#fiction is a safe space to think of unsafe things

[damnfandomproblems]

Fandom Problem #5548:

Which one says more "groomer"?

"NSFW - Trigger warnings: age gap, noncon 18+ only, dead dove do not eat, minors keep out" "What you enjoy in fiction is mot necessarily what you think is acceptable or good in real life, and that's okay. Just be courteous and respect people's boundaries, tags, filters, and content warnings are useful tools. Fiction is a safe way of exploring unsafe concepts. Many people use fiction as a method to work through their traumas, but its okay even if that's not the reason they like it, some people are just drawn to taboo subjects, that's completely natural. Regardless we're not going to try to force people to open up about their past traumas, nor any other personal information. No story should be banned from being told just because it makes some people uncomfortable. Art is meant to provoke intense emotions, afterall. Even if I don't like something, it's not my business to tell someone else what they should or should not create. I'm an adult and its MY responsibility to manage my emotional responses, not anyone else's. If you find yourself unable to manage please remove yourself from this space and find somewhere more suitable.

or

"EVERY OTHER ADULT BUT ME is out to get you!! I'M the only one I can trust!! I only like WHOLESOME ships and WHOLESOME content!! Look at this GROSS NASTY PORN someone made!! They tried to hide it because they don't want anyone to know what a GROSS FUCK they are!! That's why I'm showing it to all of you!! I can't trust anyone unless you detail ALL of your privileges and your traumas! And if anyone steps one toe out of line by enjoying a problematic cartoon ship I'll publicly shame them and tell all my other 14 year old friends to bully harass cyberstalk and socially ostracize them as well and if they don't I'll make sure the same thing happens to them!! This is for the SAFETY of other minors and NOT because of any petty personal vendetta!! ALSO I think its a good idea to send specifically minors to mess with people who - I claim to truly believe are - ACTUAL REAL PEDOPHILES-- to totally frickin own them online!! Anyone who disagrees with me is a pdo and gromer!!! So ONLY LISTEN TO ME!!! NO opposing or outside perspectives allowed!! I'm a good, SAFE, HEALTHY, NORMAL ADULT!! PROSHITTERS KYS!!!!!!"

[devildomwriter]

*TW*- i*cest, r*pe, g*re, p*dophilia, some general discourse

Ok so I am trying to ask this in the most respectful way because I don't wanna snowball this into a huge discourse; but I wonder if you've been seeing the Dark Content Discourse here on Tumblr?

It basically entails that despite your personal preferences, attacking/ demeaning other ppl who create/ consume dark content is a big no no because it's their safe space to be able to explore these topics. This includes all sort of stuff like i*cest, r*pe, g*re and even p*dophilia. Now you may not agree with any of these things, most ppl don't, and they might disgust you; which is totally fine. But there is a huge leap b/w something that is fictional and something that is real.

Fictional characters are literal lines on a paper. Doing anything with a fictional child does not mean you are harming a REAL child. This might still disgust you and that's fine too. You can block that person so you don't have to look at it again but to call everyone like this and start a campaign against them is well...

I just want you to know that I am not defending that person. I didn't even know them at all before this...Neither I am advocating for anything they are saying or confirming/claiming that they are good irl. I don't know them.

I just want you look at this from a different perspective and know your thoughts about this ordeal. Like for one moment step away from your pre-existing feelings and bias and look at this objectively. Everyone likes something that's even a lil problematic, so if we went on these campaigns every time, literally no one will be left in fandom. I don't agree with p*dophilia but I don't agree with this either...AGAIN THIS IS NOT MEANT TO CONDONE ANY OF THIS BEHAVIOUR! But to paint someone as a bad person for things they do in fiction in their safe space no matter how problematic, is somewhat disconcerting.

I again wanna say that this is not any hate against you or anyone else. I don't want to cause any discourse myself . I think you are an amazing writer and a valuable member in our fandom. Which is why it's important to me to hear your stance on this. But if you'd rather not answer this at all that's fine too! :>

I appreciate your perspective and I sometimes enjoy certain dark content as long as they warn others but pedophilia— fictional or not— should never be written/glorified/accepted. If it’s written as a horrible incident or traumatic backstory (like Lolita) then I understand why it’s written but glorifying or romanticizing it in any way is unacceptable.

If no one is left in the fandom after going on these “witch hunts” then the fandom is toxic, preditory, and unsafe.

As for the huge leap between fiction and reality, everything starts as a thought or fantasy. The more you think about it the more likely you are to commit or watch such an act.

Tumblr should under no circumstances be a safe place for pedophiles.

[tellmeallaboutit]

It was pleasure to read knock knock as a fic that was actually a horror. Distrubing. Terrifying. Fucking twisted. Not “dark” but irl just regular bdsm with sometimes bad bdsm etiquette. Which brought me to the question: Your advice how to write horror fiction in general. Reading King is step one, but what’s next? ☺️😁

how I adore this ask <3

My first advice would be to skip step 1. No, just kidding, but I am actually not a big fan of Steven King. He is a bit heavy-handed about what is right and what is wrong (moral absolutist). I am more the kind of person who always doubts what is right and what is wrong (moral relativist). Anyway (personal, opinionated)...

