microwaveango

[microwaveango]

Dear Anon,

In the spirit of not showing potentially triggering content to other people, I'm putting a copy-paste of your ask under the cut. Anyone who wants to read their ask first, go ahead, and be warned it contains non-explicit mentions of real-life child sexual abuse, ptsd episodes and suicidal ideation. There will be further non-explicit talk of sexual abuse/assault and grooming in this post.

First, I want to say I'm sorry you went through that. There should have been responsible adults on your side to protect you from this ever happening and there wasn't. That is horrible and at no point was this your fault. Ill-intentioned people tried and did take advantage of you because you were vulnerable and I am livid thinking about it. As a random person online, I simply cannot offer more support.

However, fiction and fancontent portraying dangerous, unhealthy, abusive relationships featuring fictional characters is not the source of the problem, no matter of what kind it is. The issue is always education and support.

The reason some people can take advantage of others in this way is because their victims don't have the means to defend themselves physically, emotionally or rationally. The abusers are living a power trip. It's also the case for sexual assault between adults.

A child doesn't instinctively know what is good or bad, dangerous or safe. Teaching these things is the responsibility of the adults around them, like their parents, family, teachers and children's TV. Things like emergency protocols, ethics and morals, common dangers of the world (including internet safety), etc. are all things children need to be taught to be safe. "Stranger danger" isn't enough, because it doesn't teach what behaviours to recognize, what's inappropriate, what's dangerous, and what to do about it. It doesn't warn you of the adult you know who has bad intentions. It doesn't protect you.

The reason you can enjoy (or not) a story about a pillaging pirate crew, a cute coffee shop romance, a cool spy, a war in a fantasy world or any other story is because you've learned right from wrong and have built a moral system to stand on. When the pirates steal; when the love interest flirts with the on-duty barista; when the spy kills; when the fantasy war has a good and evil side: you don't take these things as references. You know they're fiction, that no one was really harmed, that the rules of this fictional world are different from reality. The same thing applies to all kinds of dark fiction, including child or teen/adult intimate relationships. You need to know why and how it's bad in order to know how to face it. And you can decide you hate it even then, the same way you can hate horror, gore, cannibalism, murder, incest or any of it, even when it's fake.

To say that erasing any """positive""" (not explicitly labelled BAD and punished in-story) depiction of unhealthy, abusive or dangerous relationships would protect children or somehow prevent abusers from "feeling validated" and acting on their ill intentions is misguided. Abuse predates these depictions. Abuse will survive it. At no point was this type of content responsible for the situation, even if it was used as a tool to dupe the victim. If the abuser didn't have it, they would have found another way.

The nature of (healthy, might I add) fantasies are often dangerous if applied directly to real life. Someone can fantasize about being an infamous assassin, someone can fantasize about being a poor captive that makes their kidnapper fall for them. A child or teen/adult relationship can be another form of (healthy) fantasy. That doesn't mean the people indulging in roleplay or making art about it think it would be cool and awesome if it happened for real, the same way no amount of dreaming about being an adventurous pirate will make historical pirates good people. It means they have fun imagining it in a safe context.

The concept of a safe context to explore dangerous topics is extremely important. The safe context is that it's all made up and no real person was ever in danger. Words or lines on paper cannot be harmed: they don't exist. You have full control over their actions, thoughts, intentions, emotions, reactions, over their entire existence. This means something is only as toxic or healthy as the creator makes it, only as dangerous or safe as they want it to be. Only they decide if the adult was safe or evil, only they decide if the child/teen was distressed. The context could have been cute as an impossible fantasy (which teenagers do all the time!), or just fucked up for entertainment. At no point was there an unknown factor. This is a safe context. There never was any risk of unknown danger. No human life could be ruined. It is not representative of real life.

The real people making or enjoying dark content know what they are getting into and are consenting to witnessing these imaginary events. It can be interesting and fun, thought-provoking, or even distressing but cathartic. It's a common way to safely process distressing concepts. It can be harmful or disgusting to you, in which case you can take action and block people, words, tags or even remove yourself entirely from the premises as necessary to protect yourself and your health. Telling others what to do is not on the list. You are the only one responsible for yourself, you should take care of them.

