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arren18
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I thought about putting this in the anime section, but as it also applies to other fiction (and real life for some...), I think this is most appropriate.
So what are people's opinions on shipping? What I mean by this, of course, is the imagined pairing up of characters - whether there is a real canonical basis or not - that people often associate with "fangirls".
My view is that for the most part it's harmless fun. There are time when it's obnoxious, like when it becomes hard to get away from, or unpleasant, like when shippers insult those who disagree, but in my experience this isn't so common. I won't go into huge detail right now, but I'd like to hear what other members think. 
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 12.20.2013, 03:12 AM |
   
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Kazegami
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Well, I'd say the same as you: harmless fun. I usually find myself shipping at least one pairing in most anime that I watch, sometimes collecting a little art of said pairing, or reading a little fanfic, even writing it.
I find it gets creepy when real people are involved. I see often see famous YouTubers getting shipped these days, for example PewDiePie and Cry (to form PewdieCry). I'm not down with that.
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| 12.20.2013, 06:01 AM |
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husky51
The Old Guy
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| 12.20.2013, 01:27 PM |
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Saddletank
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Ah, showing your age Husky!
Taking characters (often from anime but also movies or books or comics, etc) and imagining them in a sexual or romantic relationSHIP (hence the term "shipping" ).
There's a huge community on the interwebs that writes fiction based on movies/books/anime and since these are fans of those media their writing is called fanfiction.
Most fanfiction is written by teenagers and since sex and love occupies the minds of a lot of teenagers a lot of the time, most fanfiction is about romance.
There's people out there who write gay shipping between the young Kirk and young Spock from the recent Star Trek movie franchise. That gives you an idea of how "out there" some shipping can be. Then some of these people as Kaz says, will sometimes get defensive, argumentative and even abusive about this on web forums.
For me personally I don't do it and don't get into it, possibly due to my time in life. I do like however to imagine more interesting interactions between characters where feelings are hinted at in some anime, such as Batou and Makoto Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell or Kyon and Mikuru from Haruhi Suzumiya. But since the animes themselves hint at romantic feelings between these in the first place I don't think it counts as shipping.
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Post last edited by Saddletank on 12.20.2013, 01:36 PM.
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| 12.20.2013, 01:36 PM |
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Roarkiller
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When I saw the title, I thought you wanted help shipping stuff back home  I'm not really into shipping, although I admit I used to like reading fanfics back when I was visiting anime forums.
@saddle: Considering that Zachary Quinto is gay himself, not that hard to imagine, lol.
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quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.
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| 12.21.2013, 12:05 AM |
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husky51
The Old Guy
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| 12.21.2013, 12:33 AM |
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arren18
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There have always been people shipping Kirk and Spock. As I understand it, the term "slash" came about because of the / in "Kirk/Spock", as used waaaaaay back. So that's nothing new at all!
And I'd say it counts even if there's a basis for it within the work. It needn't be something that you spend a lot of time thinking about, but I think if you support the idea of two characters in a relationship, then that would count. Hence why I don't see it as a negative in itself, because it's really not so strange to think that a certain pairing makes sense. Not that they always do make sense. 
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| 12.21.2013, 02:18 AM |
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Saddletank
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Don't get me wrong, there's nothing negative in it at all. It's harmless fun and if people enjoy doing it, its cool. Its just not something for me and as Kaz said, when some shippers start flame wars over the imaginings in theirs and other's heads I think that's silly, but then again this is the internet where anything's possible.
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| 12.21.2013, 03:06 AM |
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Orphic Okapi
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Okay so time for the fun stuff. Who do you ship?
At first I was all like "oh no of course I don't ship anyone" because I've never been serious enough about a couple to do fan fiction or art or anything. But then I thought a little more, and yes, I have definitely had opinions about certain pairings before. And that's basically all shipping is, right?
Recently I've been really invested in Kasuga and Tokiwa from Aku no Hana. I also (of course) like Shizuku and Seiji from WotH a lot. I appreciate how these couples both avoid the cliched patterns and power dynamics you see in most boy/girl romance.
Weirdly enough, I like Shinji and Asuka together. They had a bit of a Ron/Hermione thing going on. They're horrible to each other in the show, but something tells me if they both matured a lot, they could actually work as a couple.
