"it's fictional"

doesn't mean:
- it's not important
- fiction doesn't affect reality
- you can't have strong feelings abt fiction

it means
- you can't treat fiction as equal to reality
- you can cultivate a healthy distinction btw the 2
- fictional characters don't have rights

No pro-shippers think fiction doesn't affect reality

We stand for the idea that the audience has an active part in how they let fiction affect their reality.

ex: I started drinking coffee bc of a fictional character I love who drink it. It was a conscious choice.

I knew coffee, drank in reasonable quantities, is harmless and could actually improve my quality of life.

Now this character also murder someone. I've never murdered anyone.
Because I know it's bad, I know why it is, and I consciously choose not to do that.

No matter how much dark fiction I saw where murder was portrayed, sometimes even seen as cool and badass, I never committed murder, don't think it's normal, and even advocate for the end of death penalty everywhere because I see it as similar to murder.

Yet I'm still an hypersensitive person who will have strong reactions to fiction, can't watch some shows or movies because of the themes they show, will cry in front of a disny movie, etc.
But I'm also an adult with morals and a values system, and I don't let any piece of media

dictate how I live.

We, as an audience, have control on how we let the fiction we consume affect us.