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View Full Version : Stupid question about shipping (dunno where to post this)



MJN SEIFER
02-16-2014, 03:01 AM
For any of my projects, if two characters that I had created were to become a couple, would this count as "shipping"?

I realize this is a stupid question, and sorry if this is in the wrong place. I tried Timber Maniac HQ or whatever that forums called, but it seemed to be only for actual writing, not questions about it.

Ayen
02-16-2014, 03:17 AM
Shipping normally has to do with fanfiction of other people's creative works, so not really.

Shlup
02-16-2014, 04:56 AM
"Shipping" only applied exclusively to fanfiction very briefly, if that was ever really the case. People use the word all the time to describe simply desiring two characters to have a relationship. If you want two characters to have a relationship, you "ship" them. I think it's kind of cheating to "ship" your own characters though!

Big D
02-21-2014, 01:23 AM
"Shipping" only applied exclusively to fanfiction very briefly, if that was ever really the case. People use the word all the time to describe simply desiring two characters to have a relationship. If you want two characters to have a relationship, you "ship" them. I think it's kind of cheating to "ship" your own characters though!Pretty much that. It's not 'shipping' if it happens within the context of the canonical storyline. Then it's just plot, or maybe sub-plot if you're keeping it on the down-low. It's only really 'shipping' if it's happening in fans' minds, fantasies, or .txt files.

Fynn
02-21-2014, 09:52 AM
Not really. In my mind, if someone ships an official couple, it's still a ship. Like there were two main warring ships in the Harry Potter fandom, and the war prevailed even after it was made clear Hermione was going to be with Ron. But shipping characters within your own narrative is no longer considered shipping, IMO. You are the creator, so any new ship you propose will not be a ship but a Word of God, as TV Tropes would call it. Shipping is an exclusively fandom thing.

Shorty
02-21-2014, 04:34 PM
I see this term splattered across tumblr all the time and I hate it. But an example I guess is that I wish Sansa and The Hound would become a thing, so tumblr tweens would call that "shipping".

I wouldn't say it applies to actual couples. I think it's just for people you wish would get together, like how people obsessively wax over it with Sherlock and John Watson.