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The 30 Day Shipping Meme
Day 02 - What was your very first ship?
Hmm, if we're talking the very first ship that brought me into fandom, that would be Monk/Sharona.
They are basically the quintessential OTP for me. They were the first ship that I got so very besotted with that I ended up dissecting their every little moment, and I even tried my hand at fanfic (back in the days before fanfic was such SRS BSNS). I just... gah, I loved these two so completely, and you all know I love my various ships, but this one will always be special for me. For three years I was devoted to this ship, and I honestly could not see the show ending without Monk/Sharona. It just did not compute in my brain that the two characters would never fall in love, because 1) adorable bickering of epic proportions, 2) opposites attract, 3) she saved him from the pits of despair after Trudy died, 4) Monk continuously acknowledged that he couldn't live without her and she continuously acknowledged that she couldn't leave him no matter how many times she tried, 5) the show worked extra hard at shaping Monk into Benji's father figure, 6) Monk went out of his way to sabotage every single romantic relationship that Sharona ever had (mind you, most of her boyfriends ended up being killers anyway, but that's beside the point), 7) UST, especially from Monk, and Monk was supposed to be a character that wasn't interested in sex (the most notable moments can be seen in the Playboy ep), and 8) people often treated them as a married couple because they often acted like a married couple (the Circus ep would be the most notable here, and in the original script for that ep Sharona even kisses Monk goodbye) COME ON, SHOWRUNNERS. You know that you inserted romantic subtext for those two, no matter how hard you deny it. In fact, they didn't start to be so vehemently against Monk/Sharona until they started having problems with Bitty Schram and decided to introduce Sharona/Disher to make people stop shipping Monk/Sharona (Sharona/Disher still makes me barf, ugh. I can't believe the show made them end up together. Ugh ugh ugh. Blech. Now, Disher/Natalie I would have TOTALLY gotten behind). Anyway, this ship ended bitterly for me, and that kind of puts a damper on the good memories, but to this day seasons 1 and 2 of Monk still bring me more joy than anything in TV history. I just try to ignore the existence of the 6 seasons that followed those two. Oh, and the ep where Sharona came back in season 8? Disappointing to say the least, but I was wicked happy with the hug at the end (that Monk reciprocated with a big old smile). I also loved the talk she had with Natalie where she acknowledged that she really did love Monk, and in fact had loved him too much for her to handle and so she decided to leave and get a life separate from him (and this was all platonic love, of course, but my shipper heart will choose to interpret it in other ways). I still don't like her leaving even with that explanation, because it still comes across as an extremely selfish move, but at least it's better than her just up and leaving him purely for her loser of an ex husband. But anyway, by the end of the show, I was actually quite happy that Monk never fell in love with anyone but Trudy. Trudy was a character who was dead throughout the entire series, and yet her presence was always so strongly felt because Monk still had such a deep connection with her, and it became one of the most beautiful love stories ever told. So, I'm kind of glad that Monk and Sharona never got together. But that old shipper part of me still laments over the wasted potential whenever I watch the early days of Monk. *sigh*
Now, if we're talking first ship ever ever, as in the very first romance that I was aware I was rooting for, that would probably be Jack and Janet from Three's Company.
HOW DID THEY NOT END UP TOGETHER? WTF? If a 4 year old can tell that two people absolutely belong together and they don't get together, then clearly the show did it wrong. I'M JUST SAYING.
( Next time on firthgal's journal... )
Day 02 - What was your very first ship?
Hmm, if we're talking the very first ship that brought me into fandom, that would be Monk/Sharona.
They are basically the quintessential OTP for me. They were the first ship that I got so very besotted with that I ended up dissecting their every little moment, and I even tried my hand at fanfic (back in the days before fanfic was such SRS BSNS). I just... gah, I loved these two so completely, and you all know I love my various ships, but this one will always be special for me. For three years I was devoted to this ship, and I honestly could not see the show ending without Monk/Sharona. It just did not compute in my brain that the two characters would never fall in love, because 1) adorable bickering of epic proportions, 2) opposites attract, 3) she saved him from the pits of despair after Trudy died, 4) Monk continuously acknowledged that he couldn't live without her and she continuously acknowledged that she couldn't leave him no matter how many times she tried, 5) the show worked extra hard at shaping Monk into Benji's father figure, 6) Monk went out of his way to sabotage every single romantic relationship that Sharona ever had (mind you, most of her boyfriends ended up being killers anyway, but that's beside the point), 7) UST, especially from Monk, and Monk was supposed to be a character that wasn't interested in sex (the most notable moments can be seen in the Playboy ep), and 8) people often treated them as a married couple because they often acted like a married couple (the Circus ep would be the most notable here, and in the original script for that ep Sharona even kisses Monk goodbye) COME ON, SHOWRUNNERS. You know that you inserted romantic subtext for those two, no matter how hard you deny it. In fact, they didn't start to be so vehemently against Monk/Sharona until they started having problems with Bitty Schram and decided to introduce Sharona/Disher to make people stop shipping Monk/Sharona (Sharona/Disher still makes me barf, ugh. I can't believe the show made them end up together. Ugh ugh ugh. Blech. Now, Disher/Natalie I would have TOTALLY gotten behind). Anyway, this ship ended bitterly for me, and that kind of puts a damper on the good memories, but to this day seasons 1 and 2 of Monk still bring me more joy than anything in TV history. I just try to ignore the existence of the 6 seasons that followed those two. Oh, and the ep where Sharona came back in season 8? Disappointing to say the least, but I was wicked happy with the hug at the end (that Monk reciprocated with a big old smile). I also loved the talk she had with Natalie where she acknowledged that she really did love Monk, and in fact had loved him too much for her to handle and so she decided to leave and get a life separate from him (and this was all platonic love, of course, but my shipper heart will choose to interpret it in other ways). I still don't like her leaving even with that explanation, because it still comes across as an extremely selfish move, but at least it's better than her just up and leaving him purely for her loser of an ex husband. But anyway, by the end of the show, I was actually quite happy that Monk never fell in love with anyone but Trudy. Trudy was a character who was dead throughout the entire series, and yet her presence was always so strongly felt because Monk still had such a deep connection with her, and it became one of the most beautiful love stories ever told. So, I'm kind of glad that Monk and Sharona never got together. But that old shipper part of me still laments over the wasted potential whenever I watch the early days of Monk. *sigh*
Now, if we're talking first ship ever ever, as in the very first romance that I was aware I was rooting for, that would probably be Jack and Janet from Three's Company.
HOW DID THEY NOT END UP TOGETHER? WTF? If a 4 year old can tell that two people absolutely belong together and they don't get together, then clearly the show did it wrong. I'M JUST SAYING.
( Next time on firthgal's journal... )
