#fandom is for transforming and re-imagining if you don't actually want to change anything then just go rewatch the show

[knuckleslove]

Hii sorry I need to rant a bit to someone about some sonic characterization discussions happening because I feel gasslit by some fans. You can ignore this if you want.

Like there are people that say that Sonic wouldn't be changed at all if Tails were to die...

Like yes sonic is someone who is very positive and doesn't let pain bring him down but he HAS emotions. And his friends are what is most important to him. He has shown in multiple times that they are his priority.

He's not gonna become a solemn guy who never smiles ever again but it would affect him. It feels like such a shallow read on his character when people think of him as just this "cool guy who only lives in the moment and is always 100% completely confident in everything he does and never falters and never shows pain etc."

He literally mourns for shadow in SA2 and chip in unleashed...

Sometimes I think some people don't want sonic to be anything but Cool guyTM while these same people keep talking about how sonic is never cocky or rude...

I feel like we are playing different games reading different comics and watching different movies...

Hmm, I’ll be honest, I really don’t tend to engage in the discourse.

I do agree with you—of course Sonic has feelings. Of course he would be affected by losing Tails. Personally, I might say, in general he values simplicity in life, but surely feels deeply about many things. He has convictions. He loves his friends.

I do think collectively we can agree to disagree about what that would actually look like in practice. Would you never notice his pain because he hides it all away? Is he truly so sage that he can deal with and release those feelings so quickly unlike anyone else? Or would that be the moment you finally see him cry?

I think it’s helpful to acknowledge that across fan spaces we do not all engage in fandom in the same way. You’ll sometimes hear this described as curative and transformative fandom. For some, fandom is about intricately knowing the source material. Perhaps about collecting and understanding it deeply in its purest form. That would be curative. For others, fandom is more something ripe to be expanded on—to be re-imagined in whatever way is pleasing to you. This is fanfiction and an art and so much more—Transformative. Neither one is right or wrong, and many if not most people probably fall somewhere in between these two ideas depending on the subject. It’s just helpful, I think, sometimes, when you engage with other fans, and run into those extreme differences of opinion, to ask yourself—are we even engaging in this the same way? Is that why we can’t see eye to eye? Does this thing perhaps just mean something very different to us?

Now of course if you engage with other fans, and encounter people who treat you and others unkindly because of those differences of opinion, the best thing you can do is just walk away. Block if you need to.

At the end of the day with these kinds of things you HAVE to choose joy for yourself.

I do understand the frustration. I’ve been there too. I’ve been that person who hates something when everyone else seems to love it, and loves something when everyone else hates it. There were times in fandom where I felt SO disappointed about all the new things that came out, or annoyed and confused about other people’s opinions about the thing I love. But, having been in fandom for a long time—in THIS specific fandom for a long, long, time, I can tell you it’s just more fun if you can learn to let that stuff go. Or at least shift your focus to the specific parts that do still bring you joy.

And I’m not saying do it now immediately overnight. I’ve had many years to come to this conclusion. And it’s also not like I don’t still have opinions. I do. Strong ones, still. But I only give time to the ones that make me happy. Or, I share the other ones with trusted friends.

If you can, seek out people who do share how you feel, and engage with them. That is where you will find friends. People who you can have these discussions with genuinely and vent too with out unkind push back. We do all need to vent some times. And on that note, if you need to vent more, send me message instead of an ask. I’m happy to listen. ♡

This probably isn’t the answer you were looking for. I really don’t mean to be lecture-y. It’s just the best, honest, advice I can pass along. Fandom should be fun and full of joy, but sometimes you do have to chose to make it that way for yourself. -Best

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

People who play the Canon Police are the most insufferable human beings alive and I would not at all be surprised if they had no friends aksndousbf

I hate it when people get so pissed off whenever I ship two people that aren't canonically a couple and they're like, 'why do you ship them? they have no romantic feelings towards each other' like damn, you must be boring at parties if you only ship canon couples. Get your shit together

[thisdiscontentedwinter]

DUDE. Re: the aging up purity wank. I recently finished The Umbrella Academy (100% recommend bee tee dubs) and went trawling the tag of my favorite character to see if there was any interesting fan content. And what do I see, lo and behold, but a couple of posts calling anyone who ships this character romantically a pedo, and they "don't care if you age him up, or that he's canonically actually 58"- because YES. This character is canonically a 58 year old man who has the ability (1/4)

to jump through time, and is now in his 13 year old body. And they think if you take a character that is mentally a 58 year old man, who has canonically changed physical ages before, and you change his physical age again and put him in a romantic relationship that that means you are a pedo. ??????? HE IS 58. HE HAS CHANGED PHYSICAL AGE BEFORE. WHY WOULD IT BE GROSS TO CHANGE HIS PHYSICAL AGE AGAIN? (2/4)

The OP said that because he was portrayed by a 15 year old that that meant you were picturing a 15 year old in sexual situations. ?????? HE IS ALSO PORTRAYED BY 60 YEAR OLD DUDE AT TIMES. Also unlike some people I can apparently use my imagination and imagine him being portrayed by a 30 year old dude if I want to put him in that age body. Have these people never heard of a fancast? They were a big thing in fandom just a few years ago. (¾)

I’m just so done with purity wank that doesn’t even understand the basic concept of a transformative work, the key word there being TRANSFORMATIVE. Use your freaking imaginations people! (4/4)

DW: It’s one of the most ridiculous things in the world to say that you can’t possibly take a character who is 15 and write a story of them set 10 years in the future, or write an AU where everything’s the same except they’re aged up, or write a story where they’re suddenly going to Hogwarts, except it’s on the moon for some reason, and also they are space cops because why not, but changing their age means you’re a pedophile.

Like firstly, if you were a pedophile, why would you change their age at all? 

And again, these are not real people. This is not a real 15 year old, this is not the real world, and there is no actual crime taking place. 

And while doing it to a character who can canonically change ages is even more ridiculous, it still doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with doing it to canonically teen characters to begin with. Like if I want to write a Harry Potter story where Harry Potter is in his 20s, then no, I am absolutely not imagining him as the 11 year old he was when the books started. I am imagining him as an adult, who has grown and developed from that child. 

The whole “raging a character up is pedophilia” is a stupid argument from stupid people.