Another day in the jatp fandom, another controversy. As a preface, this post is really just going to be me saying: everyone needs to fucking relax. Iâm tired of people calling other people out using weighty terms for no reason, Iâm tired of people harassing others over something as trivial as an actorâs view on social issues, and Iâm just tired of people not staying in their own circles. Thatâs basically a TL;DR for you all.
So, about this blocklist. Letâs get into it, shall we?
First, my main issue with this list (and I think a lot of other peopleâs) is use of the words âpedophilic tendenciesâ. I cannot understate how harmful it is to draw a false equivalence between real, actual pedophiles and smut writers on the internet. We must remember: these are fictional characters who happen to be teenagers, not real children who can be victimized. Calling adult smut writers pedophilic trivializes actual pedophilia, child porn, and CSA. When terms are watered down like this, the term begins to lose meaning. It is okay if smut written by adults about teenagers makes you uncomfortable, but it does not make the authors themselves pedophiles. Not even close.
Second, minors write smut just like adults do. The weirdest thing about this post is the fact that other minors were knowingly included on the blocklist (ie, âmost writers are adultsâ according to the post) which suggests that the issue is with smut itself and not with whoâs writing it. As Iâve said before, it is perfectly okay if you want to avoid nsfw content (which is why we have tags, by the way), but making a blocklist based solely on explicit content where you use the word pedophilia is really ânot the moveâ, so to speak. Hereâs the thing. Iâm seventeen years old, which makes me a minor. Iâve written smut for this fandom, I am writing smut currently, and I will continue to write it. To suggest that smut in and of itself is bad is strange to me. Guess what? People have sex. Teenagers have sex. Itâs a part of life, and it will be included in stories about peopleâs lives. And in comparison to other forms of explicit content like pornography, smut is a great way for young teens who are growing into their bodies to explore and learn about sex and sexuality outside of reality in a safe, contained space.
Third, there is a very big difference between adults writing about teenagers who happen to be having sex and adults sexualizing kids through writing. Iâve been around the block a few times in explicit tags, and at least I find I can always tell the difference between these two types of content. Iâd also like to say that these adults (many of whom are still in their 20s, btw) were teenagers once and grew into their sexuality just like everyone else; itâs not like theyâve been separated from the experience! As a smut writer myself, rarely do I find myself personally thinking âthis is hotâ. Iâm writing from the perspective of a character who thinks itâs hot! There is nuance and character development and thought to writing smut, yes, even pwp fics. In this section I would also like to address the fact that several of the people on this list are my friends and mutuals in this fandom. They are all lovely people who have their own reasons for writing what they write and their reason is never âah yes I feel like sexualizing children todayâ. It is very shitty to make assumptions about people you donât know and say they have pedophilic tendencies. Thatâs a weighty and unfounded accusation. And no, as a minor, I have never felt uncomfortable around any of them.
Fourth, many of these writers have written wonderful non-explicit fics as well! Itâs a shame to write these authors off entirely because theyâve written smut. You donât like sex scenes? Great! Exclude E and M ratings when you browse ao3. Also, some of these adult authors write fic where they age the characters up, probably because itâs closer to their own experience and it makes them more comfortable. They are literally doing exactly what you want them to do by not creating content about minors having sex. Also, Iâd like to point out that Charlie is 22, Owen is 20, and Jeremy is 24, and the majority of smut is about the boys. I donât think I should have to explain why itâs okay for other 20 somethings to view them in a sexual context, even if their characters are 17. Regardless, many of the perceived issues with these writers as people and also with their work simply do not exist.
Fifth, the number one rule of fanfiction is donât like, donât read. I myself have seen several nsfw fics in the jatp tag that I have cringed at and chosen not to read because of their tags, summaries, pairings, etc. And thatâs okay! But never have I sent hate to these authors, called them pedos, or made large callout posts about them. I simply ignore or block the content and go on about my day. Iâm not about to âyuck someoneâs yumâ, as it were, and Iâm not going to be the moral police and tell people some type of content is wrong in all circumstances, even if I find it personally disgusting or ethically questionable. People are always going to write whatever they feel compelled to write, and the great thing about the internet is that we all have the space to express ourselves differently. As others have said, fandom is big enough for everyone. Hereâs a nice little example. Iâve been in the Narnia fandom for years now. The four main characters are siblings, so thereâs a lot of incest fic. I personally dislike incest fic and think itâs morally questionable, and so do many of my mutuals. We have conversations in private spaces where we tell one another who to block to avoid seeing that content, and every time I go in the ao3 tag I filter out those pairings. But never have we made public lists calling out people we didnât know, and never have we sent derisive comments their way. Everyone must learn to keep to their own circles and curate their own feeds for fandom to be a positive experience. Everyone must learn to listen to other people and accept that everything has nuance. Everyone must be learn to be kind. As my choir teacher says, âthere is never an excuse for being rudeâ. And when controversy must happen, letâs all be respectful, mature, and level headed in our discourse with one another.
In conclusion, this fandom has an issue with telling people what they can and cannot do or create, and thatâs wrong. Fandom is supposed to be a free, positive environment. It is our duty to keep it that way. Thank you for your time.