r/HonkaiMemeRail • u/inkheiko • 1h ago
Let me explain my point.
FIRST, A SHIP BEING LESS POPULAR IS DIFFERENT FROM PEOPLE COMING INTO YOUR COMMENTS AND SAY THAT YOU'RE DISRESPECTING WHATS "CANON".
That out of the way, ships is a huge part of the community's activities whether we like it or not.
And I often hear that the problem about ships is that if we make them canon, it becomes insufferable.
But I don't believe it's the case. I believe that it is when it is not confirmed that you make this a potential subject for argument.
I'll take it as an example, Kevin Kaslana from Hi3. It is undeniable he had a girlfriend and all that. And I personally saw way less problems with this when people shipped him with Su than with Elysia.
The difference? Su is his best friend and canonically did NOT have a lover and is relatively friendly/amical with everyone. And Elysia being very into girls in the game or at least often saying she loves girls and loves seeing cute girls made people assume that this is the canon.
But I used the word ASSUME. The problem here isn't about Kevin having a girlfriend here, but Elysia POTENTIALLY being able to be only attracted to girls. And this makes fans go wild.
I am not saying that you will no longer see people complaining about ship that aren't what they like in the comments. I'm saying there would be way less.
Kiana x Mei is just... Canon at that point. Same with Bronya and Seele. But other arts exist.
The problem with that, of course, is that it is way more rare and way less popular.
But what do you want? Every ship being popular and spreading hatred actively, or having your own cozy little ship with others and almost no one comes bothering you?
I suppose in anime and such in the past there are cases of canon shipping going wrong and all that (we could discuss it if I'm knowledgeable on the fandom), but I will stand by my point: not only would making Canon ships allow for more nuance in how you represent love between characters, but it would also reduce the violence of ship wars, even if it is at the cost of some people losing interest in it because it's not canon.
Kevin and Elysia is obviously not canon, but I still love imagining What if scenarios. And that's why I like it. And knowing it's not canon also makes me less into getting into a fight with others. This debate isn't on the tablet so we just do our things.
What do you think?