Thoughts On Writing Horror

Thought Number One. It's Never Just Horror

Horror is a lens, a method of accentuation. There is always a plot structure underneath. Take famous stories and think about what it would look through a horror lens. What would a sci-fi exploration story would look like ("Event Horizon")? What would a family drama look like ("Hereditary")? What would a gen-z party story look like ("Bodies Bodies Bodies")? A spousal drama ("Possession")? Medieval tale ("VVitch")? FBI Flick ("Silence of the Lambs"). It's less of a genre per se and more of a general vibe.

Thought Number Two. Choose Your Fear

What scares you? And I am not talking about clowns or zombies, those are just symbols. Symbols of joy and corrupted childhood, symbols of an uncontrolled, frenzied hive mind. Talk about the fears that speak to you. Are you afraid of dying? Of never achieving anything? Becoming demented like your grandmother? To end up in a loveless marriage? Are you afraid of men? Of never being loved? Of never being able to love? Of crowds? Of poverty? Sickness? Old age?

We can connect through positive emotions, but we can also connect through common fears. But you need to know yours intimately.

Thought Number Three. Don't Hold Back

Horror is the opposite of a safe space. Horror is a space that is deliberately made unsafe. Horror is the playground where you can throw punches, but actually DO throw punches, and not just stay inside the ring fence and look into the crowd afraid that they will judge you if you get too violent.

If you are afraid of offending someone, if you are on your toes about certain things, if you are afraid of the backlash, fights agains these feelings. Otherwise, the readers will smell your fear like bloodhounds and they came for blood.

Thought Number Four. Don't Preach.

A horror with a strong moral message and imperative very quickly becomes a sermon, and things with sermons is that they are dead boring.

[valkyriexo]

Since you want the attention that bad. Here you can have it.

statement and rant below the cut

If you're going to post screenshots of a conversation. Post the full thing. But since you didn't. I will.

let's start at the beginning, shall we?

the first time you felt "attacked" was in a staff channel, where you claimed one of our moderators at the time was attacking you. Here is a screenshot of that conversation.

Mind you, this is in response to you saying you didn't think fake texts were a valid form of fan fiction or work. But of course you can have your opinion,

but so can we.

The second time you claimed you were attacked was when you were called out for your negative criques every single time someone posts anything to general chat. In this case, it was a photo of Chan. The original messages between both you and ace were removed, so I'm not going to recount them as it will just be hearsay. However, what I can show are the screenshots of our conversation when I put both of you on timeout (cant send messages for a period of time) and issued warnings out.

Here is the official warn.

Here is our conversation.

I was not rude to you. I did not attack you. I did not blame you.

In the meantime, you continue to make remarks about others' appearances, making people in the server feel like they can't share anything without being invalidated or ignored because you always find a way to make it about yourself. You've turned what should be positive spaces into negative ones, and it's giving serious pick-me energy. You can't blame others for not wanting to engage with you or for voicing their concerns when your behavior pushes them away. Maybe instead of questioning why people aren't talking to you, you should consider why they don't feel comfortable doing so in the first place.

Here are some of the many statements you've made in public chat channels.

No one sent anyone to hate on you. the statement had to be made public because it wasnt just two or three people complaining. it was 12+ people through different forms complaining about how you were making them feel.

You're saying the complaints weren't real? The only reason i am not showing you them is because people came forward confiding in me. so i will not be putting them on blast.

HOWEVER.

You stated and i quote

"People claimed they felt so horribly unsafe by my presence, God knows why (nobody ever explained it beyond insulting me on anon lol) "

But here is the original message that got sent to you from our admin. TELLING YOU EXACTLY WHY.

You chose to leave, that was YOUR decision. We did not remove you.

You also stated and i quote "but sending your minions to harass me, insult me and tell me to kill myself is totally safe. This is absolutely fucking insane."

Here is the post i made both on discord and tumblr, along with Bel ( a mod) post that was also made

No where in this did we ask people to hate on you. and this is the message you sent me.

Apparently, I'm supposed to control the community? hm interesting.

I'm not a dictator, I'm not the president, and I'm not even the only administrator of the community. The name says it itself, it's a COMMUNITY. I'm not here to control people on the internet.

I'm sorry, your getting hate. But I'm not Tumblr's help desk. you can report your issues to tumblr.

Now onto the statement you said about @seungminindabuilding.. here are all the messages you so kindly left out.

But .. you have the full conversation, so you can re-read it yourself.

During this conversation, is when you blocked me. While I was responding to your message, you sent me on Tumblr.

You know... when you "recognized the language being used" as if i was the one sending the messages.

