On the topic of shipping wars... · 10:11am Aug 7th, 2016
Welp, your old Uncle Elric has some things to say again, so I appreciate all of you coming here and spending some time with me. Now as you can see, I chose us all a spot in the shade, but it's still a hot day, so you may want to go and buy some lemonade from that stand over there. Don't worry about the product -- I had a taste myself earlier, plus they're good kids. Never cause any trouble in the neighborhood.
Come to that, why not head to the mom-and-pop store just down the block and buy yourself some snacks? We'll pretend we're having a picnic while old Uncle Elric talks at ya. Sound good? Good. Find yourself a comfy spot on the grass, or maybe one of those nearby park benches, or whatever works for you. Your Uncle Elric has had wonky knees pretty much since birth -- remind me to show you what my tracks look like the next time it snows -- so I hope you understand why I'm sitting on the soapbox instead of standing, as is the tradition.
So it's been brought to my attention by our pal Professor Scoots that there's been some ugliness goin' 'round lately about romantic relationships for characters. Here's what your old Uncle Elric has to say about that topic:
Cut it out.
.
.
.
.
Okay, Professor Scoots is making "keep going" gestures at me, so I guess I'd better expand on that. Uncle Elric is gonna be blunt with you: this is stupid. It's pointless. There's no reason for it. You don't have to tell me if you're one of the people doing it, just stop, that's all. You're making yourself look bad. (If that's not your style, don't sweat it; Uncle Elric is talking to everyone in general, not accusing you of something you're not doing.) And if you know someone who's engaged in this kind of thing, try to encourage them to stop.
For the people who are caught up in these shipping wars, I want you to take a moment and think about it -- really think about it.
You have in your mind a pretend pairing of two imaginary characters, and you discover that someone else likes a different pretend pairing that includes one of those imaginary characters... but that imaginary character's imaginary significant other is different from the one you've chosen. So you get bent out of shape. You post a ranting blog entry. You trade insults with anyone who likes that other pretend pairing of two imaginary characters. You write a spiteful fanfic meant to belittle the other imaginary significant other(s), or show why your chosen imaginary significant other is superior. Maybe you draw some fan art that shows your chosen imaginary romantic partner acting decidely out of character, violently expressing your misbegotten anger against other imaginary love interests.
Do you realize how INSANE that all sounds?
It serves no purpose. It takes a lot of your time and energy that could be put to better uses. It makes the fandom less pleasant, less enjoyable. It makes people wonder what the hell is wrong with you. For the love of all that's pony, why would you do that kind of thing?! We've all got issues -- Uncle Elric has his fair share and then some -- but you don't need to express yours this way. And you sure as hell don't need to fill out a subscription card for more issues.
Repeat to yourself, "It's just a show; I should really just relax."
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--Sweetie Belle
It sounds so insane that I didn't actually realize people actually did this. XD
Also welcome back, it's great to hear from you again ^^
4136695
It can be difficult for those of us who don't qualify as "mentally interesting" to truly imagine the depths of derp that can be reached by those who are.
This is, of course, a good thing.
To be fair, it isn't as bad in pony as some other fandoms. Back in the day, the Harry / Hermione shippers were ravenous in their hatred of the Weasleys in general and Ron and Ginny in particular.
And, of coarse, in some other fandoms you get guys like Dakari King Mykan, who are legitimately insane.
That said, some people here do take their shipping far, far too seriously.
Odds are, in a few years, they will be quite embarrassed by their behaviour.
4136707
Some of the Harry / Hermione shippers. I've been known to ship Harry / Hermione myself, and I quite like the Weasleys.
Of course, later, I decided I'd quite like to see Luna / Hermione shipped, but most of the fanfic writers didn't seem to go that route...
I like shipping, but it's more personal preference. I'll read things with any ship, as long as the author can make it work well. In fact, I really like to read things with offbeat ships you wouldn't usually think of...
--arcum42
4136710
My apologies, I should have made the fact that this was not universal more clear
For myself, I like most any ship providing:
A) It's well written and makes sense for the characters.
