Confessions of a Shipping Addict
Hi,I'm Rin, I'm almost twenty five and I'm a shipping addict.
I can pinpoint when I became a 'shipper: it was with The X-Files. It was 1997. I was eleven years old.
We had text-based internet back then, and for whatever reason I had started watching The X-Files. Nevermind that most of it went straight over my head and much of it was disturbing; I liked it. And then I found these marvelous things called "newsgroups" where people talked about shows on TV. I found this newsgroup called alt.tv.xfiles. Almost everyone was in their twenties or early thirties; none of them believed I was 11. And there were two sides: the 'shippers, who believed Mulder and Scully should be in love with one another, and the NoRos, who didn't. I was a shipper mostly because I wanted to be Scully, short, ginger-haired, intelligent, a head bitch in charge, and able to interact with Mulder, who was somehow my first legitimate celebrity crush.
I was always an odd child.
Anyway, from those early beginning forays into fandom, fanfic, and such things, I only tumbled farther down the slippery slope of "shipping"- wanting two characters to be in love. It's almost an unwitting thing on my part at this point; I'm usually drawn into a fandom BY an amazing ship that's calling out to some bit of my bitter little scrap of a heart.
Having said that, I have TERRIBLE luck shipping. I almost hesitate to ship, because when I ship someone, it turns into the kiss of death. The fanon mantra of all 'sunken' ships- I ignore your reality and replace it with my own- has been one I have embraced.
SO, without further ado, in more or less chronological order, here's the things I've shipped and the fandoms I've grown to love.
X-Files: Mulder/Scully.
Fic Rec: Tempest. Pretty much the most awesome fic for these two I ever found. There were lots of others but I can STILL get sucked into this one, for whatever reason. (And I gave it a small honor in one of my own fics earlier this year, when I crashed Bella and Jacob in a private plane in the woods).
I loved Mulder and Scully first. They were the loyal, do-anything-for-each-other, friends-first archetype that probably shades the majority of my ships today. He loves her and protects her and treats her like his equal, and in return, she's the only one who ever really understands him, the only one who sees past his public image to the real person underneath. They are utterly vulnerable only with one another. I was surprised as hell when they actually made it canon, though by season 7 I'd lost interest and only came back in at the end.
Animorphs: Tobias/Rachel
Fic Rec: I don't have any, really. I wrote some god-awful fic, which also somehow crossed over into X-Files and Pokemon. I was 12 and thought crossovers were the bee's knees, okay?
These kids, these kids. I got into Animorphs when I passed by a revolving book stand at the library and the cover of #4 caught my eye: it had a dolphin. I think Book 7 had just been released. I checked out #4, read it, begged my parents to take me back to the library, and checked out the first 3 along with 5 and 6. I devoured them. Tobias was my favorite character (along with practically everyone else's, I discovered years later) because he was brooding, sad, kind, and basically emo before we had such a term used in general conversation. He loved Rachel, the headstrong, awesome, bloodthirsty, battle-hungry gymnast. Rachel was very head bitch in charge, something I was beginning to long for in myself but would not actually ever find.
They actually sailed in canon, and it was goregous and amazing and tension-filled and spectacular and they kissed and angels fucking sang and I dropped the book and jumped on my bed. Then the ending happened and I lost my first major piece of faith in authors/canon/humanity/all of the above.
I hummed along with those two fandoms for quite a while, and added in Pokemon, more the games than the show, though I did watch it, thanks to the tireless efforts of a younger sister of my best friend. And I got really into Sailor Moon. I didn't ship anyone from either of the two.
Then Animorphs ended after 54, mostly-monthly books and I was one depressed little puppy. I returned to the library and sought out a new book series that I had heard so much about but never tried. The fifth book was about to be released, and the country was buzzing.
Harry Potter: Harry/Hermione; Ron/Luna.
Fic Recs: So many talented fucking writers. My personal favorite being parkergrey.
So many people will tell you that they shipped Ron/Hermione for a while and then changed over to Harry/Hermione after seeing the movies or discovering fandom or some other such thing.
I will tell you right now that I was never one of those people. The second Hermione entered that railroad car I wanted her to be with him, for reasons illogical and inane, but those reasons became logical and piled and became anvils, fucking anvils, fuck you JK Rowling and your amazing characters and your shitty romances. The reasons for my shipping of Harry and Hermione are bone-deep, etched in my heart, it feels like. They are, above all others, my One True Pairing, my OTP, my grail that never fucking shone. This made me bitter, but they are too good for canon. The fact that Dan and Emma have such incredible chemistry makes it delightful to see on screen, but the best Harry/Hermione moments remain on the page, plain as day for the future generations to see and then in turn be disappointed by. Which is why my copy of the Deathly Hallows has "But then Harry and Hermione gave into the affair that was waiting to happen, and all was truly fucking well."
