You flatter me! I do always wonder how often it is for people to get interested in a canon through a fanfic, rather than the other way around. It seems to me like a great way to popularize a work, but it's so often impossible to make head or tail of a fic from an unfamiliar fandom...

I really just don't "get" the culture/practice of shipping, more than anything. The agendas, the being interested in a work for a particular ship, the manifestos...*shrugs*