So if I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt:

1) grooming is not on your radar (which is not at all a bad thing) . Maybe you didn’t know/consider that uneducated teens are the most at risk to become victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

2) you grew up having readily available knowledge and access to information on sex (fanfiction especially) . Which means maybe confusing your own experiences with what you think is common knowledge to the masses. But someone with stricter parents wouldn’t have the same access to information. Let alone in places like the Bible Belt or other religious communities where it’s normalized to control your children until they’re married (and maybe even after then)

3) or the exact opposite (like me). You grew up with little to no exposure to sex and may have even been taught to be scared of it. Personally, I was told that sex was ONLY for the purpose of having kids and that it didn’t feel good for women. This ofc is perfect for grooming teenagers to believe that pain and discomfort is to be expected in relationships.

(There is also the secret fourth option. Which I don’t think applies to you, but it is also at least worth mentioning.)

-abusers have been using “protecting kids” as a way to make it easier to control and groom vulnerable persons for decades. Abusers don’t want you to know about sex because they don’t want you to be able to put a name to the things they do. They don’t want you to see AGE APPROPRIATE intimacy, because they want to be able to keep control of the narrative.

And AGE APPROPRIATE is so key here (my opinion changes drastically when talking about age gap relationships). We have seen every single awkward milestone between nick and Carlie, and not a single moment was made to feel sexy or aged up in any way. Not only do we see the two of them talk and communicate about what they are or are not ready for, over a year passes before they actually do have sex. Which is all basically unheard of in teen media (especially nowadays) let alone queer teen media.

This is also coming from someone who was in high school during the height of Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries, and The Fosters. So I have seen some truly evil teenage “love interests” over the years.

And when she called Jax out on it and said “I know what you’re trying to do!” both Jax and THE SHOW tried to gaslight us into thinking RAGATHA is the crazy, overbearing one

*Erkia (Venti’s Va) says she just wants to work is been getting threatening letters.*

Sag aftra: Don’t listen to the VA’s.

(I support Ai protections but this is crazy😭)