I don’t know why, but there’s a lot of talk of character hate on my Tumblr feed and it’s got me thinking.

My love/hate relationship with characters is a complicated one, but one that works. My fics may not read it, but I enjoy every character (yes, I even have some enjoyment from Jacob Taylor though Bioware really screwed over the character). Sure, some have better stories and character development than others. And we all know there will always be my favorites, but here’s the thing:

I can hate a character as a player getting into my Shepards’ heads, but love them as a writer or unbiased viewer. And I only really came to this conclusion after being a fanfiction writer.

Now some will argue that I wrote some characters (Ashley comes to mind) very negatively, but I think it’s safe to say that my opinions and my characters’ opinions differ. Just because Jane and Ashley don’t get along doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy just how much damn growth she has through the trilogy. In all honesty, I love her more than Kaidan even though my first playthrough of the trilogy had me letting her die on Virmire because I didn’t like her attitude. I’ll say the first playthrough I had with her alive was my absolute favorite – and she didn’t even live for the sole reason of being a romance because I was playing a femShep.

Another example was Garrus and Joker. Sure, I was a bit peeved Shepard died because of Joker’s insistence on staying behind, and then the fact that it was never brought up, but I specifically thought about Garrus’ reason to hate -and down right try to kill – the man. Who wouldn’t be angry seeing the last person who say your loved one and find out they held out while everyone was evacuating? You’d be crazy not to be pissed in some way. Yet, personally, I really do love Joker. I love his humor and attitude. I always have.

I guess, in short, I’m trying to say that people should realize there’s a difference between not caring about a character as a person in relation to the role you’re playing as Shepard and appreciating the character as a story telling tool. You can hate and love them because of this, but at least have reasons and an open mind.

And in the case of fanfiction, just because an author writes a certain character in a bad light through their Shepard’s eyes doesn’t mean they hate them. Although, writers, you shouldn’t bash a character oh the basis of you hating them as a player. Each character deserves to be portrayed in a way where the reader can make their own decisions on how to feel. It just isn’t fair to force a reader to share your opinion when you’re supposed to be telling a story instead of a Tumblr rant (she says as she writes her own essay).

In short, let’s all agree to be better people and accept that everyone has their own opinions. If you don’t like a character, block their tag or don’t read fics of them, but let those who do love them enjoy them.

P.S. I’m still mad at what Bioware did with Jacob. What a way to trash their own character.