I'm sorry you're receiving hate; I don't condone that kind of behavior. But I want to be clear—I am not the person sending any of it to you.

I value myself as someone who is kind and calm, but that doesn't mean I'll tolerate disrespect. You do not get to bash me, this community, or its members without expecting a response. Respect is a two-way street, and it’s about time you learned that.

In short.

I stand by what I said.

You do not get to be rude to me and my staff and then play the victim in my messages. We were genuinely trying to help you, and in return we get you attacking us and blaming us. no thank you. You blocked me. now its my turn.

Have the day you deserve

-Val

[obsidianpen]

With all the negative discourse around Tomarrymort I just wanted to share how your writing - particularly NG, helped me through a tough time. I first came across NG not long after my grandmother died. I was having a lot of trouble dealing with my grief. So, being able to immerse myself in such a compelling and well-written story really helped at that time. I am the kind of person who delves deeply into fiction and reading NG helped me take my mind off real life events (not to mention I was inspired to start writing Tomarrymort myself).

💙 I think you stated something really nicely here that gets at the heart of why so many people have so many feelings. Fanfiction - or really any fiction writing - is just that, not real, an opportunity to get out of your own head and away from your own problems and into someone else’s story. People can get really emotional about the stories they cling to that way. Totally understandable and I can see why people have strong feelings when the story maybe doesn’t go a particular route. Feelings of all kinds are valid.

broadcasting your negative feelings by shit talking the author/content creator is not. thats why this is all so upsetting to me, and why I’m certain it bothers so many other people out here writing and posting for free online. I don’t really care if someone likes or doesn’t like what I’m writing - to each their own - but for people to be sharing what they see here on another platform just to btch about how unsafe and hurt they feel, for things I haven’t even written??? As though a creators exist solely to cater and coddle them, specifically? I’m the one who feels legitimately unsafe, and hurt. Writing fanfiction used to be my safe space, and readers like that are the ones making it hostile and scary. Guarantee no one writing 100k+ quality fics is out there being that entitled and shitty. It breeches a sort of social etiquette and respect for the people who are spending so much time creating that used to exist, but more and more seems to not matter to people. I think that’s what is the most disgusting. Ugh I almost wish this had never been brought to my attention at all because it’s really annoying. I’m sure I’m like two days I’ll be over it but I’m still feeling bothered atm.

ANYWAY back to you. Sorry for that tangent. I’m glad my writing has helped you and inspired you, that’s what it is all about 💜💜💜

[unclevladscorner]

On sock puppets, pen names and Freydis Moon

First, lets talk about the difference between a pen name and a sock puppet becauese lots of authors use pen names. This includes me.

I use two names- Uncle Vlad is for my games and erotic short stories on itch. I do not intend to take this name off of itch or Tumblr. I will publish Sword of the Voivode under T.G. Joye. This is mostly because my legal name is used by several entities to publish other work already, and I don't want to be mixed up with unrelated works that are not my own.

Sock puppets are almost exclusively online handles used to harass and manipulate people. Freydis used both- sock puppet accounts often tended to also be pen names for other styles of writing.

While neither of these things is a crime per se, some of those alternate personas engaged in digital brown face. While also not a crime per se, it is in very poor taste.

Here's where things get absolutely FUCKED-

Freydis is an award winning latinex author who is; by all accounts, not a latinex person. Freydis also engaged heavily in multiple forms of bullying, which I have been on the recieving end myself. This bullying largely targeted minorities who are underrepresented in fiction- allowing Freydis to boost themselves as a supposedly marginalized author as they harrassed many trans, non binary, and people of color out of publishing own ownvoices work.

I've seen the effects of Freydis's predatory behavior first hand on transmasculine writers- many were afraid to leave their sphere of influence after becoming attached to Freydis, in spite of the bad behavior. Many more were harrassed off of various platforms- like Discord and Twitter- cutting them off from a small but tight knit community.

I am one of those people who was harassed off of Twitter, and have not made any inroads into the digital writing community b/c I feared backlash from Freydis. I've spent the last two years trying to figure out what I was going to do once I released Sword of the Voivode. While not erotica, I still felt fear to publish on Amazon due to Freydis's past harassment. It is a miracle the book has come this far in the process and I will be publishing it later this year.

Many, many more people were manipulated into believing Freydis with an unwavering, cult-like fervor, making it impossible to even have a conversation about years of abuse and manipulation going on behind the scenes.

The Takeaway-

We need to be better to one another, both by being more supportive of those within our own communities and by questioning our loyalty to any one person. We talk about believing victims, but never in the context of bullying and I think that has to change here and now.

We also need to boost each other like there's no tomorrow. Many ownvoices works have been left languishing in obscurity because Freydis took up so much space in multiple minority communties. Boost those books you felt unsafe to do so before. Boost your own. We need to lift each other up and engage with one another more readily to really undo the hurt done to us.

