ship manifesto: the only thing i wouldn't change (roger/victoria; dark shadows)
Alright. It's been, like, a month. ship_manifesto hasn't gotten back to me on this, and it's been done for... well, ever. So I'm posting it. Haters can step.
introduction.
you're the only thing i wouldn't change in this place.
-The Hush Sound: "Hospital Bed Crawl"
When most people think of Dark Shadows - if they're even familiar with it - they tend to think of shoddy sets, flubbed lines, and the unmistakable air of camp. And all of these things are true. Dark Shadows was a supernatural soap opera that aired from 1966-1971. The show was produced on a shoestring budget with ridiculous time restraints, so yes, sets that wobbled at the slightest pressure were a factor, along with actors messing up their lines. Compared to today, the special effects are rather lacking, in a word, but for the day and the medium, they were cutting-edge, and at times rather terrifying. I've heard many a story from my mother and the parents of my friends who talk about running home from school in time to catch the show - even though they technically weren't allowed to watch it.
Something interesting to note about Dark Shadows is that the show wasn't intended to be the paranormal staple that it now is. In fact, for the first few months the show was on the air, ratings were abysmal. The show had an interesting tone, but the actual content was nothing more than typical soap opera fare...
Until Dan Curtis had the idea to throw in a ghost.
The spike in ratings caused by the ghost's appearance prompted another supernatural character to be written in: Laura, the phoenix. After her demise, the writers developed the character that would prove to be the turning point for the entire show: Barnabas Collins, the vampire. With his first appearance, shortly after Dark Shadows' 200th episode, nothing was the same again.
My first exposure to Dark Shadows was sometime in 2007 or 2008. I'd developed somewhat of an interest in classic vampires a few years before that, and my mother jokingly suggested that I give the show a shot. I ignored her for a bit, until, having never seen a single episode, I got the strangest urge to watch it. I researched a bit of it and rented the first disc from Netflix, and something about the show's atmosphere and the characters sucked me in. Yes, it was campy, yes it was overacted, and worst of all (in my opinion at the time), it was a soap opera! How was I ever going to live it down? And then, something clicked and I suddenly didn't care anymore. The show was awesome. Haters? Could step.
As for the pairing in question, It just hit me one day. In late 2008/early 2009, I took a hiatus from watching the show. When I picked it back up, in the episode I started, Roger was more or less overtly flirting with Victoria. When I had watched the earlier episodes, I had noticed a twisted sort of tension between the two characters, but the actual idea of them as a pairing didn't cross my mind until later. And even then, for a while, it was more or less a crack pairing in my mind. There was no way that I could seriously see them getting together, given the circumstances on the show at the time. But the show went on. Those circumstances changed. But the chemistry between the two remained. As the characters developed, so did my idea of them actually being together.
Of course, there's really no way to talk about the pairing without first discussing the issue of how the two are related: In my personal version of canon? They aren't. I'm well aware of the fact that the "accepted" canon is that Victoria is the daughter of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, and would be Roger's neice, but I'm also aware of the fact that this isn't stated in the actual series, and it wasn't the writers' original plan for Victoria. The canon I prefer to go by (and, thus, the one I'll be going by in this) is the idea that she's Paul Stoddard's daughter (but not Elizabeth's - so she's illegitmate. It makes sense in-show, I promise).
victoria winters.
it's the things you don't see and the things you'll never forget.
-Cathy Vickers: "Lost"
"My name is Victoria Winters. My journey is beginning."
Those were the first words ever spoken on Dark Shadows, and Victoria was the first lead character to appear. Victoria was introduced as a headstrong, curious if not naive young woman, hired under mysterious circumstances to work as a governess in Maine. Her employers happen to be the prestigious Collins family, her charge the nine-year-old David Collins, and the package is topped off with a mansion (known as Collinwood) that sits high atop a cliff, overlooking the coast. Countless times in the first episode alone, Victoria is told to turn back, that under no circumstances does she want this job. But if she listened, then we wouldn't have a show, would we?
