What makes you like a "ship"

[Blaze]

So shipping has always been huge on the board and in the fandom in general, and it got me thinking, what makes us ship a certain ship. I'm not meaning the question to pertain to a specific ship, but just any ship. What are the elements in a relationship that makes you ship it. Is it chemistry? Is it a specific part of storytelling? What makes you go eh I like these two together. Is it simply liking both characters and therefore liking them together? Is it because you can identify with the relationship?

This is obviously not a thread to have a ship war, so keep that it mind, I just want to know what exactly makes us "shippers"

 

[Wesley Pryce]

I think its all those elements. Mainly for me its if I like the characters and if I feel they have great chemistry. Two other major elements are if its written well and if I can relate to the relationship. Relation to characters or relationships is often an important aspect for me. My favorite ships usually revolve around characters that i like and they have relationship dynamics that i find very likeable. Wesley and Fred are both charming nerds, and Tara and Willow are both a bit insecure. These are aspects that I find quite human and therefor can relate to these characters and the relationships as well. 🙂

 

[Taake]

Well chemistry obviously play into it. But otherwise I'm not sure. I usually can't identify with the couples I ship, that's often what I like about them - sounds strange perhaps but it's true.

 

[white avenger]

It's been said already, but to me, it has mostly to do with the dynamic between the two characters. If the actors work well together, which doesn't necessarily mean that they particularly like each other, though that is a definite advantage, it definitely works better. One of my favorite ships, long before they were even called that, was Remington Steele and Laura Holt. Even though Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist didn't particularly like each other, they portrayed their characters and the attraction that each felt for the other perfectly.

And just for the record, romance isn't necessarily a requirement in my preference in ships, either. There was a connection between Buffy and Spike in their first scene together in "School Hard" that was just about as strong and believable to me as anything that they shared in Season 7. For me, at least, they balanced each other, the Slayer who killed vampires and the vampire who killed Slayers, in the beginning as they did in their final scene together, though, of course in totally different ways.

Another ship that I have always liked that has nothing whatsoever to di with romance, is Buffy and Faith. I always wanted them to be friends, really close in the way that true comrades in arms can be, the way that Scott and Kelly were in "I Spy," (the series, not the movie), but even as enemies, they worked together perfectly, again with each balancing the other.

 

[VisionGirl]

For me, it's like what Spike said: "Love isn't brains, children...." I can't always logically pinpoint exactly why I ship one relationship over another. A lot of it has I do with chemistry and whether that relationship resonates with me. It's one thing to say "they go well together" or "logically it makes sense that they're together", but it's another thing entirely to ship thy couple. And some if it has to do with characters. I find that if I don't particularly care for the characters, then I don't have any shipping feelings toward them. So for example I'n fascinated with the character of Angel. And I tend to be really interested in his relationships. Or most of them anyway. 🙂

 

[The Scourge]

*Chemistry between the actors
*The writing for the characters as individuals
*The writing for the characters when they are a couple
*Whether or not I get enjoyment out of the pairing once it is canon.

 

[Kean]

The crucial thing for me is that the two characters be equal in their passion for each other. If one character is more invested than the other than I don't believe in it. I need to feel that there is no other person they'd rather be with.

 

[ladydorotea]

Eh, I don't normally passionately 'ship' at all. I can like some pairing if the characters are both appealing to me and if I think their relationship brings extra sparks to the whole story, while at the same time making me as an audience feel entertained. I can recall no other case in my whole life as a reader, viewer of tv or movie , etc, when I would be stirred into shipping in the classic sense of Buffyverse 'shipping'. Heck if I know why Bangel got me the way no other ship ever could. It just happened.

 

[sosa lola]

Xander should be in it. 🙂

Honestly, I like ships where the characters quarrel. It's fun to watch them bicker. But in the end of the day, they know they love each other no matter how much they disagree with one another.

 

[eponinethen]

Chemistry and when there is something forbidden or unexpected about it. Like Buffy/Faith. And Buffy/Spike. I almost never like the couple that are "supposed" to be together, like Buffy/Angel or Mal/Inara. I guess I like painful relationships as well :/

EDIT: Oh right. I usually don't want my ships to live happily ever after. That would pretty much ruin the hotness. Like, how some people write fanfic about Buffy and Faith living happily together forever in love, that would just be strange and wrong.

 

[kittenpoker]

Chemistry chemistry chemistry! It's that spark that I can feel between them.... and passion (heated moments, not necessarily sexual, but intense emotions that run the full range from positive to negative - all the fine lines between love and hate) helps keep and hold my attention and interest.

 

[thetopher]

*Chemistry is important- the actors playing off each other.
*Interesting- is the ship interesting, can you go anywhere dramatic or new with it.

I also don't tend to like canon ships (Buffy'Angel, Buffy/Spike) but there are odd ones I like.