#lbr most fans aren't writing lolita here they're just trying to get off

[sirenalpha]

the thing people are not acknowledging when they try to criticize purity culture in fandom is that they’re completely ignoring the genuinely crap shit in fandom that actually is extremely unethical and does real harm

like this isn’t about wanting to get rid of cringe in fandom, this isn’t about wanting every fic to be morally black and white and flatten complexity

this is talking about fic that actually promote and legitimize or normalize bad things, I like pointing out the number of porn with no plot fics of incestuous ships because that one’s really easy to see as bad especially with actual victims of incest calling it out, this is the easiest possible version of bad or unethical fanworks for a person to spot

I genuinely think that being a good person means not participating in harmful trends and discussing them when you see them and it’s certainly not censorship or policing to do so (you need to look up what censorship and policing is if you don’t agree)

there is also an overzealous purity culture not just in fandom you see it in other online spaces spilling out into the real world (I haven’t seen it in fandom personally because I do curate who I follow but like saying people are racist and not poc based on which ships they ship is bananas) and yeah I think it can also be criticized

but that doesn’t exclude the possibility of actually bad things happening or being written about in fandom, like if you’re writing fic that can be used by a pedophile or abuser as grooming material that’s genuinely bad, like if you would criticize a brony for it you shouldn’t do it either

how do you tell what’s overzealous purity culture and what’s actually bad? you’re a person with a brain you should use it and figure it out for yourself that’s literally your job as a well behaving adult in public spaces which is what the internet is if you can’t work it out maybe don’t go on the internet or in other public spaces until you can

I don’t think saying authors should have no responsibility or accountability for what they write is a good counterargument for overzealous purity culture, all stories have themes that tell the reader a message and if authors use that ability to say something terrible like incest is ok you actually should have a problem with that work and that author

like I’m not even saying you can’t write incest which would be closer to censorship, but when someone writes incest in a way that promotes it or creates grooming material that can and should be criticized and not just be left to cause harm as dldr because who do you think likes to read that? do you want the people who like that in your fandom? I don’t