New Essay!
Hey guys! Thanks to Roxie's great essay topic suggestions, I came up with a new essay in no time!! Before you all get to it, I just want to say that it's never my intention to offend anyone so if anyone does get offended, let me apologize in advance. I really try hard to respect other people's thoughts and opinions.
Okay, without any further ado....
The Fandom
I actually stayed away from the QaF fandom for as long as I could until I finally gave in. One of my closest friends was into it way before I was and she'd always warn me about it. Of course, at the time, I had NO idea what she was trying to protect me from! lol. So until recently, I've never been involved in the fandom (other than posting stories at Always...) but I've still been around. I've kept up with a lot of the QaF communities on Livejournal, especially the B/M related ones. From this I've witnessed so many nasty shipper wars and I'd think to myself: Now THIS is why I never joined the fandom!!!
Shipper wars are insane!!!!! I've never understood why we seriously all can't just get along. Sure, I'm a hard-core B/M-er but that doesn't mean that I'd bash someone else's ship. At least not to them, personally. I may bash the B/J relationship from time to time but I'd never attack someone personally about it. In fact, even though I don't care for B/J, I can still appreciate their relationship and I can understand why the B/J-ers prefer them. It's not my personal preference, but I wouldn't intentionally attack someone's preferences. Granted, I don't approve of the Ben/Michael relationship at all but I'd still never pick a fight with a Be/M-er.
I don't think B/J-ers (or Be/M-ers) are wrong for their preferences. No more than we, the B/M-ers are wrong for ours. We all like what we like. Last I heard, opinions are neither right or wrong.
So why the wars? I've never understood it and frankly, I never will. I've thankfully never been straight up attacked by any non B/M fans... yet, and for this I am grateful!
Now, this part of my essay isn't meant to attack anyone but I've seen some seriously creepy B/J sites out there. I won't mention any names of course, but some of it scared the hell out of me!! After all, QaF is just a show. The characters don't really exist but I think some people really believe they do. lol. They take it to too many extremes. Unhealthy extremes. I don't just blame B/J-ers though because I've seen some pretty scary sites and communities regarding ALL QaF characters, actors, and storylines. I've seen things you wouldn't believe. I think my personal favorite was a site that shipped Michael/Justin. Now if that's not F&*%$@ up, I don't know WHAT is. God, I wish I could remember the name of the site or the url. It was like 'Sunshine's Super-Hero' or something equally stomach-wrenching. It was just plain WRONG, but hey. If that's what they like or want to see, so be it. Who am I to judge?
I guess what I'm trying to say through all my babble is that no matter what your preferences are, don't outright attack someone else for theirs. Now if you're attacked first, then it's all systems go, my friend. I wouldn't take it lying down but I wouldn't provoke it either. In a perfect world, I wish that ALL QaF fans could just co-exist together. Granted, I don't want to hear about, think about, or write about B/J, or Be/M but that's why shipper communities exist.
Which brings me to my next point. It bothers the hell out of me when a non-shipper of a particular community trolls into it and is *shocked and dismayed* when their own ship is being attacked. Why go there in the first place? Shipper communities are designed for people who share a liking of the same pairing or shipping to post their feelings or ideas. If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen. Now, I'll admit I've been to B/J sites just to see if there is any spoilers or general QaF info that I may have missed. Or hell, sometimes I AM just curious to know what they’re saying about B/M but I keep my big mouth shut about it. I wouldn't ever start a war because someone said something I didn't like about B/M in a B/J community!!! HE-LLO??
I know that the shipper wars will never cease to exist because all it takes is one nasty comment to fuel the fire but with some heavy tolerance and perhaps a tiny bit of understanding, maybe one day ALL the QaF fans will learn to live happily ever after!
Now, if ship wars are in your blood and you live for a good argument, then I say start up your own Lj community! Ship_Wars. A controlled community where people can fight to the death if they want to. Just leave the rest of us out of it. Because while I can't speak for everyone, I'm SURE that a good portion of the QaF fans out there feel much like I do!!!