Be safe, and be kind to one another,

-Your Uncle Vlad.

[shiraglassman]

Hey, I know this is kind of a dumb question, but I came across a TikTok about a month ago suggesting that dragons (the western, fire breathing, princess snatching, treasure hoarding ones) were rooted in antisemitic in the same way something like goblins are. I couldn’t tell if it was a joke or not, and it kind of sent me into a tailspin, since I’ve always loved dragons (I read the WoF series ONCE and wouldn’t shut up about it for 3 years), and I was worried that I would have to drop them entirely for fear of offending someone. I can definitely see the similarities between common antisemitic tropes and dragon tropes, but I’ve always heard that the origins of the western dragon were that it was just a scalier of the devil and not meant to represent any marginalized community. However, I am not Jewish in any way, and I’m aware it’s not my place to dictate what is and isn’t harmful, so I was curious as to what you thought. (Sorry about how long this is TuT)

I held on to this ask for a few weeks to try to make sure my response made sense, so here goes. Disclaimer that I'm just one Jewish woman who loves dragons, and I claim no expertise or position of authority. I can't guarantee that someone won't look at your special interests and judge you unfairly. I also can't guarantee that you'll be hyperaware enough and careful enough to catch dogwhistles if they're subtle, compared with ordinary fictional dragons. What I can guarantee is that your average Jewish person is not going to assume you are more unsafe to be around than other unknown gentiles just because you like dragons, but fandom spaces and Tumblr spaces sometimes represent a skewed or specific cross-section of the population and may react differently. I can't make any of those calls. I don't want to tell you to start tuning out marginalized people when we speak about our issues including bad representation, but I also don't think "every Western dragon" is a problem the same way the entire perception of Halloween witches is, for example. For "some reason" (antisemitism) we've decided that big hooked noses are a thing you strap to your face to fake being a witch, or the way witches look in clip art. This is an issue because it takes a simple, neutral feature that some of us have and exaggerates it to the point of looking nonhuman. "Ha ha," says the trope. "Wouldn't it be funny if this trait that these Others have was so different and so jarring in appearance that they looked as different as they truly are, from us, the In Group?"

If the same group of folks who had anxiety about us coexisting alongside them created the witch aesthetic as created the Western dragon lore, and indeed much of old-fashioned European fantasy, it's easy to see how their feelings about us an other marginalized groups (disabled people etc.) creep into the stories. HOWEVER, it's also incredibly easy for dragons to not be us. Or have anything to do with us. If you're nervous when writing your own stories that someone is going to mistake your greedy characters for Jewish-coded, try to establish that real (human or otherwise) Jewish characters coexist with the greedy dragon or whatever to show that you're not using the dragon as a subconscious Jewish reference. But if you're talking about just "can I continue to buy dragon merch from creators who draw cute art", the only thing I can tell you is that there's an intense diversity of opinion among the Jewish people and even though I'm saying it's fine and probably most people at my temple would say it's fine, I can't account for strangers on apps I don't even have. Personally, I think you're safe as long as you avoid dragon things that evoke the trope directly. And many MANY dragons don't even evoke the trope these days, because so many millennials and younger grew up adoring dragons so we launched media where dragons are good. And don't even always hoard wealth. Much of modern dragon media seems to ignore the greedy and/or hoarding tropes entirely or have replaced greed as a motivator for the collections with "this dragon has a special interest", which is cute and doesn't evoke antisemitic tropes at all. You'll probably be able to make good judgments about what does the trope and what doesn't, but for some additional help here is a post Meir and I did on @writingwithcolor, which is where we'd prefer these questions be directed (yes, I know we're closed currently but we're reopening soon.) P.S. If this was sent to my personal specifically to avoid the WWC ask box being closed, please don't — that's an amount of volunteer work I simply can't take on. But I also know that it's possible and likely that you didn't know about WWC at all, so now you do — feel free to peruse our vast archives of past posts. @im-tired1124

[dairy-farmer]

heard that proship spaces aren't safe for minors yet there are some minors that are proshippers? fandom is so crazy oh my god. the misconceptions of shipping and being a proshipper.

people specifically saying proship spaces are unsafe for minors makes zero sense because anti-spaces are just as unsafe, if not more, due to the culture that revolves around shaming people for their interests and forcing others to apologize for those interests/their existence, experiences, and traumas.

the only spaces that are actually dangerous for minors are those where predators are present and able to engage with them. which is literally all of them. predators can be anywhere and anyone not just in "proship spaces" where people have deemed everyone inside is a pervert. they can be in churches, they can be in schools, playgrounds, they can be in the most holy, wholesome, and pure place an anti could imagine because someone being predatory has everything to do with who THEY are rather than the space they occupy.

