Fandom and Viewer Issues: "Fan" Is Short for "Fanatic"

[KingOfHearts]

33 minutes ago, YaddaYadda said:

There's Natalie Abrams who is a SQ cheerleader, though she seems to have toned that down a bit. Leanna always makes sure she asks about everyone, including SQ.

Those guys on Twitter are just plain toxic. 

Oh, I got the two confused. Thanks.

[sharky]

Who is Jennifer Still? Never heard of her. And I doubt that will go far. After last year's Comic Con debacle with the SQer that got in to the blogger round tables, I don't think ABC is going to let Lana do an interview with a blatant SQer.

[margiemyth]

1 hour ago, sharky said:

Who is Jennifer Still? Never heard of her. And I doubt that will go far. After last year's Comic Con debacle with the SQer that got in to the blogger round tables, I don't think ABC is going to let Lana do an interview with a blatant SQer.

She's the one who does all the SQ articles for Bustle. 

[Hookian]

On 8/17/2016 at 6:52 PM, margiemyth said:

Its okay , Jennifer Still has promised to reach out to Lana about an interview, because she's a REAL and UNBIASED journalist.  Apparently it will be the"100 % interview of the century" because she had an SQ tumblr. Okay, good for them. AS for myself, I promise to stay in my own lane, and not harass her online because she chooses to fangirl.

She's too irrelevant to get an interview. She's from Bustle, nobody cares about them.

I am digging the hilariousness that is this meltdown over Colin/Jennifer duos and nothing for SQ fans. Maybe now they'll realize JMO and Lana do not like each other, particularly JMO. I mean they requested they do not be put on the same day. That's not something to take lightly.

[maryle]

I am very please to see that the cs fandom seem more mature concerning all things convention stuff with Jen and Colin. People understand that some whining will not change a thing this time around.  because I am sure that (all people involved ) they thought about what happened before at others con and will not want a repeat of that. 

Infact, it appears that the whole fandom is much more calm this time.

There still some whining but I do think it will end rapidly and the worst that the b a will do is to trying to make both actors uncomfortable at the duo photo opt. Not, sure if they will succeed. Anyway, they will gave money to both actors and still in cs pic.

[sharky]

Quote

I am digging the hilariousness that is this meltdown over Colin/Jennifer duos and nothing for SQ fans. Maybe now they'll realize JMO and Lana do not like each other, particularly JMO. I mean they requested they do not be put on the same day. That's not something to take lightly.

No, their excuse is that Colin is money grabbing whore, which is why he has a different set up for his autograph sessions for a con that's eight months from now. Because of course, nothing can change between now and then right? They're also encouraging people to harass Colin about what it's like to play a rapist and a sexist and whatever else they come up with. And if that wasn't enough, they're suggesting SQ fans buy the JMo/Colin picture and then hug JMo and make Colin pout on the side. I just... these people bitch because they're being "harassed" by other fans and then go and do exactly that to the actors to their faces? What is wrong with these people?

As for JMo and Lana being on different days, apparently that's totally normal for these cons. They are the two biggest draws when it comes to actors so putting them on different days maximizes the sale of multi-day tickets so more money for the con. I'm sure the Once cons aren't the only ones who have things like this. If only someone could get it through the thick skulls of some fans that they're not being "harassed" or made to sit in a corner, that this is just the way conventions are. Hell, they should be happy that Lana is a headliner instead of that second-rate sexist Colin O'Donoghue (because of course the actor and the character are the same exact person and despite the fact that neither the actor nor the character are currently sexist or whatever.)

Edited August 28, 2016 by sharky

[TheGreenKnight]

3 hours ago, sharky said:

Hell, they should be happy that Lana is a headliner instead of that second-rate sexist Colin O'Donoghue (because of course the actor and the character are the same exact person and despite the fact that neither the actor nor the character are currently sexist or whatever.)

Well, to be fair, there are a lot of people here even that can't differentiate between Lana and Regina, so while the criticism is true, it feels a bit hollow when it's only directed at one side of the fandom.

[mjgchick]

I'd like to hope no one thinks Lana is a misogynistic, mas murdering rapist. Or that Colin is a pirate who spent centuries murdering people or that Jen is a homeless teen who has had every adult in her life make life choices for her. If they do then they need to question their life choices honestly.

