I Will Go Down With This Ship
Books for Thought is where I post a discussion topic related to books, reading, writing, or something pertaining to one of the three. I hope you’ll join in, and discuss today’s topic of
sunken (relation)ships
We all know that I love badboys, and I don’t like love triangles, and now I’m going to talk about how much I adore shipping. Which is a lot.
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I am what I call a serial shipper. I ship ALL THE THINGS, although I do have an OTP (one true pairing that you ship with the force of a million ships). I stand by the fact that you can not have more than one OTP. I am a monogamous OTP-er. One OTP. One. But anyway. That OTP is Merthur (Merlin/Arthur) from the show Merlin.
For some reason, I always go for the non-canon (canon: “the material accepted as part of the story in an individual fictional universe” – thanks, Wikipedia) ship. Which means that my ship is made up of intense eye-locked moments, innuendo, and other such things that imply feelings. But I never get the satisfaction of seeing my darlings kiss, or live happily ever after, or anything (why helloooooooooo fanfiction).
One aspect of being a serial shipper is that I don’t just go: awh, cute. HAHAHAHA, if only. No. There’s a part of the ship that becomes a part of me, of my life. (See: writing/reading endless fanfics, consumption of fan art, purchasing of said fan art, entire Tumblrs dedicated to the ship). And there’s a certain amount of pain that comes with never seeing my non-canon ships actually happen. But that doesn’t stop me. I dive head first into my non-canon ship with the fervour of … something really fervent.
In all sincerity, I can only think of a handful of canon ships that I have shipped over the years. I really don’t know why these non-canon ships attach themselves to my heart like kind of lovely symbiotic creature of epic proportion. Maybe they recognise in me a friend. Someone who will give them what they need. Faith.
I don’t even really know where I’m going with this. Except to say that I ship. I am a shipper. And I will go down with these non-canon ships because the love is there. It’s real. And it’s worthy.
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What about you? Do you ship non-canon ships? Do you feel the PAIN? Or are you lucky enough to always ship the canon ship?
I don’t know if you’ve read it, but I shipped The Darkling with Alina in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy. The first book gave me hope and… that was it. She just wrote it so well and it left me in my own tears because that ship didn’t happen.
Also Klaroline in The Vampire Diaries was a HUGE thing for me.
UGH YES THE DARKLING AND ALINA. Why that ship wasn’t canon, I will never know. BOO @ MAL. BOO.
Eek, and Klaroline was a HUGE ship when I watched TVD! He was so different with her and it totally broke my heart
I think I’m a canon shipper all the way haha. I don’t ship fictional characters from books, but oh my goodness, I ship Rumplestiltskin and Belle from Once Upon a Time and Captain Hook + Emma Swan <3 LOVE LOVE LOVE those 2 couples! That's one of the reasons why I watch that show haha.
Lucky you!
I must admit I like those two ships :D I really need to catch up on OUAT! I haven’t even finished season 2 D:
I have an OTP,/and that’s Olicity from Arrow. I will go down with that ship. Hell, I started shipping it before it was even hinted at. I just KNEW that they were good for each other. I love Merthur. I giggle every time I see them being cute together. Merthur is life.
Dang it Chiara, don’t post so many awesome discussions, you’re making the rest of us look bad xD But seriously, great discussion. <3
OLICITY. I shipped it from the moment those two met, haha XD And if they don’t get together in the end, there will be shit to pay!
MERTHUR IS TOTALLY LIFE <3
Eep, thank you, lovely!
My OTP is Bethyl (Beth Greene and Daryl Dixon) from The Walking Dead. It was almost canon until the season finale, but I’m one of those people on team delusional and am a huge believer that Beth and Daryl will be together because a TWD comic character and Beth have a lot of similarities. Until my dream happens I’ll just contend to reading lots of fanfiction.
I totally ship Bethyl! I didn’t know that there were other people who shipped it XD I think they would make a gorgeous couple.
And yes, fanfic i great for ships that haven’t happened yet!
A fellow Bethyler. I cry at the beauty of finding another blogger who loves them.:’D
YAY! I seriously think they compliment each other so beautifully.
I wish I could ship! I think I used to, in TV shows, when I was younger. But I think laziness has gotten the best of me- I go with what’s presented. I mean, sometimes I ship something that turns out to be an actual relationship that’s developed (like in The 100)…but that doesn’t feel the same thing as a true ship or OTP.
I get very invested in my ships, haha, so I can’t imagine not shipping!
I think if you ship a couple that ends up together, that is just normal shipping :D
I definitely ship the non-canon ships and it HUUUUUURTS. HAHA! I think I have a post going up soonish about how I deal with my non-canon ships.
I don’t really ship pairings in books much, at least compared to my younger days when I used to ship TV show characters SO HARD. O:
It hurts SO MUCH.
