We all love a good ship!

For those of you who don’t know, shipping is supporting the relationship (either real or imagined) between two characters. Or, as Wikipedia puts it:

Fans' emotional and/or intellectual involvement with the ongoing development of romance in a work of fiction.

I first came across this term in about 2004/2005, in the middle of the shipping wars on hpana.com. Ah, the good old days. Back then, there was intense rivalry between two main ships… The H/Hr’s (Harry/Hermione) and the R/Hr’s (Ron/Hermione). This was before Half Blood Prince had come out, and no one had concrete evidence for either ship. But boy, was it fun to debate!

People take their shipping very seriously, almost offended if someone disses their ship, and I must admit to feeling this way sometimes, depending on the ship. I tend to find myself as more of a canon shipper, who follows the path laid out before them. There are, occasional ships, however, that I do not agree the writers got right. So below you will find my top ten ships, and the reasons why I ship them, and whether I feel, their storyline was done justice.

Number Ten:

Loreli/Luke (Gilmore Girls)

The grumpy loner and the independent single mother. Not exactly a match made in heaven. I don’t remember when exactly I started loving Luke and Lor, but I do know that I never liked her with Max or Jason/Digger, and although Chris is a close second, Luke is her soulmate. Luke is always there for Loreli, even when they are just friends. I must admit, I expected a bit more chemistry between the two when they finally got together, but seeing this gruff, quite guy do such sweet, loving things for Loreli, always won me over. And I really felt for Lor during that karaoke scene!

Number Nine:

Scarlett/Rhett (Gone with the Wind)

Rhett always loved Scarlett… even when she loved someone else. And that, for me, was the cincher. Scarlett may have been spoiled, selfish and money hungry, but she was unique, and Rhett saw it. Written from any other characters point of view, Scarlett would have been a hateable character (and still often at time was!), and indeed, most of the characters did hate her. Except Rhett, and Melly. It truly is the story of love come too late. Now, obviously, I’m not going to criticise the long deceased Miss Mitchell, because although this ship didn’t end up together, it is still one of the most memorable and best written ending of any book (sue me, I’m biased). I mean, really… would GWTW be as popular as it is, if instead of “My dear, I don’t give a damn.” Rhett had said, “Okay Scarlett, you get everything you want. I’ll forgive you and ride off with you into the sunset.” No. But it did leave us wondering what tomorrow, another day, would bring.

Number Eight:

Emma/Sean (Degrassi, the Next Generation)

One of the most debated Degrassi ships… Fans either love them, or hate them. Both with a passion. I fall into the first category. After all, who doesn’t love seeing a mysterious bad boy, falling for the good girl? Many DTNG fans seem to think the main issue with this ship is Emma. That she is domineering, overbearing, and annoying. And whilst Emma does have her, um, issues, I have loved this couple from the time Emma asks Sean to dance, so he won’t get into trouble. And who can forget the panther performance scene? Or the period scene? All classic Eman moments. Although this series hasn’t ended, so I can’t officially comment on what went wrong, my heart did break in season six. However, I haven’t seen season seven or eight, so my fingers are still crossed.

Number Seven:

Nathan/Haley (One Tree Hill)

Or, as they are commonly recognised as, Naley. This is such a great name for these two, because yes, although it is common practice to mesh couple names together these days, Nathan and Haley truly are almost like one person. Who would have guessed, in the first few episodes, or even the first season as a whole, that these two would have come so far together? One thing I will always love the OTH writers for, is the fact that they managed to keep Naley interesting without any cheating or break ups (mind you, I haven’t seen season six!), and that these two have always, truly, loved each other. And their love has created so much happiness for them both, and their friends.

Number Six:

Brooke/Lucas (One Tree Hill)

Another contentious ship. I think the world is divided into two main ideologies: not Christianity and Islam, but Brucas and Leyton. Seriously, all the worlds differences stem from these two ships. But instead of making this about why Peyton and Lucas are wrong for each other (maybe another time), I will state why Brooke and Lucas are right for each other. The way I see it, Lucas had the choice between Peyton and Brooke many times. The first time, although he wanted Peyton, he chose Brooke. Then, when he had no one, he chose Brooke. He still wanted Brooke, all through the series, right up until she didn’t want him. And then he turned (eventually) to Peyton. I’m sure no one will debate the fact that Brooke and Lucas had chemistry, mainly, I’m sure, because of Chad and Sophia. But they also connected emotionally. And while they may not have had as much in common as Luc and Peyton, I still feel like they had a deeper love. Who knows, if Chad had never cheated on Sophia, the two (Brooke and Luc) might still be together (again, I have only seen up to and including season five).

This post is getting mighty long, so I might break into two. Next time: my top 5 ships.