In the past couple of months I’ve seen a lot of people genuinely confused about one or the other ship existing, so I wanted to explain some common reasons characters might get shipped.
But before we get into it: The point is usually just good, plain old fun! The entertainment of them being together !
And for entertainment and fun, it doesn’t matter whether they’ve even been in the same room or not! Hell, it doesn’t even matter if they’ve been in the same universe or not! Basically: It’s all not that serious and the ppl harassing creators/actors/fans about said ships are usually the minority and frowned upon!
First of all, there are different ways in which people enjoy that ship:
In canon, aka it either is canon or they want it to be canon
Half canon, this means either post canon or if a very specific thing would have happened differently within canon
Canon divergent, aka it’s only enjoyable in theory or alternative universes and they don’t actually want it to happen within canon
In other words, there are different ways in which people support this type of relationship
It is the perfect relationship and everyone should strive to find and be this kind of love
While they have their flaws, this is a realistic way a healthy(ish) relationship can come out on the other end of all the horrors tm
This is (somewhat) toxic but in the universe/story line it makes sense and is the best possible outcome for them
This is the truly worst thing that could come out of it for the both of them but that’s why it is so interesting
Usually it boils down to these emotions:
It would be funny if they go together.
It would shift the impact of all that angst and trauma
It would be super cute. Plain old romcom vibes. Specially if the of story is not that at all and you just want something good for them.
Some basic reasons, that are more about the concept of them than actually them: :
Everyone else in the group is coupled up
They fit a certain stereotype/common trope
They resemble another popular ship juuuuust enough
The actors have played a couple/ship in another show
Spite! To annoy the author/other fans
Some personal reasons of the individual fan:
Reminds fan of their own crush
Fan relates to some aspects of their story
Fan relates to some aspects of the characteristics
Character looks like them/ like their crush
Based on the characters/stories design
They claim to hate/dislike/annoy each other but are somehow always found in each others business (willingly or not)
Opposites attract: They have opposing color schemes, personalities and/or views. The more differences the better.
Parallels: They have the same color schemes, personalities and/or views. The more similarities the better.
You just want something good for this character and they (other character(s)) ARE that something good.
You just want something annoying for this character and they (other character(s)) ARE that something annoying.
Them being together would annoy this other character to noooo end
Even tho they don’t interact on screen (often), there is evidence that they did so off screen: they keep up a certain level of relationship (good or bad) despite everything else going on
Purely about the characters
They don’t pay attention to anything or anyone else nearly as much as they do about each other, especially ppl they should objectively care more about.
They’re the only ones who survived/left to deal with the aftermath. Even if they didn’t talk much prior to this, this is something to bond over. To keep the memory alive.
The expectations set on them are/were the same. And despite the different support systems and coping mechanisms… the other is truly the only one who could even find a glimpse of understanding of what they’re going through.
Yin and yang: a perfect mixture of parallels and opposites: They’ve gone through the same thing but deal with it widely differently. OR They come from widely different backgrounds and reasoning but end up at the same conclusion.
BECAUSE they’re so codependent they just wouldn’t make sense with anyone else, regardless of wether they themselves make sense
BECAUSE it is unhealthy and toxic and it’s interesting to explore such a relationship
BECAUSE if they’d be in literally any other genre/time they’d be fine. Nothing this bad would’ve ever happened if they’d just lived in another universe.
These are all the reasons I can come up with at the top of my head but feel free to add!
Alas I want to encourage everyone to be open minded! Either to genuinely try to understand why a ship exists or, if you don’t want to waste your time on sth. you’re sure you don’t like, just filter and block the ship and their fans!
None of us can afford to waste our very limited free time on arguing with and harassing others about something FICTIONAL …that we don’t even like. Instead, please focus on making and/or supporting art about YOUR ship! This is not only much nicer to the fans you don’t support but also to yourself! Positive interactions will result in more positive interactions after all! Mostly.
