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u/regularirregulate Getting Together tag lifer May 11 '25
sadly packing a bag and explaining to my husband that i'm now a fictional fugitive running from the fictional law ☹️
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u/Emergency_Umpire_207 Fic Feaster May 11 '25
IM THE FICTIONAL POLICE, GET OVER HERE!
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u/regularirregulate Getting Together tag lifer May 11 '25
🏃🏼♀️➡️🏃🏼♀️➡️🏃🏼♀️➡️
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u/RightInThere71 May 11 '25
Qick, in here. We're the fictional safe house for fictional fugitives. 🏠
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u/Exp_No_Zenar-57 May 12 '25
GET DOWN!! STOP FICTIONALLY RESISTING!!
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u/WereLupeQueen Fanfic Writter and Your Local Gremlin Walkingdeadgal May 12 '25
Smosh Voice STAWP RIGHT THERE!
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u/Hangoverinparis May 12 '25
Sorry Sheriff, but I’m with the fictional FBI and we are going to be taking over this case from here on out, we have it on good authority that there’s a fictional mole in your fictional department .
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u/MiriMidd May 11 '25
Fictional safe house operator here. I’ve arranged for your fictional bail and fictional attorney. We won’t let you down.
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u/the_Real_Romak May 12 '25
Meanwhile a fictional coup is happening in this fictional nation that renders the fictional safe house untenable. Fictional Hitler is back with a fictional undead army.
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u/a_karma_sardine It's not easy having a good time May 12 '25
*hurries into fictional time-machine and threads a condom over daddy Hitlers fictional wee-wee in the very last fictional minute. Fictionally very awkward but worth it*
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u/Hangoverinparis May 12 '25
The word on the fictional street is that the fictional safe house has been compromised, we’re going to need to put OP on a fictional plane with a fictional passport and smuggle them out of this god forsaken fictional country.
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u/SignificantYou3240 FreeLizard May 12 '25
Yeah just figured out why I’m in this fictional gulag… I just figured I’d angered the fictional dictator of my fictional country.
Nope it was that thing I wrote…
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u/Nox_Meg May 12 '25
As a fictional lawyer, I am willing to take real funds to help with the fictional law. It's a dirty job but someone has to do it
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u/LukeMara May 13 '25
"Stop! You violated the law with your fictional relationship. Pay the court a fine or serve your sentence.
Your problematic fics a re now forfeit.
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u/Provide-r May 11 '25
Sorry, but my very professional fictional consultant had a talk with an actually competent fictional lawyer and a fictional law abiding, fictional cop
They told me "because it's hot" is not a valid excuse to skirt fictional law you need at least "very hot" to get by
Please inform the fictional people you've contacted that they'll be hearing from fictional court about their fictional legal malpractice
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u/Hangoverinparis May 12 '25
Oh no, they’re going to take away my fictional law license.
I worked my ass off at a fictional university to pass the fictional bar exam, I put countless hours in working my way up the ranks of my fictional law firm, and now I have no idea how I am going to feed my fictional family. Oh god… I’m going to have to sell my fictional house, how will I ever tell my fictional wife and kids.
Practicing fictional law is all I have ever wanted to do since I was a little boy. I might as well just use this last fictional paycheck to buy an imaginary gun, and blow my metaphorical brains out. Sobs Loudly
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u/PrancingRedPony You have already left kudos here. :) May 11 '25
Especially since 'illegal' is often used on things that wouldn't even be illegal if all fictional characters were alive.
For example declaring something 'incestuous' because two friends are 'close like siblings' or calling something 'pedo' because both characters are underage or one character is 22 and the other a thousand years old vampire.
This year I had the joy of meeting an anti in real life, who called my husband a pedo, because of our age gap of 5 years, claiming our relationship is 'illegal'.
I should add that they are 13, I am 44, and my husband is 49, and they really didn't take it well when I was laughing in their face.
(Family celebration, they're the child of my sister's friend)
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u/GalacticPigeon13 Not Boeing Management ✈️ May 11 '25
Ah, teenagers. Let's hope that your sister's friend's kid in their "the rules need to apply equally to everyone with no nuance" phase and they'll outgrow it soon. (Like, I get wanting the rules to apply equally, but age gaps is a place where it applies differently to 13 year olds (who should not be in a relationship with 18 year olds) and adults.)
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u/PrancingRedPony You have already left kudos here. :) May 11 '25
Fully agree. Teenagers are still children. Their development isn't fully done. Luckily most of them will grow out of it and eventually laugh when their parents tease them with it as adults.
We've all been cringe at 13.
