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here's a thread on why shipping real people is not okay 
IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU THINK because i'm SICK of seeing this shit on the tl. /srs
this is mostly relating to mlm pairings, as i myself am a gay man and feel like i have agency to speak on the topic.
IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU THINK because i'm SICK of seeing this shit on the tl. /srsthis is mostly relating to mlm pairings, as i myself am a gay man and feel like i have agency to speak on the topic.
first of all, shipping real people is AN INVASION OF PRIVACY and is absolutely crossing boundaries that shouldn't even be touched. in many many cases it makes the people in question highly uncomfortable and HAS RUINED FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN CELEBS* IN THE PAST.
i myself have been shipped with one of my friends before and it was not an enjoyable experience in the slightest. our friends would tease us constantly and would never let us talk together alone without making a scene. we were each other's safe spaces, and we had that taken away.
what makes it worse is that i am a gay man, and the friend in question is a lesbian (they/them). and they ALL KNEW. yet they continued to loudly ship us in front of everyone AND CONTINUOUSLY EMBARASS US in front of teachers, other students, etc. it forced us to stop talking.
we were so sick of the teasing and constant harassment that we STOPPED TALKING. we stopped hugging, stopped standing close to each-other, and we only ever spoke in a group setting. we never walked off to talk alone even if we were overstimulated. because we were Tired of it.
that was only a few people in our friendship group doing it to us, so imagine what it would be like to have THOUSANDS of people harassing you on the daily becase they think you and your friend are "cute together". this is the reality for the real people you ship together. stop.
the invasion of privacy isn't even the only problem with this. even if the people you're shipping are okay with it, you're still setting an example for others to do the same to people who AREN'T okay with it! besides, it also feeds into fetishization, which i will touch on now.
just because the people you ship are okay with it doesn't mean it's not fetishistic. mlm/nblm pairings have been fetishized for as long as fandoms have been around, and it's usually (not always) by people who aren't achillean. it hurts us directly as a community.
first of all, it is incredibly dehumanizing. you treat us like objects to play with because you find our relationships "hot". we are REAL PEOPLE with REAL EMOTIONS , and acting as if we are fictional characters that you can manipulate into doing certain things is WRONG.
mlm/nblm are not your plaything, nor are we fictional in any capacity. writing rpf (real person fiction) is harmful to us as it narrows us down to characters with pretty faces that you can write into (usually sexual) situations. we are not your plaything!
shipping real people, whether you realise it or not, is incredibly harmful to both the people you are shipping AND the achillean community as a whole. i can't speak for the rest of the lgbt community, but i'm sure a lot of them feel the same way for their side too.
@ straight people, you cannot say you are an ally to the lgbt community and yet continue to ship real people in lgbt pairings. you are hurting us.
please reflect on what you're doing and try to better yourself. find a fictional pairing to get invested in, idc. just stop.
please reflect on what you're doing and try to better yourself. find a fictional pairing to get invested in, idc. just stop.
@ lgbt+ people, please realise that you are harming your own community by shipping real people. you are helping perpetuate these harmful ideals that have been pushed on us for years, and it needs to stop.
stop it. stop shipping real people. i don't care if the people you ship don't mind you doing it, because chances are, you're hurting mlm/nblm. and if you REALLY want to keep shipping real people despite what i've told you, please just keep it to yourself. don't post it publicly.
thank you for reading. if anyone else wants to add anything on in the replies, that would be great-- i'd love to hear if wlw/nblw feel the same about sapphic irl ships! and if any achilleans want to throw in their two cents, please feel free!
