Hi there shippers, another week down and there are still more ships to be found. I’m a poet and I totally know it and... I promise never to try to make things rhyme again. I’ll just stick to what I’m good at-- like slash, and boy do I have some good stuff for you this week.
Fandom News Round-up:
The week started with a bang as Teen Wolf fans reacted to a spoiler released on Zap2it stating that Season 3 would see the supernatural drama’s first gay sex scene. “Don't get too prematurely excited though, Sterek fans” says Carina MacKenzie, “this particular hookup involves Danny, who we're hearing has a pretty significant role in Season 3 even though his BFF Jackson left Beacon Hills.”
Seriously though, who has time to be disappointed when everyone’s favorite goalie is going to get laid? The Teen Wolf fandom doesn’t agree about much, but everyone loves Danny (portrayed by Keahu Kahuanui) and with those dimples who can blame them. I’d also like to point out that the spoiler stated that there would be at least one gay sex scene… suggesting that there could be even more (cough Sterek cough). Teen Wolf season 3 needs to happen soon because the anticipation is actually going to kill me (at least I’ll die happy). The good times didn’t last unfortunately because the second piece of Teen Wolf news was not received quite as well.
- EOnline revealed that Derek could be getting a new ‘love interest’ this season (I know I thought we already new that too). “And no Sterek fans, it's not Stiles. And it's also not Erica, whom Teen Wolf fans will not be seeing at all in season three, but a new lady in Beacon Hills.” (x) Yup Teen Wolf Season 3 needs to get a move on because if we don’t explode from excitement we might kill each other.
- The DVD of the fifth and final season of BBC Merlin was released in the UK recently, which is great for Merlin fans but also means there is a bunch of new DVD commentaries for everyone to listen to. I don’t want to spoil what happens, I know some AfterElton readers are still experiencing the final season (if you’re not reading the Merlin recaps then you should be), but the commentary for the final episode (5.13) is well worth a listen for anyone that is a Merthur (Merlin/Arthur) fan.
- Speaking of Merlin– Colin Morgan (Merlin) won a British National Television Award for Outstanding Drama Performance (Male). We’re all very proud of course, but no one is prouder than co-star Bradley James (Arthur)… I’m not suggesting anything!
(source)
- In other fandom news Sherlock Season 3 is in pre-production bringing JohnLock fans out of the woodwork. Sam and Dean flirted up a storm while larping in last weeks Supernatural“Larp and The Real Girl.” And J.J. Abramsis directing the new Star Wars film (that’s not exactly slash related, I just like talking about it).
- Finally here’s a little spoiler about the upcoming season of True Blood that may or may not be relevant to our M/M Pairing of the Week… EOnline said: “[Stellan] Skarsgård also spilled that the Bill-Eric dynamic will be more explosive than ever in the new season. ‘Bill is kind of dangerous now, even for an old, strong vampire like Eric,’ he tells us. ‘So he's got to be real careful.’ As long as he's shirtless while he's careful, we're on board.” Same here, EOnline, same here.
M/M Pairing of the Week: Bill Compton/Eric Northman (True Blood)
Bill Compton is a southern Vampire American determined to squash his bloodthirsty instincts and live a mainstreaming life (blood substitutes only). Eric Northman is a sexy Viking vamp that couldn’t care less about mainstreaming; he just wants to be left in peace to run his business (and occasionally snack on the customers). They couldn’t be more opposite, but then you know what they say – opposites attract.
If years of film studies have taught me anything, it’s that when two guys fight over the same girl, they really like each other. This pairing certainly fits that description because True Blood is built around the rivalry between Bill and Eric as they fight for Sookie’s affections. I guess there is only so much a vampire can take because by the time we reach season 5 these two hunks are more like “Sookie who?”, turning their attention towards each other.
This is an interesting pairing because it blurs the lines between text and subtext. Although they have been shown in a sexual situation there have been a number of hints over the course of the series that neither Bill nor Eric would be adverse to the idea of hooking up with each other (if they haven’t already). Of course, then whatever the hell happened at the end of season 5 happened (seriously I have no idea), and I’m not really sure where that leaves this relationship but if the spoiler I mentioned earlier is anything to go by then I wouldn’t give up hope just yet.
There is not a lot of fan work based on this pairing, which I find pretty surprising, but there are still a few fics over at AO3 if you’re interested. Or you could write something yourself. Please do, I’ll give you cookies.