[Hookian]

I'm laughing. Colin and Jennifer are attending the con that Lana is not attending. If you needed anymore proof Lana and Jen do not like each other there you go.

And it's double glorious because it's the con CSers had a photo op promised and had it taken away by SQ. Now they can't do shit about it because Lana isn't attending.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Hookian

[Rumsy4]

Lana quoting from the X-rated SQ fanfic at a recent con may have been the last straw for JMo. I think it's more about Jen not wanting to give an inch to the side of fandom that always keeps taking potshots at her. 

[Joanh23]

well I have to say I am very excited that Jmo and Colin are attending the Paris convention again next year, and in the announcement the organizers even made a point of saying that there would be a CaptainSwan duo photo - take that haters!  Anyway I'm now seriously thinking about going...

[orza]

37 minutes ago, Hookian said:

I'm laughing. Colin and Jennifer are attending the con that Lana is not attending. If you needed anymore proof Lana and Jen do not like each other there you go.

And it's double glorious because it's the con CSers had a photo op promised and had it taken away by SQ. Now they can't do shit about it because Lana isn't attending.

That's a lot of projecting and is not really proof of anything. Fans who have no personal relationship with either actor don't know squat about whether they like each other or not. The only thing we know is that they work together. From everything I've seen of Lana and Jen in public they seem to have a normal professional relationship. Not being besties with one's coworkers means nothing. Most people don't have any kind of meaningful friendship with their coworkers.

It is entirely possible and a lot more likely that Lana is not attending that convention due to a scheduling conflict or some other mundane reason.

[kitticup]

3 hours ago, Hookian said:

She's too irrelevant to get an interview. She's from Bustle, nobody cares about them.

I am digging the hilariousness that is this meltdown over Colin/Jennifer duos and nothing for SQ fans. Maybe now they'll realize JMO and Lana do not like each other, particularly JMO. I mean they requested they do not be put on the same day. That's not something to take lightly.

How do you know that they requested different dates?  I can see them not wanting to cave into bullies but I don't think that should be read into the actresses' relationship.   I don't want either woman getting labeled as difficult because of a subsection of the fandom.

[Souris]

12 minutes ago, orza said:

It is entirely possible and a lot more likely that Lana is not attending that convention due to a scheduling conflict or some other mundane reason.

Lana isn't attending that convention because her booking agent (who also handles Bex, Sean & maybe Emilie) had some sort of issue with it and worked with another group to start a competing Paris convention. There was all sorts of Dramaz about it on Twitter in July.

[TheGreenKnight]

So it has nothing to do with Lana Parrilla and Jennifer Morrison's working relationship at all. Fans should learn not to project something they want from the show they're not getting onto the actors.

Edited August 28, 2016 by TheGreenKnight

[Joanh23]

While I don't think Jmo and Lana are good friends I also don't think they hate each other.  They are both professionals who are doing a job, and they don't have to be the best of friends on set. I definitely don't like everyone I work with but at the end of the day I have to get on with my job, and by all accounts Jmo and Lana are very professional on set.

I do think though that all the fandom drama definitely doesn't help matters - Jmo does not seem to be comfortable with SQ, and who can blame her as a lot of the SQ fan anger seems to be directed at her, so it's not surprising that Jmo will try to avoid it where possible.

[Serena]

I think JMo and Lana are fine attending cons on the same day. They've done it before.

It just makes sense logistically to put them on different days, and Jen of course would choose to be on the same day as Colin. For totally simple reasons most likely: they are in a strange city where they don't know anyone. If Colin and his wife are there, Jen can hang out with them, for simple things like dinner or on the flight, and it's comfortable because they are close friends. She's not close with Lana's family the same way. 

I'm surprised Jen booked so many cons. Maybe she's using the income to finance her directing projects.

[maryle]

The simpler explanation is always right.

So SQ fans have made Jen uncomfortable in the past so she is not include to gave more that she has and she like personally cs like she had said. She promote the cannon relationship only too. Adding that I do not believe Jen and Lana hate each others it is obvious ( this comic Con...) they are more friendly co worker than personal friend like she become with Colin.

