When the ship hits the fan.

[Reply #560 on:]

Oh wow, that hands thing never occured to me! That is like the best find EVER!

[Reply #561 on:]

Oh wow, that hands thing never occured to me! That is like the best find EVER!

My shipper goggles are super-powered. 

Here, have some more insights!

I was watching Time Keeps On Slipping earlier, and I noticed that in the scene where Fry and Leela marry, Leela is holding a bouquet of daffodils. This seemed like an unusual choice for a wedding bouquet, so I did some Googling, and found this info on the meaning of certain flowers for married couples :

Daffodil : Regard, rebirth, new beginnings, unrequited love, you're the only one, chivalry, eternal life. Also associated with the tenth wedding anniversary.

Interesting, no?

I also found out that the four leaves on a four-leaf clover represent faith, hope, love, and luck, respectively.

[Reply #562 on:]

Oh, and the flower Fry gives Leela in The Why Of Fry is a daisy. (Or it seems to be, anyway.)

DAISY: Innocence, loyal love, I'll never tell, purity, love that conquers all, beauty, simplicity. Associated with the fifth wedding anniversary.

Most likely it's all just coincidence, but these are freakishly appropriate for the ship.

[Reply #563 on:]

Wow, you are amazingly insightful Sophisticated Shut In 

If those flowers' meanings are just coincidences, it is really weird how perfect they ended up being for Fry and Leela!

[Reply #564 on:]

I'm going to be the turd in the birthday cake. Hands are just emblematic of any sort of relationship or connection. I don't see how it is specific to this one particular ship. When Fry's love for was unrequited, of course the natural and inevitable way the animators showed this was through gestures and body language, like Fry reaching for Leela, the object of his desire. You would see that sort of symbolism in all sorts of depictions of romance and love.

[Reply #565 on:]

Even though basically every coupling has that sort of body language, the "reaching for one another" seems particularly emphasized with Fry and Leela, at least in my opinion, which could of course be completely ridiculous 

Maybe it's just the manner in which it's animated, but the way they always kiss, with the hands grasping for one another, does seem to convey something more than just the typical physical yearning to me. It appears to imply more "innocent" feelings between the two instead of a something based more in lust, as well as a certain nervous tentativeness that isn't found in most pairings. For example, take Amy and Kif; even though Kif was initially scared of talking to her, there was no where near the same kind of build-up or work involved in getting them together. They don't have anything similar to the hesitant body language of Fry and Leela at any point in their relationship.

However, I might just be projecting this onto them from what I see as Leela's fear of jumping fully into the relationship.

[Reply #566 on:]

I'm kind of with sparkybarky in the skeptical cynic corner when it comes to the significance of the hand thing as a symbol or motif or what have you--but I also agree with both Shut In and Anna that there has always been this kind of charming, cute, timid, innocent aspect to Fry and Leela's oh-so-gradual courtship. And, in a show where sex is often played for laughs, and those laughs are often crude (see: my much-beloved, but admittedly puerile- at-points, "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?", "Amazon Women in the Mood" or "Spanish Fry"), it's nice to see a romantic relationship that is genuinely romantic, in a PG-rated, Hays Code-era movie kind of way.

They can occasionally come off as a bit too precious or cutesy, I guess, but I am overall a huge fan of those sweet little hand-holding, almost-kissing moments. Because, you know, I'm a sucker.

[Reply #567 on:]

I'm going to be the turd in the birthday cake. Hands are just emblematic of any sort of relationship or connection. I don't see how it is specific to this one particular ship. When Fry's love for was unrequited, of course the natural and inevitable way the animators showed this was through gestures and body language, like Fry reaching for Leela, the object of his desire. You would see that sort of symbolism in all sorts of depictions of romance and love.