I usually ship TV show pairings more, but I have found myself shipping book and manga ships pretty hard lately! Which just means more pain XD
I definitely agree with the one OTP – that’s Jane and Rochester from Jane Eyre for me! :) I’m more of a canon shipper though – but the occasional non-canon has slipped through to break my heart. But at least there are people to keep the non-canon ships alive! Bless them. :D Really enjoyed reading this post!
Yay for having one OTP! And gosh, I still need to read Jane Eyre – eep >.< I love the people that keep non-canon ships alive. They alleviate the pain! Thanks, Charlene! I'm glad you liked it :D
I’m boring and mostly only ship cannon ships. (I actually couldn’t work out what CANON meant for aaages. XD I am deluded. Least to say I figured it out and is it just me or do fangirls sound like pirates with our ships and canons?!) XD *ahem* I believe in MTPs, which is like Multiple True Pairings. I don’t know who my BIGGEST OTP is. Probably Quentin and Maggie (Shhh, I’m about to read Corruption and I don’t know how it ends yet!!) and sometimes, *gulps* just SOMETIMES I do ship Chaol and Dorian actually. >.> BUT YOU KNOW. Mostly I’m a canon shipper.
We ARE pirates, obviously ;D
I TOTALLY SHIP DORIAN AND CHAOL. YES. I AM NOT ALONE. BLESS YOU, CAIT.
You are very lucky, my friend. I sometimes wish I was a mostly canon shipper. It would save much pain and suffering. ;P
Oh my gosh this is me, although I’m not as crazy as the others when it comes to my sunken ships. I admit I get sad but I try to look back at those glorious moments my ship shared and it makes everything right and good again.
Plus, thankfully, I don’t ship crack ships so most of ships did end up being canon. :D
I wish my ships ended up being canon! But normally they don’t, which makes me sad D:
You made me giggle with ‘helloooooo fanfiction’ XD But, I feel deceived by your post! I WANT TO KNOW YOUR SHIPS! :D
Yay for giggles!
OH. Well Merthur is the OTP, and then there’s Destiel. And Ozbert from a manga called Pandora Hearts. I also shipped Rose and Adrian. And every love triangle I’ve ever shipped has been the ship that doesn’t end up together. PAIN.
I’m not much of a shipper, but I do have two main ships, one canon and one non-canon, and they really clash with each other so it’s really tough. My canon OTP is Clois (Clark Kent and Lois Lane) and my non-canon OTP is Superbat (Superman and Batman), and what makes it hard is that Clois are just meant for each other, while Superbat has all of the tension. I just can’t decide which I ship more, it’s so painful >.<
Ah, shipping the same character with two different people would be totally painful! I have come across that feeling before, but I cannot remember which book it was in. And tension is the best. THE BEST.
MERTHUR!!!!!!! YESSSS! I knew I liked you for some reason lol! I really miss Merlin… like badly. I was so sad when it was finished… and it was SO sad! I
am totally with you. I’m a serial shipper too! I have so many OTPs it’s almost embarrassing! A lot of the time mine are non canon, and dear god it’s soooo painful, but my heart just wants them together… OH THE AGONY *insert Into the Woods gif here*
YAY FOR SHIPPING MERTHUR! BLESS ;D
I miss Merlin terribly, and wish it had gone on forever, to be honest. It’s my favourite of all favourites. <3
Non-canon ships are terribly painful, because you have to make do with the pseudo-romantic things that the original media gives you *crying*
I have to say that I always have more than one OTP (I just can’t stay monogamous when it comes to these things, EVERYONE MUST BE TOGETHER!). Also, isn’t shipping life??? And also, Merthur??? Oh my days. I NEVER thought of that but now YES OH MY DAYS I SHIP IT.
I have several sub-OTP ships, but nothing will compare to the love and dedication that I have for Merthur.
YES, I HAVE CONVERTED YOU ;D
I am not much of a shipper, mostly because I am not big on romance. Also, i don’t have enough time for the amount of devotion that you and other people put into your ships (I don’t read fanfic or do special tumblrs or anything).
Also other reasons that I don’t fell like going into right now.
But occasionally I do find a ship that I do care about. They exist, but they are rare. Oh, well.
(As a side note, I was actually really shocked that the writers of Merlin never made Merlin canonically gay or bi)
Shipping definitely takes a certain amount of effort, and it takes its toll on the heart, that is for sure.
Also, yes. I think Merlin was definitely not hetero. He was likely bi, because he did fall for Freya.
It’s this type of shipping that I can’t watch Supernatural anymore. I used to be such a huge fan of the show, and then people starting shipping Destiel and it’s become nothing but a ship-fest. Don’t get me wrong, I will ship things to my heart’s content, but that’s not the reason I will watch a show. Or read a book. I read/watch things for plot, mostly, because I love the stories these things tell. Relationships are just a side plot.
