Why are you a shipper?

[Azran Flame]

A post someone made in GPD made me think about this. They said that the concept of shipping was pretty ridiculous - I mean, technically we're all trying to grasp onto the vaguest hints possible and trying to make them into something romantic. But the thing is... why? Why do we ship certain characters together? What for?

I know the reason why I ship myself - it's because my parents haven't been on the best of terms for a long while, and everywhere I look there are divorced couples, couples who have to live apart, single mothers... shipping is my imaginary compensation for that - even though they only exist in my daydreams, they're still happy, and I like seeing people happy like that, something I don't see much of in real life. But what about the others? What about you?

[00poke_maniac]

I guess I ship because romance in novels or television shows always interested me. I remember thinking "Those two totally like each other" but the more and more I got into shipping in the Pokemon Fandom, I realized that it became (more or less) a way to express myself. I love the way there is a certain delicacy to the ships I like, and to see them become alive. Maybe not on the show's standard, but through the imagination.

And it probably does get me away from the agonies of the real world. But really the funny thing is, I'm not one for romance in real life. While sometimes I want someone by my side, other times I just want people to get out of my life so I can study. xD;

[Kutie Pie]

I wonder if this would've fit better on the regular Community? *shrugs*

I ship characters together mainly because I'm a hopeless lonely romantic. You could say Disney was pretty much the idealist in happily-ever-afters, and most of it was because the main female character ended up with their prince in the end. These days, Disney has broadened out their stories, so this doesn't always happen (not that it was the main thing Disney did either), but Disney, I think, influenced us in a way of what we think romance is. That ideal chances over time, of course, but as young children (talking about us girls, sorry boys), that was what we liked to imagine.

My parents have been married for twenty-two years now, and they're still happy together. In a world where no one is happy with what they have, I had to turn somewhere, thus as I grew up, I became more and more interested in marriage. And since romance is a really common genre in entertainment, we are literally subjected to some kind of romance in almost everything, guess it was inevitable for me to discover what couples in fiction I like. When I discovered fan fiction in junior high, it only cemented it further. Since then, I've collected my share of pairings I enjoy, even if I really and truly only love a select few of them.

And of course, fan fiction is a way for me to exploit my own erotic fantasies XD. As long as I torture the characters first. Huzzah!

[Azran Flame]

I wonder if this would've fit better on the regular Community? *shrugs*

Probably, yeah, but I didn't know if it would fit. Don't worry, I sometimes enjoy torturing my pairings, too. 8)

[Skiyomi]

^ From my perspective it could really go in either place. That's the thing with shipping topics that are more about shipping in general. If I may say so the questions of "Why do you ship?" "Why do you ship in Pokemon?" and "Why do you ship in [insert name of other show]?" could come up with some pretty different results. In the spirit of including all those questions in here, alt. might be the best place for it, but if you want to steer the conversation more toward the motivation for shipping in Pokemon specifically, then the main section would be best. So basically, I'll leave it up to you, Flame Mistress. If you want it moved, I'll move it; if you want it to stay then we can keep it here.

To answer the thing myself... I don't think I really have a great introspective, psychoanalytical reason for shipping. I'm interested in relationships, whether they're platonic or romantic or even downright hate-filled. To me, that's where the intrigue is in any story--that human element. And from that perspective, I really don't understand people who have this sort of hatred for shipping. I always thought of human interaction as having a sort of universal appeal. *shrug*

However, I think where a lot of the annoyance/confusion comes from is this sort "Why do you ship Character A and Character B together? They've never even spoken! Makes no sense!" And in that sense, I think the Pokemon shipping community gets a little more of this attitude just because the fandom has to be so vibrant and creative and occasionally batshit insane (I seriously do mean this as a compliment. I am nothing short of impressed when I see people flying the flag of a couple I never would've thought of but makes so much sense when they explain their rationale) just to ship. Pokemon is not a romantic show, so to view it through a romantic lens takes extra effort and interpretation. When people on the outside of the community see this, they sometimes view it as delusion... but really it's just taking a fandom and making it your sandbox for creative writing/rping/art/whatnot, and it's really not the crazy mess that people accuse it of being. Sure, it's probably a pointless endeavor in the long run but... that's fandom for you. That's pretty much all aspects of fandom for you.

Because Pokemon is the way it is, I ship in it in ways and for reasons that I don't in other fandoms that have more romance. In other fandoms I tend to be very canon-based, but in Pokemon I'll ship nevermets up the whazoo. Pokemon doesn't establish a lot of things, so if you ship in it you're required to fill in a lot of blanks and in a way that's... fun. You get to do it your way from the start and it forces you to find ways of strengthening tenuous connections. In other series, I'm working off some very specific relationship groundwork set up by the show itself. In Pokemon? There's a little there, but often I'm flying free. I like both ways of shipping and I like them for different reasons.

So bottom line? I ship because relationships are interesting. Because it forces me to take a more careful look at the characters. I ship to have a medium to be creative with. I ship because shipping is fun.

