#2012 was the fandom at its peak with the millennials

[your-local-neighbourhood-kat]

Seeing the way the friendship is magic fandom has evolved over the years in terms of meme culture is so fun to see.

The year the older zoomers entered the fandom space as active content creators was maybe around the same time (or a bit after) the finale premiered and you can see the effects of that in the newer music and the art and the comics and the stories-

Seeing the differences and similarities in millennial fandom culture and gen z fandom culture is just fun to see in general; but in this case especially, seeing people my age (and even people who have JUST joined the fandom) make their own contributions with a lot of really impactful and cool and funny work- and very actively keeping the silly cartoon horse culture alive even after it's ended as someone who has had this show as a massive hyperfixation on and off since maybe 2014 is really cool to me

[bulldagger-bait]

Okay so i went through the post and made some highlights. Yellow is obvious tumblr speak habits like "???" "!!!" "aaaa" ect. As well as rambly post starters. Basically, typing conventions that you see online. If this country mom has a 15yo son, then, if she got pregnant at, say, 20, then she's be 35 AT LEAST. So either a late millenial, or an early gen x'er. If youve ever texted with your mom, you know that most of them have strict grammar conventions from years of professional email-ing. Even the most millennial mom with a reddit would still be following standard conventions for "millenial speak" esp on reddit. This woman would have lived through the height of "grammar nazi's". Remember that.

Purple is for conflicting statements regarding gay-ness. This lady says she "doesnt know much about gay stuff" yet uses terms like "pride". Not what an uneducated southerner would say. Theyd be more likely to say "gay pride" or "mardi gras" as that would be what they grew up with.

The pinkish looking text is a mix of the purple and yellow. A middle aged woman would not say "pride stuff". She wouldnt even really use "stuff" as a descriptor. The education system back in the day was so strict on writing that using "stuff" or "things" is almost unseen in an entire generation. Almost. I admit that one is a little nitpicky.

Another nitpick. Southerners have a specific way of using y'all, and it is VERY distinct from internet speak. This lady living through peak grammar nazi period would also never be caught dead typing y'all without the apostrophe, or a comma. "Y'all, [words]" for example.

Ok while it is not impossible for this middleaged reddit user to know how to meme.... the cat meme is primarily popular amongst the younger generation esp on tumblr and fandom twitter. Not on reddit. Not with millenial/x'er cuspers. I know its nitpicky but still.

Also: this rambly unpunctuated style? Thats tumblr baby. Look at other >35f reddit posts. Theyre well formatted. Theyre punctuated. They are usually written in an easy to follow dialogue with

I said "[ words ]"

He said " [ response ]"

That green highlighted section? That is one sentence. I dont know how to explain to you that a middle aged mother would not write like that.

Nitpick on the uptalk with question marks. Also. This woman would say bi? And not bisexual? You know bi is usually a slang term within the community and not a popular thing that people who "dont know much about this gay stuff" would say. Also. Shes middle aged. She'd say bisexual. Thats the term she would have been exposed to growing up.

Yes it is possible to change your lexicon and vocab and everything but what you learn in your teens and 20's is formative and sticks with you. Those habits are very hard to break. A few years of reddit is not going to undo that. Especially not if youre "stressed and getting this all down quickly". You dont think about formatting then. You wont put on your adopted internet speak. You will just type as you have learned to.

Anyway this is embarrassingly fake. I get it, its a nice story. Let people enjoy things ect ect. But did we not get sick of all the obvious reblog bait we saw in 2012 tumblr?? Its a nice sentiment but its so obviously a teen doing this for clout and that sucks. It sucks that someone is manufacturing a story about a teen experiencing extreme homophobia for upvotes and shares. It sucks. This is so appropriative. This is someone taking what would be an incredibly traumatic experience for a gay person and spinning it into a fun story about a southern mom accepting her son. Its hallmark feelgood and i get why people like it...

But its taking an aspect of gay culture—coming out—and making it into a clout chase. Now this is probably some young gay teen desperate for likes and attention, but that doesnt make it less harmful and insulting... because thats what it is. Its insulting.

Coming out is a serious thing. Its our thing. People die over it. And some kid is using it for internet likes. Do you not see the problem with that??