Subject: Power differentials
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Posted on: 2017-10-14 09:02:00 UTC

I ship some characters, and others I will read at least sometimes. There does need to be a canon chemistry and for slash not an explicit abhorrence of same sex relationships. A lot of the potential ships in canons I follow are problematic because of inherent power differentials. If one character has the power to fire the other or reprimand the other in their work, then that is problematic.

For an old example: Stargate SG-1. Jack and Sam are the most obvious and popular pairing. They have intense chemistry and clearly have feelings for each other. The problem is that they are both military and he outranks her with her as his direct subordinate. In canon, Jack 100% respects that, and why wouldn't he? He's lifetime military. Sam seems more frustrated by it than Jack does, but she's younger and she does still clearly accept the reality. Getting them together, for me, has to involve getting one or both out of the military.

Then you have the other main ship of the fandom, Jack and Daniel Jackson. Daniel is not military. Jack is the leader of the team, but never really had full power over Daniel. The two of them wanting to be together, power wise, is only really hampered by DADT.

My personal favorite ship is Duke Crocker/Nathan Wuornos in Haven, with Duke/Nathan/Audrey as a close back up, depending on when during canon the story is set. That's a canon I love, but despise the way the last two seasons went, so often pretend they didn't happen with AU fics.

As for why those two? Duke and Nathan have a vaguely detailed past relationship that had ended incredibly badly in their late teens or early twenties and then been apart for at least a decade then were back in proximity again a couple years before the show started. I always believed you couldn't possibly be that angry at another person, but still willing to drop everything and be kind when that person is hurt if there wasn't love behind it. They behaved exactly like a couple that had had a messy break up, but still had feelings for each other. The actors were also constantly fanning those flames. One of them was even known to retweet slashy fanart with positive remarks.

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