Having said all that, thanks for listening guys!!! :D
As always, everything I'm ranting about is definitely IMO so feel free to share yours with me. Fire away!!!!!!
Okay, without any further ado....
The Fandom
I actually stayed away from the QaF fandom for as long as I could until I finally gave in. One of my closest friends was into it way before I was and she'd always warn me about it. Of course, at the time, I had NO idea what she was trying to protect me from! lol. So until recently, I've never been involved in the fandom (other than posting stories at Always...) but I've still been around. I've kept up with a lot of the QaF communities on Livejournal, especially the B/M related ones. From this I've witnessed so many nasty shipper wars and I'd think to myself: Now THIS is why I never joined the fandom!!!
Shipper wars are insane!!!!! I've never understood why we seriously all can't just get along. Sure, I'm a hard-core B/M-er but that doesn't mean that I'd bash someone else's ship. At least not to them, personally. I may bash the B/J relationship from time to time but I'd never attack someone personally about it. In fact, even though I don't care for B/J, I can still appreciate their relationship and I can understand why the B/J-ers prefer them. It's not my personal preference, but I wouldn't intentionally attack someone's preferences. Granted, I don't approve of the Ben/Michael relationship at all but I'd still never pick a fight with a Be/M-er.
I don't think B/J-ers (or Be/M-ers) are wrong for their preferences. No more than we, the B/M-ers are wrong for ours. We all like what we like. Last I heard, opinions are neither right or wrong.
So why the wars? I've never understood it and frankly, I never will. I've thankfully never been straight up attacked by any non B/M fans... yet, and for this I am grateful!
Now, this part of my essay isn't meant to attack anyone but I've seen some seriously creepy B/J sites out there. I won't mention any names of course, but some of it scared the hell out of me!! After all, QaF is just a show. The characters don't really exist but I think some people really believe they do. lol. They take it to too many extremes. Unhealthy extremes. I don't just blame B/J-ers though because I've seen some pretty scary sites and communities regarding ALL QaF characters, actors, and storylines. I've seen things you wouldn't believe. I think my personal favorite was a site that shipped Michael/Justin. Now if that's not F&*%$@ up, I don't know WHAT is. God, I wish I could remember the name of the site or the url. It was like 'Sunshine's Super-Hero' or something equally stomach-wrenching. It was just plain WRONG, but hey. If that's what they like or want to see, so be it. Who am I to judge?
I guess what I'm trying to say through all my babble is that no matter what your preferences are, don't outright attack someone else for theirs. Now if you're attacked first, then it's all systems go, my friend. I wouldn't take it lying down but I wouldn't provoke it either. In a perfect world, I wish that ALL QaF fans could just co-exist together. Granted, I don't want to hear about, think about, or write about B/J, or Be/M but that's why shipper communities exist.
Which brings me to my next point. It bothers the hell out of me when a non-shipper of a particular community trolls into it and is *shocked and dismayed* when their own ship is being attacked. Why go there in the first place? Shipper communities are designed for people who share a liking of the same pairing or shipping to post their feelings or ideas. If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen. Now, I'll admit I've been to B/J sites just to see if there is any spoilers or general QaF info that I may have missed. Or hell, sometimes I AM just curious to know what they’re saying about B/M but I keep my big mouth shut about it. I wouldn't ever start a war because someone said something I didn't like about B/M in a B/J community!!! HE-LLO??
I know that the shipper wars will never cease to exist because all it takes is one nasty comment to fuel the fire but with some heavy tolerance and perhaps a tiny bit of understanding, maybe one day ALL the QaF fans will learn to live happily ever after!
Now, if ship wars are in your blood and you live for a good argument, then I say start up your own Lj community! Ship_Wars. A controlled community where people can fight to the death if they want to. Just leave the rest of us out of it. Because while I can't speak for everyone, I'm SURE that a good portion of the QaF fans out there feel much like I do!!!
Having said all that, thanks for listening guys!!! :D
As always, everything I'm ranting about is definitely IMO so feel free to share yours with me. Fire away!!!!!!