classicsapphicships

[classicsapphicships]

And the winner is... Regina Mills!

Not surprising for a show with a practically endless number of ships overall, but a solid third of the vote is impressive!

#Classic Sapphic Ships #Regina Mills #Once Upon a Time #Ship Everyone with Everyone Else #Ship and Let Ship

[classicsapphicships]

Inspired by the characters or actresses that have or will show up multiple times! This round is for the character you ship with the most people, to bring back an age old feature of fandom: multi-shipping.

Today's fandom world has so much focus on the 'right' pairing, but in classic times it was much more common to have two things be true. One: Ship and Let Ship, where everyone had their own pairing and no one was more 'right' than anyone else. And two: Ship Everyone with Everyone Else, where every possible pairing was fair game.

#Classic Sapphic Ships #Intermission Poll #fandom polls #Multishipping ftw

[classicsapphicships]

As I finish up the Season 2 bracket, I want to preemptively say that every ship picked (and not picked) has a reason. While there are fandoms I'm leaving out completely, I'm not picking ships based on how much I like them or not.

I can already guess a couple of asks/comments that'll come in once the Season 2 bracket is revealed, just based on the things sent in for Season 1's bracket. And while it's a long shot, I'm hoping that this post will at least somewhat help with that. Please just remember, there is a reason, and that reason isn't malicious.

There may be fandoms or ships that get left out because I've forgotten them, or just don't know they exist. It's a hazard of finding ships from fanfic sites and the collective memories of a few friends. It's not deliberate towards any specific ships, and even the list of fandoms not included isn't long at all.

So please, please don't accuse me of leaving your ship out maliciously, or giving in to 'ship erasure' somehow.

If your ship isn't in the bracket but the show is, either it was in Season 1's bracket, it's too recent to qualify even under the slightly fudged definition of classic used to make sure there's enough ships to fill the bracket, or a different ship from that show was chosen. If your show isn't in the bracket, it's either too recent to qualify, it's one of a very few fandoms not being included, or I just didn't remember/find it when looking for ship pairings.

#Classic Sapphic Ships #not polls

[classicsapphicships]

And the winner is... Cat/Kara (Supergirl)!

Congratulations to everyone who voted for them! I think you guys also hold the honor of 'Most Consistent Reblogs' out of all the ships featured across the brackets, so it's a victory definitely fought for.

For everyone who voted for a ship that didn't win, well fought to you as well!

#Classic Sapphic Ships #Cat Grant/Kara Danvers #Supergirl #Cat Grant #Kara Danvers #fandom polls

[classicsapphicships]

Time for another Intermission poll while the images for Season 2's bracket are being finalized! This one is for every ship (after round 1) that got over 43% of their individual polls. Some made it to later rounds than others, but every ship on the list came so close to winning.

Why 43% you ask? Well, that's what filled the poll without going over. 45% was half full and 40% was too many for the 10 slot limit. So 43% it is.

And as always,

FAQ, Please read before asking how these are classic

#Classic Sapphic Ships #Intermission Poll #fandom polls #featuring ships from Season 1's bracket that narrowly lost

[classicsapphicships]

And the winner is... Thirteen/River Song!

Congrats to everyone who voted for them, and well fought to every ship that didn't quite make it! There were some absolutely wild matchups and upsets in this bracket, and watching how things turned out was always exciting.

Final preparations are happening for the next 'Full Season' bracket, so stay tuned for that! There might be a few short one off polls in the meantime while everything is finalized, but for sure there'll be something by next weekend.

#Classic Sapphic Ships #Thirteenth Doctor/River Song #Doctor Who #Thirteenth Doctor #River Song #fandom polls #This somehow got posted to drafts all weekend and I didn't notice #So that's my bad

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One day left! Things are staying steady, but the difference is still pretty close!

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Happy Monday everyone! Still time to get some votes in, things are fairly close!

[classicsapphicships]

The final round of the Intermission Bracket is here! Since it's the final round (and I need a little more time for the next bracket) this one will run for 1 week! So good luck, and I'm excited to see how this turns out!