[KAOS Agent]

I always wonder why no one has grand conspiracy theories about how Jen and Emilie hate each other. They never seem to hang out outside of work either. Clearly, there is a strong dislike between the two. Or maybe they are work colleagues whose personal lives simply don't mesh - just like Jen & Lana.

I also get confused as to why it's always assumed that Jen is the one who is excluding Lana. Maybe Lana wants to spend time with her husband and stepchildren on the weekend and not hang out with the coworkers she sees every day. Maybe Lana wants to be the star of the show at the convention and wants to be the only headliner on her day. There are limited tickets available for each day. Wouldn't it be better for fans of Lana to not have to compete with Colin and Jen's fans for tickets on that day? It seems to me that it's much better for each star's fans to have an opportunity to see their favorite if they split the appearances on different days. Why must everyone make things so negative? 

And let's be honest, Jen gets a lot of hate from various fandoms that fight over Emma. She got it from Swanfire shippers, she gets it from Swan Queen shippers and she'd get it from Captain Swan shippers/Hook fans if Emma ever did something they didn't like. She's still going to have to deal with the creepy Colifer shippers out there. She has to pick her poison and right now, she chooses to go with Colin because they are very comfortable with each other and their characters are in a romantic relationship that she enjoys personally. It's nice that she seems to be going with what makes her happy instead of trying to placate everyone - something that isn't remotely possible anyway.

Edited August 29, 2016 by KAOS Agent

[Eolivet]

I'm starting to think "those people who are going to buy convention photo op tickets and purposely exclude O'Donoghue" are the same "those people who bought bots to increase Jennifer Morrison's Twitter followers."  I like to think they're incredibly wealthy, anarchy-minded fandom trolls (literal trolls -- like the kind who live under bridges) with wireless access, who like to cause mischief -- getting different parts of the fandom to hate each other.

[Rumsy4]

After how some people treated Sean, I'm a little worried about Colin. Hopefully it'll work out okay.

[Shanna Marie]

I've wondered how much of the SwanQueen hysteria might be a bit of performance art by trolls rather than true believers. There are certainly some true believers who seem sincere in their fandom (presenting actors with printed copies of SwanQueen porn in real life would be going a bit beyond performance art), but when they pop up in comment threads (like with that American Gothic parody photo of Jen and Colin), there's such a party-line sameness about what's posted, in a very similar "voice" and sometimes even the exact same phrasing, even from different people, that it starts to look like many of the posters are sock puppets of one person, and that one person doesn't even seem to be that sincere, just copying and pasting the same over-the-top rant. It struck me as maybe one person stirring things up, enjoying making the SwanQueeners look like idiots and watching everyone else react to the rants. I started picturing one guy who doesn't even watch the show amusing himself by popping into various forums to stir things up and see how far he can get other people to go, like with the "rapist" party line about Hook or the attempts to get Sean fired. The true believers take the bait and run with it, and then the Captain Swan faction reacts, and the troll is vastly amused.

[Rumsy4]

There have been sock puppets for sure (we know of at least one incident). However, there is nothing surprising about the similar turn of phrases used by sub-sections of fandom. Even in this board, we have "TSTW", and "REC". All "movements" develop stock lines they can use easily to get their point across. It's more about people imitating each other's phraseology, rather than one or two sock puppets going about posting everywhere.

[Shanna Marie]

3 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

It's more about people imitating each other's phraseology, rather than one or two sock puppets going about posting everywhere.

This was more like entire sentences, word for word, with identical (incorrect) punctuation. In some cases, it was an obvious copy-paste of the same post, and that post showed up in multiple comment threads. It almost looked like someone had a macro that would automatically post this comment to anything tagged as relating to this show, and either this macro was something created within that fan group and distributed so that everyone used it to create multiple responses with the party line or one person was using it on multiple accounts. We may have a few stock lines in discussion, but I think each of us uses them in a slightly different way, and we definitely have distinct phrasing around those stock lines. We don't have the same two or three sentences that are repeated exactly and are posted in every single thread by multiple people, whether or not they have anything to do with the thing they're responding to.

[Rumsy4]

That's been part of the strategy of some of these morbid "fans" for years now. Repeat things until people have an "epiphany" that those harassing them have been right all along. Again, I don't doubt there are sock puppets and trolls, but I can't believe it's just one or two people causing all the kerfuffle all the time. Plus there are all these stories from cons and set-stalkers and tumblr. Toxic fandom behavior is too widespread to be caused by one person. 

