I would like to thank the TV series for giving my heart a tiny bit of its "forbidden" ship on screen.
These books introduced me to the idea that you could just love people and maybe that was okay. But that doesn't mean I didn't grow up with some internalized homophobia.
But through the entire series, the first time I read it, I knew that Perrin loved rand. Maybe not in the same way that he loved his wife. But he loved rand. And that was so important to me.
And like, Faile thinking to herself that as much as she means to Perrin, she knows that his bond with Rand is equally important. Maybe in the books it was just supposed to be "these Bros are the coolest best friends" . But I shipped PerRand as a young person, even when I was the only person I knew who read the books. And I continued to put that ship in my heart for nearly 20 years. And now to see gif sets of the show clipped with people tagging the ship... My heart is so happy.
I did not need them to be endgame. I just needed them to love each other.
Later in the books I would come to be a die-hard AvElayne shipper as well, and it's 17 years old, having read the first 11 books, I would realize that I myself was a bit of an anomaly. Loving boys and girls and seeing no difference.
And I got a bit ashamed of my ships. Because I thought that I was projecting my own wishes on to the pages. Because at this time I was still the only person I knew who had read the books.
And then at 29 years old I discovered an entire online community existed. And there were other people who shipped my ships. Secretly or overtly. And I just want to thank the show for giving us a taste of one of them. Because I don't need them to be endgame. I'm just happy they're on screen.
