Fandom Explosion. I think it's normal for people to both love, be neutral about or even hate (yes, hate...because there will always be things we really don't like because we're human and all...) ships among other random fan-related things. This is acceptable for as long as no one is rude about it. I myself love a lot of ships. There are those I don't care for to the point that I roll my eyes every time I see them on my dash. And there are those I'm completely neutral about but for some reason only end up disliking because of the behavior of the fan base.


I think the worse thing I've done is rant about some ships/shippers...to myself in the privacy of my own home. But I've never:

said anything in public to make fans feel bad about what they love
taunt people with things they dislike or things that would anger/annoy them
send hate mail

...or engage in other kinds of unreasonable behavior. And if ever I've had angry thoughts or words about something , I'd often regret it later even if they were private thoughts to begin with. Thoughts I would most likely regret or (possibly) change my mind about later.

The issue that really angered fans here was how the panel behaved which I understand. The singing and dancing was over the top and rude; as a cast member you have more responsibility to be polite and to treat your fans with kindness. Theoretically though, what if I had been a cast member and I happened to really dislike a pairing- would it be acceptable for me to say 'sorry, I don't like that pairing much' in public in an interview? Or would it be wiser still to just keep my mouth shut?

I don't think there's anything wrong with being honest. But would that guarantee a completely different reaction from everyone...or would people still take issue with it?

I don't think it's wrong to debunk a ship if some fans are asking about it (or just to set expectations) but if they continuously say 'it's not going to happen' over and over just to annoy or make fans feel bad, then that's wrong as well.