Rescue Special Ops Shippers
Rescue Special Ops has grown a shipper community centered around Lara Knight (Gigi's character) and Dean Gallagher (played by Less Hill). If you have never heard about shipping, let me explain. Think back to X-files back when it was still a fresh and original show. There was a contingent of fans out there that really wanted Moulder and Scully to get together and thrived on the sexual tension between these characters. They were the original shippers and ever since then it became sort of a tradition for every SF show to have a "will they or won't they" couple that fans could obsess about. Like John and Aeryn on Farscape for example. Folks who loved this sort of stuff and rooted for the characters to have a full fledged relation-"ship" became the shippers and what they do is known simply as shipping.
Traditional shipping activities involve (but are not limited to):
- Meticulously analyzing every conversation and non-verbal communication between the main shipping pair on message boards and newsgroups
- Automatically hating any character or pairing that could potentially threaten their preferred ship.
- Writing romantic fan fiction.
- Making music videos featuring the shipped couple.
Apparently shipping is not strictly a Science Fiction phenomenon anymore. Case in point:
The Fanciction.net archive has a dedicated Rescue Special Ops section. While there are not many stories there, it is very telling that almost all of them are centered around the Lara/Dean pairing.
Shipping is an evidence of a healthy fandom. Main ships tend to become focal points of ensemble shows which means lots of screen time and character development for the involved actors. This is definitely a good thing.