Thread by @a_smallegg

#NotJustADrawing
tw rape mention, pedophilia
I can't write for shit but it's long anyway sorry

When I turned 13 the influence from cartoons and the internet was already going strong, and with no proper guidance, everything I was told online was supposedly true and without fault.

Each year the presence of adults in spaces involving cartoons or other media would continue to misinform and groom me into believing that certain things weren't inherently wrong, and harmful behaviours were normalized.

I was taught that rape wasn't such a big deal as people put it out to be; I was allowed to participate in sexual roleplay involving rape because the adults in my group approved of it.

Age was just a number, you were allowed to ship an adult character and a minor character because an adult said so, because they approved of it. These phrases and ideas were prevalent in yaoi culture.

I was so isolated away from good role models that I believed that in order to be accepted, I had to draw sexual and fetish art, including "shota" art. The grown adults in my groups would praise me for it. My idea of sex was skewed horrifically.

I was so badly influenced by this that I hadn't truly given it a second thought that what I was doing was bad. It did not help that the content a lot of my groups enjoyed also encouraged this behaviour.

It wasn't until I was approaching 18 I would realize that not everything should be allowed, that certain ideas could be harmful to me and to others around you. Even now, I still struggle to unlearn the years of shit I had to believe. I still feel disappointed in myself if I fail.

The moment I stopped pandering to toxic groups I was hated for it. When I said "hey, maybe this piece of media is promoting racism or pedophilia or something problematic and isn't actually speaking good morals to the audience", I would be ignored. And it's still so true now.

Many people who work in the industry at the moment, becoming desensitized from what's morally wrong, are ignoring the people who are speaking out to them. As much as art has influenced people positively, given them life lessons and a way to cope, the opposite is just as true!

Not all stories teach the right things, not all pieces of art spread a good message. A lot of animators out there want their creations to inspire people, yet turn a blind eye when someone points out a part of that work that was possibly offensive or harmful.

Yes, it's going to hurt when someone tells you what you're doing is bad, but as a grown adult you should be aware that taking responsibility for your actions is going to hurt at the beginning.

Please, if you're in an industry that strives on inspiring people, ESPECIALLY youths, learn from what people are telling you. Don't ignore them, don't try to isolate them. Listen to them. They're trying to communicate to you for a reason.

TL;DR : After facing years of manipulation and gaslighting in fandom spaces telling me that all this bad shit was actually ok to do, the same behaviours are being found in the pro industry now and it needs to be stopped before another generation gets fucked.

What fucks me up too is a lot of pro animators rn are around the same age as I am. We have an entire generation of ppl who were surrounded by bad influences now in the forefront spreading the exact same shit we were told. It needs to stop.