Monday, February 11, 2013

Shipping News: Valentine’s Day, shipping and breaking the fourth wall



Hi there shippers – how’s the heartbreak? It’s Valentine’s Day and that means romantic things are about to happen, which can be either really good or really bad depending on what you ship. This time of year tends to make non-canon shippers rather bitter but for anyone that is lucky enough to have a canon OTP things are looking up. This week is all about what to expect from Valentine’s Day TV, breaking the forth wall and the first official Sterek spoiler (it’s not good).



First up let’s talk Valentine’s Day TV – it’s all about finding the perfect Valentine’s gift on both Castle and The Big Bang Theory… apparently it really doesn’t go well for everyone’s favourite mystery writer. Also NBC is trying to get around the awkwardness they caused when they delayed Community’s airdate by calling this week’s belated Halloween special – Valloween. Not going to lie, that sounds like a vaginal disease. Still you should definitely watch Community.


Well I guess now we have to talk about Glee because they have been hyping their Valentine’s episode for months now… basically ever since they broke up their three biggest couples. The message was loud and clear, all will be well come Valentine’s Day. We will just have to wait and see if they are true to their word, it could happen.


The day of Will and Emma’s (Wemma) wedding has finally arrived and all the New Direction kids are coming home to celebrate because Will doesn’t have any friends his own age. It doesn’t look like things are going to go smoothly though especially considering Finn kissed Emma – on the lips! Also for some reason Sue has turned up in a wedding dress. I would try to speculate but I honestly have no fucken clue what Glee is doing anymore.

For anyone that’s interested here’s what you missed on Glee – shipping edition: Klaine are still broken up, Kurt is now dating the adorable Adam and Blaine’s dealing with an unrequited crush on Captain Sam. Speaking of unrequited love – Tina’s once endearing crush on her gay best friend took a turn for the creepy last week. My beloved Brit Brit is still dating Captain Sam and although Santana indicated she would never give up on her soulmate she has decided to back off for the moment. Rachel is now living with the ever-naked Brody and as mentioned above Finn locked lips with Emma. And let’s face it no one cares about the newbies.


Next week on Glee – shipping addition: Rachel is not bringing the ever-naked Brody to the wedding, which is good because she apparently spends some time in a hotel room with Finn. Kurt doesn’t bring his new romantic interest Adam to the wedding either – again this is good because he has a steamy make-out session in a car with Blaine, oh and they sing a duet. Also apparently creepy!Tina’s chest rub comes out and Kurt is not happy. Finally – it looks as though Santana and Quinn will be spending a fair bit of time together this episode… Ryan Murphy (the troll) even teased that the two would kiss (x). Warning if that happens you will be able to hear me screaming and crying (with excitement) from anywhere in the world. (Seriously you know it's just going to be a drunken mistake but it's exciting non-the-less).


The next part of the this weeks incredibly long and not really very romantic Shipping News is brought to you by the Teen Wolf fandom (because not a week goes by without some drama or another popping up). Let’s talk about celebrity, the fourth wall and what exactly are acceptable conversation topics when one meets actors.  

I’m not going to go into all the in’s and out’s of when you should (or shouldn’t) approach celebrities because I’m hope you all have a certain amount of common sense and empathy so you should be able to work that out on your own. Besides this is SHIPPING News so I’m going to give the topic a bit of a shippy slant because let’s face it when people get upset it’s usually because someone mentioned the porn… well I don’t just mean porn but that’s usually what people think if you mention shipping (especially slash).

Right well here goes – as long as you take into consideration the common sense things (e.g. location, timing) there isn’t really anything wrong with asking about your ship even if the ship is non-canon or slash! News flash: they want you to care about these characters – and shipping is a big part of it. It’s fine to tell a writer or actor that you ship a certain ship or ask them a question about it or even show some fan art – as long as you’re respectful.

Well that’s the key isn’t it – respect. While most actors/writers/producers shouldn’t mind what you ship they don’t really have to understand it. Sometimes we get caught up in our little corner of the Internet and forget that not everyone understands shipping or slash. Actors or creators that probably want to be respectful might not know how to be. Cut them some slack because slash (and shipping) was kept under lock and key until fairly recently so it’s going to take a while for the industry to catch up.