And about Ron and Luna... she's the only one who really loves Ron for who he is. I really think it would have been a great thing for both of them.
I still read these 'ships.
Harry Potter ended in 2007, and the roundhouse kick to the mouth of the ending stung. Fortunately, a friend brought over a movie with which I would soon become obsessed, and my next ship blossomed, then fucking exploded, quite without me even expecting it to.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack/Elizabeth.
Fic Recs: Get back to you on that one.
My first movie 'ship! But far from the last. I would like to also point out that I was one of those weirdos who enjoyed the subtext of the first movie and 'shipped Jack/Elizabeth without thinking in the slightest that it would happen in canon, thinking it was more cracked than anything. Crusty old pirate and young governor's daughter who's had a lit crush on him since she was a mere girl? She burned his rum! And then the sequels happened, and everyone else saw it too, and it was awesome. Though they never actually had a relationship, per se, no one in Pirates really had time to, and that kid at the after flash of At World's End is younger than ten years old, has Jack's hat, looks like young Johnny Depp, and is singing Jack's song. Elizabeth 'had' Will once, after he was a dead fish person. It's Jack's kid.
That brings us to the ship I get made fun of for the most, and which is by far the most mainstream.
Twilight: Jacob/Bella
My foray into Twilight happened in 2008 while my husband was deployed. It was quite a strange happening, actually. An LJ friend of mine had been one of the first to read Twilight when it was released in 2005 and had spent quite a while recommending it, but it was hard to find in stores (hahaha!), my library didn't have a copy (HAHA!) and I didn't think it sounded that interesting; I'd never been really into vampires. She actually hates the books now, but that's another side note. Anyway, my library finally got a copy or 20 when the movie was released, and I read it.
Reading Twilight is kind of like watching a multi-car accident on a snowy road. You watch the first two cars collide, staring in shock and horror, but you can't turn away. You keep watching and staring and hoping everything will turn out okay, illogically, despite the growing sounds of crunching metal and blaring horns. I devoured the books. They are horrible. Their only saving grace is Jacob Black, an excellent character trapped and crucified in a horrible, horrible world. I think this why I am so drawn to Twilight fic and why I started writing it. I want better for Jake. He, like Harry/Hermione, is too good for canon. He wants Bella, so I give her to him, though she needs major work to make her a good character. It is very hard for authors to fix Bella, and she'll never "run right" because she's fundamentally flawed. But, like Jake, we enjoy the challenge.
It was a relief to come to my next pairing, after the frustration of Twilight. Finally, I had one that was easy to love.
Iron Man: Tony/Pepper
This may be my most normal pairing of all. It's canon. It's pretty, it's spunky, and it's a bit unconventional for me. I think that's why I love them together so much. They compliment each other well and they do embody the traits that I look for- loyalty, friendship first, long-standing attraction. They bicker a bit more than I used to like, but I have found that since they don't ever really go for the jugular, I enjoy it. He loves her and treats her like his equal, and she knows his true self beneath the armor and facades. Sound familiar yet?
They also look like two seals fighting over a grape.
Which brings me to...
Inception: Arthur/Ariadne
I stumbled across this pairing after watching the movie once, in theatres, and finding that the talent base attracted to the fandom was incredibly talented and churning out fic like one wouldn't believe. From two side players I found the tension I had enjoyed so much was actually being used to write amazing fic, fic that developed all of these bit characters into people I loved more and more.
True fact: I got the Inception DVD and didn't watch the movie over again for almost a week because I was afraid it would disappoint me based on the wonderful fanfic I'd been reading for months. Fortunately, it did not.
And the most recent addition, another one that I fell directly off a I cliff into:
True Blood: Eric/Sookie.
My husband and I watched Season 1 and I liked what little we saw of Eric. He was hot. I liked Sookie's spunk. I thought they would make an interesting pair. I looked for fic. I got shocked beyond belief to see that they were canon, and deep, and awesome, and dark, and everything that make me go "ick, Edward/Bella much?" about Bill/Sookie was TAKEN CARE OF by an awesome Viking.
They are so amazing.
Fic Rec: Ache For You
And in other news... I do know that I'm a loser! :D
And now: VIDS OF THE PRETTY!! (I'm also addicted to fanvids.)
Go to this link for Eric/Sookie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONmJIw1GFns
Best freakin' vid for them. Seriously.