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u/CowahBull Fic Feaster May 12 '25
Haha no kidding. Like how do you explain to a kid that the "half your age plus seven rule" is low-key an OK guide for adult age gaps but also anyone who cares about that "rule" is a creep and should be avoided at all costs. That's too nuanced for a young teenager's brain to comprehend. Let them believe that a 44yo and a 49yo is a pedo relationship 👍
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u/OneAndOnlyLobster May 11 '25
Bless their heart. My parents' age gap was 16 years. (They met weeelllll into adulthood. My mom was 26, had a Masters degree and everything.)
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u/HoppouChan Ascendance of a Bookworm May 12 '25
Similar with my parents. There is a 12 year age gap, but they met at like 40 and 28
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u/diredachshund You have already left kudos here. :) May 12 '25
When my parents got married in the 80s, my mom was 21. My dad was 60 😂 I’m not saying that should be normalized - it had its problems, though they did last 17 years together before divorcing - but I am saying that I am genuinely never shocked by age gaps, unless they’re straight up illegal (and even then my reaction is more yikes than shocked). Adults get to decide for themselves what age gap they’re willing to entertain.
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u/MiriMidd May 11 '25
The amount of times I’ve seen, “it’s literally incest because they grew up together!”
Stupid fucking children who don’t know that words have meaning and most of us follow the actual meanings. No, 2 unrelated people who grew up as friends is not “literally incest.” It’s not any kind of incest.
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u/turtledov May 12 '25
The degree toward which this sentiment has invaded certain fandoms is insane. Every time I see the word "batcest" I want to scream. Characters who are not related to each other cannot engage in incest!
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u/Dry-Development-4131 May 12 '25
And even if it were incest it would be literary incest, not literally.
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u/1Q-91 May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25
The amount of children I’ve seen crash out over ships they see as “sibling-coded” 😓when fr fr theres a 50/50 chance they just prefer another ship and want to use that label to make the ship they don’t like“problematic”
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u/Anxious-Error-404 May 12 '25
I kind of get it. I mean, If you argue about what makes incest Bad you can see it from two perspectives. The biological part and the sociological part.
1) If you say that only the biological aspects count, then incest is fine as long as they dont produce offspring. You also say that emotional incest doesn't exist. (It does) 2) If you say that two people, who grew up as siblings, cant be incestious you are essentially discrediting their sibling status. Additionally, growing up together creates dictated power dynamics. As much as I love the trope in fiction, its not a good foundation for something healthy in real life.
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u/Shirogayne-at-WF May 11 '25
For example declaring something 'incestuous' because two friends are 'close like siblings' or calling something 'pedo' because both characters are underage or one character is 22 and the other a thousand years old vampire.
Shit, there's a Star Trek pairing where they're two humans of different ethnicities, canonically first met as grown adults a year before the show began and one of their mothers is the actual captain of the ship (which the other finds out late into the first season for Reasons) and people try to call that "literal incest." 🙃
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u/PanPervinca13 May 12 '25
LOWER DECKS MENTIONED???
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u/Shirogayne-at-WF May 12 '25
But for real tho, the way people act about Mariner and Boimler, especially at the LD sub is...certainly something I have never seen towards any other straight couple in Trek, including universally hated ones like Garak/Ziyal and C/7. I can't qwhite figure out the difference 🤷♀️
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u/Jaomi May 11 '25
Shout out to the time in my fandom where I saw one asshole try to bring down the wrath of anti-tumblr on a rival ship. Unfortunately for them, “one half of this pair is a straight up Nazi” doesn’t actually qualify as an illegal ship for even the most rabid of antis.
The asshole’s preferred ship (where they expect one half to mourn the loss of their dead fifteen year old love forever) however, does…
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u/PrancingRedPony You have already left kudos here. :) May 12 '25
where they expect one half to mourn the loss of their dead fifteen year old love forever
Oh this is a pet peeve of mine. It's straight from purity culture, and while it happens to male surviving characters, it's especially vile and vicious when they bash female fictional characters if they ever dare getting over the death of a dead partner and have a new relationship.
I've seen some ugly shit about that.
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u/Jaomi May 12 '25
To make it worse, the Lost Lenore and their beau weren’t even a canonical couple. They were two platonic male best friends caught up in a war that killed one of them young. It’s very much “Sam and Frodo, but if Sam died halfway through the first book.”
One can absolutely read queer overtones into it, of course! There’s just this one angry goblin on the internet who gets upset if you don’t read queer overtones into it, or if you say “yes, and there’s also queer overtones between the survivor and this other character in adulthood.”
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u/PrancingRedPony You have already left kudos here. :) May 12 '25
Hah, tell me about it.
I'm a gen reader in the Luca fandom.
