"Sengen" made me give up on posting art here
This is just me venting.
Look, first of all: I’m sure that when you see a post where someone says “Grrrr, I hate Sengen, Grrrr,” you immediately think, “Oh, it’s just a homophobe” or “Some annoying person who cares about what others think.”
That’s not it. For starters, I personally don’t push for any ship with Senku. If I had to choose, I’d pick Senku and Kohaku, because compared to any other unofficial ship, it has the most evidence to back it up (second only to Stanley and Xeno, which is practically undeniable in my opinion).
I really ship Stanley and Xeno, because to me it’s practically undeniable that they’re more than friends (the scene where Stanley holds Dr. Xeno’s cheek is very explicit, in my view).
And although I don’t actively want Senku to end up with anyone, I’ll admit that it would be plausible for him to be with Kohaku (even though their special friendship is really cute), but I can see them as a couple. My only confession is that I have a VERY dark past with fujoshis (and honestly, I’d rather not even bring it up), so I’m a little on the defensive, but that’s my problem, of course. I’m admitting this here so you know that’s not the issue, because I feel like I’ve already gotten past it.
Okay, having explained that this post isn’t about prejudice or random nerdy rambling...
I hate Sengen, and I wanted to vent. This isn't an attack on anyone who likes the fanfic; it's just that I'm really bothered by it, and I think this is a good way to let it out.
For a long time—from 2024 until two days ago—I was part of a Dr. Stone Discord server and also a private group where we talked about the series. It’s my favorite anime; it got me into science research, so it seemed like a good idea. Some of my friends were there too, and it was a lot of fun. We’d talk about theories and stuff like that.
...
But then, something started that set all this off: fan art. They created a chat dedicated to fan art, and it was really cool. People made fan art of whatever they wanted, and it was fun. My first fan art was of Stanley and Xeno, and it got a lot of compliments! That made me feel more and more inspired.
In the midst of all this, some users (to be exact, about 8) started showing their Sengen fan art.
I don’t like the ship; I think it’s really implausible and weird, but that’s okay. I’m not obligated to like it, and they’re not obligated to care about my opinion.
... But then the day came when I decided to post three drawings I made imagining Kohaku and Senku as a couple, because (as I’ve said before) I think they go well together (I’m not a die-hard shipper of this pairing, but I think it’s cute).
...
But... I can’t even begin to describe the flood of hate I received.
Man: when I posted the drawing, I got a few hearts, but people quickly started sending up-vomit emojis, dislike emojis, etc. I looked at that and thought it was really weird, because... it was just a drawing?
So I started talking in the chat, asking what the problem was. One of the users said, and I quote:
“You're only posting Senhaku here because we were making Sengen popular.” I was like, “... what?” I was really confused. And it went on: they claimed I was being prejudiced and annoying, that I didn't accept other people's opinions. But I didn't say a single word about their drawings. Note: I had drawn the Senhaku picture well before 6 of the members who sent in Sengen drawings joined the server.
And this went on for days.
An important detail: I have a friend who ships Sengen. She defended me from the people who were throwing hate at me, but even so, they didn’t seem to want to listen.
That... genuinely made me sad. But... Okay. There's nothing to be done.
So, I went to my personal Dr. Stone fan group to post the artwork.
... Holy shit: the result was almost the same, but on a smaller scale.
A certain group of people in the group (who I don’t know personally) had a similar reaction, though more teasing than actually mean, I’d say: they started making fun of it. They said, “The art is good, but the ship is really disgusting.” One of them said, “Senku is related to Kohaku. Do you prefer incest over a gay couple, man?” (I didn’t even respond to that one).
And, once again, I hoped I could get into the artists’ vibe… but… No. The two places where I could have done that simply sparked an absurd war. And, again: to be fair here, it wasn’t all the shippers. Some defended me, but… most were “against me.”
And from there, I noticed a pattern:
I started browsing the internet to see more Senhaku art for inspiration (or rather, to regain inspiration) and, to my “surprise,” the vast majority of Senhaku posts have a Gen shipper complaining. Almost always.
Dude, what the hell is this? Are you serious? IS THIS the Dr. Stone fandom? Some fucking Boku no Hero 2.0?
I genuinely started getting annoyed. Dude, these guys just WON’T leave others alone.
And of course: by “others” I mean “Senhaku shippers.”
They’re such a pain in the ass, and ultimately, hypocrites. Dude: These guys treat their ship like it’s fucking canon.
Dude, let me tell you something: SENGEN IS NOT CANON, and it’s not even the head canon that comes closest to being canon. Accept it.
If you don’t agree with how they see Senku and Gen’s relationship, they treat you like an idiot who doesn’t understand “subjectivity” and who “didn’t get the characters,” and they treat you like someone who watched the anime blindfolded.
Well, the anime I watched is: Senku isn’t romantically interested in anyone, especially men; Gen is a slightly effeminate guy who likes girls (which doesn’t rule out him liking men, but whatever—it’s just a hypothesis); and Senku and Kohaku have a much closer bond and scenes that suggest romance (even though, obviously, Senhaku isn’t canon, it’s just a head canon).
That was the anime I watched. But if I say that, they argue that I’m “superficial” and that I “didn’t read between the lines.” Man… seriously? That’s just… sad.
These guys are stuck in my head. Because, no: I’m not some god of reason who isn’t affected by certain things. I am affected. I was really upset by the reception of my first pieces of art.
... and that's basically it. I got upset.
I was so upset by this “bullying” (more or less) from the Sengen shippers that I not only left both communities (even though my friends are asking me to come back, and have already talked to the members) and it made me give up on trying to post my drawings on this Reddit.
Because, spoiler: from what I’ve read, it’s a similar situation here too.
Well, that’s basically it. I’m genuinely annoyed with Sengen shippers. I don’t even care about the ship itself—I just think it’s kind of pointless (like Tsukasa and Ryusui)—but what really annoys me is the fandom.
And just to make it clear ONCE AGAIN: This isn’t an attack on YOU who likes Sengen and isn’t hurting anyone. I know this kind of “impartiality” is kind of annoying, but they’re just characters. It doesn’t make sense for me to dislike you because you have this view, but… I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t bother me.
Anyway, that’s it. I’m open to opinions, and I’d also like some advice, maybe.
If you ship Sengen, feel free to share your thoughts.