Rant #2 Regarding What People Can And Can Not Do In This Fandom
If you’ve followed me for a while you might know that a few months ago I adressed this particular issue so I want to present to you Rant 2#.
So there’s a post going around about the whole including Ray/excluding Jeremy thing and I have some things to say. I can’t seem to comment on the post or reply but I just can’t stay quiet, you know.
The basic gist of it is that it’s a push for more people to include Jeremy when including Ray, and the way it comes across, at least to me, is that it’s trying to say that people can’t include Ray anymore without Jeremy and I just - well, if you guys know me you KNOW i can’t say quiet about this.
While I agree with the whole idea about Jeremy being included over Ray, there's certain elements that I think need to be addressed.
In the original post the person states that ‘stuff including a ship with Ray and everyone except Jeremy’ is bad. If you ship AHOT6 circa 2012-2015 (early) then that should be okay. If you ship current AHOT6 with Jeremy instead of Ray, that should also be fine. Shipping, in my opinion at least, is a little different. It's not actually them, but more modified personas, and dictating whom a person can ship with another person isn't really in the nature of fandoms. You know? I'm not trying to sound like a bitch but the original AHOT6 and the current AHOT6 are different ships, and one person does make a different. For instance, I ship both because they do have different dynamics. Polyamory involves every person bringing something different to the table, and some people might not feel comfortable shipping Jeremy and Ray together, for instance. Ships are a completely different can of worms, and it's not very fair to say people shouldn't ship something they don't actually ship. I think as a fandom we have to acknowledge that they are completely different ships, and need to be separate in many people's eyes.
The original post also says that things with Ray and not Jeremy set in the past aren’t okay unless its a flashback or ect. - which also needs to be addressed because I know many, including myself, who do write it in the past with that intention in mind. I'm currently working on a canon divergence fic set in 2014 so I can write engaged Michael and Lindsay, as it fits with my timeline. And what about AU's? They're not on any timeline...
I don't want to sound like a bitch, I really don't - but I have to say something. I know that a lot of my followers and friends on here feel quite confronted by others telling them they HAVE to include Jeremy. They love Jeremy - absolutely adore him. One of my friends actually runs a fan club at her school for the cinnamon roll. And god everyone should try and include him where they can because that’s just a common courtesy thing. I just feel like we've reached the point where everyone SHOULD (I know there are people out there who don't but they're just assholes) know that Jeremy is part of the main six, but it should be okay to relive an earlier time for whatever reason. People might be fans of earlier content but not so much regarding the newer content, like me - and that has nothing to do regarding Jeremy but other factors, and they still want to contribute to the fandom that they are a fan of. It’s like fans of TV shows who haven’t reached the later seasons writing stuff for the earlier ones...
I'm sorry if I've upset anyone but I just...I'm getting quite frustrated with people trying to govern what people can and can't do because people see posts like these and get confused and feel like they'll be shunned in the fandom because they don't ship a particular ship, or aren't allowed to write about a time that may have made them really fucking happy.
That being said, if you're writing a fic and being an asshole and calling Jeremy out, calling him a replacement, and being just a dickhead - then that's a different story. Those people are toxic. You may not like a person but don't be a waste of space about it, you know? If anyone wants to talk to me about any of this, feel free to message me or add onto this post because if someone feels like they don't understand what I've said or disagrees with me, I'm more than happy to hear your side of the story and learn something. :)
Let's just try and be a happy family guys and not make people not feel comfortable in their own fandom.
