FanPreferredCouple Cleanup

So speaking for the Arrow examples, Oliver/Felicity is still easily the most popular ship online and it's not even close - it may be controversial, but I guess the people who don't like don't tend to write fanfics about it. Oliver/Laurel comes second (with Oliver/Sara in third), but Olicity is easily in first place (like, by over 11,000 works on AO3 alone). Whether that means you wanna do that rewrite you suggested a few posts back or just chop the example entirely is up to you, but as far as I can tell, it's just the canon ship also being the most popular one online, so I think it should just be cut.

We talked about Olicity before and decided that it counted as a historical example. Because even if it eventually became canon, it was because of the creators Pandering to the Base, rather than an organic decision, and it absolutely started off as an FPC before then.

I think he means the ones from the YMMV page I brought up here.

Yeah, Olicity is one of the few historical examples that is historical because it was not meant to be canon and had canon competition, on top of being the biggest ship. Because we have Word of God from several people that they originally preferred Oliver/Laurel.

Though I normally go by endgame in tv shows where it is less clear if they were meant to be endgame. Stuff like Emma/Hook or Clarke/Lexa, the endgames for OUAT and the 100 also have the problem of Ship Tease before becoming canon which muddies the waters, on top of being overshadowed by non canon ships. Stuff like Damon/Elena and the previously mentioned Hook/Emma were also part of Love Triangles which they won so making it hard to call the other creator preferred. Problems which Olicity doesn't have.

Edited by Bullman on Feb 2nd 2022 at 11:03:00 AM

Is anyone here familair with the Wheel of Time books. I have watched the show but have not read the books but looking at some fan content Mat/Rand are pretty popular, and I know Rand is in love with Egwene. So, I was wondering if its as popular as I am seeing and if the book had that creator preferred pairing? Or if the books have any potential examples?

In the books Egwene and Rand are initially set up as love interests but it's not only ultimately not a thing, it's over and done with by book 3 (out of 14.) On the one hand, the show has already telegraphed its intention to be quite different from the books, but on the other hand, I very much doubt it'd be that different in either direction.

It could be legit if it's indeed popular, IMO - I wouldn't be able to speak to that part.

Edited by nrjxll on Feb 3rd 2022 at 1:41:10 PM

So from The Secret of Mulan:

• Fan-Preferred Couple: During most reviews of this, including the one by Phelous, many viewers point out that Mulan and Zhing-Zhing have better chemistry than Mulan and the Prince. The reasons being that Zhing-Zhing interacts more with Mulan and knows her better than the Prince (and apparently talks about her so much that she suspected her "boyfriend" might've been jealous of Mulan) whereas the Prince seems to like her platonically at best up until the ending where Mulan reveals her identity.

Now looking into it nothing said here is false, but do we need to have a link to Phelous video there. Like can't we just say most reviews with out linking a specific one.

Edited by Bullman on Feb 4th 2022 at 11:40:28 AM

Better to have one than not.

Also a commented out example from Live-Action TV:

• In Heroes Peter and Claire had a lot of chemistry, leading to a lot of shipping, even after they were revealed to be related. It turned out to just be the actors though, as they are currently were dating.

Do they have creator preferred relationships? Is anyone here familiar with it.

Re: Heroes,

Yeah, Peter and Claire do have some canon love interests:

For Peter, we have Simone Deveaux in season 1 (attraction) and Caitlyn (girlfriend) in season 2. For Claire, we've got Brody Mitchum (crush) in early season 1, West in season 2 (boyfriend), and Alex in season 3 (brief attraction).

I do remember the Peter/Claire shipping was strong from the first time these two characters meet on screen in season 1, with many disappointed upon learning the characters were related shortly after (Claire is the biological daughter of Peter's brother Nathan). I still hear the wails of pain from the forums However, that did not deter many from shipping Peter and Claire and it could extend to the point where there were some fans who were shipping the entire Petrelli family together all at once in one big multi-generational orgy (Nathan x Peter x Claire x Angela). I believe this was known as "Petrellicest" :)

Edited by cherrychels on Feb 4th 2022 at 2:36:20 AM

Re: Harry Potter,

Like with Jon/Sansa, I think this Draco/Hermione may count since Draco/Hermione is so popular when it comes to active engagement and content creation within the shipping community that it may be notable for this (like the AO3 fanfic count). However, as you've noted, Ron/Hermione is likewise popular. I typically see more fanworks devoted to Draco/Hermione but on the other hand, from my observations, Ron/Hermione seems to be shipped by more fans overall (ie. more casual fans and shippers).