Edited August 29, 2016 by Rumsy4

[Serena]

4 hours ago, Eolivet said:

I'm starting to think "those people who are going to buy convention photo op tickets and purposely exclude O'Donoghue" are the same "those people who bought bots to increase Jennifer Morrison's Twitter followers."  I like to think they're incredibly wealthy, anarchy-minded fandom trolls (literal trolls -- like the kind who live under bridges) with wireless access, who like to cause mischief -- getting different parts of the fandom to hate each other.

To be fair, buying Twitter followers is really cheap.

But buying a couple JMo/COD photo op just to exclude Colin? You're basically giving him 70$ just so you can... what, make a millionaire actor cry in his pillow at night that a bunch of whiny brats on the Internet don't like him? I WISH every person who didn't like me showed it by giving me money.

[Hookian]

7 hours ago, Rumsy4 said:

After how some people treated Sean, I'm a little worried about Colin. Hopefully it'll work out okay.

Rest assured Jennifer is not Lana and she probably will have something to say.

[TheGreenKnight]

4 hours ago, Hookian said:

Rest assured Jennifer is not Lana and she probably will have something to say.

Are there legitimate reasons we should see Lana Parilla as a morally inferior person to Jennifer Morrison?

[Stuffy]

1 hour ago, TheGreenKnight said:

Are there legitimate reasons we should see Lana Parilla as a morally inferior person to Jennifer Morrison?

Where did anyone say Lana is morally inferior?  Jennifer is obviously closer to Colin than Lana to Sean.  She's stood up to people in the past when it came to her friendship with Colin. 

Edited August 30, 2016 by Stuffy

[TheGreenKnight]

Well, the implied statement was that Morrison is a better human being than Parrilla and she will surely defend Colin. I find many things said about Lana here honestly very disturbing.

[sharky]

I get that, but I also feel like Lana's online footprint is part of why there's a different perception of her. Her fans are more rabid than others on the show -- particularly on Twitter. There are SQ fans who have bullied JMo or Sean because they stood in the way of the SQ dream and Lana never did anything to push back against that. In fact, she encourages the SQ fans, who then get pissed off at JMo because she won't do the same thing and would obviously prefer to support the canon ship. So it's probably more of a fan issue than a Lana issue and perhaps Lana isn't as tech or Twitter savvy as her fans -- may be hard to balance that with a full time acting job -- so there's a perception she doesn't care about the bullying fans when really she may not know what's going on.

[KAOS Agent]

Lana did defend Sean when some fans started attributing some really nasty things said about Sean to her personally. Like they'd met her and she'd told them how awful Sean was and now they needed to "protect" her or some such insanity. For the most part, I think ignoring the idiots from all corners of the fandom is very smart of the actors (Adam needs to work on this) and Lana generally does that. Once it started to get to a point where they claimed she was the source of the rumors about Sean, it was absolutely the time to deny any such thing and tell these people to shut the hell up. Which is exactly what she did.

[TheGreenKnight]

2 hours ago, sharky said:

I get that, but I also feel like Lana's online footprint is part of why there's a different perception of her. Her fans are more rabid than others on the show -- particularly on Twitter. There are SQ fans who have bullied JMo or Sean because they stood in the way of the SQ dream and Lana never did anything to push back against that. In fact, she encourages the SQ fans, who then get pissed off at JMo because she won't do the same thing and would obviously prefer to support the canon ship.

Why does Regina--oh, I forget, it's Lana we're talking about--assume responsibility for some crazy fans' actions anyway? Is it her job to issue defenses of her co-workers over minute BS? Is she obligated not to encourage some of her fans who may be a part of the SQ shipping community because blessed Jennifer Morrison decided they should not do so? I'm sure there are many SQ fans who do not police Twitter and issue death threats to the show's writers/cast because their ship won't come true, and who get acknowledged by Lana because they are a dedicated part of the OUAT viewer base just as much as CS fans and Rumbelle fans.

