What really annoys me is the assumption that shipping is the end-all and be-all of fanfic. Not that I don't ship, but my shipping is *friend*shipping. What is this idea that a platonic friendship can't possibly be as interesting or as deep as a romantic/sexual relationship? It seems that somehow everyone's gotten it into their heads that platonic equals boring and shallow, and that the depths haven't been truly explored until and unless someone has an orgasm.
AMEN, sister!!! I really do not understand the compulsion of so many people for 'shipping. A little romance, with canon couples or OCs is fine, but the insistence on OTPs that are not even remotely canon puzzles me.
As for AUs, it all depends. As a sidetrack, occasionally, or an exploration of how a little twist in events would have affected canon--those sorts of AUs I do like.
The kind in which the stories have absolutely nothing to do with canon except the character's names? Those strike me as totally pointless.
Personally, my favorites are gapfillers and gen friendship stories.
Mine too. And I should have amended and said that I will sometimes read the type of AU you described, *if* they don't stray too far or start distorting the characters until I don't recognize them.
On non-canon pairings, some of them I can *kinda* see if I look at them sideways, but others leave me scratching my head. I think sometimes that all some people need is for Character A to look at Character B for more than two seconds, and they extrapolate a torrid love affair (sometimes with marriage and babies). Even if in canon, all Character A did was ask Character B to pass the salt.
I suppose I can understand it in fandoms that are movie or TV based-- if a fan is attracted to certain characters because they are good-looking or "cute", I can see their desire to pair them up with someone they find equally attractive.
But in a book-based fandom, it just makes no sense at all for certain pairings-- sometimes with characters that never even met one another in canon, or are no more than names in passing. (And while some people might say that the actors affected LotR, what about the Silm? Some of the pairings that people say are their favorites there just make me scratch my head and go "huh"?
I suppose I can understand it in fandoms that are movie or TV based-- if a fan is attracted to certain characters because they are good-looking or "cute", I can see their desire to pair them up with someone they find equally attractive.
What I want to tell these writers is, "Just because *you* find two characters attractive does not mean they will automatically find *each other* attractive, let alone fall into bed together, assuming they ever even met or spoke in canon." I get that for some people the fantasy is what it's all about, and that's fine if that's what they find fun.
But sometimes it looks like that's all there is out there, and finding fic that's based in at least *some* canonical "reality" is like the proverbial needle in a haystack.
"What really annoys me is the assumption that shipping is the end-all and be-all of fanfic. Not that I don't ship, but my shipping is *friend*shipping. What is this idea that a platonic friendship can't possibly be as interesting or as deep as a romantic/sexual relationship? It seems that somehow everyone's gotten it into their heads that platonic equals boring and shallow, and that the depths haven't been truly explored until and unless someone has an orgasm."
AMEN, sister!!! I really do not understand the compulsion of so many people for 'shipping. A little romance, with canon couples or OCs is fine, but the insistence on OTPs that are not even remotely canon puzzles me.
As for AUs, it all depends. As a sidetrack, occasionally, or an exploration of how a little twist in events would have affected canon--those sorts of AUs I do like.
The kind in which the stories have absolutely nothing to do with canon except the character's names? Those strike me as totally pointless.
Personally, my favorites are gapfillers and gen friendship stories.
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On non-canon pairings, some of them I can *kinda* see if I look at them sideways, but others leave me scratching my head. I think sometimes that all some people need is for Character A to look at Character B for more than two seconds, and they extrapolate a torrid love affair (sometimes with marriage and babies). Even if in canon, all Character A did was ask Character B to pass the salt.
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But in a book-based fandom, it just makes no sense at all for certain pairings-- sometimes with characters that never even met one another in canon, or are no more than names in passing. (And while some people might say that the actors affected LotR, what about the Silm? Some of the pairings that people say are their favorites there just make me scratch my head and go "huh"?
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What I want to tell these writers is, "Just because *you* find two characters attractive does not mean they will automatically find *each other* attractive, let alone fall into bed together, assuming they ever even met or spoke in canon." I get that for some people the fantasy is what it's all about, and that's fine if that's what they find fun.
But sometimes it looks like that's all there is out there, and finding fic that's based in at least *some* canonical "reality" is like the proverbial needle in a haystack.
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Very well said!Ienjoyed reading this.
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