There's much mystery surrounding Victoria; she's completely in the dark about her family. Born in the 1940s, someone left her to the care of a New York City foundling home with only the message, "Her name is Victoria. I cannot take care of her." When she was two years old, money postmarked from Bangor, Maine started being sent to the home for her. Other than that, even the audience doesn't know much about her childhood, apart from the fact that Victoria fainted when she won a short- story contest. There was also the instance when an employee at the home told Victoria that her parents were coming for her very soon. She believed the person, but it was in vain. When Victoria grew up, she took a job at the foundling home, when she received the fateful letter. It specifically request that she come and be a governess for David Collins at Collinwood. But why? As far as she knew, Victoria had never been in contact with these people. Did they know something about her? She couldn't risk it. Victoria took the job.
For a while, Dark Shadows focused on Victoria. She was the ingenue character, yes, but she wasn't an idiot - in the beginning, at least. She wasn't afraid to go investigate mysterious noises and the like (and Collinwood was plauged with them), pulling the curtains back and figuring out what made things - and people - tick. Her curiosity was somewhat of a downside, though, and because of that she got herself into many a tricky situation. Kidnapping is the first that comes to mind, but her curiosity put Victoria on many characters' bad sides; no one understood why she couldn't simply mind her own business. She was shown to be strong; even under the downright frightening warnings given to her to stay away from Collinwood, Victoria still went. And although she came close to it many times, Victoria never left. She was determined to crack the mystery that was her past. Unfortunately, that was a mystery that was never solved.
roger collins.
he thinks his educated airs, those family shares will protect him, that you'll respect him.
-Blur: "Charmless Man"
Roger Collins thinks the best thing since sliced bread. Plain and simple. And one would suppose that his pretentiousness has some basis in reality; he did grow up as a Collins, after all. And if he has all of that money, why wouldn't he flaunt it? At the same time, there's that guy down the street who you know is rich because he lives on the good side of town and has the best car ever... and then there's the douchebag with his Bluetooth and Armani suits and his, "oh, what's the time, I'll just check on my Rolex," and his, "yes, I'm simply going out for a spin in the Bentley. You don't have one of these? Hm." The latter would be Roger's characterization if the show were on air today. Roger Collins is a charmer, a womanizer, a drinker, and snarky and condescending to boot. He has the most rage-inducing habit of automatically putting himself above others, and multiple ways of doing it. He'll either outright tell you that he thinks you're disgusting because you weren't born into money like he was, or he'll employ those charming skills he has so that, by the end of the conversation, you think he's right.
Yes, Roger was born into money, and yes, once his and his sister's parents died, he got a cut of the inheritance money, and the family business. He spent his money quickly though, on flashy things and gambling and (presumably) alcohol, and he was completely broke in no time. He auctioned off his shares of the family business so that he could earn his money back, and these were snatched up by his sister so to keep them in the family. Around this time, Roger framed a friend of his, Burke Devlin, for a hit-and-run death which he was responsible for. After Burke was sent to prison, Roger married Burke's girlfriend, Laura Murdoch (yes, the same Laura mentioned earlier). This resulted in David, although their family wasn't a happy one. Laura reportedly had a drinking problem as well, and she was sent to a mental institution. Roger, although unwelcome, returned to Collinwood with his son.
Is his personality a front? Possibly, considering how quickly he can be driven to anger and panic if he feels even remotely threatened. He's prone to become more nonchalant or cynical at the drop of a hat; it might be best to simply assume that Roger's just a man with many sides to his personality. Not much would be new in that assumption.
canon.
slow down, you are out of control; it could be so easy if it didn't feel so wrong.
-Coconut Records: "Microphone"
It isn't really possibly to describe Roger and Victoria's first meeting as good. In the second episode, everything stared out fine - until she brought up something which triggered him. He completely lost control, and it naturally scared her off - so much that she was afraid to go downstairs to speak with him later on that evening. That proved to be for good reason as well, because that meeting turned sour rather quickly as well. For a while, the animosity was thick between the two. They constantly bickered. He mocked her. They seemed to get under each others' skin like (almost) nobody else in the series could. Roger didn't seem to think of her as anything particularly special... until Carolyn, his niece, suggested that he be somewhat nicer to her, telling him that he could be the most charming man in town - when he wanted to be.
