Do you ship yourself with anyone?

[GalarChamp_Cinderace]

I ship myself with Goh. (CinderaceShipping)

 

[AuraSoul93]

Man I ask myself this everyday. That's not a joke either, it's actually unhealthy. I apologize in advanced for making things so........real in here. But a thread like this REALLY got me thinking so I just wanted to put out what's been going on in my head, so I do wanna thank you for giving me that opportunity. I just hope it doesn't come off as cringey or problematic when I do though. So if there's anything I say or do here that bothers anyone please, please make me aware of it so I don't do it again. I view this as an chance to bring up points & have a discussion about something that's been weighing on me for so long & don't want it to come off as being inappropriate. But if you feel like it is for whatever reason i do apologize & hope you'll forgive me & understand where I'm coming from. ^^;

I guess the main reason it still bothers me is cause I got into Pokemon as a child & starting crushing on characters who were, at the time, my age if not slightly older than me. And whenever I see these characters again after all these years that fondness is still there, but as an adult it just feels.........wrong.

Like I can give very real answers that are appropriate like Cynthia, Bridgette, Melony, Shelly (both versions) & characters similar to them. Because they're all so cool & interesting, but also cause they're so freaking attractive. These anime characters were drawn to be gorgeous, mature women so of course that gets my attention.

But there are also times when characters like May & Dawn catch my eye due to their personalities & really pretty designs, but depending on the continuity & universe they're in they're much MUCH younger than I currently am. Obviously that's cause as fictional characters they didn't age with me as when I first was introduced to them in childhood. But does that make it okay or weird? Others like Candice & Mallow who are very good-looking & likely to be older than the protagonists but are still of questionable age range also leave me concerned about my own tastes & make me feel like a creep.

So even though a part of me wants to express interest & attraction to girls like Lisia, Marnie & Hilda I feel as though I shouldn't. Maybe if I just stick to the female characters who aren't gonna give me that potentially bad vibe like Sonia, Diantha & Cogita then I think I'll feel okay. It's not like we're short on beautiful adult women in the franchise. Onthe other hand I find both the younger & older characters appealing in their own ways & don't wanna deny that cause I feel like I'm lying to myself if I do. But I do wanna make it clear, the attraction to Misty & Nancy & others like them IS NOT due to their youth, it's cause I liked them when I was younger & that attraction never really left. However, doing that still leaves me very worried so maybe it's for the best if I just avoid characters like that & topics like this in general.

Still, I feel good actually getting all these pent-up thoughts out there in some public form. Again, it feels like something I've spent WAY too much time thinking about. But if something as simple as having a crush on a fictional character leaves me that conflicted I feel like an open discussion is a good way to get other perspectives & potentially help process my thoughts & feelings on it. Especially if other folks find themselves feeling the same way, which I don't doubt at all given how long this franchise has been around.

Again, if I said or did anything particularly wrong here please let me know, I don't wanna make anyone feel uncomfortable so I won't bring this up again if people don't like seeing this kind of thing being discussed. Thanks again to those who actually bothered to read through all of this. I'll.......try not to let it happen again. ^^;

 

[Welkamo]

Way back when I was just getting into Pokémon, I shipped myself with Steven. I also on and off ship myself with Blue (darn it, Masters /lh)

 

[Herbizarre]

Man I ask myself this everyday. That's not a joke either, it's actually unhealthy. I apologize in advanced for making things so........real in here. But a thread like this REALLY got me thinking so I just wanted to put out what's been going on in my head, so I do wanna thank you for giving me that opportunity. I just hope it doesn't come off as cringey or problematic when I do though. So if there's anything I say or do here that bothers anyone please, please make me aware of it so I don't do it again. I view this as an chance to bring up points & have a discussion about something that's been weighing on me for so long & don't want it to come off as being inappropriate. But if you feel like it is for whatever reason i do apologize & hope you'll forgive me & understand where I'm coming from. ^^;

I guess the main reason it still bothers me is cause I got into Pokemon as a child & starting crushing on characters who were, at the time, my age if not slightly older than me. And whenever I see these characters again after all these years that fondness is still there, but as an adult it just feels.........wrong.

Like I can give very real answers that are appropriate like Cynthia, Bridgette, Melony, Shelly (both versions) & characters similar to them. Because they're all so cool & interesting, but also cause they're so freaking attractive. These anime characters were drawn to be gorgeous, mature women so of course that gets my attention.

But there are also times when characters like May & Dawn catch my eye due to their personalities & really pretty designs, but depending on the continuity & universe they're in they're much MUCH younger than I currently am. Obviously that's cause as fictional characters they didn't age with me as when I first was introduced to them in childhood. But does that make it okay or weird? Others like Candice & Mallow who are very good-looking & likely to be older than the protagonists but are still of questionable age range also leave me concerned about my own tastes & make me feel like a creep.

