Does anyone else feel complicated When you have a crush on a Minor character
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | untitled |
| Creator: | [redacted]; documented by Sam Aburime |
| Date(s): | circa. 03 June 2023 |
| Medium: | TikTok; documented on Twitter |
| Fandom: | panfandom |
| Topic: | Anti-shipping, fictional crushes, Minors in Fandom, Ageism in Fandom |
| External Links: | Does anyone else feel complicated When you have a crush on a Minor character because(...), Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Does anyone else feel complicated When you have a crush on a Minor character is the first part to a TikTok post made sometime before 03 June 2023 by an unknown fan. The full post reads: Does anyone else feel complicated When you have a crush on a Minor character because if that Crush lasts until i turn into an adult Wouldnt that be considered illegal[?] The post received over 800 comments, many of whom were from fans worrying about the same thing.
On 03 June 2023, Sam Aburime documented the thread and posted a selection of its comments to Twitter. This thread on Twitter would receive around 80 comments and several hundred reblogs. Many of these reblogs were from fans who saw the TikTok post as concerning and detrimental to young fans. It was emblematic of anti-shipping culture that young fans were so concerned about fictional crushes.
Replies in the thread also linked similar discussions within anti-circles.
Sam Aburime's thread
me with dipper pines, im scared of growing up now
I am so scared Of the fact that i like len because in a year it will be weird and I'm scared I'm not gonna unlike him I have 2 years left I'm so sad
I had to document this specific anti TikTok thread because it was so large scale (18k likes / over 862+ comments) and displays a lot of the fears/concerns antis have that I've addressed in both of my published articles: Mainly fears of aging & being perceived as predators, etc.đ§”Tons of commenters confirmed their fears of becoming adults believing they had to give up the characters they loved. 18 was the barometer for legality even if a fictional character had less than a 2 year age difference "I have to stop liking _ on my birthday" was common (1/5)
(statement is repeated for 2/5 through 5/5)
Interestingly enough 'Aging Up' was often suggested as a solution to this by most! This was odd given that 'aging up' is often claimed by antis to be an excuse to 'justify pedophilia' by pro-shippers. Though, when characters were canonically aged up in a story it was acceptable
Canon aging was seen as a lucky 'out' of the situation. If they did not become adults in the story, many commenters would lament them. Only a handful of antis appeared to protest this logic and label it a proship method/tactic.
Many of the commenters said they were 13 or 14 years old, the majority were under 18. One of the weird things I noticed about this was the number of people comfortable saying things like "I don't have to worry about this because [the character] is [30-50+ years old]" (1/2)
There was a built-in sentiment of "the farther away in age I am from the character the longer I'm safe to like them" "If I am attracted to adults I am safe." Multiple used wording suggesting they conditioned themselves to like older characters for this specific reason (2/2)
It was a fascinating thing to see but also depressing to a degree knowing there were young people out there afraid of becoming adults because they couldn't have romantic feelings for fictional characters anymore. Their distress was palpable; I hope things eventually change soon
Also sad seeing people having to help the OP come up with 'better' wording etc. to publicly present their feelings for a character in an acceptable way and quell their anxieties and so they won't be perceived as a predator. Literally two suggesting: "Just keep it to yourself?"
I point this out because so many antis genuinely believe behavior like this = betrayal. And people just telling them to hide this so they won't be mobbed also seems like 'don't let anyone know you're a creep' which seems counterproductive to their 'protect children' goals.
conversely it also could just prove that once again, they don't REALLY believe what they're saying and know the OP liking the character doesn't make them dangerous but instead socially unacceptable to their peers and trying to protect them from backlash
It's other adults that condition them to feel this way. There were a bunch commenting 'I am an adult now and you will grow out of it!' and a few 'if you're a good/rational person you will lose interest when you grow up!' to 13/14 year olds
Like a 20-year-old commenting on a 14-year-old's post about this. The Kids don't come up with these things on their own. It's reinforced in a community.
One of the commenters did say they had to "wait" to like adult characters. They specifically barred themselves from liking adult-aged characters (and possibly may until they turn 18?) Another said they don't like characters their own age because it makes them feel like a predator
Comments on Twitter
This whole thing reminds me so much of radical evangelists suffering internalized guilty for having impure toughts to the point that is actually scary[1]
I have this feeling too, although it's more about me, an adult, being accused of being a predator even though all the fictional crushes I have are on characters older than me. I have OCD/anxiety, but I believe I now have POCD too.[2]
When I was 22 I had a crush on an anime character who was 16 (it only lasted for around 8 months). I got into an argument with a former twitter mutual who said I was a pedophile for it, and it messed up my mental health for a while and made me feel horribly guilty.Now bc of that and people with this mentality, I worry about how people will perceive me. My current crush is Vil from Twisted Wonderland, and he's 18. I'm 26, so I still worry about people thinking I'm a creep bc of the age gap despite him being legal.
And the ironic thing is that I'm not even interested in anyone romantically or sexually in reality! I crush exclusively on fictional characters. Drawn ones, at that. But that person said they worried about any real minors I interact with...it was a horrible feeling.[3]
References/Further Reading
- ^ This whole thing reminds me so much of radical evangelists suffering (...) by Laetic11Laetic, Archived version (04 June 2023)
- ^ I have this feeling too, although(...) by scientistsrvnt, Archived version (05 Nov 2023)
- ^ When I was 22 I had a crush on an anime character who was 16(...) by SketchyCritter, Archived version (05 June 2023)