#Not really a vent just an example. Life sucks and sometimes a silly little blonde anime boy is all it takes to not k*ll yours*lf

[batfamfucker]

My main source of serotonin was and still is Hetalia, which speaks for itself. I have no right judging. Also, if some 14 year old decides dressing up as Deku and dancing to Lizzo on Tiktok makes them happy, why would I care? Ya'll really just wanna bully children and project your embarrassment from your own confusing teen years onto them, let kids be happy. Even if they cringe at themselves in future (I know I cringe at some of the stuff I did), oh fucking well. They're happy now. They're figuring themselves out. And they're doing it with a community of people behind them who are into the same things. Good for them.

I remember when I got fucking slated in school when I got outed for being Pan and Genderfluid, and one of the few things keeping me going was knowing fucking Hetalia America would find me cool. My household was fucked but I knew fics with Bruce Wayne being a good dad to his kids and daydreaming about living in the DC universe and having him be my dad was a way of healing, a way to feel like I had a dad when mine was in prison. Pretending I had a dad who was hero rather than a criminal. I used to pretend Tim Drake was my brother and we'd have deep talks about our truamas and scars on our wrist. I remember pretending Damian was my baby brother and imagining how he'd feel if I ever left him. I don't have younger siblings, it was nice to feel needed. I remember it. I remember being 14 and feeling so alone that the only comfort I had was characters that didn't even exist. But being able to pretend they were sat next to me when I cried, or being able to watch Fallout 4 characters as Vines to cheer myself up was enough sometimes.

I also remember making 'cringe' cosplay of ships with my best friend, who I've grown up with since we were four. I have videos of the cosplay. I don't have the heart to delete my old Facebook account because we made eight separate chats all just to Roleplay on, all dedicated to different stories. We must've made hundreds together. We also made so many OCs together, all of which I still love deep down. I remember some of the best moments that made me smile and laugh, Brought my genuine joy when I was going through so much so young. It still doesn't always hit me just how young I was when I went through all this stuff (I'm only 20. A lot of it has been going on my entire life, but I was that 14 year old with severe Depression only 6 years ago). I've made amazing friends and great memories, talked to people from all over the world over our silly little interests that actually meant everything to us. I've been cringe and I've been weird and you know what? I've enjoyed so much of it. And yeah sometimes I give myself an ick when I look back, but the point is I can look back. Because I'm alive to do so. And I'm alive because of these escapisms. And these experiences made me who I am today. I'm not perfect or anything, and there's things I don't like about myself, things I'm trying to change and improve, toxic traits stemmed from all the shit I've been through that I'm trying to unlearn and work on. But I'm writing a book. And I've got a great mind. I'm one of the most creative people you'll meet, with some awesome ideas, projects I wanna show the world that I wouldn't have gotten the inspiration for if I hadn't grown up with these things. And I have people who love me. That best friend that I've got, I used to be kinda toxic to her. Not on purpose, I didn't realise what I was doing. But when I started to, I realised I needed to change and did because I loved and cared about her, but my actions didn't always show that. We had a year where we didn't speak because of petty drama and it was the worst year of my life. Now though, it's like nothing bad every happened. She's one of the best things to happen to me and I'm glad we got to grow up together like we did, bad moments and all, because it got us here. I wouldn't change her for a damn thing, and I know she feels the same. The cringe and weird moments are experiences and memories with her that I'll cherish for the rest of my life, just like so many of these Tiktok kids will.

To think we just had two years of a global pandemic, and some of ya'll are judging these kids for their way of finding joy despite everything going on in the world. Or, maybe it isn't a coping mechanism at all. Maybe they're fine and happy, but still just enjoy these things. That's fine too. I can't comprehend judging them or bullying actual children. Have some empathy, and realise you were that kid once too, and that's okay.

not 2 be controversial on main but i think it’s pretty sad the first major generation to grow up online is projecting their adolescent self-hatred onto the “cringe” generation of tiktokkers