I commented on this at your other place (dreamwidth?) but it showed as anonymous b/c I don't have an account there. If you can't figure out which comment was me, it was the brilliant insightful one. :-p
I wonder if I might have been like this in my early years as a fan, but I'm certainly not, now. Fandom is fun. Just fun. And if it doesn't go the way I like, there's artwork or fic out there to cater to the way I like! ;)
Agreed though that some fans take it way too much to heart.
Some of it is probably age, where younger fans can get more invested than older ones tend to. But I think a lot of it is just how you're wired as a fan. I know I can't get really fannish about a show unless there is a specific character I can't get enough of. No matter how much I love the show in general or enjoy the characters I won't be spending time making icons or reading fanfic if I don't have an OTC.
Okay to answer your question to the best of my ability, I think it all depends on how latched on you are to your ship of choice. With me, I get ridiculously attached, especially when I start becoming creative with the pair, so yes, there is definitely a desire to see my "wishes" come true on screen. Though I have to admit that while I want my ships to come canon, I do think that there's more to work with when they're not. Hell, I prefer my own headcanons because the show doesn't do it for me, and they probably wouldn't do it the way I wanted...so I don't honestly know why I get so frustrated about things most of the time, I think it's just hurt feelings because of my pairings always getting ignored (seriously it's like clockwork at this point). I guess I just crave some attention.
Oh, I have no idea if anyone does! That was me picking a noncanon-ship out of the air. *g* They do have chemistry though and there is flirting, so why not?
Though I have to admit that while I want my ships to come canon, I do think that there's more to work with when they're not.
That makes sense. Once a ship becomes canon, that is it and all those possibilities narrow down to what's on screen. However, your chosen couple is kissing so that probably makes up for a lot. :)
It does surprise me how little fic of any sort there is for Gold/Regina. Or for any of the rare pairs in this fandom that I've looked at.
*chuckles* I'm tempted to consider Castle/Laney as a crackship now that you've put the idea into my head.
Unfortunately the only Gold/Regina fic that exists that isn't my own is maybe five or six pieces I've found on ff.net (I don't think I've seen *any* on AO3 but I haven't searched in a while nor have I put my own up there....need to get on that.), so yeah there isn't much.
I think they'd be good together! She and Esposito have broken up and Castle/Beckett is boring me lately. The more I think about it, the more I like Castle/Laney and Beckett/Esposito.
Yeah, get onto AO3. That is one of the places I look for fic.
For people who OTP or at least STRONGLY ship a non-canon, seemingly non-endgame couple on a show, why is it important for the ship to become canon?
D: I would never! The last thing I want is for any of my ships to become canon! I want LESS SHIPPINESS in canon, tbh, 'coz I never feel writers do relationships justice. It's all about ratings and stringing along the audience with them, and very rarely about the integrity of the characterization and valid development of the relationship. I wouldn't want any couple I loved to be tainted with canon-ness!
(I used to ship Sam/Jack from Stargate, but god, the writers made me HATE them after several seasons. Same with House/Cuddy- I had a few moments of smugness, after the Hameron shippers were picking on us for some time, and it was like HAHA, IN YOUR FACE, but ugh, after the way the writers destroyed the relationship, I regret it ever happening in canon)
All I want from shows is for the characters to interact and have exchanges I can read subtext into but which aren't actively trying to
( ... )
Hee. I agree that writers can't seem to write for ongoing potential relationships. UST can only go on for just so long until it goes flat and they always let go on too long. And I COMPLETELY agree about Sam/Jack! I shipped them too but it got ridiculous after a while and then I wanted nothing to do with them.
Yes, accidental shippiness is where it's at. Where the writers aren't intending to go there but the actors can't seem to help having piles of chemistry. Perhaps chemistry is better when it isn't weighted down by too much meaning! (Though I think it can work very well in a miniseries or movie where things can build to a resolution - the problem is it's impossible to maintain a satisfying balance over time.)
I was a hard-core House/Wilson shipper back in the day. I mean, we're talking 5 years ago, but still. I desperately wanted that relationship to become canon. However, I don't know if I could really explain why. Maybe because I wanted validation? Maybe because I wanted to see what the writers could do with it? I think part of me felt that if it wasn't canon, then it wasn't legitimate.