I think this one is a tough call since gauging levels of popularity can be pretty difficult. Hermione/Draco, though, is a super active and engaged fandom though.

Edited by cherrychels on Feb 4th 2022 at 2:30:24 AM

Hmm. Could you write up a new entry for Peter and Claire? Seems like they keep. Draco/Hermione does seem similar to that case of Jon/Sansa. A similar thing happened with the other Draco ship listed Draco/Harry where its fandom is big and dedicated but also controversial. I think we are good for an entry on Draco/Hermione just like that entry the Draco/Harry. Mind writing it up for me as you are more familiar with the work?

Edited by Bullman on Feb 4th 2022 at 3:48:33 AM

Sure! Is it okay if I do so tomorrow? I have a deadline to make for tonight but I'd be happy to write a draft later tonight/tomorrow! :)

Edited by cherrychels on Feb 4th 2022 at 2:53:30 AM

Take your time no need to rush. It can wait until tomorrow.

You can probably Draco/Hermione as a conditional or flexible example then. Note that Ron/Hermione is quite well-liked and accepted by the fandom as a whole but that Draco/Hermione has an unusually active dedicated fanbase.

Let's start with the Digimon franchise:

From YMMV.Digimon Adventure:

• Fan-Preferred Couple:
  • While Hiroyuki Kakudou had no intention whatsoever of pairing up Tai and Sora because he figured the match was cliche, they are the couple the majority of the fandom prefers, both in Japan and internationally. Ai Maeda (Mimi) and Mayumi Yamaguchi (Gabumon) have gone on the record saying they both preferred the pairing and had hoped they would end up together, and dub director Jeff Nimoy stated he thought Tai and Sora were a better match and his scripts reflected that.
  • As of 2015, if social media feed statistics and Pixiv fan art are any indication, the single most popular ship in the Japanese fanbase is Izzy and Mimi despite the fact that nothing romantic at all happens between them in-series and they never make it to Official Couple status (unlike the two pairs that do). It was so popular, in fact, that Tri apparently gave in and gave the two some suggestive scenes to palicate that fanbase. This whole thing tends to be quite a confusing revelation for anyone in the Western (specifically English-speaking) fanbase, as due to a combination of intentional and unintentional factors present in the English dubbing process, Joe/Mimi (which also didn't make it to Official Couple status) is far more popular there.
  • Quite a few fans shipped T.K. and Kari due to being of similar age as the kid siblings to Matt and Tai. This started out as a Toy Ship before their age-up in 02, where they shared more screen time with each other than any of the other DigiDestined besides maybe their siblings. It might also have something to do with their Digimon both having angel-themed Digivolutions and some Ship Tease of their own, or because of the dub intentionally adding subtext to their dialog.

Only the first example seems to qualify. As for the other pairings, none of the them have canon romantic partners, at least not ones that physically appear (in tri., Joe mentions he has a girlfriend, while the Distant Epilogue of 02 shows that they all went on to have kids, but their significant others don't actually appear.)

From YMMV.Digimon Adventure 02:

• Fan-Preferred Couple: While Sora/Yamato is canon (and personally favored by the original director of Digimon Adventure), many fans still prefer Taichi/Sora, and you'll be more likely to find fanwork and doujinshi for that pairing. Even a few of the Japanese voice actors have stated their preference for Taichi/Sora and expressed surprise that Sora ended up with Yamato instead. In a Japanese poll from Toei's website, the top-ten favorite duos are, in order, Takeru & Hikari, Taichi & Sora, Koushirou & Mimi, Taichi & Yamato, Daisuke & Hikari, Jou & Gomamon, Yamato & Gabumon, Yamato & Takeru, Yamato & Mimi, and Angemon & Angewomon. The canon couple didn't even make Runner-Up; that was Koushirou & Tentomon.

Consist of the same characters as the previous, so the same arguments apply.

From YMMV.Digimon Adventure Tri:

• Fan-Preferred Couple: Although everyone gets shipped with just about anyone, there a few very popular ships despite getting no canon confirmation.
  • Tai and Meiko had only just met in the first film, but the pairing instantly gained something of a following on sites like Tumblr, probably because of Adventure 02's ending. Their surprisingly natural interactions during the fifth movie, coupled with said movie providing some good development for the two, and further Ship Tease in the last film, only intensified the sentiment for some.
  • Mimi/Koshiro is shaping up to be a pretty popular pairing, with most people not expecting it (since the ending of 02 doesn't confirm that they get together), but many liking it. The first film made the pairing considerably more popular with the Western fandom, and it simply fueled its popularity in Japan further since it already was a very popular pairing there even before tri. aired.
  • Takeru and Hikari are still a very popular pairing, especially because of their Toy Ship from the first series, and many fans were expecting that this series would put a mend on their infamous Ship Sinking at the 02 epilogue.

