#aymint

-Written by Boardgamebrony-

  It’s no secret that the My Little Pony fandom IS IN LOVE with shipping. Back during sometime around season 2, EquestriaDaily moderator Sethisto joked that whenever a new character came out, the question was “Why haven’t they been shipped with Rainbow Dash yet?” (For those who don’t know, “shipping” refers to the practice of putting two or more characters together in a relationship, like the picture below:)

(Look at that blushy lil Dashie! AWWWWWWWWWWWWW: http://aymint.deviantart.com/art/Christmas-501829088) (By Aymint)

Tonight’s key question is something many of you may already have thought of: How do you feel about shipping? It is something you adore, something you don’t like or something you just find amusing? Do you have a favorite shipping combination?

I’ve had a very strange relationship with shipping. Back during season 1 and 2, I almost NEVER wanted to see characters shipped together. I preferred keeping everything canon in my head and didn’t want anything ruining that. Plus, shipping just didn’t make sense to me.

A significant turning point occurred the year after I joined the fandom. I was working at Brony Fan Fair in 2012, the now-retired My Little Pony convention in Austin, Texas and I was invited to their staff-only party. They drew for prizes at the end of the night and I won the following piece of art:

(“Buck the Haters” by TexasUberAllies at http://fav.me/d5guehr)

This was an important moment for me. Some of you may have read part of my big pony-related regret at the following previous Midnight Hour discussion: (http://fav.me/d8alqbb). As a side effect of dealing with that oppressive group I mentioned, it was hard to feel comfortable again with outward expressions of LGBT. Their anti-gay conditioning was very hard to deal with and I found myself looking at the picture I won and wondering what to do. Should I keep it or not? Thankfully, I kept it and fought off that conditioning. It’s now one of my favorite pieces of art.

Over time, I started opening up to shipping even more and found that my favorite couples tended to be Lyra/BonBon and Vinyl/Octavia. The reason I enjoy the shipping between these two groups is because of the polar opposite qualities the fans have created for each respective partnership. Lyra is often depicted as enthusiastic and nutty while Bonbon is considered the level-headed one. Meanwhile, Vinyl is considered the wild one while Octavia is usually the quiet and reserved type.

My favorite shipping picture is the one below with Human Lyra and Human Bon Bon. It gave me such a strong emotional response that I had to use it as a background for my computer. The way Lyra tilts her head with her eyes closed in such a trusting manner towards Bon Bon really resonates with me.

  (“Gijinka –MLP Lyrabon” by Emlan at http://fav.me/d4vfa94)

Personally, in my own life, I’m not someone who wants a relationship with anyone. But if I ever did have such a relationship, I think it might reflect something like Lyra and Bon Bon in this one image. Thing is, I don’t know if I’d be more of a Lyra in this instance or a Bon Bon when it comes to my attitude in a relationship.

Maybe that’s why I love shipping so much now. I think I like to imagine myself in the situation of one of the two partners and think “What would I do in this situation?” Perhaps that daydreamy quality really is the reason I still adore such ships.

What do you think? How do you feel about shipping and why? I’d love to hear it.

Note: I understand many of you may not like shipping, or perhaps you don’t like certain shipping combinations. That’s okay. I wanna hear about that too. Tell me why you don’t like it, if that’s the case. Discussion time!

[ Random Pic of the Day 039 ]