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C07P13 – Not the Point!
Gah, Rava! Using your LOGIC. Clearly that’s not the issue here! Psha!
…Sorry Rava. It’s not you. Kali’s just not really interested in listening at the moment. Or staying on topic.
Speaking of not staying on topic, I’ve been thinking about shipping lately. I talked a bit about this on my tumblr site a while back, but I’ve always been baffled when people apologize to me about shipping my characters.
(“Shipping,” for those of you unfamiliar with the term, is Internet slang for “envisioning two characters as romantically involved, even when they may not be interested in each other within the context of the original story.” If, for example, Pakku and Warren were somehow romantically interested in each other, that would be non-canon shipping. I might identify my fondness for a certain ship by mashing their names together and declaring “I’m a Wakku shipper.”)
I think shipping gets a bad name for two reasons. One is that sometimes people see the need to defend their ship by ripping apart someone else’s. That, however, is simple bullying. That can happen with anything, and shipping need not be assigned blame. The other is when a creator gets bent out of shape that the fans aren’t adhering to the relationships as written.
It’s that last part I just don’t get. I take shipping as a sign of a strong fan-base. Like frogs being in swamps. It shows you the environment is healthy. I also think it’s a huge compliment, as it means that people are thinking of these characters beyond reading them here AND care about the characters enough to want them to have passion and love in their lives. I mean, that’s pretty fantastic right there!
Plus, the naming thing is just so delightfully silly that I get a kick out of it every time. Like these, courtesy of Phantom, one of the LeyLines color-blockers:
Lu Pai + Una = luna, Milan + Una = Mulan, Tama + Kali = tamale, Pakku + Zhiro = pyro, Lu Pai + Tama = llama, Pakku + Mizha = pizza, Tama + Una = tuna, Warren + Kali = Wall-E …[the list goes on on their Tumblr...]
Perhaps I just haven’t seen the ugly side of shipping? What do you think? How do you feel about shipping?
17 Comments
Oh yeah… if fans are so invested in your characters that they start playing matchmaker with them, I would count that as a big win. I suppose there is a danger of it escalating into a sense of entitlement…someone getting bent out of shape if you don’t validate their OTP. But for the most part, it seems like harmless fun.
I hadn’t thought of the entitlement possibility. I suppose if someone got so attached to their ship that they started demanding it become part of the story, that could be frustrating. Still, I agree with you that most of the time it seems like harmless fun!
Not a bad stance to take on things. I’ve found living life to avoid the attention of Gods and Others us generally wise. Not being human means they don’t know us or are I different to well being. And being at ones beck like Kali? Uh, poor thing.
You make a great point. Gods are alien in many ways – they have different concerns, priorities, and ways of interpreting information. You can never be sure they will share your perspective or your goals!
Zutara shippers. I think we’re done here.
But it *is* a really good feeling when someone ships your characters.
I wonder how Kali defines “evil.” This ought to be an interesting discussion.
Haha! I guess I only heard the slightest rumblings of what Zutara shippers were like. Perhaps I have only glimpsed the true nature of the shipping beast? (Personally, I always felt Aang and Katara were a poor match for…well…reasons.)
Seeee, I was always a Kataanger, right from the start (partly because I thought it was cute and partly because Zutara shippers pissed me off so much). However, I did not like the way it was eventually executed. The last conversation before a kiss SHOULD NOT BE AN ARGUMENT ABOUT HOW ONE PARTNER HAS RESERVATIONS ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP. =/
Yes. I am still bitter. It’s probably why I far prefer to ship small couples, like Smellershot.
Yeah…I have to say the track record on romance for the Avatar creators is not as solid as almost everything else. Part of what bothered me about Korra: waaaaay too much “romantic drama”.
Very much so. And the romantic relationships were extremely poorly developed to boot. I still don’t get when Mako switched from “graah Korra I hate you” to “KORRA IS MY LIFE OMG.” I mean, I know they’re teenagers, but not everything has to be extremes.
*sits in the corner with Bolin*
Gah! Don’t even get me started on Bolin! He essentially ceased to be a character halfway through which was SO FRUSTRATING because he was SO WELL CONSTRUCTED at the start! Arg!
Excuse me, I have to go breathe into a paper bag of fan outrage now…
MY FEELS! YOU KNOW THEM.
Some writers get bent out of shape over any fan activity, much less shipping and fan fiction. Mercedes Lackey thinks no one who isn’t a real-world hero should cosplay a Herald, from what I heard. Talk about missing the point!
I don’t write fanfic, though sometimes I toy with other people’s stuff in my own head. It’s a fun exercise. That said, I totally shipped Hans and Brand back in the day.
Seriously?? And how is she even defining real-world hero? Talk about setting your own work up on a pedestal…I love my story, but that doesn’t give me the right to dictate how others choose to enjoy it!
As for Hans & Brand, you were not alone in that.
You might be excited to know I’m working on some prints of those characters. I miss the SoG gang. Hoping to have at least two of them done by Summer!
The cosplay thing is pretty old now, so I couldn’t find anything but hearsay on it. But even on her own page, you’ll see she requires you to have her sign a release to write fanfic. I don’t think creators should go as far as George Lucas and put a seal of approval on everything, but letting fans be fans seems like just a good thing to do.
And I know I wasn’t alone by any means! It was a cute ship that didn’t break the story completely. I’m definitely looking forward to more Hans and Brand, though I do love LeyLines as well.
I just don’t see how it’s enforceable! I mean…fans are on the internet now. That’s a losing battle.
And if you’re curious, you can see the Work In Progress concept sketch for Hans’ print here on my Tumblr!
Shipping is harmless fun until people take it too seriously, on both sides of the fence. I err on the side of caution and apologize because…. I apologize for everything.
To be fair, there are some ships that are just absurd. If someone came to me, and told me that they shipped two of my roleplay characters who are twins, I would look at them like they were crazy and tell them no. BUt…. that doesn’t mean I would flip my shiz and go all bitchfreak on them.
I apologize for everything too. Especially apologizing for apologizing. For apologizing. (My stacked apologies drive Cory crazy, poor man!) I’m trying to train myself to say “Thank you for…” instead of “I’m sorry you had to…” but it’s an uphill battle.