[Shanna Marie]

Both have tended to respond primarily when it's something that could affect someone's real-life reputation. Lana did shut things down when they were starting the rumors that Sean was being fired for sexual harassment, while Jen chided fans about being respectful when fans were getting excited about her and Colin having "coffee," reminding them that he's married and that his wife is her good friend. Otherwise, we don't know what goes on behind the scenes -- if they have an agreement to ignore stuff that doesn't affect anyone in real life, if they have staff that likes and retweets stuff for them, if they laugh about wacky things fans say and don't let it get to them, etc. I don't know if there's any evidence that Lana and Jen don't get along. They just apparently don't socialize as much away from work as Jen and Colin do. That doesn't mean they don't like each other, just that maybe she likes Colin (or his wife) more or that she and Colin have more in common, or she likes playing with his kid and dog, or whatever.

[sharky]

Although a lot of your examples are based on her not reeling in the SQ fandom, and I think that may be where the lines between Lana and her fans get blurred. There have been many times when SQ fans have told CS fans they need to take out their trash or speak up against the bad behaving CS fans. But no one ever calls out SQ for their behavior. They rip on JMo for CS fans behavior and they rip on her for posting pics of her and Colin, but they don't complain about Lana. And when things are said to Adam that he defends on Twitter -- not always the best way -- no one asks Lana to speak out.

That being said, the projecting onto Jen that she is a lesbian is not exclusive to her. Lana crazy enough gets it too. 

Edited August 30, 2016 by sharky

[RadioGirl27]

Quote

Why does Regina--oh, I forget, it's Lana we're talking about--assume responsibility for some crazy fans' actions anyway? 

You know, the reasons why I dislike Lana have nothing to do with the reasons why I dislike her character. I don't like Lana because I don't like the way she handles herself in interviews, social media and cons (some videos I've seen from last year in Rio are embarrassing). It has nothing to do with the character she is playing, or with the reasons why I dislike that character. If she was playing Emma, I would not like her either. 

[Curio]

Maybe we should all take a deep breath and move on to an entirely different topic...

[daxx]

The CS fandom from tumblr is testing out imzy. The fact there are leaders of the community should help the environment a lot. Prevent a lot of the nonsense we see on Twitter and tumblr.

I joined so we'll see how it goes. I have 5 invites if anyone is interested.

[Souris]

What the heck is imzy?? I've never heard of it, despite being in the CS fandom on tumblr.

Edited August 30, 2016 by Souris

[daxx]

Blog space, like tumblr except seems to be geared toward fandom. Example there are community leaders that can moderate and have rules.

[mjgchick]

Nah I'm good. I go on Tumblr to reblogg pretty gifs of things I like and get to know new people I guess.

[TheGreenKnight]

14 hours ago, evagreenbean said:

If it was Colin or Jen or Sean admitting to reading explicit fanfiction, or sitting down with the producers to change the script... can you imagine the hate the would get??? As for 'blessed' Jennifer not giving attention to the fandom that attacks her viciously more than any other ship... a) do you blame her?? b) SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO. Swan Queen is the luckiest fanon ship in the world to recieve the acknowledgment they do. Does Leanne have to ask about a fictional ship in official interviews? Did Jennifer have to include swan queen in a tweet about captain swan tea??? No. If you are a fan of a tv show or celebrity, you're not entitled to ANYTHING. You're not owed anything, no matter how 'dedicated' you are. You are not owed attention from either actress or the writers. No matter how terribly Adam and Lana handle the rabid part of the SQ fandom, they are owed n o t h i n g. The effort and time These fans put into the show is their own fault. These are the same 'dedicated fans who send ' get cancelled' tweets to ABC. Other fandoms such as CS do have horrible haters/creepy fans too and there may be nice SQers, but the nice part of the fandom and 'dedication' does and should not condone the type of the entitled behaviour the bad apples of the SQ fandom have. 

Uh...I think you missed the point--or rather flew off into space from there to something about fan entitlement--which was that Lana should not be crucified because she does acknowledge SQ fans. I really don't care if Morrison does or doesn't respond to SQers, it's her prerogative, but to act like it's a sin on Lana Parrilla's part because she sometimes caters to sections of the viewer base and her fanbase because Morrison chooses not to is absolutely ridiculous.

[Serena]

20 hours ago, daxx said:

The CS fandom from tumblr is testing out imzy. The fact there are leaders of the community should help the environment a lot. Prevent a lot of the nonsense we see on Twitter and tumblr.

