Fandom School (2nd period): Joining a Ship

Wow, it's been forever since I've posted. What can I say? I'm lazy busy. This blog isn't dead, it's just been dormant for a while. Fandom School is back from hiatus, and today we're talking about joining a ship.

There are some ships that you immediately join, but others take a little convincing. So what convinces you to ship characters you didn't think suited each other? Well, there are a few methods:

• Chemistry between the actors
• A different portrayal of one or both characters that makes them a better match
• Character development
• A really good fanfic/fanart
• The ship is canon and you get used to it

Examples

Quirrellmort (Quirrell/Voldemort). I know what you're thinking. Quirrell and Voldemort? What? Well, they do share a body, but that's not what makes me ship them. No, I shipped them when I saw them in A Very Potter Musical (which you should all watch, by the way).

Hm... *realizes I created an entire post just so I could discuss Quirrellmort*
But there is another ship I grew into:

Merthur (Merlin/Arthur)
I've discussed before why I ship them, but I'll say it again: they're really suited to each other. They're fiercely loyal to each other. Merlin's saved Arthur's life countless times, and likewise Arthur gladly risks his life to save Merlin's. They have such an intimate relationship, it's hard not to ship them. And they make each other better. I'm a sucker for character development, especially when it comes because of another character.

Okay, that's all for now. Hopefully I'll get around to posting again soon. Thanks to anyone who still reads this blog even though my posts are terribly sporadic.

Fandom School (2nd period): Real-Life Shipping

Happy Wednesday, and welcome again to Fandom School! Sorry I haven't been blogging super often (those of you who know me on google+, tumblr, or irl, feel free to hold me accountable). Anyways, the subject is shipping, and today's topic is real-life shipping.

I don't know why I didn't think to cover it in my list of Fanfiction terms (I'll update the list now), but there exists such a thing as real-person fiction, RPF for short. The name, however, is a bit deceptive. RPF doesn't depict real people, well, not exactly. RPF takes people who exist in the real world and makes them into fictional characters, adding personality traits, backstory, etc. that is not true (but isn't ridiculously far from the truth) to suit the author's needs and/or desires. "But that's not true!" you say. "RPF doesn't make characters up, they're just like the real people!" One, I never said RPF makes characters up, I said that RPF uses characters based on real people. Two, I provide here an example that disproves your theory: a fanfic in which Bradley James has magic.

Shipping in RPF is the same as it is in regular fanfics - well, almost. While regular fanfiction can change a character easily, RPF writers have to be careful about how they portray the people in their stories. You can't depict a person in a way that would make them uncomfortable (well, you can, but you shouldn't).

But there's also shipping between real people who aren't famous. Enter my personal experience. Jake, my close friend who I know from band (Horn is way better than saxaphone!), apparently is friendly enough with me (or I'm friendly enough with him? Idk) that people ship us. It's all David's fault - he started the rumors (yes, I'm naming names). The shippers are pretty insistent, despite the fact that I have a boyfriend (I love you, Alex!). At first I was really mad (like, I wanted to punch David in the face), but now I'm just sort of used to it. I still find it really annoying, though. A lot of times real-life shipping is not okay, namely when the people who are being shipped have specifically told the shippers to stop.

In fairness, though, I can't complain too much about it. After all, it may have something to do with how Alex became my boyfriend. Emily, a mutual friend of ours, kept shipping us, certain that we were in love (we were). Eventually, after over 2 years of being best friends, we confessed our love for each other (she was there when we said it! Remember how weird that was? I was so worried I would chicken out and not tell you, Alex. Lol). He moved away shortly afterwards, so it's a long-distance relationship. I ship us, he ships us, and I don't care about the idiots who ship me with Jake.

So, if you want to ship real people, here are a few things to keep in mind.

• If you're writing RPF, remember that you are writing about a fictional character based on a real person, and be sure to distinguish fiction from reality
• No tinhatting. Tinhatting is when you try to convince people that your ship is real, saying that the people are in a secret relationship or some equally ridiculous theory. Tinhatting is incredibly disrespectful.
• Don't spread hate about a person who's "breaking up" your ship. If person A is dating person B, but you think person A belongs with person C, don't spread hate about person B or hope that A and B break up/get divorced.
• Don't be obnoxious about your ship. Talk about it with the people who ship it too - don't just shove your opinions in other people's faces
• Don't present a real person as having a very different sexuality from what they identify as
• Be kind to those who ship real people, even if you don't agree
• If you're shipping people you personally know, make sure they are okay with this. Don't ship people who don't want to be shipped.

Good day and happy shipping to you all.

