Subject: Also...
Author:
Posted on: 2013-04-16 23:00:00 UTC
Jessie/James, aka Team Rocket from Pokémon. That one never made it out of Japan. Even kid me could see it. (Yes, these were the first characters I ever shipped, because they just went so well together.)
Ever watched a show, and for all it's wonderful/terrible hilariousness, you still unironically adore it. Except for just that one little teensy ship.
Maybe it's the ship that is never actually confirmed in canon:
Dean/Castiel of Supernatural,
Ryan/Chad of Highschool musical (Don't you care judge me that series is glorious in every facet except the main plot, plot points and characters.)
Spock/Kirk
Or is invalidated by other pesky canon ships:
Luna/Neville of Harry Potter,
Zuko/Katara of A:tla,
Or my personal favourite ship, the very one that launched this post:
Deanna Troi/ Worf
So here is my question posed to y'all:
What is your favourite Non-canon ship? Be it waved in your face but not quite canon (though it's clear everyone involved shipped it like fedex), or a ship shot down with superior firepower, which ship makes you sad to remember didn't happen?
Additionally, what canon ships completely bewilder you? (Though they don't need to be directly moored to your almost canon ship)
Hi! I'm new here (this is my first post actually), but I've been wandering around the wiki and the mission reports and the OFUs for the past weeks, so I'm sort of familiar with it all.
About ships, do crossovers count? Because, though I'm not a shippy person in general, I'm very fond of Susan Pevensie/Maglor post-LB for some reason.
Have some Bleep'n'ms and an Unspecified Plushie (turns into your favorite character)!
Crossovers - I also mostly like crack pairings for those (Orochimaru/Voldemort springs to mind :D).
But wait... Susan/Maglor??? How in the... I don't even... You're telling me this works? How? Bonding over their families being dead? That doesn't seem like a good start for a relationship... No, I'm not (intentionally) bashing the ship, it just baffles me. Examples, please?
Yay, plushie! *hugs plushie* And bleep'n'ms as well!
As for Susan/Maglor, I don't even know. It is rather crazy indeed, but I like to think of them have something else in common, for example music or languages. Also, they both probably -maybe- felt am certain amount of guilt, sooo...
Well, maybe it's just the fact that I like the idea of him teaching her Quenya.
Typically, new people start their own thread to introduce themselves, but it's okay. I can link to the wiki on any post. That's also the page for the Board Constitution, in case you haven't read it already, and the Wikia site as a whole contains most of the links to the PPC missions, which you should read, because they're awesome.
Also, a newbie gift! Here's a translocator to move all of the gifts you get here to a new thread, if you choose to start one! If not, the ability to teleport short distances never goes amiss.
Oh, and to answer your original question, I'd say crossovers always count, but I habitually ship only the wackiest pairings, so I may be untrustworthy on that front.
I shall start a new thread, then; I just wasn't sure what exactly I was supposed to do. And thanks! I've actually been wandering around the wiki for the past few weeks, and the OFUs the week before that-- it just took me awhile to get up my courage and actually post on here. Thank fates for spring break!
Oooh, shiny! *teleports wildly around room*
I see...
Plenty of people lurk around the wiki or Board for a while before their first post. It took me a few months before I got my first post in.
If you've been reading the OFUs, do you know how many of them, other than the Middle-Earth and Hogwarts ones, are actually finished? I've been meaning to read some, but most of the ones I liked (OFUR cough cough)stop just as they're getting good, or even before that.
Sorry. It's very annoying to me, too. And OFUR! I liked OFUR very much!
Also, I posted my introductory thread thingie.
Okay, that's a lie. I ship basically everything, but here's a few:
Stark/Rodgers. Yeah, yeah. I know the Cap and Iron Man have been shipped from here to the moon by now, largely thanks to the movie, but still. When even the comics seem to ship them, to the point that Tony and Steve have been married several times in alternate universes, I just have to go with it.
Stark/Banner: Science Bros. This one is entirely thanks to the movie. Nothing romantic or sexual here, pure pale quadrant.
Victor Mancha/Chase Stein: Another Brotp. The son of Ultron, and the jock son of a pair of evil scientists, from the Runaways comic. They're both awesome, and they're awesome together.
Joker
(Also, Homestuck ships. All the Homestuck ships. All of them.)
When reading fics, I usually don't care that much about the pairing, as long as it's delivered plausibly and the plot's good. I detest Harry/Hermione, but only because I have yet to see it happen without Weasley-bashing and/or Super!Harry.