and minors absolutely can be proship because there's this misconception that everything proship is lewd or obscene when all it means is not believing in harassment because of their fictional interests. and minors also have the right to not want to be harrassed because of stupid shit like liking hero x villain tropes??? there is literally no pleasing antis. they change what is problematic at the drop of a hat. i once saw a convo where an anti was saying shipping mixed race pairings was racist when THEY were the ones being racist for saying people should only date within their race. it's all bullshit and they only want a rush of superiority at thinking they won online arguments with some 6th grade rebuttals they stole from another anti's equally as pathetic tweet. there's no convincing them. not with psychology, logic, not with words from actual therapists, not with actual nonprofit organizations/governments telling them 'a drawing and words is not a person: stop submitting these false requests for investigations into their creators and wasting resources that could be used to help real people'.

antis changing the meanings of proship and shipping culture is their only way at being "right" because they are irrevocably wrong. if they can make proshippers look bad enough they think people new to fandom will automatically join their side because who wouldn't want to side against a supposed group of 'pedos' and 'groomers'? but antis mess up one vital thing and its that they hate themselves almost as badly as they hate proshippers and so inevitably they drive people away with the toxicity, hatred, constant 'call out' posts about other antis, and constantly changing standards for what is 'okay' and what isn't (spoiler: everything isn't okay until an anti with a lot of twitter followers says it is and, like sheep, they'll act like that had always been the case).

[oneshortdamnfuse]

You know, what's wild is that I'm not the same anti-Billy person you referred to in my first response, but it's very telling that your response to a black woman telling you she was made to feel unsafe in a space that she occupied with you is to get upset and self righteous.

I never once said I didn't care about him as a survivor because at the end of the day it isn't just about Billy; it's about the fact you, a real life human person who's actions will affect others, are okay with excusing racism because your golden boy is racist but also a survivor.

God, I'm so sorry I tried to come in here civilly because you are far too old to need anti-racism explained to you with a held hand.

You wrote an entire novel about someone who isn't me and still came out the racist for it! I hope you're able to grow, and if not, I hope you're fine knowing that there are black people will never feel safe around you.

If you’re not the person I referred to in the post, then I never talked to you about this - which is what you claim I did. I have a right to be upset by people accusing me of something I never said or did. I don’t even know if you are who you claim to be because people have repeatedly used underhanded methods to attack anyone who talks about this fictional character with any kind of nuance. I refuse to take responsibility for something you can’t address with me directly with explicit evidence stating that I think racism is excusable.

You are an anonymous person making accusations against me that aren’t grounded in reality. I never made an excuse for racism or racist behavior. If you can pinpoint where I did, then we could have a conversation about this. You didn’t. I don’t need you to hold my hand and to explain to me why I should hate a character that you hate, and I shouldn’t have to hold your hand to explain to you again that caring about a fictional character with experience similar to mine doesn’t require excusing their behavior.

There are plenty of black fans in the Stranger Things fandom who have talked about this character with a fair amount of nuance, and I trust and value their opinion much more than yours, but you probably won’t listen to them either. If I make you feel unsafe, then perhaps stop messaging me with vague accusations and emotionally manipulative language especially waiting weeks in between messages to harass me over something we are never going to agree on.

[damnfandomproblems]

Responding to 3 anons in #5796

"I agree with this tbh. Like adults are the ones making things unsafe for minors in fandom spaces. YOU are the ones who approach minors unprompted. Minors are just minding their own business in fandom, then you all come along and bother everyone."

Predators that are adults are not synonymous with all adults in fandom. It's not the fault of the vast majority of fandom that kids purposefully bust into adult spaces and arbitrarily believe the creeps saying they're "safe" adults. It's the fault of your parents for not reaching you worth a damn and the predator. And yes, kids do fucking barge into adult NSFW spaces. None of the the ones that say they mind their business actually do.

"I agree with this post, cause like... the ones doing the most harassing are adults. I am a minor, and it makes me feel unsafe in fandom spaces. Especially when I see adults drawing nsfw of characters who are MINORS! aging them up does not excuse that gross and creepy behavior. Just stop and give us a space where we don't get pushed into a corner and called annoying. Leave our fandom spaces!"

It's gonna be really funny when you age out of your favorite characters and have a moral dilemma over the fact that you don't stop thirsting over Bakugo or whoever the fuck the minute you're older than him.

And aging up is...how time works. That's like saying no one can view anyone sexually, fictional or real life, because they were once a child. Do you realize how stupid that sounds? If you don't want to be sat at the kids table, learn how to behave rather than screaming at the main table because Aunt Milly told an off color joke and Grandpa Joe has a naked Princess Peach tattooed on his arm.

"I see people getting mad about Fandom Problem #5796, but that kind of is just proving the point? You all act like the minors are the biggest problem in fandom, but you are the ones constantly inserting yourselves and making it about you.

I see adults say things like:

- "Fandom wouldn't exist without adults."

- "Who do you think created fandom? Not minors!"

- "Minors wouldn't have content if it weren't for adults."

