Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

I think I love you. Watching my fandom implode over the summer has been less than fun. So many good people deciding it just wasn't worth the bullshit anymore and walking away, others ending up embroiled in months long kerfuffles, and bad feelings all around.

I have to wonder though. I know that the whole mess led me to step back and disengage from viewing my shows from any sort of 'shippy perspective (though I was never a hardcore 'shipper to begin with), and I'm not the only one. Many people I once knew as devoted x/y 'shippers are now examining character relationships and fan interaction in a new light. Trying to understand pairing a/z as well as their own preference, looking at character b as something more than the other half of a 'ship, asking questions and looking for answers that don't end in a 'ship affirming kiss. I hope that these are the seeds of a future fandom where 'ship preference (slash or het) becomes secondary to love of the show and characters.

But then sometimes I have a tendency to be a Pollyanna of the first order. :)