Maria Hill/Natasha Romanoff vs Thirteenth Doctor/River Song

#Classic Sapphic Ships #Intermission Poll #Intermission Round 5

[classicsapphicships]

#Marvel Cinematic Universe #Doctor Who #Classic Sapphic Ships #Maria Hill/Natasha Romanoff #Thirteenth Doctor/River Song #Maria Hill #Natasha Romanoff #Thirteenth Doctor #River Song #Intermission Poll #Intermission Round 5 #fandom polls

[classicsapphicships]

We're almost to the end, the semifinal round is here! Polls will be up for 1 day, so get those reblogs ready because every vote counts!

Good luck!

Right side:

Maria Hill/Natasha Romanoff vs Missy/River Song

Left side:

Thirteenth Doctor/River Song vs Thirteenth Doctor/Missy

#Classic Sapphic Ships #Intermission Poll #Intermission Round 4

[classicsapphicships]

#Marvel Cinematic Universe #Doctor Who #Classic Sapphic Ships #Maria Hill/Natasha Romanoff #Missy/River Song #Maria Hill #Natasha Romanoff #Missy #River Song #Intermission Poll #Intermission Round 4 #fandom polls

[classicsapphicships]

#Doctor Who #Classic Sapphic Ships #Thirteenth Doctor/River Song #Thirteenth Doctor/Missy #Thirteenth Doctor #River Song #Missy #Intermission Poll #Intermission Round 4 #fandom polls

[classicsapphicships]

Also not trying to start an argument here, but this kinda proves my point.

Because even with all that, even with the very clear queer subtext that is in so much of the show to the point that you can’t believe it isn’t text, it isn’t canon. Why? Because the network wouldn’t let it be. For every thing you list there, a 90’s studio executive in a suit has a counter argument for how they’re just friends. And whether you agree with them or not, they had the final say in what was allowed to be clearly, directly, and unambiguously shown on screen as canon. Not subtext, not ‘it can be interpreted as’ but actual canon. And Xena/Gabrielle were never allowed to be explicitly canon.

Which is not in any way a slight against Xena/Gabrielle, who are not actually the point of this post. Nor is it an attempt to argue that Xena and Gabrielle are somehow not very obviously queer coded to the point that rainbows spring up every time someone turns on an episode of Xena. They very much are, but that doesn’t mean they’re canon.

But Xena/Gabrielle does not have to be canon to be an amazing ship. Neither does any other ship out there. Canon is not an end goal, it’s a category.

The writers and actors gave the LGBTQ community as much as they could at the time, based off their interviews. But they also say in many places that they deliberately left it open because there were other storylines they wanted to explore or have available.

"We did not want to give up the hold that character had over Xena and the enjoyment we had with telling stories of Xena and Ares," Tapert said. "So as much as we liked that Xena and Gabrielle were two people who were the best of friends, and perhaps intimate friends, we never wanted to give up Ares."

Even here, there’s a “perhaps” caveat. And I am firmly of the opinion that Word of God is not canon both because it’s not equally accessible to all fans, whether due to time, interest, access, and also because it lets authors add in representation without actually including it. The second isn’t applicable here, but the first is, and relying on interviews to prove canon means that in the source text things aren’t clear enough to claim it’s canon.

A dozen arguments can be made on both sides about whether Xena/Gabrielle is or isn’t canon, but that isn’t really the point of my post. The point is that it doesn’t matter. Canon or not canon, I don’t need network executives to tell me what I can and can’t ship. Canon isn’t a feature or a selling point, or at least it shouldn’t be. That just lets shows get away with lazy and unfulfilling plotlines, because hey it’s canon! What more do you want?

If Xena were airing today, and nothing about the Xena/Gabrielle relationship changed but Xena was canonically and openly romantically involved with Callisto or another woman from episode one, I honestly believe Xena/Gabrielle would not be the ship it is today. The canon ship would attract all the attention, and all that extremely queer subtext from the original interactions would go back to being just subtext.

