Canonical DST pairings ("ships")

[Spunney]

The Steam version of Don't Starve Together has 6 unlockable trading cards. Other than one of them that's just a picture of Maxwell, they all feature a pair of characters, seemingly making them into some sort of semi-canonical pair... or a "ship", if you wanna be like that XP

There's the classic Webber & Wendy, called "Silk and Petals", which makes sense because they've always been thought of as a pair and were the original child characters in the game. Also adorable x3

There's Wigfrid & Wes, called "Shouts and Silence", which makes sense because they're both stage performers, and the dichotomy of their voices is funny

There's Wilson & Willow, called "Matches and Theorems", which makes sense because they're the two faces of the game; the original characters and the ones most featured in promotional art and whatnot, often seen directly working together.

There's Wickerbottom & Wolfgang, called "Brains and Brawns", which makes sense because they're characters with opposing types of physique and gameplay, and "brains and brawn" is a common phrase.

And then there's WX-78 and... Woodie? Called "Twigs and Sprockets". This one never tracked for me as much as the others, and it's not a pairing I've ever really seen outside of this specific trading card. I guess I kinda understand a robot and a nature-person pairing? But gosh, it just feels so random, and I have a hard time imagining them getting along particularly well. I think WX-78 and Wormwood would've made a lot more sense, and I suppose that's probably what they would've done if Wormwood was a DST character at the time these trading cards were made. Maybe Winona is the more obvious one, being she's a mechanic.

[erick was right]

Totally agree this is such a fun detail to dive into — the DST trading cards are lowkey one of the most charming bits of game meta-lore, and I love that you broke them down this way!

Honestly, I’ve always loved how they feel like little character vignettes or “what-if” pairings that hint at deeper relationships or just thematic resonance between characters. “Silk and Petals” is iconic — Webber and Wendy being the spooky kids always made them feel like ghost story partners or nightmare-summoning siblings. “Shouts and Silence” is brilliant too — pure theater kid energy vs. the mime who says nothing but expresses everything.

And yeah, “Twigs and Sprockets” always felt like the most out-of-left-field one. Like… WX-78 and Woodie? Nature guy and angry machine? They’re literally at ideological odds lol. But maybe that was the point? The chaotic irony of pairing the most anti-organic character with the most pro-tree one? Or maybe it was a joke about them both being weirdly attached to objects — Lucy and upgrade modules xD

I definitely agree though: if Wormwood had existed at the time, he feels like a no-brainer for a robot/nature “odd couple” dynamic that works on a deeper level. But I love your Winona idea too! Mechanic + machine could’ve been a perfect utilitarian bond — she builds it, it judges her inefficient. Instant sitcom energy.

Honestly, I kinda want them to do a second wave of cards with the newer cast. Imagine:

• Walter & Wanda: “Time and Tales” or something

• Wurt & Wortox: “Trick and Tide” xD

• Charlie & Maxwell (obviously): “Shadows and Silence”

Anyway, thanks for reminding me how much thought Klei puts into even the tiny things like card art. It’s wild how much personality and potential lore they sneak into every corner of this game.

[DegenerateFurry]

The only canon Woodie ship is Woodie x Lucy. The Shadow Maul wishes it had him, but he's a loyal lumberjack.

[Brago-sama]

Wilson X Alchemy machine (it wont last)

[DegenerateFurry]

WX-78 x Celestial Champion. Just look at their quotes for CC, they clearly want to team up with it and be together.

[Cheggf]

Two children standing next to each-other doesn't mean they're dating and it's extremely weird for you to think that. 

[Swiyss]

Charlie and Maxy 

[Johnny_Waffles]

mermio and pigliet 

[FillerText]

I am pretty sure Klei took an asset from the singleplayer game. Maxwell here casts a shadow, and Maxwell can summon shadow puppets. Therefore he's cheating on Chairlie with his shadow puppets. 

[Szczuku]

Calling it now: Alter and Them are totally bitter exes

[reddocc]

the Gnaw is the neglected child, it is starving just look at it, poor misunderstood little thing, thus DST is actually the continuation of the gnaw arc where we meet the other child, the Heart, they both as siblings leave alter and them alone for good and no longer starve together.

Finally, don't starve together (forget Charlie).

[Spunney]

10 hours ago, Cheggf said:

Two children standing next to each-other doesn't mean they're dating and it's extremely weird for you to think that. 

...who are you talking to? Me? When did I talk about them dating? They're very commonly shown together in both canon promotional material and in fan works. They're a pair of good friends

[Spunney]

I went to go look at Woodie and WX-78's examine quotes with eachother, and they aren't very friendly. Well Woodie is kinda generically friendly to everyone because it's the Canadian joke. WX-78 is, inversely, kinda derogatory to everyone, but if anything it seems especially so with Woodie.

I checked all of the other trading card parings, but they were all largely unnotable (though Wigfrid complements Wes' makeup in one of them, which I think is cute) with the exception of Webber and Wendy who both had a lot to say about eachother, even outside of direct interaction; referring to eachother when examining random items and whatnot and clearly being friends

I also checked some of the shorts, but WX-78 doesn't even appear in many of them, and I actually can't find a single instance of them and Woodie even vaguely interacting in any sort of material, though I've not been super into the lore or anything so I wouldn't be surprised if there's a random comic or whatever that I'm unaware of. There IS a picture of WX-78 with Wormwood, from the Eye of the Storm banner, though! It's like Wormwood is trying to teach them about gardening, and WX-78 is just standing there timidly. It's cute! x3

 

Oh also, I didn't notice the trading cards had descriptions on them! They're pretty cool!

Wes and Wigfrid get "We'll let our fists do the talking!"

Wilson and Willow get "When we work together, we can't be stopped!"