[Demon Kitsune Yoko Kurama]

I ship because I find it interesting to pair two characters I like together and make them a couple. But, I don't give farfetched ideas of why they should be in a relationship. Sometimes you don't like if two people are in a relationship, but you'd rather them with someone else, is another reason why I do it as well.

[xEryChan]

It's kind of a long story.

I always did like the thought of shippings but never really paid too much attention to them, to be honest. Then when DP started up, I really did like Ash and Dawn together. I didn't know what shippings were at that point so I did my research on them and found out what they were.

Another reason why is because I've read a lot of romance novels and that's another reason why I'm a shipper. It's kind of hard not to, if you ask me haha.

[EmphaticPikachu]

....cause its fun :P.

Thats all i have to say on this matter. xD

Why I only tend to ship Dawn and her counterparts...is cause I want to see do things with her more. And romance can usually make others happy. (Even characters . especially characters!)
So it makes me happy to think that'd she'd be happy in a ship!


...god I'm such a fanboyish weirdo. XD

[BlueDragonfangirl]

For me, depends on how pairings are done. Some pairings that are the IT Couple aren't always my favorites due to how things were well. I'll give examples

Marchen Awakens Romance Main pairing was SnowxGinta but I liked GintaxDorothy better bum bum bum.

[AquaMilotic]

That's very difficult. I don't really know any special reason for it. When I saw Pokemon for the first time, I immediately saw Ash and Misty as a couple, and the cute hints made that feeling stronger and stronger. That's what I consider to be the moment when I started shipping (without knowing the words "shipping" and "PokeShipping" yet, of course). As the Pokemon anime progressed, I started to like more and more couples, like May x Drew, Brock x Lucy and Tracey x Daisy. When I was 14, I came to this forum and read about the term "shipping" for the first time, and learned about shipping names. However, I only started posting in the Shippers Community in February 2012 (probably in fear of shipping wars).

When it comes to Pokemon, I mostly support shippings that have hints, so it's clear that the characters love each other. Noticing the hints for shippings I like. And, of course, I also need to like the couples in order to support them. And I think shipping is fun.

Also, I am very unattractive, girls have never shown any interest in me (I'm 18). I'm afraid I'll be forever alone. And sometimes, it feels to me that PokeShipping fills the gap. But that's not my reason to ship, or to support PokeShipping, I started supporting PokeShipping many years before even thinking about being forever alone.

All in all, I can't really answer the question "Why do you ship?" If I'd have to answer it, the only thing I could really say is "because I like the idea of certain characters being a couple, I support those shippings."

[Azran Flame]

...I just realised how depressing my answer is compared to everyone else's -__- Sure, shipping is fun, but like AquaMilotic, it's mostly there to fill the gap made by real life.

I also think that this is better in the Community itself, since Pokémon is a No Hugging, No Kissing franchise, unlike many others...

[Wolfgirl44]

I have honestly been a shipper since before I could read. So I'm pretty sure it's just hardwired into my personality.

[Yuppirox]

If I like the idea of two characters falling in love and becoming a couple, I'll ship them. If I enjoy the interactions between two characters who have zero chances of falling in love and have a purely platonic relationship, I'll ship them as friends for fun. Why? Because it's enjoyable, it stimulates the mind, and it makes me happy to see others happy, whether they're a real life couple or a fictional one.

Besides, I found that a lot of couples in the Pokemon fandom were downright adorable. I love adorable things. Put two and two together = instant Shipper. :3

[Sweet May]

I'm pretty sure I was really bored and hyper off a certain ship's screenshots long ago. Miraculously found a shipping fic of that same ship a month later and thought, "I must become one of them!!" So I joined these forums and let the shipper fangirl run wild. Years and a couple of shippings later and I still can't stop pairing all these characters. @_@ Not sure if it's boredom or a diehard habit. (but I won't complain)

[JetshipperKekkaishi]

I guess the reason I ship is because I think it is fun. I really have a joy of shipping two characters together like Ash and Dawn or Hilbert and Skyla.Being a shipping fanboy I love to look for many possibities in shipping. There really no limit for me. I love the caring and loving pairing the most so I have to end up shipping them together.

[PrincessPeachy]

*slithers in*

Usually with Pokemon, any ships I get with them is either a piece of artwork intrigues me or someone writes a bloody good fic that changes everything. The artwork can be simple like Lyra following Petrel around making me think it's cute and would be a fun ship to something completely X rated that takes me aback for a moment before I realize it's totally hot and blast logic and sense, they need to be together. The latter is usually more effective... So visual stimulation makes me be a shipper.

But as I do in life, when I ship it usually delves into something not... right. I hate predictable vanilla pairings so I go for psychological analysis of the characters and the relationships they have, usually always moving into dark areas like emotional and mental abuse between the two paired with a topping of mature content and (hopefully) character development. I assume I ship like this with a lot of my characters because I'm so used to seeing these romances where everything turns out kittens and rainbows that a weird part of me thirsts for the opposite and craves conflict in the most twisted and degrading ways possible. Shipping helps me just... get what modern books don't give me anymore which are strong females clashing with aggressive males and proper emotions that match when that happens as opposed to "I hate him, but he's so handsome! But no! I must not give in to temptation.. or should I?"