All are ignorant of the idea that minors are the foundation to fandom. Fandom would not exist if it wasn't for minors being interested in it and starting groups for people to join. Often times, the best artists and writers in the fandoms are THE MINORS.

Adults make the space uncomfortable by inserting themselves and putting NSFW fics and art of minor characters. Then they get pissy when a minor points out it makes them uncomfortable and go "stop invading our space!"

You are the ones trying to push minors out when we just want to have fun! Just leave us alone!

-A minor"

Minors aren't the biggest problem, no. But by food are they the loudest. You say you just want to have fun but minors have on mass harassed people that were leaving them alone simply because they didn't understand the concept of dead dove don't eat.

And no, you are not, nor have you ever been, the foundation of fandom. It has always been adults, from the very beginning when Sherlock Holmes novels gained an international fan club unlike the world had ever seen to the 1960s housewife Spock/Kirk shipping Trekkies starting conventions, mailing lists, having coalate parties for zines, and laying down the foundation we have today. Adults were the ones that got sued my lunatic writers in the 90s, and they're the ones that, 90% of the time, are buying the services or media for you to consume in the first place.

And I'm sorry, but the best artists and writers in the fandom are never minors. Exceptionally talented minors are exceptional for a reason. The rest of you sit somewhere between "average and has potential" to "would make My Immortal hide its face in secondhand embarassment." Art and writing are skills, and anyone under the age of 16 likely hasn't been writing fiction long enough to run with the heavy hitters. Considering the state of the US education system, this is an even more laughable stance.

Many minors have great potential, but acting like your the best in show when you just made it out the gate is the height of hubris.

Posting as a response to a previous problem.

[moonstruckme]

Mae!! Omg I’ve had the craziest last few weeks ever like I swear someone told me my life was like shameless and I was lowkey like 😐 but at the same time I’d get Lip so not so bad. Anyway I turned 16 on October 11th and I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it and I almost didn’t because Monday I did something really stupid ): but I’m still here… anyway I lost my friends who weren’t actually my friends they were fake af and now at this current moment I’m being harassed by this boy and I’m literally so scared and upset and I seriously wish I had one of my fictional boys to keep me safe 😕 worst experience ever like I met this boy and he seemed really nice but after only knowing him for like 5 days he told me he loved me when I was in this super vulnerable place and it made me feel so unsafe like I seriously wish I had bodyguard James or something because I just can’t even I spent my weekend crying but I have to start to pretend like nothing happened because I can’t be the cause of more drama but I need someone to talk to about this so if it totally isn’t a bother I’d love to share what happened with me and this boy because I just need another opinion and honestly to talk about it more because it seriously is so messing with my head. 😕🫤

-🍓

Oh goshhhh that sounds so messy, I’ve seen my friends end up in that premature “I love you” situation so many times but they’ve never felt unsafe because of it, I hope that if you do you tell an adult or someone who can actually take measures against this guy! I have never been above calling a guy’s mom if he’s giving me or my friends problems too (no pressure and use your judgement, but just an idea) because regardless of drama your safety is the most important thing. But yeah if you want to share I have space for that right now so go ahead

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Mod: batchpost 4 for this topic

TW: Sexualization of (fictional) minors discussion

1. Yeah actually I agree with the person saying stuff about sexualized dolls should be tagged/warned for. It's really weird that this is discussed so much on websites frequented by minors ngl, admin, do better

~Anonymous

Mod: I agree with your agreement anon, I hope this format works better for most of you

2. I just want to hit all of you fuckers talking about fiction and reality being the same thing with a crowbar. I am mentally envisioning hitting you with a crowbar. Emotionally, I am hitting you with a crowbar. Physically, you are unharmed! Funny how that works. If thought crimes were real I'd Thanos snap you annoying little shits but unfortunately the world doesn't work the way you think it does. Stop shitting up every single corner of the internet with your moral crusade you bitchy neo-puritans.

~Anonymous

3. Honestly I want the hobby to be a more unsafe space for everyone too sensitive to learn to block and scroll harder because maybe if they don't feel safe they'll leave and no one will have to hear them complaining that they were emotionally traumatized for life and groomed by some random person posting a doll with a bit of sideboob. Stop trivializing real issues and find another hobby, you are literally more annoying than the people minding their own business making doll porn in peace and quiet.

~Anonymous

4. I literally do not care if someone shoves a YoSD up their hoo-hah to fulfill an unbirthing fetish, it's still not even remotely the same as scarring a real person for life and if you can't see why that is, you need serious, serious help. I am so sick of hearing this shit, like actively fed up and exhausted by it. I just... like my god. Shut up. Your sanctimonious moral aggrandizing doesn't make you right it just makes you insufferable and miserable people to exist around. Please go outside.

