I managed to go ahead and do one thing for Valentine’s Day aside from my wonderful blue pairing (and just plain Valentine’s Day themed) headers. I managed to put together this wonderful self-indulgent rambling post on how I somehow manage to choose my pairings in an instant. And then manage to somehow stay by them 100% based on the story.

It all came down to one thing after I thought about it all the time (when I happened to be bored). A lot of over-thinking to get to one obvious answer. It was the things and the people around me that caused it. My own relationships. Duh.

In my defense, it took me a while to come to the conclusion because I always believed I chose my relationships to…ship based on the relationships I’ve experienced and seen in my life. The simplest explanation: Who I think can stay together FOREVER. Because in fiction I want to expect nothing less than eternity because it’s what I can get.

But how the heck could I decide forever in an instant of two characters appearing on the same page/screen/scene/whatever~ together?

Sure, I then go on to over-think it and find my original instinct 100% right by analyzing every little detail in the sense of reality and as far as storytelling goes (example: Minato End in AkaSaka sucks big time no matter who you were rooting for). That’s what lead to my post on shipping that now feels like it was written forever ago. “Overly Romantic Shipping” was my way of saying, “I THINK TOO MUCH” except adding on the obvious fangirling for a girl in love with love.

I put it off as “love~!” back then or to put it exactly:

Ultimately…for me, what it all comes down to is pure and simple love. The pairing I think has more love is usually the one I support.

Or rather, to word this in a fair way, the pairing I think will get to show their love more is the one I’ll support.

I still stand by this for supporting pairings. I need something more for the pairings I go all…crazy “GRAGH! OTP!!!” or more reasonably, “Kyaaa~!” for. Otherwise all you’ll earn from me is a nice little, “aww” (except in Sakura and Syaoran’s case in which case you get the biggest “awww” that completely overrules any of my “guidelines” for a successful relationship because…aww).

Going further into my past article:

I just need to be able to believe that a couple really does (or can) love each other. If I don’t think they do, they might be my favorite pairing still because I like the two of them, but I’ll never support them in the same way.

What makes me believe a couple really can love each other?

Now the obvious answer is the one I came up with. I judge by the people around me that I know love each other. But I want to explain how I got to that answer, because it was really bothering me for a while.

Like I also explained in the article, I became interesting in pairings before I decide, “Oh snap~ OTP” and I do. But before that I (usually) make a decision about who I’m supporting three chapters/episodes/whatever into the story…or less. How the heck do I lock onto a couple that quick?

I’ve put it off as “Well you can just tell because of the chemistry” for quite some time, until I one day realized…oh shit. What makes Chemistry?

I suppose I called it the dokidoki blushy reaction until I realized…oh shit (again). That’s infatuation or attraction.

At this point I’d just like to say…Damn you inventors and developers of the English language all of these years! Stop giving me words to use improperly for my shipping. Or at least teach them to me properly. I’ve gotten into…what? Three different terms in the first few lines of my paragraphs? Stupid romance.

But of course, romance and relationships are a complicated thing meant to be described with many, many different words. Otherwise it’s boring.

So after going through many words that failed to match the definition I was trying to force on them I was sitting in a waiting room…waiting. Then I started thinking about the stuff I could write on my blog when I got home because *gasp* I had no episodes to blog (it was a miraculous week). I started thinking about past articles and my previously mentioned (and successful) shipping post.

Then I got all grumpy because I started wondering about what now seemed like irrational shipping. Even though I put so much thought into it, I couldn’t figure out the “it” that made me see a couple…shine with…whatever “that” shine might be (OTP-ness~?). I’d come to the conclusion that it had to be one part comfortability (fake-ish word, but roll with me here), while still having attraction and one part enjoyment.

What was it that made me see that potential in pairings so quickly though?

My parents were sitting there with me going back and forth bickering like a married couple (because haha, they’re married) and I instantly realized that I enjoy the heck out of bickering of some sort in my pairings.

Or wait! Not bickering! (Or not just bickering) But teasing of some sort!

*gasp* *GASP* *GASP*

That’s all my family does all day long when we’re together and talking about nothing specific. Fake-insults, teasing, and general joking around.

