#examples of self-inserts I have that don’t interact with any of my F/Os (romantic or otherwise) include jet (pokémon) and amber (skyrim)

[void-kissed]

This post is okay for anyone to reblog as long as my DNI is respected! You’re welcome to elaborate in tags or replies if you’d like to~

[tiny-cloud-of-flowers]

If you don't mind me asking, but which f/os of yours are participating in F/ovember?

@askthelovenest

Hello, @askthelovenest! Of course I don’t mind you asking; thank you for taking the time to send this!

At the moment, I haven’t put any restrictions in place for which F/Os of mine are participating. This includes my platonic and familial F/Os, as well as romantic ones! Full lists of these different F/Os can be found on my selfship carrd, which should hopefully be linked on my pinned post - I definitely have a better grasp of some of their voices than others, but I will try my best with whoever is asked for regardless~

I’m aware that I have quite a few F/Os, and I also have multiple self-inserts for a lot of series, but usually each F/O only interacts with one of those self-inserts (though there are some exceptions - for example, both Sapphire and Calanthe appear in XC2, and are in the party together). I do have a specific carrd for my self-inserts, where each one’s page lists which F/Os she is associated with, if that helps! Alternatively, if you aren’t sure, you can also just say “your self-insert” or “(self-insert name)” to refer to me in an ask, if it’s easier ^-^

I hope that this is alright! Thank you again for your question - if you have any more, please know that you’re always welcome to ask me!

[moved-to-void-kissed]

Okay, hmm, question.

I was thinking of maybe trying to make my character tags more clear, specifically for making it more obvious which names are for my F/Os (and what kinds of F/Os those characters are), and which ones are my self-inserts. Is this something that people would want and/or think is a good idea?

The way I was thinking of doing this is appending the information to the start of the name in the tag. To use my selfship with Luna as an example (plus some others),

“dark dreamer (luna)” would become “dark dreamer (romantic F/O: luna)”,

“void-kissed (luna/adriana)” would become “void-kissed (selfship: luna/adriana)”,

and “soul-touched (adriana)” would become “soul-touched (self-insert: adriana)”. 

Similarly, I’d also change the non-romantic F/O tags to be things like “the dad from down under (familial F/O: vandham)”,

and maybe also make it clearer who my series tags pertain to, like using “friends from alrest (XC2)” or something like that. Though, not many of my series tags work particularly well when abbreviated, so I might not do that.

I realise that this can very easily mean I end up with very long and convoluted tags - my selfship tag with Camellia comes to mind because of me giving Telanthera such a ridiculous(ly long) name - but I just figured it could help make things clearer and whatnot.

The main problem/thing holding me back from doing this is fandom interactions, since as you may know I follow tags and some blogs relating to many of my favourite series and characters (and anything I reblog from a blog I don’t follow, I tag as “something I found by following tags”). I really like being able to do this, especially since it tends to show me very recently-uploaded posts so I can help them gain some initial traction, but.. I can’t deny I would be worried about what non-selfshippers would think of me because of that. To a fandom blog seeing me in the notes, I probably just look like another fandom blog at first glance unless they actually look closely, and I kind of like that about me. So.. I’m not sure.

Does anyone have any comments or advice?

[keezree]

So, I have a question I was going to ask on your shipping blog (Since it is related to self-shipping and all), but anons are off there and I'm too shy to come off anon.. I was wondering.. Is there anything... Special I have to do, with self shipping? I'm *only* romantically attracted to fictional characters, and I definitely want to get into the self shipping community, but I'm not sure how to. Apologies if any of this was offensive in any way!

No gosh! I totally understand dear anon!

Its scary when starting off. There's lots and lots of things you can do!

Daydreaming is probably the first choice of most self shippers.

Some people write how they met their F/Os.

If youre looking to get more into the community, you could totally make a self shipping blog! To be honest, this is my first time being so open about a character! Iive never had a shipping blog before.

You could make a playlist of songs that remind you of your F/O. Or you could schedule dates with your F/O and even plan outfits (you should totally wear it too! Just to make it feel extra special!)

If you wanted, if your F/O is a gift giving type, buy yourself something from them!

