Shipping

    The age-old argument lives on in every one of today's fandoms and more. Many arguments have torn rifts in the otherwise compromising family we call a fandom. Friendships have began and ended with a favorite pastime of many fangirls: Shipping.
    For those who don't know, shipping is where people in an anime, comic, TV show, book, movie, etc. are paired up and supported by usually very devoted fans. A few examples of these pairings, often referred to as "ships," are SoMa from Soul Eater, Arasol from Homestuck, and Romione from Harry Potter. A "One True Pairing," or "OTP," refers to one's most favorite ship. Clashing OTPs are a common cause of dispute among shippers. A pairing is called "canon" when the writer actually pairs two people in a pairing up.
    To simplify things, focus on only Homestuck's pairings. Convieniently, there is a wide variety of characters, and therefore the vast amount of possible pairings, if one dares to include homosexual pairings. There is much debate over who should be shipped with, say, Karkat Vantas. Some pairings including Karkat are Nepkat, Jadekat, Karezi, Davekat, Johnkat, Solkat, and Erikar. So many people are fighting over whose pairing is "best." These are all unnecessary arguments; All of the characters mentioned are fictional, meaning that not only does it not matter who eventually ends up with whomever, but that it isn't even real if it's not your OTP! Furthermore, it does not directly affect your life if your favorite pairing never becomes canon.
    Shippers all over can be aggressive when it comes to defending their ships. Fans of "yaoi" (BoyXBoy) and/or "yuri" (GirlXGirl) can sometimes be put down especially hard or especially defensive due to the predjudice against homosexuals. There are, of course, examples of peaceful shippers, fictional or not, but not many. (Of course, "peaceful" shippers still fangirl squeal at times; every shipper does at one point or another.) A prime example is Nepeta Leijon from Homestuck. Because her race (trolls) is bisexual as a rule, she is open to any genders being involved in a pairing, and even though she prefers some pairings over others, she is not argumentative when it comes to discussing them with others.
    In short, many shippers need to learn not to be discriminatory when shipping. If they're arguing over who should be paired with whom or if a homosexual pairing is "wrong" or not, shippers are shippers, and pairings are pairings. One shipper is really no different from the rest, as are the pairings. Whether or not one likes a ship is up to that individual. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. If you don't like it, keep it to yourself. Don't spoil another shipper's fun by bashing their OTP. For a peaceful shipping community, all we need to do is ship and let ship.