Holding hands is something every couple does at some stage. I agree with you there. I'm not suggesting Fry and Leela are the only ones who do this - that would be like suggesting they're the only ones who kiss! But the expression of their bond through hand-holding - both conscious and subconscious - is something that comes up again and again. It's so strongly associated with the ship that the writers crafted an entire episode (A Farewell To Arms) around this one trope. Not only that, but the cold opening features a deliberate callback to an earlier instance of it. (The puddle / "take my hand" bit is drawing an obvious parallel with a similar moment in Parasites Lost.)

I'm also inclined to agree with Anna and Gorky. This hesitant reaching-for-each-other thing has been a feature of three big romantic moments I can think of, and I think it is there to highlight Fry and Leela's mutual nervousness about what they're doing. Futurama is hard to match as a comedy, but an unusual strength of the show has always been its ability to emotionally punch you in the ribs. Jurassic Bark, Luck of the Fryrish, Leela's Homeworld, Lethal Inspection . . . the writers are not afraid to flesh out main characters and build on their relationships to each other. The characters aren't just vehicles for the gags - the audience is often invited to feel a real emotional resonance with them. (Fry's "Nooooooo!" at the end of Time Keeps On Slipping, Hermes's inability to destroy the baby Bender in Lethal Inspection, Leela awakening from her coma at the end of The Sting. And about a million other moments.) So while I would normally be pretty cynical myself, in this case the show's own investment in these characters makes me feel fully justified in taking a closer look. And hey . . . even if all I turn up are fan theories and coincidence, my love of the show makes it a fun pasttime. 

[Reply #568 on:]

I feel pretty much the same way as Sophisticated Shut In and Gorky about the show's emotional side; I love its focus on character development and the sweet Fry-Leela moments about as much as I love the comedy and sci-fi. That was actually the first thing that really caught my eye about it. The first episode I ever saw was Xmas Story, and I almost immediately fell in love with Leela and Fry's budding relationship. Every time I see that episode, their near-kiss and "together we're lonely together" bit just really touches me in a way I wouldn't normally think a cartoon should be able to, but that's one of the big reasons I'm such a huge fan 

[Reply #569 on:]

Time to jump-start the shipping thread, whynot?  

Pick a ship from the list and give us your five favorite shipper moments. (Unless your ship has less than five shippy moments, of course. The romance may have been cut as short as the saga of Scruffy and Washbucket.   )

If your ship isn't on the list, feel free to add it.

Fry and Leela
Amy and Kif
Hermes and LaBarbara
Amy and Bender
Farnsworth and Mom
Fry and Amy
Munda and Morris
Munda and Zapp


Knock yourselves out, kids!

[Reply #570 on:]

You forgot Munda and Zapp...

[Reply #571 on:]

Amy and Bender :

I have a soft spot for this pairing. Not sure why - I don't think it's twoo wuv or anything, I just enjoy them together. Here's my top five, in no particular order.

1) "I'll kill you Amy!" - The Series Has Landed. Their interactions in this episode are actually a lot of fun, with the above quote being my favorite and the "I know how to make love!" exchange coming a close second.

2) "Amy, you're cute . . .  so I baked you a pony!" - The 30% Iron Chef. (I think that's the episode, anyway.) Bender's logic is just great.

3) "Of all the women I've ever dated, you are probably in the top ten."
"Oh, Bender. You always say just the wrong thing in just the right way!"
- Proposition Infinity. This episode also gave us the line "Our love isn't any different from yours - except it's hotter, coz I'm involved."  

4) Bender spelling out "Honk if Bender is great" in sunscreen on Amy's back. Think that was one from The Deep South? It cracked me up.

5) Bender and Amy doing the bend-it dance at the end of The Mutants Are Revolting. It was a nice nod to them having dated, and a fun visual.

Hermes and LaBarbara :

1) Their bickering scene on the mountain top in Neutopia has to be my favorite here, for the wordplay alone. "Damn it, woman! You're making me highly Selassie!"  