However, there are some ships I really like, either because I really wanted to see them in canon or because it somehow works and just never occured to me.
Harry Potter: Neville/Luna and Hagrid/Maxime. I was really disappointed these didn't happen... Also, I like Bellatrix/Voldemort for some odd reason.
Angel Sanctuary: Rosiel/Katan. Definitely. Also Uriel/Doll and Layla/Nidvhegg (whatever his actual name is... oh, and that's how he's spelled in my edition). Kurai/Michael also works for me.
The Silmarillion: Maedhros/Fingon *ducks* Seriously, they're cute together! Actually, I like reading fics where they're just friends just as much, so, ummm...
Everyone ships it. But it's not canon. And there's a lot of hate to Moffat because he hasn't made it canon, ranging anywhere from the immature "need my John/Sherlock yaoi" to the contentious "Moffat is queerbaiting everyone we need text, not subtext".
*gags*
Seems to me that it would be less controversial - at least among the fanbase - to make it canon.
... because that's not what they want to do with the story?
Seriously, saying that two male leads who share a house "just have to!" get together is exactly as wrong as saying it about a male and female character.
Now, the key difference is that it's incredibly common for the latter to happen (as evinced by the fact that I... can't actually think of an example where it doesn't?), while the former is pretty rare and usually a blatant political statement rather than just something that happens in the way of telling a good story. Given the way Sherlock has been so far about homosexuality (Kaitlyn keeps saying 'normalising', which I can only assume is a good thing), it doesn't need to make the blunt-instrument-political-statement move. Which means it can be reserved for 'if it serves the interests of the story' - which it... kind of doesn't. It would reduce the potential of Molly's character, for one trivial example, and wouldn't add anything to the mystery-drama part.
Oh, And One More Thing (TM)...
...the contentious "Moffat is queerbaiting everyone we need text, not subtext".
Gosh, Lily, Moffat? Teasing people rather than saying things outright? I think my heart just stopped. ;P
hS
If Moffat can marry Vastra and Jenny, he logically shouldn't be overly averse to Sherlock and John since technically they are the same characters.
Since we know he's not opposed to doing it on principle, and since we know he's not all that fussed about 'controversial', the only deciding factor should be whether it makes the story better.
hS
Some people have the same issues with Dumbledore, that he was outed offscreen and such. There's very few gay couples that are actually couples on screen, whose... respective parties... don't fulfil some sort of stereotype. People just want to see the authors stating outright that yes, these two men happen to love each other instead of making it a running gag that's just played for laughs and such.
Because really, John and Sherlock do love each other - we'd just like to see something where they actually acknowledge that they can't live without each other, and it doesn't have to be a sex scene or something.
Oh, I can see it serving the interests of the story if they ever adapt "The Three Garridebs". That entire bit about Holmes's reaction to Watson getting hurt shows just how deeply he cares about Watson. There was a really good BBC Sherlock fanfiction about that case.
That's all I'm saying.
I've always seen John and Sherlock as being closer to the heterosexual life partner dynamic than actual romance. I totally understand where one can see a romantic relationship, though. I'm just not feeling it, if that makes any sense.
Maybe it's because I just can't forget that scene in Blind Banker where John finally gets a nice date with a girlfriend and then Sherlock arrives and kills the mood.
As for me, I had always paired Zelda and Link ever since I started playing the games. Imagine my fanboy moment when it was made official in Skyward Sword...
I actually don't care about the John and Sherlock Shipping as long as season three gets here, because it's taking it's sweet time!
That said, for me a lot of the seeing them as bros first is a holdover from the ACD originals. In the original stories, it's clearly stated that Holmes is asexual and while there might be plenty of "romantic friendship" type vibes, it's certainly nice to see at least one asexual character for whom asexuality isn't something that's supposedly part of what's "wrong" with them. (Big Bang Theory, I'm looking at you. One does not need Aspergers or intimacy issues in order to be asexual. [Guys, I accept that Sheldon would be less funny if he had any clue about being human, but given that he's one of the few characters on TV for whom asexuality is even mentioned, it's kind of annoying that the show at times seems to assume that all "normal" people want to have sex. I also realize that there are plenty of things "wrong" with ACD Sherlock Holmes - the use of cocaine and a willingness to lie to Watson whenever it's convenient come to mind - but him being asexual was never portrayed as anything other than the reason he will always be a bachelor and the reason that his interest in Irene was intellectual.])
