DPP: The Recovery Ships (or shipping, post-pilots)

[winegums.livejournal.com]

In my entire life in fandom, there is no fictional couple that captured my heart as entirely as pilots did, and absolutely none that came even close to the kind of ruin and devastation they inflicted.



Post-Daybreak, I've been reluctant to ship, but earlier this year, after some fellow pilotshippers reported that a certain pair from the Avengers did function as a 'recovery ship' of sorts thanks to some similarities to pilots combined with the lack of epic pilots-scale heartbreak, I got curious.

So what I want to know today is, is recovering from pilots even possible? What has post-pilots shipping been like for you? And are there any fictional couples who make you feel better about it all, for even a little bit (using reasoning along the 'at least someone can be happy' lines) ? 

Or is it all just a load of ship? 

Comments

[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).

[winegums.livejournal.com]

I completely understand what you mean about needing canon to latch on to, bb - I'm a complete canon whore and can't ignore it, with maybe one or two exceptions :/

And pilots were the OTP for so many of us, I'm with you in feeling that it'll be hard to recapture the magic with another couple (even the pilots-reminiscent couples, like Rob and Cassie, seem to suffer inordinately - that ending left me so gutted, I doubt even fanfic could make things feel even temporarily better :(

tv-wise, the closest I've found to pilots is, weirdly, on Downton Abbey though of course they are very different characters, and things are executed a bit differently there, couple-wise. And I do like Kalinda and Cary, though more in an 'interested observer' way than in 'oh goodness please get together already', I love her as a character.