B) The author doesn't feel the need to go Ron the Death Eater with a character from a rival ship.
4136710
I find it's best if I just stay away from the water entirely.
4136713
Eh, I like Ron. I just think that if Ron and Hermione were married, they'd drive each other crazy.
I'd pretty much agree with both of your points. I also tend to really dislike fanfics involving love potions as a gimmick. You know that one, I'm sure...
--arcum42
I'm in the camp that didn't know we had shipping wars of any significance. But then again, I've never cared about shipping, so I suppose there's no reason why I would know.
Princess Celestia x Gummy is OTP, and anyone who says otherwise must be destroyed.
4136714
But if you avoid the water, you miss all the Hogwarts/Giant Squid fanfics!
--arcum42
As someone who doesn't like shipping and is thus an outside observer who doesn't understand the feelings these people may be carrying around, I really have to ask: what exactly do they think they'll get out of this? It's like when an author attacks someone for not liking their story. What do they want the other person to do? Apologise? Admit that they're wrong (even though almost none of it is supported by canon and thus entirely opinion-based)? Suck them off? Convert to their
crazy cult of not-at-all implied or canon romance between two fictional charactersOTP?It's completely and utterly pointless.
I'll say this - most of the MLP shipping wars are hiLARious compared to the ones I've seen in the past.
Of course, I've long since learned to not take things like this seriously, and just point and snicker at the people who do, so that may be a factor.
That, and the fact that the fandom seems less likely to resolve their fandom wars through copious amounts of terrible rape/revenge/hurt/comfort fics.
4136799
Well, there's been a lot of that in the FIMfiction community as well. Haters behave like haters generally because of their inability to accept that anyone holds a different interpretation of "the facts" than theirs, and there are few areas where interpretation can vary as widely as in relationships! And people who would otherwise be far too shy to voice an opinion on more general issues (say, whether or not Scootaloo is an orphan) can get positively rabid when you challenge their favorite ship (ship Scoots with anypony other than Rainbow Dash).
Personally I'll never understand why some people get so upset that someone might have a different version of 'headcanon' than theirs. Seriously, it's just a show...
Preach it, brother!
I've never really fully understood why people get so ludicrously bent out of shape over imaginary scenarios involving imaginary characters. But then, I've never understood why people get similarly bent out of shape over the performance of sporting teams vs. other sporting teams, that said people aren't directly involved with. Us vs. Them in-group/out-group dynamics, I guess, something that's just part of human nature; or perhaps, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, it's what we have instead of God.
This is pretty much how I feel, too. By the way, can I ask how old you are in real life, or is that too private?
Elric, The fandom is in a bad fucking place. Your right. Why the fuck would someone argue over some characters (that most people Jack off to) because they aren't paired with so and so. The fandom is fucked. Im leaving it.
Also I'm pretty sure that the lemonade I bought is just piss.
4136715
I have the new Harry potter book. Yay me. It's crap.
4137021
I'm the same way about that as well.
Exactly. You should hear me when I'm being snide about the topic -- I've referred to people dressed in team gear as wearing "gang colors", for instance. And for the past two or three years, I've usually made at least one or two Facebook posts per football season talking about the clash of tribes over who has the best totem. (I live in Denver, and I recall that I started doing this when our tribe of Angry Horse was facing the tribe of Black Bird in some sort of championship game.)
Of course it is, but that doesn't mean we have to encourage it as much as we do.
There are two major religions in the state of Texas: Christianity and football.
4137415
Let's just say that my thirties are in the rearview mirror.
4137958
Oh, look -- a "leaving the fandom" post. Shall we expect you back in two days, or in three?
4139214 Ok, got it.
4139214
Yeah I'm leaving this site, wait. Oh shit. I'm back.
*jumps out window.*
But seriously Elric the fandom is fucked the only reason I'm here is to read some stories. And clean some shit up.
