Fanon to Canon; Oh yes?; Oh noes!?

[krickets]

I was talking to barefoot_chick about shipping and what happens when your favorite fanon pairing suddenly becomes canon. There they are, the special two, just going about their platonic existences, when before you know it, right before your eyes, there's full-on mackage and/or declarations of love, true lustlove!

After all of that writing, reading, discussing, watching, and waiting, having to endure storylines that pull the characters away from each other, or worse, make them completely oblivious to each other, and after all that time spent hoping against all odds, it's finally happened.

You squee, you convulse, you cry, you slap your TV/computer moniter, you jump for joy, you do whatever it is shippers do when your people become... one. (Wow that would be kind of poetic if it weren't so goofy-sounding.)

The question then, becomes: What do you do then? What happens next?

Do you immerse yourself in fandom, write, read, vid, watch, consume, digest anything you can get your hands on? Or do you discover that fun really was all in the chase and lose interest entirely?

If the latter is the case, maybe it's not about losing interest entirely, maybe it's about not wanting fanon or future canon, or anything, to ruin that perfect moment? Or maybe the moment wasn't so perfect after all and you're just darn angry that when it finally happened, it didn't happen right.

Canon? Ewww! I'm not really an OTP-er, although I do have favored pairings in canon. Often, however, that does not cross over into my fandom activities.

In BSG, I like Lee/Kara, but I don't, and can't see myself ever wanting to write them. But then again, I also really like Leoben/Kara, Sam/Kara, Helo/Kara... and well, you get the point. I'm kind of a chronic multi-shipper that way. They are in no way my OTP, just an example of a pairing I ship for which I have no interest in being a fandom participant.

(The same goes for Kate and Jack of LOST, although I don't ship them exclusively with one another, on the show or off - it's that multi-shipper bug I can't get rid of.)

As a matter of fact, looking over my fic, there are very few pairings I have written that are canon at all: Kara/Leoben; Kara/Sam; and you could stretch and say Dean/Jo, though it was canonically unrequited. Of those, only Kara/Leoben is a ship that I adored that only became canon after the fact, albeit in its own twisted sort of way. (I loved them ever since first watching Flesh & Bone.)

I have this running joke that canon squicks me. And though it is true that I stick mainly to non-canon pairings, I don't think it changes my level of involvement when that thin line between what is real, and what I imagine could be real, is erased.

And yet, canon still in some way shapes my fandom habits, seeing as I usually shy away from those pairings. Just not after the fact, apparently.

Does it change?I'm sure it's different for everybody. I know that there are people who only ever write or read canon pairings, so they're kind of the opposite of me in that way. I couldn't see myself writing only, or even mostly, canon pairings. I think it's a combination of feeling bored by those ideas, and being drawn to all these unexplored possibilities that lie beyond what we see on screen.

So could the same kind of idea effect someone who previously loved the idea of a pairing and that pairing suddenly becomes canon? (Or in the case of Adama/Roslin, finally does?)

ETA: I know this is an entirely different game for those who are pretty much exclusively slash shippers. Though, perhaps shipping only slash is partially a means to avoid the possibility that your pairing will ever become canon -- in most instances.

Comments

[dazzlebug.livejournal.com]

I like it when you discuss/meta! It always gives pause for thought :)

[crickets.livejournal.com]

:D Hi you, hope your day has gotten better!

[dazzlebug.livejournal.com]

*nods*

It has - the reason being that I'm going to sleep soon. LOL

[airings.livejournal.com]

For me, it's the chase! I'd love Gaetar to happen, and I would seriously faint if it actually happened but half the fun is in speculating that one glance of Gaius to Felix is OMG TRUE WUV!!11!~

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Yeah I think that's partially it for me too! The reason I like so many non-canon and slash pairings, that is. I mean, I guess it doesn't change for me if a fanon pairing becomes canon. But initially? I like the speculation. The idea that there is something more behind what we're seeing.

[lenina20.livejournal.com]

It gets better! It's the great thing about shipping - when it comes true and then there is a story and believe, the chase isn't over. The chase is never over. You'll realize soon enough -- There is so much angst and wishing and praying and getting frurious standing before you yet ;);)

[crickets.livejournal.com]

The chase is never over. → You're 100% right about that in most instances. That's just the way things go I suppose!

[workswithwords.livejournal.com]

I totally feel this way about the office. Jim and Pam were way better when they weren't together, in my opinion!

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah that's a brilliant example! I noticed shipping of Jim and Pam took a monsterous nosedive when they finally hooked up! And even though I was never a regular viewer of the show, my interest in them certainly lessened once they were a right and proper couple.

[workswithwords.livejournal.com]

The UST between Jim and Pam really worked for me, and so when it wasn't there, they were almost boring...