Oh wow. That's a long one. The Blind Banker was also hilarious, I need to go re-watch that now.
I've always gotten the distinct feeling that Sherlock is basically asexual. If he has any interest in sex, it's related to human behaviors and not the act itself.
On the other hand, John clearly fancies women, and not just in the BBC Sherlock. (Which doesn't mean he doesn't also fancy dudes, but still. Fiancee/Girlfriend is a thing that actually happens for him.)
Still Sherlock/John are definitely one of my top ten Brotp's.
Romantic or not, I do see them as a sort of soulmate pair (hence why soulmate!Sues drive me mad in BBC Sherlock fanfiction). There was that really good analogy where John's a rock and Sherlock's a balloon: without John, Sherlock drifts higher (rather literally, with drugs and stuff) until he's lost contact with the world with his aloofness. Without Sherlock, John sinks farther and farther (his trauma from Afghanistan has led to an eating disorder, which Sherlock fixed in the dinner scene in PINK). But together, they balance each other perfectly.
That can be taken both romantically or not, and I can see it happening romantically (and frankly I feel like it'd do modern TV some good to actually have more than just Kurt and Blaine for fictional gay couple role models).
I definitely see that anchor-balloon metaphor working. John and Sherlock make an awesome power duo.
But before I start listing mine, Troi/Worf? To me, it always fell under the category of, as you put, canon ships that completely bewildered me. (It is canon to me, because they get together in a couple episodes of seventh season) But it does make sense - I've never much liked Riker/Troi, and at least Worf and Troi would raise Alexander together, and I really can't argue with that.
I'm not sure I support it, but...Data/Geordi. They have the this friendship that makes you go awwww, and the inherent shippiness of cosplaying as Holmes and Watson cannot be denied. For me, this emphasized because I love BBC Sherlock's John/Sherlock.
My absolute favorite non canon pairing, though, is Janeway/Chakotay, from Voyager. The balance of their personalities (the reckless captain, the cool-headed first officer) and the clear logic of the command team being the mother and father of their crew makes this pairing completely awesome. Not to mention the chemistry whenever they disagree over a big command decision, that comes simply from the fact that normally they are on each other's side, and it hurts to go against that. They dropped hints, and Kate Mulgrew even confirmed that she supports it, and then...
We get into the canon pairing I find most baffling: Chakotay/Seven. Don't get me wrong, it makes logical sense - the icy ex-Borg and the compassionate human - but with absolutely no buildup? Just slapped together at the end, after seasons upon seasons of Janeway/Chakotay chemistry? What were the scriptwriters thinking?
...I'll stop before I start ranting. Most the time, I support canon pairings, so when I do depart from canon, it's because I really like it.
...yeah, but I'll try to make this pretty short. Let's see.
Jessie and James, of Team Rocket. It's always bothered me that this ship was never officially confirmed, since they're so perfect together AND there's all sorts of little moments in the anime that could be interpreted that way.
Susan/Caspian, of the Narnia movieverse, has always seemed kind of unfitting to me, maybe because the books contradict it as well... I don't know.
In Tamora Pierce, Kel/Neal is my ship, although Neal and Yuki are kind of cute together. Also, the Daine/Numair ship, although I love them, still kind of creeps me out in a way, since she's, what, twenty years younger? Something like that...
Ron/Hermione. WORST SHIPPING FAILURE EVER.
For Watership Down, does anyone other than me see Bigwig/Fiver, or is that a crazy thought?
On a shipping subject, what happened to Minerva, from Artemis Fowl? She was a definite love interest in the fifth book, and then she just... disappeared.
You're in luck! (Sort of)
In one of the manga series, "The Electric Tale of Pikachu" (which is based on the first two seasons of the anime), James eventually admits his love for Jessie, and at the end of the manga, they're married and Jessie is visibly pregnant.
In the second or so movie, in the original version, they make it canon. I'd say that counts, since 4kids keeps being stupid.
If you were, that little Team Rocket baby would have been gestating for at least ten years without anyone ever remarking on it. Plus, it would have been through all of those "blasting-off-again!" instances...
(horrified realization) Oh gods, think what that would have done to it! (shudders) All the prenatal skeletal damage...
Ha! Ha! I also didn't know that Jesse and James weren't canonically dating.
Also, I was surprised by Susan/Caspian in the movie, since it wasn't there in the books, and there just didn't seem to be a need for it (except maybe to show that she's outgrowing all of this?).
