can happen. Having said that, unless I care about a character, I shan't care if he gets sucked up by a T-Rex after taking a wrong turn down a timeline-wormhole. I need to care about a character. And to care about a character you have to know the best and worst of them, see them at their most vulnerable and their strongest. And characters show their best and worst traits in two situations..at war, and in love. These are the only two times when a character is pushed to the extreme, pushed beyond normality, broken, and mended, and stripped of all artifice and defence. A character can not be at war all the time, therefore, he (or she) must be in love to show these moments.

Examples..Hmmm...Avon was interesting. Fascinating even. But I only became truely intrigued by him (to the point of buying all the videos) when I started the Avon/Cally ship. Suddenly I saw a new side to him. Something he kept hidden, and repressed. A part of him he tried to control, but could not. In his little glances at cally, and the one kiss, and the moments of understanding, of touching, I felt we were coming close to the true Avon.

So that's my reason. Because it reveals sides to a character that otherwise we would never have seen. A past. Vulnerability. A fatal weakness, and the greatest strength.

I'm not sure I've explained myself, but let me say one thing. I don't read Mills and Boon romances (or Harlequin, if you're American). I don't watch soap operas, in fact, I despise them. I only ship in sci-fi and crime. In those two genres you get fascinating, obscure, mysterious characters in extreme situations, and only then do I want to know who they really are..and I see that when I see how they love.

One thing I have never understood...the visceral hatred some anti-shippers have for shippers. As if by expressing a certain belief, seeing a certain something, we are somehow undermining that character, and the sci-fi premise. We're not. When we say 'Jack loves Sam, and cannot have her, and therefore hurts', we are not making less of the sci-fi. We're enhancing it.

[UberAeryn]

Thanks, Michelle. May I post this?

[michelleb]

Thanks, Michelle. May I post this?

yes, please do, as long as i get the credit, and what's the site address?

[DownFallAngel]

Could it be gatefic.net....as seen in the signature?

lol.

[michelleb]

Could it be gatefic.net....as seen in the signature?

lol.

whoops. obviously i've been shipping too much and it's made me blind. thanks for that.

ooh, nice site, love the pic!

[UberAeryn]

whoops. obviously i've been shipping too much and it's made me blind. thanks for that.

ooh, nice site, love the pic!

Thanks.

Of course you'll get credit! I'll post back here later when I've uploaded everything I've gotten so far.

Aeryn

[Slainey]

I think that the reason people ship and why romance is the most popular genre is that it is accessible. We’ll never walk through a Stargate, slay vampires or even be pilots, archaeologists, or astrophysicists but we do know romance. Just about everyone has had some sort of issue with love in their lives even it that issue is never finding it. So, when watching this huge larger than life story you find something similar to your life you latch on to it.

I was virtually reamed for backing the wrong ship early in my online career so I’ve been a bit shy about them ever since. (No one really got why I liked Riley so much ) As a sometimes fan of Charmed I was taken by surprised at how wrapped up I became in Piper and Leo’s relationship.

I think the frustration with ships comes from those who want to appreciate how different these stories are from everyday life. That to discuss the mundane everyday aspects of our heros’ lives distracts from the overall grandure of the stories.

There’s also the part that learned a lesson from Moonlighting. It’s all over when the coffee table breaks. Better to avoid all ships than to risk consummation and have all the stories go down hill after that. 

The vitriol and insular nature of both camps pisses me off. It’s not just at Gateworld either. Most of these arguments can be solved by better labeling of threads and then not posting the one you aren’t interested in. I think that there is room for both kinds of discussions.



Use this if you want to Aeryn

[UberAeryn]

Another question: The John and Aeryn relationship in Farscape didn't seem to cause nearly the ruckus that other ships have. Why?

My husband argues that J/A was set up from the beginning; whereas others were not. I'm not so sure that's true

[UberAeryn]

Thanks, Slainey!

[UberAeryn]

I was virtually reamed for backing the wrong ship early in my online career so I’ve been a bit shy about them ever since. (No one really got why I liked Riley so much )

PS I liked Riley, too.