westwingwolf's den

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 30 - Favorite ‘Ship Forever and Ever and Ever: Chloe & Lex from Smallville

Chloe and Lex are the very definition of OTP for me. I watched solely for the mere chance these two would have a scene together. I spun every piece of information to make it work out for them to be together; not easy when the characters hate each other. I was desperate enough just to be happy if these two appeared in back to back scenes. And why? Because whether working together or going head to head, their scenes always sizzled. Always going for what they wanted. Always knowing the score. These two knew the consequences of their actions and suffered for them, but each in their own way came out better for it. They were realistic. They were intelligent. And my god, they were awesome. And despite never getting so much as a single kiss, I still love them.

But more than just watching the show, this ‘ship is where I first participated in fandom. I gave my first reviews, wrote my first stories, made my first fanvids, and made some great friends. All thanks to NS and Chlex.

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 28 - Pairing You Will Never Understand: Joey & Rachel from Friends

I don’t get it. You have a show that for a majority of the series focused on the back and forth of Ross & Rachel, and whether you liked it or not, how could anyone think it wasn’t going to work out for them in the end? I especially don’t see why Joey would get in the middle of that when he saw it first hand. Why did we have a build up that went through a couple of seasons and fizzled out in a matter of episodes? And when it was over, it was like it had no impact on either of the characters. So what is the attraction? Is it just because they are both pretty? If so, sorry, but I need more to understand a ‘ship.

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 27 - Pairing that You Loved and Ended Up Hating: Luke & Lorelai from Gilmore Girls

I rooted for this couple from the beginning, but then season six happened.  After everything with April, Anna, and Christopher; I ceased caring. Both Luke and Lorelai behaved stupidly, and, while I was satisfied that they eventually got back together, I was nowhere near as excited the first time(s) around.

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 26 - Pairing You Hated But Ended Up Loving: Echo (Caroline Farrell) & Paul Ballard from Dollhouse

I was against this pairing from the start. The show even stated how cliché it was for the investigator to fall for the woman he was hoping to save in the investigation.  I was more intrigued by the idea of Echo/Alpha or Echo/Perrin, and Paul/Millie (November).  However, more than any other pairing, I cared most about Victor/Sierra. Truth be told, I didn’t start to like this pairing until after Ballard was dead when Echo freaked out. I liked the ending they got where Ballard’s personality was uploaded into Echo’s brain. I thought that was a pretty sweet way they could always be together. And honestly, I was just really happy Joss didn’t kill off Victor or Sierra. Finally got my happy ending in a Joss Whedon show!

30 Day Shipping Challenge: 

Day 25 - Pairing that Would be Adorable, But Could Never Work Out: Nick & Sara from CSI

They were cute, fun, and flirty. Serious moments always showed they genuinely cared about one another.  They each had childhood trauma in their past so they understood one another better than others in the group probably did.  However, the writers continued with the would they/won’t they angsty relationship of Grissom & Sara.  But that doesn’t stop me from hoping Grissom and Sara’s long-distance marriage ends in heartbreak causing Sara to turn to Nick for comfort. Plus, their ‘ship is called Snickers. Who doesn’t love Snickers?

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 24 - Crazy Love Triangle that Worked Out Badly: Wesley/Fred/Gunn from Angel

Poor, sweet Wesley fell for Fred but took too long to tell her his feelings before Gunn made his interest known. Then he finally summed up the courage and they got together, but in the next episode Fred was infected by the demon god Illyria. By the end of the series, Wesley was dead, and Gunn was halfway there.

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 23: Crazy Love Triangle that Worked Out Great: Crichton/Aeryn/Crichton from Farscape

Crichton is “twinned” and each one is equal and not a copy of the other.  Both are John Crichton.  First of all, it’s the recipe for some of the smuttiest fanfics imaginable. More importantly, when Aeryn discovers she is pregnant, because of Sebacean biology, the baby could either be from the one night stand she had with Crichton before he was twinned or from the relationship she had with Talyn-Crichton, no way of knowing for certain. Either way, Moya-Crichton accepts the child as his and everything works out happily for him and Aeryn. It’s win/win for everyone…except for Talyn-Crichton.

