DPP - I ship, you ship, we All ship ...

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

.... but WHY?

Okay class, today's DPP is a thinky-thought one (sort of).

In the same spirit as shah_of_blah's wonderful "Friending Meme" about a month ago, I want to throw this out and see what everyone has to say.

1. Why do you ship?
2. What is it about shipping that appeals to you/is fulfilling?
3. Do you have personal criteria for shipping, i.e., what particular character traits draw you to ship them?
4. (Since this is a Pilots comm), why do you ship K/L specifically? What is it about THEM in particular that fits your answer to the three questions above?
5. How did you become a shipper?
6. What was your first ship?

All answers are optional. Don't feel the need to answer each question individually. Your answer can be as complicated or as simple ("I ship K/L cuz they're pretty") as you want! This is just so we can all learn a little bit more about each other ...



I ship because I love the passion, the excitement, the energy between whoever my OTP might be. That fluttering feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when your ship is right there in the moment? Yeah. That’s what I love. So really, I ship because I miss having that little flutter. You know, that first flush of love, of lust, of wanting to be with someone so badly that it physically hurts? Well, once you’ve settled down and spent a few years with your partner, that is replaced with a softer, warmer glow. The adrenaline rush is no longer there and and I get that rush through my ships.

I am always drawn to the female character first, so my criteria for shipping is it has to involve a strong, independent, doesn’t-take-crap-from-anyone woman (not girl; WOMAN). Of course, having an attractive man is the second criteria. Muscles and hip dents and beautiful eyes and smiles are a must ☺ Physical attractiveness aside, they also have to be able to call each other's crap, not be able to "hide" from each other and basically be, as cliche as it sounds, made for each other. They should compliment each other in every way.

I didn’t start out shipping Kara & Lee. I know, I know. Don’t start throwing things at me, please. When I started watching BSG, I did it in one ridiculous marathon. I think I saw the whole thing in less than a week and that included Razor & The Plan. I was so engrossed with the plot and wanting to know what would happen next, that I wasn’t too focused on shipping. After I was done watching, I started reading fic and THAT’S when it all came to light for me. I went back and re-watched all the Pilot scenes and started shipping them for two reasons: one, Kara kicks ass and is my kinda girl, and Lee is just … well, hot and could get under her skin (See my criteria above). The two of them together were sexy, passionate, there was angst and UST and the fluttery feeling in my stomach; basically, all the things I love about shipping so, voila! I do have a lot of issues with Lee in general (I'm 100% a Kara girl), but that's a whole other discussion. As far as shipping is concerned, for me personally, there really was no other couple but K/L to ship.

I guess I became a shipper when about 10-12 years ago, I came across a website where post graduate students published “continuations” to Pride & Prejudice, exploring Lizzy & Darcy post marriage. There were also quite a few "what if" type of stories there and I absolutely loved them. I didn't realize my interest (okay, obsession), was called "shipping" until years later, when I discovered fan fiction in general, found the fanfiction.net site and just couldn’t stop reading the P&P fic. North & South was my next ship and I felt the same way about Thornton & Margaret that I felt about Lizzy & Darcy. I still didn’t really think of my obsession as a “ship,” well, because the couples were already together, so there was no angst. But I still got the flutters and that was enough for me. It wasn’t until my guilty pleasure, Grey’s Anatomy, introduced Owen Hunt’s character (the yummeh Kevin McKidd) as a love interest for Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), yet another totally badass character, that I became a full-fledged shipper. That’s when I went down the rabbit hole of LJ ☺

Comments

[coffeesuperhero.livejournal.com]

1. Why do you ship?
If I'm being brutally honest with myself? Probably because I see something about the characters that I identify with personally, and when I want them to be happy and OMG IN LOVE FOREVER, well, it's (at least partly) an expression of a wish that I have for myself, too. And, too, I like to see the people I love find happiness, whether they're real folks or fictional folks. If I think that being with another person or persons will make those people happy, then I hope that they find that and that they live happily ever after.

