I don't think people realize just how much being stuck in antis spaces when you're young really fucks you up. Anti ship spaces literally gave me PTSD. I get genuine flashbacks from all the times people made me suppress myself or made call outs whenever I failed to hide what I liked.
I felt awful for liking noncon. I thought I was a bad person. I knew that if I ever let my "friends" find out that I liked "problematic" art they would abandon me, hurt me. When they did find out (I was 19, still young...) they made call out posts, they told me to kill myself, they painted me like I was some sort of evil monster.
But... At that time, I had some proship friends (I think they knew I wasn't an anti before I knew), they were the only ones who actually showed compassion. The only ones who treated me kindness, the only ones who helped me accept that what I liked was okay. Some of them, who became my greater friends enjoyed the very same things I did.
The majority of my time as an anti was when I was under 18. I'm 21 (almost 22) now and looking back, I am so disturbed. Antis would sometimes send me sexual art/fics telling me to harass the creators. Which is beyond disgusting. They cared more about fictional children than a real, living child. I am not the only one who had a similar experience.
If you are still an ANTI, please think about how the community makes you feel. Is your own health and mental well being more important than your allegiance to a community that tells children to kill themselves over fictional content? Do you feel guilty for liking things that are problematic? Do you fear that you will be abandoned if anyone finds out?