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 22 - Pairing You Hate and No One Understands Why: Chloe & Davis from Smallville

Maybe hate is too strong a word. More like I’m annoyed than anything else. And I wasn’t annoyed with Davis. You can’t be annoyed with a character you barely watched. I was (and to an extent still am) annoyed with the writers. Imagine spending years hoping your OTP would get together or at least have a stronger connection like they use to, and it never works out. I wanted the writers to be daring and pair Chloe with Lex. Beyond just an admiration for both characters, I thought if you have someone like Chloe fall for someone like Lex, it means something. She’s a smart woman.  She’s not Lana who is so used to being helpless;of course, she would fall into Lex Luthor’s evil scheme of making her want him and then be absolved of any guilt.  Chloe would do her best to avoid that temptation which would make it so much more interesting and satisfying when she finally developed feelings for him.  It would raise the stakes.  Chloe was never Clark’s girlfriend, she was his loyal friend, and when a friend betrays you (and yes Clark would have seen it that way), it hurts so much worse.  So I’m watching, hoping they would do something interesting to make me want to watch Smallville for Smallville, and not just because I like Michael Rosenbaum, Allison Mack, and John Glover and would watch them in anything.  But my time is wasted on fake pregnancies and memory losses for characters I don’t give a shit about. (Don’t get me started on how upset I was too learn the Kara storyline going to Chloe. Opportunity kept knocking at the Smallville writer’s door, but they turned off the lights and ignored it like cranky people on Halloween.)  And the next year, after Michael is gone is when the new EPs think to do this storyline where Chloe has an attraction to the villain-like character.  Okay, I don’t know what it was like in that writers’ room, maybe Al & Miles would hear none of it. But damn it, I want to know the writers at least tried, and I bet they didn’t.  I know Davis has a strong following, but I can’t help but think that story would have had so much more meaning if it had been done with Lex.  It’s just common sense that you’ll be more moved by a character who you have a stronger connection to, the one who you’ve seen for years.  

So there you have it. Nothing against Davis. Just another way Smallville screwed over my OTP.

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 21 - Pairing You Like and No One Else Understands Why: Mel & Oz from Breaking In

How do I explain this without sounding weird? I probably can’t. Perhaps it was lack of viable options. I thought Mel was cool, and I liked Dutch, Cash, and Oz the most. But Dutch was really just too dumb for me to appreciate in a pairing, and Cash was took geeky for Mel.  Oz was cool and I liked that older man/younger woman aspect. Blame my current obsession with Jeff & Annie on it, if you must. Anyways, doesn’t matter now because Breaking In was cancelled. Thanks Fox…not!

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 20 - Can’t Stand the Sexual Tension Anymore Pairing: Ron & Hermione from the Harry Potter series

The fighting! The awkward tension! The angst over each other’s significant others! The angst…period! I love them, but they drove me crazy.  Still, they were one of the reasons I loved the series. I expect when they kiss, I’ll squee just as loudly in the theater as I did when reading the final book.

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 19 - Pairing You’ve Rooted for Since the Beginning: Josh & Donna from The West Wing

In my case, it is as close to the beginning as I can get with “A Proportional Response” being the first episode I saw. Josh interviewing Charlie being the first scene, and when Donna came in and they had their little banter moment, I was immediately hooked.  It took seven years, dealing with three of Donna’s boyfriends, two Josh & Amy relationships, two near death experiences, countless longing looks and fun banter, but it finally worked out in the end. How much do I love this ‘ship? Let me put it this way: if this ‘ship was in an accident, I wouldn’t stop for red lights.

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 18 - Cutest Pairing: Amy & Rory from Doctor Who

Amy may wear the pants in this family, but we all know Rory can be a total BAMF. And whenever they are together, they have the cutest, loveliest moments. As long as Rory can manage to survive (Amy too, for that matter), this ‘ship won’t go the completely tragic route.  How could you not love them? She loves him and his stupid face, and he waited 2000 years for her.

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 17 - Pairing I Thought Would Never Work Out, But Did: Sydney & Vaughn from Alias

So when Jennifer Garner & Michael Vartan broke up, I thought the relationship between Sydney & Vaughn would go too because, you know…awkwardness.  And though I was fairly certain Vaughn was never really died, I still thought it was a pretty convenient way to get rid of Vartan and the awkwardness. Not that I wanted that. I’d much rather look at Vaughn every week than Sydney, but the show was about her, so what can you do?  In the end, I was glad everything worked out: Vaughn lived and he & Sydney got their happy spy-ending.  

Though I’ll never watch characters ride in cars the same way ever again.

30 Day Shipping Challenge:

Day 16 - Absolute Worst Pairing: Lex Luthor & Lana Lang from Smallville

I despise this pairing so much, I refused to look for a picture of the two of them together.  I can’t fathom for a moment why clever, sophisticated Lex Luthor would want some simple girl from a small town who has nothing to offer but looks and a seemingly sweet attitude.  That is a dream for teenage boys who know no better. I can see it as a writer’s grandiose idea at the beginning of a series that was held onto tightly long after its importance to the show waned.  The sixth season where most of the “relationship” focused was poorly planned and executed. There was no chemistry. Every scene felt as forced as the effort it took me to watch them.