Let's Talk About Shipping!

[Friv]

Obviously my favorite ship is Adama/Galactica.

[DigoDragon]

I prefer FedEx or ano-oh, wait, wrong thread.

Today I spent three hours trying to get a charge code for the corporate FedEx account from another office branch. And they gave me a bad code.


Shipping is alright. I like when a fan puts some thought into the chemistry of a ship; the characters have something interesting in common, or their traits compliment each other.

Like... Lapis and Peridot from Steven Universe. They have similar interests in art and tv shows. Lapis keeps Peridot's wild ideas ideas rooted to the ground while Peridot helps Lapis open up to others. They make a nice team together.

[Quiver]

I always kind of make a distinction in my head, and use 'shipping' as synonymous with fandom. When it happens on screen, it's canon, if fans want two characters to get together, it's shipping.

That being said? I don't really read very much fan fiction these days, and shipping was never high on my priority when I was reading it. There were stories I read which were romance, or had shipping elements to them, but I rarely read a full-on shipfic.

That being said? You do you. I don't think there's anything wrong with saying "I think these two would make a good couple," or "Those two would look cute together", and make fan art of it. As long as everyone IS respectful of other people's opinions on the matter, I think it's just cool to contribute to a fandom.

[Honest Tiefling]

As the handsome gentleman says, you do you.

Personally, I don't like it. I've seen too many bat-poop crazy fans to really want to entertain many conversations about it. I also feel like it enforces a focus on 'Will they or won't they!?!?' which relies on cheap shots as people get attached to certain pairings.

I just want to see couples with actual chemistry and entertainment value after they've upgraded the relationship, not teasing about who is kissing who. If they aren't entertaining after the initial flirtation, the ship can sink.

[Quiver]

I just want to see couples with actual chemistry and entertainment value after they've upgraded the relationship, not teasing about who is kissing who. If they aren't entertaining after the initial flirtation, the ship can sink.

I think that's the problem with a lot of fiction which tries to have it's characters pair off; they treat the 'consumate the relationship and be together' as the end point of the story. Which is a shame; an actual relationship is something which is hard to maintain, and which does come with its own unique issues and dynamics to explore.

There's also the problem, I think, that comes from characters feeling like 'Designated Love Interests'.

Arrow was mentioned earlier in the thread, and I really feel like that show maybe hit a goddamn apex for that problem. To wit:
Oliver manages to have zero chemistry with all of his designated love interests.

To go into more detail, in season one, he and Laurel just didn't have chemistry on screen; when they were together, all the time was spent angsting about their love lives, and why they could/couldn't be together. By contrast, his interactions with Felicity or Helena had different dynamics, so they were a lot more interesting (and, therefore, shippable.. whereas Laurel quickly found herself relegated to scrappy status).

The same dynamic sort-of persists in Season Two, since the writers still seemed to consider Laurel/Oliver the endgame of the show... until they realized how much more fun Oliver/Felicity were as a pairing. Shock - it turns out when people talk about more than just how good/bad they are for each other, people get more emotionally invested in the couple!

... and then season three happens, and we can see a reverse of the earlier seasons. Whereas before Felicity was a character with her own quirks, goals, drives and desires, now all of her arc and story points are 'I want to be with Oliver, should I be with Oliver, is this a bad relationship?. Whereas Laurel started to have more of her own storylines, invovling her taking up the mantle of the Black Canary. By the time season four rolled around, Felicity had wallowed in the relationship angst bubble, whereas Laurel and Oliver actually had genuine connection, conversations and interactions with one another.

I've seen - or feel like I've seen - this occur in other works before, where someone feels very much like they are being written first and foremost as 'the love interest' for the main character, rather than as a character in their own right. And I think THAT is probably the worst thing that can happen a work which wants you to actively root for characters to get together, because it makes the pairing unappealing.

[Celestia]

Also, What are your favorite ships?

Yang/Blake, Starlight/Trixie, and Lyra/Bon Bon. I used to have more (especially pony ships), but these are the only ones that have really stood the test of time. The others just kinda faded away.

[2D8HP]

From Game of Thrones I'd like to see:

Tyrion Lannister with Jon Snow,

Cersei Lannister with Tormund Giantsbane,

Brienne of Tarth with Theon Greyjoy,

Jaime Lannister with Samwell Tarly

Brienne of Tarth with Sansa Stark,

and...

...okay, actually any of them with any of them (that hasn't happened yet), just because I find it hilarious.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Tyrion Lannister with Jon Snow,

Cersei Lannister with Tormund Giantsbane,

Brienne of Tarth with Theon Greyjoy,

Jaime Lannister with Samwell Tarly

Brienne of Tarth with Sansa Stark,

hilarious.

Opposites attract? Tiny Gods, Cersei and Tormund?! How did you even come up with that one?


I'm not usually one for hetero ships, but one I could see is Devi and Kvothe from the Kingkiller Chronicle. Ultimate power couple!

[2D8HP]

.....Cersei and Tormund?! How did you even come up with that one?

Imagining either Cersei or Tormund "makin' the rounds" amuses me, so rather than listing them with each and every character I just put them together.

But each and every character still works for me!

[Avilan the Grey]

It is a bit strange just how seriously people can take it, but as long as everyone respects each other's opinions I think shipping is fun and harmless.

Yeah. To some people Shipping is... Serious Business. Or worse. To the point that they harass creators for not "understanding their characters" and so on and so forth.