2) The limbo scene in A Flight To Remember. Both LaBarbara playing a dish cover as limbo music, and the way she rebukes Hermes when he starts showing off, crack me up.

3) "I guess now would be a bad time to tell you I'm pregnant - and you're not the father!" - LaBarbara's joke in The Six Million Dollar Mon, when Hermes loses his job, gets points because it's so typical of a long-term married couple. It's sweet that LaBarbara tries to lift his spirits with a joke, and the joke itself plays nicely on her history of jumping into bed with her first husband Barbados Slim. It's supportive, but it also cuts pretty close to the bone, and is the kind of joke you can only get away with if you're both very confident in your relationship.

4) "Oh, my little love-pirate of the Caribbean!" - LaBarbara's expression of horror when Hermes loses his head is just too funny. As is "Not fast enough. Boy needs a daddy!". Both from Bender's Big Score, obviously.

5) Labarbara in Into The Wild Green Yonder - "Sweet she-cattle of Seattle!", to which Hermes yells (from off-screen) "Not your strong suit, woman!"  

[Reply #572 on:]

You forgot Munda and Zapp...

I did! *le gasp*

Must. Amend. Immediately.

[Reply #573 on:]

Leela and Chaz are my favourite couple.

"I can't fail the mayor. Not ever."

[Reply #574 on:]

I liked Munda and Zapp a lot. It was just...so perfectly wrong that it was amazingly right.

I also liked Fry and Amy. That's right, I said it! Why? They liked to do it a lot Sooo that means I liked Bender and Amy too, heheh. Or pretty much Amy and anyone...

[Reply #575 on:]

I liked the professor and leela's grandmother a lot(such a cute couple in tMaR)

Also Bender and Amy
& fry leela amy(just because it was funny)

[Reply #576 on:]

I agree with futurefreak, I loved Zapp and Munda because it was so wrong and awkward, but still kind of sweet and perfect.

Amy and Bender were cute, too; I think they're personalities are very fitting for each other since they're both carefree and childish. I could picture them having a friends-with-benefits kind of thing with each other.

Fry and Leela are still my favorite pairing. My favorite moments with them are 1. when Leela pulls out her career chip, they hold hands and Bender interrupts 2. the end of Why of Fry 3. the entirety of The Sting and 4. the scene in Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings where Fry asks her out and Leela accepts, saying she's been "a prudent, fully-justified fool."

Oh, and I'm still interested in seeing the Mom-Farnsworth relationship further explored, even though it's sort of disgusting   

[Reply #577 on:]

Professor and Goth Girl from 300 Big Boys was pretty amusing

[Reply #578 on:]

I ship Sal and Petunia.

[Reply #579 on:]

I am a bit surprised no one mentioned Scruffy and Washbucket....

[Reply #580 on:]

Oh yeah, somehow I had forgotten about them!
I hope we get to re-visit that pairing in the coming Scruffy-themed episode 

[Reply #581 on:]

Don't forget Bender and the PE ship

[Reply #582 on:]

Bender and the Turtle.

[Reply #583 on:]

Bender and Gold Bender.

[Reply #584 on:]

Fry and Unmentionable.

Too far?

[Reply #585 on:]

Oh Url! Don't let Danny see that

[Reply #586 on:]

Oh Url! Don't let Unmentionable see that

Fixed that for you .

[Reply #587 on:]

I love Morris and Munda together. She is one juicy calamari.

[Reply #588 on:]

Aww! Says on his twitter DannyJC13 is in the hospital! It might have cheered it up that Eric Rogers tweeted him about it(and calle him is pall )
If yoi read this Danny: Get well soon! 

[Reply #589 on:]

Fry and Unmentionable.

Too far?

Too far! Too far! 

I am a bit surprised no one mentioned Scruffy and Washbucket....

Hey, I did!

A greater tragedy mine eyes never beheld.

Professor and Goth Girl from 300 Big Boys was pretty amusing

"Oh my sweet hippopotamus!" 

