#i've been writing a response to thsi for ages and just keep drafting it

[honeyhotteoks]

since i was recently talking about this on my blog, i feel like i just have to jump in and share my thoughts. similarly to OP, i read and wrote smut as a minor and now as an adult, and i also feel largely neutral about what minors do or don't do on the internet with respect to fic.... so i feel like it's good to have neutral voices participating.

what i think the very obvious common sense answer is, is don't worry about it too much. if you're an adult writer in the space, don't participate in conversations about nsfw topics and fics with minors, but that doesn't mean minors should be banned from nsfw spaces of their own making. i find it odd and extremely puritanical to suggest that minors should be perfectly innocent on the internet until the age of 18 and never ever under any circumstances engage in nsfw works. that being said, i think it's important to emphasize that whatever those spaces are for minors should be their own. if there's a little minors writing communiy, you do you, i just don't think adults should be participating in it.

reading and writing fic at a young age, smut or not, was a huge creative outlet for me. i can also tell you that growing up in a very conservative anti lgbtqia+ space, reading smut helped me understand that sex was not a shameful act and not something just between married heterosexual couples, instead I learned that it was a wide and beautiful spectrum of emotional and physical acts that transcend sex and gender. i think the idea of shaming minors out of creative spaces does nothing but hurt kids who desperately need an outlet, so there's no need in my opinion to get on a high horse and shame minors for existing on the internet, instead block them for your own boundaries and move on if it makes you uncomfortable.

i'm sure there are minors reading my fic, and like OP, i don't care to police my readers by age. i'm not going to be friends and chat about smut to minors, but i can't control who interacts with my work and i don't want to. and if any minors are reading my work, then i hope they can take away conversations about consent and sexuality and polyamory safely and then go about their lives.

as far as minors writing smut, i can't control that either but i don't really want to engage with that and you'll never see me reading or recommending it. if they want their own safe separate writing space, they should have it, but i'm not interested in blending the two together.

ultimately, like with all things, nuance exists. i just hope my readers in particular feel comfortable and safe here no matter what.

So I've been seeing a lot of discourse lately about minors and smut. Is it ok for them to read it? To write it? Etc etc...

And so I wanted to share my own opinion and please, I would love to know your opinions as well (you can comment, reblog or anonymously send an ask to voice your opinion about the matter) and let's keep this respectful and civilized 💕

Alright so first things first, I myself wrote smut for the first time when I was 15 years old (I'm currently 18) and posted it on my insta account which didn't have my age on it and I was never asked to disclose my age on it either.

I've personally never seen anyone express their discontent with minors writing smut until this year. I'm sure I've just never come across it and it's actually been a big point of discussion for a long time and I was just never aware of that.

Now , before I go on and talk about things in more detail, let me say one thing:

‼️If you're uncomfortable with the fact that I used to be a minor who wrote smut then please, block me and move on with your life. I'm simply here to share my opinion ; as someone who has experienced being in the fanfiction community (as a reader first then later as a writer) since the age of like 11 or 12; freely and discuss this topic with people who are open to have a genuine conversation.‼️

With that out of the way, let's continue.

What's the situation all about?

To put it simply, a certain amount of writers are expressing their discomfort about minors reading their work and/or them reading smut written by minors and/or seeing minors writing smut and posting it.

(if you're one the people who doesn't like minors writing smut , can you please explain it in detail? I would love to hear your opinion and have you share it so that people can understand the situation from the p.o.v of someone who's directly affected by it)

How do I feel about minors reading/writing smut and posting it on the internet?

I feel complete and utter indifference towards this situation, that is why I feel like a neutral and unbiased opinion like my own is needed in this discussion.

Now, would I go out of my way to read and/or interact with a smut writer if I knew they are a minor? Absolutely not. But I do not care if they read my work and enjoy it. My work is posted publicly and I'm not interested in monitoring who reads it and who doesn't.

Should minors read and/or write smut?

Should or shouldn't they is truly up for debate and depends on the person.

What I'm interested in pointing out is the fact that they can and they will do so if they're determined enough.

Now do you ,as a writer and/or reader, have the right to be uncomfortable and have the right to set your boundaries? Absolutely yes you do, however that doesn't change the fact that kids are determined and will find a way.

Is it possible to get rid of minors in the nsfw writing space?

No. No , it's not a possibility. No matter how much you shame them and berate them , no matter how much you ask nicely and beg them to leave , minors have always been and will always be part of the nsfw writing community in one way or another.

And I believe it's not possible to get rid of minors in the nsfw writing community because they are kids. Let me explain.

They are underdeveloped humans. Majority of them do not understand nor do they comprehend why someone would feel uncomfortable towards them being part of this community. Most of them are simply not capable of understanding even if you explain it thoroughly.

Now you can , in fact, scare them off and berate them and shame them and attack them to make them leave. Yes, you can do that , but should you?

Being hostile or passive aggressive won't wield a positive result. On the off chance that they leave the community or delete their content after your confrontation , they could easily come back with a new account, a new identity and lie their way through to avoid your hostility towards them. And believe me , I've seen it happen before.

Not only would you be wasting your time by shaming them into leaving, but you'll also be encouraging other minor smut writers who witness your behavior to lie about their age as an attempt to avoid people like you. And that would only complicate the situation more.

What to do if you're uncomfortable with minor smut writers in general

Block them and move on. Trying to kick them out of the community won't work since even if you succeed they can always come back like I already stated in the previous section.

Is there a solution to this issue?

I personally don't believe there is a perfect solution that will satisfy everyone but I have come up with a solution where we can all meet in the middle. I don't believe that it's a perfect solution but it's the best solution that I could come up with. (Please don't be shy and let me know what you think is the best solution)

My solution to this issue

As I've already stated , I don't believe getting rid of minors in this community is possible so that option is off the table for me.

I think we should encourage minors to be honest about their age , that way whoever is uncomfortable with them can avoid them and block them.

Like I said before , I'm well aware this solution has its flaws and it's not perfect by any means, however I believe this is the most civilized solution we can use. If we can have minors disclose their ages truthfully, we can separate the community into multiple sections , one of those sections will house the minors all together, far away from interacting with adults who are uncomfortable with being in the same space with them.

Again , I would love to hear your opinion about this situation if you're part of the nsfw writing community, and I would love to have a nice , civilized and respectful conversation with anyone who's willing to talk. I want to broaden my understanding of the situation and having these types of discussions is the best way to do so.