#wilchu

This is a guide to shipping content creators respectfully (in the opinion of @b-creativ3/the smp-boundaries blog owner); if you plan to make shipping content this is recommended reading! This post only refers to SFW shipping, we have a different PSA post on NSFW content.

The first step is to find out if said creator is actually okay with shipping. Not to sound self-absorbed but as far as I know the only place that collects boundaries like that is our blog, so check the masterpost for a list of content creators and their boundaries (if you’re not here from that already). If you can’t find any information on how a creator feels about shipping, it is up to your discretion whether you choose to continue or not. Keep in mind though that if a creator states that they are uncomfortable with ships in the future, you should and will be expected to delete/private any ship content of them so as to avoid making them uncomfortable.

Many people ship because they like the dynamic and want to explore it in their own creative work, and that’s great when done respectfully! However some people hope or expect for content creators that are shipped to actually get together. This is bad because it puts pressure on the content creators, which can end up hurting their friendship and the relationship with their fans. If you’re not getting it, it’s sort of like when you mention a friend that’s not the same gender as you and your family start teasing you about being in a relationship because “guys and girls can’t just be friends!”. It sucks and you shouldn’t expect that of them, basically.

Additionally, many creators are fine with shipping but don’t seek out shipping content. When interacting with these creators please realise that since they don’t want to see ships, it’s disrespectful to send them your content if it involves ships. You shouldn’t tag these creators in shipping content for the same reason (it’s different if the content creator is actively seeking out shipping content). Related to this, don’t try to shove shipping in a creator’s face in other ways, e.g. donating to them with a message about a certain ship, or trying to get them to do something shippy (“say ‘I love ___’”, “you two should date!”). The only time it is acceptable to ask about shipping is when you are asking about boundaries.

From ships with particularly ‘passionate’ fans, I’ve seen ‘proof’ videos appearing on YouTube. This type of behaviour is NOT okay, and doesn’t work out well in any situation. Either A) they’re not together and there’s a possibility they will change their behaviour towards each other or their opinion on shippers; or B) even if by a small chance they are dating, you are attempting to expose their relationship when they clearly aren’t ready for their fans to know! This also goes for sexuality exposing posts/videos; just have some human decency, guys. People are in the closet for a reason.