creating a personal canon

[cimorene]

For me, an important part of absorbing any canon is creating a personal canon of spackles and slash to fill in the gaps around it. Of course, I might read or even write first-times set anywhere in it, but there's always something that I really believe in, like: I believe in Fraser/Ray K at the end of "Call of the Wild", and in Kirk/Spock after "Amok Time", and in Holmes/Watson after The Return, and in Garak/Bashir not before the end of the entire series. I believe in Nick/Greg, if you want to talk about my current shows, either after or very shortly before "Grave Danger". (Which isn't to say that I always believe in my fictional OTPs, or even in pairings I like.)

So watching a show for the first time is interesting. After SWAK, and then a few times during season 3 of NCIS, I could almost believe in established Gibbs/DiNozzo. Not that I subscribe to the view of an emotionally abusive Gibbs who practically attacks Tony's confidence with hot pokers - but he did warm up a little, gradually. There was the episode where Tony was framed, especially. Wow, that one stood out for me. And I liked to read the UST there as conscious on Gibbs's side, if not, er, un-U (I mean, est rel already). But moving on to season 4, we have that whole Amnesia Thing. Not so much the amnesia itself as the Mexico Thing, I think, make it impossible for me to believe in a first time before that point. I mean, I've read some stories like that, but Gibbs's motivation just doesn't seem internally consistent through the s4 premiere to me that way if he knows about a romantic (or sexual, as long as there's warmth and affection in it - and look, okay, there is) relationship. So I could only buy it if his amnesia had totally hidden the entire thing from him, but I don't buy that either. Still a little fuzzy, maybe, but there was also that entire weird conversation between Ducky and Dr. Who Looks Like a Smaller Sean Bean about how amnesia just doesn't work like that and it must be, in fact, just emotional repression~. Not that I actually know anything about that - not a neuroscientist or a psychologist or anything - but I find the idea of it lasting that long, but only partially, too hard to swallow.

Comments

[perhael.livejournal.com]

I have the same problem with NCIS canon... there are moments pre-Mexico where I could totally believe they're doing it, but the whole Mexico thing makes it impossible. And then there's Jeanne, and Hollis, and basically the only valid First Time opportunity would be when all that is over.