alias_sqbr (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alias_sqbr) wrote2012-03-29 04:04 am
alias_sqbr) wrote2012-03-29 04:04 am
What do you mean by "I ship it"?
I've been thinking about the wildly different and sometimes contradictory things that I mean in different contexts by "I ship X/Y" (Or X/Y/Z/W...), and how this can cause miscommunication when people fail to be psychic and realise which meaning I'm using. I think this is a cause of a lot of fannish miscommunication, but would be curious to hear other people's thoughts.
So, when I say "I ship it", I usually mean one or more of the following:
But I don't always think all of these things. For example, with a lot of canon relationships (or even ships with lots of UST) even if I don't think they're perfect for each other I have trouble imagining them with anyone else. Fanworks have to have them together or at least take their relationship seriously and then break it up, otherwise I lose my suspension of disbelief. Thus a believable "happy ending" is more likely to involve making a flawed relationship work than setting the characters up with other people who suit them better, though I may also "ship" these alternate pairings in that I enjoy those fanworks that manage not to set off my suspension of disbelief. Unfortunately I also get jarred by happy endings that simply gloss over the flaws in a relationship, so am generally doomed to writing my own fic and feeling hard done by.
I also ship a lot of relationships because I enjoy the dynamic, not because I necessarily think they should or will actually get together. (see for example my deep love of hateshipping)
Both of these mean that I look at essays explaining why a rival ship is "better" because the characters would be happier, or people saying "I can't believe anyone ships X/Y, they'd be so miserable" and go "Sure, maybe, but how is that relevant?". Then again I don't see the point in "X/Y is better than A/B" shipping arguments in general, you can argue about specific character interpretations being contrary to canon, and try and explain why certain dynamics appeal to you, but I think it's all largely a matter of taste.
EDIT: Since I'm not sure it's clear: I am an inveterate multishipper. Even for canon ships which I really enjoy and have huge trouble imagining not together, I can enjoy works which have them with other people, the creator just has to try harder to convince me. And for many of my favourite ships, there is no canon romance, and as long as the canon friendship is acknowledged I can happily ship all sorts of combinations, eg for Homestuck I am a fan of pretty much any combination of Dave, Rose, Terezi and Aradia into romances and/or friendships(*), and they all have vague but not overwhelming canon support.
So! What do you mean by "I ship it"?
(*)This being Homestuck, there's the question of what kind of romance I'm talking about, but let's not overcomplicate things here :D
So, when I say "I ship it", I usually mean one or more of the following:
- I hope they get together in canon
- I think they are, or will be, together in canon
- I have trouble imagining them with anyone else, and want to see their relationship explored
- I have trouble enjoying fanworks where they are not together
- I think their relationship would be happy and healthy
- I enjoy imagining them together
- I like their shippy dynamic
- I enjoy fanworks about their relationship
- I am able to enjoy fanworks about their relationship
But I don't always think all of these things. For example, with a lot of canon relationships (or even ships with lots of UST) even if I don't think they're perfect for each other I have trouble imagining them with anyone else. Fanworks have to have them together or at least take their relationship seriously and then break it up, otherwise I lose my suspension of disbelief. Thus a believable "happy ending" is more likely to involve making a flawed relationship work than setting the characters up with other people who suit them better, though I may also "ship" these alternate pairings in that I enjoy those fanworks that manage not to set off my suspension of disbelief. Unfortunately I also get jarred by happy endings that simply gloss over the flaws in a relationship, so am generally doomed to writing my own fic and feeling hard done by.
I also ship a lot of relationships because I enjoy the dynamic, not because I necessarily think they should or will actually get together. (see for example my deep love of hateshipping)
Both of these mean that I look at essays explaining why a rival ship is "better" because the characters would be happier, or people saying "I can't believe anyone ships X/Y, they'd be so miserable" and go "Sure, maybe, but how is that relevant?". Then again I don't see the point in "X/Y is better than A/B" shipping arguments in general, you can argue about specific character interpretations being contrary to canon, and try and explain why certain dynamics appeal to you, but I think it's all largely a matter of taste.
EDIT: Since I'm not sure it's clear: I am an inveterate multishipper. Even for canon ships which I really enjoy and have huge trouble imagining not together, I can enjoy works which have them with other people, the creator just has to try harder to convince me. And for many of my favourite ships, there is no canon romance, and as long as the canon friendship is acknowledged I can happily ship all sorts of combinations, eg for Homestuck I am a fan of pretty much any combination of Dave, Rose, Terezi and Aradia into romances and/or friendships(*), and they all have vague but not overwhelming canon support.
So! What do you mean by "I ship it"?
(*)This being Homestuck, there's the question of what kind of romance I'm talking about, but let's not overcomplicate things here :D
no subject
Oh, I don't mean I'm one for ignoring canon completely; but I'm quite happy for AUs to branch off at any moment in time, provided they take account of what was known about canon at the time they were written. So a lot of the post Deathly-Hallows stuff I read ignores the epilogue, because the story takes place immediately following the last chapter, in which case it's often "and then Ron and Hermione broke up", or sometimes "and then Ron and Hermione got divorced" or even "and then Ron got killed".
But if the story goes AU at an earlier point in time, I don't feel it necessary to explicitly break Ron and Hermione up, because it's less clear that they were a couple before then.
And, IMHO, the further from canon a particular ship is, the more I feel that the author needs to explain how the ship happened, even if I feel that it's a ship that would work... depending on the particular ship, I guess. I mean Ron/Lavender is supported by canon, but say, Ron/Luna needs at least a sentence to explain how they got together, rather than the author just assuming that it's obvious to everyone that they were Meant To Be. (Disconcerting example for me: a couple of Snape/Hermione stories I've read that had Harry/Draco as a supporting couple, and the author doesn't bother explaining it other than decreeing that they'd always been secretly attracted to each other. Whut?)
I enjoy friendship gen, and vastly prefer it to emotionless porn, but for me there is a definite distinction between close friendship and romance between characters, and if I want one then the other won't do. I can see how, for you, there'd be less need to ship almost-canon couples.
Oh, I'm not saying there isn't a difference... but most of the time, if I'm happy to see a couple in a romantic pairing, I'm also happy to see them in a friendship pairing - though not necessarily the other way around. For one thing, I don't do slash. But even with het friendships, there are some pairs of characters whom I love their friendship, but it would break my brain if they were romantically involved. Such as the Doctor and Ace. Indeed, the Doctor with most of his companions I just find brain-breaky. Romana/Doctor is good. I can just see Doctor/Rose or maybe Doctor/Martha or Doctor/Tegan, but anyone else? No. Just no.
no subject
Yes, some pairings are more supported by canon than others, and this is not necessarily correlated to how much I like them.
Hmm...yes, I think we're similar here. I definitely have pairs I ship JUST as friends, and if I ship two people romantically and their relationship hasn't had much attention in canon I really enjoy gen fic exploring and building upon their relationship, even if part of me wishes it was shipper :)