You must be new, Anon. Why do I come off so toxic to shippers, you ask? Pull up a chair, grab a drink, and make yourself comfy, this may take awhile.
But first of all, let me clarify for the millionth time: I have NOTHING against regular SamCait shippers. I’m fine with fans who wished Sam and Cait had gotten together in real life, but know that’s not the case, and are respectful of Cait and Tony and of Sam and any woman he dates. No problem with those shippers. The kind of shippers, I, and the rest of the fandom, have a problem with are Extreme Shippers. Extreme Shippers who cannot accept the REALITY that Sam and Cait are not together in real life, and now Cait is married to Tony McGill, and bully and attack anyone who says anything to sink their faux SamCait ship.
Back to enumerating why I have such disdain for ES…here goes, stream of consciousness like…
When I joined the Outlander fandom in 2014, I was a SamCait shipper. Then, because I live in Los Angeles, and used to work in the industry, and have connections, I was contacted by different sources…credible and identifiable sources who gave me information that PROVED Sam and Cait were not a couple in real life. Because of WHO these sources were, I knew the info was true…and I knew this was a huge “get,” so I posted it publicly. Once I did that, Extreme Shippers began to attack me en masse and relentlessly. I’ve never seen anything like it. A lesser woman would have run for the hills. But I’m a strong b*tch and I stood up to them. So, ES decided to make my life hell, and literally attacked me on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr EVERY DAY, ALL DAY, for YEARS. I’m not joking. The attacks were constant. And by attacks, I mean calling me a “b*tch,” a “c*nt,” “worse than AIDS,” telling me I should die, “die, b*tch,” telling me that they were going to set up a gang rape, telling me to have a house dropped on me, creating account after account on different social media for the SOLE purpose of bullying me, attacking all my friends, bullying my followers on Twitter to the point that many had to lock up their accounts or leave social media altogether, finding people they thought were me in real life and making THEIR lives hell, to the point that employers were contacted, family, friends, Tweeting Diana Gabaldon, and all the cast and crew, tagging them telling them horrible things about me, creating a hashtag campaign #takebackourfandom and then emailing and writing letters to Sony and Starz executives telling them what a horrible person I was, and most recently creating a GoFundMe account to raise money to have me “investigated,” my real identity found so that they could presumably intimidate me into leaving the fandom.
Because practically EVERYTHING I said sources told me came true, and because so much time has passed, and because now there are many more people who won’t stand for Extreme Shippers’ bad behavior, and because they realize I’m here to stay, the attacks on me are less, but they still go on. I don’t visit Extreme Shippers’ blogs or accounts anymore, and haven’t in a long time, but I get DM’s from friends daily and I’m told “Purv” is still on ES’ tongues. They will never let me go. Because they need a villain, a scapegoat, someone to project all their anger onto about HAVING BEEN WRONG. I accept that. And I’m here for the duration.
The fact that their disgusting behavior is all over a goddamn TV show and a TV couple would be laughable if it weren’t so pathetic. They have no limits and are capable of anything. Scary doesn’t begin to cover it. Luckily, I don’t scare easily. I took the brunt of their rabid lunacy because I was the first to sink the SamCait ship, and because I didn’t cower down to them, but they have attacked, bullied, and doxed literally EVERYONE who said anything that showed that Sam and Cait aren’t together in real life. No one escaped their wrath. Not Sam or Cait, or Cait’s husband, Tony, or Sam’s girlfriends and their families and friends, or any woman in Sam’s vicinity, for that matter, or the rest of the Outlander cast, or the Outlander crew, or journalists, other fans, not even Diana Gabaldon herself was spared.
This is just a quick summary of Extreme Shippers’ BAD behavior–the tip of the iceberg. There is much, much more, but I don’t have the time, energy, or inclination right now to get into it further. I’m assuming the above is enough.
So, Anon, it’s not that I’m toxic to shippers for no reason, it’s that Extreme Shippers have been SO toxic to me, and to many others, that my response to them is commensurate.
Okay, now I’m the one who needs a drink. *big long sigh* Cheers!