#this isn’t a vague for specific mutuals either btw I’m speaking in very broad terms

[mankatzu]

Thoughts on the “fiction vs reality” thing I’m putting it under a read more cause it got kind of long

This isn’t a start for discourse btw I love all my mutuals dearly but it’s something I feel I have to be vocal about, because I hold very different beliefs to a lot of people and I don’t want to seem like I’m hiding anything. So here’s the thing, I genuinely dont think the argument of the jaws affect re “fiction affects reality” holds up in a discussion about censorship specifically in online spaces

and tbh that might not even be what op of the original post is talking about but it really seems like it. Like if we’re all in agreement that playing a first person shooter isn’t going to turn you into a serial killer (re: columbine) then why is it different when it comes to dark fiction? You could watch a 1000 horror movies and that still doesn’t mean you’d be ok with murder in real life.

“But if affects you emotionally, so therefore it is affecting reality!” Heartbreak is 10x more painful than any fic I’ve read about a character being tortured (which is not an often occurrence for me, I mostly have done it for you guessed it, curiousity) but we don’t outlaw love. life is full of painful, traumatic experiences— it’s our job has responsible adults to filter out the things that we know will hurt us and to curate spaces where we can feel joy.

And this isn’t a one size fits all scenario I know. I still find lolicon shit repugnant and dislike how it’s infiltrated fandom spaces. But just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean it should be thanos wiped from existence, moderation is key. Because the issue is we can’t often define what is supposed to be porn and what is supposed to be an exploration of a topic purely for the sake of it and how it makes us feel.

Because there are still people who will read a story like “the bluest eyes” and say it is an endorsement of rape and shouldn’t be read. It is the logic of banned book drives that believe fiction that challenges a kind of moral law shouldn’t exist. When the whole point of fiction is to challenge us, make us feel things we otherwise couldn’t feel.

And this isn’t me saying you need to become ok with dubcon or Loli shit in your spaces. Absolutely not! If you hate that shit like me block MFs on all platforms! Filter those tags! Create the space that is going to make you feel safest. I just think when it comes to discussions around censorship we have to consider these things especially when it comes to critiquing a site like AO3, which, despite its appearance is used to host everything from personal memoirs to fandom fiction.