Unexpected fanart! (and the shipping meme)

[luxken27]

Is this some weird kismet, or what?

I was just thinking about what the answer to today's question on the shipping meme would be, and how I needed to go dig up a piece of fanart for it...when landofthekwt gave me the most *awesome* surprise. I am surprised, pleased, hell - shocked! And so very, very sorry that I didn't notice it when it was originally posted in the first place :-/

Day 21 - A pairing you like and no one else understands why?

Sesshoumaru/Kagome, Inuyasha - Yes, I went there. Don't look so shocked ~ I acknowledge that there are *plenty* of S/K fangirls in this world (they're practically the only thing left of IY fandom, if you even consider Dokuga part of IY fandom which is debatable), but I can honestly say that the reasons they enjoy the ship/fandom/cult are not the same reasons I enjoy it. I've said this all before, so I'll spare you guys the rehash, but in short...

I like this pairing because of the potential it has. I first started writing IY fanfic after reading the absolutely awesome Tales from the House of the Moon, and I started writing Sess/Kag about 18 months later because of my own curiosity about whether I'd be able to meet the challenge of pairing these two together realistically and as in-character as an alt ship could possibly be. I loved it. Sesshoumaru is my favorite character, and one I feel is very difficult to capture well in fanfic; ultimately, I became very protective and possessive of that admiration. I worked hard on my fics, and I worked hard to find acceptance among the other so-called SK fans ~ but it never came. Ironically enough, my audience was made up primarily of everyone else, the sorts of people that wouldn't read SK without five recs and a blowtorch in hand. It took me a long time to realize why, and when it all came to a head, I left IY fandom for an extended hiatus.

What I realized was this: Dokuga fangirls enjoy this pairing for something else. I don't know what, exactly - the easy template they can overlay their own fantasies and wish-fulfillment on? - but I know it's not why I like it. I never fit in over there, and I still don't. Even now, eight months after laying down my S/K fic so as not to ultimately destroy it, the whole Dokuga experience feels so foreign to me. I don't worship the BNFs. I don't sekritly think forthrightly is Queen Goddess of anything (much less Sess characterization). I don't believe the best way to show you like a story is to nominate it for an award instead of, I don't know, actually commenting on the fic or to the author privately. I hate the competitive, cliquish nature of it all.

But I still love this pairing, even if no one else truly understands why.


Previous....
Day 01 - What is your current favorite ship? Sam Thomas/Stacey McGill, Baby-sitters Club
Day 02 - What was your very first ship? Ryan/Stacy, Kids Inc
Day 03 - A pairing that needs to happen now? Seeley Booth/Temperance Brennan, Bones
Day 04 - The pairing with the most chemistry? Matt Hunter/Maxie Jones, General Hospital
Day 05 - The pairing with the least chemistry? Sesshoumaru/Kagome, Inuyasha
Day 06 - The best kiss? Tommy Quincy/Jude Harrison, Instant Star
Day 07 - The most heartbreaking scene? Shawn Brady/Belle Black, Days of Our Lives
Day 08 - The pairing with the most baggage? Miroku/Sango, Inuyasha
Day 09 - The most believable relationship? Jonathan Creek/Maddie Magellan, Jonathan Creek
Day 10 - Why aren't these two married in real life? Jason Cook/Kirsten Storms
Day 11 - What is your dream pairing? Charlie Thomas/Janine Kishi, Baby-sitters Club
Day 12 - Who had the best wedding? Byron Sully/Michaela Quinn, Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman
Day 13 - What is your favorite television pairing? Ryan/Stacy, Kids Inc
Day 14 - What is your favorite book pairing? William Dunford/Henrietta Barret, Minx
Day 15 - What is your favorite real life pairing? Queen Victoria & Albert, the Prince Consort
Day 16 - What is the absolute worst pairing? Sesshoumaru/Inuyasha, Inuyasha
Day 17 - A pairing you thought would never work out, but did? Archie "Snake" Simpson/Christine "Spike" Nelson, Degrassi Junior High/High/TNG
Day 18 - What is the cutest pairing? Early Classic Shelle, Days of Our Lives
Day 19 - A pairing you've rooted for since the beginning? Trent Lane/Daria Morgendorffer, Daria
Day 20 - The "can't stand the sexual tension anymore" pairing? Kyouya/Haruhi, Ouran High School Host Club

Upcoming...
Day 22 - A pairing you hate and no one else understands why?
Day 23 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out great?
Day 24 - A crazy love triangle/quadrilateral that worked out badly?
Day 25 - A pairing that was/would-be adorable, but could never work out?
Day 26 - A pairing that you hated and ended up loving?
Day 27 - A pairing that you loved and ended up hating?
Day 28 - A pairing that you will never understand?
Day 29 - What ship had the best proposal?
Day 30 - Your favorite ship forever and ever and ever?

