#ship culture

[smallsies]

sorry but. something about how fanfiction is vastly undervalued by readers in fandom culture. how people love to read stories about their favorite characters but only if they're in love, or if they at least sleep with each other. there's so many incredible stories that are just missed because fandom culture struggles to see beyond romantic pairings and relationships.

#idk is there some fear people have of engaging w characters beyond being half of a gay ship? #maybe this is just me but like. don't you want to get inside their head? share a piece of their thoughts and how they see the world? #even just seeing them in silly Situations . like. that is truly unappealing to you without any romantic aspect alongside it? #i don't mean to come off as bitter ot anything but this is just something i see time and time again #ship culture in fandom and particularly within fanfic is just. a bit of a nightmare #maybe i'm too aroace for this idk #fandom #fandom culture #ao3 #fanfic #ship culture #shipping culture

[curlyhairedintrovertsworld]

what if i ship these people as friends, then what fuckers. what if i ship them as enemies because i made up a scenario in my head, then what? you gonna be a coward about it??? what if i ship these people as this person loves romantically, and this person loves in this is my forever friend with tax benefits??? what if i ship these people in they live together because they just seem like they would be the good roommates??? what if i shipped them in the most unromantic unspecified multilayered queer way possible??? what if what if what if what if- i'll fucking do it

#i found this in my drafts #the last thing i posted was a ship post so this is ironic but you know how it is #angel speaks #ship #ships #ship culture #queer #ace #aro #aroace #i think i was angry when i wrote this #but it still stands #aromantic #aromantism #aspec #loveless #platonic #aplatonic #queer platonic #shipping #media consumption #rant #my rants

[ianthoni]

Not giving any names.

#shipping #brown eyes x blue eyes #ship culture #shipping dynamics

[fnafs-ex-boyfriend]

Why shipping aroace characters is different

So I made a post a while back about my distaste for Vivziepop, the creator of Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss. One of the things that I mentioned in that post was that I disliked how callously she treated the shipping of Alastor, her aroace character (note: he is indeed canonically aroace, Vivziepop confirmed that he was ace and an artist on the show clarified that he was aro as well, which seems to be the implication for the character from Vivziepop and her team). I had a few people regard with confusion, asking what the difference was between shipping an aroace character and shipping, say, a straight character in a gay ship. There’s a key difference that I want to cover for my well-meaning allo (not ace or aro) friends. (Note: I definitely have different standards for QPR shipping and friends-with-benefits shipping aro and/or ace characters, but if I see ANY allo people using QPRs without knowledge of how they actually work and use them as an excuse to ship an aro character….i will find you)

The difference that I, an aroace man, have in my mind is that Aroace characters should not be shipped in a traditional way because we have so little representation in the first place. How many gay people have you seen in media? How many bisexuals? How many lesbians? There are numerous examples of these more common sexualities all throughout popular media. One reason why this kind of representation is more popular is mostly due to two factors: One of which is, obviously, that the three listed are more commonly known by the populous, thus are guaranteed to get a better reaction from a widespread audience. The other reason to this is that aro-asexuality has to be represented differently than other orientations. With most orientations, if a creator wants to properly represent their identities, they will put the character in question in a relationship with someone of the same gender as them (Amity from The Owl House or Jackie from Star Versus the Forces of Evil), or they will give the character a chaotic realization-to-coming-out storyline, often tied to a romantic relationship (Nick from Heartstopper). However, with aroace people, you can’t really adhere to this traditional standard, as the entire point of the orientation is a lack of interest in sex or romance. Therefore, they tend to be harder to represent other than giving them a full storyline about their sexuality (Isaac from Heartstopper) or their orientation must be made clear by the creator (Lilith from The Owl House). These factors make aromantic and/or asexual characters quite rare in popular media.