Wolfgang and Wickerbottom get "Strength comes in many forms!"

WX-78 and Woodie get "We will bend this land to our will, together!"

The coolest one for me is Webber and Wendy's, which reads "We won't let death impede our journey!" because it further confirms something from the original game; that Webber was dead in the constant before another survivor found their skull and revived them.

[Cheggf]

6 hours ago, Spunney said:

...who are you talking to? Me? When did I talk about them dating? They're very commonly shown together in both canon promotional material and in fan works. They're a pair of good friends

Ship doesn't mean friends.

[Spunney]

10 minutes ago, Cheggf said:

Ship doesn't mean friends.

Okay...? No idea why you're trying to insinuate something weird or start a fight or whatever it is you're trying to do. Feels very Twitter-y and is making me uncomfortable.

[Cheggf]

1 minute ago, Spunney said:

Okay...? No idea why you're trying to insinuate something weird or start a fight or whatever it is you're trying to do. Feels very Twitter-y and is making me uncomfortable.

All I did was say it's weird to look at children and immediately think they're dating, which is what ship means. You're the one who's trying to start a fight. 

[Spunney]

3 minutes ago, Cheggf said:

All I did was say it's weird to look at children and immediately think they're dating, which is what ship means. You're the one who's trying to start a fight. 

This is a thread about the pairs of characters seen in the character cards, and the reason I made it was primarily just to talk about my confusion for why they chose WX-78 and Woodie since, to me, they don't synergize either lore-wise or gameplay-wise. I said literally nothing about any characters dating besides the opening line of the thread which said "...or "ships" if you wanna be like that" which was obviously a joke. I am not going to spend any more time defending myself from actual nonsense allegations, you are being extremely weird and this is not okay.

[FillerText]

1 hour ago, Spunney said:

There IS a picture of WX-78 with Wormwood, from the Eye of the Storm banner, though! It's like Wormwood is trying to teach them about gardening, and WX-78 is just standing there timidly. It's cute! x3

 

WX is just confused by the dark magic of planting crops not on farmplots. Also confused as to why it's impossible water it like farmplots.

[Cheggf]

7 minutes ago, Spunney said:

This is a thread about the pairs of characters seen in the character cards, and the reason I made it was primarily just to talk about my confusion for why they chose WX-78 and Woodie since, to me, they don't synergize either lore-wise or gameplay-wise. I said literally nothing about any characters dating besides the opening line of the thread which said "...or "ships" if you wanna be like that" which was obviously a joke. I am not going to spend any more time defending myself from actual nonsense allegations, you are being extremely weird and this is not okay.

You accuse me of trying to start fights but have made 3 comments responding to me that are nothing but hostile. The conversation could have been ended at my first comment with no reply.

[Spunney]

11 minutes ago, Cheggf said:

You accuse me of trying to start fights but have made 3 comments responding to me that are nothing but hostile. The conversation could have been ended at my first comment with no reply.

It turns out when you make veiled accusations to someone's face based off of intentional misreading of what they said, they actually might feel somewhat distressed about it. Especially when you then double-down on it after they try to explain themselves. You know exactly what you're doing, this is pretty gross behavior.

[GetNerfedOn]

 

1 hour ago, Spunney said:

Snip

Purely for the sake of clarification and not for instigation, i will vouch that "ship" is a term that is indeed strictly used in romantic context, hence this whole misunderstanding 

 

[Cheggf]

3 hours ago, Spunney said:

It turns out when you make veiled accusations to someone's face based off of intentional misreading of what they said, they actually might feel somewhat distressed about it. Especially when you then double-down on it after they try to explain themselves. You know exactly what you're doing, this is pretty gross behavior.

You literally made a thread about shipping and are now mad that people are interpreting your shipping thread as a shipping thread. I'm done responding, you're clearly just here to start fights. 

[MA7xGE]

kids these days

14 hours ago, Spunney said:

Oh also, I didn't notice the trading cards had descriptions on them! They're pretty cool!

I think these could be a way for deciphering the pairing of WX-78 and Woodie!

14 hours ago, Spunney said:

The coolest one for me is Webber and Wendy's, which reads "We won't let death impede our journey!" because it further confirms something from the original game; that Webber was dead in the constant before another survivor found their skull and revived them.

I think this coming out of Wendy's mouth is obvious too! 

Wes and Wigfrid get "We'll let our fists do the talking!"

I mean, Wes is mute and Wigfrid is a fighter. Perfect!

Wilson and Willow get "When we work together, we can't be stopped!"

The iconic OG-multiplayer duo. Fire to fight darkness, Bernie to fight Nightmares, and Wilson's inventions to fight the rest.

Wolfgang and Wickerbottom get "Strength comes in many forms!"

Mind and Muscles, a perfect duo.

 

Notice how all these are have a "we against the world" -theming? Now, to our final pair;

WX-78 and Woodie get "We will bend this land to our will, together!"

Woodie holds giant energy in his wereform(s), but is way too polite, caring and nature-oriented to harness the Constant. This quote doesn't fit his mouth, at all. Still, he used to be THE character for doing major terraforming.

WX on the other hand seems to be the most unstoppable by his temper and attitude. He has the will, Woodie has the might.

 

Or, just:

Cabincore forest dude is the polar opposite of a man turned robot, and OpPoSiTeS AtTrAcT

[aidankocherhans]

20 hours ago, Cheggf said:

You accuse me of trying to start fights but have made 3 comments responding to me that are nothing but hostile. The conversation could have been ended at my first comment with no reply.

Or, you know, you could have not made that first accusatory reply, obviously inviting "hostility". Even if they were shipping them, that's not inherently a bad thing, you're the one making it weird.