As for BSG canon, I can write it in small ficlets or drabbles or comment porn, but for long stuff, I find it very hard and like I said on the phone earlier, sometimes canon is so good I feel like there really isn't anything left to say between ships who are already canon.

Might be doing a comment fic post tonight, but only non canon pairings! :D

[gregoria44.livejournal.com]

Brian not working good toady, BUT I will say that, for me, where m/m slash is concerned, I probably wouldn't bother myself writing it if it was THERE ON A PLATE for me to stare happily at on my teevee screen.

Sorry that sentence was so long!

Part of the thrill for me (other than the, 'my, will you look at that pretty') is the forbidden aspect. I'm not even that keen on slash where every other character knows about it and is accepting.

Finer by far for me, is the furtive fumble, the coveted canoodlings, the secret sexings.

*hands over twopenneth*

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Finer by far for me, is the furtive fumble, the coveted canoodlings, the secret sexings.

I love you so much for this! That is so TRUE. (And made me kinda giggle, I won't lie.)

I totally, totally agree. The forbidden aspect is key, and maybe that's why I go for non-canon so readily. (And the very forbidden, Jawyercita and Jack/Claire, type pairings...)

I think you're on to something!

[gregoria44.livejournal.com]

If I am, then let us cling happily to it!

Been reading Nancy Friday's 'Men in Love'. By gum, there's a LOT of lust for the forbidden, one heck of a lot.

*joyfully joins in*

[tinkerbell99.livejournal.com]

For the most part, it's the chase that I enjoy. What you said about when it happens it not happening right is usually what goes on for me. Josh and Donna from The West Wing comes to mind. I was horrified at what the writers did to them.

I think what I like is watching a relationship build. I like squeeing me heart out at all the teeny tiny moments (omg! he touched her arm! or did you see that look?!?) You know, the irrational stuff that gets us shipping in the first place. That's what is fun for me.

I like this topic :-)

[crickets.livejournal.com]

I think what I like is watching a relationship build. → I think I'm the same way, even though it might only do that in my mind! Hahaha.

I think they very rarely get it right, but sometimes the fact that they get it at all is good enough. But sometimes? It's just a crime!

[rjsteamboat76.livejournal.com]

my non-canon obsession has always been Kara/Karl. if it ever happened on the show (which we know won't cuz of K/L,hate them,not to mention Karl/Sharon who i do like) i think i'd go into silly fanboy delerium. =)

even though when indulging in my little fanon fun, i do work canon in there somehow. sometimes you have to squint to see it, but it's there.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

I love Kara/Helo as well! One thing they could do, or could have done, is insinuate that there had been some kind of past between Starbuck and Helo. I'm pretty sure that Tahmoh's been asked whether or not he thinks he and Starbuck ever hooked up and his answer was something like "she's STARBUCK" what do you think? Or something similar to that. Hahaha.

[gigglemonster.livejournal.com]

I just like everyone. I think everyone should hook up at least once LOL
I can't say that I don't cross canon/fanon because I've vidded Jack/Kate plenty and even Kara/Lee once and obviously Kara/Sam.
I probably wouldn't ever write them but I don't really write fic anyway so.
I just don't know.
My brain is kind of fried after reading Jen's fic hahaha all my brain can really process right now is...callum..trucco...hips..yummmmmm

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Everyone should hook up at least once? Hmmm...

You know... I don't think I've ever done a straight shipper vid. Even You Passed By wouldn't qualify I don't think. Why the hell do you suppose that is, Dayln? Go ahead! Analyze me!

OMG HIPS. That fic! *must read again*

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

that's a very very good question! I do think that I prefer when it's not quite canon. although I can root and be happy if it happens (like Des finally getting back to penny, for example).

But on the other hand, as a writer I think there is so much more to do and explore if it's maybe hidden, secret, UST and all. I may go slash for that reason... you can make it happen like YOU wish it would, and risk less that the show writers will do it in a way that will leave a sour taste in your mouth.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Desmond and Penny are a good example for BOTH here. Like, I totally cried during their phone call and clapped when they reunited.

But, in spirit of that second thing? I would be much more likely to read or write Des/Claire fic. Hehehe. Hidden, secret, UST, all those things you mention, make it so much more interesting than "yay we're going to live happily ever after if Ben doesn't kill me first, now let's go have a baby!"

Hehehe. So yeah, that's also why the slash is so... appealing.

[theladyscribe]

Interesting!

It's very strange for me, because most of my favored pairings will never happen in canon, mostly because they're crossover pairings (let's face it, Dean/Female is my OTP). But that's mainly in SPN.