What does this have to do with shipping aro-ace characters? Well, I can name countless well-represented gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters in popular media. But for aroaces, there’s really only a handful. It hurts to not see yourself in media. And, from my perspective, when people ship aroace characters, they’re callously disregarding that fact by ignoring their canon sexuality. Shipping Percy Jackson with Grover or whatever isn’t taking away from straight representation because, well, reread the first half of that sentence. Additionally, never, EVER have I seen people defend people who ship lesbians or gay men with a character of the opposite sex the same way they defend shipping aro-ace characters. Amity x Hunter is a famously reviled ship in the Owl House fandom due to this very fact. What’s the difference between shipping a character who, by definition, isn’t attracted to men, and shipping a character who, by definition, isn’t attracted to anyone?

Anyway, as a media enthusiast, I just wanted to share my thoughts, because this drives me insane when I see things like this. Well-meaning allo shippers, nothing against you, but please try to think about what you’re doing to marginalized communities before doing anything.

Sincerely,

The Number One Annoying Asexual Fandom Guy

#aromantic #asexual #aromantism #asexuality #aroace #aroace representation #media representation #lgbtqia #lgbt+ community #lgbtq+ #shipping #ship culture #the number one asexual fandom guy posts #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor

[hoss-bonaventure]

people on tik tok are acting like ship culture hasn’t been around since the early 2000s. i understand not liking a certain ship or being mad at people for turning the entire premise of the show into basically “gay”, but like why would you hate on a group of people for wanting to see two members of the same sex date? like this isn’t actively hurting anyone?? just let people do what they want/let them interpret the media they’re consuming however they want.

#this is about wenclair #wenclair #wednesday addams #wednesday show #enid sinclair #wlw #lesbian #queer representation #queer media #ship culture

[kelpermoosee]

Multi-shipper culture is having one of the rarer pairs as your fave, but ending up mostly consuming content from the most popular ship in the fandom because you’re needy and desperate

#kelperambles #shipping culture #fandom culture #fandom #ao3 #ship culture #yes I am indeed needy and desperate #i am not immune

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

You say ship culture is a bad thing and yet you participate in it?

I don't believe I ever said it was a bad thing. More that it's an inevitable part of fandoms, and it will always be present...for better or for worse. Often for worse, there are some really toxic parts of ship culture, but there are some lovely parts of it too. The ability to find a community of people who ship a pairing that you might not have realized anyone else cared about is nothing to sneeze at. Especially if, say, it's an LGBT pairing and you are repressed. These things are important.

And yeah, I freely admit, I've partaken in ship culture in the past. Almost every fan of any fandom who graces this website will likewise have done so, to some degree. I don't think I take any ship as seriously as some other folks do, though, and I also think that's an important distinction.

The bad part about ship culture is just how pervasive it is and how it tends to consume conversations about literally anything else. This ties into a much larger conversation about a systemic problem with the world, but honestly, hetero-normative culture ties into this as well. These days, stories must always, always pair up the lead male and lead female, regardless of whether or not their relationship needs to be romantic or even works as a romance. Because we live in a culture obsessed with romance, to the exclusion of any other type of bond or love, and that's a problem.

But it goes beyond the forced heterosexual romances. People will ship...anyone and everyone they can. And also whoever they can't. It doesn't matter. Rule of the Internet: If two characters exist, they have been shipped before, and will be again. It doesn't matter if they're mortal enemies. It doesn't matter if they're related, or if there's an age gap, or if they're not the same species, or if the two characters literally don't even interact once. If they come from the same universe, they will be shipped. Come to think of it, cross-fandom ships exist too. That really says it all, doesn't it? Every time you think you've found a limit on shipping...you haven't.

As with all things, the key to shipping is moderation. It's great to draw fanart of your favorite characters, but don't start harassing people because they prefer a different pairing. Just try to make fandom a safe space for people, and remember - they are just characters. It doesn't matter if other fans have different takes.

#Shipping #Ship Culture #Shipping Culture #Blair Speaks

[cobys-trans-agenda]

being honest, i hate ship culture. Its the main reason i tend to stay away from fandoms i would otherwise be part of. All anyone seems to care about is “what if these characters who said two words to each other ever were dating”. It’s especially annoying in mcyt communities, where you can’t just look at fanart without seeing drawings of the minecraft people making out and caressing each other’s faces. It feels ick to me because those are real people, not just characters. Ofc it depends on how the cc’s themselves feel, but I don’t like it personally. Anyways, back to the regularly scheduled shitposting

#Aromantic #ship culture #Btw this is all just my opinion. Not saying theres something objectively wrong with it #or that people who do it should stop #and im not attacking anyone #Just opinions #Kind of Serious post

[just-an-enby-lemon]

I think everyone has at least one rarepair that it's unfortunally soo very hard to find fanfic off that you end up just reading the same things and being sad that there is soo few people to appreciate the vwork of art that it's the ship.