There's no real set of rules as to what you need to do to self ship. Basically grab the character you love and say "I'm dating you now!"

Theres lots of imagines and prompts for writing and backstory in the F/O community.

You could use those as an example of what to daydream about for ideas.

Sometimes artists draw stuff for eachother or leave messages to eachother as an F/O or people ask eachother head canons about how your relationship goes.

My suggestion for starting out self shipping is write your story of how you met! It's like a self insert fanfic!

Dont be nervous anon! Id love to be your friend! Theres no wrong answers or questions and Id love to help you get comfortable within the community!

Everyone is super welcoming and no one judges anyone for any character they like.

Some people dont like to share F/Os so they might not interact if they have the same F/O as you while others like to share and gush about the character to eachother!

Its fun trading head canons and coming up with fun ideas and scenarios.

If you're comfortable, message me! I promise i don't bite and i really want to help you with your F/O!

Maybe ill even draw you a picture or send you a message from your F/O as a welcome!

Youre wonderful and amazing anon and your F/O totally loves you and thinks you are super cute!

[mic-and-cheese]

1-14 for the self ship asks? ~your-local-kogane

1. When did you start self shipping and why?I started officially self shipping when I was around... 12 or 13? I started because I've always fallen in love with fictional characters regardless if I wanted to or not, and I just decided to imbrace it!2. How long have you been self shipping?About 7 or 8 years, officially, but I can also pinpoint "crushes" back from around 14 years ago, when I didn't quite understand what crushes were at the time.3. Why do you self ship now?Like I said earlier, because can't help falling for fictional characters, so I imbrace it. Though in more recent years when I became (more) aware of my asexuality and aromanticism, it's a way for me to feel sexual and romantic attraction in a way I can control and without pursuing it in real life.4. Which of your self insert characters is the most developed?Difficult question. I feel that all of my self inserts are the most developed in different areas. For example, Kannon is my most emotionally developed character, as their story centers a lot on their morality, whereas Akiko most closely resembles my actual self, so I have a lot of info on her that I only really have because she's so closely based off me, but I've also poured so much time, effort, and dedication into Royale over the years. (Royale being my fursona who doesn't really appear here often because she's no longer shipped with a canon character, but she's still a self insert)5. Are your self insert characters 100% you or are they an exaggerated version of yourself/leaning toward an OC?I like to answer this point by saying my self inserts are me, but I'm not my self inserts, in that they are based on me, but are exaggerations of myself, and they also have life experiences that make them fundimentally different people from me, outside of their base personality.6. If your self inserts are closer to OCs what are some similarities they have with you? What are some differences?I'd consider Akiko and Kannon closer to ocs (though Kannon is a bit more flexible). They both have the same base personality  (aka mine) but Akiko is a lot more cynical and Kannon is uh... very easily swayed, morally speaking, because plot devices but it doesn't have to make perfect sense because the end goal is just trying to smooch an evil nerd, just to name the major differences7. Do you have a ‘type’ when it comes to f/os?I've gone through a few different types, most prominently blond nerds and evil redheads, or just any combination of evil and/or nerdy charactersChances are they also probably have a highly improbable hairstyle too8. Your top 3 OTPs among your own selfships?Uhhh I only have two, so Kandrome and Terukiko?9. Your top 5 OTPs among others in the community?Uhhhh I don't really feel comfortable with that question for some reason so im gonna skip it10. Has a roleplay blog for one of your f/os every interacted with you?Nah that just feels... super weird to me11. Are you an artist or a writer in the community? Or do you do something else entirely?Artist12. Name a few of your favorite things about self shipping.Idk, it's fun? I just really love getting immersed in the world of my f/o's since it allows me to be dedicated enough to make some pretty obscure theories and observations about my f/o and their world.13. Talk about a positive experience you’ve had with the community.Nothing in particular really stands out but I just love how welcome I feel in the community.14. Finally, talk about a few of your favorite self shippers!! (Honestly, talk about as many as you would like!)Uhhh I don't have the energy to write anything, but some of my favorites are@lunarpanda@duckabra@thebeshimifangirlThough I have a lot more, but those are just the ones i think of off the top of my head