I don't believe in "age appropriate" interests

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I am 20, 21 in May, and I admit I am a "cringe Looney Tunes adult". I also selfship with Elmer Fudd (please don't think of me as creepy like everyone else has), and hyperfixate on him a lot. The problem is I am 20 and like a show for a very young audience when I should be watching sophisticated anime or The Simpsons, which makes me uncomfortable outside of clips (I have a strict family so g0re, slurs or some swears, and sex bother me when it comes to watching outside of my room with headphones. I'm even too worried to ask about seeing Mean Girls! Tbh The Muppets is the only "adult show" I accept). I also like Hello Kitty, namely Kuromi since part of me wants to be emo, Trolls 3, G4 MLP (which I know the LT fandom despises), and other franchises, collect fandom plushies or Build A Bears, and I was bullied out of liking Mario to the point where I cried and asked to get a Zelda game because it was cooler and less babyish. I also had a Sesame Street phase in my early teens because Mario references. I can't imagine giving up Looney Tunes or Elmer forever, it's a comfort show. The worst was when a non-fandom person made fun of me for liking the Short "The Stupud Cupid" because of Elmur's appearance. Not all of the show is that questionable and was made at a different time, so it shouldn't be taken out of context.

On the topic of my immaturity, I used to have a meltdown when I was forced to read a book with a photo of a real starfish on the cover, a huge fear that is more of a casual aversion now.

I think what you do in your free time is no one else's business. I am interested in danmei novels, kpop and asian dramas which a lot of teenagers are interested in and i could not care less if its not "age appropriate" or not. My life is hard enough without these people's opinions so to hell with them.

That said i am not very upfront about my interests even in fandom spaces, since i am generally too scared to share things i like.

I have always taken to fandom culture, with all its weird and wonderfulness, like a fish to water. I guess part of me didn't realize that stuff was looked down on by many NTs (and other ND people too).
Oh, and I'm a furry. People either think I'm too adult (think my interest is sexual and fetishy when it never has been) or too childish (think I need to give up my love of talking animals)

Nerd-dom and fandom is more acceptable these days, but there are still areas of it that are less accepted.

I don't believe in age-appropriate anything, unless a transgression can be shown to do real harm. You might alienate yourself from judgemental people, but that has an upside. Who wants people around them if they're going to keep saying "oh no, you shouldn't do that, it's not done." ? Of course you're likely to need some judgmental people to co-operate with you at times, so I recommend keeping your unusual interests secret from them.

The teens and pre-teens on tiktok are probably the absolute worst so far as judgement is concerned. Middle schoolers are f****n MEAN. I don't really care what some 12 year old thinks, but their comments on my videos are annoying. They're like Chihuahuas nipping at your pant legs.... harmless, but annoying as s**t.

I like cartoons like SpongeBob SquarePants and Nintendo games and Barbie dolls

Yet I want to get married and have sex...

There is no shame in enjoying childish things. =)

I mean, look at my avatar. lol. I collect G1 and G3 MLP toys and cute unicorn stuff. I even have them at my desk at work. It makes me happy, I don't care what people think. I also enjoy cartoons and video games like Pokemon.

I've noticed that the shaming for such things has actually gone down drastically. When I was a teenager I would have been picked on relentlessly for having childish interests, but once I got into college it seemed like it was not only okay to like things from our childhood but it even became "cool".

I guess I just think now that people that would judge me for any of this I don't care about anymore anyway.

I also don't believe in age appropriate interests. I have many interests that are not age appropriate. I'm not ready to give up childish things. I'd rather do what's right for me than do what others expect of me.

long ago somebody explained the difference to me between "childish" and "child like". Childish is regarding immature behavior in interactions with others,
child like is the openness, simple enjoyment, wonder, and appreciation of life's experiences in simple and direct ways as a young child. One can be both, or one can be either. I have been told that I have child like experience of learning and appreciating the world around me. You can keep the wonder, the fun, the appreciation of the small things that make the world a joy to experience, and still be emotionally (as well as physically) mature. I am 72. Do what is right for you, nobody is harmed by the choices you make to enjoy child like experiences.

I like adult stuff, I like children's stuff. Sometimes I even enjoy them simultaneously.

I always thought it was odd that in mainstream society, you were supposed to stop liking all these things at a certain age or else something is wrong with you, but you're allowed to root for the same sports teams from cradle to grave and that's perfectly OK.

Happily, I think being interested in cartoons and other "childish" things is becoming more accepted, at least in my experience.

Ironically, I think people are sometimes judged most harshly for which things from their childhood they continue to enjoy on the very fan groups devoted to those things, where things are becoming more politicized and divisive.

Life is hard. If there's something that you enjoy and gives you satisfaction, enjoy it! If someone is going to give you a hard time about it, you can try not to discuss it with them. But keep on enjoying it.

Looney Tunes in particular are very well made and very clever. I think anyone of any age can appreciate them, and when I see them now I notice a lot of clever jokes that went over my head when I was little, that were clearly intended for grownups to enjoy.

I'm nearly 60 and I like the bands Green Day and Machine Gun Kelly, which are mostly enjoyed by teenagers.

I don't believe in age appropriate interests either.

Unfortunately, people equate said interests to interactions and intentions.

While it is true that there is such thing as age appropriate interaction and intention...
People just mix them up with interests. That's where things had to frustratingly work around with.

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