SHIP WARS: A Simple Guide for Fandom
Q: Should I harass or bully someone over who/what they ship?
Q: But they ship the wrong ship!
Q: Their ship will never be canon! Itâs so obvious to anyone reading/watching/playing.
A: I donât care. The answer is still no.
Q: My ship is canon, and they ship one of the couple with someone else! Itâs like cheating! How about now?
Q: The ship they ship is unhealthy/abusive/incestuous/icky. I should definitely harass them about that.
A: Itâs like youâre not even listening to me. No, no you should not.
Q: But if they ship this about fictional characters, they must support it in real life!
A: No, enjoying reading or writing about something is not the same as supporting it in real life. Agatha Christie is not a mass murderer, despite having fictionally killed over 100 people.
Q: Well, I guess itâs okay if the person shipping it is doing so to deal with abuse or trauma of their own. But only then! Everyone else is fair game.
A: And how, pray tell, do you plan to enforce this arbitrary rule? Â Youâre planning to compel people to show their victim bone fides to you, a complete stranger? So that you can pass judgement on whether their trauma was âreal enoughâ or if they are âvictim enoughâ to warrant shipping something you disapprove of? Not only is that absurd, itâs extremely offensive and damaging to the very people youâre purporting to help. You donât get to be the arbiter of someone elseâs life experiences, period. Some people use fandom as a coping mechanism, yes, and that is 100% their business. Some people ship unhealthy/abusive ships for completely benign reasons, up to and including âbecause they look pretty togetherâ and that is perfectly valid. You donât get a free pass to harass someone in the name of great justice here.
Q: Fuck you, Iâm going to harass someone anyway. I might even make a blog about it!
A: Well, youâre an asshole then. I hope you step on a lego.
