inkblotsspot:

kimmsauce:

pyrebomb:

rubyjooce:

ovrcasts:

autisticalistair:

fandom “elders” are always so creepy. if youre 25+ and in a fandom space with literal 12 year olds you need to conduct yourself as if you were in a room filled with children. you cant say youre a fandom mom and in the same breath make porn of underage characters. you are a fucking adult. act like it.

im all about adults continuing to be passionate about their interests if it makes them happy. but honestly yall had better fucking behave. recognize that youre in a space filled with vulnerable minors and its very easy to manipulate them if youre gonna be like “uwuuuu im a momma to all the fandom babies im a fandom grandma” 

I get that adults in minors spaces need to act responsibly: 100% yes to that. 

But…minors must be aware that they are minors. Fandom spaces are not one big homogeneous space; we actively choose where to be. Ever user curates the space they inhabit. You hand-pick which blogs to follow, which subs and forums you visit, which twitter hashtags you use. I mean, you still chose whether or not to turn google safe-search off. 

Spaces that are not for underage people are not going to change just because younger people are not interacting responsibly. These spaces, like: blogs that are 18+, websites which are designated for people over certain age, various nsfw public forums, specific areas on multiple platforms…Etc. They are here to stay. Other people are not here to police your participation. That is your and your guardians responsibility to negotiate. Other users are not here to cow-tow to where and how you enter those spaces. Now, we all know that no-one can stop you from going wherever you want on the internet, and that you might feel ready to engage with those things, but those are choices you are making. It depends a lot on what you personally feel you are mature enough to handle. But again, these are your actions, not ours. There is a further problem that a lot of younger people are not really getting: public space is not underage space by default. By default, public spaces are adult spaces. Yes its messy, and yes demographics are shifting and changing on platforms all the time, but if you are literate enough to use those platforms, you are able to make informed decisions for your usage. If you are not able to do so, then the responsibility falls on your guardians. If you find that one space is more volatile and that no matter what, you can’t control what you are interacting with? Then you(or your guardian) need to recognize that it might not be the place for you at that point in time. 

I grew up lying about my age to get onto various platforms, yes. Did I stumble onto things I really wasn’t ready for? yes, sometimes. And I was grossed out or even sickened. But I learnt from that, I learnt how to avoid things I didn’t want to see, and when to err on the side of caution for my own happiness. I never had the kind of parents who would only let their children use the internet while supervised, but I had the kind of parents who taught me to understand my own limits, and how to be aware of the world around me so that I can make choices that were good for me. 

Say it louder for the people in the back: By default, public spaces are

adult spaces.

Minors in fandom need to accept and understand that adults in fandom are NOT THEIR FUCKING PARENTS. I am not responsible for you or your well being because I’m not your mother. I never will be. 

Fucking thank god there’s people who think this way. I lied about my age too sometimes, but I never demanded anyone change their behavior to fit me, I was the other way around. I understood that as an underage kid it was my responsibility to act mature enough to stay in the communities I was a part of.