#I feel sort of ashamed for abandoning those fandoms but really I was glad I could semi remove myself from the burning drama.

[ghostfixedsysknight]

Daily reminder to myself that I’m allowed to like things. Like, I’m allowed to watch, read and draw things and not have to feel guilty about it. Sure, the content I’m consuming isn’t perfect and yes it has flaws but that doesn’t mean I can’t like it. People are allowed to criticize and point out the flaws and I shouldn’t immediately feel bad for liking the thing in the first place.

I’m allowed to like what I like. One day the interest will pass but it makes me happy now by providing some laughs and entertainment. Nothing is perfect, content can be scuffed but I can still enjoy it

#ghost talks #idk what to tag this rlly. I’ve always had this feelings about a lot of things I like- mostly cause random stuff yeah know? #I feel like the bigger the fandom the more ‘hate’ it gets and the more negativity it has and the more I feel horrible about liking the thing #Like I left the undertale and ducktales fandom cause I got scared and felt horrible looking at the stuff I like which sucked cause #they were like two of my big interests cause the fandom was so big and I got hella inspired and managed to grow a lot as an artist. #I feel sort of ashamed for abandoning those fandoms but really I was glad I could semi remove myself from the burning drama. #The reason I’m still in the KG fandom is cause y’all are great and the fandom is small and close knitted so I don’t feel guilty liking it #which like- typing this out now seems like a real wack perspective to have ya know? ‘I still like it cause it’s the only thing that’s not #wrapped in layers of drama and ‘cringe’ and negativity.’ Like goddamn this is why I won’t be able to handle Twitter. #But really these feelings came back with A PASSION since I’ve entered the Dream SMP fandom. the art is rad and the essays are great #but of course- there’s ppl criticizing and honestly? valid. super valid. the points they have make sense and to me- a pussy- that’s what #makes me feel fucking horrible. of course the storyline isn’t perfect- it’s hella scuffed- things are wild. wtf is even the theme?? #But ya know what? I WANNA KEEP WATCHING FUNKY BLOCK MEN. I WANNA KEEP WATCHING THIS STORYLINE CAUSE IT MAY SUCK BUT THEY FUNNY AND #IM INVESTED IN THEIR CHARACTER ARCS. I super agree that some things are handled poorly but that doesn’t mean I can’t still like the shit #and it’s not really anyone but my own fault. I don’t know why when there’s a flaw I suddenly feel like I can’t like things anymore but I CAN #I need to get it through my thick skull that I’m allowed to like things! I can like a bunch of AU skeletons! I can like found family ducks! #It may have to do with how the internet has shaped my views. like the amount of times I saw a something do something bad and suddenly #everyone decides it’s irredeemable.One flaw and it gets dropped like trash and no one is allowed to like it or share their interest in it #That’s quite a toxic mindset I need to unlearn cause even though I don’t apply it online- I think people are allowed to make mistakes #I need to stop applying this mindset to myself. I can like hot garbage. I can go ‘yes this is trash but I love it’

[starklore]

I actually used to buy into the whole “Zuko is the only well-written redemption arc” thing, like I was never an anti as such, but before it was as widespread as it was I would still see the concept floating around and be like “yeah,” and thinking back, the process I went through as a villain fucker looked like this:

-2007, ATLA is airing, I’m in middle school and I’m obsessed and I like zuko. Didn’t care that much about him in s1, then he cut his hair off and I was like “okay, yeah, I feel it.” Sexual awakening happens. I start writing a lot of Zuko/OC fanfiction that is now unfortunately lost to time.

Zuko serves as a gateway drug for hot villains & antiheroes that follows me through my fandom journey. (I was also super gay for Ty Lee, i just didn’t know it yet. This is not relevant.)

-2012, around the time villain wank is starting to spring up due to Loki’s popularity, I realize then that I’m supposed to be ashamed of wanting to get railed by sad murderboys cause it’s cringey (I miss when people didn’t try to label it as “problematic” and just admitted they find it personally annoying.)

I quickly try rebrand myself to myself and others as a Good Villain Fan who never excuses their actions and doesn’t want redemption, I just think they are interesting!!! And sure, the actor is handsome but that doesn’t change the character’s actions ladies!! Remember your fake crushes need to be pure organic home-grown grass fed free range no GMO or else!!  

Except that my love for Zuko, a character who fits that exact archetype only with toned down fictional crimes cause he’s on a kid’s show, is too deeply embedded for me to abandon.

So now I have to retroactively justify why it’s okay to stan him and not Loki and the other murderboys, and luckily some brave bloggers on tunglr dot hell have already done the work for me by declaring that his redemption arc was the Best Ever and your fave will never compare. Great! Glad we got that sorted out.

I proceed to thirst only after the most pure of heart characters. I still think Loki is mad sexy but I pretend I don’t and I only like him for the most sophisticated literary reasons. Secretly I yearn to thirst after fake bad boys. I pray that someday a new murderboy will appear who will have such a good redemption arc that he will be acceptable stan material.

-January 2016, the new Star Wars just came out. I’m already starting to get sick of this bullshit and the Kylo Ren w4nk is the last straw. I don’t even think he’s hot at first, I genuinely just think he’s interesting and I relate to him, but now even that is too impure.

You have to preface every post with an acknowledgement that killing people is Bad Actually and you KNOW this and definitely do NOT want him to have a half-assed redemption arc. If you want him to have a long painful well-written redemption arc full of suffering (just like Zuko’s incidentally, only not as good because it never can be) then you can stay, but you’re on thin fucking ice.

But ideally you only like him as an intellectual exercise in like, the MRA psyche or whatever. You definitely can’t ship him with Rey or find him attractive cause then you’re woobifying him because you think he’s hot and ignoring the MoC in the cast. (Insert the “I have three holes” tweet).

That’s when I call bullshit on the whole thing, there was never an acceptable level of villain stanning, the game was rigged from the beginning and there’s no winning it. It was never about making sure fake people get held accountable for fake crimes, it was always about controlling women’s sexual fantasies.

I start to follow a lot of reylo blogs and accidentally start shipping it. I make this shitpost. It becomes the bane of my existence that haunts me to this day.

2019: I don’t know anything about MCU!Mysterio except that he’s a villain and is played by Jake Gyllenhaal. I stan anyway cause his dumb costume is hot and villains are hot and I want him to rail me until I forget my own name and that’s literally the whole reason. It hurts literally no one and it makes me happy, so who cares? Not this bitch.

Anyways, my point here is that--like, I can’t speak for everyone, but I think probably a lot of people on here are still stuck in the 2012 phase here, where they actually really like villains but are scared to admit it because it’s considered neither cool nor woke (and let’s be real, the second is only valued as an extension of the first on this site) so they pretend they don’t.

And if any of those people are reading this, I would just like to tell them that it’s okay. You can like a bad guy because you think they’re hot, or you relate to them, or you think they’re interesting, or any combination of the above, or completely different reasons. They’re fictional characters. How you engage with them is not a performance for other fans, it’s for your own enjoyment. So enjoy them.

#discourse cw #fanw4nk #the villain thing #pixie special