Ship Dynamics (glossary term)
| Synonyms: | |
| See also: | Shipping, Ship Dynamic, The Dynamic, Enemies to lovers, Friends to lovers, Idiots in Love |
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A ship dynamic is an overarching term for the various qualities, archetypes, or types of chemistry, relationships or interactions between characters in romantic, sexual or platonic pairings. Fans of pairings will often explore ship dynamics through fanfiction, art, vids, meta and other fan works, analysing the different ways characters compliment or challenge each other.
One common form of fanwork revolving around ship dynamics was the Ship Dynamic art meme which became widespread in 2019, particularly on Twitter, where people used relatively simple cartoon drawings to represent their favourite ship dynamics[1]. Some artists went on to draw their OTP in the poses from these ship dynamics. There are also various trends or accounts on TikTok where creators will post skits or scenes revolving around ship dynamics rather than particular characters (e.g., (B)Rad Martin)
Fans of Ship Dynamics
Some fans interact with fandom through seeking out specific ship dynamics in characters, rather than certain types of or genre of media. This has some overlap with elements of the migratory slash fandom and migratory femslash fandom, though of course fans of duaric pairings or polyships may also seek out ship dynamics across media.
Examples of Ship Dynamics
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Some ship dynamics are undoubtedly more widespread or common place than others, particularly those commonly used in mainstream media and not just in fandom or fanon spaces. However, fannish interpretation of some popular ship dynamics may different to how the portrayals in mainstream media plays out.
- Enemies to Lovers
- Friends to Lovers
- Rivals to Lovers
- Hero x Villain
- Friends to Enemies to Lovers
- Grumpy Character and the Sunshine Character
- Idiots in Love
- Fell First, Fell Harder
- Tall x Smol
- Affectionate x Touch-Starved
- Black Cat x Golden Retriever
- Sun x Moon
- Toxic Dumpster Fire
- Bodyguard x Charge
- Sweaterboy and Absolute Nightmare
- RedBlue
- Angel x Devil
- Boss x Employee
Fanon and Ship Dynamics
Controversy in Ship Dynamics
Some ship dynamics are considered problematic due to an imbalance in the relationship. These imbalances could be power dynamics, size dynamics or communication issues.
References
- ^ "Fandom's new "ship dynamics" meme is all about our fave romantic tropes, Aja Romano, Vogue". Archived from the original on 2021-01-24.