narcissim inception

Why are you so dead set on shipping Chendy tho?? They are kids, they have their whole lives to figure out their sexuality, who they wanna be with etc You don't imagine yourself falling in love at such a young age?? Their interactions are more sisterly and pure, don't taint them. I'm against all Wendy ships tbh

“Dead set”? I’m not dead set I just… ship them? Because I love the healthy and wholesome relationship between them and their dynamic appeals to me?

I will try to answer this very thoughtfully… 

Young girls fall in love. Young girls do fall in love and yes of course that’s young love, but a crush is a valid thing?? “You don’t imagine yourself falling in love’?? Have you never been young? When did you have your first crush? Imagining falling in love is all young girls ever do. (I exaggerate.) This is exactly the age where people start to figure out their sexuality!! Having crushes and kissing is part of finding out what love is and what it means to you. Hell, there are adults who have never been in love. This isn’t about The One True Love Of Your Life, this is about two young girls liking each other romantically, whatever that entails. They don’t have to stay together forever, but they are happy in the moment. Isn’t that the same for… most ships? Romantic feelings come gradually, they don’t suddenly appear when you turn 18?? Especially in a world that revolves around the search for love and happiness.

Being gay is not “for adults only”. This is so important!!! I mean, look at posts like this. Being gay is not dirty or sinful or ‘not for kids’! Kids are gay! And that is excellent! I think it’s important to normalize young people of the same sex falling in love. If you think about it, there’s plenty of that with kids of the opposite gender. It begins with kindergarten playmates and parents (jokingly) ‘arranging marriages’. What is is about kids of the same sex having elementary school ‘hand-holding’ crushes? Why is that suddenly wrong? Food for thought. 

Figuring out your sexuality starts exactly at this age. “They have their whole lives to figure out their sexuality.” I feel like that’s a bit of a misguided sentiment? When do you realize you are straight? When do you ‘figure that out’? Being gay is part of who a person is, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with realizing that as early on as possible. It is healthy. Everyone’s journey is valid, and yes there will be a process of figuring things out and to some people that will happen only later in life, but it does not become less valid just because you are young. You don’t have to write an Adult Essay about why you are now gay and hand it in to be approved by the Gay Council to finally be granted Official Gay Status. 

Shipping does not equal sex. Obviously!!!This should go without saying, especially if the characters are minors. While it is a fact that young people do have sex, whether you like it or not, this is not something that should be described in graphic detail in fic or art!! Good grief! DO NOT explore that aspect with minors!! Having a ship is not the same as sexualizing a ship! (It often goes hand in hand because people mostly ship… well, not adults but older teens, if we’re talking about anime/manga. The protagonists are often still minors lmao. But it is not the same!!) Be aware of that distinction!

Representation is important. And if representation does not exist in canon, it is very okay and good to create it in fandom spaces. I know your point wasn’t the gay/straight ships dichotomy, BUT if it had been girl and boy sacrificing themselves for each other in the name of love in canon (which happened, whether you choose to interpret it as platonic or romantic love) would you also be saying “aw, friendship is so important!!” ?? Which brings me to my next point:

(I’m joking. I’m sorry. Couldn’t resist.)

Gals being pals. The eternal problem. You think their interactions are more sisterly? That’s fine! Shipping is subjective. But desperately forcing all w/w relationships into this ‘they’re just very very very good friends!!!’ drawer is not quite fair. Because there are romantic w/w relationships! Lesbians exist! This is a problem much more prominent in bi/lesbian ships simply because girls being physically and emotionally intimate with each other is completely normalized, whereas boys often do not have such freedom, sadly. But ignoring women in love is just willfully closing your eyes. Perhaps because you (in a general sense, not you personally) might be more uncomfortable with it than you like to admit? Great brotps are just as important as ships and it’s everyone’s free choice to decide which they prefer for a certain relationship! But do keep in mind this very real problem of overlooking romance because you personally don’t want it to exist. As for the whole concept of ‘purity’ and becoming ‘tainted’ by love… er. I don’t like that. At all. How does (gay) love/affection taint a person?! Because I do think this is about being gay. That word choice was really uncomfortable and unfortunate. I’m not even going to adress this because it will make me angry. Love does not taint a person?! (And if this was about sex then…ew? I have never and will never even think about that. That was your thought. So…)

Platonic shipping vs Romantic shipping. There is no better or worse!!! Enough said. We’ve been over this one many times in many fandoms.

It’s all about being age appropriate. It matters how you ship a ship. Especially in the matter of young love. I agree that you have to be careful with younger ships because it can be a sensitive topic. I think the problem when you say ‘I ship these two girls’ is that shipping has become so tied-in with sexual ideas that people just immediately (for some horrible, sad reason) think ‘They must want these two young girls to fuck! They must be pedophiles!” And that is just horrible. Sadly enough there are people who do want that, and those are pedophiles and should not go anywhere near fandom spaces (or real life children). Thiscan and should never be tolerated! Be aware of creeps in fandom spaces… (I think it’s also important to stress that this whole ask is dealing with love between young people. Not between a young person + a much older adult person. That is gross and never ever okay.)But that is not at all what shipping two young people should be about. Obviously!!! This should all be so obvious, I don’t know why I have to write it out in so much detail, but alas. Be age-appropriate!!! Crushes are okay, first kisses are okay, exploring who they are as people and why they fell/are falling in ‘love’ is okay, silly cute drabbles are okay… respect that they are children!!!(A little excursus: Isn’t there this shipping trope where people turn their adult ships into kids because it’s “cute“?? Whatever floats your boat, I guess, but I’ve never been a fan of that. Personally I find it even weirder when it’s just one person of the ship…? But I digress.) I mean: ‘childhood friends to lovers’! You could fill a library with fanfiction about that! But if they’re young in canon suddenly that’s forbidden?? Shipping young people has to be APPROPRIATE and has to be handled carefully and respectfully! Don’t hurt or disrespect people!Nobody has to ship any ship but it’s also not wrong to like a pairing of younger people as long as it is DONE RIGHT (e.g. no smut for god’s sake, no marriage, no adult themes, no paring of one young person with an adult(!!!) etc. it’s really not that hard). And if you don’t want to ship a young person at all, then obviously that is perfectly fine too! Personally I definitely prefer adult ships, but beautiful and age-appropriate (!!! I cannot stress this enough) relationships can be a source of joy no matter the age range.When I, once in a while, find myself really liking a dynamic between younger people, then I give special care to portray their relationship in exactly that innocent, child-like way and handle them with a lot of caution and respect. 

If you ship two younger people, please be aware that they are children and deserve to be treated as such!!!