Simon/Alisha - Evolution from Crack OTP to Canon Pairing
A/N: I should be writing a paper for my Women's Studies class about global domestic workers, instead I'm writing about Simon/Alisha. This pairing has consumed my brain. These are the semi coherent ramblings of a somewhat obsessive college student riding a sugar high; make of them what you will.
Simon/Alisha - Evolution from Crack OTP to Canon Pairing
So, like everyone else I was blown away by the latest episode. The revelation that Superhoodie is future! Simon and the introduction of a Simon/Alisha subplot were completely unexpected and very well executed. This seems to be the episode that has rocked fandom; most fans are receptive to Simon/Alisha but some doubt the authenticity of the pairing within the context of the show and their previously established interactions. Such a reaction is understandable given that the Simon/Alisha dynamic has received comparably less attention and development than other pairings in the show, the Nathan/Simon and Nathan/Kelly pairings for example. For those fans, the introduction of a Simon/Alisha romantic subplot, complete with time travel hijinks, all within the span of one episode has been hard to swallow. As someone who has shipped Simon/Alisha as a crack otp since near the beginning of series 1, I would argue that their coupling is not as implausible as one would assume at first glance and that the writers have been dropping very subtle clues hinting at their possibility for some time now.
There is no quantifiable reason why one decides to ship two characters together. Pairings comprised of characters that have never spoken or interacted with each other in the text of their source material have sometimes received avid support from fandom. Text and subtext are not always required to pique one’s interest in a coupling. However, for most fans the desire to see certain characters get together does not arrive spontaneously. There emerges a moment in the consumption of the source material when the actions of one character, be it as inconsequential as a glance or as meaningful as a declaration of intent, towards another character resonates with you and you begin to wonder, what if? For me, that moment came in the second episode of the first series. When Simon turns invisible and watches Kelly and Alisha change in the locker room.
Skip to ~ 7:30 and watch from there till 9:02.
This was the moment I started shipping them as a crack pairing. I was drawn in by the intensity behind Simon's eyes and the little smile he gives afterward. There was something deliciously twisted about that interaction that appealed to me.
Though I was now interested in Simon/Alisha as a crack pairing and was happy to note that Simon, ever watchful and solicitous of the others, was observing Alisha a bit more intently than he did the rest of the group, I was still only shipping them as an insane crack pairing. Something that was fun to think about but which you knew had no possibility of coming to fruition. It wasn't until the second series premiere that I started to think, maybe, that there was a possibility that in an alternate universe they were a somewhat possible couple.
The fake! Alisha bj scene introduces the idea that maybe such a pairing would not be outside the realm of possibility. After all, Lucy could have shifted into anyone in the group for this scene but she chose Alisha. This is of course not the strongest piece of evidence supporting a pairing but it does make you think for a second.
The first minute is the bj scene. Watch from 3:08 till 4:06 to see Simon ask Alisha out in the aftermath of the fake! bj. It's not pretty.
Though she shoots him down a bit cruelly, this scene is important because it establishes that Simon does think about Alisha, and not just in a sexual manner. This was the moment I started to hope that they might actually become a canon couple.
The rest, as they say, is history. I feel as if 2x03 has already been gone over more articulately, and in more depth than I can provide at this time. So I won't rehash the entire episode. There is one part that I want to go over though. For me the best part of the episode wasn't Iwan & Antonia's amazing chemistry or the fantastic love scene as enjoyable as that was. The best part of the episode was when Alisha gave Simon the drink as a peace offering and they talked.
Watch from 4:13 till 6:23 for the talk.
This is ultimately why I've become obsessed with the Simon/Alisha pairing. As I said in a comment on ONTD last night: My favorite part is when Alisha brings present!Simon a drink as a peace offering and they're talking and he says "Sometimes I think it's difficult for beautiful girls; people don't see past their looks." Because that is so insightful and something that only someone like Simon would be able to discern. Because most people don't see past his exterior either, he's learned to look past that.
I love that moment, because that more than anything shows me that they will grow to have a bond based on more than just the fact that eventually he will be able to touch her. Because even before the storm Alisha has been cursed in a way by her beauty. She's a pretty girl and nothing more is ever expected of her. One could say that's not such a heavy cross to bear but imagine having everything that makes you who you are, your personality, the way you interact with people, etc being deemed irrelevant just because of your looks. Imagine no one ever expecting or demanding anything substantial from you because you're just there to be objectified. It would be terribly damaging.
I mean, we see the way she reacts to Simon calling her beautiful in such an open context. He's not trying to flatter her, or woo her, he's just being honest. And she doesn't hear things like that unless people are trying to get in her pants.