That said there are a few things you shouldn’t do:
  • Don’t show them porn! That’s sexual harassment guys. If they want to find it they can look it up themselves (trust me they know it’s there). Also PG couple pictures that involve kissing or hugging are not porn!
  • Don’t harass celebrities about RPS (real person slash) – you can ship what you like and write fan fiction to your hearts content but don’t ask a musician if they are dating one of their band mates. Personal lives are called personal for a reason. If they wanted us to know something they would tell us.
  • Don’t harass anyone in general – seriously sometimes you just have to stop. It’s fine to ask a question at a con, ask for a photo if you see them somewhere (as long as they are not otherwise engaged) or tweet your fav celebs something you think they would find interesting. Just don’t do it all the time. There is a line between enthusiastic fan and scary stalker and it’s not really very fine at all. 

Right so the key is common sense and respect. As long as you think about what you’re saying, where you’re saying it and how often you’re saying it then you can talk about your ships without fear of offence. Just remember – celebrities are people too and they might not ship what you ship – respect their opinions as you would respect your fellow fans.  


Anyway while we’re on the topic of Teen Wolf we should probably talk about the Zap2it “Stereky” spoilers:

With all that's going on with the new Alphas in Beacon Hills, fan faves Stiles and Derek don't interact much in the first half of the season, but Dylan O'Brien has some ideas about how their first meeting of the year should go. "There aren't any Stereky scenes so far," O'Brien tells us, "But I had an idea for Jeff, that when we do finally meet, and if we have a scene that's very expositional -- like if we come together and something's going on we have to converge and discuss something -- then we should kind of stop at the end of it and before we walk away, Stiles should just say, 'I missed you.' Just to acknowledge it for the fans in little, funny ways." (x)

Considering this is the first official Sterek spoiler we have had for Season 3, it’s not a great start. Sure it’s nice to see that Dylan O’Brien is comfortable talking about Sterek (although I can’t say the “funny ways” comment fills me with confidence) but it kind of feels a little bit like they are preparing us for the worst.

I’m not quite as pessimistic as a lot of the fandom because I was pretty much expecting this.  I mean we’ve got a pretty good hold on what’s happening on the Teen Wolf set so if Dylan and Hoechlin had spent an extended period of time together we would have heard something about it. Also it’s important to remember that they don’t want to disappoint the Sterek fandom – and we are pretty hard to please. The most logical way to deal with this is to tell us we’re getting nothing then anything we do get will be a pleasant surprise. Seriously imagine how excited we will be if Stiles and Derek actually talk to each other (even in the presence of others)? The fandom will explode!

10 points to the Teen Wolf marketing department.

As far as Dylan’s little scene – I can’t say I find it particularly reassuring. Granted the idea is ridiculously cute and I would love to see it happen but it doesn’t bode well for Sterek in canon. It feels like Supernatural – the way they like to wink at the fandom but you know they are never ever going to follow through. Still it’s exciting to know that Jeff and Dylan talk about Sterek.

Also can we just have a moment to appreciate the fact that the media are legitimately asking about slash! That’s a big deal guys. No one would have ever asked for Destiel spoilers (let alone Wincest). We’re moving forward and that makes me super happy!

We’re on the home stretch now – let’s talk polls!


EOnline’s TV’s Top Couples Poll has reached its epic conclusion and I am excited to say that it’s all about the ladies. That’s right the final two couples are both of the ladyloving persuasion. It’s Brittana (Brittany/Santana – Glee) vs. Docubus (Lauren/Bo – Lost Girl) and I honestly don’t know who to vote for. To quote Emma Pillsbury: “I’m a Libra, I can’t do this.”

Speaking of polls – the latest website to jump on the shipping polls bandwagon is Zap2it. They are looking for the most crushworthy ‘ship that sails Tumblr and this poll is not limited by canon like the EOnline one. All your favourites are there, Sterek, Faberry, Destiel, Klaine, Swan Queen and Methur! It looks as though it’s going to be quite the battle so you better get voting.

Finally let’s have a bit of love in our lives – because you’re my Valentine! Teen Wolf seems to think that the most romantic thing to do would be to introduce someone to Teen Wolf… and I think I might have taken it a little bit seriously.


I hope you have a good Valentine’s Day lonely reader and don’t forget get to check out The Shipping News Valentine’s Day Special over at AfterElton where we tell you what we think the most romantic slash moment ever are!