Fandom and let fandom, y'all

[rogueslayer452]

There is this fandom meme I've seen that I may or may not do in the near future, but there were some questions on there that I felt deserved to be answered separately since they were more generic instead of specific fandom based.

Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?
When it comes to LJ, not really. I don't think I've ever defriended anyone who had different fandom views or opinions unless they were starting unnecessary drama with others who disagreed with them. On Tumblr, however, yes I have unfollowed people who have had certain opinions, viewpoints, or attitudes about fandom that I felt I didn't want to see all over my dash, especially since many over there can be so damn aggressive to the point of being annoying. But I find that with Tumblr, it's a very impersonal space where you can follow/unfollow/block people on a whim and it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, as opposed to LJ where there is more of a personal connection between you and your mutual online friends. Honestly, I love it when online friends have different opinions on things, I love reading what other people think about something that we mutually like, we don't always have to agree. Just don't be a dick about it.

Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?
Unfortunately, yes. I usually try not to let fandom opinions ruin my fun or my preferences, but sometimes the shipping wars and pushy fanatical shippers of certain pairings that I actually like can be so persistent and overwhelming that it seems impossible to avoid unless you distance yourself from the fandom altogether. This can even happen with pairings that I was mostly indifferent towards but ended up hating because of the sense of entitlement of the fandom itself. It's why I try to stay away from the intensity of certain sides of fandom.

Does not shipping something ‘popular’ mean you’re in denial and/or biased?
Absolutely not. I never understood this mentality that you had to ship what the majority of people in the fandom shipped, as if that ever made a difference in anything. It implies that if you're not on board with the most popular thing in fandom then you're in the wrong, which is just ridiculous and immature. This is kind of entitlement is what fuels most, if not all, shipping wars. It doesn't matter if you ship something that is popular or not, canon or fanon, just ship whatever the hell you want to and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

What are your thoughts on crack ships?
Love them. Listen, I have plenty of crackships myself, and there's just something I enjoy with seeing the "what ifs" of characters being together, especially if they aren't even from the same fictional universe. It's just fun imagining the concept. That is the beauty of what makes fandom so great, we have so many options and possibilities to make what seems the impossible work.

Comments

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

I feel like the term "crackship" has changed its definition overtime depending on who is using it.

I've always associated it to being something done simply for fun despite how ridiculous it seems. It's not a rarepairing nor is it a non-canon ship, it's kind of its own thing separately that can mean anything ranging from a character/inanimate object to two (or more) characters from different fictional universes. It's just something done for fun, knowing it makes no sense, but they're still enjoying making it work nonetheless.

[mfirefly10.livejournal.com]

I feel like the term "crackship" has changed its definition overtime depending on who is using it.

Yeah, pretty much. As I said in an above comment, I've seen people use it in an attempt to invalidate a ship they don't like or to shame fans of said ship which is why I don't really care for the term. I never know what people mean when they use it, you know?


It's just something done for fun, knowing it makes no sense, but they're still enjoying making it work nonetheless.

If people write fic/make art/etc and want to label their own pairing as a crack-ship, I have no problem with that because the person is basically just making fun of themselves, but fandom as a whole using the term is a different story.

[rogueslayer452.livejournal.com]

That is very true, and I've unfortunately witnessed people actually doing that in the past. Not as much anymore since I don't think the term is as widely used these days, but still it's sad when people try to do that.