a rift

shikajika:

Shipping a fictional character, whether they’re played by a live action actor or not is all 100% fine but I’ve seen a bunch of people on my dash talk about how shipping actual, real people doesn’t do any harm. 

And technically that does have some truth to it - it doesn’t have direct effect on the individuals themselves, but at some point you have to step back and notice that what you’re doing is saying “I want to see two people romantically or sexually involved for nothing but my own personal gratification” and as supposedly harmless as that is, it’s creepy, plain and simple.

I don’t want to say “oh the poor celebrities”, but imagine this kind of thing from another perspective. Imagine one of your friends feels you should get with someone else that they like. You might get on with them well, but you’re not interested. Now imagine that first friend listing the various reasons that you ‘belong’ with each-other due to the way  they’ve seen you act. They don’t know your more complex inner workings, what you’re attracted to in a person, your moral values and hell, they may even disregard your sexuality in order for their “perfect couple” to exist. Keep a straight face and tell me that this isn’t obsessive behaviour.

The reason this is fine with characters is because they’re very two dimensional. The space in which aspects like genuine attraction, morals and other workings of the mind are absent leaves fans with an open space in which to weave their own narratives and fantasies. Real people do not work like this. Real people exist (and always have existed) outside of what is presented to you - you cannot invent a backstory for them because it insinuates that their past experiences count for nothing. Imposing your own view of what they “must feel” is reducing them to a character and nothing more than that. 

It may not be as destructive as some make it out to be and I can put up with it to an extent, but that doesn’t stop it from being gross and marking it down as “just another little fangirl/fanboy thing” is pretty delusional.

(via mizax)