No Takebacks

I'm not sure if this is a true 'recovery ship' since it's not canon and doesn't ever look likely to be, but Sif and Loki in AO3 fanfic are spectacular - super-angsty, almost equally gender-convention-bending, EPIC and just plain hot.

(ok, that is my Tom Hiddleston problem talking but look at them!)

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lyrela.livejournal.com

You've said my thoughts exactly! Yesss...Loki and Sif make as gorgeous a couple as Kara and Lee. And those stories and tropes on AO3 are amazing!

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if they were canon, I'd be so much warier, but they are not so I can just read everything there is and be completely swept away.

(that said, I would like a few more looks like the one in the gif to be exchanged between them in Thor 2. Hiddleston and Jaimie Alexander look ridiculously good together, even when he appears to be checking out her rack)

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They do look really good together. We better get some freaking Looks. And shared space.

Exchanged words are also good.

And if they suddenly need to have an angsty makeout session, I guess we'll deal.

**shrugs**

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An angsty makeout session is my dream scenario for those two too (too bad it can't be hatesex since Marvel has to keep that stuff PG-13) but I will take what I can get, and let fanfic fill in the rest.

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Duuuude... I feel like you're calling me out. ;P

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ahaha, well, between you and Bee, you really did get me thinking about the possibility of recovery ships at all, even if nothing will ever really match pilots, for me :)

(and I blame Bee for making me see Loki/Sif in that light in the first place, only they'll never happen so canon can't break my heart on that score and i can stay in ficland for good).

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I'm to blame for Loki/Sif too???

What's next? Clint Eastwood's RNC speech? Slap bracelets? Milli Vanilli?

**cue mock outrage**

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Well, one of those things is not like the others (clue: the one with Tom Hiddleston)! And they were a lovely hot summer distraction, I cannot lie about that.

(I really can't get enough of the fic about them. This is the second time in my life I've been brought on board a ship purely by fanon, but it's so so good)

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*snort*

Althoooooooo... I feel like there's a joke in there somewhere about the insanity of shippers and the insanity of Clint Eastwood's RNC speech and how maybe you could be responsible for it after all.... Oh well. This is why I'm not a standup comedian. ;p

Edited Date: 2012-09-14 05:22 am (UTC)

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Ha! And you do know that nothing's ever going to match pilots for me either, right? Inasmuch as no other ship, or pairing, or, frankly, anything, is ever going to affect me as much as pilots, nor get me to a point where I am ok with what happened to pilots.

There is nothing, no amount of canon, or fic, or AU, or new ship - NOTHING - that is going to get me to a place where I can watch Daybreak (or UBEX for that matter) and go, "Oh, ok. Sure."

Never going to happen.

But given I thought I'd never be able to ship anything ever again post-pilots, that RDM had broken the shipper in me for good.... well, it was nice to find that wasn't the case.

Does Assassins make me ok with what happened to pilots? Pft. Not even close.

I guess Assassins aren't about 'fixing' pilots for me, but about mending my own poor little pilotshipper heart. About giving me something less painful with which to try and claw my way back to being a less angry and distraught fangirl/person. To (because I haven't been melodramatic enough already :s) allow me to process what happened, and move on to the acceptance and healing part of the stages of grieving. Maybe less of a 'recovery ship' after all, more a 'safe haven'? :)

Does that make any sense?

ETA: Oh and seriously? I'm gonna have to hit you up for Downton debriefing once that all kicks off again too... I'm simultaneously ridiculously excited and terrified at what they're going to do to them and I have noone else to talk to about it! :D

Edited Date: 2012-09-14 05:28 am (UTC)

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There is nothing, no amount of canon, or fic, or AU, or new ship - NOTHING - that is going to get me to a place where I can watch Daybreak (or UBEX for that matter) and go, "Oh, ok. Sure."

**sigh** I think that's the pilots curse, really - we can't STOP having these feelings about them. But I wouldn't stop, even if there was actually something that could do it.

(and aaaaagh Downton Abbey! I have my fingers crossed on that one, we must discuss come next week!)

