’Shipping. Would you? Do you? Will you?
’Shipping. It’s no longer just for packages and cargo. In fact, I’m sure it’s been around as long as fiction has been written. To ’ship is to dream about / talk about / write about relationships between fictional characters who either appear in the same show/movie/book but do not (or may not yet) have a romantic relationship or who are from different stories but we’d like to see them together. And, from what I surmise from the research I did when writing Turnabout’s Fair Play, most of the online fanfic world is comprised of ’ship stories.
Sue and Jack from SUE THOMAS F.B.EYE / image from http://hopefulromantic.tripod.com
I personally ’ship all the time with characters in my favorite TV shows and movies. The first time Rosalee appeared on GRIMM, I wanted her and Monroe to get together. (They’re so popular now, they have their own ’ship portmanteau: Monrosalee. I also ’shipped Juliet and Sawyer in LOST long before they actually got together, and one of my biggest wishes for the series finale was to see them get back together. In fact, LOST generated many of these, including Charlie and Claire, Hurley and Libby, and Daniel and Charlotte.
Paul McGann as William Bush in the Hornblower films
Recently, I posted this on my Facebook Page:
Will I ever write it? In my own round-about way, I might—as those two characters could serve as the templates on which I build characters (and a storyline) of my very own.
Do you ’ship? What are some of your favorite characters to ’ship? Would you ever (or do you) write ’ship fanfic? Would/do you read ’ship fanfic?
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KayeDacus.com 
I’ll admit to having read some ;). And I have friends who write some. In fact, I think I emailed you after reading TFP saying “I KNOW THESE PEOPLE!!!!” but in a different fandom. I’ve daydreamed some ‘shipfic – does that count? As for including some of them in my manuscripts? I’m not sure that I have, but I can’t say that I haven’t either…
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Maybe we all need to start ‘shipping Emma and the Hatter since I read the actors are now dating in real life. 😉
It’s funny you bring this up now…I ‘shipped Dani and Nico on the USA show Necessary Roughness from day one, and if last week’s episode is any indication the show is GIVING ME WHAT I WANT this week! Or at least taking a big step toward that end. So I’m pretty excited about that. 🙂
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I ‘shipped Dani & Nico from the beginning too. He’s very drawn to her, but she doesn’t seem to pick up on that, too interested in Matt I guess. I’m going to start paying attention to how often I do this (‘ship that is) totally new term, but I think I’ve probably been doing it forever. Romantics usually want to see people together and happy.
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Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. Shipping is practically my life. 🙂 Whatever is my recent obsession tends to get a lot of shipping…so yeah. Absolutely love it. And yes, I confess to reading some shipping before, although I usually get frustrated because they’re not doing it the way I think it should be done. 🙂
And the fun of RWT of course is the ability to ship without anyone realizing it. 🙂 I love writing.
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I’ve never been much of a ‘shipper. My first exposure to it was people ‘shipping Frank Hardy and Nancy Drew. Really? REALLY? No. Just no. WAY no.
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Ditto on Nancy and Frank. i remember being in middle school and reading the super mysteries that had the Hardy Boys and Nancy in it and some of the them flirted with the Frank/Nancy thing and I thought, “what about Ned? And Callie?”
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Exactly! Nancy and Frank make great friends, but they’d never survive married to each other.
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this is a new concept for me. I guess I am too literal minded to move characters from one book/movie, etc. to another. Opens a whole new world of thought. Bravo! You have such good ideas.
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Interesting. I would never have thought to do anything like that. It seems kind of silly to me. I guess that’s why I’m not the author.
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I love this idea. It makes perfect sense and opens up a whole new world of possibilities! How exciting. BTW, I totally agree about Penelope and Morgan on Criminal Minds. 🙂
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Haha, I’m such a huge shipper. I can’t get invested in any kind of story without ending up shipping somebody. It’s not really such a new thing, though. After all, Lousia May Alcott wrote the second half of Little Women partly to spite the rabid Jo/Laurie shippers (Not that it’s stopped them to this very day), and George Bernard Shaw wrote an entire essay about how Eliza/Higgins shippers were delusional. (Again, didn’t stop My Fair Lady)
I spent most of my high school and college years writing fanfic alongside–and more often than–original fiction. I maintain that it’s a good “practice ground” for learning characterization, plot, voice, and other writing skills. Now that I’m trying to focus on original fiction, this sort of “secondhand shipping” is a good way to transition into creating original characters and scenarios. One of my first thoughts after I finished Mansfield Park was to wonder what if Henry Crawford hadn’t made that last fatal decision…and what if he had a different Austen girl, instead of the rather sanctimonious and insipid Fanny? Say, perhaps, Kitty Bennett? Would it have worked? Would they have been happy?
I haven’t gotten around to figuring that out yet, but I’d like to someday.
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I hadn’t thought of Henry Crawford and Kitty Bennet, but I have considered Sir Walter Elliot and Caroline Bingley! They can have a son and William Walter Elliot can be kicked to the curb. Caroline would be Lady Elliot and she wouldn’t mind that. The age thing? Well, people did things like that quite alot back then. Can you imagine the fights that Caroline and Elizabeth would have? I cannot imagine Elizabeth moving in with one of her sisters, but she might have to. I don’t know though. Would money and a title be enough for even Caroline to endure Sir Walter?
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But all of the money would be whatever Caroline brings with her–remember, Sir Walter and Elizabeth went to Bath and leased the house out to the Crofts because they were in dire financial straits. Would becoming a baronet’s wife be enough for Caroline when it means marrying someone who might just be marrying her for her money?
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Do you ’ship?
Oh. Yes. I. Do. Haha, funny you should mention Sue and Jack, since they were probably the first couple I ‘shipped (before I knew of the term). In most TV shows and books, I focus on the characters (e.g. I wouldn’t be a fan of Star Wars without the characters). One thing I would ask is, for those of you who don’t “ship”, what do you think of those who do? Are we crazy? I don’t think I am, but most of the attention that shippers seem to get are Team Jacob vs. Team Edward types of feuds …
What are some of your favorite characters to ’ship? Would you ever (or do you) write ’ship fanfic? Would/do you read ’ship fanfic?
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Sorry, my mobile device won’t let me scroll down the text box ….
What are some of your favorite characters to ’ship?
I like the best friend or the underdog, akwardly cute ones … If I can list “who”, my longest running one is from Star Wars books, Jaina Solo and Zekk. Talk about stringing fans along … I’ve been following it for 8 years in real life, but it’s nearly 20 “in-galaxy” (it was a triangle also). I hear she finally is getting married, but I have a feeling I may be on “Team Jacob” which is disappointing, though her other love interest has grown on me (the two heroes were actually pretty similar IMHO)
u) write ’ship fanfic? Would/do you read ’ship fanfic?
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Wedge Antilles is my favorite SW character. And they haven’t yet introduced anyone I think is good enough for him. (Of course, the only extended universe books featuring him is the X-Wing series.)
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I know! And for the longest time, it seemed like every other book, Wedge had a different girlfriend depending on the author … Did you know they just released a new X-Wing novel? It’s called “Mercy Kill”, but I don’t know how much Wedge is in it …
Would you ever (or do you) write ’ship fanfic? Would/do you read ’ship fanfic?
I haven’t written any, but I would if I had time … Probably featuring couples from series that have ended or are postponed … That’s why I started reading fanfic — for more stories featuring characters I had come to love and care about. 🙂
Shipping is also fun because you CA root for couples
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i ship monroe/ rachel ( and by rachel, i mean me)
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I probably do more of that kind of ‘shipping than any other!
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