Once again, none of them have canon pairings.

Edited by costanton11 on Feb 4th 2022 at 7:02:30 AM

I agree with you for the most part. I mean from Adventure 2 doesn't Ken ended up in the final episode but most fans ship him with Daisuke. That is what the entry on Anime & Manga:

• While Ken and Miyako wound up married in the finale, most fans shipped Ken with Daisuke instead, since they have very little in-show support other than her having a massive crush on him that he generally didn't notice much, as well as the Foe Yay between Ken and Daisuke, while Ken was still Digimon Kaiser, and their huge amounts Ho Yay, after Ken joined the main group. In fact, on Archive of Our Own the pairing outranks all others from the whole franchise.

Is this false information and need to be cut?

Also while we are at it here is the whole tree from that franchise.

• Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02:
  • In a rather infamous example of Relationship Writing Fumble and Depending on the Writer, Taichi and Sora became a vastly more popular couple than the canonically-intended couple of Yamato and Sora. Show director Hiroyuki Kakudou had always planned for Sora and Yamato to end up together, with Sora and Taichi simply being Just Friends. Sora and Yamato being married with kids was even a part of the original finale to Adventure but he scrapped this as he thought the characters were too young. Even the production staff appeared to ship Sora with Taichi instead as they admitted they were used to the main boy ending up with main girl (which was a cliche that Kakudou himself was specifically trying to avoid) and some of the voice actors expressed a preference for Taichi/Sora (including Mayumi Yamaguchi, the VA for Yamato's Digimon partner Gabumon). Mamoru Hosoda, who directed Our War Game seemed to imply that Sora had a crush on Taichi, although this "crush" was never a thing in the original Adventure and 02. Naturally, the fans were all thrown for a loop when Kakudou forced the issue by having Sora and Yamato become a couple during the 02 Christmas Episode despite their relative lack of relationship development prior. This is much worse in the English dub, which put in a lot of Ship Tease for Tai and Sora which was never there in the Japanese versions and Jeff Nimoy (the man in charge of the dub) has even apologized for changing up the script so much. The lack of romance in Adventure meant it was possible for Sora to have ended up with anyone and the Yamato/Sora relationship went over with Japanese audiences much easier than it did with Western ones as a result (it also enjoys a much warmer reception in other countries with dubs more faithful to the original Japanese version, such as in South Korea). Later sequels and video games such as tri. and the PSP video game attempted to spin the Yamato-Sora-Taichi relationship off as a Love Triangle because of how inconsistent the writing has become. Does this need to be so long?
  • Takeru and Hikari (Yamato and Taichi's younger siblings, respectively) were the show's most popular Toy Ship, period, which unfortunately led to some vicious Ship-to-Ship Combat when 02 fashioned a Love Triangle with them and newcomer Daisuke, though Takeru remains the more popular suitor, if only because he's the incumbent. Sounds creator preferred.
  • While Ken and Miyako wound up married in the finale, most fans shipped Ken with Daisuke instead, since they have very little in-show support other than her having a massive crush on him that he generally didn't notice much, as well as the Foe Yay between Ken and Daisuke, while Ken was still Digimon Kaiser, and their huge amounts Ho Yay, after Ken joined the main group. In fact, on Archive of Our Own the pairing outranks all others from the whole franchise.Repeat of the above
• Digimon Tamers: Ruki Makino is Tamers' Launcher of a Thousand Ships, and is more commonly shipped with costars Takato (in the west) or Jianliang (in Japan) than she is with Ryo, who's the closest thing she has to a canonical Love Interest. The Ruki/Takato pairing even supersedes the canonical Takato/Juri, and has a large number of interpretations ranging from Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy (Ruki's Tsundere and Takato's Adorkable) to Slap-Slap-Kiss to Twice Shy. Meanwhile, Ruki and Jian are commonly portrayed as Red Oni, Blue Oni (in that order) with a few shades of Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl.How close is she to being his canon one.
• Digimon Frontier: Takuya and Izumi were Implied Love Interests to each other and Junpei had quite an obvious crush on the latter, but the fan community (especially the Japanese) lean more towards Takuya/Kouji, Kouji/Izumi, or Kouichi/Izumi.How implied were they?
• Digimon Fusion: Zenjirou has a crush on Nene, and despite teasings for Taiki/Akari and Kiriha/Nene in Hunters, Kiriha/Taiki and Taiki/Nene are much more popular.We might need more then a crush and teasing.