#mine is lemonberryice #i also think everyone has at least one rarepair that they are glad isn't as popular because it being rare is part of the fun #fandom culture #ship culture #rarepair

[dontcallmeeds]

This is probably my funniest unhinged ship post of all time from 2010 like HUHHHH??????

#i could literally not tell you what was going on with me when i was 17 #i cannot even begin to explain this one #i think it was bc they were like enemies to lovers??? maybe???? #csi las vegas #csi Vegas #Wendy simms #david Hodges #ship culture #fandom culture #fandom tumblr #archived post

[hadeantaiga]

I really think everyone needs to truly internalize this:

Fictional characters are objects.

They are not people. You cannot "objectify" them, because they have no personhood to be deprived of. They have no humanity to be erased. You cannot "disrespect" them, because they are not real.

#shipping #fandom #fandom culture

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

I was shocked when I found out that Eric x King Triton is a ship that exists. So mf's are really out here depicting Eric as a cheater and Triton as not only a homewrecker but a traitorous father as well, huh? I mean, to each their own, but man...

#eric #king triton #disney #the little mermaid #ship culture #txt #ship culture can be... pretty damn weird sometimes #and when it comes to the disney you never know the pairings mf's will come up with #lbr the only reason this ship exists is because eric and triton are the only attractive men in that movie that had a major role #if there had been another hot dude you best believe ship mf's would be shipping him with eric like there is no tomorrow

[mawibblap]

if people who ship is called shipper, then shouldn't people who crush be called crusher?

#shipping #ships #ship #ship culture #shipping culture #crushing #crushes #crush #random thoughts #text #txt #text post #txt post

[hoss-bonaventure]

people who get pressed about shipping are literally the weakest links. i image then literally bawling their hands into fists and grinding their teeth whenever they see ship edits/posts.

#there are more pressing issues in the world #“why does everything have to be gay?“ #it’s a tired argument truly #like god us free will for 2 reasons #to abuse drugs and be delusional over fictional characters #wlw #mlm #lesbian #gay #queer media #queer #shipping #ship culture #wenclair #destiel

[oobbbear]

I want to post this here too because I’ve seen it happen a few times

Please understand that there are cultural differences and language differences, if you see this happening let the person clarify what they meant, that person might just not be familiar with words the western side of the internet use

#bearz rambling tag #no it’s not really possible to let everyone who uses this term to change #because as far as I know this is the most common word with use on Chinese websites #I didn’t know that pairing are called ‘ship’ here #like why would I even know that #‘ship’ makes zero sense to me #it took me a while to learn the fandom language people speak here #it’s hard #give people time #shipping culture is very different too #Like on Chinese site you HAVE to clarify the Top and the Bottom of this ship in the ship name #it is very very important to them #people who like the same ship but with different Top Bottom preference will fight till no end #imagine how confused I was when I first got here #where there’s no top bottom differences #it’s not really a smut thing #it’s more a dynamic thing #AxB and BxA is very different #oh I can talk so much about the differences on fandom cultures #if ya are interested in more please feel free to ask #it’s very interesting to me #I wanna talk about it

[sharlinefreire]

sometimes what you need to get out of a deep depression is to start shipping a fictional couple that encourages you to read fanfiction until 3 am.

#this is my life i guess #shipping culture is my life style #unfortunately i love queerbaiting im sorry #fanfiction #johnlock #hilson #destiel #cherik #ineffable husbands #tomgreg #butchie #jwight #lawrusso #stony #finnpoe #spirk #merthur #hannigram #benthan #nandermo #swanqueen #romangerri #sydcarmy #chefs kiss #stormpilot #i ship SO MANY couples i know i have a problem ok