A perspective from a very avid shipper on shipping hermits
Please, really, read this. I do not think that I will change someone elseâs mind, but maybe I can give some insight.
The way I see it is like this.
Imagine this. Annie and Bob both are in a community theatre group. Theyâre in a play where they act as the characters Chelsea and Dan. In the play, Dan and Chelsea are good friends, best friends even. Some other members of the group ship the characters of Chelsea and Dan. They just have such great chemistry with the way that they play the characters.
Obviously, no one ships Annie and Bob. Annie has a boyfriend and Bobâs been openly gay since he was fifteen.
So a whole lot of people ship the characters, but no one ships Annie and Bob, because thatâs just gross! And weird! And no one wants to upset their friendship, because itâs community theatre and everyoneâs friends in theatre.
So thereâs kind of an analogy for shipping Hermits. Nobody ships the irl people, but the characters are shipped.
âBut wait, what if the hermits are hurt by such shippage? Itâs happened before with others!â
Thatâs true. People have been hurt before by shippers. But with most of those fandoms, theyâre huge! Those fanbases are millions of people on tumblr. And just like a forest fire, with a few small words, the fire can get big. It spreads to other platforms like Twitter and Instagram.Â
With the Hermitcraft fandom, most of it takes place on fanfic sites and tumblr. Itâs a relatively small fandom, and most people have already gotten their opinions on the fandom before joining.Â
I only know of one âhermitâ on tumblr, and thatâs Zloy. @askzloyxp you rock btw.Â
Many shippers I have seen also only ship the Minecraft personas. Fancy mustachioed Mumbo Jumbo, not the real life Oli, as an example.Â
The real hermits are free to love whoever they want to love, and they are valid. And if they would rather not be in a relationship that is valid too. I respect their real relationships and sexual/romantic identities. Only minesonas are shipped.Â
Louder for the people in the back, please.Â
THE REAL HERMITS ARE FREE TO LOVE WHOEVER THEY WANT TO LOVE, AND THEY ARE VALID. AND IF THEY WOULD RATHER NOT BE IN A RELATIONSHIP THAT IS VALID TOO.Â
I RESPECT THEIR REAL RELATIONSHIPS AND SEXUAL/ROMANTIC IDENTITIES.Â
ONLY MINESONAS ARE SHIPPED.
Another analogy you can use is the Sanders Sides. Thereâs a pretty decent sized fandom for that, but no one actually ships the real Thomas Sanders with himself, do they?
Besides, the K-pop fandom exists. That, we can pretty much agree, is gross.Â
And hey, if any of the hermits ever come out and say that this fanfiction makes them uncomfortable, I WILL STOP. I hope others will too.Â
PS: I donât write graphic hermit smut. I may skate over it delicately, but graphic=gross.Â