Why UC?

[eucalyptus]

Another question...wouldn't Kyle/Liz also be Canon?

LMAO. It's almost better NOT to start thinking about how the CC and UC labels were attached to what pairings. Especially if you are first and foremost a UC shipper. Seemingly there was no rhyme or reason to it other than, maybe, personal preference and a season one mindset among the fandom BNFs. Otherwise, for example, how in the world can Jesse/Isabel be UC when they were married?

That's almost a topic for another discussion though, one I would happily have in its very own thread , so maybe we should do that at some point.

Onto the topic at hand. Shipping UC is not necessarily a choice. The pairing I ship was labeled a so-called UC couple before I was ever part of fandom. I wasn't trying to be "edgy" or try new things or explore new perspectives and stories. I think a lot of people who ship UC pairings fell into those pairings in that way too and more or less just hung in there purely out of personal preference.

[LysCat]

I don't read UC fan fiction very often. I'm a huge dreamer fan, and in most of the UC stories (or ones that include UC), Max and Liz are apart.

However, I do ship a few UC ships. For me, the show just left me wanting...something.

I never really cared for Michael and Maria. As entertaining as they were at times, I hated the way that Maria treated him. He was the one alien that never wanted to settle because he was searching for home and a place of belonging...only to realize that he found it in her. He stayed for her, and yet that wasn't enough for Maria.

I also didn't care for Alex and Isabel. For me, he was way too good for her. Isabel treated Alex like a second class citizen most of the time. Alex deserved better, and I guess when they finally started to get somewhere, Colin was written out of the show. I never got invested with them. Maybe if I had seen them evolve more as a couple I might have felt differently, but I never got there.

[sablaine]

A well written, beleivable, UC fic is a true rarity and thus an absolute gem to read.

That is so true. I ship polar - just love Michael and Liz together - but even I can know that Liz (or any of the characters for that matter) wouldn't just jump into a relationship with someone else. Maria and Michael loved each other. Liz and Max always carried a flame for one another. And Isabel did love Alex. All their relationships had ups and downs, but these were the people they loved and wanted to be with. So, for any of these people to move on to someone else, there has to be a darn good reason and it takes a darn good writer to be able to pull off a relationship change like that.

~Kathy~

[Tears_of_Mercury]

All their relationships had ups and downs, but these were the people they loved and wanted to be with. So, for any of these people to move on to someone else, there has to be a darn good reason and it takes a darn good writer to be able to pull off a relationship change like that.

~Kathy~

THIS. That's one of my major qualms with UC fiction, both for couples that I do ship and couples that I don't ship (especially if a past, canon SO is going to be hated by the person or villainized in the story). I guess it's just like, if you want us to care about the couple, first we have to care about the characters.

Although I don't ship polar, I won't be shy or shamefaced about admitting that I've dipped into that sub-fandom fic world, simply because, in my experience, ya'll boast some writers with absolutely gorgeous styles. That sounds so screwy - why read a fic about two people in a relationship when you're absolutely apathetic to a possible romance between them? - but I've found that with certain writers, in the stories where Max and/or Maria aren't bashed and due respect is given to past M/L and M/M relationships, the writing is so gorgeous that even if while reading the story I don't care one way or another about Michael and Liz getting together, the fic will still floor me. I'm probably going to get lambasted for saying this, but I'd rather read one exceptional polar fic than a million contrived M/L fics with deplorable grammar.

But, like I stated in my last post, even with my own pet UC preferences, I still have enormous issues with some UC pairings. So what's the likelihood of me reading a multi-chapter polar story? ... Not a lot. And as for Rebel - well, how about we not even go there.

(btw, sablaine, don't I owe you an essay on Isabel...?)

[sablaine]

LOL Why, yes, as a matter of fact, you do.