So even though a part of me wants to express interest & attraction to girls like Lisia, Marnie & Hilda I feel as though I shouldn't. Maybe if I just stick to the female characters who aren't gonna give me that potentially bad vibe like Sonia, Diantha & Cogita then I think I'll feel okay. It's not like we're short on beautiful adult women in the franchise. Onthe other hand I find both the younger & older characters appealing in their own ways & don't wanna deny that cause I feel like I'm lying to myself if I do. But I do wanna make it clear, the attraction to Misty & Nancy & others like them IS NOT due to their youth, it's cause I liked them when I was younger & that attraction never really left. However, doing that still leaves me very worried so maybe it's for the best if I just avoid characters like that & topics like this in general.

Still, I feel good actually getting all these pent-up thoughts out there in some public form. Again, it feels like something I've spent WAY too much time thinking about. But if something as simple as having a crush on a fictional character leaves me that conflicted I feel like an open discussion is a good way to get other perspectives & potentially help process my thoughts & feelings on it. Especially if other folks find themselves feeling the same way, which I don't doubt at all given how long this franchise has been around.

Again, if I said or did anything particularly wrong here please let me know, I don't wanna make anyone feel uncomfortable so I won't bring this up again if people don't like seeing this kind of thing being discussed. Thanks again to those who actually bothered to read through all of this. I'll.......try not to let it happen again. ^^;

I don't see anything wrong with this mindset, but I do understand your concern regarding the younger characters. From what I'm reading, I like to interpret all this as if you were watching old photos and reminiscing about your first crushes from back in school/college. You still have the good feelings from when you knew them, but since these are photos of their younger selves, those feelings are of nostalgia rather than love. And there's nothing wrong with that. I hope what I said is helping you, even for a bit

As for answering this thread's question... Nope, don't think I even shipped myself with any character, at least not from Pokémon, even after looking back at my younger years and when I was active in those forums some years ago. The closest character to that sort of ship would be Commander Mars, but I ship her with a character from another franchise, so it's not even close lmao

 

[Snowy.ninetales]

Now at this time I would say no 100% of the time because I hate everyone (joke) but weirdly enough when I first got into the fandom I didn’t weirdly… instead it was creepypasta and I don’t wanna get into that weird year of my life.

 

[impervious_gakko42]

From 10 to 13, I was really into Silver. I had over 70+ fanart images of him saved to my phone and would regularly frequent sites like Quotev and Wattpad for the sole purpose of Silver x Reader fanfiction. Not even well written fanfiction, mind you. He was my profile picture on basically everything at some point. Even my school email account.

(sigh) Arceus, what the hell was I thinking? He's still one of my favourite characters but oh god the level of cringe on some of those old posts I made.

 

[AuraSoul93]

I don't see anything wrong with this mindset, but I do understand your concern regarding the younger characters. From what I'm reading, I like to interpret all this as if you were watching old photos and reminiscing about your first crushes from back in school/college. You still have the good feelings from when you knew them, but since these are photos of their younger selves, those feelings are of nostalgia rather than love. And there's nothing wrong with that. I hope what I said is helping you, even for a bit

As for answering this thread's question... Nope, don't think I even shipped myself with any character, at least not from Pokémon, even after looking back at my younger years and when I was active in those forums some years ago. The closest character to that sort of ship would be Commander Mars, but I ship her with a character from another franchise, so it's not even close lmao

You have no idea how good it feels to read something like this. Thanks for that, seriously. I do honestly feel like I put too much time into thinking about fictional characters & scenarios, so that in & of itself is it's own subject of self-acknowledgement & discovery I need to go through. But a major part of it is being attracted to some of said characters & understanding why. Learning to accept that part of myself I think can definitely help towards me coming to terms with this conflict I feel about them, & thoughtful & kind posts like yours assist in that in ways that I couldn't even begin to describe. Thank you so much!

 

[Combusken]

Man I ask myself this everyday. That's not a joke either, it's actually unhealthy. I apologize in advanced for making things so........real in here. But a thread like this REALLY got me thinking so I just wanted to put out what's been going on in my head, so I do wanna thank you for giving me that opportunity. I just hope it doesn't come off as cringey or problematic when I do though. So if there's anything I say or do here that bothers anyone please, please make me aware of it so I don't do it again. I view this as an chance to bring up points & have a discussion about something that's been weighing on me for so long & don't want it to come off as being inappropriate. But if you feel like it is for whatever reason i do apologize & hope you'll forgive me & understand where I'm coming from. ^^;

I guess the main reason it still bothers me is cause I got into Pokemon as a child & starting crushing on characters who were, at the time, my age if not slightly older than me. And whenever I see these characters again after all these years that fondness is still there, but as an adult it just feels.........wrong.

Like I can give very real answers that are appropriate like Cynthia, Bridgette, Melony, Shelly (both versions) & characters similar to them. Because they're all so cool & interesting, but also cause they're so freaking attractive. These anime characters were drawn to be gorgeous, mature women so of course that gets my attention.

But there are also times when characters like May & Dawn catch my eye due to their personalities & really pretty designs, but depending on the continuity & universe they're in they're much MUCH younger than I currently am. Obviously that's cause as fictional characters they didn't age with me as when I first was introduced to them in childhood. But does that make it okay or weird? Others like Candice & Mallow who are very good-looking & likely to be older than the protagonists but are still of questionable age range also leave me concerned about my own tastes & make me feel like a creep.

