Shipping Meme: Day 16 & 17
Day 16: Favorite villain pairing
Where both parties are villains? Spike/Drusilla from season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They're a sort of vampire Bonnie & Clyde, rolling into a town and bringing it to its knees, yet at the same time, Spike can be sweet and tender with the obviously off-kilter Dru. I didn't read a lot of Buffy novels, but by far the best one I did read was one centering on Spike & Dru, Pretty Maids All In A Row. Not high literature by any standards, but a damn entertaining read, and, as one of the reviews said, a "testament" to the strength of the characters in that they were able to lead a novel without need of any of the major BtVS protagonists. I don't remember missing any of the other BtVS mains at all. Honestly, I actually kind of preferred Spike with Dru than with Buffy, though I don't particularly mind the latter.
In Harry Potter, Bellatrix's obvious crush on Voldemort is entertaining, too, but I don't "ship" them per se - Voldemort doesn't have room for anyone but himself.
In terms of fanon: thanks to ladyhadhafang for mentioning Dark Padmé/Vader. She doesn't pop up much in fanfiction, but dark Padmé/Amidala was a blast to write (or in my case co-write, with the wonderful fernwithy and ami-padme on "By the Grace of Lady Vader"). While I don't have any use for dark Padmé in canon - where she and Luke are meant to be the avatars of good and hope - in fanon she's utterly fascinating to explore, in seeing how a character associated with such goodness can fall from grace, and how utterly terrifying the result can be. And she and Vader, as former royalty/Senatorial and Dark Lord of the Sith, would be the ultimate galactic power couple.
Day 17: Ship you talk(ed) about with people in real life
Does at fandom-related conventions count? If so, Anakin/Padmé at various Star Wars Celebrations, where I met up with fellow posters from TheForce.Net forums' Anakin & Padmé Defenders discussion thread. Wonderful, wonderful times. :) In a more "official" capacity, at the one Harry Potter con I attended, Portus 2008, I was part of a Harry/Hermione panel with zorb, quidditchgrrl, abigail89, and genealogygirl. It wasn't a ship debate, but more of a "state of the ship" history and analysis of Harry/Hermione fandom after the release of Deathly Hallows. Being something of a n00b to public speaking I stumbled a little bit, but not too badly, and overall had a blast. We got a lot of positive feedback, too, both immediately after the panel and from people recognizing us later on and walking up to us. Enough so that I wouldn't mind taking part in another panel at any future con, be it Potter or SW.
Where both parties are villains? Spike/Drusilla from season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They're a sort of vampire Bonnie & Clyde, rolling into a town and bringing it to its knees, yet at the same time, Spike can be sweet and tender with the obviously off-kilter Dru. I didn't read a lot of Buffy novels, but by far the best one I did read was one centering on Spike & Dru, Pretty Maids All In A Row. Not high literature by any standards, but a damn entertaining read, and, as one of the reviews said, a "testament" to the strength of the characters in that they were able to lead a novel without need of any of the major BtVS protagonists. I don't remember missing any of the other BtVS mains at all. Honestly, I actually kind of preferred Spike with Dru than with Buffy, though I don't particularly mind the latter.
In Harry Potter, Bellatrix's obvious crush on Voldemort is entertaining, too, but I don't "ship" them per se - Voldemort doesn't have room for anyone but himself.
In terms of fanon: thanks to ladyhadhafang for mentioning Dark Padmé/Vader. She doesn't pop up much in fanfiction, but dark Padmé/Amidala was a blast to write (or in my case co-write, with the wonderful fernwithy and ami-padme on "By the Grace of Lady Vader"). While I don't have any use for dark Padmé in canon - where she and Luke are meant to be the avatars of good and hope - in fanon she's utterly fascinating to explore, in seeing how a character associated with such goodness can fall from grace, and how utterly terrifying the result can be. And she and Vader, as former royalty/Senatorial and Dark Lord of the Sith, would be the ultimate galactic power couple.
Day 17: Ship you talk(ed) about with people in real life
Does at fandom-related conventions count? If so, Anakin/Padmé at various Star Wars Celebrations, where I met up with fellow posters from TheForce.Net forums' Anakin & Padmé Defenders discussion thread. Wonderful, wonderful times. :) In a more "official" capacity, at the one Harry Potter con I attended, Portus 2008, I was part of a Harry/Hermione panel with zorb, quidditchgrrl, abigail89, and genealogygirl. It wasn't a ship debate, but more of a "state of the ship" history and analysis of Harry/Hermione fandom after the release of Deathly Hallows. Being something of a n00b to public speaking I stumbled a little bit, but not too badly, and overall had a blast. We got a lot of positive feedback, too, both immediately after the panel and from people recognizing us later on and walking up to us. Enough so that I wouldn't mind taking part in another panel at any future con, be it Potter or SW.