The logic that banning potentially harmful fictional content will help fix the problem is dangerous, because it doesn't address the underlying problem and only makes you feel like you've protected someone. The abuser will find a way, they've always found a way. Without giving people the tools to recognize the danger or how to help prevent it, they are still just as vulnerable to being abused through different means.

Learning about why something is bad, how it can happen, learning critical-thinking skills (something you need to practise!), identifying the steps to take and who to go to in the event that something could or has happened... these are what will help protect children (and adults!) from people taking advantage of them. You can help by talking about it in age-appropriate terms and spreading information about consent, bodily autonomy, etc.

But banning stories that whatever censor arbitrarily decides is too much is not gonna help anyone in any meaningful way.

Anonymous asked: Pro-shipers support ships between minor characters and adult characters. These ship encourage pediphilia and abuse. People who ship those type of ships might think it's just fictional and doesn't matter, because they don't do that irl. Well pediphiles won't understand that, they see that there are people who exist on the internet that post and like nsfw media between minors and adults. And maybe that gives them enough confidence to get nsfw media of minors themselves. They may have thought that what they are thinking might be wrong, and now you've showed them that that's not true. Secondly, a lot of children like these silly little animes and tv-shows. If their impressionable minds see the stuff you type of people say about how "any ships are valid" and they see people expressing how they're able to talk about the abusive ship between a minor and adult character that they love. Many children who are targeted by groomers and pediphiles don't have a strong relationship with their parents or family, whether from abuse or neglect. So when they see the things you post and how nice you seem to be, they'll believe you. And when some 50 year old guy starts messaging them and asking for photos that should never have existed. They'll think back to you, who they trust, and what you said. And because they have no one else, even if it feels wrong, they'll tell themselves it's okay and that they're just being mean for not wanting to do it. Then they will have trauma for the rest of their lives, which may not last to long afterwards, as it has in the past. Just under half of all children who are sexually abused will think of or attempt to take their own lives. Thirdly, types of media that show nsfw material between minor and adult characters can trigger flashbacks and emotions contented to PTSD in people who have been sexually abused before. And idk about you, but PTSD flashbacks are the most terrible things I've ever experienced. I have several mental disorders and illnesses which have greatly affect my everyday, ever since I was 8 years old. It is to the point where my mental health issues have become a major part of my personality, almost all of it. But PTSD flashbacks are still the worst things I've ever had, because they aren't just pictures you see of the event, it's the whole thing. You are disconnected from the world and transported to exact place and position you were when the event happened. Idk about you, but I'd prefer to not instantly be transported into my 4 year old body while I was being sexually assaulted, just because some people think drawing pictures of fictional rape is entertaining. You are hurting a lot more people and a lot more severely than you are being nice to people who like those ships. And if you're wondering why I'm sending this anonymously, it's because I don't want people contacting me, so I have to see everything they say and constantly be reminded of sexual abuse and the people who support it. Considering, I'm not even 16 yet and already had two people attempt to groom me, which I've only managed to escape because I'm mentally in my early 20's and was raised to never trust anyone. Yeah, I've gone through enough already thanks, I don't need death threats, especially when I'm already giving them to myself.

[microwaveango]

feral.FERAL

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Im just feeling a certain way rn

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Back on my bsd shit again. I was the og chuuran shipper 🙏💥💥

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having collaborative ocs with friends will have you saying shit like "what if scimble was bumpus wouldnt that be funny" and then like two weeks later its one of the most important pieces of lore you have

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shopping trip!!! ٩( ᐛ )و

(atsushi would totally offer to hold all the bags because of his tiger strength)

(and kyouka and sigma would refuse but atsushi would only let them carry a few)

(and dazai would gladly let atsushi carry his bags)

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i support all dark content writers and artists and readers and enjoyers; i don’t have to love everything that you love to respect you and to have your back.

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My horrible wife

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My horrible wife

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My horrible wife

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He’s so

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Hello gorgeous

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obsessed with characters who were written for one another. like, what do you mean the reason for my existence is to be by your side? what do you mean our divine purpose is to belong to one another, for better or worse?

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there is so much intimacy in creating something together

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I hate when I drink all of my drink and there's no drink left. What the fuckkkkkkk. #sickandtwisted

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gawa befriending a kitty :3

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