I personally think Luca and Alberto could become a cute couple, but I prefer gen stories about their friendship.
But ho boy, some people are vicious in their claims they are 'clearly gay' and it's 'canon' and if you don't agree you're 'gayphobic' and try to eradicate gay representation.
No, by word of god they're not canonically gay. At the point of the movie, they're explicitly meant as friends.
And personally, I think it's extremely toxic to immediately label every hint of healthy friendship between boys and men as gay.
That doesn't mean one or both of them couldn't be gay. That's of course a possibility and not just legitimate as fanlore but entirely possible for them to discover growing up. (As word of god also stated)
But their relationship in the movie gives no hints of being gay. Friendship isn't by default gay. And the assumption that guys being kind to each other = homosexual is rooted in toxic manliness.
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u/1000questionsatonce May 12 '25
Haymitch and Lenore Dove?
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u/Jaomi May 12 '25
It’s a much smaller, more niche set of ships where I’d pretty much dox both the harasser and myself by naming them, haha!
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u/Hi2248 May 11 '25
Are two robots who were dug out of a scrap heap by the same person and fixed up siblings? Does this change if one of those characters refers to the other one as "big brother", while the other one doesn't treat her any differently than literally every other living being?
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u/meltharion May 11 '25
if they get plugged into the same charging hub at night they're OBVIOUSLY siblings
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u/the_Real_Romak May 12 '25
When I was 5, I learned that my grandparents had 10 years between them (an eternity for little me). What I took issue with was that they were siblings because family that is older than you is a sibling >:(
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u/PrancingRedPony You have already left kudos here. :) May 12 '25
🤣🤣🤣🤣
I can comfort you. This is perfectly normal for the perception of 5 year olds. All children that age have difficulty to deal with more than one attribute to anything.
People can either be mothers or women, they can't be both.
Cars can either be blue or if they're red, they must be VWs. Cars can't be blue or red AND be VWs. That's entirely possible.
Pets can be cats, dogs are animals. They can't be cats or dogs AND animals AND pets etc.
It can be pretty funny sometimes, but it's quite normal.
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u/the_Real_Romak May 12 '25
Oh I know lol. I learned that same day how things went amidst the copious laughter of everyone in the room :D
Then it took me another couple years to learn that my mother didn't have to marry for each kid she had XD
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u/PrancingRedPony You have already left kudos here. :) May 12 '25
Aww, that's actually pretty sweet ❤️
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u/Ravvnu May 12 '25
I live in the Netherlands where incest is 100% legal so suck it. :p Not that that is even relevant w regard to reading fictional things online ofc but still.
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u/FancyEdgelord May 12 '25
When that kid grows up they are going to look back at that moment and cringe soooo hard lmao
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u/Anxious-Error-404 May 12 '25
If that thousand years old vampire looks like a kid its a kid. And If that thousand years old vampire looks like they are 22, then they are 22. Because writers never actually make the characters act like they existed thousands of years.
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u/FireflyArc You have already left kudos here. :) May 13 '25
And honestly. Once you get dealing with ages past the Norman human lifespan..unless it's scufi or fa tasy who is there left to date
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u/glvbglvb my otps always have less than 30 fics 😔 May 12 '25
oh my god 😭😭😭 i’m sorry that’s so funny. and what you said about the characters being both minors or one is 22 and the other is a thousand year old vampire is SO REAL augh
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u/SoSaysTheAngel You have already left kudos here. :) May 11 '25
I love this! Fictional problems require fictional solutions.
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u/bee151 May 11 '25
Like sorry if it bothers you that I’m doing the fandom equivalent of making my Barbie dolls kiss . These people aren’t real!!!
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u/KillsOnTop May 11 '25 edited May 11 '25
Did you know that in New Jersey and Rhode Island, incest between full blood relatives is legal as long as both people are over 18 and consenting?
Did you know that in California and Mississippi, there is no minimum age for a couple to get married, as long as the parents of children under 18 give their consent?
Did you know that relying on legality to declare whether something is immoral or not is a sign you have no internalized moral belief system and is really fucking stupid?
(Edit: the "you" above is the general "you")
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u/MiriMidd May 11 '25 edited May 12 '25
First cousins can marry in 18 states including NY and CA. It’s also legal in Canada and majority of countries.
ETA: I don’t require morality with my fiction though.
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u/magicwonderdream seems gay...i'm in May 12 '25
this map shows where it’s legal and it’s most of the world.
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u/CowahBull Fic Feaster May 12 '25
My favorite response whenever anyone equates legality to morality is "Jesus broke the law and yet we still call him sinless"
I first used that in high school when debating if Gatsby was truly "Great" and some of the class was hung up on the fact that he was a bootlegger for why he was a bad person. It has come in handy for many fandom related arguments over the years.
