To begin, I must say that this season was particularly difficult for me to process as a viewer and in the end I made a personal choice to dis-continue watching the show. If wewe have read any of my awali makala wewe know that I prefer Brucas to Leyton, but that does not blind me from the fact that many people upendo Leyton, au that there are histories and reasons, which ultimately could have brought either of them together. Therefore, I don't really understand where all this fighting over Brucas vs Leyton, and the animosity that comes along with it, stems. I mean seriously, while I at this point nearly vomit watching Leyton (yes that is the honest truth **apologies**) I don't expect everyone, let alone ANYONE, to agree. In fact, all that I expect is understanding that I am entitled to feeling that way, just as wewe are to feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
Furthermore, while I agree saying Leyton sucks over and over won’t bring Brucas back, giving a valid argument won’t either, and that fact starts to destroy even the most rationale and good hearted mashabiki out there. Along those same lines, there’s no difference in someone saying Brucas sucks! That didn’t will Brucas to break up, au bring Leyton back together…and I witness people uandishi that all the time. The way I see it, it goes both ways…so we have to learn to get over it, au better yet try to ignore it! Like any toddler, they will soon grow tired of the game, without the attention, and songesha on.
Not to mention, in my experience having haters has been a sign of strength, and should be considered a compliment! I mean how many mashabiki do wewe think alisema “Shaq sucks” au “Kobe sucks” after Shaq left the LA Lakers (Pro mpira wa kikapu team that won several titles w/ a duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaq Oneal) to play with the Miami Heat? TONS! In fact, I know guys who argue over it to this day, and it’s been YEARS! But we can’t help it can we? It is natural for us to rationalize situations of this nature, especially when it comes to wewe know… “break-ups”…and yea I’m gonna say it…we tend to put ourselves in a position where we FEEL like we HAVE to pick a TEAM, au pick sides…its how we are built. We learn from a very young age to align ourselves with ideals that suit our specific agendas; its how people survived 1,000’s of years ago. It is natural, but please…by no means am I saying that our very lives depend on these trivial decisions. Yes…even the one that brought us together spending hours on this site defending the honors of our particular fictional couple ship! LOL!
Now, I for one, having a very strong belief myself, understand that these sort of immature statements are merely a form of cathartic expression and do not get upset. However, when a person attacks a shabiki in any way that no longer focuses the subject matter on the couple at hand, but rather the fan’s view au feelings, that I find to be un-called for. This past season I would read posts and maoni on fanpop and become increasingly disheartened because this type of behavior was going on almost constantly. I do not doubt that this has been a long-standing phenomenon, however I only recently took greater notice. Regardless, I started to distance myself from this lovely community because IMO it started to lose a tremendous amount of respect for its fans.
Like I said, I think that the Leyton vs Brucas debate got out of control a long time ago. Every pick, every forum, every video was inexplicably warped into it. Now, I am only speaking for myself, but I believe other mashabiki may feel this same way. My beef, let’s call it that for fun, is that it seems a good number of mashabiki (on both sides) have missed the point and I can’t stress it enough… no matter who Lucas is with, no matter what circumstances brought him to that point, there will always be people who are unhappy! Even though I have never met (face-to-face) a single person in my life to like Leyton over Brucas (honestly, the closest I have gotten is a friend who hates Sophia’s voice so much that she can stand neither couple), I am not oblivious au ignorant enough to assume one side necessarily outweighs the other. In other words, Leyton may be the wrong couple for me, but they are the right couple for others, one of them being Mark Schwann himself.
With that being alisema I am fully aware that Mark, in interviews and throughout the show, gave us BLers certain reasons not to believe, to give up. Though as a true BL supporter, I never wavered from my original convictions and still hold BL close to my heart. That is my definition of what true faith is, “believing in the possibility…even when life has aliyopewa wewe every reason not to believe.” LP mashabiki recently got their wish, but that fact has no bearing on my upendo au faith in Brucas. I would never expect a shabiki of Leyton to throw in the towel, if the situation were reversed. Leyton has a strong fanbase, as does Brucas, and neither is universally right au wrong. So needless to say, not unlike Shaq and Kobe, both Brooke and Peyton are great for Lucas in their own way. They have completely different strengths and weaknesses… and contrary to the rules of basketball, in matters of upendo there is no room, au rather acceptance, for multiple players.
So, my point is…no matter what, relationships affect certain dynamics in the onyesha that we mashabiki all love, au upendo to hate. Being that both of Lucas’s leading ladies were part of the “core,” its zaidi complicated. The fact that Breyton are “best friends” makes it that much zaidi controversial. I think we sort of try to insert ourselves into the series kwa way of making judgments as though we literally lived through OTH. That’s when and how we begin to relate to the characters. We grow to “know” the central characters, and form opinions. The “what would I do in that situation” moment persists. zaidi importantly, somewhere along the line we ALL consciously au subconsciously find ourselves aligning with others zaidi than the rest, au in this case one couple au the other. The difference is, that process of feeling out situations is different when wewe are not physically present, au hmmmm not actually one of them!lol We still do it though…myself included…I mean no one can tell me that just because I have never met Brad Pitt in real life, au know the real story behind the Angie/Jen drama, that I don’t know what’s best for him! I think I do. Now, in the case of a TV show, because we see all different sides, I feel we sorta lose a sense of the characters individuality and the ability to judge situations from a single POV. We basically get to the point where we “know” too much; many times zaidi than the characters in which we are watching. Likewise, I think we can all agree that if we had a fly on the ukuta giving us a play kwa play we would have chosen an alternate course of action somewhere in our lives. Perhaps avoided a mistake au two? Unfortunately, for us, in real life this is not the case and we must remember that it is to be assumed that the characters of OTH do not have this luxury either. In all seriousness, we are the “perpetual flies” on the wall. And as much as we want to believe we are capable of making completely unbiased decisions, we aren’t. What I’m saying is…it’s NEVER simple to choose, but it’s often EASY.
