Maura giving a speech to a group of writers at a fanfiction convention
I woke up early this morning with the sole intention of catching up on FanFiction. It was something that I had been drawn into about seven years ago, especially after coming to enjoy a show called Harmon and Alexander. It was about two women, one a cop and another a medical examiner, too much of a coincidence really since I am the Chief M.E. for Boston and my wife is a Homicide detective, the only difference really is that the characters are straight, even though they seem to have great chemistry.
The fans of the show caught on to their chemistry too and some began writing fanfic stories where they do become a couple. I really enjoy reading those, but I too like the ones where the authors keep them the way they were intended to be, straight. You see this show is based off a book series and the original author who developed these characters chose them to be straight as well.
FanFiction is an awesome outlet where people who enjoy writing can share their stories with a large audience, allowing them to take characters from TV, Movies, Books, Comics etc. and put them into their own creations. Some people are as young as 13, and some are much older. I have developed my own pen pal type relationships here with people from many different countries and I think that is awesome. For the most part the community is very welcoming, but in the Harmon and Alexander universe I have come to find that if you do not ship the two ladies together as a couple then you are bullied for it.
This does not seem to be very fair. I mean I know what it is like to be discriminated against, and I think a lot of you out there can relate as well. Maybe you are black and the first one to be accused of a crime. Maybe you belong to the LGBT community and have fought for equal rights, or maybe you are a straight person trying to share a story on FanFiction and even though you clearly state in the beginning of your story that the ship is a straight one, you are constantly bullied by those that do not like it. They tell you that you do not belong, that you should go somewhere else.
Well let me tell you, they do not own Harmon and Alexander, they did not create these "STRAIGHT" Characters, so they do not get to tell you where you can or cannot be. This is a free country, freedom of speech, freedom of press. So go ahead and share your creativity, it is your right. FanFiction is not a LGBT site, it is for all and all stories can be shared.
I know most of you are open and accepting of all people, but I hope that I have gotten through to those that know that they are bullies and maybe even swayed a few of you to stop. Not sure what you get out of bashing people, just know I think you are pathetic for doing so.
For those of you that have been bullied, stand tall and do not let these morons curb your creativity, who knows you may be the next Steven King or Patricia Cornwell out there. Keep writing and do not listen to the bullies, if anything report them. What they are doing is abuse, and could even be considered a hate crime.
So in closing, let us all learn to respect and appreciate each other, it will make for a better country, a better community.
A/N: Decided this was the best way to address something that has been bothering me for some time. I won't name specific usernames that Bully, but you know who you are. I just think you should rethink what you say to people on here, if you do not like a certain ship, then do not enter the story, there is no need to attack people!
