Ive seen a lot of discourse surrounding the latest AvA short with Victim and Mitsi, and despite the problems it's brought up, it also highlights one of the main reasons I love this fandom above all others.
I first found this series when the AvA IV came out. I was young, and I just liked watching the cool animation. I never looked into the story or characters or overarching plot, not at first. Then, about a year ago, I got back into it, and while the animation was still great, there was a new factor that drew me in.
For the first time, I really started interacting with others in a fandom space. The absolute creativity, drive, and passion in this community really amazed me. Everyone had their own takes and interpretation, and it was an open space to share them all with each other.
To me, that is what makes this series so great. The characters, while they have defining traits in the canon material, are largely up to interpretation. It promotes this element of digging deeper than what you see, using context to understand actions, and even using your own creative minds to make the world your own. There are flaws in the series and writing, yes, but honestly, I hardly pay attention to the canon writing. It's much more fun to interpret things how you want them to be, or how others see them.
With the example of the latest short, people are criticizing Mitsi's writing and portrayal, frankly, as they should be. But within that, people are sharing how they view it: Mitsi is impulsive, she wants to treat those she cares about, she is a gift-giver, etc. And these ideas grow and change with each person that contributes, until the interpretation we have is, in my eyes, much greater than the singular intention of it.
The greatest part of this series, more so than the writing, animation, or story, is the community that surrounds it. People who shape this world with their own hands and share it with others. I think the build of the series allows for a lot of this creative interpretation, in ways that you can't with other fandoms (since the characters and their identities are ambiguous). And who knows, maybe I'm way off point and I need to stop "fanonizing" or whatever the word may be, but if this fandom has taught me anything, it's that it's ok to have your own views and share them. That's what community is for, after all.