I'll being up the entries for the rest of the individual seasons' pages:

From YMMV.Digimon Tamers:

• Fan-Preferred Couple:
  • The closest thing Ruki has to a Love Interest is Ryo, but she's more commonly paired in fandom with Takato or Jianliang, though which one of her best friends she ends up with generally tends to be determined by which side of the Pacific you're on. The Japanese fans tend to enjoy pairing her off with Jianliang, while Westerners prefer her with Takato. (The Ruki-Takato pairing also overrides Juri's status as Takato's Love Interest).
  • For the actual Digimon themselves, people are very fond of Impmon/Renamon, thanks to the chemistry and Ship Tease that came with their Odd Friendship. Some people even ship their mega forms together.

The former might count only with Takato, as he all but stated to have feelings for Jeri, but the rest don't have canon pairings. The second example is again one without either one being in canon pairings.

From YMMV.Digimon Frontier:

• Fan-Preferred Couple: Although Junpei was the most outwardly interested in Izumi, she's not often paired with him. The seemingly less one-sided feelings between her and Takuya, which were confirmed to be mutual (albeit unrequited) in what's become known as "the library scene", cemented them as the most popular pairing. Some Japanese fans also like pairing Izumi with Kouji or Kouichi, though Takuya/Izumi remains number one.

None of them have official pairings.

From YMMV.Digimon Fusion:

• Fan-Preferred Couple: Despite being a series mainly focused on fighting and Rule of Cool, Xros Wars gets its fair share of shipping.
  • Taiki/Akari.
  • Kiriha/Nene.

The former has implied Ship Tease, so it's not something preferred over canon and the latter pairing doesn't have canon pairings.

From YMMV.Digimon:

• Fan-Preferred Couple: It's common for some fans to fall in for main guy-main girl couples, even where the canon actually indicates another pairing (Matt-Sora is infamous for being completely overshadowed in the fandom by Tai-Sora; Rika is more commonly shipped with Takato or Henry than with her canonical Love Interest Ryo, and the first option also eclipses the official Takato-Jeri Puppy Love). The only place where this isn't the case is Davis-Kari, which competes with the older TK-Kari pairing.

Most of the prior points apply here.

Edited by costanton11 on Feb 4th 2022 at 8:07:56 AM

Any opinions my above post?

Mostly agree, as there's only a handful of official couples in the series. Any additional thoughts on the other seasons I posted about?

Edited by costanton11 on Feb 4th 2022 at 10:22:27 AM

I agree with you on them.

Edited by Bullman on Feb 4th 2022 at 11:45:04 AM

Removed these from Five Nights at Freddy's:

• Fan-Preferred Couple: Despite there being no official couples in the game, the fandom has a fair number of these.
  • Foxy/Chica is hugely popular in the fandom, likely due to some of the more popular fans within the fandom shipping them, and contributing fanwork to them.
  • Besides the above pairing, it is also fairly common to ship Bonnie and Chica (as well as their Toy counterparts) together for the same reasons behind the fan interpretation as an inseparable duo of sorts; see their Fanon entry above.
  • Foxy and Mangle is another common pairing, which is helped by the fact that they are the only pair of counterparts who can regularly be seen in the same room together. They often both appear in the hallway outside of The Office. They pretty much, in a way, invoke the Battle Couple trope.
  • Charlie and Elizabeth from the novels also seem quite popular with the fanbase, with a fair amount of fanwork that portray the two dating in an AU.
  • Another pairing that became popular is Afton/Vanny, with the two often being portrayed in a romantic relationship very reminiscent of that between The Joker and Harley Quinn.
  • Speaking of Security Breach, Roxanne/Glamrock Chica appears to be picking up steam.
  • For a time during Security Breach's pre-release it was popular to ship Vanny with the blonde female nightguard seen in promotional material, typically as Foe Yay Shipping. However, this ship has largely been abandoned due to merch and leaks implying the two were the same person.

Openly admits that there is no canon competition. So, misuse. Also removed this from Five Nights at Freddy's 2:

• Fan-Preferred Couple: Perhaps not too surprising that Foxy and Mangle (assuming the latter is female) are paired. Especially that they are the only pair of counterparts who can regularly be seen in the same room together. They often both appear in the hallway outside of The Office. They pretty much, in a way, invoke the Battle Couple trope.

Re: Proposed Heroes FPC draft for Peter/Claire

Let me know your thoughts! :)

Edited by cherrychels on Feb 5th 2022 at 1:13:50 PM

I like it swap it with the one on Live-Action TV.

Done! :)

Just checked it out good job.