Casey McDonald/Derek Venturi

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Pairing
Pairing: Casey McDonald x Derek Venturi
Alternative name(s): Dasey
Gender category: Het
Fandom: Life With Derek
Canonical?: Non-canon
Prevalence: Juggernaut ship
Archives: Derek_casey (livejournal community)
Other:
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Casey/Derek or Dasey is a non-canon pairing of Casey McDonald and Derek Venturi from the television show, Life With Derek and the TV-made film (which is a sequel to the series), Vacation With Derek.

Canon

They fight and prank each other a lot, however despite all of that — deep down they care for one another, which is one of the main reasons fans ship it so much. They are considered to have the most UST in the show, partly due to the fact that between them everything is usually a competition. They also show a protective[1] and sweet side [2] to each other, usually trying to hide it from the other. It's also revealed that they both get into Queen's University [3], although initially they are upset at the news they get over it.

Fandom

Derek/Casey could be considered the fandom's OTP, as nearly all the fans like the pairing even when the network & creator's best efforts in the contrary.

She's a good girl, a perfectionist and people pleaser. He's a bad boy who does whatever he wants, when he wants, then charms his way out of trouble. She loves to make rules, he loves to break them. She's self righteous, he's arrogant. She's looking for love, he's looking for his next bimbo. She works hard at school, he works hard at having a good time. She's a dancer, he's the hockey captain. The only time they stop fighting is when they're doing incredibly sweet things for each other. This probably sounds like the set up for every antagonistic couple in every teen movie you've ever seen, and on the surface, Derek and Casey are very much that couple. The 'we fight like an old married couple, look how our glares are filled with desire' couple. The 'opposites attract, so different and yet so perfect' couple. The main difference? When they were 15, Derek's dad married Casey's mom.

Honestly, that's what draws a lot of people to them. Seeing that much sexual tension between two step siblings is intriguing. It's dirty and it's forbidden and in America? It's on the Disney Channel, which adds to the intriguing, dirty factor. It's fun to look for glances and too much touching, fun to read between the lines of their fighting. The thing about Derek in Casey is, once you're watching for the sexual tension, you get wrapped up in the sweetness and the affection that's slowly building between them. You start to notice that they understand each other, that they fit together perfectly, that they're exactly what the other needs. That's why people really ship them, why people believe in this couple. They're not just dirty and forbidden, and thus sexy, they're compatible and adorable and pretty much perfect.

jannika in the Ship Manifesto[4]

Controversies

They're step-siblings, making the pairing incest or pseudo-incest.

Many argue that it's not incest in any meaningful sense because:

  1. They're only related by marriage, not biologically related
  2. They first met at 15 and did not grow up together

Others argue that — although incest is not fundamentally illegitimate subject matter for a story — the fact that this was a show geared toward children makes it inappropriate.

America is not new to this whole step sibling trope. Who can forget... Dan/Serena on Gossip Girl, Lu/Valerio on Elite, Cher/Josh in Clueless, Callie/Brandon from The Fosters, George Michael/Maeby in Arrested Development. Damn, um... Kathryn/Sebastian in Cruel Intentions, whatever this was from The Brady Bunch. But the difference is that all of these movies and TV shows are geared towards a slightly older audience, one that can already kind of make distinctions for themselves between what's legal and what's morally acceptable. They are not G-rated Disney Channel children's shows. [...] If we're looking at like a Serena/Dan situation, a Kathryn/Sebastian situation, it's a little weird, but I don't see any issue with using these tropes in tv shows and movies that are geared towards older audiences. But I do think that in a G-rated show for children, the this kind of dynamic and this kind of relationship is definitely a little bit sus, at least.

Ada On Demand[5]

The Cast & the Powers That Be

The cast have been fairly supportive of the pairing. In a Life With Derek podcast, Michael Seater and Ashley Leggat (who plays Derek and Casey), actually act out a piece of Dasey fanfic ("Out of the Blue"). They also reveal that they do actually read the stories as well. [6] On Twitter, years after LWD ended, both actors Michael and Ashley share fanart and comments that are for "Dasey" including hashtags with:"#Dasey Forever" & "#DaseyWillNeverDie"[7]. In an interview in May 2015 and the 10th anniversary of LWD, Ashley and Michael mention Dasey and on reading Dasey fanfiction[8].