~Anonymous

5. if i see anyone ~naming and shaming~ someone as an ~abusive toxic pedophile~ for the crime of (looks at smudged writing on hand) owning a doll, i'm going to go out of my way to find your irl info so i can ask your parents how they fucked up this hard at raising you. you are not the protagonist of 'to catch a predator', the "last stand" against the ravages of horny crimes. you are basically the reincarnation of my pearl-clutching great aunt eva with the ability to use the internet and you suck.

~Anonymous

[stranger-rants]

I have mutuals who I bonded with over stranger things content that I didn't know were Billy antis until later, and I still follow them because we basically agree on so much other stuff, it's just this one subject we've agreed to just... not touch because I hate conflict, so they avoid interacting with my posts about Billy and I do the same for theirs, and we just pretend we don't see them. But lately, as a poc, though not black, I've been genuinely starting to feel unsafe posting anything about Billy because of just how bad it's gotten, which is so shitty because all this, over a fucking fictional character? Like, fandom is supposed to be for fun? Hello? It's not that serious?

Like, you can't say you're doing all this because Billy is a racist character while harassing and threatening poc that like him. I relate heavily to him and sympathize because I've been there where I have lashed out because when you are in a situation of constant, ongoing stress and exhaustion trying to handle it, you're not always going to react well to any additional amount. At the end of the day, he's fictional, move the fuck on and leave people alone

I’ve found out over the years that people I was mutuals with hated asexual people, which was interesting because they knew I was asexual. I have made that much obvious. This has happened to me about six different times over 10 years.

One confessed in a post that they didn’t think the asexual spectrum of identities were real, and even mocked them openly. I unfollowed them shortly after. One began spreading and then fabricating lies about the asexual community and refused to listen to my corrections. That hurt because I had spent significant time and energy comforting them over their own personal problems for years, but I unfollowed them. One told me that I wasn’t like those other, annoying asexual people who headcanon our shared favorite character as ace. I wrote them a response to that expressing my disappointment with what they said and they never responded back. Another three, I found out were very passionate about excluding asexual people entirely from queer spaces. When any of them tried to argue that I was fine, but they didn’t like “bad” asexual people, what that response meant to me was “stay in line and we won’t have any problems.”

Not that this is that but if you have “friends” or mutuals who don’t make you feel safe because they think you are deficient in some way or that they are superior to you in some way because of the difference between your identity and their’s or your interests and their’s, then they were never your friends to begin with. Protect your peace and kick them to the curb.✌🏻

[tenacious-minds]

About the new hbo show:

I understand, I do. HP is one of those things that shaped my entire childhood and a good portion of my adult life. But when are you going to get it? When are people going to get it.

Supporting new hp content, and ESPECIALLY on this scale is just giving her a bigger platform, and driving trans fans even further away from the few online spaces they still find some comfort in. This is maybe one of the smallest and most insignificant arguments, but it was one of the first things on my mind. And especially now, in a time of such horrific laws being put into place. I can't speak for everyone, but the more support I see for the game and this show the more unsafe I feel, and I think we all need somewhere safe to land right now.

She's doing real harm. I get that you're excited. I really do. Because the thing is I want to be excited to, and I can't be. We don’t get to be.

I hate being overtly political on here, especially outside of the context of politics as they relate specifically to, and within fiction. This is supposed to be a place where I don't have to think about it in the context of the real world. Where I can process the realities of an inherently politicized existence through fiction and without real world consequences, but she makes that nearly impossible. l'm just so incredibly sad to see how much support and excitement this now getting.

[bokettochild]

Yet another anon, and a wonky one with a split perspective- because I am queer, and I was raised Lutheran, and while I still believe some things- I think God is real, I think Jesus was real, and I think they're still present- I do not call myself a Christian, and I never intend to ever again, because I have a lot of trauma associated with the Christians I grew up with. Is it fair for me to have a knee-jerk fear response to someone saying they're Christian? No. And I understand that well enough to put active effort into fighting that instinct. But somewhere in the back of my head, all i can think is 'this person is christian and proud of it, they must be like my old pastor, they must feel I'm a blight on god's earth and do not deserve to exist'.

My biodad told me I was devilspawn.

Is that fair? Again, no, this is my trauma getting in the way. But I do understand why some people might have had immediate defensive and even aggressive reactions to what sound like a server made for people to talk about how much we shouldn't exist. I'm missing context, I wasn't part of the Christian server and I'm almost completely inactive on the main lu discord, I Dont Know the details, but if a group of Christians in a fandom I'm more active in grouped up to talk with each other about how much they don't like people like me- i wouldn't feel safe, either. I'd probably leave the fandom entirely.

That's understandable, Anon, thank you for your insight!

Nobody wants to feel unsafe while enjoying fandom. Christians shouldn't be run out, and those in the LGBTQ+ community shouldn't be being treated like predatory monsters. We're all here to celebrate a work of fiction that has nothing to do with any of our beliefs, and with that in mind, the fandom should feel like a space were we can enjoy it freely.

