This post won’t contain any real spoilers or spoiler images for “Thor: The Dark World.” I know it just came out and everyone hasn’t gotten to see it yet. A spoilerific post about our thoughts on the movie will come later.
The ever lovely Lorena and I saw “Thor: The Dark World” together this weekend (and we will soon review it for you obviously), and while I haven’t always been so sure about how big of a Marvel fan I am, I do know that I was super, super, SUPER excited for this movie. There was flailing and crying and fangirl squealing and all that good stuff. I apologize to those who surrounded me in the theater. However, I do find myself in unknown territory in the “Thor” fandom: it’s the first time I’ve ever had a non-canon ship. Loki and Jane Foster, known together in their fandom as Lokane, are ruining my life in the best way possible.
I was all, “I’m just never going to be one of those people who cares about fan art…”
When I realized that I was brand new to the world of non-canon shipping, I started thinking about why this has never happened to me before. Am I just naturally drawn to canon couples because I’ll be too sad if my preferred couple never gets together? Or is it because I like seeing my ship together, and this can be rare with non-canon couples? Take Lokane for example: we knew from the release of the trailers that Loki and Jane were going to at least interact in “The Dark World” but up until that point they’d only heard about each other, and hadn’t actually met. How is it possible to ship two people who until super recently didn’t even know each other? I don’t know, and yet I’m loving it. But I’m not entirely sure what I’m expecting to happen with this ship, or what I even want to happen. Everything is topsy turvy now! Is it implied in all shipping that you want the ship to become canon, or is non-canon shipping more of a “take what you can get and love it anyway” kind of thing? I need a crash course because I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ANYMORE.
And the universe was all, “lmao that’s what you think, get ready for the feels.”
Further complicating things is the fact that this also might be the first fandom where I have more than one ship involving the same character. Because I’m pretty into Thor and Jane, too. (Ship name Fosterson, for those not familiar.) I mean, please. Tell me if this guy crashes down onto Earth and tells you that everything you’ve hoped for and dreamed about your whole life is real, you wouldn’t be all over it. So I was excited to see what was in store for them in the sequel. I’m not made of stone! Just look at them!
But then…
I think about Loki and Jane again. And how they’re really much better suited for each other than Thor and Jane. And how if Loki and Thor had been sent to Earth at the same time Jane probably would have fallen for Loki instead of Thor. Their mentalities are so much more similar. Loki’s interest and skill in magic is comparable to Jane’s scientific prowess, whereas Thor is much more inclined towards battle. (That logic might not make sense to a non-shipper, but trust me, it totally works.)
And now I love fan art.
Even after Thor’s change in the first movie, I feel like a part of Jane is in love with him because he’s the first person she’s ever met from another world. You’ll see how Loki and Jane do together the sequel, but based on what I saw in the trailers and heard in interviews (and saw in “The Dark World,” which I promised I wouldn’t discuss here but will freak out about later) I have a feeling that I’ll ship Lokane even harder now. Because they are perfect. Is poor Sif supposed to pine over Thor from afar forever? That would just be cruel. Ergo, if Jane and Loki get married and have 1000 babies, everybody wins. These are the things that I think about now. And it hurts. And I wonder how anyone survives non-canon ships. Is it always like this?!
So if you can help me, please do. I’m clearly not handling it well and after “The Dark World” I’m decidedly worse…
Pump yourself up for a kick ass movie by watching the trailer below. And then go see said kick ass movie.
What’s your advice for a newbie like me who’s just boarded the pain train of non-canon shipping? Is it possible to survive on fanfiction alone? HELP ME. And tell me some of your favorite non-canon ships!