You could almost see the lightbulb coming on above Roger's head. And for a while, he did take his niece's advice. Victoria just took it as a welcome change in attitude from him... but that was absolutely a front. Roger didn't want Victoria at Collinwood from the beginning, afraid that a stranger would unlock closets and let all of the skeletons out; by this time, that still hadn't changed. Although it was leading people to wonder if there was something between the two, this "change of heart" was simply to get information from her, and then somehow work his magic to make her leave Collinsport, successfully keeping her out of business that wasn't hers.
Of course, that didn't work, and by that time, Laura had returned. She wanted one thing: her son, David.
Laura's relationship with David would actually prove to be the turning point in Roger and Victoria's relationship. Laura speoke endlessly about how she wanted to take her son away to somewhere they could be "together forever." Laura's definition of that, seeing as she's a phoenix, was for the both of them to burn alive. While Laura had taken David to an old fishing shack on the property and was trying to coax him into the fire, Victoria managed to be a straight up ninja pull David away, successfully rescuing him while his mother burned alive. At first, Roger seemed none too pleased about it - in fact, he seemed angry that Victoria didn't have enough sense to get Laura out as well. Her response was that Laura didn't seem to want to leave, and if she'd been a moment later, David almost certainly would have died. Again, this triggered something inside of Roger. This young woman who he barely knew would risk her life to save a little boy. A little boy from a family who didn't even particularly like her.
Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.
From that moment on, things were different between the two. Their relationship never actually crossed into romantic territory, but they began to confide in each other. They trusted one another. Later on in the series, shortly before Victoria's departure, Roger even went so far as to describe her as, "one of the few people I find worth caring about."
reasoning.
it's like a book elegantly bound but in a language that you can't read just yet.
-Death Cab for Cutie: "I Will Possess Your Heart"
I can't say what would have happened if Roger and Victoria had become a canon pairing. I can't say what would have changed, but I can at least assume that it would have been nice to watch. Why? Because the two characters, in my opinion, had wonderful chemistry together. Despite the fact that in many aspects they were wildly different, they were on the same page just enough that I'm sure a romance wouldn't have detracted from the two of them in any way. In scenes between them, they bring out the best (or, worst) in one another, aspects that (in Victoria especially) the audience hardly gets a glimpse of. Victoria has a way of making Roger drop his pretenses (downside: he tends to go into a sheer panic when that happens), and he brings out her fiery side, showing that no, she will not take anything from him.
Throughout the series (in the beginning, especially), I've noticed the two almost seem to have undertones of a "Beauty and the Beast" type of dynamic. Roger, although he isn't the one keeping himself locked in Collinwood all day, has a somewhat beastly quality in his undesirable personality. Victoria naturally plays the Beauty role, that of a sweet, pure young woman who manages to change everything. While Victoria obviously causes no physical transformation for Roger, who's to say that she didn't have an effect on his behavior? After Victoria makes it clear that she's hear to stay and not going anywhere, he seems to mellow out somewhat. While he clearly doesn't like the idea of people staying at his house, it doesn't frighten him as it used to early on. He doesn't fight the idea as viciously as he did before. Arguably, this could be blamed on shoddy writing, but where's the fun in that?
While Victoria could be a catalyst, she isn't perfect. It appears that yes, she could in fact take something from Roger in a relationship. Another of Victoria's traits is that she daydreams. She's described by many as having a vivid imagination, even when she insists she didn't imagine anything (to be fair, in those instances, she didn't. But who's to say there weren't others)? Roger, on the other hand, while believing in the ghosts that haunt Collinwood, doesn't really let them get to him. In fact, he's directly involved in less of the show's supernatural plotlines than almost anyone. He could be Victoria's link to reality. Collinwood is filled to the brim with things that go bump in the night; it would be easy to be scared out of your mind in a house like that. Despite her protests in canon, he already tries to bring her down from the clouds. I don't see why it couldn't go further.
- - -
Unfortunately, Dark Shadows is a rather small fandom, and there are very few fanworks available - especially for this pairing unless they were enabled by me. But here's...
dark_shadows_ - the official LJ community for the show.
Collinwood.net - a fan website for the series, containing interviews with the cast, biographies, the show's history, and more.
Netflix - because you know you want to watch this show now. ;D
When the Pawn Strikes the Match - a wonderful fanfiction written by ostentatious. Rating: Adult.
Anonymous Night - another wonderful, short fanfiction by courtneyturney. Rating: PG.
It's Like a Thorn Into My Side - a fanmix by yours truly.
