Over the last couple of years, we have seen the rise in people connecting to their inner child and returning to things they adored as children. The rise in Monster High dolls, Littlest Pet Shop and Lalaloopsy videos and purchases are proof of this. However, this revisiting of the past is not only in the doll world but also fandom spaces, as we are witnessing the return of cross shipping.
Over the last few months, Rodrick from Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Regina from Mean girls have been shipped. This has led to many fan edits, fanart and even Halloween costumes. This feels very reminiscent of the early days of fandom spaces on TikTok where, fans enjoyed seeing all their favourite characters interact out of canon. The biggest example of this is The Big Four which consisted of Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon, Merida from Brave, Rapunzel from Tangled and Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians. People enjoyed experimenting with these characters in the digital space and soon a fandom was created for the purpose of playing with the idea of these characters interacting. Fanfictions, comics and fanart were found in all corners of the internet.
In a way, this could be seen as the first large scale formation of digital dolls being played with in a world sized playdate. People all over the world were having playdates on the internet, regaling in all the stories they were creating with their dolls. The need for play and fun have come with the internet becoming an increasingly difficult place to be. Where people once turned to escape, they are finding more and more information on how everything – yes, everything – is going wrong. Whilst the internet is a vital tool in staying informed, it has also started to lose what made it so appealing all those years ago. This revival of digital play is not only helping people reconnect to their inner child but encouraging play and fun back into the internet that has started to seem more like a black hole void of joy and interest than a digital playground.
Regina and Rodrick are only the start of this movement, Regina’s friends have also found themselves in cross fandom ships and so have many more of our beloved characters. With so many of our favourite digital dolls waiting to be played with, what is stopping us?