I liked Munda and Zapp a lot. It was just...so perfectly wrong that it was amazingly right.

"Sex with Zapp! Sex with Zapp! SEX WITH ZAPP!" 

I don't ship these two, per se, but they were unexpectedly hilarious. Especially Zapp's line about "here, in front of your half-naked daughter" being the perfect time to propose.

Don't forget Bender and the PE ship

That's the biggest ship of them all. 

"Fry, in order for me to get busy at maximum efficiency, I need a lady with a big 400 ton booty."

[Reply #590 on:]

Some shippy thoughts I had while reading another thread.

This isn't really catching a mistake or something funny--and I wish I knew how to make GIFs to show what I'm talking about better. In "Love and Rocket," after Leela has given Fry CPR, she's helping him walk. When they're talking to Bender, I was just struck by what a simple but awesome touch it is, for her to straighten him up when he's drooping. No doubt from passing out and being oxygen-starved:

Nuance! That's what I'm talkin bout!(and sometimes the tentacle). Nice find Sparkybarky:



You know it's well animated when you can feel a character's weight.

That is cute, but what struck me about it was that it's actually pretty unnecessary. They're in the cockpit, and the immediate danger is past. If Fry is still feeling woozy, there are at least three different chairs and a couch Leela could put him on. Sit him down, then talk to Bender. Or multi-task and do both at once - it's not hard! Leela is choosing to hold onto him here. When you almost lose something you care about, your first impulse is to hold onto it as tight as you can.

Leela is thrown into a blind panic when she realizes what Fry has done for her. Which is interesting because nothing else panics her in the episode. The ship goes crazy, turns a hose on her, cuts off the oxygen . . . and Leela doesn't panic. She just formulates a plan and gets on with it. Her back's against the wall, but you never get the sense she's not in control - she only panics when she sees what Fry has done.  And as soon as she sees Fry is conscious again, that emotion goes back in its box - he never even sees it.

A lot of the fun of Fry and Leela's relationship in the original run is that Leela's clearly suppressing her feelings for him, so her subconscious often tells you more than she does. Here she stays in control and doesn't embrace Fry when he narrowly evades death on her account. (Her actions in Rebirth give you a hint of just how emotional Leela can be on this subject.) But later on she finds a pretext to hold onto him, supporting him when she doesn't really have to.

[Reply #591 on:]

Aww, I love that moment, it's "show shweet!"
I had never connected the difference in how she reacts when the ship goes crazy and when she almost loses Fry. I love how it shows the depth of her feelings for him, and then when she closes back off, it's obvious she's still terrified of acting on them. Whenever I think of her hesitation to get into a relationship with him, I always attribute it to her fear of him losing interest and falling out of love with her, but now I think part of the cause is she knows how devastated she would be if he were killed on a delivery. She's probably scared of becoming even more attached to him since he is so frequently in danger.
I know her uncertainty really infuriates some people, but it just makes me want to hug her.

Also, I had never considered that moment as her finding an excuse to hold him; I had always thought he was feigning being weaker than he really was so that she would hold him  .

[Reply #592 on:]

I suspected that too at first, but he doesn't seem to be paying too much attention - he's focused on Bender. If she was that concerned for him, Leela would surely get him to sit down a lot quicker than she does?  That he's slumping suggests he must still be pretty weak, but she seems unwilling to put him down - she just stands there with him throughout that whole exchange with Bender. (Who, naturally, doesn't care what's happened to Fry.)

I also love that Leela has no issues putting Bender at risk in her plan, but the only job she gives Fry is the completely undangerous one of clearing candy out of the way. And he still manages to nearly kill himself doing it.

[Reply #593 on:]

I don't think it's so much that Leela has not problem with endangering Bender; it's just that he's so much harder to hurt than Fry is. Even though merging his programming with the ship was pretty risky, I feel like it's something that could've been repaired without too much difficulty, whereas Fry could be permanently damaged if he gets seriously injured. I think Leela values Bender enough that she wouldn't put him at risk if he could be truly hurt terribly.

