I guess that I should clarify that when I said casual fans, I meant that I talk to readers that will buy comics monthly, they just aren't as hardcore enough to come on a message board and talk about every little thing in a comic. I will meat them in comic shops, but also places like libraries, book stores, and collectible shops.
I hadn't meant for the topic about less hardcore fans to only include shipping. They also will tend to have some differing opinions on different comic runs, or story lines. The group think and complaining on this forum isn't shared by the overall fandom on many things.
I think that this plays a large role as to why Angel/X-23 was disliked. I read the teen Cyclops/X-23 story as set up for Laura to have an unrequited love story with Cyclops. Seeing as Bendis was really into Cyclops/Jean, I always doubted that he wanted Scott/Laura. The Cyclops/X-23 story just really took off on this forum. I have to admit that I liked Cyclops/X-23. I think that I didn't care for Angel/X-23 because I just felt that there wasn't enough set up. Just my opinion.
I try to talk to as many different groups of fans as I can also. It's interesting to me to see opinions that are different than mine, and find out why people have different opinions from mine. I like the CBR forum, and enjoy posting here, but it's not always the best place to come for a dissenting discussion. I've seen some people who don't go along with orthodox group think really get shut down. CBR is still a lot better than some other sites that I have seen. So yay for us.
I haven't seen X-Men Apocalypse, or Bohemian Rhapsody. So I don't know exactly drives those ships. But, good for those shippers if they are having fun with it.
We've all noticed your dogmatic, and obsessive hammering of your favorite ships. You dogmatic hater of every thing that doesn't come from the 90's .
I find extreme shipping to be a little creepy also. It just seems a little strange to me to get that caught up in the love life of fictional characters.
I ship a few things like Archangel/Moonstar, but mostly I just read the stories. Right now, I'd like to read more about Chamber/Jubilee, just because I think it could lead to some fun, new stories. I'm really opposed to Archangel/Psylocke, Scott/Jean, and Havok/Polaris. I just find their stories to be played out and toxic for the characters. I'd just rather read new stories involving new pairings than nostalgia pairings.Good for anyone else who enjoys old pairings, though. That's as far as I go with having feelings about particular ships.