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*pats butt*
This weekend got a wee bit insane, no? Heh. One thing I just keep seeing over and over, for going on two years now, is that having an OTP in Doctor Who (namely, Doctor/Rose) means you're doing Who fandom wrong. For some, the idea of a OTP within the structure of the show is just not possible. And with that worldview of Who, they *shouldn't* have an OTP as it'd be highly hypocritical. The problem is that not everyone has the same worldview, and will never have the same worldview. (And let's not even dwell on the fact that I could care less if I'm doing fandom right or wrong.)
Right. Time for a sports analogy. Not 100% perfect, but I think it works.
So there's this stadium full of fans watching a game. Really, the fans could be there for any number of reasons - some love every little aspect of the game, some are only there to get drunk and get in a fight, some just want to paint themselves up to try and get on TV, and so on.
But let's say there's a group that loves the technical aspects of the game and love keeping stats. They happen to notice that other people are jotting things down, but to their horror, instead of keeping track of technical part of the game, they're keeping track of when players pat each other's butts. And really, that's *not* the way to watch the game as it's just outright stupid to the technical stat people, so they try to tell the butt-patting watchers how this is wrong. And keep telling them.
The problem is that while the butt-patting watchers might care about the technical aspects of the game on varying levels, they just really like watching one guy patting another guy's butt. They eventually get tired of the technical stat people telling them they're wrong, and so pick up and move further down the stadium.
Unfortunately, the technical stat people have now become completely fixated on the butt-patting watchers to the point where they can't even enjoy the game. They keep sending people over to look over the butt-patting watchers' shoulders, and yep, they're *still* watching the butt-patting. And now when the stat takers take their eyes off the other group to actually watch the game, all they can *see* is guys patting other guys' butts. They become convinced that the players are patting each other's butts to appease the watchers, even though the players were doing it long before people paid attention to it. (In fact, how any of the fans watch the game has no impact on what actually happens in the game.)
It winds up with everyone annoyed. The butt-patting watchers are annoyed because they're being watched and still being told that keeping technical stats is the one true way, and the technical stats people are annoyed that the butt-patting watchers just won't stop watching guys patting each other's butts.
Did you actually make it through all that? Basically it boils down to the fact that I have an OTP in Who. I don't go around trying to sell my OTP to anyone - posting something in my own journal or in places where people want to talk about it is NOT cramming my OTP down someone's throat. And the fact that I have an OTP in Who could only annoy someone if they're fixated on me instead of the show.
I feel no shame because I'm doing fandom the way I want instead of the way others want me to do it. If I did things just to appease other's ideas, then there might be some shame.
Right. Time for a sports analogy. Not 100% perfect, but I think it works.
So there's this stadium full of fans watching a game. Really, the fans could be there for any number of reasons - some love every little aspect of the game, some are only there to get drunk and get in a fight, some just want to paint themselves up to try and get on TV, and so on.
But let's say there's a group that loves the technical aspects of the game and love keeping stats. They happen to notice that other people are jotting things down, but to their horror, instead of keeping track of technical part of the game, they're keeping track of when players pat each other's butts. And really, that's *not* the way to watch the game as it's just outright stupid to the technical stat people, so they try to tell the butt-patting watchers how this is wrong. And keep telling them.
The problem is that while the butt-patting watchers might care about the technical aspects of the game on varying levels, they just really like watching one guy patting another guy's butt. They eventually get tired of the technical stat people telling them they're wrong, and so pick up and move further down the stadium.
Unfortunately, the technical stat people have now become completely fixated on the butt-patting watchers to the point where they can't even enjoy the game. They keep sending people over to look over the butt-patting watchers' shoulders, and yep, they're *still* watching the butt-patting. And now when the stat takers take their eyes off the other group to actually watch the game, all they can *see* is guys patting other guys' butts. They become convinced that the players are patting each other's butts to appease the watchers, even though the players were doing it long before people paid attention to it. (In fact, how any of the fans watch the game has no impact on what actually happens in the game.)
It winds up with everyone annoyed. The butt-patting watchers are annoyed because they're being watched and still being told that keeping technical stats is the one true way, and the technical stats people are annoyed that the butt-patting watchers just won't stop watching guys patting each other's butts.
Did you actually make it through all that? Basically it boils down to the fact that I have an OTP in Who. I don't go around trying to sell my OTP to anyone - posting something in my own journal or in places where people want to talk about it is NOT cramming my OTP down someone's throat. And the fact that I have an OTP in Who could only annoy someone if they're fixated on me instead of the show.
I feel no shame because I'm doing fandom the way I want instead of the way others want me to do it. If I did things just to appease other's ideas, then there might be some shame.