(source)
Trope Appreciation:Fake Boyfriends/Pretend Relationships
Generally people say that tropes are a bad thing. That is a generalization of course (tropes are a necessary part of fiction) but the excessive use of the same trope or cliché is not really a good thing… unless it’s fan fiction. I could read any number of fics that employ the same tired trope over and over again because fan fiction is where I can enjoy all the stupid romance clichés that I would turn my nose up at if they happened in the actual text. So I’ve decided to express my love for slash fic tropes by highlighting one of my favorites: Fake boyfriends/Pretend relationships.
The “Fake boyfriends/Pretend relationships” trope is used in slash fic in answer to this question – how do we get these two supposedly straight men to realize that they’re actually in love with each other? Basically what usually happens is that two people – that barely tolerate each other – are forced to pretend to be in a romantic relationship for some ridiculous reason or another. Maybe they’re undercover trying to catch criminals or one of them desperately needs a date to their ex’s wedding whatever the reason these two people that would never ever date (at least that’s what they tell themselves) are placed into a situation where they must act as though they are intimately attached. As you can imagine, hilarity ensues.
This trope works really well in slash fic because it allows the author to bypass a lot of the problems with trying to mesh masculinity and romance… if it’s all pretend those two macho guys can be as mushy as they like. Plus it’s a good way to get them to make out before the ‘love epiphany’ happens because that can take forever.
There are quite a few fics that use this trope (there are over 300 on AO3 alone) and it crosses many different fandoms and pairings. I’ve read too many to list, and I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it… here’s a little sample to get you started.
Sterek | Stony | Arthur/Eames | Merthur | Drarry | Klaine | Wincest
Tell us how you feel about the “Fake boyfriends/Pretend relationships” trope or the use of tropes in general, and if you know of any fics that use this trope well let me know (I’m always in search of some more fic to help me procrastinate).
Featured Fan Fic:"Catalysis" by kim47
In honour of this week’s Teen Wolf spoilers I thought why not feature a fic staring Danny and Stiles (just to keep us going until we find out who Danny’s going to be getting down with). To kill two birds with one stone I also went in search of a fic that utilises my trope of the week: Fake Boyfriends/Pretend Relationships. The result is "Catalysis" by kim47 otherwise known as the one where Stiles’ grandmother comes to town, Danny agrees to be Stiles' fake boyfriend, Scott is annoyingly insightful, and there are vampires.
Excerpt:
[…]He widens his eyes beseechingly and clasps his hands together. “Please, Danny, I’m begging you. I know it’s weird but I don’t know who else to ask and it’ll be a huge help and I’ll even pay you if you - ”
“Fine, fine, I’ll do it,” Danny says, holding up his hand. “And you won’t pay me because that would be creepy.”
Stiles breathes a sigh of relief, not least because he has no idea where he’d get the money to pay him from. “You’re a prince amongst men, Danny,” he says, patting him on the arm.
“Yeah, yeah, save it,” Danny says. “What exactly is this going to entail?” he asks after a moment, suddenly looking wary about what he’s agreed to. […]
Find the full text here.
Artist of the Week: Rah
When the week began I was at a total loss as to what artist to feature in this week's Shipping News… but then my Tumblr dash was over taken (literally there was nothing but this for about 20 minutes) by this amazing artwork.
(source)
After starring mesmerized at the above gif for longer than I would care to admit I knew that I had to share it with you lovely people. I’m not sure it if counts as NSFW (not safe for work), but I think you guys can handle it. Anyway check out more from this artist here.
Question of the Week:
Considering the news about Teen Wolf’s Danny I though I would ask how slash fans feel about increasing the importance of a canonical gay character over exploring the subtext of a slash pairing.
Basically if we get more Danny (complete with well-rounded love interest) and less Sterek how would you feel?
While the example here is Teen Wolf the question stands for any other show with a major slash pairing.
Parting Gif:
As I have already shown you my favorite slash related gif, I am just going to leave you with this… yes that is Catwoman stomping on Captain Kirk’s foot while Mary Poppins and Gimli watch.
(source)
Well that’s all for this week’s Shipping News but remember, if you have a ship you would like us to feature, a fic you would like to recommend or an artist you think we should feature hit us up in the comments or on our Tumblr and we will definitely give it a look.
