30 Day Shipping Meme - Day 18: A pairing that you hated and ended up loving (and vice-versa)?

[brendala]

Day 26 - A pairing that you hated and ended up loving?
Daphne Blake and Fred Jones (various Scooby Doo incarnations).


Daphne learned the hard way that Fred had a disturbing fetish for indian burns that rivaled even his love of traps and mysteries.

I never hated this ship. I just thought it was boring and predictable. So I never rooted for it and I rolled my eyes a bit when it started getting shoe-horned into the franchise after the Zombie Island movie. But I changed my mind because the pair is written very well in Mystery Incorporated (unlike their two messed up friends and the f#&ing dog!! **grumblegrumblegrumble**)

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“Velma! We, like, promised to stop having sex in graveyards after the zombie incident! Remember?”


"Like, my compromise plan is to string you both along for 10 episodes and then grind Velma's heart into fine powder in front of all our friends and the Crystal Cove police force! That won't make me look like a lily-livered douchebag, will it?"


Fred and Daphne’s romantic angst recently produced this kick ass Grey Delise musical number. Close your eyes and try to imagine Princess Azula singing this. It’s fun!

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Day 27 - A pairing that you loved and ended up hating?
Lois Lane and Clark Kent (Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman)



I adored this show when I was a kid (I think I was about 10 when it premiered). But back then, I mainly watched it because I thought Dean Cain was the hottest Superman ever (he still is, by the way). But the stories were good, too.

I fell in love with the show again when I rediscovered it on TV as an adult a few years ago. The early seasons handled the “will they, won’t they” sexual tension between Lois and Clark wonderfully. And Lois and Clark/Superman had great chemistry together. I actually liked this series better than the Bruce Timm Superman cartoon (BLASPHEMY, I know) because it actually made you believe that Lois was in love with CLARK. In the cartoon, it’s clear that she only loves Superman and that she just sees Clark as her annoying, hayseed co-worker.

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Any straight woman who claims she wouldn’t tap that is a dirty, dirty liar!!

But things went horribly wrong after they got together. Not only did the show start taking a weird turn in terms of story lines (the later seasons introduced a lot of bizarre Sci-Fi crap that clashed with the more down-to-earth tone of the early seasons). It also eliminated Lois and Clark’s playful banter and replaced it with constant declarations of ~eternal wuv~ that were so sappy they’d make the Care Bears vomit.
Screw Moonlighting, THIS show is the textbook example of how easily a series can be ruined when the “will they, won’t they” romantic leads are hooked up and the writers have no idea how to maintain chemistry and sexual tension when writing the characters as an established couple!


Day 01 - What is your current favorite ship?
Day 02 - What was your very first ship?
Day 03 - A pairing that needs to happen now?
Day 04 - The pairing with the most chemistry?
Day 05 - The pairing with the least chemistry?
Day 06 - The best kiss?
Day 07- The most heartbreaking scene?
Day 08 - The pairing with the most baggage?
Day 09 - The most believable relationship?
Day 10 - Why aren't these two married in real life?
Day 11 - What is your dream pairing?
Day 12 - Who had the best wedding?
Day 13 - What is your favorite television pairing?
Day 14 - What is your favorite book pairing?
Day 15 - What is your favorite real life pairing?
Day 16 - What is the absolute worst pairing?
Day 17 - A pairing you thought would never work out, but did?
Day 18 - What is the cutest pairing?
Day 19 - A pairing you've rooted for since the beginning?
Day 20 - The "can't stand the sexual tension anymore" pairing?
Day 21 - A pairing you like and no one else understands why?
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?

Comments

[ichiban-victory.livejournal.com]

Yes, he is still the hottest Superman ever!

Anyway, Lois and Clark isn't the only show to suffer after the lead pair got married. It seems when there's been so much sexual tension between two characters in love but not yet married/gone all the way, when they do take that next step, it kills most of the sexual tension. There have of course been shows that did a great job of writing exciting scenarios for married couples (The Flintsontes, I Love Lucy, etc.), but they always started with the couples already established.

In any case, Lois and Clark is exactly the reason why I never want to see the Slayers anime show Lina and Gourry "after". Despite what Crispin Freeman says, Lina and Gourry are not the best new example of Lucy and Ricky. ^_-;;

Now I really want to see the first few seasons of Lois and Clark again. How many preteen girls fell in love with the show mainly because of Dean Cain? (Me! Meeeee!)

[brendala.livejournal.com]

There have of course been shows that did a great job of writing exciting scenarios for married couples (The Flintsontes, I Love Lucy, etc.), but they always started with the couples already established.

In any case, Lois and Clark is exactly the reason why I never want to see the Slayers anime show Lina and Gourry "after". Despite what Crispin Freeman says, Lina and Gourry are not the best new example of Lucy and Ricky. ^_-;;

I think it's all in the writing. Good fan-fiction (as rare as that is) has proven that it is possible to hook up characters without sacrificing any of their moxie and personality.

In the new Scooby show, Fred and Daphne don't get together until after Daphne sings her "make a move now, dumbass!" song and they confess their feelings around episode 6. And their chemistry is actually better after that because she's not constantly pining after him.
Shaggy and Velma, on the other hand, are established as an item (albeit a secret one) in the first episode and their relationship is handled terribly.

But maybe Mystery Incorporated is just the exception that proves the rule. :P


Now I really want to see the first few seasons of Lois and Clark again. How many preteen girls fell in love with the show mainly because of Dean Cain? (Me! Meeeee!)

ME ME ME! As a kid, I would mock my bubble-brained classmates for drooling over Jonathan Taylor Thomas in Teen Beat and then rush home to swoon over Dean Cain! And I totally didn't see the hypocrisy in that! ^_^;

[dqbunny.livejournal.com]

The clone thing did it for me with Lois and Clark. That and the whole angst over Clark being a virgin. I think I finally rolled my eyes and shut it off to mourn the early seasons.

[brendala.livejournal.com]

The constant wedding delays did it for me. But the clone thing was totally the shark jump moment.

[ladyxmoonlight.livejournal.com]

I see the whacky stuff as just typical comic-book although I never felt the whacky stuff really fit Superman comics either. Despite him being an alien, oddly. I still love them in the show, though! <3

I never liked Fred and Daphne as a couple until Mystery Inc. Seriously. They annoyed me. But it is handled so well in the new show, I love it.

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

I would have to agree with you about Fred and Daphne. I like them, but I didn't route for them as a couple, however I love them in Mystery Incorporated. It just gives it a fresh look, too bad the same thing can't be said for Velma and Shaggy. -_-;