Yay! MetaPress is back up and running!

only took a week...

(work stuff - the ejournals that weren't giving us access now are. Yay!)

Yay! MetaPress is back up and running!

only took a week...

(work stuff - the ejournals that weren't giving us access now are. Yay!)

I've been thinking a lot lately about the nature of 'shipping' in fandom. Mostly because I'm fickle and although I have my 'OTP' in BtVS fandom I read (and write) outside of that all the time. So what is it that defines a ‘ship’? Why are some more popular than others? Is there such a thing as OTP (or OT3)? Or do we shift with current trends?

At the moment I’m reading a lot of Buffy/Xander fic, and I can see myself accepting this ship (hell, I’m even working on a site dedicated to it) but does that make me a traitor to Faith? Well… no, not really, because I’m also reading a lot of Faith/Lindsey fics (well, not a lot actually because there isn’t really that much out there… *cough* _dontcomehome_) another ‘ship’ I can buy into. And then there’s the added complication of my slash OTP – yup, you guessed it, Xander/Lindsey. So in my own limited little fic world, there’s already a mass of contradictions and conflicts. None of it seems wrong to me though, each of them is as ‘buyable’ as the others.

And that’s before even taking into account my long standing admiration of anyone who can write Xander/Willow (I can’t, tried it, deleted it very quickly). My fascination with well written Buffy/Faith. My love for all things Wesley. And my hatred (not really) for emeraldswan who, every time I write with her, ends up convincing me that the characters we’re writing would make the perfect couple. (WX ; CD ; CB ; and the latest one…)

Is it just me being fickle and indecisive? Is it just the mark of good writing that can ‘sell’ a ship? Some of you have very definite OTPs from which you don’t stray – why is that?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the nature of 'shipping' in fandom. Mostly because I'm fickle and although I have my 'OTP' in BtVS fandom I read (and write) outside of that all the time. So what is it that defines a ‘ship’? Why are some more popular than others? Is there such a thing as OTP (or OT3)? Or do we shift with current trends?

At the moment I’m reading a lot of Buffy/Xander fic, and I can see myself accepting this ship (hell, I’m even working on a site dedicated to it) but does that make me a traitor to Faith? Well… no, not really, because I’m also reading a lot of Faith/Lindsey fics (well, not a lot actually because there isn’t really that much out there… *cough* _dontcomehome_) another ‘ship’ I can buy into. And then there’s the added complication of my slash OTP – yup, you guessed it, Xander/Lindsey. So in my own limited little fic world, there’s already a mass of contradictions and conflicts. None of it seems wrong to me though, each of them is as ‘buyable’ as the others.

And that’s before even taking into account my long standing admiration of anyone who can write Xander/Willow (I can’t, tried it, deleted it very quickly). My fascination with well written Buffy/Faith. My love for all things Wesley. And my hatred (not really) for emeraldswan who, every time I write with her, ends up convincing me that the characters we’re writing would make the perfect couple. (WX ; CD ; CB ; and the latest one…)

Is it just me being fickle and indecisive? Is it just the mark of good writing that can ‘sell’ a ship? Some of you have very definite OTPs from which you don’t stray – why is that?

First - what d'you think of 'ships' in fandom? Tell me here!

Second - I have a request for any music-sharing peeps out there. Do any of you have copies of Deacon Blue's "Beneath the Hill" you'd be willing to share? It's on the Ooo Las Vegas B Sides album and was used in the BBC film "Dreaming" (I think the film was written by William McIllvaney?) I have it on vinyl (yes, I still have vinyl records which I play a lot!) and casette but not on mp3 or wma format. (I'm also looking for James Joyce Soles - also by Deacon Blue, this one's on Fellow Hoodlums - but I may have a lead on that one.) **hugs smileawhile** Thank you honey!

( Third - graphics type pondering. )

First - what d'you think of 'ships' in fandom? Tell me here!

Second - I have a request for any music-sharing peeps out there. Do any of you have copies of Deacon Blue's "Beneath the Hill" you'd be willing to share? It's on the Ooo Las Vegas B Sides album and was used in the BBC film "Dreaming" (I think the film was written by William McIllvaney?) I have it on vinyl (yes, I still have vinyl records which I play a lot!) and casette but not on mp3 or wma format. (I'm also looking for James Joyce Soles - also by Deacon Blue, this one's on Fellow Hoodlums - but I may have a lead on that one.) **hugs smileawhile** Thank you honey!

( Third - graphics type pondering. )