Fandom Shipper Questions

[shadowkat]

Have some questions for shippers? (I'm trying not to answer or judge here - because I want to understand perspectives that are different from my own. I'm not sure I'm really a shipper, because while I care about relationships, I care about story more. Happily Ever After is not an ending I want or crave really...although it would be nice on occasion, since tragic endings get rather old.)

Which comes first and foremost or is the most important to you: Ship or Story? Characters Emotional Arc or Ship?

*Do you read a book series or watch a tv show/series solely for the romantic relationship ignoring the rest?
* Or is the "ship" just icing, making the show that much more tasty?
* Or is the characters arcs and their story/overall plot what is important? (ie. even if your favorite "ship" never comes to pass or doesn't work out - that's fine as long as it makes sense to the character's arc and is interesting and crunchy? The story comes before the ship?)

This question is the result of latest flirtation with a fan spoiler board for a urban fantasy novel - where I noticed the vast majority of posters were saying - while the book is good, I'm frustrated because I'm not sure about my ship? Or I'm so happy - my ship may happen! Or I threw the book across the room because it killed my ship? Or my dream is for the character to have her moonlight wedding...with T or I or A? The book in question is NOT a romance novel. So this begs the question - is a happily ever after romance necessary?

Is the ship the reason you are watching or reading? OR is it secondary? Or does it depend on the story? ie. For House and Sherlock - you only watch for House/Wilson or Sherlock/Watson - ignoring everything else. Or for Buffy, you only watched for Buffy/Angel or Buffy/Spike? Yet for another show, say BSG, you didn't ship at all and watched for the entire story?

And to what degree has shipping influenced your fanfic/meta writing? Or for that matter, your abhorrence of shipping influenced your writing, involvement in fandom, and reactions to it?
If Whedon, for example, had killed Spike off in the comics and had Buffy and Angel become a full-time heroic couple - would that have influenced how you viewed the comics? Or what if it was the opposite, if Angel died or was exiled, and Buffy and Spike rode off into the proverbial moonlight (sunlight is a bit hard on vampires)? How would you view say Doctor Who - if Ten had fallen in love with Martha Jones instead of Rose Tyler? And how does this influence your reactions to other's in fandom - do you find shipping a positive or negative or a bit of both kind of thing?

Comments

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

I'm usually not much of a shipper. When I do ship, it's always been a canon pairing; and I care much less about the pairing than the story. The relationships however can make the story deeper and more three dimensional; does that make me a frosting shipper?

And like other have said much better I tend to care about characters first and then care about their relationships. I cared about Buffy long before I cared about Spuffy; I remember thinking that she and Spike falling in love because of Willow's spell was funny, but a little bit horrifying. But I grew to love Spike in season 5, and his loving Buffy was part of that. Frankly I thought their messy, turbulent relationship made both of them more interesting.

I'm not a hard-core DW shipper, but I loved Rose Tyler (I know, I know, don't judge me!) from her first episode, and I do think that both the ninth and tenth doctors loved her. Honestly, If Ten had loved Martha I'd have been very disappointed in him. The fact that he loved Rose and mourned her made him feel more real to me, and I think it made for a more compelling story. YMMV!

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this response - it clarifies a perspective that I've been trying to wrap my head around.

The relationship can make the characters feel more real? Give them more dimension? Or maybe the right word is resonance - make you care about them more? Spike and Buffy being in love - pulled you in, gave Spike a resonance and something that spoke to you, more than say, Spike not caring about her or just wanting to kill her. The idea of the "villain" falling hopelessly and madly in love with the heroine or his "target" can be madly appealing. (It's certainly one of my kinks). And to have the heroine...fall for the villian after this happens, over time, it has an ironic resonance to it. A feeling of hope, almost? As if hate can be squashed by love.

Rose and Ten - Rose in some respects makes Ten more human and explores his capacity for human emotion. (Although, I admittedly preferred Rose and Nine.) So yes, I can see why that ship worked for you.

It's not the happy ending so much as it is...adding a new dimension to the mix?

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

It's not the happy ending so much as it is...adding a new dimension to the mix?

If I wanted a happy ending I'm in the wrong fandom(s)! Sorry, I just watched the last episode of Being Human and am still recovering.

I like the term "resonance". And Yes, Spike loving Buffy gave me something that spoke to me and pulled my into caring about his character. I think most of us can relate to that. I was a entirely new to the Doctor Whoniverse when I watched Rose, but Nine clearly cared about Rose and that gave me an "in" to his character. In both cases that love made both of them seem much more three-dimensional.