being a chris thorndyke fan is genuinely such a weird experience because sometimes it feels like the quickest way to get side-eyed in the sonic fandom and even in the X fandom is to admit you actually like him.
not even in a “he’s my favorite character ever” way. just… “i think he’s interesting.” somehow that becomes controversial.
and what gets me is that i don’t even like him because i think he’s perfect. i like him because he’s lonely. because he’s awkward. because he spends so much of the series feeling like everyone else has somewhere they’re supposed to be except him.
that’s painfully human.
people talk about him like he’s just an annoying obstacle standing between sonic and the plot, but i watched the same show and saw a kid who was desperately trying to hold onto the first people who made him feel less alone.
was he selfish sometimes? yeah. I am too
he was also twelve.
i don’t know. maybe i take the jokes a little too personally because i see parts of myself in him. not the rich family or the giant mansion. the feeling that if the people you care about leave, you’re going to become invisible again. the fear that you’re only important while someone needs you. the kind where your house is too big. where your parents are technically there but never really there. where the first people who make you feel seen become your entire world because you genuinely don’t remember what it felt like before them
so every time the conversation turns into “chris is the worst” or “the show would’ve been better without him,” there’s always this tiny part of a young me that hears, oh. so this kind of kid is just… annoying? no… you’re wrong. i thought the point was that he finally found something that made the world feel less empty, and he wasn’t ready to lose it.
i know that’s not what people mean.
but feelings aren’t exactly famous for listening to disclaimers. it’s just exhausting sometimes. i wish people could let characters be messy children without acting like they’re morally offensive for acting like… children.
i don’t need everyone to love chris thorndyke.
i just wish liking him didn’t feel like signing up for an argument every single time.
