Box of Scraps | RANDOM II

45 | starker rant, what a surprise

I'm actually surprised it took me 45 chapters to actual to god rant about this in this book. 

Starker is not fucking pedophilia and if you write their canon ages, it is also not fucking illegal because Peter is canonically 17 now which is the fucking age of consent in New York City. 

I will not disagree that by definition, Starker could be considered problematic because of the age gap and the definite power imbalance there. But guess what? Literally every fucking ship out there could be considered fucking problematic. Age gaps don't mean much if everyone is able to legally consent, and just because power imbalances exist doesn't mean they have to be taken advantage of. 

Guess what? Canon Tony Stark would never fucking take the first step with Peter. It wouldn't matter if he was actually attracted to him. He would let Peter take that first step, and even then, I fully believe he would try to talk Peter out of it. Because Tony Stark is a fucking good man, and he would feel immensely guilty if he felt like he was taking advantage of Peter's little crush. 

There's this one fan fic on AO3 called "Another Year, and Then Forever" which is one of my favorite Starker fan fics, and if you want pure and adorableness, I 100% recommend it. It gets their dynamic so perfectly, it's about Peter telling Tony he's in love with him when Peter is 16, and Tony, being the fucking good man he is, tells him no. Tells him that yes, maybe he feels the same, but that Peter is literally a fucking teenager and teenager's hearts can be fleeting. He tells Peter to wait a year. If he feels the same in a year, they can talk about it. Sure, they kiss in between then and a year, but I'm pretty sure that's basically it. I know they don't have sex until Peter is 17, and just. Yes.

So yeah. You can fucking not like Starker. But don't call it pedophilic or illegal because it's technically neither. I don't give two flying crapcakes if you don't like the ship. You are allowed to like what you want. 

But don't call people who do ship them pedophiles and don't tell them they deserve to fucking die just because you disagree with their ship. Don't be a fucking asshole about it. You can have an opinion on it, but don't be that person that hates anyone who disagrees with their opinion. 

I as a person who absolutely loves and adores Starker, can perfectly understand why someone else may not like it, and why it may make them uncomfortable. But I don't sit there and call them out on it, and I don't sit there and be rude about it. Because everyone is entitled to their own opinion, yes, but no one is entitled to being a dickbag just because someone disagrees with their opinion.