When I was highly involved with LotR, for instance, I was an avid Eomer/Lothiriel shipper, and shipped most (if not all) of the other canon pairings within Middle Earth. Firefly was Mal/Inara, though looking back, I am less in favor of that pairing now than I was before (which is a case of my real life reflecting my fandom more than anything I think). As for VMars, though I have never been involved directly in the fandom, I am a Logan/Veronica shipper as far as the show goes (and also, Leo/Veronica was pretty awesome).

So I guess you could say that, while I'm not really an OTP-er, I'm fairly pairing-monogamist. Unless Dean is involved, and then all bets are off.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, crossover pairings are one I didn't think of as the "impossible yet safe" pairing. That's probably because I don't really do crossovers (I don't know why, maybe I have a crappy imagination? LOL.)

I feel the same about Mal/Inara, I used to be so into them, and in canon, yes I still dig it. But I'd be much more interested to read some Mal/Simon these days hahahah.

Leo! Awww! He was stinkin' adorable! *pinches cheeks*

I'm not so pairing monogamist... I just can't stop shipping all my favorites with every other person. Hahaha. Whoops?

[theladyscribe]

I think I am more pairing monogamist when there are specific pairings within canon that I genuinely enjoy/appreciate. I also think it depends on when/how I entered the fandom - with the exception of SPN, I really never joined the party until the canon was essentially over, so I never got involved in the various factions of non-traditional pairings that tend to pop up and peter out eventually.

Also, SPN is an odd bird because I simply cannot ship Sam with *anyone* anymore. Unless I'm reading S1 (or even early S2) fic, I cannot stomach the idea of Sam with anyone but Dean (unless it is really dark and dirty Sam/Jo, for which I can make an exception occassionally). I'm to the point where I will skip *anything* that says "Sam/..." with very little exception.

Of course, I am also completely incapable of writing Sam fic, as evidenced by my plethora of Dean-related fiction and very distinct lack of Sam-related.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Yay for Sam/Jo. I really liked the idea of that pairing, though I read very little of it. Come to think of it, I read very little SPN fic to begin with... I suck.

Yeah I prefer to write Dean fic myself. Even though I hardly wrote SPN fic at all. Let's just ignore my crappy participation in the SPN fandom right now! LOL.

[theladyscribe]

I counted the number of stories I wrote that were from Sam's POV once. Out of the 60+ I've written, a mere seven included the POV: Sam tag. Of those seven, I think four of them also had other people's POVs. On the Dean side of things, 33 are from his POV. I think this probably says quite a lot about me and my personal preferences when it comes to men.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Hahaha possibly!

Though, I don't know. giandujakiss has a little theoretical checklist of ways you can tell which character an author prefers. And I read that and kind of compared that to my fic and quite frequently the character I preferred is not the one on that list. Maybe I just write funny. LOL. (Or maybe I'm wild and unpredictable!)

[theladyscribe]

Link me?

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Tracking it down.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

http://giandujakiss.livejournal.com/231742.html

Found it! (Well, she found it for me, to be precise.)

[theladyscribe]

Thanks! :D

[oregonblondie.livejournal.com]

I guess for me I have the crack!ships (ones that will never, ever in a million year happen), non-canon (long-shots, but still plausible) and canon ships. I don't think any group out-wieghs the other in terms of my affection for them, but I know I do tend to write less for my canon ships than non-canon or crack.

Non-canon ships definately seem to cause me the most angst. I think its because there is such a vast difference between the perception of every induvidual viewer. It's usually really cool for me when something non-canon becomes canon (and then I start worrying something might happen to them), but it hurts really hard when you have a ship you consider non-canon that still has got that little flame of hope and then a show tells you out-right that your ship is crack [ex: Jack/Jordan from Studio 60, which is how I met 1/2 my flist but never materialized].

Non-canon becoming canon has caused some serious joy. There's really nothing like thinking you (and a little group of people) are psycho and then your show vindicates you [ex: Blair/Chuck from Gossip Girl, which I and otehrs shipped as early as the Pilot but didn't become canon until 1x05]. Also, there can be some fandom magic too, especially when a non-canon has been a long time coming in canon [ex: Barney/Robin in How I met Your Mother]. There was such an over-whelming explosion of joy that was so wonderful to see.

being drawn to all these unexplored possibilities that lie beyond what we see on screen

I think that's big reason why I write a lot of fic. Sure, I ship Lee/Kara canonically, but I would rather write Helo/Sharon since they get a lot less screen time (IMO).

(BTW, I love your meta posts!)

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Yeah I think it's more accurate to say I'm into crack as well. The "never in a million years or someone in charge goes crazy" (Crazy awesome!) Like... Jack/Claire/Sawyer, Richard/Alex, Helo/Kara, etc. etc. Yeah those are never gonna happen.