Going over every single pairing I crazily support…all of them had what my family had in some sense. Fighting that wasn’t really fighting. Teasing, jokes, being mean (except not really). I’d also tentatively say my whole family is tsundere for each other, except we all know that we’re being tsuntsun posers.

…lolz. My family sounds so weird when explained in this way, but it’s true. I’m sure there’s others with families out there like mine (more than I think) who go back and forth all the time. They’ll just suddenly realize how weird it is when they read all the terms that I use (your family is tsundere~).

So I finally had my answer. Looking back at all of the pairings I support so easily and quickly now, it made perfect sense. All of them reminded me of my family in some sense. Just looking at the pairings I made my Headers forof recently I’m sure you can find it on your own. Joking, teasing, “I hate you, but okay not really”-ness.

I could go through all of my pairings myself, but I think saying that I like pairings with the teasing, bickering, banter, and so on pretty much explains anything I would have to say about any specific couples. So I won’t explain. You guys should know by now anyway~

Also, there are certainly pairings I do like with no teasing or similar-ness (bickering, banter, etc~). Love comes in many forms after all!

But then there is my preferred fun in a relationship that also comes from my family. I inherited something else from my parents.

When I asked my mom what she liked about my dad when they were going out, she lists many…weird incidents and when I say that’s weird she says that’s what she liked about him. He was a silly “dork” (my word not hers, but she agreed) and he made her laugh. He eventually transformed my mom into such as well if her current state is any indication…and their children (my brother and I) have ended up in such a way too I’m sure.

One big silly family.

So my family explains my taste for silly couples too (outside of the fact that they’re just darn cute).

So if they’re not teasing each other, there are usually some silly things going on. Usually it’s the boy being silly.

Like Sakura and Syaoran. There’s no teasing there, but they can just be so adorably silly. Blushing like mad = silly = cutest pairing ever~!!!

Oh, but I’ll save the CCS love…love for someday in the future.

Now of course, all of this doesn’t mean I just like teasing and silly pairings. I’ve just found those are the only ones that can ignite my crazy shipping fangirl reactions. It’s also the sort of pairing I am predisposed to like because I find them to be successful.

There are also the pairings that would fit the “silly” or “teasing” type, but I still can’t support them because I find it too shallow for one reason or another. For example, if there’s too much physical beating on a guy in an anime I usually find myself hating the pairing before long (it certainly isn’t a real showing of someone’s feelings and it’s not even that funny).

Then I also like more subdued pairings where two people just seem to fit each other and I don’t even bother to think about why. The sort of anime where you know who is going to end up together and that’s just find.

Basically, I finally found out something about my tastes because of my family. Outside of giving my rabid fangirling less of a random feeling I’ve  firmly decided that my number one requirement for a boyfriend is someone with a sense of humor (also not overly-sensitive about insults and sarcasm is a plus). But, of course, love comes in many forms. And so does my shipping.

There’s just some anime that don’t get shipping going at all. Even if it’s a really good anime, sometimes shipping anything just doesn’t feel right. Things just need to naturally go wherever they’re going and the feeling of manipulation and judgment that goes along with shipping sometimes just doesn’t fit. If you get what I mean.

And then there are the pairings that can’t be explained, but somehow you just support them. Though if I overthought those like I do with everything else, I’d probably be able to explain my reason.

So, yes…as a rabid shipper fangirl I decided to take some responsibility and take a look at my rabid ways this Valentine’s Day. To focus on the thing that’s really most important…the love~! And as a fan of anime and enjoying what I watch, I love the couples that have the most fun together. They are obviously the most fun to watch and cheer on.

And there you have it. A nice rambling post about the futility of trying to understand love. Even when it’s just trying to understand what sort of love you prefer to watch (oh wait, I got an answer to most of that, but not all of it).

Now for Valentine’s Day I’m off~ Completely ignoring the commercialism to spend a day with my family. Hopefully I’ll have the time for my one Valentine’s Day tradition even if  I’m going out of town. Watching the second CardCaptor Sakura movie.

…Sakura and Syaoran are so cute. >///< I’m definitely bringing my DVD along and hope I find the time.

In: Articles, Specials | tags: fangirling, shipping. | #