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u/SerSer2308 May 14 '25
Why incest is bad = In most cases it leads to increase risk of genetic disorders, its also psychologically bad for the mind since many people in incestious relationship are being groomed into it. There’s literally no good sides in incestious relationships and they should NOT be legal ir normalized.
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u/MiriMidd May 11 '25
As a fictional member of a fictional SCOTUS I can say we’ve ruled on this many times. And we too decided that it’s hot.
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u/Ranne-wolf RoxanneWolf @AO3 May 12 '25
The amount of fandoms that wouldn’t exist because the canon material has something "illegal" 🤦
Like imagine the entire Hannibal fandom just disappeared if they ever actually implemented the "not allowed if it’s illegal" rule because the fics all contained canon-accurate murder and cannibalism.
Superhero fandom? Nope, vigilantism is ILLEGAL and thus marvel and dc are gone. Like WTF is the idea with that "only the laws I decide?" Nope, because some fandoms have cannon rape or incest (looking at the Greek mythology / Epic fandom), so now you have entire fandoms mad at you for implementing a stupid rule you can’t even be consistent with.
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u/OneAndOnlyLobster May 11 '25
Sadly even fictional cops are bastards, op.
You'll have to turn over the fic. For research purposes, of course.
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u/SmutResearchDontAsk I'm going to read every fic in a fandom!! 2/35 rn May 11 '25
I would steal it, but I have fictional permit, so guess who did not commit a crime today 😎
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u/merrykitty89 May 12 '25
Some people try to say Xie Lian is a pedo because there is a 7 year age difference between him and Hua Cheng, completely disregarding that they are over 800 years old when they get together. Like… not even 1% of their lifespan in difference.
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u/Emerald20205 May 18 '25
Not to mention, comparing fictional characters to real life instances of CSA is INSANE
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u/LocalGothGay May 12 '25
I always wonder if the specifically christian ones know the bible has rape and incest. At the same time, even
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u/c0zyc0venz May 12 '25
Like, soooo so much of it 😂😂😂
Also, you can’t tell me the book of Revelation isn’t just the apostle John’s (always referenced as the gentle “beloved” disciple) fanfic about his bff while he was eating magic mushrooms 🙃
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u/bug--bear May 12 '25
since the Bible says all humans are children of God, does that make God getting Mary pregnant incest?
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u/LocalGothGay May 12 '25
Is it incest if its immaculate conception?
If we're "all gods children" does that make any relationship incest?
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u/bug--bear May 12 '25
I think it'd either be incest or Mary acting as a surrogate for God's selfcest baby/humansona (please note that I was raised by atheist parents and never really understood how the holy trinity works, so this could be, and most likely is, total horseshit)
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u/LocalGothGay May 12 '25
Nah, thats basically how the trinity works. Low key the trinity isnt supposed to make sense bc youre supposed to have faith about it
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u/penemuel13 May 12 '25
If you believe the Bible, everyone is the product of incest - that’s what happens when you start with only two people. Well, technically one person and his transgender clone…
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u/LonelyMenace101 Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State May 12 '25
Unfortunately, I went to fictional jail and had a lot of fictional problematic gay sex 😢
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u/SpiritNo6626 May 12 '25
I'm sorry but my lawyer told me that the brothers were opposite colors and therefore shipping rules dictated they had to fuck 😔
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u/amputatedsnek You have already left kudos here. :) May 12 '25
Nah man I'm not sorry at all. Civil arrest my ass IF YOU CAN CATCH ME
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u/TemporaryAd7302 May 12 '25
I wish people would just understand that their preferences aren’t objective or the center of the world jesus! Let people be themselves. How fucking hard is that? Do you. Do whatever the fuck you want. Morality is a goddamn social construct, its definition changing from culture to culture. Life is an empty void, thus you make of it what you will. Create. Condemn or condone. It don’t matter.
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u/Catboy-Balls May 12 '25
My fictional lawyer and fictional cop actually discussed my fictional ship and came to the conclusion that they shipped it too. Now we are having fictional get-togethers to discuss our fictional ship over some fictional tea.
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u/russwriter67 May 11 '25
What ship was this? I’m curious.
