fictional_fans | I ship it, but not like that

Is there a term for shipping two people platonically? So often I think to myself that I "ship" two people who I definitely just see as friends. Just say you like their friendship? I know Ao3 will sometimes have tags like Best Buds XYZ or XYZ Are Besties...

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From:

swamp_adder

It's not commonly used (yet!) but I like the term "genshipping" for this.

From:

author_by_night

Oh, I like that.

From:

lokifan

That's a great one, I'm gonna adopt that!

From:

senmut

Are you going for queer-platonic? Where they are otherwise fulfilling all the roles normally handled emotionally and socially as a "couple", but they're not actually romantic/sexual about each other?

From:

author_by_night

Possibly, but not necessarily. Really just any two friends whose dynamic I like a lot, though I can see some heading into a queerplatonic space...

Edited Date: 2023-04-29 10:29 pm (UTC)

From:

senmut

AHH! Got it.

FriendShipping is something I see, but it's one of those where some people mean friends with bennies and others just mean friends that are ride-or-die.

From:

author_by_night

Yeah, it's tricky.

I do have a question about queerplatonic, though, does the term apply only to queer characters? Or can it apply to, say, two cishet people who behave liked a couple? I actually wrote such a pairing, where they were co-parenting a grandchild and in many ways were a couple in every sense, except for living together or being romantic/sexual.

From:

senmut

CisHet are actually the ones I was thinking of! It could apply to otherwise queer people, but I started running into it for characters that live together, share their lives, and have no interest about their friend at a sexual or romantic level!

From:

sideways

I think it's less about the sexualities of those involved and more about there being an equivalent level of commitment in the relationship despite the people not being sexually / romantically involved with each other. It's not accepted that one day one person might get married and that marriage will automatically take precedence as the Primary Relationship because this is the Primary Relationship; they are not best friends who might naturally drift apart as life directions change because they couldn't untangle their lives from one another without an upheaval equivalent to a break-up. Trying to put any other qualifiers around queerplatonic would probably get too boxy.

So yes! Possibly the co-parents would qualify. Though I feel like it would depend on whether there's any connection between them or whether the commitment is solely to the mutual grandchild; if the latter it feels like it maybe wouldn't be queerplatonic in the same way that divorced parents sharing custody of a child aren't In A Relationship.

From:

cahn

I don't know, but I do this all the time too! Like, Those Two People Belong Together, but I don't ship them romantically!

From:

sabotabby

Friendshipping?

From:

jellyfishlover

I've seen Friendshipping and BroTP used for this before!

From:

lilly_c

I tend to go with genshipping or friendshipping because one of my main ships fits in to the "I ship the frienship and nothing else" and I can't quite see a romantic/sexual element to it.

From:

mommy

BroTP was what I saw used around fifteen years ago. It seems to have gone out of style, though.

From:

lemonsharks

I wish brotp hadn’t faded into obscurity, because at the time it was useful in what it did and obvious in what it was.

From:

queenbookwench

I feel like BroTP is still a thing? Maybe I’m just out touch…

From:

rogueslayer452

It still is a thing. I've seen it all over the place on Tumblr (along with OTP, NOTP, OT3, etc), so it hasn't faded into obscurity. It's probably not widely used since fandom is scattered, but I've seen "BROTP" being used quite often still.

From:

author_by_night

It also seems to refer to male friendships, but I suppose it doesn't have to be male characters specifically.

From:

rogueslayer452

I've only ever seen it being used in a gender neutral sense.

From:

lokifan

Same!

From:

beradan

I feel like I still see BroTP a lot, but no one's ever accused me of being hip with the kids /shrug

Bring it back! Authentic vintage fandom terms!

From:

primeideal

In the "relationships" field on Ao3 (as opposed to the freeforms, which I think is what you're talking about), people will sometimes use A&B as a tag instead of A/B. Ampersand is platonic, / is romantic-sexual. It's not a convention I do, but sometimes you'll see it!

From:

yourlibrarian

I don't know as I've seen people talking about it enough to know if there's a dominant term. But I know what you mean as very often what I want to read in a fandom is friendship fic between certain people rather than romantic ships.

This is particularly the case because romantic stories tend to follow certain storylines whereas friends fic could be anything.

From:

author_by_night

But I know what you mean as very often what I want to read in a fandom is friendship fic between certain people rather than romantic ships.

I get that completely! I love reading about friendships. Honestly, even when I read/write romance, it's generally fics where the couple is dealing with external forces, as it were, rather than just enjoying a candlelight dinner or writing explicit scenes between them. Though I have written a few romantic drabbles. I'm not a romantic person, though...

(

Edited Date: 2023-04-30 01:11 pm (UTC)

From:

lemonsharks

Ao3 takes the & relationship tag: A&B. Otherwise it was brotp back in the day (10-12 years ago)

From:

silveradept

Sometimes I've heard it as platonic shipping, you may already have the thing you're looking for.

From:

himejoshiheart

brotp! as well, mcyt fandoms often have the genship names end with -duo/-boys (clingyduo, primeboys/discduo, crimeboys, etc).
I myself call my own brotp "duskduo" :3

From:

schneefink

I haven't been in MCYT fandom that long, but my impression is that while it's more common for -duo/-boys terms to be gen ships, the distinction isn't always that clear.

Who are duskduo?

From:

himejoshiheart

1. huh.

2. not a mcyt duo. specifically duskie!oersted & sundown from live a live!

From:

onlysmallwings

Aww, I miss BroTP.
Also "relationship status: in cahoots with" is amusing if not necessarily what you're looking for.

From:

china_shop

Also "relationship status: in cahoots with" is amusing if not necessarily what you're looking for.

Hee! ♥

From:

rogueslayer452

"BROTP" is still very much a term that is used in fannish spaces, at least the places that I frequent anyway. I love it because I think it's the best, simplest way of saying you like certain characters together in a strictly platonic sense. Plus, it goes along with the other terms used in fandom (ex: OTP, NOTP, OT3).

From:

starship_trooper

Interesting. thought it was like, friends-to-lovers ships. It struck me that way in the old days of the Homestuck fandom!

From:

the_bi_ballerina

Oh, I'm glad to have read the comments on this one. I desperately need this term. As someone who gravitates towards gen stories and gen fandom spaces, I like the term genshipping because I think it pretty clearly comes across as a fandom action analogous to shipping.

Alright, let's give it a try:
'Steve and Claudia are my favorite Warehouse 13 genship.'
…Yeah, I like it. 😆

From:

vivarocksteady

I've heard genship and BroTP before, but not for a long time. I wish there was a universally accepted name for this, because when I have characters that I love as besties, fics about them are great. The ampersand (&) filter in AO3 can help find those fics, though obviously not every ampersand relationship is a friendship.

There's nothing better than when best friends have to have REAL TALK >.

Edited Date: 2023-04-30 02:34 pm (UTC)