4139214
Reminds me of a few years ago when the local football team won the Superbowl in the first time in ever. Fans rioted and caused a notable amount of damage. People in this town don't riot, as a rule (even when we should), we generally have to import our rioters from out of state (like the Eugene, Oregon black-bloc types). On the good side, the fans also set up a fund to repair the damage almost immediately afterwards.
Yeah, I've gotten that comment from clients in various Southern states as well. It's been slowly becoming that way here, as more out-of-towners move to the region for the tech industry. Before that, our predominantly Scandinavian stoicism has kept us from getting too enthusiastic about anything. I think growing up in that particular mindset is a large part of what kept me aloof from the various early online religious wars -- Mac vs. PC, Windows vs. Linux, New Trek vs. Old Trek -- and all the numerous shipping battles in the various fandoms I've been a part of.
Aw, thank you, Uncle Elric. I should have said "thank you" earlier, but other things, both Pony and non-Pony, beckoned. You're dead right, of course. Aside from everything else, passionate anti-shipping is a good way to make yourself unhappy. If one of your favorite ships involves a member of the Mane Six, you're practically guaranteed to be unhappy. They're the most popular characters, and it's going to happen.
4136707
Oh, my God, yes, and it was so annoying. I think some of it was that many young women saw themselves as Hermione, which is understandable enough. And then "they" wound up with the hero's doofy best friend. Now, honestly, I like Ron. He's Harry's first friend, not Hermione, and he often instinctively does the exact right thing. It's kind of neat the way that the female character is the intellectual one and the male character is the feeling one.
I have in my marginal notes:
Harry: Courage!
Hermione: Research!
Ron: Tea!
The overreaction was incredible, and it did often mean fans wrote fanfics in which Ron became a wife-beating, cheating alcoholic, whose unpleasant death came as a relief to the REAL couple. I don't know why that was supposed to be a happy ending.
4136715 Which fanfic? Love potions are really popular.
Ron and Hermione, well--for them, bickering is a kind of flirting, followed by, um, age-appropriate expressions of affection. Harry really hates that. And it could also be that, while Rowling has many, many strengths as a writer, writing romance is not one of them.
4136718 This requires a George Takei "oh, my." That, or the declaration that this is against my OTP: Neville/Giant Squid! En garde!
(Yes, that fic really exists, and no, I do not really ship it).
4136799 They don't write fics like that? I remember the pile of fixfics/revenge fics in the wake of Filli Vanilli. It's only a matter of time. That, plus YA fics usually aggressively capitalize on this by having stupid, unnecessary love triangles. I was so glad when I got through the Lunar Chronicles and there were No. Love. Triangles. Love weirdness, yes, but that's ok.
4137021
4139214
4140506 I lived in four Midwestern states over the course of a decade, most of which was spent in college towns. I've seen those riots. D-U-M-M. The worse was the year that the Packers went to the Super Bowl and the Badgers went to the Rose Bowl. Usually goes along with heavy drinking, too. And you're trying to live and teach among this madness. Feh.
4148943
That gimmick in general, really. I was thinking more of the broad group of fanfics. You see, Harry find out that the Weasleys have been giving him and Hermione love potions to make them fall in love with Ginny and Ron, then the two of them get together, while estranging themself from the Weasleys. It happened so many times...
I just don't see them having that much in common other then Harry, and that's not really the basis for a marriage. I also didn't really see the bickering so much as them liking each other as being irritated with each other, if you know what I mean. But you are right in that she isn't good at writing romance.
She's also not great with character death. Part of where I get irritated with her is, well, I ship Remus/Tonks, and loved both characters. I like reading orphan!
ScootalooHarry getting adopted by Sirius Black. She kills off a bunch of the interesting characters offhand, then doesn't write a proper impact for their deaths in the story...Hogwarts x Giant Squid is a real fanfic, too!
I don't stick fervently by one true pairing, anyways. I've perfectly willing to be shipping Neville x Luna one moment, and be shipping Luna with Harry the next. I'm also a sucker for sympathetic Snape stories, really. I've read so many crack fanfics and examples of practically every cliche that exists in the Harry Potter universe...
--arcum42