Thank you, Rath-Roiben-Rye, for giving me a reason to smile when I think of this pairing again :) You're awesome, and I'm only sorry that I didn't know of this until over a year had passed >.<.

Comments

[chaoticgood0405.livejournal.com]

Lovely fanart :)

[luxken27]

Isn't it? And after I did a huge update for the newsletter (which is 85% Dokuga these days) - it was welcome, LOL.

[luxken27]

Good choice for today and love your reasoning behind it too!

Thanks =) After reading HotM, it was literally stunning to me that more S/K fans didn't share my views of the pairing and its potential. I got into fandom on the right side, but I was spit out by the wrong side o.O

And I'm finding, slowly making my way through Tales from the House of the Moon, that I believe you're right about the potential, and I'm really falling in love with the story.

It just keeps getting better, I promise <3 I love it, and I read it nonstop over winter break one year, but it still took me two solid weeks to get through it. I'm glad I found it after it was finished, tho, because waiting for updates would've been deadly!

Dokuga looks a wee bit scary. >.<;;

You don't know the half of it o.O

'm sorry that your whole experience made you leave for awhile; fandom should never be like that.

No, it shouldn't be, but IY fandom is unlike any other when it comes to sheer number of potential levels of irritation. My exit from IY fandom cost me a few very good friends, too, so yeah...still a bit bitter about that, and still unwilling to infect my stories with it :-/

[luxken27]

I think I've been lucky, never experienced it once even from the sidelines

Hang around long enough, and someone/something will burn you - I think its just the nature of the beast. Of course, being kinda on the sidelines as you are (minor characters get so little love, unfortunately :-/), I do hope you'll be able to avoid it.

I don't even have a good idea of what they do, but it sounds terrible. :(

Think of every popular high school girl you've ever known, and how they treated others they thought of as 'less than'...then multiply by a factor of ten and sprinkle on 30-40 years, and you'll have it.

Granted, how Dokuga treated me (and continues to treat me, actually, even though I haven't *thought* about S/K since February, which I find most amusing) is not necessarily the norm...but I've seen plenty of unhappy people nonetheless.

I've been so busy juggling all my half-baked ideas and I need to find some time to just sit down and enjoy it.

I know what you mean - most of my upcoming free time is going to be devoted to writing, because 1) I miss it, and 2) I'm so far behind it's embarrassing o.O I was very lucky to find that story during a winter break from school when I was the only person home during the day! :P

[paynesgrey.livejournal.com]

Amen to that!

Ironically enough, my audience was made up primarily of everyone else, the sorts of people that wouldn't read SK without five recs and a blowtorch in hand.

THIS. SO. MUCH. xD

[luxken27]

Ahhhh, you know of whence you speak, my friend :P Believe me, its nice to have a fellow jaded veteran around to commiserate with, LOL.

[replicantangel.livejournal.com]

Yay for pretty fanart! :D

And I totally get you on this one. Just because you like the same pairing as someone else doesn't mean that you like it for the same *reason* as them - true for any pairing in any fandom, really.

Characterization is always paramount for me, whether they are in the Feudal Era or 1960s outer space moon buggies as Russian cosmonauts. I allow for some leeway, but if I get the sense of "this character is acting this way just because I want him to" - I'm gone. That's what I look for in *all* fanfic, but I think that Sesshoumaru/Kagome fics are particularly difficult to manage that in. I'm not certain why - because Sesshoumaru displays such varying faces throughout the series, from ruthless killer to caring guardian? Because Kagome is the identifiable one, so that we writers inevitably shape her to our own tastes? Either way, the result is that I sample a *wide* variety of Sess/Kag fics. But really, I think that's rather ideal. I just let the people who think that Sesshoumaru is a big, fluffy bunny-bear wander far from my pastures. :P

[luxken27]

And I totally get you on this one. Just because you like the same pairing as someone else doesn't mean that you like it for the same *reason* as them - true for any pairing in any fandom, really.

Yes, but its hard to admit being an S/K fan when...well, that is the apparent gold standard o.O Talk about being tarred with a wide brush!

[psyco_chick32]

Congrats on the pretty fanart!!

the sorts of people that wouldn't read SK without five recs and a blowtorch in hand

Personally, I put more stock in the heavy artillery and less in the recs ;)

[luxken27]

Thanks! I just feel awful for not seeing it sooner, you know? D: I hope she isn't angry with me...

Personally, I put more stock in the heavy artillery and less in the recs ;)

LOL, I know - you have an entire arsenal at your disposal, and you aren't afraid to use it! :D

[landofthekwt.livejournal.com]

Congrats on your fanart. You certainly are not alone in liking SK. There are 27,000 IK stories on ffnet and 11,000 SK stories. (only 2500 MS)Dokuga dwarfs the rest of IY dom and SessKag has the most members on the web.

I do read a lot of SK although there is not much written these days that I like. Hopefully you will be to write some SK that is in character and does not bash any character since that seems to be a rarity these days.