It's That Time Again!

[greeneyedlady]

That's right! It's time for my approximately-once-a-year-but-really-whenever-I-feel-like-it Shipping Survey! This is the third time I am posting it and, like the last time, there are a few new questions to keep it interesting. But a lot is the same. So maybe people are sick of this, of answering the same questions yet again, but there are some new

Comments

[misdre]

I'd love to answer to your additional questions but I have so many pairings that I adore that it'd be a bit difficult.. But in general, I ship slash more than het (not really because I'd prefer slash but good het pairings are somewhat rare in my fandoms). Hmm, one of my patterns could be that the characters come from different cultures and share their experiences with each other.

[greeneyedlady]

Hmm, one of my patterns could be that the characters come from different cultures and share their experiences with each other.

This is one I have never heard of before so I am intrigued. It makes sense with Hetalia (since everyone is a different culture and so many pairings fit the description), but so many stories have characters from such similar backgrounds. This is a really interesting take on things. Thank you for contributing!

[misdre]

Yeah, it only works in some particular series (in my case Hetalia, Reborn, Kyou Kara Maou and some CLAMP series). But that is probably the only pattern I have.
You're welcome!

[cottoni]

I like to ship the lesser likely boy because I find canon ships quite boring unless its high quality like Ren/Kyouko or is the main male is really fun/interesting - but I always pick from the first chapter, if I don't, I'll generally not worry about the shipping (unless a great guy turns up later, like in Strobe Edge). My favourite romances are harem or LT stories, giving me more options. If its just a straight on romance, don't usually bother with shipping. I usually have low expectations of my ship becoming canon and get enthusiastically happy when it then does come to fruition.

I really only participate actively in the VK fandom, other places, I generally only lurk.

[greeneyedlady]

I have a tendency to ship "hopeless" pairings too, to be honest. I think a part of it does stem from the fact that in manga (which comprises most of my fandoms) there are certain cliches and tropes that are very rigidly adhered to. Even when a story is presented as a reverse harem or love triangle, it is usually obvious from chapter 1 who the final lovers will be. And I always hold out hope that a manga will surprise me. Yes, to me it does seem like the heroine always winds up with the most boring choice, but maybe it has less to do with his character than with the predictability of the story. For example: in Ouran High School Host Club, Tamaki's personality is quite the antithesis of the guys the heroine usually winds up with in a reverse harem, and yet I still feel lukewarm about it... and I realize it must be because, from the start, the manga set it up so that there was no other pairing that stood any chance

[cottoni]

There is something fun about hopeless pairing, they can be much more heartwrenching and moving. Actually, with Ouran, Tamaki was such a weird choice (and early on in my manga career) I didn't recognise him as the cliche choice, I shipped it until I realised that he was (up till about the beach trip) and then I got bored of Ouran, it would have been better had they not dragged that story out for so long, its long gotten tired and the comedy has dulled.

Which one is Lavi/Lenalee from? At least with Shounen, it doesn't revolve 90% around the romance like 90% of shoujo does. :p

Yeah, lots of ppl got banned in MF. Its pathetically quiet in there right now. lol.

[greeneyedlady]

Indeed I lost interest in Ouran several volumes ago. It was, as you mentioned, the diminished humor in favor of Tamaki's lame angst, and also I thought Bisco's art became less appealing. I guess that is pretty shallow of me. Most manga artists, I like how their art style evolves over time. But hers I thought got worse.

Lavi/Lenalee is a sidekick/main girl pairing from D.Gray-man. Being a shounen manga, though, you know that the artist will pair her with the main, generic hero. Sidekicks have no chance.

[interwork]

To answer my poll question first: Yes, indeedy, shipping has affected how I enjoy a story. XD I'll just give a couple of examples. I adore Rukia in Bleach--when I read the story without any shipping influences, I just absolutely loved her. But I don't love her with Ichigo, and I lean the way Kubo does--that they have a deep bond but it's not romantic. But nowadays, due to some of the more vocal IchiRuki shippers (sorry if any are around here), I cringe whenever I know Rukia is in a chapter, because I know how things will be twisted. (This applies also to Kaname/Yuuki and Lelouch/Kallen if anyone is familiar with their stories as well

[greeneyedlady]

Thanks for contributing. Bleach is actually a good representation of one of my shipping quirks that seems to particularly affect shounen manga. In shounen series, I rarely have much investment in the main character's love life. Maybe it is because I usually find the heroes of shounen manga to be kind of... generic, and they fail to capture my imagination. In Bleach, I would say I like Renji/Rukia and Ishida/Orihime with Ichigo being a "chaste hero." But I really don't care about any of those pairings too much. I like Aizen/Momo, Izuru/Momo, Rangiku/Gin, Kensei/Mashiro, etc. I just find them more interesting. In Eyeshield 21, I don't really care about Sena's love life (though Suzuna is the clear choice). In Reborn! I don't care much about Tsuna's love life. It is all about pairing the sidekicks and minor characters in shounen manga.

Also: Yay for someone else who liked Shirley with Lelouch!

[greeneyedlady]

Thank you so much, Mindy! I hate to say it, but shipping definitely has affected my enjoyment of series. I enjoyed Fruits Basket. From the start, I knew it was set up to end Kyo/Tohru (see an above comment I made about the predictability of romance in manga), but I shipped Yuki/Tohru. This is a case where I never expected my ship to happen, but if it had, I would love the series so epically much. A more straight example would be Vampire Knight (which hasn't ended yet). This is a rare case where I do not know how the love triangle will resolve, but I can say for certain that if it ends Kaname/Yuuki (as opposed to Zero/Yuuki) I will think less of the series and its creator. My shiny new fandom, The Hunger Games, presents a similar problem. I will be seriously bummed if the last book ends Gale/Katniss.

I am lucky enough that I have yet to be affiliated with a ship whose supporters reacted embarrassingly bad when it didn't happen. Do you mind me asking what ship(s) you are referring to when you mention this experience?

[qualapec]

Interjection- I started watching the series after it ended, but I have a lot of Zutara shippers on my flist, so I both shipped them before I knew who they were and saw the raeg at the finale. But then I saw the finale and it all seemed...very disproportionate to the rants I saw.

[alliterations]

What are your ships?

we'd be here for a while, since i have a lot, but my OTP of OTPs is France/Canada.

Do you mostly ship slash? Het? Both equally?

Depends on the fandom, really. In Hetalia and Durarara!!, it's mostly slash, but in fandoms like The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, and How I Met Your Mother, I'm almost exclusively a Het shipper.

Do your ships follow certain patterns or have commonalities?

Ladykiller in Love trope. 'nuff said.

Will you pimp this poll out to other people so I can get more feedback? Pretty please?
Sure ^.^

[greeneyedlady]

Thanks for contributing! It is actually a pretty strong trend I've noticed that het is more popular and common in "western" media fandoms than is manga/anime/game fandom. I have always leaned (sometimes defiantly against the dominant fandom) towards het, even in my manga and anime series. Hetalia is my first fandom where I am really into the slash and that is largely for practical purposes. For what it's worth, references to TVtropes are always very welcome in my LJ. And thanks for any pimpage, too!