Ah, shipping, my favorite past time. Shipping is the act of wanting two fictional characters to be in a romantic relationship. These characters are usually from some sort of book, movie, TV show, etc. Still confused? Here, let's have Kakashi help explain:
Here, Kakshi (the ninja dude) is shipping Elsa from Frozen with Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians. This ship is called Jelsa but also may be referred to as Jack Frost x Elsa, Jack Frost/Elsa, etc. Kakashi has probably seen the similarities between Jack and Elsa as they both control ice and snow and have sad back stories with their younger siblings. Kakashi believes that these two characters would get along nicely together if they met. Therefore, Kakashi ships them. He shows us his appreciation for this ship as he has the two cosplayers hold hands. Jelsa is special type of shipping, called a crossover ship, as each character is from a different movie.
Seems innocent enough, right? What pain could be caused from wanting two fictional characters to kiss, right? Haha. Well, first of all you have the crushing feeling of knowing that you're shipping will probably not ever actually happen within the series. Then, you also have people who do not ship your ship and people who violently hate your ship and try to persuade you that the ship could not ever exist. And finally, you have all the sad fanfiction that might just make you cry for hours yet you read it anyway because dang do you love this ship. Shipping will almost always result in feelings.
But it's not just sad, lonely feelings. Sometimes you see a super cute picture of your favorite pairing and you just kind of end up screaming because they are so perfect. Or you'll be watching your favorite show and the two characters you have shipped since season one have a little bit together and then you just end up smiling without ever wanting to stop because you are just so happy that the writers see what you see. When you have happy feelings, you usually end up like:
Or:
Another very important part of shipping is something called an OTP. OTP stands for One True Pairing. It is the pairing (or pairings) that you love the most. In my own experience, you don't really pick an OTP. You just kind of realize how much you favor one particular ship over another. A good way to rate which pairing is your absolute favorite is to look up a bunch of pairings and the one you cry over most is your OTP.
Shipping is like being in a relationship with a relationship. When your ship is happy, you're happy. When your ship is sad, you're sad. It can be a lot of fun, especially when you find other people who ship what you ship. It may result in a lot of tears but it's just apart of the fandom life.
-Rene
