I only ship in the same way that I try to guess what’s going to happen next. The idea of actually pretending people who are not in a relationship actually are is unappealing to me.
And I ran into Sturgeon’s law a lot more often with shipfics, so I don’t generally read them. Too many people think a relationship == erotica style sex.
Yep. Although, sadly, my track record seems to be for unerringly predicting which pairings will not end up in canon, or be particularly popular in the fandom. :smack:
Oddly enough, I don’t actually do that much shipping in the stuff I write—actually, come to think of it, that’s not entirely accurate. There’s romantic elements to be found, they’re just usually not the primary focus. (And it only gets weirder when I consider how many of them are crossovers, or merely planned but not yet written—I’ve got a concept for a Mystique/Frank Castle X-Men: First Class story, for example, that I think may have promise…)
So, Veronica/Betty, then?
I realize, that, because there’s minimal actual sexuality in Archie, it makes their friendly rivalry look like an end to itself, as neither seem as interested in the target of said rivalry. That said, it still works.
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Sadly, set in the perpetual 50’s as it is, the best that Betty can hope for is a stifling marriage to Archie, and a lifelong affair with Veronica, who’s become the town’s requisite old maid.
Examples?
Wait, Sheldon and Penny? Eww!
(one of these days I need to find a copy of seasons 3 and beyond)
For myself, excluding ships that have already sailed, there’s:
Bob the Builder/Wendy, from the eponymous show
Agatha/Gil, from Girl Genius (Tarvek is a cad and a fiend)
Hinjo/Lien, from Order of the Stick
I’ll also say that I was a Harry/Ginny shipper from the beginning: Ginny seems like the sort who always manages to get what she wants, and doesn’t change her mind on what she wants easily. But Ron/Hermione took a while longer to be obvious to me.
Yes, it’s my secret shame that I don’t tell a lot of people about, that I like fanfiction and certain 'ships. I used to like just hetero ships, but now know the joys of Kirk/Spock. Also Gibbs/Dinozzo (NCIS. Both incredibly hawt). I also like Snape/Hermione (only if she’s legal!), and Sam/Jack (Stargate SG1)
Also Sheldon/Penny
That’s not animosity but rather sexual tension between Ignatz and Officer Pupp. 
I will have confessed to having written Harry/Ginny (with a side of Ron/Hermione) and Jim/Pam fanfiction. Sadly, all of these couples actually got together, the tension was gone, and I have not found a new couple to ship since I had kids.
If you’re looking for true insanity in fandom, though, look no further than the Harry Potter fandom. The Harry/Hermione vs. Harry/Ginny debate was legendary, but for the realcrazy just google “Snapewives.”
Maybe things have calmed down, though, now that the books are done. I haven’t visited insanityville for a few years.
Heck, I put Ro and Barclay together and then broke them apart in my fanfics. It was a doomed relationship anyway.
Lessie…off the top of my head (and for greatly varying values of “not popular with the fandom”), I can think of: Daria/Jane; Sam/Tucker; Doctor/Seven; Red/Mokey; Rei/Shinji; Kurt/Kitty; Roz/Frasier; Haruka/Spike; Raven/Beast Boy; Robin (III)/Batgirl (IV)…I’m sure there are a few more.
For what it’s worth, I approve of the Kurt/Kitty pairing (at least in the version I think you’re thinking of–some versions would make an extremely odd couple) and Raven/Beast Boy. I register no opinion on the others.
Huhn. Are you talking about comics Ra/BB? 'Cuz I get the impression the cartoon versions are a really popular ship - the comics version, not so much…I remember being more or less alone in squeeing when they hooked up in the comics. (Oddly, not quite so alone being annoyed they’d been broken up off-panel.)
And assuming the other is Tim/Steph…never got the impression it was unpopular (nor that their breakup was to be permanent - though with the relaunch, who knows how it’ll go). (Out of curiosity, how are you counting the Batgirls to get 4? Babs, Cass, and Steph, obviously, but is the fourth Betty, Helena, or Charlie?)
I may as well list some of my others, since I’ve only listed a few…unembarrassing ones, at that.
Another Ace Attorney one…Klavier Gavin/Ema Skye - I don’t generally dig hate ships - if they seem to hate each other, IMO, chances are they do…but Klavier doesn’t hate Ema, and Ema’s ‘insults’ generally tend to have a major element of talking about how good looking he is, so…they work for me.
As a Read or Dream/ROD the TV fan, Hisami/Anita is my OTP to end all OTPs…and, while never made explicit, it seems pretty clearly canon, albeit only to become an actual relationship (rather than a mutual crush) after the series ends.
Less canon from ROD the TV, Maggie/Nenene (Maggie/Faye in the manga, but since Faye doesn’t exist in the TV, and Maggie never meets Nenene in the manga, they don’t clash).
Unpopular, but I really like it… Pinkie Pie/Fluttershy from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic… Nobody seems to like Pinkieshy - one or the other of them (especially Pinkie) always gets paired with Rainbow Dash. But, I just don’t see it… I mean…I don’t 'ship ponies! :eek:
ahem On a different note…in the webcomic Penny & Aggie, I 'shipped Aggie/Sara, until it became clear P&A were going to get together. (Ironically, Sara is, in universe, the world’s biggest P&A 'shipper. But I always read that a bit as 'shipping herself with Ags, by proxy, when she couldn’t bring herself to admit she liked girls. As it turns out, there may have been a bit of 'shipping herself with Penny by proxy…)
Tim/Cass, actually…and reckoning the number of Batgirls by the ancient method of “Googling for ‘Batgirl III’ and ‘Batgirl IV’ and seeing which came up with more results for Cassandra Cain in the DC continuity snarl.” And wiki seems to do the count as Betty Kane>Barbara Gordon>Helena Bertinelli>Cassandra Cain>Stephanie Brown.
Aaahah…Tim/Cass…now that’s an unusual one. (I’ve, oddly, seen Damien/Cass, though.)
Also, I think that’s why Wikipedia’s style guide for comic book characters states to not use numbers for various iterations of characters, unless it’s canonically part of their name.
I totally thought “shipping” was just short for “worshipping” and didn’t get that it had to do with non-canon pairings at all. Duh! I like fanfic like “In my world everyone knows they are father and son but no one knows they are lovers” and “Well, in MY world everyone knows they are lovers but no one knows they are father and son!” (FF8) for example, where you get so many different and interesting interpretations but the stories still feel true to the characters.