[Reply #594 on:]

Sorry for the double post, but due to the length between the two, I hope it's okay.

So Fry and Leela are getting married in "Meanwhile"  
I'm soo looking forward to seeing that! So, does this mean the engagement probably happens in "Fry and Leela's Big Fling"?

[Reply #595 on:]

So, does this mean the engagement probably happens in "Fry and Leela's Big Fling"?

"Fry and Leela's Big Fling" will be shown on June 19, so I'm pretty sure that it's the "proposal" episode...

[Reply #596 on:]

So, does the marriage spell the end of the shipping threads?

[Reply #597 on:]

Sorry for the double post, but due to the length between the two, I hope it's okay.

So Fry and Leela are getting married in "Meanwhile"  
I'm soo looking forward to seeing that! So, does this mean the engagement probably happens in "Fry and Leela's Big Fling"?

About the "getting married":
They said something about the last Episode  being a wedding between Fry and Leela.
It could theoretically just be an attempted wedding, that cannot be held in the end for whatever reason (though I doubt it).

As I stated before, I would not mind a Fry/Leela wedding, as long as the characters have been treated as dedicated couple for a while.
Personally, I liked the "let's not make a big fuzz about it" approach in season 7b (e.g. "Free will hunting": No Major Setup, just a woman spending the night at her SO's place, basically something completely normal).
Just season 7 featuring the "dedicated couple" approach might be a tad short, but could work.

[Reply #598 on:]

So, does this mean the engagement probably happens in "Fry and Leela's Big Fling"?

"Fry and Leela's Big Fling" will be shown on June 19, so I'm pretty sure that it's the "proposal" episode...

I don't know. Most weddings in the show have followed on directly from the proposal. (Munda / Zapp, Amy / Kif, Amy / Bender, Leela / Lars etc) so I'd somehow got it into my head that Fry and Leela's wedding would take the same approach. I would get a kick out of seeing them engaged for the season though. 

Sorry for the double post, but due to the length between the two, I hope it's okay.

So Fry and Leela are getting married in "Meanwhile" 
I'm soo looking forward to seeing that! So, does this mean the engagement probably happens in "Fry and Leela's Big Fling"?

About the "getting married":
They said something about the last Episode  being a wedding between Fry and Leela.
It could theoretically just be an attempted wedding, that cannot be held in the end for whatever reason (though I doubt it).

As I stated before, I would not mind a Fry/Leela wedding, as long as the characters have been treated as dedicated couple for a while.
Personally, I liked the "let's not make a big fuzz about it" approach in season 7b (e.g. "Free will hunting": No Major Setup, just a woman spending the night at her SO's place, basically something completely normal).
Just season 7 featuring the "dedicated couple" approach might be a tad short, but could work.

They could go either way with it right now. On the one hand, Leela has been noticeably more content with her relationship in 7a. (TBE was drug-induced distraction and the break-up in FoaB seemed more like a bad-mood break-up than a serious one) If they wanted to play it committed this season they have more than enough to support it - like Leela's marriage material comment in Zapp Dingbat. On the other hand, the writers have said before that Fry's arc in season seven is about "trying to win Leela for good", so it's possible she's undecided about a permanent commitment. (Understandable - he's Fry, after all. He's a cute boyfriend, but he still has a way to go in proving he could be anyone's husband.) 7b might involve Fry trying to prove he's grown up a bit.

[Reply #599 on:]

On the other hand, the writers have said before that Fry's arc in season seven is about "trying to win Leela for good", so it's possible she's undecided about a permanent commitment. (Understandable - he's Fry, after all. He's a cute boyfriend, but he still has a way to go in proving he could be anyone's husband.) 7b might involve Fry trying to prove he's grown up a bit.

To be fair, neither is Leela really a "First Price" relationship-wise....