How do you ship?

[Selwyn Thorfinn]

Once more, my curiosity is piqued.

1. Do you like to plan your ships or just let them happen naturally? 
   
2. Would you create a character to ship with someone else's? 
   
3. If you do that, do you deliberately make them "perfect" for the other character?
   
4. When are you obliged to tell the other player OOC that you want to ship your character with theirs?  As soon as you have the idea, when things start getting interesting, never?
   
5. Do you feel like you need to specify the sexuality of your characters?
   
6. What do you do if a character who isn't your character's type tries to come on to them?
   
7. Do you ship characters whose relationship is clearly not going to last?
   
8. This site is PG-13, so how do you deal?
   
9. Anything else you want to add?
   

[Benjamin Morgan]

1. I usually let them happen naturally.
2. Depends on the character and personality.
3. No, because in life nothing's perfect
4. Well I'd run it by them first in pm. Second question I don't quite understand.
5. Depends on the situation at the time.
6. Politely rebuff them
7. I try not to but things do happen
8. I try to make sure it's within the rules. Then do a fade to black or time lapse.

[Athena Abercrombie]

1.All my characters happened naturally but Calvin, but he was made for Kayla's  character Riyan for plotting reasons
2. Depends really,  but usually no
3.  No, just because our characters aren't real, doesn't mean we shouldn't make them have flaws like we do in RL
4. I ask them if they do, sometimes I just joke around  but if serious I PM.  I do plot sometimes to make things interesting.
5. Depends on the situation, but usually no
6. Politely tell them your not interested, but can be friends
7. Try not to, but sometimes you can't avoid it
8. Stay within the rules,  if it leads to anything more then the rules state, then fade to darkness and post the next day.

[Augusta Trelawney]

1. I let it happen naturally.
2. I do this only when I'm asked to do so because of some reason.
3.No, none of my characters are made that way, I try to make each of them 'stand alone' (does that make sense?).
4. I mostly PM them when that happens, usually because I have an idea.
5. No.
6. Depends on a character, every character would react differently in that situation.
7. Yes, sometimes, not every relationship is going to last, however that doesn't mean they weren't adorable while they lasted.
8. I follow the rules and do the morning after post, usually.

[Johnathan Ashwood]

I SKIPP THE NAUGHTY STUFF!

1. i do a little bit of both
2. i have but not always
3. depends on what the other person wants.
4. when the plots take a route that would be good for both characters to partake in the plot.
5. depends on the character.
6.depends on the character
7.yes yes i do.
8. look up!
9. BABBIES!

[Beatris Greyback]

1. Depends on the person with whom I'm posting. With some people, the action can go on its own and be of interest to continue, but with some, if not all plan, simple thread is too boring

2. Depends on the second

3. I don't like perfect characters. My goal from them is always to be as realistic as possible, nobody is perfect

4. Usually if I have some idea of contacting the pm

5. No

6. Politely to say that they should be just friends

7. Yes

8. respect the rules, write day after: P

[Selwyn Thorfinn]

I guess I should answer my own questions, huh?

Do you like to plan your ships or just let them happen naturally?
Uh, both?  I plan in my head but then the characters just do what they want so it usually doesn't turn out that way...

Would you create a character to ship with someone else's?
LOL, no that would never work with the way my characters are.

If you do that, do you deliberately make them "perfect" for the other character?
IF I did that, I would probably go the other way and deliberately make them everything the other character hates, because I'm horrible like that.

When are you obliged to tell the other player OOC that you want to ship your character with theirs?  As soon as you have the idea, when things start getting interesting, never?
Depends on the situation.  Because of the way I write, I don't usually need to tell people OOC.  My characters make what they want pretty obvious.

Do you feel like you need to specify the sexuality of your characters?
I don't feel the need to.  But I'll specify the sexuality of my character if the character identifies that way.  Like, Selwyn didn't identify as bisexual when he was a student.

What do you do if a character who isn't your character's type tries to come on to them?
It would depend which character it was and what the situation was.  In most situations, Shylock would gently turn the person down, but if he was in a bad mood, he might insult them.

Do you ship characters whose relationship is clearly not going to last?
YES.  So hard.  

This site is PG-13, so how do you deal?
Being explicit doesn't bother me, because I wouldn't want to write it anyway (except for one very specific case, which is for character development reasons).  I worry more about breaking the rating through "mature themes" than by writing about actual sex.

[Vanessa Wendorf]

1. Do you like to plan your ships or just let them happen naturally?  I tend to let them happen naturally but sometimes I'll plan them out.
   
2. Would you create a character to ship with someone else's? Maybe depends on the character and plot involved.
   
3. If you do that, do you deliberately make them "perfect" for the other character? No, no one in this life is perfect. People are better when they have a quirk or something along those lines.
   
4. When are you obliged to tell the other player OOC that you want to ship your character with theirs?  As soon as you have the idea, when things start getting interesting, never? Well I like to get to know the person's character first before I think about a ship with theirs. To see if it would be a good or interesting match between them.
   
5. Do you feel like you need to specify the sexuality of your characters? No it's usually pretty obvious when they start flirting with someone they like.
   
