I'm Not Going Down With This Ship

I've encountered many crazy fans over the course of my geekdom. The bronies and even worse, the "cloppers". Certain subsections of the Harry Potter fandom. And most recently, the militant subsection of the DCEU fans or as I like to call them, the "Sons of Snyder."


However the one type of fan that scares me the most...are the shippers.


'Shipping', for those unaccustomed to geek lingo, is the act of pairing together two characters in a romantic relationship. This happens for a number of reasons. Characters show chemistry, the story is moving toward that point, or you just want this person to kiss that person. Now there's nothing wrong in rooting for couples to happen. Hell all throughout The Legend of Korra I was lowkey hoping Korra and Asami would hook up. And look how that turned out.


It's the crazies that ruin it for everyone.


They bash characters. They attack creators if their ships don't happen (see the latest drama surrounding Steven Universe. ) They even go so far as to ship THE ACTORS PLAYING THE CHARACTERS. (I put off Supernatural for YEARS because of that.) And they sometimes support relationships that are not healthy at all. (See Harley Quinn and the Joker. Oy.)


I've often said shippers are the worst, and that is because they represent the worst thing in fandom: entitlement. Some fans think the story should bend a certain way and get upset when it doesn't. News flash: the stories aren't being written exclusively for you. The creator has a story in mind, and to think you have any influence on it is quite frankly, insulting. Do you have to like where the story is going? No. But respect that it was the creator's decision (no matter how stupid it can get sometimes) and move on. And don't harass them over character relationships. Believe it or not, there is more to some stories that seeing who ends up with who.