And someday I will make a vid with ALL MY SHIPS to this song:
Or maybe this one:
Most likely both.
I can pinpoint when I became a 'shipper: it was with The X-Files. It was 1997. I was eleven years old.
We had text-based internet back then, and for whatever reason I had started watching The X-Files. Nevermind that most of it went straight over my head and much of it was disturbing; I liked it. And then I found these marvelous things called "newsgroups" where people talked about shows on TV. I found this newsgroup called alt.tv.xfiles. Almost everyone was in their twenties or early thirties; none of them believed I was 11. And there were two sides: the 'shippers, who believed Mulder and Scully should be in love with one another, and the NoRos, who didn't. I was a shipper mostly because I wanted to be Scully, short, ginger-haired, intelligent, a head bitch in charge, and able to interact with Mulder, who was somehow my first legitimate celebrity crush.
I was always an odd child.
Anyway, from those early beginning forays into fandom, fanfic, and such things, I only tumbled farther down the slippery slope of "shipping"- wanting two characters to be in love. It's almost an unwitting thing on my part at this point; I'm usually drawn into a fandom BY an amazing ship that's calling out to some bit of my bitter little scrap of a heart.
Having said that, I have TERRIBLE luck shipping. I almost hesitate to ship, because when I ship someone, it turns into the kiss of death. The fanon mantra of all 'sunken' ships- I ignore your reality and replace it with my own- has been one I have embraced.
SO, without further ado, in more or less chronological order, here's the things I've shipped and the fandoms I've grown to love.
X-Files: Mulder/Scully.
Fic Rec: Tempest. Pretty much the most awesome fic for these two I ever found. There were lots of others but I can STILL get sucked into this one, for whatever reason. (And I gave it a small honor in one of my own fics earlier this year, when I crashed Bella and Jacob in a private plane in the woods).
I loved Mulder and Scully first. They were the loyal, do-anything-for-each-other, friends-first archetype that probably shades the majority of my ships today. He loves her and protects her and treats her like his equal, and in return, she's the only one who ever really understands him, the only one who sees past his public image to the real person underneath. They are utterly vulnerable only with one another. I was surprised as hell when they actually made it canon, though by season 7 I'd lost interest and only came back in at the end.
Animorphs: Tobias/Rachel
Fic Rec: I don't have any, really. I wrote some god-awful fic, which also somehow crossed over into X-Files and Pokemon. I was 12 and thought crossovers were the bee's knees, okay?
These kids, these kids. I got into Animorphs when I passed by a revolving book stand at the library and the cover of #4 caught my eye: it had a dolphin. I think Book 7 had just been released. I checked out #4, read it, begged my parents to take me back to the library, and checked out the first 3 along with 5 and 6. I devoured them. Tobias was my favorite character (along with practically everyone else's, I discovered years later) because he was brooding, sad, kind, and basically emo before we had such a term used in general conversation. He loved Rachel, the headstrong, awesome, bloodthirsty, battle-hungry gymnast. Rachel was very head bitch in charge, something I was beginning to long for in myself but would not actually ever find.
They actually sailed in canon, and it was goregous and amazing and tension-filled and spectacular and they kissed and angels fucking sang and I dropped the book and jumped on my bed. Then the ending happened and I lost my first major piece of faith in authors/canon/humanity/all of the above.
I hummed along with those two fandoms for quite a while, and added in Pokemon, more the games than the show, though I did watch it, thanks to the tireless efforts of a younger sister of my best friend. And I got really into Sailor Moon. I didn't ship anyone from either of the two.
Then Animorphs ended after 54, mostly-monthly books and I was one depressed little puppy. I returned to the library and sought out a new book series that I had heard so much about but never tried. The fifth book was about to be released, and the country was buzzing.
Harry Potter: Harry/Hermione; Ron/Luna.
Fic Recs: So many talented fucking writers. My personal favorite being parkergrey.
So many people will tell you that they shipped Ron/Hermione for a while and then changed over to Harry/Hermione after seeing the movies or discovering fandom or some other such thing.
I will tell you right now that I was never one of those people. The second Hermione entered that railroad car I wanted her to be with him, for reasons illogical and inane, but those reasons became logical and piled and became anvils, fucking anvils, fuck you JK Rowling and your amazing characters and your shitty romances. The reasons for my shipping of Harry and Hermione are bone-deep, etched in my heart, it feels like. They are, above all others, my One True Pairing, my OTP, my grail that never fucking shone. This made me bitter, but they are too good for canon. The fact that Dan and Emma have such incredible chemistry makes it delightful to see on screen, but the best Harry/Hermione moments remain on the page, plain as day for the future generations to see and then in turn be disappointed by. Which is why my copy of the Deathly Hallows has "But then Harry and Hermione gave into the affair that was waiting to happen, and all was truly fucking well."
