Ok. Hi. Hello. It’s me again. Yes I don’t want to make a long post again but here we are. Just want to say before I start, this is not aimed at anyone specifically, it’s aimed at the TSC fandom in general.
Right. So. The topic I want to talk about is the topic of disliking characters. It’s always been a controversial topic but I just want to talk about it for a bit. I am in no way trying to change anyone’s opinion on any character, I only intend to bring awareness to spreading hatred and unkindness in relation to these characters.
Let’s start with talking about disliking characters. Everyone relates to different characters and enjoys some more than others. That’s totally understandable! Some characters may have done terrible things and that’s why we don’t like them, they may just not gel with you and that is completely fine. You don’t need to give a reason for disliking a character. However on the flip side of that, no one has to give a reason for liking a character. It may be a character that many many people hate eg Jace Herondale, but that still doesn’t mean that somebody who likes them has to justify it. Let’s use Jace as an example. Let’s say that somebody likes him and his character. They DO NOT have to explain why. Adding to that, they CANNOT be branded as somebody who ‘only likes straight white males who have daddy issues’ or something of that variety (unless there is blatant discrimination shown from that person against other sexualities, races, religions etc). You do not know why somebody likes a character and therefore cannot go around assuming that somebody is discriminatory. What if the person relates to that character? What if they see themself in that character? What if they have grown with that character? You don’t know how someone feels about a character therefore you can’t go around assuming things like that. Key word being assume - don’t think that you know it all because most likely, you don’t.
Now that we understand that, let’s talk about the hatred. There is so much bloody hatred in this fandom and I’m kind of sick of it. Let’s say you don’t like a character. That’s fine! That’s completely fine. Do you know what’s not fucking fine? Shitting on that character. Filling tags full of hatred. I understand that you may severely dislike a character but that doesn’t mean that you should go around upsetting those who do and making them feel bad for liking that character. A friend of mine has been told many times to ‘find a new favourite character’. Excuse me? Who gave you the right to say that? Who gave you the right to come and decide who somebody should like or not like?
Have none of y’all heard the saying ‘If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it’?
Yes, fandoms are a place to discuss and a place to find others who think the way you do, but it is NOT a place where you can come to upset other people’s fandom experience and make them feel guilty for liking somebody. Going back to Jace, some of you are so, so hyprocritical. Alastair made mistakes when he was young but he’s grown from it. The fandom accepts that and wants him to grow. Will made mistakes and grew from them. The fandom accepts that and loves him. Grace made many mistakes. We don’t know if she’ll be redeemed. Some of the fandom (coincidentally some who hate Jace), have decided that all is forgiven and that she should be shown all the love and should be wrapped in a blanket. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying any of those characters shouldn’t be loved by the fandom. Again, it’s up to personal preference. But can you see the hypocrisy here? Jace made mistakes. He grew. But here the fandom thinks ‘I pretend I do not see it’. Some of you still call him homophobic. Tell me something. Would a homophobic man happily walk his (male) parabatai down the aisle to marry another GUY? Would he? I think you’ll find the answer is no. Jace happily walked his parabatai down the aisle to marry a guy. He is not homophobic. So... y’all see what I’m saying here right? We can’t make others feel guilty for liking a character that everyone hates even though they have the same redemption arc as others who everyone loves. Again, I’m not trying to change anyone’s opinion, I’m just trying to shed light onto why hating and making others feel guilty is NOT okay.
Overall I just want to say, like the characters you want to like. Dislike the characters you want to dislike. But please, for the love of God, be KIND about it. There are ways to discuss subjects without making others feel guilty for liking something/someone or spreading lots and lots of hate on them.
Just going to tag @christopherlightwood @beclynn-herondale @tsc-clave @khaleesiofalicante because I want your opinion on this.