2. What is it about shipping that appeals to you/is fulfilling?
See answer to #1. Love, endorphin boost, etc. Fic in particular is a nice little happy escape from Life for me. Often, though, it's just as much an introspective tool as it is an escape-- I think I learn a little more about what makes me tick with every story that I write.

3. Do you have personal criteria for shipping, i.e., what particular character traits draw you to ship them?
It'll be something that I can identify with, but what that might be varies greatly.

4. (Since this is a Pilots comm), why do you ship K/L specifically? What is it about THEM in particular that fits your answer to the three questions above?
I love them (for sentimental reasons, ahaha). I wanted them to be happy, and I wanted them to have what they wanted, and I felt like they wanted each other. That's pretty much it.

5. How did you become a shipper?
Uh, I was born. ;)

6. What was your first ship?
Oh god. Um. Let's see here. Does anybody remember Mathnet? Because I shipped George and Monday like FedEx. They may have been my first little proto-ship. Oooooh and dude, this is so embarrassing, but the Babysitter's Club books? Logan/Mary Ann? Yeah, I shipped that. Oh dear. And about that same time, Star Wars came into my life, along with Indiana Jones, so, Han/Leia (FOREVER♥) and Indy/Marian (I was so confused when she was not in the second two films, y'all-- probably a great deal of my love for the fourth movie stems from the fact that she's back in the films).

[thegreenkitty.livejournal.com]

Yes, this: 1. Why do you ship?
If I'm being brutally honest with myself? Probably because I see something about the characters that I identify with personally, and when I want them to be happy and OMG IN LOVE FOREVER, well, it's (at least partly) an expression of a wish that I have for myself, too. And, too, I like to see the people I love find happiness, whether they're real folks or fictional folks. If I think that being with another person or persons will make those people happy, then I hope that they find that and that they live happily ever after.

Thanks for writing part of my answer for me, bb. ;)

p.s.--I think I watched Mathnet too. *huggles my fellow nerd and brain twin*

[coffeesuperhero.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, brain twin! *high fives* *hugs*

(OMG MATHNET.)

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Hey! Nice way of getting out of posting a comment with your answers. ;-)

[thegreenkitty.livejournal.com]

*smiles innocently at Naz* Yeah, yeah...have just been in more of a "reading" mood than a "writing" one today. :p

Seriously though, the great thing about this community is the number of brilliant people. Usually someone will pop up with a beautiful and well-written answer and allow the rest of us to jump in with a nice SSWA!

[ninjamonkey73.livejournal.com]

"My name's Monday and I'm a mathematician."

OMG! Loved that show! I didn't ship them, but my guilty secret is that I watched the show well past being the target age demographic. :)

[coffeesuperhero.livejournal.com]

Hee! I remember being SO ANGRY that they replaced Monday with Tuesday. I think I told myself that obviously it was because Monday and George were together, and the department wouldn't let them be partners if they were married, lol!

Oh, lord, I did, too. It's still up on YouTube-- every now and again I go watch an episode. XD

[thegreenkitty.livejournal.com]

Awwww, bb, you are adorable. I don't remember Tuesday but your logic makes perfect sense to me. ;)

I always liked the little pacman guy at the end the best although Monday and George were super cute. We got to watch Mathnet every Friday during 6th grade math (I think my teacher was maybe being lazy, but that was fine with us.)

p.s.--I had every babysitters' club book through 100-something, so I'm right there with ya. My friends and I even tried to start our own babysitters' club (although I think we were too young to babysit yet). It got broken up by my mother after she found us during a "meeting" trying to get the screen back in the window frame after having removed it to climb out onto the porch ledge outside my second story bedroom.

[nazkey.livejournal.com]

Probably because I see something about the characters that I identify with personally That's exactly it. I HAVE to identify with the characters somehow, otherwise, no matter how pretty they are, or how much UST there is, or how "obvious" it is that they are meant to be together, I just won't be able to ship them.

Uh, I was born Soda out of my nose. I love your sense of humor bb. Just love it! You are always so full of sunshine and happy. Really. *mwah*

Thanks for sharing hon!