I don't get what people see in... (ask the fandoms!)

I think the question is why people write incest for works that don't have it....

Ah, in that case, the lack of filters and lack of need for mass appeal to make a work profitable also applies. People just have a fetish for incest, so they write about their fetish. Just like the thousands of creepy fics about Sonic characters farting for eighteen chapters (don't look those up).

What about when the characters aren't really related but I see them as surrogate brothers and get squicked when they're shipped? How do I find platonic stories of them and not slash?

Search for them and filter out the "romance" genre. Not all romantic fics are marked as such, but it'll at least clear out some of them.

How much anime could be said to be going for mass appeal these days? Or at least, mass appeal among, say, a particular age demographic?

edited 9th Jan '15 9:04:54 PM by KarkatTheDalek

Look at when they are airing. Daytime shows are reasonably mainstream, as their profitability is depending on ratings.

Late night series are an example of the kind of feedback loop that laculus has just described, as they rely on disc sales from the most enthusiastic viewers.

Though like I have said, there is a visible distinction between fetishist writers who are practically begging for the opportunity to find a pair of relatives in a work just so they can ship them, and the kind of works that seem to attract many writers who are evidently uncomfortable with the incest but ship it anyways because it's so blatantly the biggest relationship in the series, and the blood relation is easy to ignore.

Just like you are getting more Foe Yay for something like Death Note or Smallville than for something like Lord of the Rings, where villains rarely interact with heroes, likewise you are inevitably getting more incest for Supernatural and Frozen, than for something like Harry Potter, where even the more prominent family members' relationships are rarely emphasized in canon.

edited 10th Jan '15 5:26:00 AM by Ever9

@Bookworm I think in AO 3 those are signified as Character+Character as opposed to say Character/Character. Though I don't know about others, or even how that particular search function works.

What do you people find appealing about Assassination Classroom?

I've honestly never seen that notation be used on AO 3. My best advice is to just search for the characters you want to read, and then search individually by rating. Stuff if the Mature and Explicit categories are shipping 90% of the time, Teen is shipping 50% and Everyone doesn't have that much either. Searching in general fics (under categories) works pretty well too. Ironically, fanfiction.net is a lot easier to search for non-romantic stuff because they have a "without" on the bottom part of their filter section. Just put the Romance genre in the without section and the vast majority of shipping won't turn up at all. You can even check the "pairing" box and fics with pairings won't show up either. fanfiction.net is way easier for me to search though then AO 3, but AO 3 has nicer formatting.

It's a hilarious take on the "new teacher takes on the problem class" genre of manga/anime, the funny part being that for the most part, the "problem class" isn't really out to make trouble (and they really could if they wanted to). And the whole Assassination angle works because everyone in the manga takes it seriously. That and the author doesn't go the route of various factions be automatically good/bad; that all depends on the individual.

Borderline kickself question, but it really, really bugs me.

Why the flying spaghetti monster is Harry always paired with Hermione?

The two most prominent male and female characters of the series, with a close, affectionate friendship. Ginny was a late-game option as a love interest (she spent most of the series as 'Ron's little sister' and not much else) and Cho was kind of a nonentity.

Harry and Hermione were, for several books, the fandom's most obvious shipping opportunity, and by the time alternative pairings came along, they had the advantage of seniority.

Also, I should point out that the fundamental truth most Harry and Hermoine people perceive, that Harry would be good for her (and moreso than Ron), is absolutely true.

Though this chooses to ignore that for Harry, Ginny is by far the better option.

edited 30th Jan '15 4:19:49 PM by Night

because they're good for each other, and have a close relationship. They have far more in common with each other than hermione with ron, or harry with ginny. You know, muggle background, exploring a whole new world together, etc.

and also instead of being diametric opposites, they complement each other. Harry is the "man of action" kind of like Ron is, but not as short-tempered. He doesn't get annoyed as much when Hermione says to stop, wait up, think about things. And no, while they are unlikely to have an intense makeout session like Ron did with Lavender, I think they'd be perfectly happy with each other. Like how she doesn't actually have to play Quidditch, but she's there every game supporting him while he plays.

On a more basic and fundamental level: There is literally no other female character in the story who we can understand as much as Hermione. This comes simply by virtue of screen time. Since Hermione is the main female protagonist, and Harry is the main male protagonist, it's the absolutely easiest ship in any story. This is practically the default ship in any piece of fiction with a main male lead and main female lead. These are the characters we as readers are supposed to identify with, and therefore the characters we like on a personal and emotional level, we will naturally want our main characters to like as well.

Ginny works for Harry only because she was basically a walking checklist, which is why I don't like that character development (i.e. none at all). I mean, she goes from being a background character (she plays second fiddle to Luna in the book where she and Harry actually start interacting), to "hi Harry everything you could possibly look for in a girl, here you go." She also happens to understand Harry and all his emotions because. Just because. She's the designated pairing, there you go. She had very little emotional impact over the whole series, people didn't get much time to actually connect with her. We got seven books to get to know Hermione, we got 1 to know Ginny (and saying "hi" in the background of the other books don't count as character development.)

Luna Lovegood comes in 2nd place as "girls who can understand what Harry's going through" and stuff, which is why that's a popular pairing as well. She was capable of talking to Harry at his angstiest, that counts for a lot.

edited 31st Jan '15 1:52:05 PM by willyolio

What do people see in Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei?

My guess? They're incest fans in the mood for a naked power fantasy and far-right politics. It's not like the series bothers to disguise who it's aimed at.

You know, x5 also explains much of the (external) logic behind Ash/Misty in the Pokemon Anime while x3 explains the logic for Ashx[Girl of the Generation] for the new audience for that generation. Granted, the latter isn't strictly true in this case because of Jessie. However, since she is part of the Terrible Trio, she can be discounted, at least as far as The Hero is concerned. Also, Bonnie could be a reasonable Third Option in a similar way to Luna, were it not for the fact that she's below the Competence Zone.

edited 31st Jan '15 6:32:49 PM by DonaldthePotholer

There's also the much more obvious "Lots of people identify with Harry and think the actress who played Hermione is hot". Self inserting in Harry's skin is very common in Harry Potter Fanfiction.

edited 31st Jan '15 8:20:40 PM by IAmNotCreativeEnough

This is only mildly related, but why do people actually ship Jake and Elwood from the Blues Brothers? I know they're not technically related, but the two of them certainly act like they are, and refer to each other as brothers, so it's really kinda...weird to pair them...

Any degree of closeness between characters will be seen by some people as romantic chemistry.

And sometimes they'll actually be right.

edited 31st Jan '15 9:42:21 PM by KarkatTheDalek

We went through the draw of incest a few pages back...

Ah, sorry, didn't see it. My bad

Don't blame ya. Nobody expects you to go read the backlog without prompting to do so. You couldn't know that it's a question that's already been asked, and the search function in TV Tropes doesn't work like other forums', it's not as convenient, so I understand it.

I don't get what people see in shipping Izaya and Shizuo together, what do people see in shipping Izaya and Shizuo together?

Yaoi fangirl logic:

Close two bishonen rivalry that has elements of friendship?: Buttsex.

Arch enemies who are both really attractive?: Buttsex.

People who have never met and could never realistically meet? Buttsex!