So even though a part of me wants to express interest & attraction to girls like Lisia, Marnie & Hilda I feel as though I shouldn't. Maybe if I just stick to the female characters who aren't gonna give me that potentially bad vibe like Sonia, Diantha & Cogita then I think I'll feel okay. It's not like we're short on beautiful adult women in the franchise. Onthe other hand I find both the younger & older characters appealing in their own ways & don't wanna deny that cause I feel like I'm lying to myself if I do. But I do wanna make it clear, the attraction to Misty & Nancy & others like them IS NOT due to their youth, it's cause I liked them when I was younger & that attraction never really left. However, doing that still leaves me very worried so maybe it's for the best if I just avoid characters like that & topics like this in general.

Still, I feel good actually getting all these pent-up thoughts out there in some public form. Again, it feels like something I've spent WAY too much time thinking about. But if something as simple as having a crush on a fictional character leaves me that conflicted I feel like an open discussion is a good way to get other perspectives & potentially help process my thoughts & feelings on it. Especially if other folks find themselves feeling the same way, which I don't doubt at all given how long this franchise has been around.

Again, if I said or did anything particularly wrong here please let me know, I don't wanna make anyone feel uncomfortable so I won't bring this up again if people don't like seeing this kind of thing being discussed. Thanks again to those who actually bothered to read through all of this. I'll.......try not to let it happen again. ^^;

I don't feel the same way but I understand what you're saying. I was looking back on posts I made on this account a decade ago (I might've deleted them, I think) and the question of "what character would you date" "what character is attractive to you" was awkward since all the character I used to like from age 12 onward were too young, but a lot of the designated older ones I never had an attachment to because I didn't relate to them. Even when I was a teenager I questioned if it was ok for me to still residually like some anime characters/protagonists for their personality and not their age, but I came to the conclusion it wasn't a big deal. But now my "fictional" attractions have a heavy correlation with real life, so a character that's canonically under 25 or 26 makes me uncomfortable (unless they don't have a stated age besides "an adult" and you can imagine what you want), so I moved on. I actually haven't played the last few Pokemon generations and left this account dormant for 9 years so I have no idea if there are any adults that would appeal to me now.

To be honest, I think a lot of adults with residual interest in things from childhood/adolescence (including fictional crushes or shipping) is a form of nostalgia and tapping back into the mindset you had from around then. I have a job and I sometimes "tap back into" my "child self" when I go to the toy section, and it has nothing to do with anyone besides myself. I understand being worried about looking creepy, but even as someone who had terrible experiences with bad people who were "like that", I still believe it's not fair to assume the worst of people who aren't posting gross/explicit content. I wouldn't judge someone who liked Misty or Silver as kids/teenagers and still hold an emotional torch to this day. I even think there's nothing wrong with making them adults since they're like props to use for whatever setting. I'm 30, and I like characters that are canonically aged 29 and 30, but the idea that I have to "throw them away" and find new characters to like instead when I'm 35 or 40 (this is from someone who is very uncomfortable with large age gaps in real life, for reference) seems weird and divorced from how emotional attachments work. It's like telling someone they're "too old" for their teddy bear they had for their whole life, you don't have to throw it out if you don't want to and it's not hurting anyone.

I think the line of if it's "ok" or "weird/creepy" is often a heavy case-by-case basis and isn't always black and white.

 

[TeamGalacticFangirl]

Yes, I ship myself with Cyrus

 

[ekatheparas]

I fall for people solely based on their personalities (and alliance with evil and good) but most of them have been guys who have a lot of fangirls that are considered young adults and above!!
rare instances are probably Cynthia and Iris, Concordia and of course, we can certainly never forget Doctor Logan from the manga!!
They were solely platonic crushes and fan crushes however, not exactly romantic.

Spoiler: cough

I AM a romantic for SOMEONE though

. because wynaut

 

[Jersey Jimmy]

yeah I used to ship myself (or, well, my self-insert) with Flannery from roughly when I was 13 to when I was 16. you may remember some of my (terrible, poorly-written, and also bad) fanfics from back then if you're an oldhead.

 

[skynerel]

Ehh no.

 

[guzmania]

OMG YEAH IM A YUMEJOSHI. i hate the idea of dating ppl irl for Reasons tm so uhh
i remember when i first got into pokemon it was marnie! i was so into her for like a year straight and then i think i switched to hilda... then it was n instead for a few months and then i played the johto saga and now its silver (amount of people surprised: 0)
and yeah maybe it's "cringe" or "weird" but idgaf. i'm 16, that's what i'm here for! plus, like - if self-shipping makes people happy and it doesn't hurt anyone then ultimately i think it's actually a good thing <3

...also, i think if everyone just stopped doing anything anyone else considered weird, we'd be living in a very empty, boring world.

 

[mastermind lissi]

Closest thing to this would probably saying player character x Kieran is something I ship (if we’re talking specifically my player character which I use for most scenarios in my head). While I don’t actually have any feeling for him, I just use my character for this and it’s more of a one sided thing so idk

I don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong with this, just I don’t personally think of this as something I do myself