The Importance of Being Canon.
So, I've been sitting on this idea for a while. Heh. I've been sitting at work, half-asleep, with this window open, blank and glaring at me, so I figure...what the hell, I'll just write it. I wasn't going to post this, but changed my mind.
I was thinking lately on the issue of shipping and shippers. More specifically, OTPers...
Shipping Psychology 101: I've come to the conclusion that to be a shipper or an OTPer, in the sense that you avidly pair two people together, is more than just wanting to write two people together just because. Being a shipper is something more deep psychologically. There's a sense of kinship with that ship, if you will. An attachment. This attachment isn't surface or shallow, it's an indicator of something important. Their relationship is an important one in your social construct.
Shippers, and I am one, spend hours upon hours with the characters in their ship. They love them. I love my ships. LOVE. This is true. I dedicate hours of my time and energy to them. Why else would people forgo sleep to write or plan Fic-athons or draw or do any other fandom-related activity? Why else would people spend money on commissions or paid time for communities or fandom-events with people who feel the same? It is because the ship itself becomes an important aspect of oneself. Even to the extent where it becomes a part of what one perceives as their own identity.
I am a Snarry shipper. I am a Zukafuji shipper. I ship other things, yes, and love them too, but these are my OTPs. These are the ships that I dedicate my time and energy to. These are ships I've given up sleep and money and time for.
Why else, if these things are not part of our own self, would we get upset when someone attacks them? There are many things in this world I like. There are many things in this world that I like and others hate. There are many things in this world that I like, others hate, and are quite vocal about it. I don't care that much about that.
However, why is it that people get defensive when people don't like their ship? Why is it that so many people are so insistent that their ship is "more canon" than others? Even when it really isn't? Even when it's not even a possibility? Even when it really doesn't matter?
Because, as I see it, canon=valid. If your ship is canon, therefore valid, then you are valid. If someone attacks your ship, makes it invalid, it's as if they are insulting you yourself. A choice that you make. They way you think, feel, see, perceive. It's to say there is something "not right" with the way you perceive the world. That sort of feeling breeds anger, which in turn makes people lash out at those that hate what they love.
It's as natural of a reaction as a mother hovering over her young, attacking any would-be dangers.
Therefore, fandom plays a larger role with people than on the surface. It provides a family, kinship, and protection of a sorts from those who would threaten your sense of self. Strange, really, when on the surface, it seems to be all about these characters that are given a larger stage upon which to act, and in reality, fandom, these characters, are so much more.
I was thinking lately on the issue of shipping and shippers. More specifically, OTPers...
Shipping Psychology 101: I've come to the conclusion that to be a shipper or an OTPer, in the sense that you avidly pair two people together, is more than just wanting to write two people together just because. Being a shipper is something more deep psychologically. There's a sense of kinship with that ship, if you will. An attachment. This attachment isn't surface or shallow, it's an indicator of something important. Their relationship is an important one in your social construct.
Shippers, and I am one, spend hours upon hours with the characters in their ship. They love them. I love my ships. LOVE. This is true. I dedicate hours of my time and energy to them. Why else would people forgo sleep to write or plan Fic-athons or draw or do any other fandom-related activity? Why else would people spend money on commissions or paid time for communities or fandom-events with people who feel the same? It is because the ship itself becomes an important aspect of oneself. Even to the extent where it becomes a part of what one perceives as their own identity.
I am a Snarry shipper. I am a Zukafuji shipper. I ship other things, yes, and love them too, but these are my OTPs. These are the ships that I dedicate my time and energy to. These are ships I've given up sleep and money and time for.
Why else, if these things are not part of our own self, would we get upset when someone attacks them? There are many things in this world I like. There are many things in this world that I like and others hate. There are many things in this world that I like, others hate, and are quite vocal about it. I don't care that much about that.
However, why is it that people get defensive when people don't like their ship? Why is it that so many people are so insistent that their ship is "more canon" than others? Even when it really isn't? Even when it's not even a possibility? Even when it really doesn't matter?
Because, as I see it, canon=valid. If your ship is canon, therefore valid, then you are valid. If someone attacks your ship, makes it invalid, it's as if they are insulting you yourself. A choice that you make. They way you think, feel, see, perceive. It's to say there is something "not right" with the way you perceive the world. That sort of feeling breeds anger, which in turn makes people lash out at those that hate what they love.
It's as natural of a reaction as a mother hovering over her young, attacking any would-be dangers.
Therefore, fandom plays a larger role with people than on the surface. It provides a family, kinship, and protection of a sorts from those who would threaten your sense of self. Strange, really, when on the surface, it seems to be all about these characters that are given a larger stage upon which to act, and in reality, fandom, these characters, are so much more.