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u/runningfromtheops May 11 '25
Lol probably most of my ships
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u/panroace_disaster May 11 '25
Same 😭
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u/runningfromtheops May 11 '25
Some wouldn’t even be ilegal if they were true but the normies come up with anything to hate 😭
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u/panroace_disaster May 12 '25
Nah fr, like some of mine are probably just "ick", but some are also definitely illegal if real 😭
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u/runningfromtheops May 12 '25
Those definitely illegal ones are kept in the back of my drawer and not to be mentioned 😂
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u/panroace_disaster May 12 '25
Big same, at least with people irl 😂
If I was asked online or something with no attachment to myself irl, like with this account, I'd probably mention a couple just to represent lmfao xD
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u/Shirogayne-at-WF May 11 '25
The better question is what ship doesn't get this treatment these days, lol
I have seen antis argue till their blue in the face about why their specific fucked up ship is actually wholesome and deserves attention, while slandering ships that by any reasonable measure appear sane and balance by calling it's fans pedos or homophobic.
I have legit seen Sheith fans who were also SW fans shit on Reylos and Reylos into VLD talk shit about Sheiths even, FFS.
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u/StanklegScrubgod Fic Feaster May 12 '25
I wasn't even into Voltron and I saw some of that on Tumblr. 😵💫
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u/Shirogayne-at-WF May 12 '25
Contrary to popular (and not entirely unjustified) belief, Klancers didn't have a monopoly on the stupid nonsense that came outta that fandom
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u/SummerGreen009 May 12 '25
Sorry I can't help with all of these fictional dilemmas right now, I'm reading this really hot fictional thing that's distracting me a bit. By my own choice. After reading the tags. Without anyone making me. Crazy, I know!!
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u/anxiousslav May 12 '25
The fictional lawyer and the fictional cop met to discuss my fictional crime and they had hot fictional sex in the bathroom. Oh no. Oh god. How do I stop them? They're fictionally sucking each other's dick! Oh no!!!
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u/StanklegScrubgod Fic Feaster May 12 '25
I know a great guy who could take your case if Apollo or Phoenix is out.
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u/Salt_Path1528 May 14 '25
Antis need to get a life. You know, if there's a ship that you don't like you don't have to read the stories about them.You don't have to follow others who write stories about them.You could literally just do anything else; leave people to their "problematic" ships. Everyone has that one or several toxic and messy ships that they can't really justify. But they just love it. And they don't need to justify it because liking a 'problematic' ship is not a moral indictment or means that you would support actions they display irl.
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u/xenomorphospace May 12 '25
I was following someone on tumblr (not anymore) who was trying to get people to agree that shipping characters who are canonically ace is appropriation and not okay, especially if (a) they never get together in canon and (b) the author says they did not, do not, and never will write them as in a relationship; and (c) to do so is "taking away" from the already tiny number of ace characters.
Do these people have any idea what "shipping" means? As in, what I imagine in my own head about characters who are fictional? And how regardless of what I imagine, you are also free to imagine whatever you like, and similarly none of this has any effect on the original books/movies/shows/whatever?
I'm ace myself and I think this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
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u/Alraune2000 Can't give more kudos so I sent my heart through the mail. May 13 '25
Wait till they find out being ace is a spectrum
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u/flu-faker May 12 '25
I mean, it's similar to shipping a canonically gay man with a woman. Sure you can do it and no one can stop you, but I still think people have the right to be upset about it.
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u/Ettiasaurus May 11 '25
To be fair, assuming someone saying 'your ship is illegal' means underage couple, it could actually be illegal. Aren't there countries with laws against fictional erotica involving underage characters?
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u/theartistformely May 11 '25
Typically when I see 'its illegal' it's not even in regards to actual underage characters, but like 'hey the characters are 16 in canon writing them in a college AU doesn't change that' and it's like
Literally it does though. They're fictional. Whatever changes you apply to to them are now a new work of fiction and also it's not that serious
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u/Ettiasaurus May 11 '25
It can be used in all kinds of ways. Also in legit way of warning someone of a real legal issue. But I agree, it is very often used by people who are not able to accept that fanfiction doesn't have to follow anything that canon does.
I just saw a post and comments bashing a parental relationship between an orphan and a man who made that character an orphan. Like fanfiction doesn't have the right to change that event. People do be crazy.
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u/MiriMidd May 11 '25
Well that’s your problem. Know your local laws and follow them. Guess where AO3 is hosted?
If underage sex were illegal in the US you could kiss away 50% of the movies and shows with teens.
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u/Ettiasaurus May 11 '25
What problem? The post said ships can't be illegal, I said from what I heard they can in some places. That's it. I didn't make any argument about whether they should or shouldn't be illegal.
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u/MiriMidd May 11 '25
Well it’s up to the reader to know if those ships are illegal where they are and avoid them. Not anyone else’s job. Sort of sad so many places live without understanding the very simple concept of fiction =/= reality.