Let me explain…each and every shabiki that watches OTH, au any onyesha for that matter, maoni it differently. Those perceptions are key, but what determines it varies immensely. There are plenty of elements to the puzzle, and all of these things translate, some way au another, into our personal viewpoint. That is the beauty of art…that is why we ALL watch(ed) OTH; because there is someone au something that each of us found special.
What au whom we define as special for us is unique and based on individual perception. This is what we must realize. When it’s all alisema and done we are left with an extremely complex paradigm, which we commonly refer to as shipping. Knowing this I don't get upset when I read most people's comments. I guess I have zaidi au less become de-sensitized. When I do get angry its usually when someone writes something, such as "Mark say's...yada yada," au uses what I believe to be an irrelevant concept, to explain why Brucas mashabiki are wrong au should give up, etc. I can see where people may turn to Mark for reassurance, he is after all the creator, but just because he says Leyton were meant to be from the pilot...it doesn't change the fact that in watching the onyesha things changed since then. Secondly, for a lot of people including myself, who did not gravitate to au ever believe in Leyton, those words prove nothing but the belief that Mark has preferred Leyton all along. wewe see, perceptions, and thus preferences, are subjective not objective…meaning there is no concrete science au logic regarding the show, au its couples. I think in terms of relationships we choose to ship our perceptions depend on several things including, but not limited to:
1. Personal life experiences; in both life and love.
2. Morals, Beliefs, and Values
3. Chemistry; and zaidi importantly how wewe define it.
4. Feelings; what is in your gut.
What determines a person’s ultimate preference in a particular couple is like a beautifully unspoken equation of these factors that everyone has pre-programmed into them. Since not one person is going to be exactly the same in all those areas, if any, no two people will ever view the onyesha in its entirety exactly the same. LP and BL are so opposite that it’s fairly obvious that the way a person reacts to each will be vastly different. Their upendo stories are different, Brooke and Peyton are different, the chemistry is different, their connection is different…and most importantly we are all different, including Mark.
I can’t argue with the fact that LP will most likely be together for the remainder of the show. If Mark chose to go in that direction, which currently it seems he has, it is pretty hard to disregard. However, like I said, I can still disagree with it, as wewe may agree au disagree with me. Mark can't create one couple that is absolute. I don’t think anyone can. He can manipulate the story, good au bad…he can’t as easily change the feelings in which we derive our convictions from. He went with his gut, and that was a risk he took knowingly…and he’s obviously gotten both praise and heat from his fans. Everything is discretionary. While wewe can have plenty of “valid” reasons au arguments for why any relationship is better, another person can see it totally opposite and in that light your solid logic becomes insignificant. The important thing is to remember that because of this we cannot expect au force anyone to share our views.
Okay…moving on…I get it, I really do, Leyton is TLA, right? Yes, some mashabiki agree and find Leyton perfect just the way they are. I do not, I cannot. OTH has aliyopewa us 6 amazing seasons and zaidi than 10 years of TH time to base our convictions upon. When I weigh out everything, when I really look deep into my heart, there is only one fact, which remains true, and that is that…Brucas was, is, and always will be the right couple for ME!
Sometimes, I think that Mark forgets au disregards those of us who disagree, who didn’t fall for LP as he did, and I think this is where a lot of the issues originate. It is at least where most of my anger and animosity stems. Whether that is fair, I dunno... but it is my hope that in kusoma this makala and the subsequent responses that we may all better understand and appreciate the “other side”. I may be naïve in this way of thinking but I feel this is the first step to reaching “peace.” The following points out personal “pet peeves” regarding BL/LP commentary in neutral zones, such as the OTH spot.
a. A reason for why wewe like Leyton/Brucas shouldn’t be, because they are TLA au FOREVER. Why are they TLA/FOREVER to wewe is what I want to know; not just their catch phrase, au if they have one au not.
b. A reason for why wewe dislike Leyton/Brucas shouldn’t be, Leyton/Brucas Sucks, and refrain from using derogatory words, au names such as PUCAS. While I am in no way offended kwa your sentiments I also quite frankly don’t care.
c. Explain, Explain, Explain! I can’t stress that enough. Go beyond: Brucas is over…get over it, au Leyton have no chemistry! What defines that for wewe should be clearly stated, in the most considerate way possible.
d. I capitalize wewe because it is always going to be YOUR opinion, and that alone.
For the sake of finding a common ground, I hope those who read this will make a stronger effort to be respectful of all fans!
No doubt about that!
Brooke Davis