I also have several fanfictions written over at singaboutragedy (or, for my ~strictly DS fic: fromthatledge).
introduction.
you're the only thing i wouldn't change in this place.
-The Hush Sound: "Hospital Bed Crawl"
When most people think of Dark Shadows - if they're even familiar with it - they tend to think of shoddy sets, flubbed lines, and the unmistakable air of camp. And all of these things are true. Dark Shadows was a supernatural soap opera that aired from 1966-1971. The show was produced on a shoestring budget with ridiculous time restraints, so yes, sets that wobbled at the slightest pressure were a factor, along with actors messing up their lines. Compared to today, the special effects are rather lacking, in a word, but for the day and the medium, they were cutting-edge, and at times rather terrifying. I've heard many a story from my mother and the parents of my friends who talk about running home from school in time to catch the show - even though they technically weren't allowed to watch it.
Something interesting to note about Dark Shadows is that the show wasn't intended to be the paranormal staple that it now is. In fact, for the first few months the show was on the air, ratings were abysmal. The show had an interesting tone, but the actual content was nothing more than typical soap opera fare...
Until Dan Curtis had the idea to throw in a ghost.
The spike in ratings caused by the ghost's appearance prompted another supernatural character to be written in: Laura, the phoenix. After her demise, the writers developed the character that would prove to be the turning point for the entire show: Barnabas Collins, the vampire. With his first appearance, shortly after Dark Shadows' 200th episode, nothing was the same again.
My first exposure to Dark Shadows was sometime in 2007 or 2008. I'd developed somewhat of an interest in classic vampires a few years before that, and my mother jokingly suggested that I give the show a shot. I ignored her for a bit, until, having never seen a single episode, I got the strangest urge to watch it. I researched a bit of it and rented the first disc from Netflix, and something about the show's atmosphere and the characters sucked me in. Yes, it was campy, yes it was overacted, and worst of all (in my opinion at the time), it was a soap opera! How was I ever going to live it down? And then, something clicked and I suddenly didn't care anymore. The show was awesome. Haters? Could step.
As for the pairing in question, It just hit me one day. In late 2008/early 2009, I took a hiatus from watching the show. When I picked it back up, in the episode I started, Roger was more or less overtly flirting with Victoria. When I had watched the earlier episodes, I had noticed a twisted sort of tension between the two characters, but the actual idea of them as a pairing didn't cross my mind until later. And even then, for a while, it was more or less a crack pairing in my mind. There was no way that I could seriously see them getting together, given the circumstances on the show at the time. But the show went on. Those circumstances changed. But the chemistry between the two remained. As the characters developed, so did my idea of them actually being together.
Of course, there's really no way to talk about the pairing without first discussing the issue of how the two are related: In my personal version of canon? They aren't. I'm well aware of the fact that the "accepted" canon is that Victoria is the daughter of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, and would be Roger's neice, but I'm also aware of the fact that this isn't stated in the actual series, and it wasn't the writers' original plan for Victoria. The canon I prefer to go by (and, thus, the one I'll be going by in this) is the idea that she's Paul Stoddard's daughter (but not Elizabeth's - so she's illegitmate. It makes sense in-show, I promise).
victoria winters.
it's the things you don't see and the things you'll never forget.
-Cathy Vickers: "Lost"
"My name is Victoria Winters. My journey is beginning."
Those were the first words ever spoken on Dark Shadows, and Victoria was the first lead character to appear. Victoria was introduced as a headstrong, curious if not naive young woman, hired under mysterious circumstances to work as a governess in Maine. Her employers happen to be the prestigious Collins family, her charge the nine-year-old David Collins, and the package is topped off with a mansion (known as Collinwood) that sits high atop a cliff, overlooking the coast. Countless times in the first episode alone, Victoria is told to turn back, that under no circumstances does she want this job. But if she listened, then we wouldn't have a show, would we?
There's much mystery surrounding Victoria; she's completely in the dark about her family. Born in the 1940s, someone left her to the care of a New York City foundling home with only the message, "Her name is Victoria. I cannot take care of her." When she was two years old, money postmarked from Bangor, Maine started being sent to the home for her. Other than that, even the audience doesn't know much about her childhood, apart from the fact that Victoria fainted when she won a short- story contest. There was also the instance when an employee at the home told Victoria that her parents were coming for her very soon. She believed the person, but it was in vain. When Victoria grew up, she took a job at the foundling home, when she received the fateful letter. It specifically request that she come and be a governess for David Collins at Collinwood. But why? As far as she knew, Victoria had never been in contact with these people. Did they know something about her? She couldn't risk it. Victoria took the job.