I guess for me I don't get worried or upset when something I ship becomes canon because I pay so little mind to canon pairings in the first place! It's hard when a show is as well-written as BSG though, because even the background players are often fleshed out. But it's a LOT easier with a show like LOST where sometimes I think the writers forget the character's NAME, not to mention the things that make them, them.

I think purestvixen had a good point with fanon turned canon with Jim and Pam of the office. Sure it was joyful at first, but then it was just... uninteresting and kinda boring, ya know? So it can go both ways.

(BTW, I love it when you participate!)

[oregonblondie.livejournal.com]

True, but I think even though BSG does such a good job with fleshing out its background characters, there are still huge opportunities for strange pairings with the Cylons especially (my favorite crack!ship is Doral/D'anna).

Well, that's sort of a funny example for me, because Jim/Pam has always sort of been almost-not-quite-but-may-as-well-be-canon. Plus I didn't and still don't ship it, so there was no joy here when it actually became canon. It was just more boring dreck.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

oh I remember watching your Doral/D'Anna vid. Seriously, that made me wanna read/write fic for them, despite not really liking D'Anna!

Oh, Doral. "Sign your name! SIGN IT!" Hehehe. He is so badass.

Maybe if I had been a regular viewer (instead of sporadic) of the Office, I might have felt the same way. But as it was I just kinda thought they were adorkable.

[siluria]

Oooooooo, some very interesting points. I have had het ships, but found that once they became canon I ended up losing interest in the ship, and the show in some cases. Much as I really want to see my two characters together (het or slash) I seem to prefer watching the chase. Maybe I have a UST kink.... ;)

I think with fanon ships it's easier to imagine them how you want them to be; canon ships can be frustrating and disappointing because they don't match your ideals.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Much as I really want to see my two characters together (het or slash) I seem to prefer watching the chase. Maybe I have a UST kink.... ;)

UST KINK. Definitely could be a culprit for many of us. It's just so much more interesting (and dark) than romantic dinners by candlelight and holding hands. Stolen glances and need and want? MUCH more interesting, IMO.

[barefoot-chick.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's all in the chase. I'm not sure. I watched "The Hub" and it was all over for me. I don't even know why. I've never had one of my ships become canon before and it just blew me away.

I think I viewed Adama/Roslin as one of those unatainable/unconventional ships. I ship people that will never get together in canon. Buffy/Giles, being one of them.

I'm sure I'll get back into BSG at some point, but it just holds no interest for me right now. Maybe you're right about the fact that I don't want to burst the happiness bubble I got from watching "The Hub". How much better could it get from there?

I'm going retro in my fandoms now. Busy going through MacGyver episodes. Have Magnum, P.I. on my Netflix list. Someone convinced me that Starsky and Hutch is gayer than gay and I'm investigating that by borrowing the first season from the library.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

You can borrow my due South DVDs if you want! LOL. A lot of people ship Ray Kowalski and Fraser (and Ray Vecchio and Fraser too) but I haven't gone the slash route yet. I just think the show is an awesome good time. I still need to watch season four though (blasphemy!) but luckily that is in the mail to me right now!

You know what you should watch? PUSHING DAISIES. Holy crap it is the cutest show that ever evered! And there's not a ton of ship angst (unless you count the fact that the two main characters can't touch each other, ever). It's just soooo cute. But it doesn't come out on DVD until SEPTEMBER. Damn. Makes no sense!

I just realized I watch way more TV than I ever have and it's all because of livejournal. (And I probably download 90% of it, BSG and LOST are the only two I watch on the big TV downstairs.)

This is what I'm definitely going to catch up with this summer:
Veronica Mars
Stargate Atlantis
Dr. Who
Torchwood
dueSouth (season 4)

Here's what I hope to catch up with this summer:
Life on Mars
Ashes to Ashes
Mad Men

Also, Stargate premieres in the summer (in a few weeks!)

Then in the fall:
Pushing Daisies
Big Love
(Possibly Entourage)

But what about new shows? So far, only Dollhouse for sure. (By the way, when I said Summer Glau, I think I meant to say Amy Acker.)

And the BSG CAST?
I definitely want to watch Katee's eps of Nip/Tuck, and Callum's eps of Californication, and Tricia's eps of Burn Notice.

Trucco has a new show and so does Grace, but who knows if I'll follow them there. I love Trucco, but his is a sitcom and I just... don't watch sitcoms, with few exceptions. Maybe, I'll wait to see if it makes it past sweeps? Though Grace's show sounds kind of good, IMO, and it's on a network where I think if it even does remotely well, it'll stay on.

Then it's LOST and BSG in the winter. (And whenever Madmen comes back, if I find I like it.)

ALSO? Eureka looks reallygood!

Damn I need to watch less TV.