I joined so we'll see how it goes. I have 5 invites if anyone is interested.

I didn't know they were testing out imzy! Despite being in pre-pre beta, I already like it a lot. It's certainly better for conversation and meta (with its comment system) than Tumblr.

I also have a bunch of invites if people want to join.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Serena

[RedKeep]

2 hours ago, evagreenbean said:

Fandom entitlement is linked directly to Lana's acknowledgement of SQ fans, actually HOW she acknowledges them. It's not a sin, but it's how she queerbaits them and the fact that she does it. And the things she says in cons that don't add up to what we see in the show and Regina and Emma's relationship that makes her problem a behaviour. Actually its more of the opposite: Jennifer gets hate from SQERS because she doesn't cater to them the way Lana does.

It's a tricky situation, though, and I'm not sure there is one indisputably correct way of going about it. Especially in a day and age where social media/the internet has helped in making fandoms in general feel incredibly entitled and in creating this illusion of knowing more about those involved with our favorite tv shows that sometimes makes it even easier for fans to put people on pedestals or villainize them, depending on their POV. (I will say that the Morrison/O'Donoghue vs. Parrilla/Maguire discussion on this page weirded me out a bit, too. Both pairs appear to me like they get along well and developed a friendship during their time working together, but personally I wouldn't feel like I'm in a position to judge who's closer to whom and whose friendship is deeper or more genuine based on what little I may see of them respectively during their moments of public interaction.)

I mean, I have my issues with the vocal online SQ fanbase and the way those involved with the show have dealt with them, but I do understand the desire not to paint everyone who likes the SQ idea with the same brush and I understand wanting to acknowledge them as part of one's fanbase as well. In the case of OUAT, there have definitely been cases of baiting and that's on those who - intentionally or not - did reach out in such a questionable manner. But I believe there have also been examples of fans reading more into mere acknowledgement, either because they desperately want to believe a member of the cast/crew is on their side or because they'd rather have cast/crew reject certain ideas and the fans that come with them as a whole.

Conventions kind of add to the idea of being entitled to something as well, I feel, because fans and cast alike attend them with the knowledge in mind that a lot of money has been spent on tickets and extras. Hence, a certain percentage of fans may feel entitled to getting exactly what they want out of their interaction with the cast because they "paid for it" and actors may feel a bit of pressure to "perform" and make sure all fans leave the event with what they came for. In a way that's part of why I completely understand actors who don't like to do cons. I'm afraid I'd be the kind of person who would end up trying to please everyone, even though my head might very well understand that's impossible, too.

One thing the smaller, European based cons in particular need to get better at, though, is checking what's okay for fans to bring for actors to sign or pose with during photo-ops and managing expectations. That's why actors have handlers at these events and that's something the staff should enforce as well. Apparently that hasn't happened (effectively enough) at the Paris con repeatedly and from what I understand that's one reason why the boss lady managing most of the OUAT cast in terms of their con appearances was present in Paris this year, stepped in when they started to make the same mistakes again and decided not to work with them again next year too. No idea who's managing O'Donoghue, but I'd imagine he could benefit from having someone like that in his corner next summer, too.

[daxx]

Here's the link. Not sure it works without a log in but you all could test that.

https://www.imzy.com/captain_swan

[Curio]

The thing I don't understand is how the SQ fandom has gotten as large and as vocal as it has, and why the show's creators and actors treat their fandom with the same significance as the other True Love couples. Like, how did that even happen? In terms of how canon their "ship" is on the actual show, they're literally at the same level as Hook/David, Snow/Regina, or Regina/Zelena. The show's creators and actors don't bend over backwards to appease those fandoms or talk excessively about them all the time at cons and interviews, so why give the SQ fandom the false sense of entitlement (and, I dislike the word baiting, but it's kind of applicable here) by always lumping them with the other canon couples? Just because they have a very vocal online fandom doesn't mean the creators and actors have to appease them. Colin and Josh teased about filming Captain Charming "bromantic" scenes at Comic Con, but fans of that ship are smart enough to know that the pairing is never going to happen in canon, and those fans use online fandom as a fun way to interact with other fans of Hook/David without pissing off other portions of the fandom. The same epiphany needs to happen with the SQ fandom.

