#the first link is loaded with links to scholarly articles and journals

[vladdyissues]

I have a friend who is Anti and the truth is that whenever I try to come back from another chat with friends who are fans of Pompous Pep, he tells me the typical "how can you like that!? It's pedophilia,What do you find so cute in an adult with a child!?" And the truth is I don't know if it's because of your cute post and your beautiful coloring But...I think I see it romantically, I don't mean it in any way with age roles or anything but

A 14 year old boy snuggled in the arms of his older boyfriend as he signs papers for a project at his company Or the typical one that they are very romantic with each other, their romance themes are... sublime and I don't know, does that make me a pedo?

No, anon, enjoying a fluffy romantic age-gap relationship between two bug-eyed, made-up cartoon characters with barely-human body proportions does not mean you suddenly developed an attraction to real-life prepubescent children. Just like biting the heads off your animal crackers doesn't make you an animal abuser, and fantasizing about being Jabba the Hutt's sex slave doesn't mean you want to be trafficked in real life.

To claim that something as ephemeral and complex as fantasy has any indication on who we are as people is an egregious overreach, and those who would weaponize it against innocent people care more about maintaining a public veneer of ''moral superiority'' than the individuals they are verbally abusing.

Your friend* needs to leave the medical diagnoses to the medical professionals and acquaint themselves with a dictionary, because they have made it painfully obvious that they have no idea what "pedophilia" actually means.

*And I use that term loosely, because anyone slinging such vile insinuations at you over a cartoon doesn't exactly sound like a friend to me.

Below are some links I think you should check out. Not only will they help you understand that the things you enjoy in fiction are no indication of who you are as a human being, they will arm you with the information needed to combat these bullshit arguments that antis like to throw around to justify being abusive assholes to people they don't know. And who knows, maybe you'll be the one who helps your friend see reason and escape the shackles of oppressive right-wing conservative rhetoric once and for all.

⭐ Masterpost of Proship Resources

⭐ How to Limit Anti Influences in Fandom Spaces

⭐ Terms related to shipping and their usage

⭐ The meaning of "proship" and the concept of "proshippers" in Western fandom