Hi there shippers, UndieGirl here to give you The Shipping News, our weekly round up of all things slash. Let’s talk about the controversial female ‘love interest’ syndrome, all the Kirk/Spock feels, an inappropriate Twilight pairing and more.

Fandom News Roundup:

Maybe I’m doing more than shouting – I might actually be screaming with excitement because my feelings have been overwhelmed with awesome. I’ll leave you with this moment, because I have been crying over it since the teaser was released (and I mean literally crying, no metaphors or exaggerations here, this teaser has left me emotionally compromised). Kudos to anyone that can guess what this reminds us of.

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Max and Charlie Carver on the Teen Wolf set

Anyway Teen Wolf started shooting last week, which is a good thing because the fandom was beginning to suffer from a problem I like to call hiatus hysteria. We found out that the lovely Dylan O’Brien will be keeping his hair long rather than sporting Stiles' signature buzz cut. If you’re wondering what this has to do with slash then you obviously have not read any Sterek fan fiction… Derek loves something to grab on to.

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On Tuesday the Teen Wolf set was gifted with a bunch of cookies – courtesy of The Sterek Campaign. For those of you that don’t know, The Sterek Campaign is a fan run project to show support for MTV's Teen Wolf and specifically the pairing Sterek (check the campaign out on Tumblr). Every month they organize a new ‘Call to Love’ to show the powers-that-be just how much they love the show and of course how much they want Stiles and Derek to get together. Not everyone in the fandom agrees with the campaign and not everyone likes Sterek (shocking I know,) but I think we can all agree that everyone loves cookies.

Back on the subject of our favorite new alpha twins, Charlie Carver tweeted after his first day shooting: “Awesome first day. Awesome. #teenwolf #sterek #jk” (x). Proving that he has absolutely no idea what he is getting himself into.

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M/M Pairing of the Week: Damon/Alaric (The Vampire Diaries)

It might be strange to highlight a pairing where one of the characters is already dearly departed, but there is just something about the way that these two damaged men found solace in each other's company that tugs on my heartstrings. Whether you think of it as romance or bromance this relationship was... and continues to be in fanfic and fanart... heartbreakingly beautiful. Emphasis on the heartbreak, considering Alaric's demise… I guess I’m just a sucker for punishment.

Sure Damon’s a vampire and Alaric’s a vampire hunter (at least at the beginning and then again at the end and oh no I made myself sad), but these guys have both been screwed over by the women they loved. Women who just happened to stem from the same family tree, so at least they have that in common. Damon and Alaric also bond over the fact that they are grown men that spend all their time hanging out with teenagers, which is apparently as awful as you might think.

(artist: LinArt / source)

If you want to know more about these broody men and their beautiful friendship (that may be something more) there is a list of the Top 10 Dalaric Moments at The Vampire Diaries Wiki. Also, check out these Dalaric links for all kinds of slashy fun: Tumblr | AO3 | livejournal

Accidently Shipped

Here’s the moment where you realize just how creepy I am. Now before I go on, I want to remind you of the time Aja talked about RPS and Catherine explained Mpreg. Face it, this column is where creepy lives so just embrace it already. The thing is, I was watching the latest Twilight film Breaking Dawn: Part Two (that’s not even the part I’m ashamed of) when a certain interaction happened between Bella’s dad Charlie Swan and none other than Jacob Black.

Those of you that have seen the movie (even if you won’t cop to it) will probably know what I’m talking about, but for those out of the loop let me break it down for you: The lovable werewolf Jacob (Taylor "does-he-own-a-shirt" Lautner) decides that it’s time for Bella’s dad (Billy Burke) to be let in on the secrets of the supernatural. Apparently this is more a show, don’t tell situation. Jacob then proceeds to remove his clothing in a confident and strangely erotic manner before morphing into a wolf, much to the surprise and confusion of poor Charlie. The whole thing plays out exactly like one of those really smutty fan fictions that make you terrified someone will access your browser history.

Jacob’s all, “I’ve got something to tell you, and actually it’s better if I show you.” Charlie’s skeptical at first but you can see the curiosity in his eyes… and I’m just going to stop now but please tell me someone has recut this scene in slow motion with soft focus and a sexy soundtrack because that is something I need in my life.

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Part of me is sorry for this, the other part of me knows this isn’t going to be the worst thing that makes it into this column.

Also, it's no creepier than Jacob "imprinting" on baby Renesmee. Ick.

Slash Soap Box: The Love Interest

All right, so you have a new favorite ship on your new favorite show (those two cisgender white boys clearly want to get it on), and it’s going pretty well because so far there hasn’t be anyone standing in the way of their burgeoning subtextual romance. Sure, there might be a small suggestion of a romantic plot with another female character, but that falls by the wayside as the story progresses. Basically it’s the slash ship dreams are made of. And it could totally be canon, I mean it pretty much already is anyway.

