Hi Sinister. I hope you all don’t mind a vent. I’ve been worried about posting about my F/Os because I see posts that people say that they hate when a character is mischaracterized by the fandom. I feel like I’d be doing a disservice to those people if I post stuff about my relationship with my F/Os of a certain fandom. (No specifics, sorry.) People in that fandom seem very protective of the characters being in character all the time. (Which isn’t wrong or anything, it just makes me feel very nervous about posting when it comes to the way I enjoy the characters.) I saw a post about someone ranting about how people that flanderize the characters of this specific fandom should just move to other fandoms that are more lighthearted, because there’s plenty of those out there. Compared to other fandoms I’m in, this one is just really divisive for me because I’m definitely flanderizing the characters in my writing. I have strong feelings for the characters but the way that I write them is more opposite to their canon personalities. (Not totally opposite, but the characters are less violent.) Have any of you had a similar experience, or any tips on how to move past this? Idk how to not take those kind of posts about people not liking the characters being ooc too seriously. 🙁
Hey friend. I’m sorry you’re feeling so rough about this. I can definitely understand the source of your discomfort – it’s never fun to feel like you’re doing something that other people are vocally complaining about.
But I do think that you’re taking it too seriously, and I don’t mean that in a way to belittle you or make light of your feelings. But I remind you that we are our own harshest critics.
Please remember that fandom is supposed to be for fun first and everything else second. And that means fun for you.
Characters don’t belong to anyone in fandom. They’re like dolls for you to play with.
And you are allowed to play with the doll however you want to, even if other people say how you are playing is “wrong”.
There is no one true correct interpretation any media or character. Your interpretation is as valid as anyone else’s.
Anyone who doesn’t like seeing your posts about the character is perfectly capable of scrolling away from your posts, filtering your tags, of blocking you.
They can say “he would not say that” all they like, but you can keep writing whatever you like.
You do not owe anyone “in character” interpretations, fic or headcanons.
Your shipping is for you, and you don’t need to change it for anybody.
If you really want to show you’re being an extra good sport about it, feel free to specify that your version of the character is an AU version. You can even given them a designation like nice!character or my version!character and tag them that way!
Sending good vibes your way, and keep shipping! 💖
Discussion ¬