Overview
Coupling is the act of creating relationships, close friendships and romance between characters. In overseas fan communities, it is often referred to as "pairing" or "shipping", but in this article we follow the domestic practice in Japan. Such artwork is actively being created in pixiv. In East Asian regions, the term 'CP' is a popular abbreviation for Coupling.
It includes both heterosexual and homosexual (BL and Yuri). There is also a lot of fan activity in which two characters who are not romantically involved in the original work are made into a couple in the imagination (coupling in derivative works).
Notation of couplings, Coupling tags
Two characters in a close relationship are described as '(Character A) x (Character B)'.
There are several types of works, classified mainly according to gender and the nature of their derivative creation:
- Heterosexual (NL / HL)
- Homosexual (Yuri or BL)
- Slash