Granted, if LU was a LGBTQ+ work, then yeah, it'd be fine to make the fandom be all about that. If it was Christian, same thing. It's not either though! It's gorgeous art and an exciting story! Something everyone can and should be allowed to enjoy together, regardless of lifestyle, views, politics and any other thing.

I think a lot of people are missing this. And I think nobody should be being run out.

[heygutlcssa]

friendly reminder that tumblr savior and other blacklisting extensions exist. also the block button exists. its a shame that the dashboard is in an upstart tonight over something really stupid.

You know what it boils down to? CONSENT.

Here’s the thing my guys-- YOU DO NOT HAVE TO MAKE AN EXCUSE FOR A SINGLE THING YOU WRITE. JUST TAG YOUR SHIT ACCORDINGLY.

This gives everyone else the chance to give informed consent as to whether or not they want to read the shit you write. Because again that’s what all this drama boils down to: CONSENT.

And here’s the thing about fictional characters my loves. THEY CANNOT GIVE CONSENT BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT REAL. 

YOU THE READER ARE REAL. YOU HOLD ALL THE CONSENT TO READ OR NOT TO READ. IF YOU DO NOT CONSENT THEN DON’T READ IT AND MOVE THE FUCK ON. the block button is there for a reason. Blacklisting tools to block those tags exist for a reason.

the whole purity thing and policing what people should and should not write is pretty 2008 and no one likes a pearl clutcher. This pearl clutching and purity policing really comes down to readers denying or disguising (and sometimes even both) their own agency and consent to promote their own agenda.

“writing smut or sex with underage characters and aging them up is wrong because they can’t give consent” THEY CAN’T GIVE CONSENT BECAUSE THEY AREN’T REAL. THEY ARE FICTIONAL. Even if they are 18+ ( a consenting adult across the US federal law) THEY CANNOT CONSENT BECAUSE THEY ARE FICTIONAL. they do not exist. They are not real.

an ant’s left butt cheek can give more consent than a fictional character because IT EXISTS.

the ongoing argument that stemmed tonight’s drama isn’t about defending the rights and consent of the fictional characters mentioned, its about “ this sort of writing shouldn’t be allowed”.

And this argument is shit. Take away the camouflage and the coverup and the victim blaming and what you really have is a real living person behind a computer screen saying “ I do not consent to this and i am not comfortable with my own personal agency”.

a person who has the critical  and comprehensive thinking skills can look at writing or an rp blog and say “ huh, this is something that i do not consent to. This makes me uncomfortable. this doesn’t seem like my kind of thing” and can just keep on scrolling.

A person who is not comfortable  or confident with their own personal agency goes through this in-depth thought process in response to what they have read:

-I do not consent to read this. - I do not feel that I am in a safe enough space to withhold my consent. - i feel unsafe. - i need to be protected. - i can’t make it about my feelings, because i am not allowed to. - a sense of displacement takes place --> Others need to be protected. --This should not be allowed.

Take for example, someone walking into a movie theater and saying “ i don’t like horror movies.” and walks into a showing of a horror movie and says “ This is so harmful to viewers why are they showing this!”

There’s a rating system for a reason. You don’t have to go into that movie. Just keep walking.

Lastly my guys... PEOPLE ARE INTO WEIRD SHIT. In real life, with real people, consent is a super huge deal. and guess what, that’s why people have active and open conversations about consent, boundaries, empathy, and an understanding  towards power differentials. Its in the news. its in school. We are in an era where these kinds of conversations are socially expectable. Pearl clutching recedes this.

In fiction you can do whatever the hell you want. Some people actually like how it makes them feel because it is not real. it can be experienced within the safety of fiction.

going back to the horror movie analogy who am i to tell Stephen King to not write horror because it could make me uncomfortable? Lots of people like it. He’s won awards for is writing.

 and people still pearl clutch saying things about  weird fiction in general  like “ but it will normalize rape and pedophilia!! people will think its okay!”

do you think seeing a sewer clown murdering children is going to make a fan go out and do that? unless there’s some severe mental health issue, i think not.

Now for the pearl clutcher who decided to start all this shit...

YOU’RE CONSENT DOES MATTER. YOU ARE ALLOW TO NOT LIKE WHAT PEOPLE WRITE. JUST DON’T MAKE IT ABOUT SOME GRAND MORAL JUSTICE OF THE UNIVERSE. YOU CAN SAY “ UM YEAH NO THANKS NOT FOR ME” AND KEEP ON SCROLLING. Worry about your own shit my guy.

That’s why Rpers stress to tag their shit. and I can say hands down that the things you clutch your pearls about were 100% tagged. just keep moving. use tumblr savior. use that block button.

but don’t start shit. it ain’t fun. it ain’t nice.  There’s that one quote by oscar wilde “ give a man a mask and he’ll show you his true self.” the internet is one hell of a mask and you are exposing yourself.

and I’m gonna scroll on by. i do not consent to participating any further in your mess. Not my circus. Not my monkeys.