Inspiration for this article goes to: loveissweet19, NateHeartSerena, eve_k, STEFIdi for the title, delenaluv, and HaleyDewit

Maybe it's because when I joined this spot, DE fans were only in the hundreds, but I can't help but feel immensely proud of how much we've grown, and of how passionate and perceptive and smart the Delena fans I've encountered are. Have you ever been on tumblr or YouTube and read a comment by another DE fan that you hadn't thought about before, but made you go: 'Wow! So true!' Or sometimes someone can tap into a feeling about DE that you'd felt before but weren't able to articulate. It's uncanny. 'I feel like I know you all personally just because you ship DE, how weird is that?' one fan on YouTube posted.
But there's an ugly side too. I daresay some of you have been confronted with it at some point. Like the articles that can be found on other spots by authors who paint an unflattering picture of the DE fanbase, villifying them, taunting them, labelling them as 'sick', 'rabid', downright freakish individuals who can't tell the difference between reality and fiction. As if that wasn't bad enough, they then state that the DE fanbase bullies other ships into submission, calling them horrible names, making their lives a misery, making it impossible for them to enjoy watching the show to the point where they want to quit, and generally calling DE the worst fanbase of the entire show.
The purpose of this article is not to claim that Delena fans are perfect. I have personally never come across any of the examples listed above, but I'm sure that tragically, they sometimes occur. Nor do I wish to use this article to retaliate against other ships. I just want to point out that some of their claims are unjust and perhaps unfounded. I hope it doesn't come across as ranting, but I think that enough is enough. I don't think it's fair that other spots can post endless articles about why and how much they detest Delena and us, while we remain silent on the matter. Should we care about what they think? Perhaps not, but when it comes to the damage these 'hate attack' articles can cause, then I think we should at least question their views, because if we don't, they will just continue thinking the worst of us.

The first time I discovered a hate-fuelled article on another spot, I was horrified. I clicked on it because it was about Delena, and I was curious about what the author thought. I couldn't even bear to read it all. The author made no bones about how much she despised Delena, and the fans. I looked at the comments accompanying it. Most of them applauded her for telling the truth, and joined in with the bashing. I escaped back to the DE spot, as if I was fleeing for my life.
These articles you might refer to as 'bashing' are what I call 'hate speech'. They sometimes look fairly innocuous on the outside, because they usually take the guise of something else. The author may even feign innocence by professing the article is 'not bashing!' But when you take a closer look, you realise that's exactly what it is. Upon closer examination, the author's true motives for publishing the article, along with their real feelings - come to light. Their intense hatred for Delena means it's not possible for them to write objectively.
'Hate speech' is potentially damaging for several reasons. 1.) By villifying Delena and the fans, the author succeeds in causing people who already hate them, to hate them even more.
2). It increases feelings of discontent and dissatisfaction among the author's fanbase, thus making them ever more depressed, resentful and angry.
3.)It perpetuates shipper wars. Word gets around. Delena fans get wind of the article, are shocked, infuriated, and hate the author of the article/fanbase, who hate us in return, and post another article...and so it goes on.

Hate speech is more than a rant. We might read something that upset us, and go to the rant thread to get it off our chest. It helps, we cool down...and forget about it. But articles that bash another fanbase are a bit different. For one thing, the author has to take the time and effort to write the article. And if he/she abhors Delena and the fans so much...then why would they even take the trouble to do that?? If I didn't enjoy writing articles for this spot, then I wouldn't bother to do it. One can only assume that the person who writes such articles likes to write them. Which can only mean...they don't just HATE Delena. They ENJOY HATING THEM. I know that's a weird concept. If you hate something, then how can you enjoy it? I know it's confusing, but I don't see how you can explain it any other way.

Maybe Delena and the fans aren't always the root of the problem then. I'm not saying they never do anything to upset other shippers. I just can't help wondering if Delena would be such an issue if other ships weren't obsessed with hating them. Another thing that exacerbates it might have little to do with the fans, but how the triangle is progressing in the show. After all this time, Stelena are no longer the golden, untouchable couple. I bet there are fans out there who shocked at this, because they never really believed that Delena could, or would happen. But Delena are happening, and that has nothing to do with us. So they should be angry at the writers, not the fans or even Delena. Am I trying to make excuses for the incidents when a DE fan harrassed a Bamon/SE fan? Absolutely not. But nor can I - or anyone here who wasn't directly involved - be held responsible for what happened. How can the majority of the DE fanbase be held to ransom for the actions of a stranger? So a select number of people who ship DE were nasty towards someone on-line, but that's not our fault. How can we be guilty for something we didn't do? I'm not claiming that we're perfect by any means, but nor do I think it's right that we're constantly portrayed as the the worst TVD fandom when every fandom has its share of 'bad apples'. Moreover, if the DE fanbase was as bad as other ships make us out to be, nobody would want to join. My appeal to anyone who thinks all Delena shippers are the same is, please think again. As for those who can't stand the fact that we love Delena, there's nothing they can do about it. They can hate us as much as they want. They can write as many articles about it as they please. It won't change a thing. But the fact that they're so intent on hating Delena isn't our problem; it's their's. Why does it matter so much to them that we love DE? Why should they care, when they have their own ship? But again, the fact that they're obsessed with hating DE and anyone who ships them, isn't really our problem. Because everything is Delena. And nothing hurts.