Then the powers-that-be let slip that they’re introducing a new female character, and by the time the spoilers are confirmed, the fandom has figured out exactly who this new addition is. She's the dreaded ‘love interest’. Unfortunately, slash fans do not react well to this type of casting news. Throwing all kinds of accusations around, fans often take love interest casting as a personal affront. Cries of homophobia and queerbaiting can be heard throughout the fandom as the poor girl that’s unlucky enough to be given the title of ‘love interest’ is abused in every imaginable way.

This is how slash fans get a bad reputation. While I don’t generally like characters that are introduced as ‘love interest’ (they are usually one dimensional with very little narrative worth) it’s really not cool to yell queerbaiting (or worse homophobia) just because a female character (that may or may not actually become a romantic interest) is introduced. It’s definitely not cool to take your disappointment out on said female character (and worse, actress) before they have actually appeared on the show.

I’m not pointing the finger at any fandom in particular – most of us have been guilty of this at some stage… Supernatural fans, remember when Jo was introduced? Yeah that wasn’t our finest moment. It happens all the time - a couple of weeks ago Aja talked about rampant misogyny in slash fandom – highlighting the fact that fandom has a tendency to treat any female character that gets in the way of their favorite slash ship as a bug that needs to be squashed. This behavior gives us a bad reputation and makes the fight to be taken seriously (as more than just silly hormonal teenagers) just that much harder.

Look, no one likes to have their ship sunk, it sucks (a lot), but if you’re going to engage with slash fandom it’s something you should probably get used to. Hopefully one day (soon) a slash pairing will become canon, and we will party so hard you will forget the name of your favorite TV show. But until then, try not to take it personally when one or both of your OTP deigns to notice a member of the opposite sex. I can pretty much guarantee that your favorite slash pairing is no more or less likely to become canon due to the introduction of a possible female love interest.

Besides, you never know, she could turn out to be awesome.

Featured Fan Fic: A New Low by Rosie_Rues

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I had all kinds of plans to find you an epic fan fiction that would knock your socks off so hard that your feet would never be warm again, but then the BBC announced that Merlin would not be returning, and I have done nothing but read embarrassingly fluffy Merthur fics since then. So that is what you are going to get, because I just really like fics that give me a toothache. This fic certainly fits the bill.

It’s a modern office AU in which Merlin is diabetic and Arthur is just a little bit (by little bit I mean exceedingly) overprotective. It’s basically a romantic comedy, with a little bit of h/c if you squint. Seriously, they get stuck in an elevator together, this fic is pure unashamed fluff that melts my frozen insides into a big ball of goo.

Excerpt:

[…] "He's awake," the git says, but Merlin barely hears it. He can't feel his toes and he thinks it's probably because they've been eaten. "I think. Merlin!"

"Sssh," Merlin says, trying to put his finger to his lips but only managing to smack himself. The git mustn't attract attention. He hasn't done anything to get eaten by cake.

"Don't shout at him," a calm voice chides from the phone that's lying open on the floor. "Can you get him to eat the chocolate now?"

The git is pushing something at his mouth. Merlin parts his lips automatically and then recoils when he tastes it. He can't eat chocolate! The monsters will know.

"Stop fighting me," the git snaps and it's sharp enough that Merlin blinks and does what he's told. The chocolate tastes terrible, cheap and fuzzy, as if it's been in someone's pocket for months, but he swallows it down.

After the second piece, the world suddenly makes a little more sense. The cake monsters seem to have got as far as his libido, he realises, because normally he'd enjoy a dream where he was being hand-fed chocolate by a handsome man, even if it was the git. […]

Find the full text of "A New Low" by Rosie_Rues at AO3 or livejournal

Artist of the Week: Lettie

It’s that time of year again so I figured why not find you some holiday themed art to help warm you this winter. There are plenty of people getting into the spirit but I just couldn’t go past Lettie’s depiction of Destiel in the snow (with the Impala makes OT3).

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For more holiday themed (and not so holiday themed) fan art by the immensely talented Lettie, check these out: Tumblr | Etsy

Question of the week:

How would you feel if your favorite slash ship (or any slash ship) became canon?

Hit us up in the comments or at the Tumblr with you’re answers – I’m sure you’ve all got an opinion on this one.

Parting Gif

A lovely person asked us, via the Tumblr, to feature a ship from The Social Network (possibly some Andrew/Jesse), and I promise we will do just that in the not to distant future, but until then here’s a little something to keep you going.

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That’s all for this week's Shipping News, folks. Remember, if you want us to feature a specific pairing, or you have some slash news you want to share then let us know. Til next time, happy shipping!