I cling on to the smallest interactions of my ships so I can get what they would act like if they met each other and gauge how that might be good or bad, the consequences of each and their character. It's sad how I cling to them like a wee babby with a rattle when they seem insignificant to everyone else but it's a motivator for me to continue to justify why I love two people together and form an argument with that... if this makes sense.

[PopPrincess_Lyra]

First of all, I tend to like romantic and fluffy stuff xD

Second thing is, I always think of what some people do if they were in a relationship with someone. it's fun to imagine :3

I ship a lot of people coz its cute! I esp like to ship my fave characters together, or the main character and the person whom they hate/argue/fights with a lot.
Like Amelia and Lina - They fight a lot and do weird things together like girls do.
Whitney and Lyra... some in-game thing. Whitney was my fave Gym leader and I played as Lyra...and decided to pair 'em up.

I guess that's it. Misty's song was playing as I typed this, nya~

[AquaMilotic]

...I just realised how depressing my answer is compared to everyone else's -__- Sure, shipping is fun, but like AquaMilotic, it's mostly there to fill the gap made by real life.

I also think that this is better in the Community itself, since Pokémon is a No Hugging, No Kissing franchise, unlike many others...

Well, for me, it's not mostly there to fill the gap made by real life. I already supported shippings before evne thinking about real life romance. I just mentioned that PokeShipping sometimes fills the gap of being forever alone.

[Angel~]

Im a shipper because its really fun to support two people who act really cute around each other. Then once you've fallen in love with them you make cute fanart, banners, AMVS, Fanfiction, etc. Also what bluefangirl said too, I don't like some IT/canon couples because to me they never made much sense while the ones I liked did. Nothing wrong in supporting non canon too.

[Azran Flame]

I ship a lot of people coz its cute! I esp like to ship my fave characters together, or the main character and the person whom they hate/argue/fights with a lot.
Like Amelia and Lina - They fight a lot and do weird things together like girls do.

I actually dislike love/hate ships in general because of the reason I ship altogether. I just don't see the point in a relationship where the couple is always constantly bickering, even if they do love each other.

[AquaMilotic]

I actually dislike love/hate ships in general because of the reason I ship altogether. I just don't see the point in a relationship where the couple is always constantly bickering, even if they do love each other.

I don't think that's a bad thing: they can love each other despite their flaws, which can be a beautiful thing. It's one of the things I like about PokeShipping: Ash and Misty constantly argue, Misty has an anger problem and Ash is incredibly dense, but they love each other despite their flaws. Their love is stronger than their issues.

[Azran Flame]

I don't think that's a bad thing: they can love each other despite their flaws, which can be a beautiful thing. It's one of the things I like about PokeShipping: Ash and Misty constantly argue, Misty has an anger problem and Ash is incredibly dense, but they love each other despite their flaws. Their love is stronger than their issues.

Yes, but it's not exactly a healthy relationship if they're constantly arguing, is it? Maybe real life is influencing me too much (I should really ship more crack ships outside of Pokémon =p), but I prefer fluffy, adorable ships to bickering ones.

(Just saying, I'm not just talking about PokéShipping, in case some people are getting the wrong idea.)

[AquaMilotic]

Yes, but it's not exactly a healthy relationship if they're constantly arguing, is it? Maybe real life is influencing me too much (I should really ship more crack ships outside of Pokémon =p), but I prefer fluffy, adorable ships to bickering ones.

(Just saying, I'm not just talking about PokéShipping, in case some people are getting the wrong idea.)

Well, judging from your first post in this thread, it seems like real life indeed influences you when it comes to this. And whether it's a healthy relationship or not: I think that depends on how the couple deals with the arguments. If they sometimes get so mad that they're about to break up and that happens all the time, it's not healthy. But if they can get over it easily, it's not a major problem, I suppose.

It's all a matter of personal preference. I like both some fluffy shippings (example: Brock x Lucy) and some argue-shippings (Ash x Misty).

[Azran Flame]

Well, judging from your first post in this thread, it seems like real life indeed influences you when it comes to this. And whether it's a healthy relationship or not: I think that depends on how the couple deals with the arguments. If they sometimes get so mad that they're about to break up and that happens all the time, it's not healthy. But if they can get over it easily, it's not a major problem, I suppose.

Well, obviously some of the ships I ship aren't influenced by my real life experiences at all (for example the two yaoi ships I ship, for fairly obvious reasons), but they do influence me quite a lot, and not just in shipping, either. I do have fun with some of my crack and crossover ships, though - Tucker x Argenta and Older!Randall x Tsunami from Professor Layton and Inazuma Eleven respectively come into mind.

[MrNere88]

Because ship is cute and funny
Some shippings are related with my real life XD

I don't like famous shippings,examples : Contest and Mangaquest. My favourites are underrated,and I feel that I am the only who support those ships vv'