Comments | caer: Character Relationships: UST or RST?

caer

Character Relationships: UST or RST?

Oct 12, 2009 12:21

For example, take Mark and Lexie from Grey's Anatomy. There's no two ways on how they hooked up: Lexie shows up demanding sex and Mark goes with it (after initially saying no). And that's pretty much set in stone. And, I don't mean to imply that there's anything wrong with that. There isn't. Because that's what Mark does, and you expect it from him ( Read more... )

grey's anatomy, character relationships, law and order: svu, stargate, fanfiction, meta

Comments 11

shiparker October 13 2009, 00:52:46 UTC

I saw the two sides of the coin. Characters that were filled with UST and that made me crave for the day they would hook up for reals (Mulder and Scully fan, here) and ships that I start shipping because they end up being cannon on screen and I liked it. I value both, actually. I think the element of the anticipation is good, but at the same time there is something thrilling to watch a relationship unfold in front of you. You know, have scenes where the characters displays freely their feelings. Have cannon touchy moments. Small gestures such as a hand hold or a hug, kisses. So in the end I think I enjoy both aspects equaly. I like to glue my eyes on screen looking for a subtext and I like to actually see couples having intimate scenes and growing in love. As far as fanfiction goes, it really depends on who is writing. I used to think angst free fanfictions and fanfictions of couples already stabilished quite boring 'till I read fantastic Spock/Uhura relationship fanfictions. They used no sex, mostly great dialogs and turns out great ( ... )

caer October 13 2009, 04:36:07 UTC

I was actually wondering if there were any Mulder and Scully shippers on my flist as I was writing this! Hahah, you people seem to be everywhere ;)

I very much agree about the element of anticipation. But, it's also more than that. There's just something about watching two characters for ten seasons...You watch them grow, struggle, succeed, and fail together and just can't help but root for them, you know? I find that I'm a lot more invested in my UST ships than my RST one because the emotional bond between them is so intense that it completely draws you in. And when they finally get together (or the implication, in some cases), it's that much sweeter.

I enjoy the RST ship, but I find that in terms of adding character depth and emotional punches in the gut, UST is more effective. With RST couples, you already know how they feel and any drama that arises from here is usually pretty minor compared to UST.

For fanfics, it really does depend on who is writing, for most cases. For the most part, I still avoid fics that have couples ( ... )

citron_presse October 13 2009, 05:03:46 UTC

I want to see the transition

This caught my eye reading through your post and the comments because two of my main motivators in writing fanfic are transitions and subtext. I realized recently that most of my one shots involve either a beginning or a re-beginning or an ending and, even when I attempted to write a "middle," a kind of transition was still involved. (And while we're still on the self-absorbed subject of my writing, thank you for the mention of Warmer Than Warm. It was written before 5.10 (based on the promo) and quite heavily influenced by 5.09. I wouldn't have been able to write it after 5.10 aired because, while I'm fine contradicting canon pairings and backstory, I can't make myself rewrite actual scenes for some reason ( ... )

caer October 14 2009, 05:56:20 UTC

two of my main motivators in writing fanfic are transitions and subtext.

That works out pretty nicely since I love transitions and subtext ;)

And you're welcome. After reading your fic, I REALLY REALLY wish Mark had stuck to his no. Or, at the very least, they could have let it go on for more than just two episodes :/

Hm, that's an interesting question. I think you have to look at what makes an UST ship a UST ship and a RST ship a RST ship (if that makes sense?). The dynamics for the two are totally different, I believe, and it's something I touched upon in my reply to shiparker. I classify it as more than JUST the sexual component. Mark/Addison are unique in that since they've slept together, they still embody characteristics of UST ships, IMO. Primarily, the whole dealing with their feelings part (by NOT dealing with them). I dunno, I'm almost tempted to classify them UST just because we haven't seen them first hand as a "couple couple."

ou've really raised an interesting subject here and it's awesome to see it expressed so coherently. ( ... )

Thread 9

foibles_fables October 13 2009, 01:19:20 UTC

I'm a definite mix here. I guess I primarily enjoy RST, since I'm a canon-whore and in Grey's you're not in a relationship until AFTER you have sex. My canon ships (Mark/Lexie, Cooper/Charlotte, and the like) are all RST. I'm cool with that - I can add in other stuff around the sex, I always tell myself.

But, I definitely do enjoy a lot of UST ships as well; mostly non-canon and some certainly disturbing. I'll give you the disturbing: Meredith/Lexie. I actually ship it like crazy, despite the utter wrongness that is brought with it. Maybe reading some incredible fic and my ongoing to quest to see Lexie as the Seattle Grace Bicycle has caused me to see things in a different light. I know it's never going to happen, EVER, but oh god the sparkles. "Have you been sleeping on me all night?" "..." Okay, moving away from the topic that is probably squick for some...

For people who ship characters that have tremendous UST, body language is exploding with subtext.Totally, totally, totally. Prime example I can give is Callie/George pre-hook- ( ... )

caer October 13 2009, 04:49:56 UTC

in Grey's you're not in a relationship until AFTER you have sex LOL! So true! XD

See, I'm not big on canon as long as after everything is said and done, the story has good characterization. I'm big on AU, which might also explain why I'm big on UST (how else would they be together? lol).

my ongoing to quest to see Lexie as the Seattle Grace Bicycle LOL. I think I know what you mean, but I'm afraid to ask. Hahah....And, also LOL at the 'sleeping on me all night' line. I guess if you're Mer/Lexie, I can see how that line might be interpreted in...other ways.

I think UST shippers just take every glance, smile, accidental touch and blow it waaaaaaaay out of proportion, lol. At least, that has been my experience. It's fun, though! When your UST ship look at each other after X episodes of receiving nothing, and have that smile on their face which shippers everywhere know really means I love you. Lol. I don't know, man. For me, it packs more of an emotional punch than with RST couples ( ... )