But, that's no longer the case for me. I've found that what happens in fan fiction is (most of the time) vastly superior to what writers do with a couple who finally gets together on screen. In a lot of cases, they ruin - ABSOLUTELY RUIN - the relationship or the show, and since my pairings are so dear to me, I don't want that to happen.
I guess the question is with fanfiction and subtext who needs canon?
Yep, this is exactly how I feel now. I go back and watch old episodes of House and squee over how fun the subtext is. You actually bring them together on the show and you lose all that fun subtext (and angsty fan fiction).
Validation seems like a good reason to want on-screen text for your ship. I definitely seen that in fandoms with ship wars - if one ship becomes canon and the other doesn't the canon shippers can get very smug which can be annoying for the non-canon shippers. *g*
In a lot of cases, they ruin - ABSOLUTELY RUIN - the relationship or the show, and since my pairings are so dear to me, I don't want that to happen.
Exactly! Writers seem to find it impossible to write a happy or even dysfunctional but stable romantic relationship. Once it's a romance, the couple needs to be TORN APART.
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Agreed though that some fans take it way too much to heart.
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*coughs* Sorry. That distracted me for a sec.
Okay to answer your question to the best of my ability, I think it all depends on how latched on you are to your ship of choice. With me, I get ridiculously attached, especially when I start becoming creative with the pair, so yes, there is definitely a desire to see my "wishes" come true on screen. Though I have to admit that while I want my ships to come canon, I do think that there's more to work with when they're not. Hell, I prefer my own headcanons because the show doesn't do it for me, and they probably wouldn't do it the way I wanted...so I don't honestly know why I get so frustrated about things most of the time, I think it's just hurt feelings because of my pairings always getting ignored (seriously it's like clockwork at this point). I guess I just crave some attention.
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Though I have to admit that while I want my ships to come canon, I do think that there's more to work with when they're not.
That makes sense. Once a ship becomes canon, that is it and all those possibilities narrow down to what's on screen. However, your chosen couple is kissing so that probably makes up for a lot. :)
It does surprise me how little fic of any sort there is for Gold/Regina. Or for any of the rare pairs in this fandom that I've looked at.
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Unfortunately the only Gold/Regina fic that exists that isn't my own is maybe five or six pieces I've found on ff.net (I don't think I've seen *any* on AO3 but I haven't searched in a while nor have I put my own up there....need to get on that.), so yeah there isn't much.
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Yeah, get onto AO3. That is one of the places I look for fic.
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D: I would never! The last thing I want is for any of my ships to become canon! I want LESS SHIPPINESS in canon, tbh, 'coz I never feel writers do relationships justice. It's all about ratings and stringing along the audience with them, and very rarely about the integrity of the characterization and valid development of the relationship. I wouldn't want any couple I loved to be tainted with canon-ness!
(I used to ship Sam/Jack from Stargate, but god, the writers made me HATE them after several seasons. Same with House/Cuddy- I had a few moments of smugness, after the Hameron shippers were picking on us for some time, and it was like HAHA, IN YOUR FACE, but ugh, after the way the writers destroyed the relationship, I regret it ever happening in canon)
All I want from shows is for the characters to interact and have exchanges I can read subtext into but which aren't actively trying to ( ... )
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Yes, accidental shippiness is where it's at. Where the writers aren't intending to go there but the actors can't seem to help having piles of chemistry. Perhaps chemistry is better when it isn't weighted down by too much meaning! (Though I think it can work very well in a miniseries or movie where things can build to a resolution - the problem is it's impossible to maintain a satisfying balance over time.)
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But, that's no longer the case for me. I've found that what happens in fan fiction is (most of the time) vastly superior to what writers do with a couple who finally gets together on screen. In a lot of cases, they ruin - ABSOLUTELY RUIN - the relationship or the show, and since my pairings are so dear to me, I don't want that to happen.
I guess the question is with fanfiction and subtext who needs canon?
Yep, this is exactly how I feel now. I go back and watch old episodes of House and squee over how fun the subtext is. You actually bring them together on the show and you lose all that fun subtext (and angsty fan fiction).
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In a lot of cases, they ruin - ABSOLUTELY RUIN - the relationship or the show, and since my pairings are so dear to me, I don't want that to happen.
Exactly! Writers seem to find it impossible to write a happy or even dysfunctional but stable romantic relationship. Once it's a romance, the couple needs to be TORN APART.
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