And why do I think that? Because it happens on shows now. The canon relationship gets the attention and the support, and the non-canon ships get told they’re ‘reaching’ or ‘taking away’ from the canon couple. And that’s not what fandom should be.

I don’t need studio executives to allow me to ship Xena/Gabrielle, or Jane/Maura, or even Willow/Tara. And nobody else should need that either. All that a ship needs is for someone to see some characters and think “there is a story here that speaks to me”.

The next round of intermission polls will be up later this afternoon, but I want to talk about something I'm seeing a lot of in the tags as these polls go on. And that is the question 'how can you vote for a ship that's not canon?'

First and to get it out of the way, I want to say that canon representation is so, so important. From including non-white actors to including non-straight relationships, the changes in media and fandom over the past decade have been huge. The fact that we can have canon interracial queer relationships is amazing, and I in no way want to take steps back from that. I want media and fandom to keep pushing forward, to the point that it's not a big thing. To the point it's just the way things are.

But with all of that, I also want fandom to realize that not everything has to be canon to be 'worthy'.

Fandom is built on creation and community. From sharing fanfiction through mailed newsletters and stapled together zines, making fanvids with VCRs, all the way up to today where you can hit 'post' and thousands of people can see it instantly. It's still about community, from those early days where fandom was secret and contained to today when it's known and expected to drive a show's success. And community does not rely on what ships are and are not canon.

For example. Xena/Gabrielle just swept the first bracket, and I saw so many people commenting about how they were canon as they made their way through the rounds. But they're not.

Now, they might be ABC- All But Canon. Not even going to try and deny that one even to make a point. But they aren't canon. Arguably the largest femslash couple in fandom today, and they aren't canon. Why? Because the studio/network/whoever was making the final call wouldn't let them be. Does that make them less worth or important than the canon representation we get in more recent shows?

Even today, networks and studios and such still have final say on where the writers are allowed to take their shows and relationships. And while things are changing and moving forward, these brackets look back at where femslash fandom came from. The ships that got us here long before canon queer representation was common.

There was a time where a show would have a dozen different ships as every combination of characters was paired together by someone, because we all gravitate towards different aspects of a character. And yeah, sometimes that made for some serious ship wars and dark times. But for the most part, 'ship and let ship' was a common refrain. One person could ship characters A and B, and another person ship characters A and C, and that was fine. Or they could see A and B as purely platonic and ship C and D. And there was room in the fandom for all of that. Some fandoms were better about it than others, but overall.

I think fandom has truly lost something when so much today is about what is and isn't canon. Because rarely is it about the representation and more about being 'Right' in your ship. Of course it's the Only Correct Option, they're Canon. I can Prove I'm right. Your ship is only fanon, it can't compare to my Canon Ship.

And the fandom old part of me will never not be saddened by that, and how much space for creativity we lose when we only explore the areas some network executive says we can.

[classicsapphicships]

We're on to Intermission Round 3! Once again polls will be up for a single day, so make those reblogs count.

Good luck!

Right side:

Nia Nal/Lucy Lane vs Maria Hill/Natasha Romanoff

Missy/River Song vs Chessy/Miss Honey

Left side:

Emily Prentiss/Diana Berrigan vs Thirteenth Doctor/River Song

Thirteenth Doctor/Missy vs Jadzia Dax/Xena

#Classic Sapphic Ships #Intermission Poll #Intermission Round 3 #fandom polls

[classicsapphicships]

#Supergirl #Marvel Cinematic Universe #Classic Sapphic Ships #Nia Nal/Lucy Lane #Maria Hill/Natasha Romanoff #Nia Nal #Lucy Lane #Maria Hill #Natasha Romanoff #Intermission Poll #Intermission Round 3 #fandom polls

[classicsapphicships]

#Doctor Who #The Parent Trap #Matilda #Classic Sapphic Ships #Missy/River Song #Chessy/Miss Honey #Missy #River Song #Chessy #Miss Honey #Intermission Poll #Intermission Round 3 #fandom polls