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I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.

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No, nothing seems familiar in what she's saying. Nothing at all.

btw, great icon. and ohhh, so true.

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That icon was foisted upon me by some lost soul who thought I was to blame for the myriad of assassins problems we see on LJ. I use it every once in a while to humor her. ;P

Edited Date: 2012-09-13 03:15 pm (UTC)

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I was to blame for the myriad of assassins problems we see on LJ

hehehe. What in the world would make somebody believe that?

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IDK, recovery ship? Hmmm, not really. I mean, I said this before - I tend to like at least one couple more than others in almost any series that I watch. YES, even in procedurals - color me crazy. But really shipping? Not so much.

Well, Trip/T'Pol in ST:Enterprise was ok for a while - they made me smile but in the end their ending was almost as bad as for the pilots - if not worse so.... no recovery there. And at least half of the time my couples end up by making me sad or angry or something because they make such a big deal out of normal stuff and... (yes, Andy and Sam I am looking at you).

And then, idk - I had my hopes for a while with Longmire but no joy there, not at all. But before, getting to the unavoidable Avengers part - I have hopes for Copper. The guy is cute and strange and troubled - all of the good things and Elizabeth is so cool that I can;t even express it.

So, Avengers - I will not mention who is to blame for that because in some manner half of my flist is. But there is one person.... who will remain unnamed for now.... who is majorly responsible for it. The sad part with it is that I don't have time to ship properly so :((((( But, I can read and think and stuff - like IDK, have strange dreams....

I'll stop here because you asked a simple question and I said like 5000 different things.

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So, Avengers - I will not mention who is to blame for that because in some manner half of my flist is. But there is one person.... who will remain unnamed for now.... who is majorly responsible for it.

**nods**

I know, I know. It's a shame

im_ridiculous had to drag us down with her.

thrace_adama and

aurora_0811 also deserve honorable mentions. I don't know how we got caught up in this madness. No idea at all.

Edited Date: 2012-09-13 03:12 pm (UTC)

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I don't know how we got caught up in this madness.

what makes is even stranger in my case is that I managed to avoid the whole Iron Man/Hulk/Thor thing for years. I just refused to go to cinema and watch the movies. And then this summer happened when instead of idk, plotting for my next paper I watched all the movies (including the whole Bourne series because... you know *sigh*), read fics and all of that.

p.s. you are using all these icons just to make me crazy... come on, admit it :)

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Torture you?

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With icons?

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Why would I do that?

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Because you knew that I needed a good laugh and all the possible distractions before going back to work. THANK YOU!

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LOL. Something like that. ;)

Here-- have one for the road (it's the most life-ruining one I've got. *g*)

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Yeah... because I have allllllll kinds of brain-ruining clout around these here parts, and you are a total nobody.

Pft. Embrace the enablement, Patient Zero. Embrace. :p

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But really shipping? Not so much.

Yeah, I have trouble getting to the level of obsession that I call shipping too, mostly it's just 'ok, these people are cute, but I will forget about them five minutes later'.

And very few of my other ships have satisfactory endings either (Jamie had to go and get shot on LOUK, hmph), though I have my fingers crossed when it comes to Downton Abbey - pilots-reminiscent people always seem to have a VERY rough time with love connections!

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Jamie had to go and get shot on LOUK

You had to come and remind me of that! I mean, L&O is L&O and I'll watch it till I die (or it will end eventually) but Mattie :((((((((((((

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I'm sorry bb :(

In my head LOUK ended with the episode before Deal, and Matt did hook up with Alesha at some future point (denial, I am good at it!)

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ok, these people are cute, but I will forget about them five minutes later'.

oh yeah, exactly my feelings.

(deleted comment)

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I don't think there's really a recovery ship for me, either - even Sif/Loki, much as I love the idea, is a distraction more than anything else. There's no getting over pilots :(

From: (Anonymous)

Are there any fictional couples who make you feel better about it all?.... Nopes, not really....seeing as my other couples didn't work out either except for John and Aeryn from Farscape. Lorenzo & Rita from Silk Stalkings were the first ones to break my heart (yeah my guilty pleasure)Then came Sonny and Alexis from General Hospital (not even gonna get into that) Mark & Addison from Grey's Anatomy (soooo much potential!) John & Aeryn well that was a roller coaster. And finally there was Pilots....

