hi bluemoonblueearth,

i couldn't stop reading your post because I recognized so many things you wrote about from my own life. it is not all the same and I can understand that there will be people that can hardly grasp your emotions about that cartoon. but your feelings are something real so they are not any less than other people's feelings about other things. I am very often confronted with people who do not share the same personal taste. and I have had to deal with this very much in the past and will have to in the future.
it is very important to realize that things to cause emotions in people can be very different and sometimes seem strange. but the feelings are genuine. so that's true for both you and people who don't like your favorite show or cartoon character. if you feel you need to talk to somebody about your feelings you could try to make it a more abstract description to give the other person a chance to imagine a situation when he/she would feel the same.

about the bullies… I also have been bullied in school which is now a very long time ago. and like you I reacted by withdrawing into my imagination which helped me a lot then. (okay, imagination and fiction are somewhat different but still similar.) I never told anybody about what happened in my daydreams and I still don't want to. I also got very involved and it has had an impact on my entire life. I sort of know the feeling to be ashamed of that. but it's nobodies business. not then and not today.
anyway this is no way your own fault. I know exactly what kind of terror is created there and it's not pretty and it's not a minor problem!!! I had horrible nightmares all the time I went to school dreaming about getting killed. was sweating a lot and had headaches for years. it caused me quite some anxiety that I would call abnormal knowing what I know now. then I thought this was all my personal problem and I had to cope with it by myself. I think I got damaged for all my life by that time which of course doesn't mean the same will happen to you. it's good you have some support!

I hope you can find a way to express your feelings to a therapist or any other professional so they can help you. I think you did very well here.

about mistakes in the past: you sure learned something in that situation. so they are all valuable. nobody is perfect. I know that's a boring thing to say. but perfect is boring. most exciting stories people told me were about how they did something incredibly stupid in their life. you may feel horrible about these now but I can tell you I had some big awkward moments in my life in public!!! and I still managed to get up the next morning and go and see all those people again and nothing bad happened. and sometimes I tell these stories because I'm proud of what weird things I went trough and that I've overcome it- and there is nothing better than somebody curiously listening to your story.