Needs Help: Fan Preferred Couple

I agree. Plus, that's something we've seen before; we recently overturned the rename decision for Free the Frogs after expanding its definition (since a lot of the original defintition's technical "misuse" merely involved non-frog specimens, and tropes being flexible is why we expanded the definition).

Edit: Accidental page-topper, so I replaced the up arrow with a quoteblock.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Mar 24th 2021 at 4:09:20 AM

I don't know if we need a rename. But the description is the thing that I feel is causing most of the misuse. So expanding the definition would probably be the best way to fix that.

Edited by Bullman on Mar 24th 2021 at 11:06:43 AM

I always assumed this trope was already about fan ships that are more popular than the creator preferred ship. If we are going to expand the definition, I don't think the name is a problem.

You think think the most obvious part would be it needs to be non canon ones. But the pages are littered with examples that are canon.

Anyways. Any idea how to rewire the description? Because it doesn't really make it clear you need to have a creator preferred one other than mentioning it in passing.

Edited by Bullman on Mar 25th 2021 at 11:05:06 AM

Make the first line something like "fans ship this couple, preferring it over any couples intended by the creator".

Edited by Tabs on Mar 25th 2021 at 10:19:55 AM

Perhaps change it to "over the ones the creator intend", since it also accounts for ships that were canon at some point but not the main one due to involving an unexpectedly popular Romantic False Lead.

I like that it makes it clear that you need a creator preferred/intended one, but also leaves room for ones that might have been canon but where a Romantic False Lead for whatever reason.

Edited by Bullman on Mar 25th 2021 at 12:23:40 PM

Anymore opinions? Maybe some more suggestions on how to fix the description?

There was a crowner posted a few days ago. Should we get it hooked?

I would say so personally.

Edited by Bullman on Mar 29th 2021 at 1:12:26 PM

Has anyone already asked the mods to hook it?

Edit: Actually, would it be better to start with a new one, since that crowner was made prematurely?

Edited by GastonRabbit on Mar 29th 2021 at 9:47:02 AM

I think it would be better to start a new. I would, but I have never done one before.

Edited by Bullman on Mar 29th 2021 at 10:01:48 AM

And here it is.

I support broadening the requirements to include several non-canon ships that are more popular than the canon one. I wonder if the clean-up has touched Harry Potter ships: I think there are several Harry pairings more popular than Harry/Ginny, and figuring out which one is the most popular probably is a pain in the neck.

And I don't think it's necessary to broaden it any further. Shipping is no on-page examples, and I've seen it used on YMMV pages to list popular ships in general, so we have this covered. If this is the correct use, that is.

I think the description is the main issue; it needs to properly stress that there must be a less popular Official Couple. My ideas:

• Change the first paragraph, "A lot of fans are rooting for this couple to get together. A lot. Way more than they are for any conceivable alternative. And it is not happening" to something like, "Fans are rooting for this couple to get together. A lot. Way more than they are for the Official Couple that already exists for one or both characters involved."
• Put something like this into the folder with requirements:

1. The trope requires a clear canon alternative. This means it's not a Fan-Preferred Couple if one or both characters involved have no canon love interest.

• Change the laconic to something like, "A couple fans prefer over the Official Couple."

The current trope name can perhaps be perceived as any ship that a group of fans prefers over other ships, and maybe this is why we end up with lists of all remotely popular pairings. So, I'm not opposed to changing the name to something like Preferred Alternate Ship, as mightymewtron suggested.

Edited by Tenebrika on Mar 31st 2021 at 2:31:58 AM

I like those suggestions.

I don't think the title is that much of a problem, or at least I think the current title's better than most alternate ideas I could fathom.

I like those. Especially the first one.

So now that the crowner. Do we have to ask the kids to hook it up?

Did your autocorrect change mods to kids?

That sounds good! My only question is are making it so there has to be an Official Couple? Or just an alternate canon love interest the character gets teased with?

Yes. I did not that notice it did that.

I meant should we contact the mods to attach the crowner.

I personally think we should make it so long as they have a character they are teased with in canon. Though that leads to the question. Do we count Girl of the Week as creator preferred?

Edited by Bullman on Mar 30th 2021 at 12:43:55 PM

I think it should be more than Ship Tease, because not only is Ship Tease subjective to some degree, that also brings up the question of what to do if the character is teases with multiple characters.

You do bring up a good point.

I didn't know it was autocorrect. I thought we were playfully calling the mods "the kids" now.

I think Girl of the Week can count as canon couple as long as the preferred couple is non-canon. Many of these preferred ships are Ships That Pass in the Night or even pure Crack Ship, which makes them even less significant in canon than Girl of the Week.

Yeah. An example of something like this is James Bond. Almost every movie gives him a Girl of the Week, but most fans prefer to pair him with say Moneypenny for the Original series or Q for the Eeboot series. Would those count as this?

Edited by Bullman on Mar 30th 2021 at 1:05:21 PM

x4 Well, Ship Tease is supposed to be an objective trope...granted I've definitely seen some eyebrow-raising examples that call to question how intentional they really are. So fair point.

Could an Implied Love Interest count?

Yeah sorry, meant as a creator preferred one.

Edited by Oshawott337 on Mar 30th 2021 at 12:59:02 PM

Do you mean as this trope? No in my opinion. However, an Implied Love Interest can count as a creator preferred pairing.

@Tenebrika as for Harry Potter yes we have touched upon it. It was a headache, but strangely not because of Harry. The pairing most popular for Harry is with Draco, which is his biggest everywhere. We have Harry/Hermione listed but that is more of a time capsule one. Harry's other ships just don't have the same internet presence. In the original post I brought up Harry/Luna, but that really is not that popular. With even Luna having way more popular ships like with Ginny or Neville. The pain in the neck was actually Hermione, as at least Harry's most popular ship is consistent across every major site where fans/shippers gather, while Hermione's depends on the site.

Edited by Bullman on Mar 30th 2021 at 1:32:31 PM