By The Way, Its Been Proven Over And Over Again Than You Are Not Protecting People By Isolating Them

By the way, its been proven over and over again than you are not protecting people by isolating them from information and truths. In fact, you're often doing the opposite. Ignorance is far more harmful than knowledge.

What you should be fighting for is for that information, truth and knowledge to be obtained in safe, healthy manners and understood.

If you're on TikTok or Instagram and you come across a video of someone standing in a grocery store waving packages around and dramatically telling you how its super bad evil gross fake food, just keep scrolling. Please. I promise you. Just scroll past it.

“shipping an unhealthy ship isn't inherently a bad thing because maybe you just want to see themes of abuse and toxicity explored in media.”

i agree. but i feel like there's a difference between finding a toxic ship interesting and actively shipping it. shipping two characters means that you want them to end up together and you think that they're a good match.

for example, i find simon and grace from infinity train to be an interesting ship. granted, they weren't a canon ship but a one-sided romantic interest was hinted, at least. but even if they were canon, i wouldn't ship them.

similarly, i also find rose quartz and pearl to be an interesting ship, despite their relationship being really unhealthy. but i don't “ship them”. i don't make posts talking about how cute they are or trying to prove that they belong with each other.

i like these ships because it's complex and well-written, not because it's desirable or good for either of the characters.

so yeah, if you say you ship two characters, you should be prepared to hear people talk about it being unhealthy. if you merely like a ship that is unhealthy because it's an interesting thing to explore in fiction, you should phrase it that way.

a lot of c//a stans actively talk about their ship being the best or being really healthy and wholesome, but when someone disagrees with them, they immediately go “i like the ship because it's toxic, i'm not into boring vanilla ships”. then just say that? instead of trying to prove that your ship is meant to be?

I lost the ability to care about fandom discourse. As in actual discourse not doxing and harassment being framed as discourse obviously. “They only ship it because it’s gay!” Don’t care, they’re having fun. “That ship is problematic!” Everything is problematic if you try hard enough so loosen up bud. “But that character is canonically [insert sexuality]!” That sucks I guess but one person shipping a ship isn’t going to suddenly delete all queer rep. “But they only like it because they hate the main girl!” Kinda shitty I guess but also she isn’t real. Her feelings aren’t hurt because she is an object. “But the creator said no shipping is allowed!” Then why did they post it publicly? Don’t get mad when fish come near after you threw them a bait bucket. “It’s illegal!” Proof? Source? Evidence? If you got none, then go home and take a chill pill. Just saying “it is” is not a real source. “But it sexualizes my trauma!” You don’t own trauma, all you own is your own online space so protect yourself first before snapping at others.

The list goes on. I think it’s because I have too many big problems to worry about that silly shipcourse is just that; Silly. Obviously it’s not silly when you remember the real issues like death threats, doxxing, suicide baiting, unwanted gore being sent, and real illegal shit like the constant accusations of real life crimes but let’s be honest, that’s no longer discourse since it’s hurting real people.

For me, once actual discourse (in the blatant definition of it) starts becoming virtue signalling and morality showcasing, that's when I lose interest.

Discussing things is how we learn and shape our understanding and opinions. For example; in many discussions I've had with antis, they've walked away with at least a new understanding of the subject or a slightly altered perspective, even if their core stance on it hasn't changed.

Discourse in fandom spaces will always exist and there will always be points that are both subjective, valid and just plain stupid.

But certainly, the attitude of 'just co-exist with it' is definitely a valid one. And there's times where, such as recently, the literal only energy I can devote to a response is telling them to look elsewhere or eat shit.

"I dont support it in real life!"

Then why write about it? If for coping purposes, why post it online for others (especially actual predators) to see and consume? Then why portray those things in a positive light instead of condemning them?And you're seriously going to tell me that just because as an adult you want to see a fictional minor (that mind you, is usually designed to resemble an actual child) depicted in sexual situations doesn't mean you don't share that same view concerning children in real life? You find fictional minors attractive but not real ones? Why does the line between finding someone who is (and usually also looks like) a child sexually attractive get drawn at whether the child is real or not? I'm not calling anyone pedophiles, but if the shoe fits... And also no, I am not talking about 18 y/os finding 17 y/os attractive. Use your brain. Creating content of underaged characters is still questionable regardless of age, however.

"I'm not calling anyone pedophiles..."

Proceeds to send in a ridiculous essay calling people pedophiles for the kind of fictional content they consume, for whatever purpose.

I swear, you'll all scratched CDs. If you genuinely cannot comprehend why there is a line between fiction and reality, frankly, you should not be trying to provoke or dictate discussions on that line.

You said 'use your brain.' In a pretty assumptive argument, by the way, but I'm going to uno reverse that advice. There are already plenty of resources available both on my blog and elsewhere if you'd actually like to educate yourself and not just try to use me like a sounding board for your superiority complex.

The duality between people being antis but also being 'booktokkers' and going absolutely batshit over appallingly written crap like 365 Days and all those 'my stepbrother mafia boss evil werewolf vampire king elf kidnapped me and raped me but loves me so much he's going to marry me and never let me ever look at another man again or he'll kill him with his bare hands' stories is what will drive me to meet the devil