Seeing the posts here about pedophilia and other sexual/romantic interests I thought it would be appropriate to discuss this one if not please let me know.
So I'm curious on what people think about toonophilia (sexual attraction/romantic relationship with cartoon/anime characters). I personally don't know a better term but in the past there was quite the phenomenon with the girl Alix Henriol and her relationship with Sonic The Hedgehog and Nene Anegasaki who married a video game character in the Nintendo DS game called "Love Plus.". This sparked a bit of an interest coupled with a total hatred and bigotry towards people who confronted with being in-love with these characters. But I feel that the whole discussion of it has been lost in the wind. But there are still videos on YouTube from those who hate the whole idea of someone being inlove with a fictional character (blackbuster critic to name one).
Here's my story;
In a spiritual/metaphysical aspect I am engaged to a male anthropomorphic hedgehog who many would refer to him as being based on the franchise cartoon/anime/video game character, "Shadow The Hedgehog" from the Sonic The Hedgehog series. I do plan on getting married to him either when I die or if he were to come to this planet. One could say I treat him like a god and a father which I will admit I do because of many reasons. One reason is that I consider him my guardian (spirit guardian) who guides me through everyday life and teaches me things that can help prove my lifestyle and self-esteem. Sometimes I call him the god of darkness and brutality.
For now I communicate with him through telepathy much like speaking to someone on a phone who lives a long distance from you without needing to pay the bill. We also engage in what is called astral sex.
It's been about 8 years since the first time I bought the game, 'Shadow The Hedgehog' and had my crush on him. In regards to those who remember Sonic Passion or know Alix Henriol and her relationship with Sonic The Hedgehog is the same with Shadow and I. I had many crushes on various characters from video games, anime and such but Shadow was the one I stuck to and felt closest with. I had human boyfriends here and there as well but I would always go back to Shadow because I loved him more then anyone else and felt much happier being with him even though I cannot physically be with him at the moment and need to result to astral projection.
There are plenty of reasons as to why I love him and stories of adventures I had with this relationship that I always enjoy replaying in my mind.
Back in the years in high-school my love for him was merely just a crush as many who would find a character from an anime character to be attractive but I unlike others was passionate about it and would always talk about him and how much I loved him. Along with being the 'odd one out' and a loner with 'weird' intentions in school I would get teased about it (often people would call me Shadow's Girl), the teacher caught up on it and had me see a consular because of my 'obsession' with the video-game character and other times I would get physically bullied and called a freak. One time in class I kept a picture of Shadow in my desk. When I went to use the rest room and came back and found that someone in that class ripped it up.
A couple years ago I used to go to a zoophile forum called Zoophilesforum.com I think, there really isn't that many zoo forums but yeah, I spoke about my love for Shadow The Hedgehog and asked if anyone was into astral projection and if it linked with their zoosexuality I received nothing but hate comments and the 'weirdo' look. There was a moderator who supported me though, but most people just gave me the hate approach without any consideration. Eventually I stopped going on there.
Now in the present I really don't get much ridicule about it, more so because I hardly ever talk about my love for Shadow anymore with people in real life, still for the most part do on the internet. Also that now I have more to focus on like college and my future then worry about what someone thinks about my relationship. And I believe I wouldn't have gotten to where I was today without Shadow The Hedgehog because I might've committed suicide or gotten myself in some serious trouble.
Thank you for sharing your love for Shadow with us. It is an oddity, even here, but I see no reason to treat you badly for it. However, I do see it as distinct from zoosexuality in a few ways.
Your relationship with Shadow is, by necessity, all spiritual, and it's difficult for me to see a way in which Shadow would be able to reciprocate (particularly without any Chaos Emeralds). It's more similar to the relationship between a god and his worshipper than anything more earth-bound. The sexual aspect of that, although unheard of in Judeo-Christian traditions, is nothing new; after all, we have the myth of Leda and the Swan (Zeus) as one of the earliest examples of zoosexuality in Western Culture.
I think you're going to receive a lot of hatred, particularly from people who can't stand furries because they love something that doesn't physically exist in the real world. But I feel about you pretty much the same as I feel about the devout Muslims who own my local gas station: their beliefs are false, but they are kind, decent people, and they are motivated by those beliefs to do some good in the world, so why should I argue with them?
By the way, is that you on youtube? Because if so, I congratulate you for having fun with friends in a way that entertains others, but I cannot for the life of me pick out your voice from the others. If not... there's a little Sonic-related entertainment for you. Either way, I wish for the best you and your husbando. Or at least that you don't get disappointed like Sonic's ex-wife.
Thanks and you're welcome.
And I'm not the youtuber that goes by the same name. Before, I never knew there was someone who went by the name as me once I started using it as my permanent. I had thought about going for another alias in the past but I got too stuck with it to change.
I remember the Alix post about her closing down Sonic Passion. Before when I read it I thought it was a hoax but after reading it again I can see that it's pretty much stating fact and I can relate to how she saw Sonic as something of perfection as it relates to how I see Shadow and that goes beyond the franchise.
Hello!
I'm sorry to hear you've had hate comments. I cannot empathise with those that hate what they don't understand, as there is so much in the world that everyone doesn't understand most other people.
