Ships I Will Defend Forever
Normally my fandom pieces are more nerdy and analytical, but this week I decided to do something different and write about my ‘ships. For those who don’t know, ship comes from the word relationship, and is used to describe a desired pairing between two characters, either in a work or in fanfiction. (See Fanfiction 101 for more info).
These are not just ships I like, these are ones that I love. Some are kinda strange, but I just don’t care. Here are my five ships I will always go to the mat for. It’s going to get pretty hard core fangirl from here on out. You have been warned.
Neville/Hermione in Harry Potter
I know I’m alone in this one, but hear me out. First and foremost, Ron does not deserve Hermione. He never did. Even before the 7th book he’s an immature, self-serving jerk who abandons his friends at any inter-personal bump (Scabbers’ death, Harry getting into the Triwizard tournament, dating Lavender and all that crap in Book 6). And in Book 7, when Ron abandons his friends and hides at his brother’s house, Neville is off leading the resistance at Hogwarts, partially in Harry’s name before he gets Harry into Hogwarts and kills Nagini. Neville is clearly the better person. And Neville has always had a soft spot for Hermione - although this is mostly seen in Book 4 when he joins both SPEW and invites Hermione to the Yule Ball. Neville is a great herbologist and brave while Ron is mediocre at everything, including friendship. Hands down, much better pairing. And I will never, ever budge from that. (The movie pairing of Neville/Luna is acceptable, but it’s my second choice).
Kathryn Janeway/Chakotay in Star Trek Voyager
Of of first couples I can ever remember shipping (all of my earliest ships were Star Trek Voyager). They were built up to be a couple. He was so clearly in love with her - it’s even acknowledged in canon. And it just fizzled out for no reason. Ok, I know the actress who played Janeway wanted her character to stay single, but I still disagree with that choice. Janeway had plenty of love interests throughout the series so this pairing wouldn’t have changed much. And having Chakotay end up with Seven of Nine at the end just adds insult to injury. Seven should have been with Harry Kim. Awesome and under-appreciated Harry Kim. Not that I still have strong feelings about this or anything...
Sam and Captain America from MCU
Sam is the criminally under-appreciated should-be boyfriend of Captain America. They are cute, and friends first and Sam both helps Steve through his re-entry into modern-day society, and then gives up everything to help and fight alongside him. It’s so clear that Sam does it all for Steve, as a person, not as a symbol or a cause. And Steve just takes it for granted because he’s too in love with Bucky to see what’s in front of him. Which fine, I get, but that doesn’t mean that Steve shouldn’t learn to appreciate the boyfriend he has, rather than pine over the one he lost. And while I love Stucky fan fiction as much as the next person, at the end of the day, Steve really needs to wake up and realize the gem he has in Sam.
Jessica Jones/Matt Murdock from Netflix Marvel
Oh my do I love this couple. When I saw The Defenders last fall, honestly, I just wanted Jessica and Luke Cage to get back together - I loved their interactions. But reading Jessica Jones/Luke Cage fan fiction led me to Jessica/Matt fan fiction. The pairing is called either DareJones or, my favorite, Mess, which says everything you need to know about these two. They are also sometimes tagged as “salt mates.” I love the two figuring themselves out and dealing with their issues via booze and snark and being softies. Also, one of my all-time fan fictions is of the two of them. So this one is 90% in my head and really has only a vague relationship to canon, but I don’t care. #TeamMess.
Remus Lupin/Sirius Black from Harry Potter
This one is extremely common, and I first encountered it in college when I discovered that my deep love of shipping and various series came with a whole subculture called fandom and things I’d just been doing in my head for years actually had names! So it has a special place in my heart. I loved it then and I love it now. And I firmly think that it doesn’t contradict canon because Lupin doesn’t get with Tonks until a year after Sirius’ death. He could easily have been in love with Sirius before then, and fell in love with Tonks after Sirius died. And for me it all started with Stealing Harry, which, despite being written pre-Book 6 is still excellent.
