What Graham Aker said, btw. Only a few people are pessimistic, not MOST. I think under the 'pessimistic' people you talk of on this thread, I am one of those who are pessimistic at times on this thread, but not ALL the time. To be honest, anything's anything for me. I just dislike it when people are too into the ship, taking it as an obsession rather than a common interest, such as overreacting at the slightest of hints, saying if it doesn't become canon "I kill myself", etc. I see myself as more practical, and have a balance between reality and fiction, so that is often why I can be seen as pessimistic at times.
Eheh, this comment was from a while ago, but... being obsessive over a ship really isn't something you choose to do; it just happens. Some people spend a lot of time thinking about the ships they like outside the show, and they really internalize the characters. I'm one of those people. From a very early age, I devoted a lot of mental energy to shipping. It wasn't something I really thought about; I did it because it made me happy. But when you feel like it's not gonna happen... it's a lot like unrequited love. Thinking about shipping has always made you feel happy, but now it makes you feel equally sad. You don't want to stop thinking about it, even though it hurts, and... There's definitely a feeling of loss. I was way obsessed with Pokeshipping; I internalized Misty's character strongly, and it was like she felt and thought through me. You know how actors often feel like the characters they play are a part of them? It's like that. It was pretty depressing for me when Misty left the show, though the ship didn't get completely ruined for me... And even though it's not my main ship anymore, and I don't think about it all that much, it still has a pull on me. That's why, when it seems to me that Ash returns Serena's feelings, it really bums me out. It can kind of ruin my day, or two days. I'd have a pretty hard time with it it Amour became canon. This is nothing against you guys, of course; it's just the fact of the matter with me. Anyway. Of course, I know on an intellectual level that the characters aren't real (which I hate being reminded of), and for some people, that's enough to make the canon not matter. But on an emotional level, yeah, I really don't get that they're fictional. Our brains are wired to respond emotionally to facial expressions and vocal cues; that's the only way we have of knowing that other people think and feel like we do.
You might call obsessing over shipping unhealthy... I don't think it is; I mean, for all that, there's an equal amount of positive effects, emotionally, creatively, and otherwise. I think a lot of writers have issues like this, because writing strong characters requires years of involvement with them. But even if it were unhealthy... that's kind of irrelevant. I mean, I feel like it's something that's just wired into me... I'm so habituated to it, too, and then it's so hard to stop yourself from thinking about something you really want to think about... Anyway. Sorry for going on, but...
I've been wondering, do any of you have this kind of relationship with shipping? I'm interested to find out, because I'd like to find out if some ships encourage obsessive shipping more than others, or if it's a pretty equal distribution, or what. Also, I think it's good for shippers from opposing ships to try to understand each other's feelings and stuff.
