Okay, so one or two people here have probably seen the post on my message board from a while back.

That's it there^, and it's 100% true. I fricking hate the slanging matches people get into because someone wanted to adopt a smol character and someone else took offense. Yes, I fully understand that sometimes people are just joking around and it's fun and all, but some people don't see it that way.

I know a while back, I mentioned that a character was 'my son.' And the author said something to me, I was polite with my response, but they didn't budge on the fact that they were under the illusion that they had some sort of claim staked on a character.

Now that I'm aware of how frequently this appears, I know it wasn't personal. But at the time? I was upset. I still am a little hurt at the somewhat rude reaction I had received from the author who I had previously respected and had nothing against.

This is a screen shot of a conversation in a different fic I read (names have been edited to protect accounts). See what I'm talking about?

Messing around. Messing around. Escalates. Fudging escalates even further!

The only people that have any real claim on a character is their creators themselves.

WELL GUESS WHAT?!

I FRICKING LOVE KYOYA TATEGAMI AND HAVE DONE SINCE I WAS FOUR! I'D SURE AS HELL MARRY XANDER, SHU OR LUI OR KEN OR SILAS!

I HAVE ADOPTED VALT AND KENTA!

But you know what makes me different? I don't actively attack or try and upset everyone else who also loves these characters. And I sure as hell don't care that they also probably have thousands of other wives or parents.

That's life. Those are the facts. Please, pull your head in. You might see it as a joke, but not everyone does and that's reality. Fandoms are something we can all bond and unite over, and we don't need fans feeling hurt and attacked in an environment they feel is safe.

I know one or two fans, who I've had a full length discussion with over how hot we find Xander and how much we love him. Was I offended? Nope. Hell, I enjoyed spending a couple of hours fangirling over him.

If you recognise yourself in this, please stop and think about what you're doing, and how you could be hurting people.

No, this isn't aimed at people, and I'm not trying to hurt anyone or make them feel singled out. This is meant to raise awareness for what is going on, and hopefully help the problem.

End of rant.

Thanks for your time and patience in reading this. Help spread the message to help stamp out this problem.

-xx Avanni Cinders