Hi, I hope you find yourself well. I wanted to ask a question on ribbun because I genuinely am curious to understand how the ship works. What bothers me a lot of the time is that when people talk about their 'interesting dynamic’, they always mean Jax and HIS problems, HIS reasons for bullying gangle, etc. why does a character have to be hurt by another just so the other can grow, and why does it always get wrapped up in some romantic undertone? I get that relationships need conflict to develop, but this is just straight up abuse. And I also feel like they don't really..have chemistry. I really do want to understand!
I want to preface that, you don't have to understand! If a lot of what you see in a ship doesn't appeal to you, or even rubs you the wrong way, that's perfectly fine! So long as you're never aggressive to a shipper over it, feeling like that over a ship is fine.
It's nice you're curious and want to put in the effort to understand, but at the end of the day fictional characters are just dolls people are playing with and understanding why some people play with their dolls the way they do, shouldn't be something you have to concern yourself with.
As for some answers, it really depends on the shipper and what they want to see out of the characters. I know some ribbun shippers who make Jax and Gangle a very loving and dynamic. For me personally I can't see their dynamic this way until way later down the line in their potential relationship, but a lot of people like pairing them like this and that's okay. One could argue it's out of character, and maybe it is, but portraying them like this is all in good fun. Again playing with dolls how they prefer to play with them! If you for example want to have a ribbun variety you might understand more, take this portrayal as an example of how some people might view them!
Sometimes people just like how the characters visually look next to each other! And it's no deeper than that!
"Why does a character have to be hurt by another just so the other can grow," is a pretty common motive for characters, there are other ways it can be done or written, but I think it's undeniable that this is a commonly liked tropes. Usually because it makes it sadder and/or more heartfelt. And the romantic undertones are because a lot of people like romance and the idea that one or both of them have feelings for the other makes it even more sad or even a bigger motive depending on how meaningful romantic love is to the viewer.
e.i. Jax feeling bad and improving because he actually does love Gangle and doesn't want to lose his relationship, romantic or otherwise with her. Feels like a huge victory and overcoming for the shipper to see with their fave ship.
That being said, for me specifically, I like the dynamic where Jax learns to improve himself with his love for Gangle, and Gangle's feelings on Jax help her improve to stand up for herself a bit more. I like the idea of Jax fancying Gangle when she stands up for herself finally. It's part of the reason Jax messes with her so much, to see how far he can push her. And she finally has enough. But this Enough risks Jax losing her so he finally makes a push to find a respective balance to keep her company. So in this way they both improve due to each other. Gangle makes Jax better, and Jax makes Gangle worse (for the better).
Sometimes I like when their relationship is full on terrible though, because I like when an idea or story makes my heartbreak. It's not something everyone likes in stories, but I actually love when a story makes me feel terrible and want to throw up with aching heart LOL.
And I won't deny these portrayals are often abusive, and I understand why anyone would be uncomfortable with that, and won't blame them for avoiding those aspects in a ship's portrayal. A lot of people will have their own reasons for this both known and unknown to themselves.
Very personal inner-analyzing here contains topics of self harm and self reflection:
I bring this up because there's something to said about how much I project on Gangle. I see a lot of myself in her. So what does it say about me that I have another favorite character treat her so awful? Continuously hurt her. Is it roundabout way to portray self harm? If it is, it's a lot healthier way to do so than the actual self harm I've done to myself in the past.
But I also LOVE Gangle, I love seeing her gain confidence in these past few episodes. And I love the idea of Jax, in my portrayals, someone who treats her horrible but also loves her, growing to learn to properly love and appreciate her.
If I was a teenager I might not have liked Gangle as much, I remember Sayaka from Madoka Magica being my least liked character for unknown reasons, but now that I'm older I think its because I saw a bit too much of myself in her. She is the most teenager deal with teen things that just gets amplified by the magical girl stuff. I think about that scene of her hiding under the covers just staring at her soul gem. Because that's just how it be. (on a side note the ending to the third Madoka movie made me sick to my stomach the first time I saw it and I LOVED it for that).
So that's a deep psychological but still watered down look into why toxic ribbun might be appealing or be projection from me. There are a million and 1 other reasons another ribbun shipper might like the same portrayal, or like a different portrayal. Some people could have a similar experience as me, and maybe take the OPPOSITE away from the ship. They don't want that kind of heart break, they don't want to see that kind of stuff. So make Jax and Gangle a happier couple, or even be drawn to an entire different happier ship like Mix and Masks.
Our own experiences determine what you do and don't like about stories and characters, and shipping!
Your life experiences will probably be much different from mine, and it might make it hard for us to truly understand each other's view about different things, ribbun as example, but there's no harm in that either! We are both seeing things through different lenses of our life experiences and people we have known, and that's what makes every every person so uniquely different from one another.
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