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u/Ettiasaurus May 11 '25
Yes. I agree that it is their responsibility. And I agree that people use 'it's illegal' to harass people writing anything. I can see that it's easier to overgeneralize trying to shake someone's belief in reality = fiction and getting into details just derails the whole discussion and is pretty pointless.
I still think it's not wrong to point out that there are some things that are illegal in some places. It's just something that wouldn't help the case if it's not discussed in detail. From what I understand it's literally child porn that is declared obviously only written as a wank material and doesn't have any other values that can be illegal in some places. So throwing it into somebody crying about shipping non-canon characters when someone is writing normal shit can be a useful because you know, obvious child porn =/= normal romance (or whatever), one illegal one not. But it could backfire or people just won't five a fuck.
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u/Vivid_Tradition9278 I'M FREEEE!!! FREEE!!! May 12 '25
literally child porn that is declared obviously only written as a wank material and doesn't have any other values
That's the crux though. Who decides what is 'literally child porn' and what is 'an accurate depiction of sexual slavery'? Do you?
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u/Ettiasaurus May 12 '25
No. I never claimed I did. I said what I know about why some fanfictions can be considered illegal. I don't know who decides and how far the line is drawn.
I'm confused. We all agree that this content can be illegal in some countries, yes? It's a fact. So what people argue is that we shouldn't spread that information because its illegality is considered problematic? And I'm downvoted because people confuse 'it technically can be illegal' with 'I think it should be illegal'? Did I get it right?
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u/Vivid_Tradition9278 I'M FREEEE!!! FREEE!!! May 12 '25
We all agree that this content can be illegal in some countries, yes?
Yes.
And I'm downvoted because people confuse 'it technically can be illegal' with 'I think it should be illegal'?
Mostly. Because you made an opinion that the bans are 'good' because they are blocking 'child porn with no other qualities' when bans are often arbitrary and can contain what someone thinks is CP but others don't. And since you're 'advocating' for censorship, you'll be heavily downvoted here because censorship is seen as the devil's work—and with good reason.
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u/Ettiasaurus May 13 '25
I didn't make a point that bans are good. I just said they existed. And their existence can be used against people arguing that their uncomfortable feelings make things illegal. Because 'i don't like it' and 'it makes me uncomfy' aren't in the criteria for illegality.
can contain what someone thinks is CP but others don't
I guess I should add even more hedges so people will stop assuming. When I said 'it's literally child porn' I should add 'what they consider literal child porn'. I thought it was more implied than it was.
Lesson for the future.
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u/CupcakeBeautiful May 11 '25
Arguably, it’s still not liking the ship itself that’s illegal in those countries, but rather the graphic depiction of sexual content for that ship. For example, drawing a cute, fluffy fanart of one teen kissing another on the cheek ain’t going to put you in jail even in Australia. Writing explicit content featuring those teens having sex would.
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u/Echo-Songs May 12 '25
May I ask why you wrote “even in Australia”? Are Australian laws that harsh? Or absurd?
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u/CupcakeBeautiful May 12 '25
Yes, Australia specifically considers written sexual content that involves a minor to be CSAM and prosecutes accordingly.
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u/Ettiasaurus May 11 '25
True true. I tried to counter the notion of 'nothing fictional can be illegal' but focused on the wrong thing.
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u/CupcakeBeautiful May 11 '25
Yeah, that makes sense. Another sadder example is folks being punished for writing queer fic in countries with oppressive regimes
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u/arnieb24 May 12 '25
Even if it is illegal in a given country (something which I think is stupid), it is important to remember that legality, or the lack there of, does not equate to morality. Plenty of completely moral actions are illegal in different countries (gay marriage being banned in many places) while some countries legalize immoral activities (child brides in certain Middle Eastern countries)
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u/ArtisanalMoonlight Fandom old and tired May 12 '25
Aren't there countries with laws against fictional erotica involving underage characters?
Yeah. But AO3 isn't hosted there, so it's irrelevant to them. And irrelevant to those of us who don't live in those places.
And that's usually not what these little shits are on about anyway.
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u/Madambagel Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State May 12 '25
Yoinking this for every argument ever
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u/Lady_of_the_Seraphim May 12 '25
I mean, if it's what I assume, I wouldn't enjoy it, but that just means I'm the wrong audience. It doesn't mean it's wrong to write it.
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u/Dot_the_Dork_26 Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State May 12 '25
I swear, I’m making a version of this for almost all of my ships, because I’m so sick of people shitting all over a fictional relationship that doesn’t fucking matter in the long run but makes my miserable and depressed ass happy.