Edited August 31, 2016 by Curio

[tri4335]

I don't attend CONs but the more I learn about them if I was in that industry I would dread going to them. I understand that it helps your popularity and gives you a percentage of the profits, which would increase your chance of work and your bottom line.  However, it seems very "dance puppet dance!" and that would just suck. 

[Curio]

2 minutes ago, tri4335 said:

However, it seems very "dance puppet dance!" and that would just suck. 

Cons are a strange mixture of fun entertainment and cringeworthy secondhand embarrassment. I really enjoy conventions where the actors are allowed to speak intelligently about their roles or discuss behind the scenes anecdotes, but it seems like the OUAT conventions are starting to cater to the lower common denominator, and that's where we get awkward "dance monkey, dance!" scenes. Watching Colin and the actor who plays Hades awkwardly stand on stage while everyone else around them dance to a cheesy Katy Perry song is not what I want to see at a convention. Even Comic Con this year—which is usually one of the better conventions—treaded more into monkey dancing than actual interesting interviews.

I also think a lot of fans have a hard time putting themselves in the shoes of the actors. Even though the actors might go along with "funny" photoshoot poses, it doesn't mean they're necessarily comfortable doing them. I've seen several fans trying to justify pushing Colin away in a Captain Swan photo op because he was a "good sport" when he did a pose like that with Lana, so surely he must not mind. But when you're an actor posing for thousands of photos and a fan asks for an awkward photo like that, what are you going to do...say no? The fan paid hundreds of dollars for the photo op, and you don't want to be that guy. So sure, an actor might go along with a funny photo, but on the inside, they might be thinking, "This is pretty weird. Just smile and collect your check..." Maybe some more extroverted actors don't care about the "dance monkey, dance!" stuff, but I get the impression that the more introverted actors seem a bit more uncomfortable in those situations.

[Rumsy4]

47 minutes ago, Curio said:

The thing I don't understand is how the SQ fandom has gotten as large and as vocal as it has, and why the show's creators and actors treat their fandom with the same significance as the other True Love couples. Like, how did that even happen? In terms of how canon their "ship" is on the actual show, they're literally at the same level as Hook/David, Snow/Regina, or Regina/Zelena. The show's creators and actors don't bend over backwards to appease those fandoms or talk excessively about them all the time at cons and interviews, so why give the SQ fandom the false sense of entitlement (and, I dislike the word baiting, but it's kind of applicable here) by always lumping them with the other canon couples? Just because they have a very vocal online fandom doesn't mean the creators and actors have to appease them. 

I blame Adam. It's Adam's desire to appease all fans that has led to most of this entitled attitude, IMO. He is desperate to be liked, and he engages with the haters the most, becasue he wants to convince them to like him. In the earlier seasons (ie S3 and before) he used to tweet "have hope" to ALL shippers, including any and all--CS, SQ, SF, Rumbelle, etc., etc.. Then, somebody must have clued him on to the fact that he was intentionally giving people false hope, and he stopped doing that. But by then the damage was done. 

People who make the most noise are the ones that will be heard. In that sense, some of Regina's fans seem to be just like the character they love. They play the fandom victims as well as Regina plays the victim in the Show. Considering how much Adam loved Regina, it's no surprise he caters to her fans and encourages them. Whenever they brought "complaints" to him, he attempted to address them and set things right, probably becasue he knew the Ship would never happen in the Show, but wanted to show he was fair to "all" fans of the Show, and didn't play favorites. The fact that some of those very fans were harassing other actors like Ginny, Jen, or Sean doesn't seem to matter to him. 

I do think Lana panders to her SQ fanbase, but who can blame her? This is probably the first time she has been this popular, and as many of her fans are SQ shippers, she plays up to them. I do have my reservations about some of her actions (for example tweeting that she wanted Marian to die when the actress was getting bullied by online fans, and quoting explicit fanfiction at the con). IMO, Jen's refusal to cater to bullies is why she has stopped pandering to a certain section of fandom. I think the cast and crew get along with one another very well, overall. But saying Jen and Lana hate each other--none of us can know anything that personal. 

[Curio]

2 minutes ago, Rumsy4 said:

tweeting that she wanted Marian to die when the actress was getting bullied by online fans

Well, A&E literally wrote Regina as wanting to kill Marian at the beginning of 4A...we can blame the writers for that one.