Disney and the creator, Daphne Ballon of the show are strong opponents to the fans and this ship (more than likely because of the they believe the pairing incestuous). Because of this they often add in "significant" others for Casey and Derek each which causes anger and displeasure in such storylines of the series. Dasey shippers often "hate" the characters' actual girl/boyfriend in the show (Max and Sally in Season 3, Truman in Season 4). It was especially true for the character Truman in Season 4 as well as some displeasure at Emily becoming Derek's girlfriend in Season 4. Sugah66 describes her feelings in a open letter to Daphne:

...The idea of Derek dating Emily is ridiculous. (Ridiculous in the kind of way that seriously angers me — I mean, did you even watch the past four seasons?) And if you don't already know how much everyone in the fandom hates Truman, you've been sitting in a cave on Mars with your eyes shut and your fingers plugging up your ears. (FYI, that means we all hate him. I spent every episode hoping he'd get hit by a bus.) I mean, if you feel the need to continually remind us that they're dating, you know it's because we don't buy it....I don't buy half the crap you tried to shovel us in season 4. Sally, Truman, Derek/Emily... It all seems like our opinion is trying to be swayed in an alternate direction (i.e. away from Derek/Casey). Well, my opinion wasn't swayed. I can't be stopped from shipping Derek/Casey, no matter what you throw at me... I know it's crap. (It's not wrong. It's not immoral. They're not really related. Related by marriage is not related...

[9]

Common Tropes, and Themes

  • Daisies: Because of how much the ship name, "Dasey", sounds like "Daisy", daisies are usually considered important to the ship.
  • Pregnancy/Babyfic are one of major themes especially in Dasey fics, usually to get Derek and Casey to admit they love each other. Prior to getting pregnant, generally Casey and Derek are at a party and get drunk.
  • Bet fics are stories where a character (usually Emily or Sam) that bets Derek or Casey something in order to help the two realize that they both like each other. This also stems from their interactions in the show where they often bet/compete with each other.[10]
  • Matchmakers are generally considered to be Lizzie, Edwin, and Emily (usually Sam as well) for the Dasey pairing. Nora and George are even sometimes in on the plan to get the two together. More often than not, the matchmakers & matchmaking are gone unnoticed by Derek and Casey.
  • Alternate Universes are often used as a way to get Casey/Derek together, for example a fairly common AU was for their parents never get married but they still end up meeting and fall in love.
  • Futurefics are also a common way to get Casey/Derek together, due to them being out on their own and away from their family. Most of the time it takes place during their college years, but there are some that are further in the future where they both have jobs/careers or living in different locations.
    • One or both generally have a significant other, which sometimes leads to infidelity although not always.
    • Some of the futurefics take place where sometime in their past, Casey and Derek were together, most of the time was a secret from the rest of the family which generally meant that it brought a strain to their relationship and they would end it so they wouldn't hurt their family. Most of the time they would end up getting back together by the end.
    • Some would have them not see each other for years on end, and then finally meet up again (sometimes for a tragic reason, otherwise joyous reason — their siblings getting married or whatnot).

Fanworks

Fanfiction

For Marti by BigDaddyThaddyDate: July 12, 2006–July 7, 2009Length: 107kStatus: incompleteGenre: Angst
Best known for using the loss of their family and the heart wrenching way Derek, Casey, and Marti deal with it.
Out of the Blue [1] by degrassichickDate: Mar 22, 2006–Jun 8, 2007Length: 39kStatus: Complete

Fanart

Fanvids

Recs

Meta

Media Coverage

Archives and Fannish Links

LJ Communities

Tumblr

References

  1. ^ Derek/Casey tag-team GIF
  2. ^ Derek calls Casey's parents GIF
  3. ^ Huge News
  4. ^ "Dasey Ship Manifesto". Archived from the original on July 11, 2013.
  5. ^ The TV Show Disney Desperately Wants You To Forget: Life With Derek
  6. ^ Podcast of Ashley & Michael acting out the fanfic
  7. ^ Dasey Tumblr gathers screenshots of various tweets between Ashley and Michael on LWD/Dasey. Posted January 02, 2016.
  8. ^ Life With Derek 10 Year Anniversary Reunion w Ashley Leggat & Michael Seater @ CMI 2015. May 28, 2015.
  9. ^ Open Letter to TPTB (Accessed July 11, 2013)
  10. ^ Bet on their Drivers License GIF
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