My best advice is mostly the same for getting into any section of online fandom– post what you love, and block what you hate.

if there are vocal people who are nasty or just uncomfortable to be around, just block them. You don’t have to wait for them to be nasty directly to you.

Likewise, being friendly and outgoing goes a long way in the selfship community. I find that the best way to make friends is to interact with other people’s self ship posts– comment, reblog, etc– and to send people prompt asks off anon.

Engagement begets engagement. Sure there will be some people who will call you “cringe” but those are not fun people to be around anyway.

darkheart-despairs