Is recovering from pilots even possible?....That remains to be seen in my case, but it's looking very bleak!

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Is recovering from pilots even possible?..

I'm not optimistic about it myself, but I can be briefly distracted. Of course, the moment I return to pilots themselves, the pain just comes right back and the only thing that even begins to help is fic and meta. Not even other couples like them (few and far between as those are) :/

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There is no getting over pilots. Yep, I said it.

They were a lot of firsts for me: first to feel that intensely about, first to discover fandom (what internets? and people on them? and fic? and meta? and squee? and cool-ass fangirls---WAT?), first to obsess about, first to make me read all the things, first to break my heart.

And you can't really replicate that. To be honest, I wouldn't want to. But it doesn't mean you can't love other stuff. And I'm not gonna lie, having a new shiny ship still full of possibility and not already dashed on the rocks of Questionable Writing Choices or WTFery or Poofs, Pigeons & How We Need Moar Dancing Robots in Our Lives or Beware that Roomba!...

...it's a nice feeling.

Ships and shows and things like that run in cycles. I think for me I've finally worked through all the stages of grief when it comes to pilots and so I can let go of the emotional connection a little bit (and again, this is good b/c for me that emotional connection was also frought with the urge to smash my head against my keyboard or set my DVD's on fire. So in this instance closure can be good).

But I still love those kids. Always will. I mean, how can you not?

Edited Date: 2012-09-13 03:31 pm (UTC)

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I totally agree with what you say here. Even if, some of my firsts were somewhere else and... let's just say that they were in another language (not my own either). But you are so right about those stages.

I will add just that some of them were easier to go through with company.

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There is no getting over pilots.

That's how I feel too. They caught me unawares at a time when , despite over a decade of fandom involvement, I'd never really got shipping, and there is nothing that will quite match them - they were my first. I guess 'recovery' was really the wrong word to use here because I can't yet think of watching their more wrenching episodes without a bottle of something in my hand (Ana got to see that on the rewatch last week). And frankly, I don't think there will ever be anyone like them for me again, not just because of the first times but also because characters like these are just that rare.

But it's good to know that we're still capable of loving other stuff, even if it doesn't help me feel better about what was done to pilots - it's a nice feeling to be able to enjoy other couples for themselves and have some squee again, even if they don't turn me into a mess of sobbing and never will.

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kl-shipper1.livejournal.com

Can I just quote everything you just said here and use it for my own answer? Because I totally agree on all of it.

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Fourths this whole comment. Yes.

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delle.livejournal.com

serious answer:

I have been active in fandom for 14 years. Pilots were - and are - another in a string of shipping obsessions for me.

I started with Michael/Nikita in La Femme Nikita.
Then Aragorn/Eowyn in Lord of the Rings
Elizabeth/Will from Pirates of the Caribbean
Then Pilots
Now Clint/Natasha from Avengers

do you see a pattern? I sure as hell do. I get hung on on pairings that never, ever end well* (and yeah, I'd read the books before the movies so I *knew* Aragorn/Eowyn wasn't going to work out, but my god those actors have chemistry so I fell head-over-heels anyway)

Can y'all trust me when I say that if you continue to be fannish, you WILL find another pairing that pings for you? But it may take a few years. I have dry spells. I do love the feeling of being fannishly obsessed.

*and if Clint/Natasha turns out badly in Avengers 2 I will lock myself in my room and cry. I can manage bro-mance rather than romantic. Just don't kill him, Joss!

(eta a pairing I forgot!)

Edited Date: 2012-09-13 06:29 pm (UTC)

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I've been active in fandom about that long too, and I don't know what kind of abnormality prevented me from really getting shippers until pilots happened to me.

