Remember Project Sixty-Two? One of the things I did for my ship! Huzzah!

Ok, I confess, I’m an avid shipper. Like if I saw a great couple or potential couple, I would ship them fanatically. Sometimes I go way beyond the call of an average shipper by building a fansite or writing a manifesto. That’s how I groove. Yes, maybe I’m way too invested in the love lives of these fictional characters than my own (or the lack thereof), but there’s something about shipping that really adds to my enjoyment of the story. But there’s a bad reputation among shippers because sometimes they can be a little bit nastily passionate. But I’m certainly not one of those (in most cases, ok, not really… I mean, am I?) And so, I’m debunking some of them. And this post is brought to you by the canonization of my OTPs with two of my favorite series that recently concluded: #mazume & #naruhina. Btw, this is all me!

You always need romance!

GAAAAH! That’s totally false. I’m enjoying Tokyo Ghoul by Sui Ishida, and I don’t ship anyone! I’m also enjoying Haruichi Furudate’s volleyball series, Haikyuu!, for its positive message about camaraderie, rivalry, and sportsmanship. I do enjoy series without romance. Not because it has romance, which guarantees my enjoyment; sometimes this aspect is a bit overrated, especially if it isn’t played well!

You only care about the romance and not the story.

FALSE! Most of the time, I loved the story first before investing in a couple. I loved Naruto even before I considered shipping him with Hinata. I loved the bean sidhe mythology before I realized that I preferred Tod to Kaylee in Rachel Vincent’s Soul Screamers series (trivia: it only happened in book three). I read or watch because the plot intrigues me, particularly if it doesn’t imply romance. Most of my OTPs belong to series that are not really romance-centric. The shipping adds flavor, but the food itself is already delicious. So no, I’m not only after the romance. I’m in it for the whole nine yards!

You didn’t need the development; as long as they end up together, it’s fine.

FALSE AGAIN! Relationship development is important to me. Very important. I don’t fall for crack ship. The reason I ship these couples in the first place is because I see something in their relationship or interaction that I think is romantically plausible. I also favor a type of relationship where the couples showcase their individual growth and at the same time boost each other as well, which also leads me to this point—

You don’t care about the individual growth of the characters you ship.

That’s one big FALSE! I really care about the individuality and maturity of the characters. In fact, I love them as characters as much as I love them as a couple. I loved Allen Walker’s (from Katsura Hoshino’s D Gray Man) mysterious background; it really intrigues me. I also loved Lenalee Li’s effort to continue to better herself. These devices are standalone factors for me, but it happened that they were also connected. So I loved how the two of them have this sort of enigmatic relationship that ties them together, hence the ship. And even if they didn’t end up together, I could still say, “Man, they are awesome characters!” Shame, they didn’t end up together *my afterthought, what? I ship them, so of course I’m hopeful. I’m not completely indifferent.*)

Give her some” physical” evidence between her ship and she’ll be happily satisfied.

Pardon the language, but fuck that! You know what? I love subtlety. Those little things make me swoon more than a kiss/hug/sex because those latter things are already known for gestures! But to create a moment between the two characters that is simultaneously profound and romantic? It takes effort! It takes good writing/story and storytelling! Maybe I’ll swoon with a kiss, but the best thing about shipping for me is waiting for those ‘moments.’

And finally

You lash out at those who oppose your ship!

It’s simply counterproductive, disrespectful, and overall stupid to start a ship war. I’m not one to rain on someone’s parade. I’m not going to try to convince you to ship my pairing, and I’m not going to threaten the author/creator/official for not making my ship canon. That’s plain absurd! Sure, I’ll be disappointed, but at the end of the day, as I said before, I enjoy the story regardless; I like the maturity of the characters individually and will treasure those good moments between them. Shipping aside, I also enjoyed other aspects!

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Are you also a shipper? Have any of your ships sunk? What did you do? Are you also been labeled in such way? Care to share it with me?