Why I love Red Queen & Red Queen fans
I’ve told my Red Queen shipping story a few times, so I won’t go over that again. (It’s here if you’re interested.)
I had a brief conversation with @lex-noctis the other day about RQW and I said this:
I appreciate every single thing people contribute to RQW and to the fandom in general. This really is a ship that’s been kept sailing purely through enthusiasm and imagination, and it’s really special to me for that reason. It’s a ship made by the fans, not by the show and isn’t reliant on lots (or any) canon interaction. It’s just whatever we can come up with in our heads. And I think that’s pretty wonderful.
And I think that pretty much sums up why I’ve run a shipping week for this couple for the past four years.
This ship should not exist. It is not based on numerous overanalysed interactions between the characters. We don’t have meaningful looks or accidental touches or dialogue that can be interpreted to suit an agenda. Our canon is a handful of exchanged words and four or five glances IN SIX SEASONS.
And yet, we are the second biggest Regina F/F ship on AO3. And the second biggest Ruby F/F ship. (Swan Queen and Red Beauty are the largest, respectively.) Think about all the canon interaction Regina’s had with Snow. Or Ruby’s had with Snow for that matter. Think about Regina’s canon past with Maleficent or Ruby’s CANON ACTUAL TRUE LOVE GIRLFRIEND!! And yet, we are bigger than all of them.
And that is thanks solely to the imagination, creativity and dedication of the people who have chosen to contribute to this ship. We have kept this ship afloat for years based on nothing but affection for these characters and the potential for stories we see in them.
I’ve loved championing this ship and running @redqueenweek because I’m constantly surprised and delighted by what people bring to it. I’ve always kind of been drawn to little, obscure ships but I think this might be the littlest and most obscure. But somehow, all of you out there, have made it feel big and friendly and fun. Because shipping should be fun, you know?
I could ramble on here, but I think I’ve said everything I wanted to say. So I’ll end on a big thank you. I wish I could namecheck all of you, but there are way more RQ fans than you’d think out there. So I’ll settle for singling out the people who helped me get into the RQ fandom: @fourforyou, @royalarmyofoz, @100poundsofcatfish and @konako. Whether through fics, art or conversation, each of you made me think about this ship as a real thing that I could love.
And finally, a huge and heartfelt thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Red Queen fandom, either as creator or consumer. You have made it my absolute pleasure to be in the fandom and to run @redqueenweek these past few years. So thank you.
(This all sounds very final and formal! I’ll still be around in the fandom and @redqueenouat will continue to reblog any and all Red Queen things.)