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No, not ships as in boats, but ships as in 'relationships' which is a piece of terminology with which you'll be familiar if you've spent any time reading fan fiction, or if you are a follower of the cult of celebrity. There are probably quite a few people who aren't avid fanfic readers on this forum, which is why I'm posting this topic out here instead of in the The Mind Palace so it is more visible. If you aren't a fanfic reader or writer, you might not be aware that the quality of fanfic in general can vary greatly and some of it is absolutely dreadful, riddled with clichés and terribly out of character. Happily, I would say that the majority of fanfic based around Sherlock and related works (ACD universe, RDJ universe and others) seems to have escaped from the clutches of the rabid-in-a-bad-way element of fans and writers and on the whole is pretty darned good. Another thing of which a non-fanfic reading person would not be aware, is the relatively recent preponderance of 'ship' names. I say relatively recent as it's a phenomena that developed well after I first started reading and writing fanfic in the mid to late 90s and certainly didn't feature in any of my fandoms at that time. If you don't know, a ship name is a portmanteau name of 2 character names that are perceived to be in a relationship, usually romantic (though it doesn't have to be). There are loads (remember Brangelina? That sort of thing). The commonest in Sherlock are: Johnlock - John and Sherlock Mystrade - Mycroft and Lestrade Sherlstrade - Sherlock and Lestrade Johnstrade - John and Lestrade Mormor - Moriarty and Moran Molstrade - Molly Hooper and Lestrade So, and this is where I get to the whole point of the post, what do you lovely people think of the use of these names? I know there are many people who don't like the idea of male/male romantic pairings when it is something that is not in the original source material. That's fine (it's all fine), I am just interested in what you think of the use of the names, never mind what it might imply. Do you think it's cute, a way to feel like you're a member of a somewhat exclusive group or even just a handy shorthand reference? Are you really not bothered about the whole thing and wonder what the fuss is about? Do you not like it because you don't feel it is in keeping with the source material/characters? Do you think it's a horrible thing to impose on a bunch of characters with distinct and individual personalities, whether you believe they are in a relationship or not, because every person has a right to be known by their own individual name? Answers on a postcard, please, to... Well, actually, you could just add your thoughts to the topic or vote in the handy poll instead.

Okay, really, I don't know how much of the "extra curricular" stuff is canon. I do know that BBC set up websites to mimic John's blog and Sherlock's science of deduction. And Molly Hooper has a blog that ended when she broke up with Moriarty/Jim Brooks. Buuuuuuut..... there are Twitter accounts for the characters that seem like that also come from BBC... and on Molly's account there is a link to ask her questions. And she makes illusions that she is with a holistic detective named Dirk Gently and that they are expecting a baby. http://ask.fm/EmbraceChaos So seriously, I don't know if this is extended Sherlock canon or some other red herring. Opinions?