RANTS!

[profshallowness]

So, I came across someone using bromance as a descriptor for a fic featuring a man and a woman some days ago. My initial response was REALLY!? Then felt I needed to write out why I found it problematic, and while I wait for my food to be ready, I might as well share it.

Comments

[helsinkibaby]

I've not seen that but now it rankles with me too! My personal one is ship-to me, it's a relationship, be it any combination of numbers or genders but it's romantic! So when I see on Hawaii 5-0 places "ship: Danny x Grace" (father daughter!) I actually want to scratch my eyes out!

Maybe we've been in fandom too long?!

[profshallowness]

I wouldn't say the misuse of 'ship enrages me, but it confuses me, because I understand the word the same way that you do. It probably works as false advertisisng, I wonder if writers get comments like 'oh I thought it was going to be shippy, not boring gen'?

A lot of how one uses terms is probably is down to when one came into fandom, I agree, but I'm enough of a pedant that 'bro' means 'brother' and 'male' to me, so the misuse of 'bromance' irritated me on that level, and on others once I started scratching under the surface.