pairing name conventions and pairings

[lazulisong]

So I was thinking about pairing name conventions and being annoyed at the younger fans because I am allowed after five years, as long as I don't actually hurt them. The thing is that a lot of W-fen come into JP fandoms and -- I know what I am talking about, because I did the same damn thing -- don't understand the logic of the pairing name

Comments

[tokyofish]

Okay, wanted to comment, so really quick, I've always used the "/" and the "x" interchangeably. Though I lean towards the latter, because when I got into 'ficcing the "/" was used mostly for slash as a holdover from the old W-fen system, I think. (It is, after all, how the term "slash" was derived.) So I went with the x. Plus, generally, I don't write yaoi, shonen ai, or slash, and it's not like ExT didn't engrain it in me that that's how you do it. >__> And I've also seen SxS a lot for Sakura x Syaoran (She really DOES go first, huh? Weird. It's probably because she's actually the more dominant personality, being the main character. ^^;) but this might be a by-product of ExT, actually.

The J-Fen, unhelpfully, aren't exactly consistent either. They can and DO switch between NameName and the "x" for het pairings. I prefer this myself for particular reasons in the case of certain pairings. Take Zoro x Nami (One Piece) for instance. ZoNa means "prostitute" in Italian. T__T Also, I don't think I've ever seen it shortened to ZoNa on a japanese site. It's always ZoroNami. (Which is weird because you get ZoSan, SanZo, RuNami, ZoRuffy, etc. etc. ^^;)

The Gundam Wing number = name thing has been covered by other people, but it's also interesting to note that the women in the series are denoted by first initial to go along with this naming scheme. So for Duo x Hilde, you get 2 x H (which cannot be confused with Heero because Heero = 1).

As for "twee" (I don't even know what this is but I'm extrapolating from context?) naming, some series started out that way and later the J-Fen version started filtering its way in. (i.e. Digimon) I still go by Takari, Taira, Takato, Yamaichi, etc. etc. just because that's how I learned it first (before I even knew there WERE naming conventions). As far as I can tell this came about because 1)the names were easy to stick together in okay-sounding ways and 2)it was first introduced to the U.S. on television and there was never an official Japanese language release here. Also, it started broadcasting right after the original did, so there was no prior western fandom. Even when the second season rolled around, W-Fen naming conventions were still in effect (Kenyako). I'm not sure about the rest of the series, but I think it's up to the initial fandom to establish the naming conventions peculiar to their own series. ^^;;

And good for you for avoiding the swampy morass that comprises 'shipping wars. =)

[chelle_sama]

Very true about ExT brainwashing us (oh, when we were little fanbabies ourselves! How cute we were then! How precious and naive! Thinking back on those times, I just want....to take down everything I wrote then. God, I was bad. Why didn't anyone say?!) with that 'x'. I, too, use it for just about every pairing.

That / is just too awkward, being so close to the period and aposthrophe and all. I never get it on the first go.