I have one ship that was once canon, but no longer is. I called my little sunken boat Swan Fire (I’ll leave you to guess which show that’s from). Now that I think about it, I don’t think I actually have an OTP, unless you count my sunken boat…
A ship won’t ever be THE reason I watch a TV show, or read a book. I mean, I made the decision to watch and read before I had the ship, and the ship makes no difference as to whether I’ll continue to watch/read. But it’s a nice perk, especially because I love to ship.
I’m guessing from OUAT? I really need to catch up on that show!
I’m not someone who cares a lot about romance, but there are a couple of books that made me ship the characters SO HARD. Sometimes I’m like you and I ship two characters that doesn’t end up together and that sucks.. but they will always be a ship in my head :D
My imagination when it comes to non-canon ships is the only thing that keeps me going XD
I USED to be so good at shipping canon, just because it was easier on the heart LOL BUT lately I suck at it. That’s because EVERYTHING IS A FREAKING LOVE TRIANGLE and I always pick the side with banter and THE WORLD HATES ME AND NEVER GIVES ME THAT SHIP
THAT IS WHY I HATE LOVE TRIANGLES. THEY NEVER GIVE ME WHAT I WANT, JESS, AND I ALWAYS END UP DISAPPOINTED AND HEARTBROKEN.
I honestly don’t really know! I think it depends on the situation!
Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
I think the situation can change, but not for me. I’m always shipping the non-canon ships XD
You know what, the other day my little brother actually educated me on what a canon was. I cannot believe I did not know this! I wonder, do you ship non-canon romances because of the “What if” aspect? That in itself makes it forever unrequited. Great topic lovely!
Haha! Oh, Jeann XD
No, I don’t ship them because they are non-canon. My ships just always seem to turn out that way. *sigh*
I’m terrible when it comes to shipping. Like you, I’m also a serial shipper. Since I pretty much live off manga and have read over a hundred different series (totaling to over something-thousand characters), I ship hundreds of characters. I ship both canon and non-canon, although considering that a large majority of my ships (more specifically, OTPs) are male/male ships… but when I think about it, I read a lot of Boy’s Love manga (shounen ai and yaoi genre) so quite a lot of the canon ships are ships that I ship (or should I say, ‘sail with’???)
But I think the worst thing about being a serial shipper is when you get overly attached. It’s embarrassing to admit that I’ve cried over my ships (mostly due to happy scenes – as well as the depressing scenes)…
Manga is a deep abyss of ships, isn’t it? And I always find that the ships that I ship with ferocity are usually boy/boy ones. And when it’s yaoi it’s like YES, FINALLY IT’S CANON.
That’s not embarrassing! It’s a show of commitment :D
OMG I feel you I ALWAYS ship the non-canon ship GAH
It’s so painful, right?
I end up reading fanfics because I’ll never get what I NEED from the actual book. Haha! Huhuhuhu
Fanfics are the saviour of non-canon shippers!
I can totally relate to what you’ve said up there,Chiara!I often end up shipping couples who obviously won’t have a happily ever after.It’s so painful and heartbreaking.I’ve shipped Alina with the Darkling,Damon wtih Bonnie,Draco Malfoy with Hermione and so on.
It’s so agonizing knowing that they won’t end up together,and realizing that there’s not actually a lot of people who feel the same way as I do.
I definitely understand shipping Alina and the Darkling! They had such amazing chemistry, and I would have LOVED to see them together *wistful sigh*
I love finding people who feel the same way about my ships, as it helps ease the pain of knowing they’ll never get together :(
Haha, yes the pain is real! Although when it comes to non-canon ships, (applause for Wikipedia) I usually ship them in tv shows more than books, my biggest from a series though HAS to be Alina and The Darkling from the grisha trilogy, and it will never happen *sobs*
– And is it weird that I seriously shipped Mergana before she turned evil?
Oh yes, my non-canons are definitely more prominent in TV shows! There are SO MANY that I have *sigh* Oh, yes. Alina + the Darkling is one of my biggest bookish non-canon ships, too. They had such chemistry!
No, it’s not weird at all! Quite a lot of people shipped Mergana. I think they would have been cute together, too. Y’know, if Merthur wasn’t my OTP ;D
I have this thing where I have one OTP for each book universe like for example, The Vampire Academy universe it’s Sydrian and no one else XD
I do a lot of shipping on Korean dramas though and it’s painful to ship a second lead couple because they never get the same screen time. Ugh, the pain!!! I guess I get what you mean by shipping non-canon couples.
Ah, that’s pretty much how I feel! I might ship other ships, but there’s always one that really takes the cake!
Yeah, it’s painful when a ship doesn’t get enough time, or doesn’t actually happen. PAINFUL.