Your Guide To Fandom Ships and New Characters That Interfere With Them

[obsession_inc]

Some times, when one main character and another main character keep looking at each other intensely, and get scared for each other's safety, and each finds the other's company and opinions more valuable than anyone else's, and both main characters are pretty hot and they have chemistry like WHOA, a ship is born.  And shippers board this ship and

Comments

[troubleinchina]

*waves tiny solidarity flag*
I'll just be over here, in love with Alicia/Kalinda.

[lyssie]

*joins corner, brings booze*

Here from metafandom

[sweetcarolanne]

I don't really have issues with minor characters being brought in as relationships for major ones, though it is annoying if that is their sole purpose - regardless of gender. I like characters to have some importance to the plot.

And as a slasher, I do have some alternatives to your list there that I sometimes use if a female character moves in on a male couple that I slash:

1) Create an OT3 of the girl and the guys (I have no objections to some het, especially with a dominant woman)
2) Do the femmeslash thing as per your Example 2, Number 6! :D

[margi_lynn]

This post is awesome! Thank you for sharing :)

[lilacsigil]

Fandom is wise to what these minor characters are for

I'm not a shipper at all, and I find it intensely annoying when the PTB suddenly introduce a romantic interest for a main character, because it almost always takes the focus off the teamwork aspects or basic premise of the show! Occasionally, it's very well done and adds to the characterisation of the major character (JJ on Criminal Minds for example); mostly, it just leaves me cranky that they got their het in my gen!

ETA: I'm not disagreeing with any of your premises - more noting that we're not all shippers. I do try to not hate on minor characters, who are often female - and I do find it far less annoying when it's a rare canon same-sex relationship, because at least, then, some thought has usually gone into it!

[heather]