I'm sure many people know I ship CaptainSwan, but I will try to keep this article as unbiased as possible and will enter a mental neutral zone.
It's unfortunate, but I see a lot of negative encounters between SwanFire shippers and CaptainSwan shippers. More negative than positive, too. Can this be changed? I think so. How? Respect.
But to clarify on what's respectful and what's disrespectful, here are some examples:
Respectful
"I think Neal and Emma would make a good couple because they have similar backgrounds and they've been through a lot."
"I don't think Emma and Neal would make a good couple because there's too much pain between them and it would be an unhealthy relationship."
"I think Emma and Hook would make a better couple because Hook would love her unconditionally and I think he understands Emma better than Neal does."
Those are respectful ways of stating your thoughts.
Disrespectful
"SwanFire is so stupid!"
"CaptainSwan is unnecessary!"
"EWW, ____ is gross!
Those are disrespectful ways of stating your opinion. *I included a blank one because this isn't exclusive to CaptainSwan and SwanFire*
Sometimes even positive and mature posts can receive negative responses. In those cases, just try to be as respectful as possible. Say something like "I disagree because..." or even just leave it at "I disagree". Some people are far too stubborn to reason with, so it's good to recognize when to agree to disagree and walk away.
Some of you may be thinking "Well I won't be respectful until they are", and that's not good. If you think that, that won't get anyone anywhere. It has to start with you. You may have a stream of nasty comments that you want to say running through your mind that just want to explode through your fingers and onto the computer screen, but knowing to refrain yourself and keeping things respectful even if someone is disrespecting you says a lot about your character.
Am I perfect? No. I'm very capable of agreeing to disagree, but my biggest downfall is not being able to walk away when I see disrespectful comments about Hook and CaptainSwan.
What this all comes down to is acknowledging that everyone has a right to their own opinion and that you don't have to agree with it. And it's okay if you or others don't agree. The big thing about respect is knowing that it's okay to agree to disagree and acknowledging that not everyone is going to agree with your opinion, but that doesn't make them wrong. Just like it doesn't make you wrong for having a different opinion.
You may hate love triangles, but that's what the writers have gone with and all any of us can do is see where they go with it. If you're confident that your ship is endgame, then there isn't any need to bash another ship. But there shouldn't ever be a reason to bash another ship. Every ship has as much right to exist as yours does. And I think that if everyone can just respect the boundaries and understand that we all have a right to have our own opinion, we can coexist peacefully.
♥Matches
It's unfortunate, but I see a lot of negative encounters between SwanFire shippers and CaptainSwan shippers. More negative than positive, too. Can this be changed? I think so. How? Respect.
But to clarify on what's respectful and what's disrespectful, here are some examples:
Respectful
"I think Neal and Emma would make a good couple because they have similar backgrounds and they've been through a lot."
"I don't think Emma and Neal would make a good couple because there's too much pain between them and it would be an unhealthy relationship."
"I think Emma and Hook would make a better couple because Hook would love her unconditionally and I think he understands Emma better than Neal does."
Those are respectful ways of stating your thoughts.
Disrespectful
"SwanFire is so stupid!"
"CaptainSwan is unnecessary!"
"EWW, ____ is gross!
Those are disrespectful ways of stating your opinion. *I included a blank one because this isn't exclusive to CaptainSwan and SwanFire*
Sometimes even positive and mature posts can receive negative responses. In those cases, just try to be as respectful as possible. Say something like "I disagree because..." or even just leave it at "I disagree". Some people are far too stubborn to reason with, so it's good to recognize when to agree to disagree and walk away.
Some of you may be thinking "Well I won't be respectful until they are", and that's not good. If you think that, that won't get anyone anywhere. It has to start with you. You may have a stream of nasty comments that you want to say running through your mind that just want to explode through your fingers and onto the computer screen, but knowing to refrain yourself and keeping things respectful even if someone is disrespecting you says a lot about your character.
Am I perfect? No. I'm very capable of agreeing to disagree, but my biggest downfall is not being able to walk away when I see disrespectful comments about Hook and CaptainSwan.
What this all comes down to is acknowledging that everyone has a right to their own opinion and that you don't have to agree with it. And it's okay if you or others don't agree. The big thing about respect is knowing that it's okay to agree to disagree and acknowledging that not everyone is going to agree with your opinion, but that doesn't make them wrong. Just like it doesn't make you wrong for having a different opinion.
You may hate love triangles, but that's what the writers have gone with and all any of us can do is see where they go with it. If you're confident that your ship is endgame, then there isn't any need to bash another ship. But there shouldn't ever be a reason to bash another ship. Every ship has as much right to exist as yours does. And I think that if everyone can just respect the boundaries and understand that we all have a right to have our own opinion, we can coexist peacefully.
♥Matches