And about Ron and Luna... she's the only one who really loves Ron for who he is. I really think it would have been a great thing for both of them.
I still read these 'ships.
Harry Potter ended in 2007, and the roundhouse kick to the mouth of the ending stung. Fortunately, a friend brought over a movie with which I would soon become obsessed, and my next ship blossomed, then fucking exploded, quite without me even expecting it to.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack/Elizabeth.
Fic Recs: Get back to you on that one.
My first movie 'ship! But far from the last. I would like to also point out that I was one of those weirdos who enjoyed the subtext of the first movie and 'shipped Jack/Elizabeth without thinking in the slightest that it would happen in canon, thinking it was more cracked than anything. Crusty old pirate and young governor's daughter who's had a lit crush on him since she was a mere girl? She burned his rum! And then the sequels happened, and everyone else saw it too, and it was awesome. Though they never actually had a relationship, per se, no one in Pirates really had time to, and that kid at the after flash of At World's End is younger than ten years old, has Jack's hat, looks like young Johnny Depp, and is singing Jack's song. Elizabeth 'had' Will once, after he was a dead fish person. It's Jack's kid.
That brings us to the ship I get made fun of for the most, and which is by far the most mainstream.
Twilight: Jacob/Bella
My foray into Twilight happened in 2008 while my husband was deployed. It was quite a strange happening, actually. An LJ friend of mine had been one of the first to read Twilight when it was released in 2005 and had spent quite a while recommending it, but it was hard to find in stores (hahaha!), my library didn't have a copy (HAHA!) and I didn't think it sounded that interesting; I'd never been really into vampires. She actually hates the books now, but that's another side note. Anyway, my library finally got a copy or 20 when the movie was released, and I read it.
Reading Twilight is kind of like watching a multi-car accident on a snowy road. You watch the first two cars collide, staring in shock and horror, but you can't turn away. You keep watching and staring and hoping everything will turn out okay, illogically, despite the growing sounds of crunching metal and blaring horns. I devoured the books. They are horrible. Their only saving grace is Jacob Black, an excellent character trapped and crucified in a horrible, horrible world. I think this why I am so drawn to Twilight fic and why I started writing it. I want better for Jake. He, like Harry/Hermione, is too good for canon. He wants Bella, so I give her to him, though she needs major work to make her a good character. It is very hard for authors to fix Bella, and she'll never "run right" because she's fundamentally flawed. But, like Jake, we enjoy the challenge.
It was a relief to come to my next pairing, after the frustration of Twilight. Finally, I had one that was easy to love.
Iron Man: Tony/Pepper
This may be my most normal pairing of all. It's canon. It's pretty, it's spunky, and it's a bit unconventional for me. I think that's why I love them together so much. They compliment each other well and they do embody the traits that I look for- loyalty, friendship first, long-standing attraction. They bicker a bit more than I used to like, but I have found that since they don't ever really go for the jugular, I enjoy it. He loves her and treats her like his equal, and she knows his true self beneath the armor and facades. Sound familiar yet?
They also look like two seals fighting over a grape.
Which brings me to...
Inception: Arthur/Ariadne
I stumbled across this pairing after watching the movie once, in theatres, and finding that the talent base attracted to the fandom was incredibly talented and churning out fic like one wouldn't believe. From two side players I found the tension I had enjoyed so much was actually being used to write amazing fic, fic that developed all of these bit characters into people I loved more and more.
True fact: I got the Inception DVD and didn't watch the movie over again for almost a week because I was afraid it would disappoint me based on the wonderful fanfic I'd been reading for months. Fortunately, it did not.
And the most recent addition, another one that I fell directly off a I cliff into:
True Blood: Eric/Sookie.
My husband and I watched Season 1 and I liked what little we saw of Eric. He was hot. I liked Sookie's spunk. I thought they would make an interesting pair. I looked for fic. I got shocked beyond belief to see that they were canon, and deep, and awesome, and dark, and everything that make me go "ick, Edward/Bella much?" about Bill/Sookie was TAKEN CARE OF by an awesome Viking.
They are so amazing.
Fic Rec: Ache For You
And in other news... I do know that I'm a loser! :D
And now: VIDS OF THE PRETTY!! (I'm also addicted to fanvids.)
Click to viewGo to this link for Eric/Sookie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONmJIw1GFns
Best freakin' vid for them. Seriously.
And someday I will make a vid with ALL MY SHIPS to this song:
Or maybe this one:
Most likely both.