I don't think I support any hetero pairings in Utena, for reasons probably apparent to anyone who has seen Utena. I thought Saionji and Touga would have made a great couple, and considering how many shirtless scenes they have together, it's practically canon. Mikage and Mamiya were sort of endearingly creepy together, despite not exactly being a match made in heaven, and their relationship becomes more intriguing when you think of them as a mirror Utena/Anthy.
Of course I ship Utena and Anthy pretty hard. I also thought Rakka and Reki from Haibane Renmei would have made a sweet couple, as would Lain and Arisu from Serial Experiments Lain (in a weird way). But the latter two shows have such perfect endings, I wouldn't want to spoil them but having the characters get together.
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Post last edited by Orphic Okapi on 12.21.2013, 04:40 AM.
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| 12.21.2013, 04:37 AM |
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Kazegami
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My first ship was Spock/Christine. |D Closely followed by Draco/Hermione (Dramione).
But yeahhh... lord, where do I start?
Kurogane/Fai 'KuroFai' (Tsubasa Chronicle) It's been years but still one of my favourite ships.
Tyki/Allen 'Poker Pair' (D.Gray-man) Tyki's good with anyone but this pairing's my favourite.
Ayanami/Teito (07-Ghost)
Shizuo/Izaya 'Shizaya' (Durarara!!) They'd sooner tear each other limb from limb but oh well~ |D
Kyou/Tohru (Fruits Basket) Canon! And not yaoi!
Usui/Misaki (Kaichou wa Maid-sama!) Again!
L-Elf/Haruto (Kakumeiki Valvrave) "I'm the cream to your coffee" - Haruto to L-Elf. It's love. /bricked
Gil/Oz (Pandora Hearts)
Tsuzuki/Muraki (Yami no Matsuei)
Aaand many others besides... Lol, five of those pairs are complete enemies. But enemies are good for shipping. You know surprisingly I don't really ship anything in Code Geass. You'd expect me to be some hardcore Lelouch/Suzaku fan but it doesn't quite do it for me. I also don't do L/Light. Also not that big on anything from Final Fantasy 7. Sephiroth/Cloud is alright, but eh. Little enthusiasm. Naturally I support everything in Junjou Romantica and Sekaiichi Hatsukoi. XD
You know I've seen really good artists get harassed and upset on DeviantART over what pairings they do art of. Why people have got to take something that's just for fun so seriously and get nasty over it, I just don't know. They need to learn to live and let live, and most importantly take one titanic step back... Fighting over imagined relationships between fictional characters, I mean... really?
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Post last edited by Kazegami on 12.21.2013, 11:19 AM.
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| 12.21.2013, 11:17 AM |
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saviour2012
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WOW
man what i thought is really correct the number of weirdness in people increases with their average income
Shipping, i really thought it was really related to arrens problem sending gifts home
it is like relationship->ship->shipping
whats the basic difference between the cosplay wirdness and this one.
Please ignore this post if you feel that my wordings are incorrect because there is definitely a issue as two of people here genuinely wanted to assert the harmless thing into it.
i am in no mode for arguing just my opinion as i see it.
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| 12.21.2013, 12:20 PM |
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arren18
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I must say I have a lot that I like, even if I don't take it all that seriously, because I tend to joke about it, and then once the idea is in my mind, it seems gradually more plausible the more I see.
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Post last edited by arren18 on 12.21.2013, 12:42 PM.
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| 12.21.2013, 12:41 PM |
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Saddletank
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quote:
Originally posted by saviour2012
whats the basic difference between the cosplay wirdness and this one.
Cosplay is making costumes based on anime or comic characters and then usually wearing them in public at conventions so like-minded people can see you and enjoy your efforts.
Shipping is done inside people's heads and on web forums and in written stories (fanfiction). They are two pastimes so different I think you would find hard to identify two more apposite ones unless it was gardening and space travel.
But... but... I have a question. Surely shipping is about putting together two characters in a romantic or sexual coupling that isn't indicated at all in canon?
