The Cheese Grates It: Ship What You Like, Just Don't Act Like An Entitled Ass About It

With the sudden passing of one of my favorite actors, Bill Paxton, I got to thinking about one of my favorite characters, Bill Hudson.

I also got to thinking about my tendency to make really crazy crossovers to make my sometimes difficult life a little better.

Probably the craziest crossover pairing I ever made was Hudson and Velma, as in Scooby Doo Velma. This didn’t happen when I was 13. I was 47. The idea struck me all of a sudden, and it made me laugh, and I needed to laugh. So yeah, in the Netherworld, Bill Hudson and Velma Dinkley are a thing.

Did I then go on to try and force this pairing on everyone else and threaten the creators of Aliens and Scooby Doo that if Hudson and Velma didn’t become Cannon 2KYesterday, I would have a huge shit fit?

No, because I seriously doubt anyone else sees it, but I do hope that the few people who read those fics were entertained by them.

Now I’ve revealed something about me that very few people know to illustrate a point.

Ship whatever the fuck you want. Ship Festus from Gunsmoke with a Xenomorph for all I care. It’s your fic, do what you wanna do. But there are a few things not to do, because, crazy though this may sound, not everyone ships your ship, especially the really wackadoodie crossover ones.

Don’t try to shove your ship down other people’s throats. Don’t browbeat the writers, producers and performers involved with a show/movie that they better make your ship canon or else. If you’re on Tumblr, keep your ship stuff out of the general tags. That’s what the ship tags are for. Non-shippers don’t want to see your ship related posts.

If you have an anti rant, use the anti tags. For instance, I could rave on until the end of time about how much I hate, hate, hate Alien 3. It was a massive pile of Xenomorph spoor. I despise it with a virulent passion. I am going to tag any of my Alien 3 wank “anti alien 3″.

It’s called common courtesy.

Also, if you’re one of those people who trolls the anti tags for your ship, why are you trolling the anti tags for your ship? Do you really enjoy being fired up that much? I know I don’t. I have hella plenty of real world problems. I don’t need fandumb drama.

I kind of doubt there’s an anti Hudson/Velma tag, as I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who’s ever shipped it. But guess what I’m not going to do? That’s right--search for a Hudson/Velma anti tag. Because if there is one, I don’t need that shit.

Added bonus Stuff Not To Do:

Don’t post schmoopy stuff like this and then put it in the main tags. Seriously, if I’m searching the Peter Steele tag (as an example) I want to see pictures of Peter Steele. I want to see Type O Negative, Fallout and Carnivore music videos. I want to see interviews with Peter Steele. I don’t want to see someone mooning over Peter Steele. Create your own tag for that.

For instance, if my Peter Steele obsessed pal Petra had a Tumblr, she could use “pet loves pete” or something of that nature if she were to post something like this. (She wouldn’t, but as an example.) She wouldn’t put it in the Peter Steele or Type O Negative tags, because the majority of fans don’t want to see that shit.

The upshot here is this:

Ship what you like, no matter how crazy. But be respectful.

Take a look at my tags on this post for an example of proper tagging on this kind of post. Note that I don’t put in in the general Aliens, Scooby Doo, or Bill Paxton tags. It doesn’t belong there.

(Some of these rules are particular to Tumblr.)

~The Cheese Hath Grated It~

Rest in peace, Bill Paxton