... Wait, Jesse and James aren't together? (Honestly, I don't see why the show should object to it, they're both adults so there isn't even an age problem like there is shipping anyone else in that show.)
I figured that Susan/Caspian is a one-way, rather short-lived crush on Susan's side. Since Susan is a practical girl and knew that she had to go home (and she'd been grown up once already,) nothing ever came of it.
I don't actually mind Daine/Numair because even if he did teach her some magic, I didn't ever really see her as ever not being his equal. (Which is why I have some problems with Aly/Nawat, because Nawat's only been human for a very short time and doesn't have a lot of emotional maturity to boot.) Oooh, I also thought Briar and Daja would end up together later, too, but obviously things changed a bit when they grew up.
I predicted Ron/Hermione by second year, based off of the similarities to Taran and Ellonwy from The Chronicles of Prydain. That said, I liked the ship better prior to year five, because there's bickering constantly about nothing and then there's actually trying to get back at people (A line which Hermione crossed with the birds, but there's an essay hiding somewhere about how warped magic in Potterverse appears to make your sense of right and wrong,) but I hated everyone's major decisions in year five.
Watership down... well, kinda. It's been a while since I read that, but I think it comes off a bit more as Bigwig being an overprotective brother-figure.
Gah. I didn't like Minerva. She was not well written as a girl, as a genius, as an antagonist, as a character, or as a love interest. (Actually, I maintain that the series ended after Opal Deception. There isn't a single new character, in my opinion, who was worth it except as pure one-scene comic relief, after the end of OD.) Clearly, Colfer didn't know what to do with her when he wrote her, and though he might have been able to win me over a bit if he'd managed to grow her up (and figure out how to write a female character that isn't Holly, Juliet, or Koboi,) but he didn't. She was basically a bad female imitation of book one Artemis and it showed.
That said, I kinda ship Artemis/Juliet, once they're grown up and all. (Poor Butler might have conniptions, though.) Also, if you try hard enough, you can ship Mulch with almost anyone... (Yeah, sorry to break your brain there.)
You appear to have read many of the same books as me! Have you read The Bartimeus Trilogy?
She was basically a bad female imitation of book one Artemis and it showed.
I kinda liked Minerva because of this. That was, I think, the point of her was to help show how Artemis has grown, we see him see how he was at first, and he does not like it. We also see her grow a little bit the same way as he did by the end of the first couple books. ^_^ She could have been developed as a love interest, or even just a friend, I was a little disappointed she didn't show back up.
Yeah, I get that she was supposed to illustrate Artemis' growth (and that her little brother and how she treats him was supposed to be foreshadowing,) but due to the age and experience difference, I felt like she didn't make a very good foil for him. And aside from emphasizing that she was just like Artemis, and then having to be the rescued damsel, she got absolutely zero characterization. If Colfer had come back to her and actually worked with her, I'd probably have come around, but the fact that he didn't shows that she was never seriously developed as a character, just as an obstacle.
Haven't read it yet, but I want to, as I've been hearing a lot about it.
I know what you mean about Susan/Caspian... I got the same sense out of it. I did ship Briar/Daja for a while (kind of went back and forth between shipping all the Circle of Magic kids with the other ones) and Briar/Tris just because I liked their dynamic.
My main problem with Daine/Numair was the age difference at first, but it's not as much of an issue now. With Aly/Nawat, they've known each other for a while and she's been a part of his life since he became human, so it's not that big of a deal to me.
I knew that Taran and Eilonwy would end up together from the minute she was introduced, and I did get the Ron/Hermione sense after a while, but I tried to ignore it because I didn't really want it to happen...
Just realized that I meant Bigwig/Hazel, not Bigwig/Fiver. With Fiver, I definitely see what you mean about him being a brother figure. But I really disliked the main canon ship for Watership Down, Hazel/Hyzenthlay. Is it just me who found Hyzenthlay a boring and pointless character? Yeah...
I thought Minerva's character idea could have been decent if it was developed differently, but as it is, she's a badly written debatable Canon Sue as far as I'm concerned. And I definitely agree with Artemis/Juliet... it just works, somehow.
But who is Hyzenthlay? (I know she's a lady rabbit, something about the other warren, but overall the first thing I think of when someone says "Watership Down" is "Bigwig is Badass!")
I read Tortall out of order, so I read later books with Daine/Numair first, which is probably why the age difference wasn't as much of an issue for me when it became apparent.
