People value "shipping" way too much, why is that?

[DiscountedArtist]

I think most normal people would ship if the characters actually like each other. But some strange people ship due to social beliefs.

[MrOwl]

I only ship if the characters hate each other, I'm not normal then lmao. xD

[Freemints30]

same. (i never really ship, but I tend to enjoy reading ships like that in fanfics, awful or nah)

[Kiweevil]

As long as they don't ship something morally questionable (or downright disgusting), I don't care if my readers ship the characters in my comic. The moment someone starts shipping the main and his adoptive minor daughter, I'm disowning them.

As far as my personal shipping preferences, sometimes I draw ship art of other media but only if the ship makes sense lol. I don't get super into it, and I don't understand ship wars.

[NickRowler]

I never really shipped unless it was something that was mostly canon. I know that sometimes I like crack ships for TF2 but that most has to do with me really liking all if the characters and seeing how other people pair them is cool.

What I don’t understand is the “I’ll die on this hill” style hardcore shippers (some crack) who get angry and aggressive when the canon and other fans contradicts their ship. Like, ships are suppose to be fun and silly, so please stop sending hate messages on Twitter.

[Darth_Biomech]

Well the characters are the most important half of the story, and mass media had conditioned us that there MUST be romantic subplots in every damn thing, so people end up caring only about "the feelingz"

[lunagraves714]

Maybe some people feel lonely so they like investing in character relationships? (Not that I do that, it’s just a thought)

[rajillustration]

I am immune to shipping so this has always boggled my mind. I do not understand it.

And it's not because I'm not a romantic IRL or anything, I just...don't get it. So some people are just hardwired to ship and then other people are like me and are just like ???? OK dude, whatever floats your boat.

[lynestjules]

Well, when it comes to movies or tv, I know for me, it really depends on the scenario. I often ship due to good potential romantic chemistry between characters/actors. Other times, I just don't want them to pair up, not because they don't have great on screen chemistry, but just because the characters themselves work so well as friends or enemies, I think it would break the story line.

Personally, I don't mind people shipping my characters. I find it interesting the relationships they find between the group of characters. Sometimes, it helps me see angles in the story I didn't know existed. Not that I'll pair them in the end, but it's interesting to see the potential the characters have within the group dynamic.

[Inspector_Spinda]

shipping is easy emotional attachment and that's ultimate what people seeking a story are looking for. romance is just the easiest path to that. i won't say that's the only thing people are into. harry potter doesn't have the following it has just because of ships (or does it?) i assume the people that fandom and in stuff like lord of the rings are really into the worldbuilding. just that most stories don't tend to have very unique or complex worldbuilding that merits deep discussion

[DasIstWunderblyat]

Because shipping can cost the twice of the actual price—
Oh wait I am so sorry

[rajillustration]

i assume the people that fandom and in stuff like lord of the rings are really into the worldbuilding.

Well...Bilbo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee...

Listen I don't even ship but I can kinda see how that one happened.

But as for Harry potter, I am a true millennial so I was super into the HP stuff growing up, and the funniest thing about HP ships was that you have to basically rewrite the whole book in order to make the ships work hahaha. They survived purely off of fanfic because the works themselves are purely plot.

[TheGentleArtist]

I'm pretty sure it's something that they enjoy. I sometimes ship characters in series I like and love the world-building as well, but I still enjoy the story.

[kmlangleyauthor]

My theory on ships is that readers self insert one character and “ship” with the character that’s closest to their type or fantasy.

shipping is easy emotional attachment

And this ^^^

[foxnflames]

Especially if it's romance then I like to ship. It makes reading more interesting (and stressful sometimes) when you have to inevitably wait for them to get together. And worse case you ship two people and they don't end up together

[MrOwl]

readers self insert one character

So, if you have unrelatable characters, that makes shipping harder? for instance, a bunch of perfect gods, mary sues abound lol.

[NickRowler]

i assume the people that fandom and in stuff like lord of the rings are really into the worldbuilding.

Funny you gave this example. I took a media studies class in college and our textbook had a section on fandoms and fanworks. They also included a FrodoXSam erotic fanart as an example.

[MrOwl]

Especially if it's romance

That makes sense, but people ship robots in scifi or goblins in fantasy lol.

[foxnflames]

If they see them as people then that's understandable. Like in Disney movies with animals

[MrOwl]

Like in Disney movies with animals

I always assumed that only furries ship animals, but what you know, thank you very much for your input. ^^