For a while, Dark Shadows focused on Victoria. She was the ingenue character, yes, but she wasn't an idiot - in the beginning, at least. She wasn't afraid to go investigate mysterious noises and the like (and Collinwood was plauged with them), pulling the curtains back and figuring out what made things - and people - tick. Her curiosity was somewhat of a downside, though, and because of that she got herself into many a tricky situation. Kidnapping is the first that comes to mind, but her curiosity put Victoria on many characters' bad sides; no one understood why she couldn't simply mind her own business. She was shown to be strong; even under the downright frightening warnings given to her to stay away from Collinwood, Victoria still went. And although she came close to it many times, Victoria never left. She was determined to crack the mystery that was her past. Unfortunately, that was a mystery that was never solved.
roger collins.
he thinks his educated airs, those family shares will protect him, that you'll respect him.
-Blur: "Charmless Man"
Roger Collins thinks the best thing since sliced bread. Plain and simple. And one would suppose that his pretentiousness has some basis in reality; he did grow up as a Collins, after all. And if he has all of that money, why wouldn't he flaunt it? At the same time, there's that guy down the street who you know is rich because he lives on the good side of town and has the best car ever... and then there's the douchebag with his Bluetooth and Armani suits and his, "oh, what's the time, I'll just check on my Rolex," and his, "yes, I'm simply going out for a spin in the Bentley. You don't have one of these? Hm." The latter would be Roger's characterization if the show were on air today. Roger Collins is a charmer, a womanizer, a drinker, and snarky and condescending to boot. He has the most rage-inducing habit of automatically putting himself above others, and multiple ways of doing it. He'll either outright tell you that he thinks you're disgusting because you weren't born into money like he was, or he'll employ those charming skills he has so that, by the end of the conversation, you think he's right.
Yes, Roger was born into money, and yes, once his and his sister's parents died, he got a cut of the inheritance money, and the family business. He spent his money quickly though, on flashy things and gambling and (presumably) alcohol, and he was completely broke in no time. He auctioned off his shares of the family business so that he could earn his money back, and these were snatched up by his sister so to keep them in the family. Around this time, Roger framed a friend of his, Burke Devlin, for a hit-and-run death which he was responsible for. After Burke was sent to prison, Roger married Burke's girlfriend, Laura Murdoch (yes, the same Laura mentioned earlier). This resulted in David, although their family wasn't a happy one. Laura reportedly had a drinking problem as well, and she was sent to a mental institution. Roger, although unwelcome, returned to Collinwood with his son.
Is his personality a front? Possibly, considering how quickly he can be driven to anger and panic if he feels even remotely threatened. He's prone to become more nonchalant or cynical at the drop of a hat; it might be best to simply assume that Roger's just a man with many sides to his personality. Not much would be new in that assumption.
canon.
slow down, you are out of control; it could be so easy if it didn't feel so wrong.
-Coconut Records: "Microphone"
It isn't really possibly to describe Roger and Victoria's first meeting as good. In the second episode, everything stared out fine - until she brought up something which triggered him. He completely lost control, and it naturally scared her off - so much that she was afraid to go downstairs to speak with him later on that evening. That proved to be for good reason as well, because that meeting turned sour rather quickly as well. For a while, the animosity was thick between the two. They constantly bickered. He mocked her. They seemed to get under each others' skin like (almost) nobody else in the series could. Roger didn't seem to think of her as anything particularly special... until Carolyn, his niece, suggested that he be somewhat nicer to her, telling him that he could be the most charming man in town - when he wanted to be.
You could almost see the lightbulb coming on above Roger's head. And for a while, he did take his niece's advice. Victoria just took it as a welcome change in attitude from him... but that was absolutely a front. Roger didn't want Victoria at Collinwood from the beginning, afraid that a stranger would unlock closets and let all of the skeletons out; by this time, that still hadn't changed. Although it was leading people to wonder if there was something between the two, this "change of heart" was simply to get information from her, and then somehow work his magic to make her leave Collinsport, successfully keeping her out of business that wasn't hers.
