So yeah, I do think if I had been 5 years younger than I am, I would have gone through an anti phase, but notably, I did not, because the fandom environment I came of age in was completely different from the one that generated antis 5-10 years later, and growing up on the version of the internet that I did actually made me a bit more chill and normal as a teenager than I would have been otherwise (and also getting older has made me more chill and normal than I was when I was a teenager).
~This is very much my thoughts on it. I don't know if I would have been an anti, but I feel like thanks to the timeline of internet my teenager self grew up in I'm more chill in general about that kind of stuff (and definitely more chill now than when I was a teen, lol)! XD

I think one of the neatest aspects of fandom is that it provides a space for amateur artists to hone their craft in a supportive environment. Which doesn't seem like a necessary or core aspect of fandom, but fandom for some reason tends to create this environment, and I really appreciate it!
~I believe that too! I've been getting into Webtoons and stuff recently, and a lot of them either originated as fan comics or by people inspired by other fandoms and the like. It is kind of cool to think fandom gives people the space to feel comfortable to be creative. I know Yin likes to say it was fandom and the friends that she made through it that got her comfortable with writing reviews/her thoughts on stuff, and thus gave her the courage to apply for her reviewer gig at RPGFan. I think that's pretty neat. ♥