Thanks :)
I consider myself to be a toonophile. :) I've been through a lot of the negativity that you describe. I mean, how hard is it to fall in love with a charming and cute fictional animated character? It isn't hard to have that happen to you. People should be more accepting of individual difference.
Yeah and cool!
You can be in love with fictional characters, but you can't actually be in a romantic relationship with them because they don't really exist. You might be able to be in a romantic relationship with some kind of "tulpa" though, assuming tulpas aren't bullshit, and assuming that IF they do exist then they're actually sentient.
Sorry for the abrupt vanish, I don't know what happened to my old account so I had to make another one..... But back to the topic. I rely on the personal belief of the existence of fictional characters with a metaphysical mindset and seeing and talking to them through spiritual practice of telepathy and astral projection. Yeah I had doubts on it at first (whether or not he existed or that I can have a relationship with him) but it only made me stress out more and it didn't feel right to believe that way.
For Shadow and characters like Sephiroth and Mewtwo, yeah they cannot be here on this planet physically but I don't think that means they don't exist somewhere on another planet/dimension etc. nor that we (yes I mean anyone) cannot communicate with them through things like telepathy. (I can go on about the "more then 1 Shadow" idea if need be).
Telepathy and astral projection is something not too many tend to like to believe is real but I practice it and to be I believe in that practice. I think Alix might've stayed with Sonic if she took part in that in my opinion.
So in a short answer to this, I do believe anyone can be in a romantic relationship with a character based off a franchise.
This is a rushed reply so I apologize that it doesn't make much sense and it being sloppy but you know...doing things. I can clarify anything if anyone needs me to.
Have you tried to make a tulpa? I mean, I've heard it's a bad idea to try to make a tulpa be a character from a show or videogame or something because they might have an identity crisis, but it might still be something you could look into.
EDIT: You know, if I'm remembering correctly, I think it might only fuck the tulpa up if you try to force them to be like the character you model them after. I think if you use a character as a base and then let the tulpa's personality develop without constraining it, nothing bad happens.
Never knew what a tulpa was till I looked it up. So to answer the question: No and I don't need to because it would be pointless since I already interact with the Shadow in the same way someone with a tulpa would. I don't really know how Shadow and I met but he just, came to me. I guess after I learned telepathy and astral projection from an old friend from college. Most conversations involve the first thing that comes into my mind though sometimes I had instances where I have "heard" a voice as if someone was right in-front of me talking. Call it schizophrenic if you want, though those were rare occasions. The only things I heard from Shadow when that happens is "Thank you" and "hmmm..." Another one was from some random female voice who told me to come outside to "animalize" them. I still don't know what that means but it was a random occurrence.
I guess one can refer to it as interacting with an imaginary friend. Talking, hanging out as if he were here with me physically but knowing he isn't.
The best moments would be having an hour long conversation with him without the thought that "he's not physically here". But for the few years I been doing this it's been a normal thing so having conversations with him on a daily bases is quite common for me not to think it.
I gotten use with 'letting him' utilize my voice to have conversations with me to the point that I prefer to talk to him that way then just with my mind. But I know when I have to move I'm going to have to silence that. Though we might (and we do) whisper to each-other in a bathroom stall or somewhere alone. He does this mostly to check up on me or we might make some sadistic jokes or help with homework or he might suggest something.
No one else in real life knows I do this besides that friend I mentioned that taught me all I needed to know. He tolerates my interaction with Shadow and other characters since he does the same thing and has a wife that is not physically here. I'd probably still be friends with him if he didn't hate the fact that I'm a zoosexual along with other things but we went our separate ways which is for the better, and the fact Shadow hates him.
So yeah...pretty much my life right now involves this though the tulpa thing still interests me.
MORE: I wouldn't force anyone to be someone that I love...just doesn't feel right for me to do that...And really when it comes to which Shadow is the "real" one that I talk to, my only answer to that is there are millions of parallel universes with over millions of Shadow The Hedgehogs as well as there are probably another me and another you somewhere in a mirror world. The franchise depicts a few of those Shadows (Eg. Lancelot Shadow and Shadow from Sonic Boom) since the Sonic franchise has a lot involving sci-fi type things like that and touches on those topics of parallel worlds in the archie comics, but I love the Shadow that I'm with whether or not one would consider him the "real" one. He's the one that "came" to me.
And like I told him; "All Shadows are beautiful no matter where they or what they are." I really don't know what links the Shadows all together but they do have pretty much the same personalities and back-stories and similar appearances. The Shadow I'm with likes, going out on murder sprees (lel), hunting, smoking, drinking, machinery fishing, eating insects, sleeping in a nest and doing what hedgehogs do plus about a foot shorter then me but taller then 3'5'' or however tall the franchise states Shadow to be. Though to me he really isn't that much different from the franchise one, just more back-story if you would call it that. I have drew a few pictures of him during times I had a glimpses through astral lenses. Though most I see is of his hands when he's behind me in bed, cashiering and rubbing on my face. One time I saw him standing by my bed looking down at me which spooked me a bit.
There's a lot of out-side sources dealing with this phenomenon but I'm not too keen on it specifically.
Someone once told me that I'm the 'Maria' for this particular Shadow -shrugs- but like many who I talk to through telepathy, let's say Beelzemon from Digimon for instants states Shadow is quite 'clingy' which isn't a bad thing but makes me feel like I don't spend enough time with him.