Star Wars Shippers: Why You Are Wrong About Cross-Tagging
WARNING: If the title already upsets you, then leave now because I don’t support your position. Why should I? No, I don’t support your complete absence of self-control when faced with an opposing view point. That’s ignorant and I don’t tolerate ignorance. No one should tolerate ignorance. So if you want to remain ignorant, leave.
This here is for grown folks. It’s for the people who can break free from that ignorance and not resort to immediate rage. It’s for the people that can talk and engage in civil, meaningful discussion. On the off chance you don’t agree with my opinion but are still reading anyway, I warned you. With that, I’d like to thank those kind enough to read and a special thanks to those kind enough to participate.
We want to communicate. That’s what Tumblr is for isn’t it? Whether it’s to express ourselves in our creative mind or spread an idea; we want to share our point of view with as many people as we can. So someone came up with a brilliant idea to make that happen - hashtags. If you don’t know what a hashtag is, here’s the operative definition according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Hashtag (noun): a word or phrase preceded by the symbol # that classifies or categorizes the accompanying text (such as a tweet)
Okay, are we clear on the definition here? Good. Where the fuck do you see the words internet community or safe space? Maybe I’m missing them or something because I don’t see them. Just to make it abundantly clear, this is how I understand it.
“A word or phrase preceded by the symbol #...” - your subject or whatever you want to speak about
“...that classifies the accompanying text” - your message about your subject.
So the word or phrase used in the hashtag is specific but the message that goes along with it can be anything. Here are some examples.
They are my sunshine in the rain when it’s pouring #reylo
#Finnrey is the best ship ever!
#Finnpoe is canon. Sorry I don’t make the rules.
I don’t understand why people like #finnrey. The ship is way too vanilla and p much lacks any real emotional investment for me.
Why do people ship #reylo when Kylo has only exacted abuse & harm on Rey and her friends?
So in theory, all of these should work, right? None of them are verbal abuses and they’re all just opinions? Nope. Actually, only 3 of these of opinions would be seen as acceptable. The last 2 statements shouldn’t happen because god-fucking-forbid your hashtag is infested with one (1) opposing viewpoint every now and then. You’ll rise from your hiatus wielding your fiery blade of Tumblr text and deliver swift justice to anyone who dare disagree with you. Oh no, this is a cardinal sin and it cannot go unpunished - the sin of cross-tagging.
Y’all act like hashtags are exclusively internet communities or safe spaces for your likes and interests but that’s just not fucking true - like 0% of that shit is true. You should be able to look at an opposing view point and engage with it. A hashtag doesn’t belong to you or a group of people, it belongs to everyone. If I have something to say about your hashtag then I just have something to say. Deal with that shit! I know you’re not too much of a child to listen to something you don’t agree with. How can you be fair or properly win an argument if you’re not willing to see all points of view? This goes for reylos, antis, and Star Wars shippers alike.
And I’m not naive. About 90% of the cross-tags are insults and trolling posts (a post on that is coming by the way). I’d be the first to let loose on those asswipes too but I’m not talking about those posts. I’m talking about the posts that actually aim to encourage a discussion between sides. Put on your adult shoes and realize they aren’t making an effort to harm you. Those people only want to talk with you. I mean we’re all Star Wars fans trying to sell #you are vision of what Star Wars should be like. We should all take comfort in that and enjoy this wonderful world together as both fans and friends. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
Thanks guys! I really appreciate if you read the whole thing through. If you skimmed I still love you. I’ve got another post on the way about name-calling in the Star Wars fandom. If you’re wondering why I am even doing this its because I saw this post that kind of pissed me off. I am an anti but I like to listen to everyone’s opinions. I don’t particularly think I can end the entire conflict with one post but I want to be the one to start those conversations with people. Hopefully, you’ll help me?