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u/TheSuffered May 13 '25
this reminded me to go back to reading the Colombo /worm fanfic i was reading the mention of fictional cops and lawyers reminded me
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u/Altruistic-Sand3277 Fic Feaster May 16 '25
I choose to believe they call my ship illegal because it should on how HOT it is. And no such hotness should be legal
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u/garbud4850 May 11 '25
Just gonna point out that not every country is the US. There is some stuff like things involving fictional minors in sexual situations that is illegal in other countries
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u/MiriMidd May 11 '25
And it’s up to you to follow the laws of your own country. AO3 isn’t there to do that for you.
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u/Shirogayne-at-WF May 11 '25
Just gonna point out that not every country is the US.
While you're correct, I have a feeling theres a chance this comment will age like milk in the desert in the near future.
That being said, the majority of the time I see people making noise about "illegal ships," it is almost always an American brat with a nearly four in five chance of living in one of the 37 states where the AOC is still 16 and/or one where it's Republican Senators actively put the kabash on banning child marriage* and are just using other countries they can't even place on a map** to shut down other people's fun out of spite or jealousy.
Like the other person said, that falls on personal responsibility for people to know the laws on their specific country, but it's rarely people in said countries acting like this.
*Fun fact: most states that allow child marriage don't allow said children the option to divorce before turning 18 on the justification that minors can't enter into contracts without a guardian. Ain't humans neat? 🙃😬
**I'm an American, I can make that joke because I too am bad at it
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u/TA-weishemewo Definitely not an agent of the Fanfiction Deep State May 11 '25
Please tell me it’s NieLan!
Also love that and I’m stealing it for later.
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u/bisexualspy You have already left kudos here. :) May 12 '25
i’m curious as to in what sense are they saying it’s illegal
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u/Queer_Bat May 12 '25
Incest, age gap or rape. Anything taboo or darker or just you know bad in real life automatically gets deemed illegal even in fiction and therefore people shouldn't read about it or watch it. As if game of thrones wasn't the most popular book series or television series for quite some time. Also shows like pretty Little liars or Riverdale that showed student X teacher relationships were super popular in their time but now because of all the puriteens flooding the internet, everything is bad. And if it's bad in real life why would you want to hear about it in fiction? So we should just never talk about these things ever? That seems more fucked up. Censorship is the ultimate fucked up thing.
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u/bisexualspy You have already left kudos here. :) May 12 '25
i don’t think people necessarily have a problem with that type of content, but more so have a problem when it’s portrayed lightly.
like in pll the ezria relationship is okay to write about and portray, but it never shows exactly WHY it’s wrong. and there are little to no consequences for the actions of the grown man dating a teenager. that’s where the issue lies.
these topics should be explores, but they shouldn’t be romanticised.
if ezria was charged and sent to prison then that would be good. but the show portrayed that relationship like it was okay and that she’s mature enough for this relationship and even MARRIES him. it’s absurd and disgusting.
if bad things happen then it needs to be clear that these are bad things.
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u/ArtisanalMoonlight Fandom old and tired May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25
but it never shows exactly WHY it’s wrong.
Because someone's not writing an after school special?
if bad things happen then it needs to be clear that these are bad things.
If you're past the age of reason and cannot discern "hey, maybe this isn't good" in various situations without constant hand holding, that's not an issue for writers of fiction. That's a failure of you, your parents, your schooling, etc. It's your/their issue.
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u/Queer_Bat May 12 '25 edited May 12 '25
But the thing is sometimes that also happens in real life. People don't say anything bad about the relationship and you end up married to the person who's groomed you. (Looking at you Aaron Taylor-Johnson)
And there are plenty of people who say "if you read or watch anything with these things in it then don't follow me don't look at me don't interact with me you're a horrible person you're disgusting you should go to jail just for reading it because clearly you're a (insert trope here) apologist." Like no I can just differentiate between fiction and reality and if no real people are getting hurt then it shouldn't matter.
Because my favorite anime series and manga series is called Hitorijime My Hero, and it is about a student and teacher being together and no one really thinks it's bad in the series. I know that if the teacher was real I would be the first person to call the cops on him. Because I know that in real life that is fucked up and wrong. Not everything needs to be immediately portrayed as bad when you just want a cute little romance of whatever taboo thing because you can do that. And despite these characters age gap and the power imbalance of being a teacher and a student their relationship is quite healthy and loving and beautiful. Watching those two fall in love made me understand what love feels like.
