The Friday before spring break. English 9. Eighth period.
The assignment: come up with examples for various ideas expressed in Romeo & Juliet. Things like "Being an obedient, sheltered, and naive child," or "Love can be chaotic and dangerous".
They were allowed to work together. Some interesting conversations occurred. (These kinds of days are so much fun. I roam the room and just listen. I only pop in to the conversation if they're saying something that is factually wrong or if they need a referee for their debate.)
The last topic was "Unrequited love".
Adrian told Bruce to write "yumeshipping" on his paper. Adrian spelled it out. Bruce didn't like this idea. "What is that?" He pushed back. He figured it wasn't appropriate.
Me? I was curious. It sounded vaguely anime. I had a feeling it was probably on target.
Adrian searched it up. Definition: the practice of shipping yourself (or an original character that represents you) with a canon* fictional character. (And "shipping" refers to the desire by followers of a fandom for two or more individuals, either real-life people or fictional characters, to be in a relationship, in case you haven't heard the term before.)
So, uh, yeah, creating a "relationship" with a fictional character is probably the ultimate in unrequited love. Fictional characters definitely can't love you back.
I'd say Adrian understood the assignment.
I assured Bruce that yeah, that was an excellent example. There was some concern that Ms. B wouldn't like the example. I've met Ms. B, and while fairly strict (she teaches freshmen, after all), she's a reasonable individual. Personally, I think she'd be tickled that her students came up with an example she'd never heard of. (I assume she's not into this sort of thing, but I could be wrong.)
Adrian wrote it down. I didn't look that closely at Bruce's finished paper, so I don't know if he added it as well.
They'll start reading the play after the break (which it now is). Ah, Shakespeare.
Have you ever heard of yumeshipping before? (Or shipping? Or canon* characters?) Would you ever want to create art (drawings or fan fiction) of yourself with a fictional character? Who?
*Canon: Of the original or official story. A "canon character" is a character from some piece of other fiction, like Batman or Dracula or Colter Shaw from Tracker.
Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...
I haven’t heard of any of those terms, but I’m happy to have the vocabulary lessons.
ReplyDeleteI had a feeling these weren't terms you'd be familiar with.
DeleteAdrian is clever! I have never heard of yumeshipping or the other terms. And.... yes, I do enjoy creating drawings of myself, telling short stories of daily events in my journal. Nothing fictional.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but how about you *and a fictional character*? That's the big difference.
DeleteNo, hadn't heard of it before. I have heard of "shipping" and hate the term! Also, that would have been unheard of and embarrassing back when I was in school! You might say to a friend that they and so and so would make a cute couple, but you wouldn't make a thing of it! In the words of the "kids" today, cringy to me.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, shipping is obnoxious, especially when you take two names and turn them into one. Agreed.
DeleteI’m really not familiar with the terms, but I think I understand
ReplyDeleteIt’s a wonderful play, one of my favorites
It's probably wasted on freshmen.
DeleteI've heard "shipping". I like that he was actually thinking and came up with a great idea.
ReplyDeleteExactly. It's great when they actually do find good examples, especially ones that we might never have heard of before.
DeleteThat's a new one for me. But I have heard 'shipping' used in that context.
ReplyDeleteYeah, shipping has been around for a bit. Not everyone pays attention to that sort of thing, but it's more likely to be more widespread.
DeleteI have heard of ‘shipping, but in the context of writing fan fiction where you create a romantic relationship between two characters. I like the idea of putting myself in the story, though I don’t find “yumeshipping” to be a great term. What about “selfshipping?”
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting us know what shipping is.
ReplyDeleteThat was interesting that he put that together.
I knew about "shipping" in this sense, but not "yumeshipping." Is it pronounced "you me shipping"? or "yume-shipping"? @samanthabwriter from
ReplyDeleteBalancing Act
I love your knitting.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteThat's a new one on me! Adrian sounds like a smart kid.
ReplyDeleteThat age group has its own language. My son and his wife wrote a family dictionary with the help of their 16-year-old daughter, and each word or phrase comes with its own gestures.
ReplyDeleteI learned the term 'shipping' from British fans of a band called Palaye Royale. Those who didn't know the three primary members are brothers imagined them entangled romantically. Creepy, right? I must say that the student was spot on. Be well!
ReplyDeleteThat is creepy. Clearly some people weren't paying close enough attention.
DeleteYes, I know what shipping is. And canon.
ReplyDeleteWhat happens if the message isn't delivered? There's a Romeo and Juliet under-explored concept.
How long should outdated family/area prejudices be allowed to dictate how society is run? Another Romeo and Juliet idea that needs more discussion. Because... well... maybe if some Capulets weren't hellbent on hating the Montagues so much, the entire economy of the world wouldn't be at risk. But sure, it's just a romance play. 🫢
"Starting strong is good. Finishing strong is epic." — Robin Sharma
J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) @JLenniDorner ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge international blog hop
I learnt quite a few new things here like anime and canon characters.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I heard of "canon" was not terribly long ago. Just a couple years, really. It's a whole world of terms.
DeleteHi Liz - I certainly hadn't heard of it ... but live and learn as I do through blogs - good for him and then ... who knows! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteI was today years old when I learned a new word. Well done!
ReplyDeletei've never heard that word before, but i do know what 'shipping' is an 'canon'. I used to write fanfiction, but it was always between two fictional characters, not two real life, or one real life and one ficitonal... it was usually outside of canon though, if i thought a character needed more substance. that's probably enough about me and my extracurricular activities.
ReplyDeleteWell, yeah, yumeshipping would be totally out of canon. And I'm so glad you can actually parse that sentence to make it make sense. As soon as I started writing this post, I realized that not all my readers would be familiar with anime or shipping or canon.
DeleteJamie here: I never heard "Shipping" used this way until now.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember when I first heard it, but it wasn't that long ago (within the last couple years), and they did explain what it meant, which helped.
Delete