#iwas gonna add on abt the crossroads of the specific type of like kinky ace fandom mom who manipulates this on purpose but

[cruelsister-moved]

DON'T RB

thinking on my own experiences i feel like the detail lost between "communicating with anyone who isn't within 6 months of your age should be a crime" and "ummmm grown adults convincing 13 year olds they're asexual and involving them in debates about whether fictional c//p is ok is just like sex ed actually" is that on the internet it's much easier to either not be aware or not fully comprehend when someone is at a very different life stage to u..

like i was a 13 year old talking to adults and they were just like me and we talked like I talked with my school friends, i didnt have that same separation and awareness that i did have with the adults in my real life & like I dont really move in these spaces anymore or talk to ppl under 18 online bc of this exact discomfort but I can imagine like w the buffer of shared fandom stuff (and the fact a lot of adults in these spaces are like. kind of socially awkward and like if someone's into all kids shows and constantly online in like very kid heavy spaces their online presence will probably seem younger than they r) its easy to get caught up and forget you're talking to someone much younger/older

LIKE yes there are situations in which adults educate kids about sex but they are very public and rigid and there is a separation between the child and the adult where both parties are aware of their very different positions. also yes there are situations in while a child or young person has like an older mentor they look up to but again, that's a relationship in which the older person is responsible for maintaining boundaries in and also which are different from if they were two friends of a similar age & im just not convinced that this separation is clear online...

like are u really the cool older aunt who like teaches them how to knit or are u actually encouraging them to broach adult topics and being more familiar with them than u would be with a 14 year old irl...like if ur venting to a teen abt ur hard day at the office or whatever that is literally still a weird burden to put on a child honestly -_- um okay yeah that's my thoughts like tldr the internet makes it less obvious (and if they r someone w genuinely bad intentions it also allows them to shield themselves frm being confronted w the fact) that someone is much younger/older than you and allows for major erosion of boundaries in a way that just doesn't happen in the same way when an adult and a younger person interact irl >_<

DONT RB