JUST KISS! (Thoughts on Shipping)

How many of you are familiar with the term 'shipping'? It refers to wishing two characters (be they in movies, TV, or books) would get together. Frequently, they stubbornly refuse to do so. 

*there will be spoilers beyond this point. Just so you know. I haven't decided what they are yet but you can't say I didn't warn you*

Also, too frequently, one or both of them end up dying right before they can get together or even worse, right after.

As an avid reader and movie/TV watcher, I am familiar with the pains of loving two characters and wanting them to get together. I am familiar with the irritating trope of 'Will they or won't they?' that I so despise but also enjoy so very, very much.

Maybe another topic will be how my story addiction has messed with my emotional stability.

Anyway, I know how much people love their 'shipping'. And I understood the hate and anger when writers killed one or both of the characters (as long as the characters are breathing, the ship will never die, even if they both end up married to other people. Sorry.) 

Veronica Roth is particularly evil in this respect because she killed Tris. JK Rowling killed Tonks and Lupin. And don't even get me started on Snape. That's a whole other issue. Bones played with our emotions in horrible ways for years. Pick a fandom and you can be sure there is at least one couple that was horribly ripped apart by what many fans believe was a horrible act of God.

In reality, it was just a writer deciding one character really needed to die.

As much as I hate when writers pull shit like that, I am more a writer now than I am a reader or viewer.

And the idea of tearing a couple apart or refusing to let them get together makes me giddy. Let's not talk about how sick that might be.

My defense is this: plot runs on tension. Since I love to write character driven stories, the plot is dependent on tension within those characters and between them as well. If a couple gets together, there has to be some kind of tension to replace the uncertainty of how they feel. If they don't get together, that tension is still there. 

Also, there is nothing I love more than writing dialogue that could lead to two characters confessing their feelings but then doesn't. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!! 

That was my evil laugh, in case you were wondering. Because I am a twisted, heartless, soulless person who loves to break the hearts of the few people who have read my stories.

Seriously. Ask my best friend Shelby. She'll tell you. In fact, I'm a little worried what she'll do if I kill one of her favorite characters (again).

But before you write me off as a hopeless writer who thrives on the pain of her readers, let me tell you something. I do enjoy the tension of all the 'will they or won't they' tropes. I do. But there nothing, nothing, that breaks my heart like having to kill one of my characters. Because once I do, they aren't in my head anymore. It doesn't matter that I have revision to do, they're just gone.

And if you think you miss your favorite book/movie/TV character when they die, just know that it is ten thousand times worse when you are the one who killed them and no matter how much you cry, you can't bring them back. 

Okay, so this ending wasn't very funny, so here's a picture of some puppies.

http://alaskanmalamute.org/malamutes/finding-a-malamute