Well, really, Lloyd Alexander doesn't have any other shipping mode: calling boys idiots and then helping them out anyway is kind of par for the course there. (To be fair, a lot of that is probably held over from the Chronicles of Prydain - I think he loved that dynamic too much to let go of it, except during the Vesper Holly adventures, but Vesper was a bit busy, what with her adventures and her languages and her archnemisis and being the only Philadelphian of Brinnie's acquaintance to own a volcano.)
Artemis and Juliet would make a great pair of super spies. :)
There are actually a few canon ships that I just find just plain annoying, and I really would have replaced them with something else. I can't say which one is MORE annoying.
Harry Potter. People know I'm a huge Potter-nut. Ok, more than a Potter nut. Literally, I keep the elder wand in my purse (In my defense, it's a pen) But anyways....
A bit of bickering can mean attraction, I suppose, but in my opinion Ron/Hermione has NO sparky chemistry. Best friends (practically family), tutor-tutored, debate partners, yes to all of these. But LOVERS?? This pairing annoys the heck out of me. I don't see it. I prefer Hermione/HARRY. I mean, come on, those two had WAY more chemistry. Way more spark, and they were a bit more similar in personality. Plus, in a relationship Hermione would always be the smarter one. Ron tends to cut down when that happens, although being in the Golden Trio seems to have calmed down that tendency a bit. I don't know who to pair him with, but ANYONE but Hermione. And Ginny/Harry stories can be cute, but I still think they were better off as good friends. They were still better than Ron/Hermione, though.
I also like Neville/Luna, or even Neville/Ginny can be cute (though I like the first one better as an idea).
Finally, from the Power Rangers fandom (yes, I know). Actually, these people tend to ROYALLY screw up pairings (in my personal opinion). I love the show for some odd reason, have ever since I was a kid, but Tommy/Kat? Kim/SKULL!!??? Kim/Skull should NOT be happening in any universe. He's a complete bully to her towards the beginning. I mean, he gets better towards the end, but COME FREAKING ON!! Friends, I can see. Someone she tells about her being a ranger, maybe. I can even see them keeping contact when she leaves for Pan Globals. But really? And Spike can't be Kimberly's kid. She would kick him in the nuts for being that idiotic about Power Rangers before Samurai even happened.
And while I'm not as upset about Tommy/Kat, Tommy/Kim still had a lot more great chemistry going on. While it may have looked like puppy love, I don't think it was. They were saving the world everyday. They grew up. And some people do find love with their high school sweethearts. Kat is great by herself, but then she takes Tommy away from Kim, so everyone hates her. And the way they made Kim break up with Tommy was completely idiotic, too. The letter? Kim would have called, at least, and probably visited. She and Tommy would have talked for hours about it. They would have set things strait. Kim was no coward. She was the world's first pink ranger, for goodness sakes. And then they would be IN-CHARACTER.
Oh, there are more botched pairings.
There's of course, the famous Kira/Trent, Conner/Krista. WHY? Let me list the reasons: Conner and Kira just had more chemistry and Trent lied to Kira BIG time about his Dad being Mesogog. Kira's crush on Trent was so forced, and Conner and Krista weren't similar enough to make it work. If you're at least not going to get rid of the Kira/Trent (who can have their cute moments, I guess), then pair Conner up with ANYONE else. Because Krista's kind of too up in nature, and Conner, even as a stuck-up jock (and he did a lot of growing being a red ranger) deserved a whole lot more than that. And it was forced.
Trini/Jason wasn't ever confirmed, was it? It should have been, they were cute together. And Dustin/Kelly- everyone thinks it should have been Marah, but I thought Dustin and Kelly were super great together. Kelly's age was never said- I would have placed her to be somewhere in her early twenties, Dustin around eighteen or nineteen- if not in his college years, then very close to it.
Even though they only ever confirmed Ally/Jack in SPD, they didn't really botch much from that season. Almost any combo of the rangers- Syd/Sky, Z/Bridge, or even Sky/Bridge (since apparently they tried to make a season of gay Bridge)or Z/Boom would work, to be quite honest. And Z could have done very well single. I prefer Syd/Sky and Z/Bridge, but any of those could have worked. Kat/Cruger would have been so cute, though. Even though his wife was there. But Kat/Cruger had a better relationship. We saw more of that, though.
And they didn't botch anything in Jungle Fury, I don't think. And in my fave season, RPM, they didn't botch anything, either. So writing got better as it went on. But the first several you were staring at the screen like, "You just did WHAT???"
