The current rules do list that multiple ships can be listed if they're about the same popularity wise, and while I'm not against, bare minimum, loosening that rule, I do wonder what would happen in fandoms where the canon pairing is really unpopular, so much so that there are lots of ships that would potentially qualify. Would multiple listings like that be allowed?
Honestly, the big issue with this trope in general is that shipping is so versatile and different between fandoms that it's hard to narrow things down to a specific ruleset.
"Let’s see who’s stronger: someone that has something to protect, or someone that has nothing to lose."The rule that we should really narrow in on, IMO, is that the only ships worth listing are those for characters who have a canon romance. So those who have no ships in canon aren't worth listing as there's not much to compare them against.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.Maybe a new title could be Fan Preferred Alternate Couple, to make it clear there needs to be an actual couple?
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallI would be willing to broaden it to multiple ships, so long as they are more popular than a creator preferred one.
I like that for a new title.
Edited by Bullman on Mar 22nd 2021 at 11:33:41 AM
Fan-Preferred Couple cleanup threadIt also says quite a lot if the Official Couple is so unpopular that it is overshadowed by pretty much every other possible pairing.
Edited by Adept on Mar 22nd 2021 at 11:37:58 PM
I think Fan-Preferred Couple should not include Official Couple unless it's clear that the upgraded status was a late-development influenced by the fans.
For example, Zutara is Fan-Preferred Couple because it's popular despite the show's ironclad stamp of Kataraang as the Official Couple.
But Korrasami is only a Fan-Preferred Couple prior to Season 3 giving a official Relationship Upgrade.
I think Alternate Fan Preferred Couple might flow better. Or something like Preferred Alternate Ship?
TBH I don't think the current name is that bad, and the vague description and unclear standards is probably worth focusing on more than a rename.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Yes. The current description seems to be more about a generally popular non-canon ship; there being an Official Couple is only mentioned in passing and isn't stressed as a key requirement.
Edited by Tenebrika on Mar 23rd 2021 at 11:45:49 PM
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The issue with that example is that Korrasami didn't get seriously popular (it was definitely less popular than Makorra and Masami) until the creators started deliberately teasing it in Season 3. But no one knew the teasing was deliberate until the end of season 4.
Korrasami is an interesting case because it looked like a Fan-Preferred Couple while the show was airing, but it's popularity was the creators' intended reaction.
Edited by TheMountainKing on Mar 23rd 2021 at 4:52:45 AM
Yeah. The description is the main problem in my opinion. It's the main thing leading to the misuse.
Edited by Bullman on Mar 23rd 2021 at 10:52:52 AM
Fan-Preferred Couple cleanup threadPlease hold off on the crowner. The thread has only been open for a day; we should give ourselves some more time to tease out problems and suggest solutions. Three days is the minimum.
So far:
- I like the idea of broadening to include multiple ships per character.
- And excluding works that don't have a single 'canon' pairing.
- I am not sure how to go about proving they are less popular than the main OTP.
- I'd like a bit more discussion on 'temporary' examples and pairings that become canon at the very end. Consider the following scenarios:
- Can A/B be FPC in season 1 if they become canon in season 2 and stay together all throughout?
- What about if A/B were together from season 1-3, abruptly break up, and A dates C for the rest of the show? Can they be FPC then?
- What if A/B and A/C were both teased, but A/C becomes canon at the very last minute? Can A/B only be declared FPC at the end of the work and afterwards?
Regarding superhero comics as brought up earlier, they are their own separate beast because Superheroes Stay Single and each creator has their favorite couple. Maybe we can trim 'general' superhero comic examples and restricting these to specific runs or works (eg. listing Batman/Catwoman by itself feels janky [either because Bruce is generally emotionally unavailable or because they recently had a wedding arc] but if there was a run where, say, Batman married Wonder Woman and fans still wanted him with Catwoman, that can go on that specific run's entry).
Edited by Synchronicity on Mar 23rd 2021 at 11:34:06 AM
I am not against them. But for instance Wally West's literally list their his wife. Certain runs are fine. Like say MJ/Peter's time before they got together and he was in love with Gwen Stacy. Or the New 52 where Clark was with Diana, but fans wanted him with Lois.
I don't think we should need to have to supply evidence. However, if you list one and I look and can't find it much about on tumblr, twitter, reddit, a fan pole, most fanfic/fan art sites, or really anything much online about it. Or even like say Little Woman where their was so much fan mail the creator commented. And I do find that the canon one has a bigger impact, then it doesn't look good. Unfortunately, a lot of those are listed, where it seems it's more just the troper's opinion, then the whole fandoms.
As for your examples.
1) Sure. So long as they had a love interest in season 1, and it was clear that was the main focus of said season.
2) Yes.
3) I think so. It depends on if they are more popular.
Edited by Bullman on Mar 23rd 2021 at 11:52:37 AM
Fan-Preferred Couple cleanup threadChecking would be helpful, but I think most of the misuse comes from people who simply don't know what the trope entails and think any ship with an unexpectedly large fandom including a few crack ships that took off fits the bill. Clarifying what the trope means by itself and pruning later wicks will definitely help a lot among future editors.
I'm personally fine with taking the example's word for it that they are more popular than the canon ship, but if they just mention that a pairing is popular, I'm not going to do research and check for it, I will take out the ZCE powerhose.
Wick cleaning is hard enough as is.
Renaming wouldn't be a bad idea either, since Fan-Preferred Couple doesn't make it clear that it's preferred over a canon ship (vs. the other equally noncanon ship they're in a ship war with). Consideration for a rename:
Since January 1, 2012 this article has brought 31,661 people to the wiki from non-search engine links.
Not a disgustingly big number, but might take a while.
Edited by Synchronicity on Mar 23rd 2021 at 2:30:21 PM
I am not convinced of a rename if we want to broaden it. Fan-Preferred Couple implies that it's something fans prefer over actual canon.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Crown Description:
Fan Preferred Couple is too narrow and faces a misuse problem where tropers list it for official/canon couples, despite the trope being about noncanon couples that the fans like. What should be done to fix it?

I'm willing to broaden it to include any pairing more popular than the ones intended in the narrative, as long as the character has some intended ship in canon.
I also feel like our current rule trying to boil it down to one ship per character is a bit silly and probably more contentious than allowing ships that are both very popular. I also don't love the whole "check every fanfic outlet to prove the ship is the most popular" thing since different websites might have different demographics and it's not easy when the ships are both very popular (for example, in South Park, both Stan/Kyle and Kyle/Cartman are super popular compared to any canon Kyle ship).
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.