The Mary Sue

The Shipping Dynamics Meme Is My Fandom Happy Place

January 23, 2021

Screenshot from the second episode of SK8 the Infinity

If you’ve been keeping up with The Misadventures of a Black Queer Nerd Girl Turned Fandom Editor then you know that shipping is my wheat bread, creamy peanut butter, and Smucker’s grape JAM!

I’ve been writing about my ships since my high school Mead Composition Notebook days, telling stories about Vegeta and Bulma via multi-colored ink pens. If I’m really honest with myself, I think I can say that I’ve been shipping characters since Batman the Animated Series and that Poison Ivy/Harley Quinn episode where they first meet.

Back then, I didn’t have a name for what I was doing, that would come later with Gundam Wing, Geocities sites dedicated to 1×2 (Heero Yuy x Duo Maxwell), and fanfiction. Now? I DEFINITELY have a name for it, but more importantly, I have a glorious meme for it.

The shipping dynamics meme isn’t new. I’ve seen it circulate the Internet a couple of times before, but now I have an entire corner of a website dedicated to talking about fandom, so I’m going to talk about it. And the meme has had a recent viral explosion in popularity, with a ton of new “this is my favorite ship dynamic” pictures joining the fray.

The meme puts together character archetypes to illustrate a pairing. It doesn’t say who the pairing is, just the personality of the character (or characters) involved. This means that the ship is open to our interpretation based on the descriptions given.

For example. Here is a ship dynamic courtesy of Céli:

This brings to mind so many different pairings! First, the (extremely tragic) magical girl ship:

via GIPHY

The ship I don’t know much about because I haven’t watched Adventure Time but I KNOW them thanks to fandom:

via GIPHY

And, of course, my current loves:

Sometimes, the artist will tell you who they’re thinking about when they illustrate the pic, but more often than not they let the fandom take hold of it and, well, tell on themselves. There really isn’t a definitive answer for who each dynamic is made for, which is part of the fun.

We’re all just hopelessly in love with the chemistry between our fictional faves. That being said, here’s some more of the fun, and yes, I’ll tell on myself throughout the rest of this piece, lol.

There’s Hanna with her four different takes on the meme.

To me, this is a primo shipper’s starter pack. I love all of these. Every single one.

First off, whenever I see “tired” I immediately think of this man:

via GIPHY

He’s also the “Annoyed Rational.”

And while the characters I personally ship him with aren’t technically feral or flirty I feel like HE would see them that way because he’s so damn tired and anything that prevents him from getting the rest he deserves is an annoyance (but he secretly loves them).

via Gfycat

And lord, something about “The Bodyguard” dynamic is speaking directly to my soul. Maybe it’s because I’m watching Kuroko no Basket and my main ship has an IMMENSE high difference.

via GIPHY

Then there’s Micah, who delights in the potential of evil ships.

I mean the first one is perfectly fine, but he’s right, it IS a bonus if they’re evil.

via GIPHY

Or if only one of them is evil.

via GIPHY

Which can lead to … things…

via GIPHY

Any ship with this dude is this dynamic by default:

Just wait until this series starts:

via GIPHY

And then there’s the ship dynamic I didn’t even realize I was hungry for until I saw it.

Thank you, Ray. Chef kisses don’t even begin to describe this. They went ahead and gave me a galaxy brain moment because yes, this, absolutely this!

There are SO many series I watch where the ENTIRE group has amazing chemistry, and yet, for some reason, I’m expected to pick ONE ship?

Hard pass.

It’s even worse when it’s so obvious that the entire cast is in love with one character. You know the one. That series main who ends up impacting everyone’s lives to the point that even the most “I’m not here to make friends” a-double s-hole cracks under their smile?

via GIPHY

Yeah. That’s that one. You might have one primary character you ship them with, but you’re acutely aware of the fact that everyone in the show is in love with them

via GIPHY

Uh huh.

via GIPHY

It just keeps going.

via GIPHY

Honestly, I feel sorry for whatever villain decides to go after Izuku Midoriya. If he doesn’t end them, someone from his class will. And somehow, Deku will remain oblivious as to why.

And yeah that’s another good ship, too.

Have you seen the shipping meme going around? What have been your favorite dynamics to see, and what ships of yours do they fit with?

(Image: Funimation)

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