Sorry, it's not often I get to rant like this :)
May I have a brofist?
I don't know what that means.....can you tell me? I would if I knew what it meant.
I take canon pairings very seriously, because who knows the characters best, the author, or the fans? When I support non canon pairings at the expense of canon ones, it's because the canon pairing wasn't as developed as the uncanon one.
I read somewhere once that fanfiction authors "Hear the story, and instead of passively taking it in, they respond to it in it's own language".
True, J.K Rowling obviously knows her characters pretty well, since she's the author. But I never saw anything in the books that would make me support Ron/Hermione that much.
But your entitled to your own opinion. The pairing just isn't my personal favorite.
I'd say... Well, here's one that at the same time I feel THIS MUST BE CANON THEY ARE PERFECT IN EVERY WAY and also 'this is kinda sketchy I mean seriously'
Reinforce Eins x Yagami Hayate
I mean, on the one hand they are freaking adorable together and Reinforce's noble sacrifice, and Hayate begging her not to, and the whole 'I am the happiest magical tome in the world' line which is cheesier than the best pizza ever but is so heartbreaking when you see it, and the fact that Reinforce says that her love for Hayate is 'deeper than the oceans'...
But then again it's also a millenia-old artificial intelligence in human form and a nine-year-old girl. That is kinda creepy. You see my dilemma.
(I am not including Nanoha/Fate here because that is freaking canon they adopt a daughter and sleep in the same bed and the VAs confirmed it.)
Hm... Oriko and Kirika from Oriko Magica, I think.
I'm not really sure, though I do have some disaster ships, which are basically the WORST SHIPS IMAGINABLE.
Examples:
Rarity/Pinkie Pie
Equius/Karkat
Has anyone else got any hilarious fail-ships?
Firefly: River/Jayne. It just doesn't work on any conceivable level, and it gives me the willies, to boot.
Ron/Hermione and Kimberly/Skull. I can't decide which one is worse.
In all seriousness, I was never a shipper, and one of my friends was basically all of the stereotypes of shippers. For all of the Homestuck readers, she was basically acting out Nepeta's tendency to circle crude drawings of two characters and write "YESSSS!" or "NOOO!" next to them. This inspired me to ship the randomest, nuttiest character pairings I could find, which I originally started to do just to annoy her. To extend the Homestuck reference, these were Doc Scratch/Tavros levels of nutty.
Switching continua for the next bit: I still think she was onto something shipping Gorast/Teridax. Not as a crack-pairing, but as a "this might actually work without knocking them both out of character". I mean, with the obvious "They're energy beings piloting robot bodies! That doesn't even make sense!" factor excluded, they went so well together, personality-wise. Plus, Gorast was the only one who really "got" The Plan, which was basically the defining factor of Teridax's life. It would have been a good bonding opportunity, you know? Scheming psychopaths have got to stick together and all that.
Hewkii/Macku and Jaller/Hahli, from Bionicle. Hewkii/Macku WAS canon until Greg Farshtey retconned it out of existence by refusing to talk about the sex life of plastic toys. Jaller/Hahli was just a crapton of flirting in the first movie.
OH OH OH
Kiina/Mata Nui. For the unrequited-crush type ship, that isn't spelled out but COME THE HELL ON it's OBVIOUS (and understandable, I mean he's voiced by frigging WORF and also he promised Kiina he'd get her OFF that dustball who WOULDN'T have a heroworshippy crush on Mata Nui certainly not me no sirree)
I've got to agree on Troi/Worf and Katara/Zuko.
Troi/Worf: At some point, it felt like even the writers shipped it. Troi just has so much more chemistry with Worf than with Riker. Hell, Riker would have dumped her for his career once.
Zuko/Katara: Again with the chemistry. Okay, that could just be the fact that I don't feel that the whole Aang/Katara thing was written all too well. Also, Aang's kinda twelve.
I couldn't come up with any of my own now, but I recognize them if I see them.
Jessie/James, aka Team Rocket from Pokémon. That one never made it out of Japan. Even kid me could see it. (Yes, these were the first characters I ever shipped, because they just went so well together.)
So I just accept the canon ones while ignoring the others.
I dunno. I've never really cared very much about shipping... Buuuuut if there is one that's been floating around in my head that I don't have to explain very much...
Kain/Barbarccia (FFIV).
I think they'd go together in a very Kismesis sort of way.