(no subject)
I've been thinking about my different fandoms and ships, and what I want when I go looking for fic in each of them, because I get very different things out of them all.
Heroes:
Mohinder/Sylar: This was the first pairing I ever called a ship, though I got warm and fuzzies for fictional couples before. I don't read much fic for this pairing anymore, not often, but they will always have sentimental value. I love their passion, thier mixture of love and hatred. I want angst from this pairing, and bittersweetness; roadtrips that ended, longing from afar, a love that is bright and real and painful and never, ever acted on or admitted to. I love when they're together, too, but it would be difficult, and still filled with angst, and there's so few people who can get it right that I hardly bother anymore.
Peter/Nathan: They love each other, and they touch a lot. A really, really lot. What, you want more than that? Fine. They have proven that they would do anything for each other, and any point in canon that contradicts this established fact never happened. *in denial* The love that they have for each other is beautiful, and very, very personal; they have this bond that no-one else can even touch. They don't have a lot of writers, but what they do have is very, very good.
Matt/Audrey: I know, I know, she's not coming back, but she was awesome. I was so dissappointed when I realised Matt was married. I don't read het fic, as a rule, but I love their scenes together.
Hiro/Kensei: A seperate and distinct pairing from Hiro/Adam, though I love the latter too. Hiro/Kensei is pure and sweet; the love of a good man making another strive to be better. Tragedy averted, a heart not broken and a sanity held on to. Hiro/Adam is different in that the damage has already been done, but just as sweet in its optimism; that Kensei still exists, that Adam can still be saved, even after everything he's done. It's been called Mylar Lite, and I agree with this assessment. It's more hopeful, but has an awful lot in common with it otherwise.
Harry Potter:
Draco/Harry: Probably my first slash ship, though I didn't know either term at the time I first read the books. Another one I don't read fic for very often, this time because my vision of them is very different from the common one; rather, my vision of Draco is very different from the common one. I see him as a spoiled child, weak and oblivious to other people's feelings. I see him angry at what was probably the first time anyone ever tried to deny him what he wanted, and unable to deal with that. Through the books, I see him as a child; in fic, I want to see him as an adult, having finally grown a backbone, learned to consider other people, and become ready to admit to Harry that he wouldn't have hated him nearly so much if he didn't want him so badly. I want Harry to have grown up, too, and finally realised that the world isn't as black and white as he used to think.
Merlin:
Merlin/Arthur: They are just so adorable. They're such *boys*, with such bright dreams, everything that happens to them is the most important thing ever, whether it's ridding the world of evil or winning the latest verbal spar with each other. They are, quite literally, destined to be together. They just make me squee, and I go to them when I need fluff.
Smallville:
Clex: They're just such a versatile pairing. They run the gamut from fluffy best-friend slash to the most twisted, fucked-up foe-yay, and it's all believable at the right point in canon. No matter what I'm looking for, I can find it here. The show sucks, but there are some brilliant writers in this fandom.
Stargate: Atlantis:
Sheppard/McKay: They're so good together. John brings out Rodney's bravery and selflessness, while Rodney brings out John's adorable dorkness. They're funny, and sweet, and so absolutely clueless and terrible, terrible at relationships. My favourite kind of fic starring this pairing is the kind which breaks my heart completely, makes me cry my eyes out, then puts me back together again when they finally figure it out and make it work.
Sheppard/Todd: Stop looking at me like that. I don't know, I just do, OK? And I found fic the other day, so I know I'm not the only one.
There are more, but this post is getting really long.