So what is shipping exactly?

[cider float 2,538]

All I know is it's taking two characters and putting them together but then I run across three types. I did not know what shipping meant until MLP.

 

1. A romantic love interest between two. Though I have nothing against LGBT or anything whenever I see female characters paired together I only think of number 2.

 

2. A platonic friend relationship

 

3. Then of course the one that involves sexual fanfic

 

What do you think or know what shipping is about?

Edited May 29, 2015 by cidershield

[Justin_Case001 4,902]

I had never heard of the phrase before I came here.  But then again I've never been an active member of any fan community before this, either.  Every time I've heard the phrase, it's used to describe a hypothetical romantic paring.  I'm an active shipper, btw. 

 

inb4 FedEx, Amazon Prime, etc.

[Zhooves 843]

Well, what it exactly is... As far as I know it's when someone sees two or more characters in a book, show or film (MIGHT apply to reality as well, though it'd be a bit weird to be all out and open about that, eh?) that one fantasizes about being together because you feel they kinda fit/belong together...

 

This varies a LOT depending on the person, like my girlfriend seems to do it with characters in everything (except cartoons as far as I know), while I can't even see the most obvious cases where people practically universally think two characters fit together, like Luffy and Nami from One Piece.

Characters my girlfriend ships are for example Dean and Castiel from Supernatural, and Sherlock and Watson from the modern Sherlock series.

 

But yeah, as you probably know, when it comes to us bronies, some of us seem to ship anything as long as they have been next to each other for more than half a second, but as mentioned, I don't have the whole shipping thing built in, so I kinda have to force it to see it. Someone else might be better at explaining it, but at least now you have my bits of knowledge, and I hope it has enlightened you in any way.

 

Also, in case you haven't noticed, "shipping" comes from the word "relationSHIP(PING)".

[Attack of the Pwns 894]

If there's no romantic feels involved, I don't think #3 is even shipping, it's just straight-up clop. I don't care for shipping, but if it's heterosexual and the characters are roughly the same age, I don't mind it. It wouldn't ruin my appreciation if Derpy and the Doctor or Discord and Celestia are confirmed to be in a relationship, although I think any romance in the show would be awkward if not handled very carefully.

 

But on the whole, I stay away from shipping. I don't really see a point in it, to be honest. Then again, I don't really see a point to romance IRL, so maybe I'm not the best one to talk.

[VitalSpark 1,830]

I've been around long enough to remember where the term "shipping" originally came from...

 

 

Of course the concept of shipping pre-dates The X-Files, but it was within the "X-Phile" community that the term arose. People were shipping Kirk and Spock right back in the 1960s.

 

You can use the term "shipping" to refer to non-romantic relationships, but it's usually taken to refer to romantic ones. You can use the term "friendshipping" if you need to be clear you're talking about the former.

 

Stories with sex might involve a relationship and romance, and thus be shipping stories, or they might not.

 

Most of my pony stories involve shipping of one sort or another. No prize for guessing my favourite pony ship.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2015 by Vital Spark

[KrazyDashie 1,847]

honestly i didnt know what it was either at first  but i think its just pairing two characters togther (like... romantically) 

 

though... #3 isnt really shipping...thats just clop...

Edited May 29, 2015 by KrazyDashie

[ThatOneComrade 1,091]

Shipping's about putting two characters together and enjoying their friendship or relationship. I'm a serious shipper and I've never even considered the technicalities of it, but this guy went and did a video on it if you're interested:

[Sceethe 704]

it is when you put items on a ship in order to transport them from A to B.

 

....right?

[cider float 2,538]

Shipping's about putting two characters together and enjoying their friendship or relationship. I'm a serious shipper and I've never even considered the technicalities of it, but this guy went and did a video on it if you're interested:

First time I heard of shipping in a thread I really thought it had to do with shipping and handling but from the convo it wasn't that 0.o

[Rogue Ruffian 72]

I've seen it a lot in Harry Potter fanfiction (which FAR TOO MANY people I know are involved in), and only a little bit in MLP.

 

I think #3 is called /fic or slash fiction - no, wait, that usually pertains to gay or lesbian pairings, actually.

[Coco before Pommel 679]

I think people use "shipping" in different ways but yeah, it basically just means liking the idea of two characters in a romantic and/or sexual relationship. I think one of the popular misconceptions is that shippers always think their ship is or will be actual canon, which isn't true - of course some do, and some only ship canon ships, but there are also shippers (like me) who simply enjoy the idea, in fanfic or fanart etc, of the two characters together without caring if it's ever canon or not

 

Liking the platonic friendship is usually called "friendshipping", I think? IDK if just wanting characters to have sex without romance is a different category - more a different type of shipping? But if someone says they "ship" something I just take it as meaning they like the idea of the characters in a relationship, whether canon or not

[superdogz1999 551]

Shipping in a fandom is when two charaters are taken from their television programme and placed together to have a romantic relationship. For example in MLP I would ship Apple Bloom with Sweetie Belle.

Edited June 4, 2015 by superdogz1999

[Empty Room 512]

It's a term used to describe a fan's pairing of two characters in a fandom. It's prominent in the majority of fandoms out there and mostly follows your first and third descriptions; the second one isn't too prominent, but it does exist.

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

It's a term used to describe a fan's pairing of two characters in a fandom. It's prominent in the majority of fandoms out there and mostly follows your first and third descriptions; the second one isn't too prominent, but it does exist.

 

Pretty much this. Back in the days whe the Spyro fandom was more prominent, shipping was fair common then too. I remember shipping Spyro with Sheila the Kangaroo...I still do, kinda. XD

 

But yeah, what Blackened was pretty spot on. How the two (or three or more) characters are shipped is entirely dependent on the shipper, and can vary from person to person.

[Shanks 10,816]

The answer is a little different depending on the shipper and why they are doing it. One thing all forms of shipping have in common is some kind of wish fulfillment ie fantasy. Fans have all sort of reasons why they may like a particular pairing and may want to sort of pretend they are together or "ship" them. This ranges from innocent G rated stuff with maybe kisses, snuggles and cuddles. Mildly suggestive PG/PG-13 rated that may have some implication of sexual activity but probably won't show anything too graphic.

 

And there is the shipping that contains explicit sexual activity but I don't count the stuff where it is sex and only sex with little to no plot as shipping. I read this one Fluttermac romance fic a while back where it was mostly innocent with some mild sexual references thrown in occasionally but did in fact have an explicit sex scene in the final chapter where Fluttershy finally let Big Mac make a mare out of her if you know what I mean.

 

There are other shipfics where there may be more than one sex scene (some may even have a ton of it) though the focus of what I consider a shipfic is the romantic relationship between the characters and if sex is in the story it serves as a complement to the story and not the whole story for it to count as a shipfic.

 

There is also "friendshipping" which depicts certain characters as close friends in some closer than they may actually be in the show though I haven't seen this as much as the more romantic kind of shipping. Though MLP does lend itself quite well to both if you ask me.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Darth Bane

[Steve Piranha 29,429]

But why is called shipping? What actual ships have to do with it?