People May Relate To And Find Comfort In A Character For A Plethora Of Reasons That They Don't Necessarily

People may relate to and find comfort in a character for a plethora of reasons that they don't necessarily feel comfortable sharing.

Just because you perceive their fondness for a character as shallow is your own opinion. I've seen so much negativity directed at Levi fans and self shippers recently, which is a real shame when for some of us the tag is a safe little space for us to enjoy our fics and headcanons. I see a lot of content I don't like or agree with related to characters I'm a fan of, but I just leave people well alone to enjoy what they enjoy. I don't know, maybe that comes with age and maturity.

People (commonly anons) may assume self shippers only like a character like Levi as an example because we see him as a sex object. Which is entirely false for so many reasons and not true for many of us. I couldn't tell you how much money and time I've invested into the AOT franchise over the past 14 years. I've also never seen so much love and appreciation for a character as I have within the Levi fanbase and particularly from self shippers.

Just because I (or someone) may write 18+ content doesn't mean that's all they associate with a character. Personally, I just enjoy writing it, and I want to create something for others to enjoy and visualise. It's statistically proven that women, for example, may find reading more stimulating compared to visual p×rnography. I started writing for myself as a creative outlet and was thrilled to see people enjoying it. Even if Levi or any character is just an object for someone to sexualise, who cares? He's fictional.

On a personal note, I had a very lonely and abusive childhood. For the longest time, many fandoms and characters have been a source of comfort and escape for me. I very quickly relate to many characters who have experienced hardship and pain. But I've been fortunate enough to come through the other end and build a life for myself. It just so happens that my writing strengths are of a more mature content. But it doesn't take away from my love and appreciation of complex characters. You can't assume you know everything about a person based on this small segment of their lives on a blog or social media platform. Judging people who self ship, especially some of us more placid ones that people want to attack, belittle and slut shame is just getting a bit stale.

Enjoy your characters and your ships, and heck, keep coming at us with your false assumptions because it isn't going to stop us, and you're only making yourselves look petty, cruel, and immature. You don't know a single thing about why people choose the characters that they do to enjoy.

And to all of the self shippers, keep posting your fantastic content. Your fics, your bots, your artwork. Keep enjoying what makes you happy. There's so many more of us who want to be supportive and create safe spaces and communities than there are negative individuals.