Vox looks at a fan conspiracy shipping two members of One Direction: “Most, but not all, ships concern fictional characters, and in many parts of fandom there’s an understanding that if you’re shipping real people, you’re only shipping the idea of them being in a relationship. Often, however, a ship that’s built on the idea of real people getting together quickly spawns a subgroup of truthers who firmly believe the couple has already gotten together — that the idealized relationship is being conducted in secret in their real private lives.”