So that's why I've always shipped Simon/Alisha. I'd love to hear everyone else's thoughts on the subject.
Simon/Alisha - Evolution from Crack OTP to Canon Pairing
So, like everyone else I was blown away by the latest episode. The revelation that Superhoodie is future! Simon and the introduction of a Simon/Alisha subplot were completely unexpected and very well executed. This seems to be the episode that has rocked fandom; most fans are receptive to Simon/Alisha but some doubt the authenticity of the pairing within the context of the show and their previously established interactions. Such a reaction is understandable given that the Simon/Alisha dynamic has received comparably less attention and development than other pairings in the show, the Nathan/Simon and Nathan/Kelly pairings for example. For those fans, the introduction of a Simon/Alisha romantic subplot, complete with time travel hijinks, all within the span of one episode has been hard to swallow. As someone who has shipped Simon/Alisha as a crack otp since near the beginning of series 1, I would argue that their coupling is not as implausible as one would assume at first glance and that the writers have been dropping very subtle clues hinting at their possibility for some time now.
There is no quantifiable reason why one decides to ship two characters together. Pairings comprised of characters that have never spoken or interacted with each other in the text of their source material have sometimes received avid support from fandom. Text and subtext are not always required to pique one’s interest in a coupling. However, for most fans the desire to see certain characters get together does not arrive spontaneously. There emerges a moment in the consumption of the source material when the actions of one character, be it as inconsequential as a glance or as meaningful as a declaration of intent, towards another character resonates with you and you begin to wonder, what if? For me, that moment came in the second episode of the first series. When Simon turns invisible and watches Kelly and Alisha change in the locker room.
Click to viewSkip to ~ 7:30 and watch from there till 9:02.
This was the moment I started shipping them as a crack pairing. I was drawn in by the intensity behind Simon's eyes and the little smile he gives afterward. There was something deliciously twisted about that interaction that appealed to me.
Though I was now interested in Simon/Alisha as a crack pairing and was happy to note that Simon, ever watchful and solicitous of the others, was observing Alisha a bit more intently than he did the rest of the group, I was still only shipping them as an insane crack pairing. Something that was fun to think about but which you knew had no possibility of coming to fruition. It wasn't until the second series premiere that I started to think, maybe, that there was a possibility that in an alternate universe they were a somewhat possible couple.
The fake! Alisha bj scene introduces the idea that maybe such a pairing would not be outside the realm of possibility. After all, Lucy could have shifted into anyone in the group for this scene but she chose Alisha. This is of course not the strongest piece of evidence supporting a pairing but it does make you think for a second.
The first minute is the bj scene. Watch from 3:08 till 4:06 to see Simon ask Alisha out in the aftermath of the fake! bj. It's not pretty.
Though she shoots him down a bit cruelly, this scene is important because it establishes that Simon does think about Alisha, and not just in a sexual manner. This was the moment I started to hope that they might actually become a canon couple.
The rest, as they say, is history. I feel as if 2x03 has already been gone over more articulately, and in more depth than I can provide at this time. So I won't rehash the entire episode. There is one part that I want to go over though. For me the best part of the episode wasn't Iwan & Antonia's amazing chemistry or the fantastic love scene as enjoyable as that was. The best part of the episode was when Alisha gave Simon the drink as a peace offering and they talked.
Watch from 4:13 till 6:23 for the talk.
This is ultimately why I've become obsessed with the Simon/Alisha pairing. As I said in a comment on ONTD last night: My favorite part is when Alisha brings present!Simon a drink as a peace offering and they're talking and he says "Sometimes I think it's difficult for beautiful girls; people don't see past their looks." Because that is so insightful and something that only someone like Simon would be able to discern. Because most people don't see past his exterior either, he's learned to look past that.
I love that moment, because that more than anything shows me that they will grow to have a bond based on more than just the fact that eventually he will be able to touch her. Because even before the storm Alisha has been cursed in a way by her beauty. She's a pretty girl and nothing more is ever expected of her. One could say that's not such a heavy cross to bear but imagine having everything that makes you who you are, your personality, the way you interact with people, etc being deemed irrelevant just because of your looks. Imagine no one ever expecting or demanding anything substantial from you because you're just there to be objectified. It would be terribly damaging.
I mean, we see the way she reacts to Simon calling her beautiful in such an open context. He's not trying to flatter her, or woo her, he's just being honest. And she doesn't hear things like that unless people are trying to get in her pants.
So that's why I've always shipped Simon/Alisha. I'd love to hear everyone else's thoughts on the subject.