Of course, that didn't work, and by that time, Laura had returned. She wanted one thing: her son, David.
Laura's relationship with David would actually prove to be the turning point in Roger and Victoria's relationship. Laura speoke endlessly about how she wanted to take her son away to somewhere they could be "together forever." Laura's definition of that, seeing as she's a phoenix, was for the both of them to burn alive. While Laura had taken David to an old fishing shack on the property and was trying to coax him into the fire, Victoria managed to be a straight up ninja pull David away, successfully rescuing him while his mother burned alive. At first, Roger seemed none too pleased about it - in fact, he seemed angry that Victoria didn't have enough sense to get Laura out as well. Her response was that Laura didn't seem to want to leave, and if she'd been a moment later, David almost certainly would have died. Again, this triggered something inside of Roger. This young woman who he barely knew would risk her life to save a little boy. A little boy from a family who didn't even particularly like her.
Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.
From that moment on, things were different between the two. Their relationship never actually crossed into romantic territory, but they began to confide in each other. They trusted one another. Later on in the series, shortly before Victoria's departure, Roger even went so far as to describe her as, "one of the few people I find worth caring about."
reasoning.
it's like a book elegantly bound but in a language that you can't read just yet.
-Death Cab for Cutie: "I Will Possess Your Heart"
I can't say what would have happened if Roger and Victoria had become a canon pairing. I can't say what would have changed, but I can at least assume that it would have been nice to watch. Why? Because the two characters, in my opinion, had wonderful chemistry together. Despite the fact that in many aspects they were wildly different, they were on the same page just enough that I'm sure a romance wouldn't have detracted from the two of them in any way. In scenes between them, they bring out the best (or, worst) in one another, aspects that (in Victoria especially) the audience hardly gets a glimpse of. Victoria has a way of making Roger drop his pretenses (downside: he tends to go into a sheer panic when that happens), and he brings out her fiery side, showing that no, she will not take anything from him.
Throughout the series (in the beginning, especially), I've noticed the two almost seem to have undertones of a "Beauty and the Beast" type of dynamic. Roger, although he isn't the one keeping himself locked in Collinwood all day, has a somewhat beastly quality in his undesirable personality. Victoria naturally plays the Beauty role, that of a sweet, pure young woman who manages to change everything. While Victoria obviously causes no physical transformation for Roger, who's to say that she didn't have an effect on his behavior? After Victoria makes it clear that she's hear to stay and not going anywhere, he seems to mellow out somewhat. While he clearly doesn't like the idea of people staying at his house, it doesn't frighten him as it used to early on. He doesn't fight the idea as viciously as he did before. Arguably, this could be blamed on shoddy writing, but where's the fun in that?
While Victoria could be a catalyst, she isn't perfect. It appears that yes, she could in fact take something from Roger in a relationship. Another of Victoria's traits is that she daydreams. She's described by many as having a vivid imagination, even when she insists she didn't imagine anything (to be fair, in those instances, she didn't. But who's to say there weren't others)? Roger, on the other hand, while believing in the ghosts that haunt Collinwood, doesn't really let them get to him. In fact, he's directly involved in less of the show's supernatural plotlines than almost anyone. He could be Victoria's link to reality. Collinwood is filled to the brim with things that go bump in the night; it would be easy to be scared out of your mind in a house like that. Despite her protests in canon, he already tries to bring her down from the clouds. I don't see why it couldn't go further.
- - -
Unfortunately, Dark Shadows is a rather small fandom, and there are very few fanworks available - especially for this pairing unless they were enabled by me. But here's...
dark_shadows_ - the official LJ community for the show.
Collinwood.net - a fan website for the series, containing interviews with the cast, biographies, the show's history, and more.
Netflix - because you know you want to watch this show now. ;D
When the Pawn Strikes the Match - a wonderful fanfiction written by ostentatious. Rating: Adult.
Anonymous Night - another wonderful, short fanfiction by courtneyturney. Rating: PG.
It's Like a Thorn Into My Side - a fanmix by yours truly.
I also have several fanfictions written over at singaboutragedy (or, for my ~strictly DS fic: fromthatledge).