Shinji/Asuka is a good example of what I mean because its clear that these two do have feelings for each other and its only by dint of their messed up situation and immaturity that they don't get together. Now Asuka/Gendo would be shipping since there is absolutely 0% canon evidence of any romantic or sexual attraction between them.
Likewise Kirk/Spock because in all the ST material there's zero canon evidence.
Or is my understanding of shipping in error?
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Post last edited by Saddletank on 12.21.2013, 02:45 PM.
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| 12.21.2013, 02:44 PM |
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Orphic Okapi
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"Shipping, derived from the word relationship, is the belief that two characters, fictional or non-fictional, would be interesting or believable (or are, or will be, or should be) in a romantic relationship. [...] Shipping can involve virtually any kind of relationship – from the well-known and established, to the ambiguous or those undergoing development, and even to the highly improbable and the blatantly impossible."
That's Wikipedia's take. I think as long as you support a relationship between two characters, it qualifies as shipping. I know most of the ships I listed are either canon or have a fair amount of subtextual evidence.
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| 12.21.2013, 05:48 PM |
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Saddletank
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But... but... how can you ship couples who already are couples? Or is it just the act of saying "wouldn't it be hotter if...?" of two people who are already in love did something more romantic/sensual/kinky (delete as applicable).
This is probably why I'm just not in touch with this fan community at all. My mind isn't on the right (youthful enough?) wavelength.
The fanfiction I did write some years ago had only canon couples and when it didn't it was an OC with canon characters. To my mind you can't ship Shizuku and Seiji because they're already a couple and in their own expectations of a distant future, will marry. What's to ship there?
Or Sheeta and Pazu. At the end of the film they fly off together towards their own happy ever after. They're clearly in love and... etcetera.
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Post last edited by Saddletank on 12.21.2013, 06:15 PM.
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| 12.21.2013, 06:14 PM |
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Orphic Okapi
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It might be helpful to think of shipping simply as a way of announcing that you are a fan of a specific couple. It doesn't necessarily have to be an activity, although it often leads to fiction/art, since that's what fans do.
It's not strange to be a fan of a show, right? Is it any stranger to be a fan of a couple in that show? You could argue that for a movie like Whisper of the Heart, which is all about the primary relationship, saying "I ship Seiji and Shizuku" is exactly equivalent to saying, "I'm a fan of Whisper of the Heart," but in shows with a larger cast of characters and less central focus, shipping can simply be a way of indicating which couple is your favorite. I guess I don't see anything weird about shipping canon pairings.
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| 12.21.2013, 06:40 PM |
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arren18
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Yeah, Orphic has it right. Even if it's well established within the canon, it still counts, because then it would mean you support that contrary to whatever other options there might be. Often something will be hinted at for the duration, and then revealed as true near the end - the revelation doesn't then make it stop counting.
It doesn't need to come down to "wouldn't it be hotter if". It just implies some kind of appreciation for what is there or what one imagines to be there, and a certain degree of emotional investment.
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| 12.21.2013, 10:11 PM |
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fenkashi
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I have ships for pretty much everything I watch. It comes from whose ever interaction I enjoy the most. A lot of times they are romantically involved in canon. Other times, not so much.
You can ship platonic relationship too! Which I do a lot of. Cause anime bromance is often better than anime romance.
The one thing that I couldn't get on board with was crossover ships. Another thing, the whole over the top TEAM so and so. It's just annoying, imo. I ignore some fandoms because of that. I like to enjoy my shipping in peace, without others hating on it. ^^ I don't begrudge anyone's passion for their OTP but sometimes the love can be expressed in pretty distasteful and negative ways.
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| 12.22.2013, 02:43 AM |
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Saddletank
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Hi stranger! Been wondering where you were.
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| 12.22.2013, 03:06 AM |
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arren18
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quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
You can ship platonic relationship too! Which I do a lot of. Cause anime bromance is often better than anime romance.
Absolutely! That was basically the main appeal of Tiger & Bunny.
I also agree that the "team" thing is a real pain. For me it barely even goes beyond talking about it with people I'm watching something with, so I don't understand the need to take it so seriously. Especially when they start getting into fights with each other and stuff, it just seems so ridiculous!
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| 12.22.2013, 04:33 AM |
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