6. What do you do if a character who isn't your character's type tries to come on to them? Let them down gently.
   
7. Do you ship characters whose relationship is clearly not going to last? Well I really know if a relationship is gonna last between the characters. When it does end though there's always reason behind it.
   
8. This site is PG-13, so how do you deal? Just like anything else. Make sure that I don't cross any lines and make sure that I know to use Fade out or next day when needed.
   
9. Anything else you want to add?
   

[Everly Bardugo]

1. It really depends. If there is an arc that comes to mind really quickly and I know that it wouldn't be OOC for my characters, I'd consider it. But sometimes those go awry (#SelwynAndAddieTho)  

2. I've never technically created a character to fit someone, but in the process of making Oliver he sort of became intended for a character that was dropped and then replaced with Alice. so... Maybe? Not on purpose, though.

3. I wouldn't be able to, no. Because my characters have to be real to the point where even I might hate them. So, for example, with Oliver. He had the problem of being utterly incapable of hiding his feelings for Alice. Which, actually, came about on accident but I really loved how upset it made him and how uncomfortable it made Alice. Sometimes it's more interesting to have characters have massive issues. Like Keiran and Millie and their huge personality differences.

4. To be honest, I'm not sure I can remember ever doing this. I made Avery, for example, with the intention of causing issues for Robin but then the whole marriage law thing happened and it just worked out. Same with Killie. I don't know if it sounds rude, but I've had more people asking me than the other way around. A lot of the time, I'll talk plot with someone and one of us will mention that the other character will "definitely have feelings for" the other. And that's sort of how it starts, even if it's doomed to fail.

5. I tend to, but not in technical terms. If that makes sense. Jane, for example, is very pointedly open to anything, even in her app. Keiran, on the other hand, has a whole backstory about how very much he personally is not okay with being interested in guys. Equally, some of my characters have problems with characters who are not the same as they are, and they obviously don't share my opinion on the matter. I think it's easier to explain it because I'm not bothered by it either way, so I'm pretty comfortable with looking at it from all sides.

6. I only worry about this IC. If I know a character won't be putting up with someone, I warn the writer in advance but I never reject a potential ship. I'll always put in at least one thread, because characters have the tendency to surprise me on here.

7. All the freaking time. I actually almost enjoy shipping ones that won't last more than those that will. Because then you have the potential for angry/awkward/etc Ex moments, and then there's the start, middle and end to the relationship. Completing arcs makes me very happy.

8. Before PA, I never thought I'd be fussed about the rating. I'm super prudish in real life, but it's easier on a site where you're more anonymous to consider testing the waters, I suppose. At any rate, there's a whole lot of ways to cover what you really mean using words. Kind of fascinating, actually. And lots of fade-y fades. lol

9. I'm sorry I wrote so much.

[Hallie Cooper]

1. Do you like to plan your ships or just let them happen naturally?
It honestly depends. All the ships I've been engaged in have been through the marriage law and so it was sort of forced upon the characters, which I found fun. I find it hard to develop them naturally because whenever I've had (usually) Hallie flirting or getting to know someone it rarely extends beyond that thread.

2. Would you create a character to ship with someone else's?
I've only done that once that I can think of.

3. If you do that, do you deliberately make them "perfect" for the other character?
No, because, is anyone ever perfect for anyone?

4. When are you obliged to tell the other player OOC that you want to ship your character with theirs? As soon as you have the idea, when things start getting interesting, never?
I'm always scared of approaching people about ships, simply because I don't want to seem like I'm thrusting it upon them. In all honesty though I don't tend to think of romantic plots. They're usually already established.

5. Do you feel like you need to specify the sexuality of your characters?
Nope. I think it can be obvious for some of my characters. Hallie and Pansy are clearly into men. I have had characters in the past which I've pondered about their sexuality, particularly those that were less engaged in their sexuality, such as Bertie.. It made me question what his sexuality would be, although I never explicitly referenced it or not.

6. What do you do if a character who isn't your character's type tries to come on to them?
Try and steer the thread in a different direction hahaha

7. Do you ship characters whose relationship is clearly not going to last?
I have sort of only done that once as a fling and it was when Hallie was a student, but I think that's part of life. Characters aren't going to fall in love and have it last forever and this is something that I keep in mind. Ultimately when Hallie and Theodore were placed together they were not quite polar opposities but they weren't people they would usually go for and I really wanted to explore the possibility of Hallie being with someone not conventionally her type and I think maybe in the back of my mind it wouldn't work out, but I truly believed that they would get through whatever was thrown their way. I don't usually think about the end-game for my characters, at least romantically, I like to take things as they come.

8. This site is PG-13, so how do you deal?
There have been occasions where characters have sexually engaged, although not explicitly the most is usually kiss and then I kind of dot dot dot...
Although I have touched on affairs and people finding people in other peoples beds *cough*PANSY*cough*, but that has not been a huge focus, it's more how other characters react and what follows that helps drive the threads rather than anything sexual, simply because this isn't a roleplay site for XXX.

9. Anything else you want to add?
You've made me want to ship a character now.