as a former kid in adult spaces, we need to gatekeep things from kids harder

the "kids should be allowed to watch Hazbin Hotel" video feels exactly like a cat making a video about how cats should have a little salami as a treat

14:43 Something that is neglected in conversations about horror, is that there SHOULD be horror for kids. Goosebumps. Coraline. Children can be scared, believe in monsters, and be conscious that there are scary things in the world. It’s important to give them space to explore that, and horror for children should both exist AND be age-appropriate. Horror is a genre that helps people explore ideas of fear and often has a message/cautionary tale. Without horror media for children, they may seek out the inappropriate horror meant for adults.

Now does this mean Poppy’s Playtime or FNAF is ok for kids? I don’t know, I haven’t seen anything related to Poppy’s, and as a teen FNAF didn’t give me nightmares or anything, it was more like a dark mystery. But to make a blanket statement that horror shouldn’t appeal to children is too much of a black&white mentality.

As a 9 or 10 year old, I was part of the My little pony fandom, and was exposed to a lot of inappropriate content from adult fans. And mlp was made for little kids. I was doing everything right, and adults invading children's spaces ruined the entire thing. And I'm one of the luckier people in this situation. My parents drilled internet safety into me so much that I didn't chat with anyone else in any fandom spaces till much later, and avoided getting into dangerous situations because of it. Now when I see kids get into adult spaces, I kinda get it. Nothing's sacred on the internet, not even places and fandoms made for children, and there's so little place for children anywhere now. If I was a kid in this era, I'd be like them too. This issue isn't just new gen fans not knowing etiquette, it's part of a larger systemic push to close up any spaces for kids to be kids everywhere.

I feel like sites like TikTok and Twitter are one of the biggest reasons why fandoms have become so toxic, because these types of sites encourage ragebait and general toxicity. You either unabashedly love or hate a piece of media, character or person, and there's no room for nuance. Here's the thing, you can love a piece of media while acknowledging its flaws, and you can not enjoy something without needing to paint the people who do as bad people. The fact that so many kids and pre-teens are on these sites is really concerning. And that's not even mentioning the rampant racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny and other bigotry a lot of fans have to deal with from others, especially cosplayers

I also think the fact that it's become so common for some to attack creators and people who work on projects they don't like is really disturbing. Say what you want about Vivziepop and her projects. The fact that it's become so normalised to attack her, spread misinformation and false accusations about her character, bring up stuff she did years ago and that she's since apologised for, and even threaten to harm her. With a lot of videos that do so getting thousands of views is disgusting

I'm not saying that she and her work should be above criticism. I think Hazbin Hotel is just ok at best and I do think there are things to fairly criticise Vivziepop over. Mainly how defensive she could get to people starting to criticise her work around the time Helluva Boss's second season was airing. But there's a way to criticise someone's work without resorting to just mocking their appearance and just being nasty towards them and the people they've worked with

Edit: so a lot of people have also brought up Tumblr's toxicity and their right. Pre-Exodus Tumblr was insane with how often people would bully users and even certain actors for just about anything. Nowadays from my experience, Tumblr is a lot more chill, but back then it was a blood bath

Some kids really like "I can take care of myself, I'm thirteen!"

Hazbin Hotel feels like three kids in a trenchcoat pretending to be adult, y'know?

Oh being in so many fandoms is HELL sometimes

I stopped interacting with fandom entirely. I already were on the outskirts of nerd/geek culture, but the way fans have become super entitled and angry has made me step back entirely.

Even in smaller and more obscure fandoms, you're not always safe. Those tend to be just as cliquey, toxic, and gatekeepy as the big ones. I speak from experience.

21:10 GOOD JOB FOR SAYING SHAME ON YOU TO THE PARENTS WHAT IS THAT 😭😭😭😭

48:24 This guy isn't a part of the TADC fandom, he's a known troll who heard of the controversy and wanted to piss people off at the convention for clicks. Luckily Glitch called him out and he got banned from the convention within the day, but he's still taking that negative reaction he got as a win (this isn't me defending what happened with Kovac, btw, I'm not happy with what he did, but just explaining what was actually happening)

It feels like every current fandom is the 2016 Voltron fandom. It sucks.

I STOPPED INTERRACTING WITH FANDOM YEARS AGO AND THEN I WATCHED MY QUALITY OF LIFE SKYROCKET!!!!! Man leaving Twitter felt GOOD

Angel Dust being described as "so silly" while he has the saddest and darkest storyline in BOTH seasons and Anthony's character development with his kind-hearted, selfless, loving and gentle personality shining bright in the series as it goes on is making me wonder if me and this kid are watching the same series.

This year, for the first time I experienced ageism at the con. I’ve cosplayed jinx since arcane came out, got some of my body confidence back and was so proud of me for making something from scratch and learning how to do the painterly makeup ( 4 hrs every morning) to replicate the show style. But this year I had theee people over the course of four days either say I was too much of “an ugly old bag” or that “I must be a dude cuz I have no tits”, ( I found that one funny at least.) Sue me for being athletic) But like my people I’m only 34. Yeah. I have a mini amount more lines than a 24 year old but wow. I think anyone should be allowed to cosplay what they want if it’s age appropriate and respectful. Just have fun and be glorious nerds together.

The main problem with fandoms nowadays is that they cannot seperate realty from fiction and they cant seperate online and offline.

Mid-millenial here to remind everyone that toxic fandom is not new. You weren't there in the trenches, as I was, when the Star Wars prequels came out and the fandom bullied a literal child so badly he never acted again and a black man into standing on the edge of a bridge ready to jump all for the sin of "displeasing" the viewers. The hate campaigns against Jake Lloyd and Ahmed Best were vile and unwarranted.

The way I interact with my fandoms online is to build a metaphorical fence around myself and consume and contribute content within it and occasionally talk to others over the fence

So as a more senior millennial, the problem is parents.And the problem is also partly the community  when it comes to conventions, they need to start putting age ranges on top of if your kid calls a voice actor daddy, everyone should tell them not to do that.Sometimes, public shaming isn't the worst thing. Also, back on that convention, note, age limits and no, just because you're an adult company, a minor does not mean that child should be there.That is a big thing that needs to happen more.