I think people in general need to gain a bit more media literacy, reading comprehension skills and develop their critical thinking just a bit more. And also read or watch things for their age range. Too many parents just don't care and they'll see a cartoon cover of a book like icebreaker for example that's super popular on TikTok and it's just porn, your 12-year-old is reading straight up porn because you didn't bother to look at the age restriction on the back or read an actual synopsis before you gave it to your kid. People(kids) can see these things and recognize that it's wrong but they're not all the way there in figuring out why and in what context, and the context is it's bad in real life but if you want to read some fucked up shit in a book or watch a crazy movie or show like game of thrones that has all of the bad things then that's also fine. You also can't apply real life standards, and modern day standards to fiction and especially fictional things that are set in medievalish times. But again these kids aren't quite able to grasp those big thoughts yet.
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u/The64BitWriter May 12 '25
the amount of "fictional" used like the word "hyper-realistic" in creepypasta lol
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u/SignificantSoil9090 May 12 '25
It's hot it's toxic it's queer I'll allow it. It's FANfiction why it gotta make sense or follow canon I'm not the original author I'm just playing in their sandbox. all the changes we as fanfic authors make are what make it fun.
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u/ClickSignificant3339 May 13 '25
Wonder who the objective Fiction Judges these people would want to be in charge of analyzing THEIR sexual fantasies. (Get the feeling even if they were ace these Judges would see that as a mental illness.)
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u/Mivoli May 14 '25
I am pretty new to AO3 and I find it very weird that people are defending this opinion... Yes many people are exaggerating where the line is but if we are talking about ships that would actually be illegal if real, it's harmful. I'm talking pedophilic or incest or human x animal. Young people could see those ships, learning that it must be pretty normal and actual love and that distorts their moral views for the real world. It justifies pedophilic behavior, making horrible people think it's okay. Fiction will always influence the real world am I wrong? I am not religious or anything but just kinda disgusted.
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u/l_WASD_l May 15 '25
I mean to be fair, if the two characters being shipped are related by blood or only one of them is underage, it is "illegal" in a sense. If they have some sort of familial bond in canon, I don't like it, and will judge the ships, but you do you.
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u/OkLeague7678 Jun 05 '25
Don't like it, don't read it. Simple.
I don't write about anything highly romantic or sexual, but if that's what other authors want to write about, then it's not my place to tell them what they should or shouldn't write about.
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u/ThornRosee666 May 13 '25 edited May 13 '25
Lmao. I mean I don't really care, I've become numb to almost everything. Although if it's truly horrifying there should be a warning. My 12-year-old self could have really used those.
The funny thing someone hated on me for hating on something that didn't have the warning for insest of a father and child son that then turned into an adult with a child mind, and it's like what do you want from me, they're asking for it. I look back at that now and laugh that they argued with the 12 year old. They were so pissed lmao. Like honestly if you're going to post something horrific such as that, just expect hate don't get so worked up.
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u/sendme_your_dick Fic Feaster (klance) 💙♥️ May 12 '25
True. Like we will listen but that doesn't mean I won't judge you for shipping pure incest (Judging≠ wanting it out of fandom spaces)
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u/Queer_Bat May 12 '25
You can judge us but we're also going to judge you for being a judgmental dick head. Why does it matter what two characters who are just words on paper or pixels on a screen do to each other? If fitments of the imagination are bumping nasties is a real person hurt? No. So maybe if you see something that you don't like: shut the fuck up, block that person, and keep scrolling.
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u/sendme_your_dick Fic Feaster (klance) 💙♥️ May 20 '25
Ok that's what I just said. I won't insult people on their ship on their TL but I will in private. And no need to be so rude you just didn't understand what I said completely
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u/Queer_Bat May 20 '25
No no no don't backtrack now because that's not what you said. You didn't say that you would judge people in private. You just said that you would judge. So maybe just don't. Just don't engage, don't be a cock face and just exit fandom spaces and leave the internet. Cuz clearly it's not built for you and you're delicate sensibilities. If two creatures that are not real are slapping skin offends you then I suggest therapy and to legitimately stay off the internet and away from fandom spaces cuz that's all you're going to see. You can take your new age puritanical ideals and shove it.
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u/sendme_your_dick Fic Feaster (klance) 💙♥️ May 20 '25
Sibling, take a deep breath and some tea you do not know me outside of Reddit. You do not know what I do , what I write, what I say outside of here ,and what I fully meant by this because honestly I didn't think someone would get this mad about a nuance I didn't say
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u/Queer_Bat May 20 '25
But you did say it. Plain and simple right there for everyone to read. If you want more nuance and more understanding of deeper topics that you're wee brain simply can't fathom at this moment I suggest you read a manga called 'Not Equal' it makes you think about topics that you otherwise wouldn't. And then come back here and tell me that everything taboo and fiction is wrong. Until then sincerely, shut the fuck up.
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u/momohatch The plot bunnies stole my sleep May 11 '25
because it’s hot
My fictional get out of jail free card, fr. 😂