I thought I could take the potential heartbreak because I was used to couples getting sad endings in all the manga I'd read as a teenager/all of Joss Whedon's shows, but NOPE, pilots were the shipper bitchslap from hell. You're right about the fact that other people have 'pinged' for me to various degrees afterwards, but never quite like pilots did (and I don't think I'll get quite this invested again).

And I feel you on Aragorn and Eowyn, she was such a badass but damn canon - actor chemistry is also what made me ship Loki/Sif, lol. Also, as far as Clint/Natasha goes, I think they should be safe for a while yet, such are the benefits of three-film franchises! (and she has to be part of Captain America 2 as well, I suspect there will be some Bucky/Winter Soldier angst to deal with, and I cannot wait)

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ninety6tears.livejournal.com

Strangely, I didn't need to move on (not that there's ever any real moving on from pilots, hehe) to another pairing that has a happier ending in my shipper woes as much as I needed one that's just...at least written well and handled consistently. I am to this day not quite as pissed off about the series finale as most but I still needed to move on to something where the creator(s) seemed to at least care as much as I did? Of course it's also fun to get into ships that you know right off the bat probably won't ever be canon, so you don't have to go through all the bogus of getting your hopes up :/ I'm not resistant to the central/canon ships by any means, at least not on purpose, I just seem naturally drawn to the doomed ones, dammit.

(And LOL, adding my icon to the sea of Avengers shipping going on here - though I don't think I will ever have a Marvel OTP because it's such a massive orgy of shippability IMO.)

Edited Date: 2012-09-13 07:23 pm (UTC)

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I think that's a good place to be, to be honest - I myself don't want to move on from pilots (even assuming that it is possible) but ever since them, I guess I've just been searching for ships that are as intense and all-consuming and multilayered onscreen, and so far, nothing's really come up to scratch. In the meantime, it's nice to distract myself sometimes with what could be, but pilots as a shipping experience are something I never want to forget or really leave behind (and literally the only part of Daybreak I have a problem with, pilots-wise, is the poof).

And oh goodness, there is so much shipping potential with Marvel - but of course I have to go for the one couple that was probably never even intended to be shippy, only because of the actors lol.

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cosetteferaud.livejournal.com

First, I really feel I should get a Clint/Natasha icon ASAP… Not that I ship, them but they are soooo pretty together! (btw, the reason I don’t ship them despite being totally my thing is that it’s really difficult for me to get into pairings without enough canon to latch onto. Same goes to most non-canonical pairings, obviously. Yeah, sad but true :/).

As for the question… Of course you can find new things to love and enjoy, but I have to say that pilots kind of ruined shipping for me. I feel drawn to fictional relationships (particularly romantic relationships) all the time, but I don’t think I have ever felt so strongly about any other couple. And I am not sure if I ever will (or if I really want to). That being said, it’s taken a while but I think I’ve gotten to a point where I’ve kind of moved on from Lee and Kara, in the sense that I’ve made my peace with RDM, the pigeon and the poof and I’ve found closure. But pilots will always be it for me.

As for my post-pilots “ships”… It has been a tradegy of sorts, lol. Thanks god that they were mostly a distraction, because I am still trying to deal with what the Fringe writers did to Red!Lincoln and Red!Olivia. UGH. IT WAS SO LAZY AND SO TERRIBLE! I CAN’T EVEN. I was so angry I think I am done with the show and possibly won’t watch the last season. Sigh. And the same goes for Kalinda and Cary from The Good Wife. I loved what they did with them in S2, and then they promised things for S3 and yes, they had an awesome scene and then… nothing! It was so weird and I feel cheated, honestly. I just hope they don’t drop the ship completely because they have so much potential. We'll see. Anyway, to be completely honest, the only ship I’ve really shipped after pilots is Cassie/Rob from Tana French’s novels. It’s kind of weird, but I probably love them as much as I love Lee and Kara, though I am less obsessed with them, which is actually a relief (And no, these two definitely don’t work as a “recovery ship” because, um, well, that ending is depressing as hell. What can I say? I guess I am a masochist).

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