P/C run amok...

[mon capitaine]

So how broad a definition is the term P/C then? Is it just about HOT SEX or does it encompass the platonic relationship we see for the most part?

I realise post 900 in this thread might be leaving it a bit late to ask: but what the hell IS P/C anyway?

 

[Naraht]

This is a very important question. Possibly THE important question for the purposes of this thread. I agree that it's time we dealt with this highly important issue.

What is a P/Cer?

This came up recently, when there was a discussion over what a fan story marked "P/C" implies, or promises. Now, I mark most of my stories with that code, but I don't know the answer, and I don't think we ever sorted it out.

At the root, I would say a P/C shipper is someone who: likes Jean-Luc Picard, likes Beverly Crusher, likes the interactions between the two of them, and wants to see more. I think it's all in how you define the "more".

Fundamentally the "more" is either romantic or sexual, but the romantic can simply involve the exploration of feelings (usually in fanfic) rather than an actual relationship. I think P/Cers range from those who wish The Couple had gotten married and had children early in the series, to those "finishippers" (term coined by the Archer/T'Pol people) who want them to get together eventually, but not necessarily now. Not to mention the fans of angst, who just want tragic unrequited love. So it's a broad church.

It's been made clear to me that people have made assumptions about my attitudes to certain things, based on the fact that I'm a P/C shipper. Actually I don't hate Nella Daren, or Vash, or Jack Crusher, or indeed think that Jean-Luc and Beverly should have started a relationship while serving on the Enterprise. At the same time, though, I don't consider that I'm lukewarm in my level of devotion to the relationship. How many posts have I made in this thread? Too many.

So there are my musings. Anyone else have any insight?

 

[Whoa Nellie]

Posted by Naraht:

This came up recently, when there was a discussion over what a fan story marked "P/C" implies, or promises. Now, I mark most of my stories with that code, but I don't know the answer, and I don't think we ever sorted it out.

As far as codes for fan fiction stories, both the ASC (alt.startrek.creative) FAQ and the Trekiverse Archive FAQ list it this way:

A. Ordering and use of Character Codes.
Character codes are used to reference the main characters
and romance pairings in the subject line. Several
separators are used to denote how the codes (and characters)
relate:

/ Sexually Involved, or nearly so
& Relationship only (No Sex, generally Friendship)
, Featured

This seems to be a commonly accepted guide. However, it is only a guide and in the end all coding is at the discretion of the individual author. Hope this helps.

Warmest Wishes,
Whoa Nellie

 

[Naraht]

I've certainly read the ASC guidelines before, but I think they're not as clearcut as you seem to suggest. It's the "or nearly so" that is the bugbear. Were Picard and Crusher "nearly" sexually involved in The Perfect Mate, or Remember Me, or even in Attached? What about Encounter at Farpoint? I don't think so, yet I would class all of them as having a significant P/C element.

In practice, I've never yet seen a story coded P&C...

 

[mon capitaine]

^ P&C sounds so wonderfully cosy though. Like Darby and Joan.

 

[Naraht]

^^^ Well, maybe that should be the title of the next thread, then:

"P&C: because HOT SEX is too much to ask"

 

[mon capitaine]

^ I was rather hoping for

Jack Crusher: Dead Eye Candy

 

[mackillian]

P&C: because HOT SEX is too much to ask

That made me laugh out loud. My husband shot me a Very Strange Look.

I've come to realize that I could never, ever, write any HOT SEX. Ever. I'd blush and break into uproarious giggles. What I write is P/C but not "romance" in the traditional sense. I don't think.

 

[Naraht]

Posted by mon capitaine:
Jack Crusher: Dead Eye Candy

Class! It rather obscures the, y'know, P/C content of the thread. But perhaps that's the point...

Posted by mackillian:
I've come to realize that I could never, ever, write any HOT SEX. Ever. I'd blush and break into uproarious giggles. What I write is P/C but not "romance" in the traditional sense. I don't think.

No, I can't either. I've had ideas for such scenes, but whenever I've tried to put it down on paper, it just looks ridiculous and overwrought. So I've decided to give the two of them a little privacy.

 

[MrsPicard]

^

I'm glad if I can manage to write a story that is NOT NC-17 rated... it's not that hard to write HOT SEX, trust me.
It makes you blush while you write it, but in the end... the results are worth it...

 

[mon capitaine]

^But is it integral to the plot or does it take-over the story? I'm not in favour of HOT SEX for HOT SEX sake.


^No, I can't believe I typed that either. But I mean in the context of literature.

 

[MrsPicard]

^

You either decide to write a short story which is just PWP and features only HOT SEX (now why did we come up with typing that in capital letters? ) or you write a long story which has some HOT SEX in it, too, but it's not necessary for the plot, it's in there just because it fits in. If it doesn't fit in, leave it out.
At least that's what *I* have experienced.

If it's a really long story that has almost only HOT SEX in it, I get bored - no matter if I look at it as a 'writer' or a 'reader'.

 

[mackillian]

I giggle every time I read HOT SEX (that phrase) in this thread.

...that's a lot of giggling.

Naraht, I do the same thing. Privacy it is!

mon capitaine, I don't object to HOT SEX if it's integral to the story. But if it's just there for smut-factor or just entirely the story in the first place, I tend not to be enthralled by it.

I'd rather read a story than read about HOT SEX.

 

[Naraht]

Posted by mackillian:
I giggle every time I read HOT SEX (that phrase) in this thread.

...that's a lot of giggling.

We aim to please.

It was Ohappydagger, I think, who started using the term "HOT SEX" in the P/C context. I tried to find the original thread, for illustrative purposes, but alas it has been pruned. There is no justice for the dirty-minded.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Why does HOT SEX and P/C sound so wrong? It almost sounds like... thinking about my parents...

 

[Amelie]

What exactly is PWP ? I don't get most of the terminology here.

 

[Tzigone]

PWP stands for "Plot, what plot?" meaning fics that are usually just little smutfics (don't have to be smut, but usually are) and have no plot to them.

 

[Naraht]

Posted by Peach Wookiee:
Why does HOT SEX and P/C sound so wrong? It almost sounds like... thinking about my parents...

Well, if I recall correctly, you and I are about the same age. Gates McFadden is exactly my mother's age; Patrick Stewart is several years older than my father. Sounds like a reasonable explanation to me.

Beverly and Jack, now... would have been just my age when they met...

 

[mon capitaine]

Beverly and Jack?

Nah. Wesley was adopted.


As a side note, amamzon.co.uk came through with my copy of Death in Winter this morining.

 

[Naraht]

Posted by mon capitaine:
As a side note, amamzon.co.uk came through with my copy of Death in Winter this morining.

I love the way you just slipped that in so casually...

Anyway, I'm off to the Lakes now, so I probably won't be posting very much over the coming weeks. Don't hit 1000 posts without me, or I'll be very cross! And if you do, make sure to name the new thread something nice... I'll be watching.