Fandom School (2nd period): Ship Names

It's time for Fandom School again! Today's topic: shipping. Specifically, ship names. I've already defined shipping and listed my ships and listed a few types of ships, so now I'm going to delve into different names of ships and why they are chosen. There are a few different types of ship names:

1. Portmanteau - the most common type of ship name by far, this takes the names of the characters and mashes them up.
Examples: Merthur (Merlin/Arthur), Johnlock (John/Sherlock), Elever (Eleven/River)

2. CamelCase - simply putting the names (or part of each name) together and capitalizing the first name of each letter.
Examples: ArMor (Arthur/Morgana), TenRose (Ten/Rose)

3. Idiosyncratic Ship Name - these are rare because they are hard to think of, but they are always fun. Instead of putting the characters' names together, these names put the characters' characteristics together.
Examples: Toast (Katniss aka the Girl on Fire/Peeta aka the boy with the bread), Angry Birds (Clint Barton aka Hawkeye/Bruce Banner aka Hulk), Whouffle (The Doctor, usually Eleven, and Clara aka "Souffle girl"), StarkSpangledBanner (Tony Stark/Steve Rogers/Bruce Banner), The Cold War (Steve/Natasha), Birds of a Feather (Clint Barton/Sam Wilson), ThunderShield (Thor/Steve Rogers), FreeBird (Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson), Wincest (Sam Winchester/Dean Winchester)

What are your favorite ship names? (You don't have to like a ship to like the name.) Are there any ships you would create just for the sake of the name?

Fandom School (2nd period): Types of Ships

So hopefully, you've already seen my page about ships (if you haven't, I suggest you check it out now).

That's just scratching the surface, though. There are lots of types of ships. As explained by tumblr, they are:

Let's go through each of them (except for the last one, because I don't know much about Supernatural)

• Ship: already defined in this page
• Canon ship: ship that is clearly shown in the show/movie/book (see this post about canon)
• Non-canon ship: a ship that is not canon, but that the shipper wishes was canon
• Crack ship: a random, strange ship, because the members of the ship are very different and/or have not even met in canon
• Joke ship: a pretend ship that the shipper thinks is amusing
• OTP: short for One True Pairing, a fangirl/fanboy's ultimate (i.e., favorite) ship

Let's examine my ships to see which ones are which types.

• 9th Doctor/Rose: just a typical ship, it's not quite canon, but it could be interpreted that way
• Captain Jack Harkness/Anyone: joke ship, because it's a running joke in the Doctor Who fandom that if Jack even says hello, he's flirting
• 10th Doctor/Rose: canon ship, because this one is pretty clearly canon
• Mickey/Martha (M&M): canon ship... maybe? We see them together for like, a few seconds, when the Tenth Doctor goes to get his reward.
• Amy/Rory: definitely a canon ship
• 11th Doctor/River (Elever): again, a clear canon ship
• 11th Doctor/Clara (Whouffle): non-canon ship (thankfully this is only a tentative ship for me, as I like Elever better)
• John/Sherlock (Johnlock): non-canon ship, though some say it's there in canon if you pay close attention (again, this is a tentative ship)
• Sherlock/Molly (Sherlolly): clearly a non-canon ship (and a tentative ship for me)
• Gwen/Arthur (Arwen): very clearly a canon ship
• Merlin/Freya: another canon ship, though it doesn't get as much screen time as I'd like
• Merlin/Arthur (Merthur): non-canon ship

But which one is my OTP? Um... it's so hard to pick!!! I think I'll go with Elever, but it's really hard to decide.

And it looks like I don't have any crack ships, so I need to come up with one for an example...
Let's go with the Daleks/R2D2 and the Cybermen/C3PO, because why not? You see that both of those are pretty crazy ships that would never ever become canon. And that's kind of the point of a crack ship.

So that's all the different ships. (Update: I found this helpful page that includes a whole lot of shipping types/terms that I haven't even covered, so if you want more, check it out.) What are your ships?

Fandom School (2nd period): Ships

For those of you new to a fandom, you might be confused when someone says "I totally ship them!" or talks about their OTP. What is shipping, you ask? That's what this class is all about.

I know, right?

What is shipping?

Shipping is when a member of a fandom romantically pairs two or more characters. To see my pairings, also called "ships", check out this post. Sometimes people will even come up with a name for their ship. For example, some people ship John and Sherlock. They call this "Johnlock". 

Why do people ship?

Often, when people fall in love with the characters, they begin romantically pairing them in their head (come on, we've all done it). Then, they feel the need to share their pairing with the rest of the world. This is shipping. As for why people pair the characters in the first place, it may be because one or more of the characters in question is lonely, or simply because the fan sees two characters and just thinks they would be good together. 

What is an OTP?

OTP stands for "One True Pairing", and it refers to a fan's favorite ship. OTPs are usually reserved for serious fangirls and fanboys. 

More on shipping later when this class resumes. Next week's topic: lunch. Come again to see what the cafeteria at Fandom School looks like and go sit with your favorite fandom. (Remember, please leave suggestions for classes you'd like to attend at Fandom School, and I will take them into consideration.) See you all later!