Canon vs Non-Canon Couples

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Todd
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Re: Canon vs Non-Canon Couples

Post by Todd »

I'm not super into shipping, either, I guess. I tend to enjoy canon pairings more, though. I think there are stories where there are hints that two characters will get together, and we as readers/players/viewers want them to get together, and they may end up with someone else. Does continuing to ship them mean you are shipping a non-canon pairing? I empathize with the frustration a fan may feel at this, and I understand the appeal of non-canon pairings as a result.
nyxmidnight
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Re: Canon vs Non-Canon Couples

Post by nyxmidnight »

CuriousLittleBird wrote: (I also have to admit that a couple of crack ships have slipped in...I recently viewed the Pokemon episode "Snow Way Out!" and got one hell of a plot bunny for a Misty/Brock fic. Whaaaat???)
Welcome to the madness, it's how it begins XD

I've been meaning to come back to this topic to say something more intelligent, so here goes.

I view all media through shipping glasses (except stuff featuring kids like Miraculous Ladybug and Undertale because SERIOUS EW). Canon romance bored the unholy hell out of me. More often than not, too, they annoy me, as they're usually heavily heteronormative and the girl is used as a sort of "reward" for the main character for surviving through the plot of the show/game/movie. Hollywood, glaring at you right now.

I also hate the game of "will they/won't they" and the awkward dance of bickering and misunderstanding that signals "OH HE REALLY LOVES YOU HE JUST DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO SAY IT". Screw this. Either communicate like mature people or don't get together because you're too damn immature to be with someone else. Any romantic plot that could be settled in 5 minutes if the people involved just TALKED to each other turns me right off, and romance is rife with those. Serious hate.

I heavily favour relationships born of respect, understanding, and genuine friendship, so I end up shipping non-canon pairings. I don't even usually go for the main non-canon pairing of the fandom: I am interested in the minor characters, the ones pushed to the side by the main couple and the main non-couple, the ones where everything is hinted from the setting but not outright stated. I love characters open to interpretation.

When I need a fix, since my 'ships are numerous but the fans are few and far between, I usually write my own fanfictions, with my own interpretation (for example, I see the Turks as a tight-knit polyamorous group, so I just pick people and run with it). Or I review the canon, because even when my ships are cracky, there is usually a logical reason behind them, and when I look at the canon, I see it. And who knows, I might get inspired... to ship more people :D
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Robin
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Re: Canon vs Non-Canon Couples

Post by Robin »

nyxmidnight wrote: I also hate the game of "will they/won't they" and the awkward dance of bickering and misunderstanding that signals "OH HE REALLY LOVES YOU HE JUST DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO SAY IT". Screw this. Either communicate like mature people or don't get together because you're too damn immature to be with someone else. Any romantic plot that could be settled in 5 minutes if the people involved just TALKED to each other turns me right off, and romance is rife with those. Serious hate.
THISSSSS. This is why Pride and Prejudice actually annoyed me, tbh. No Jane Austen hate, but mannnnnn. I guess I'd just seen the trope copied in so many sitcoms and stuff over the years that when I actually went back to some literature with that same trope, I just gagged. xD

And yet, sometimes romances in real life do play out like that, with both parties unable/unwilling to talk things out. Maybe this trope is meant as a psychological comfort mechanism, to reassure us that "yes, if we talk things out, usually things will work out." LOL
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