#also I apologize for bringing up b1lly that may come across like I read your ask as also referring to him

[rotisseries]

this fandom really need to remember that liking villains is perfectly valid as long as people don't go around excusing morally-wrong behaviors.

i mean I'm hesitant to say things like "make sure you're not excusing morally wrong behaviors!" because. it's just like. an annoying attitude to have, like people don't want to have to post about their favorite blorbo War Crimes Mcgee with a paragraph long "DISCLAIMER: AS A FAN OF WAR CRIMES MCGEE, I DO NOT CONDONE WAR CRIMES NOR EXCUSE HIS ACTIONS" and also that is an annoying fandom culture to have to live in. like sometimes it's fun to just be like "haha yeah it was hot and sexy and cool when that villain killed all those people"

but like. everyone has their line in the sand for what's "too far" for a fictional character right? and everyone's is different, but for me and most people absolute no goes are things that feel, too real? I guess? like. racism, homophobia, domestic abuse, etc. are things that are always too far for me to continue liking a character. it's gross and unsatisfying to watch, these are things you're pretty likely to deal with in real life based on your personal life experience, and there’s really overall no way for it to be an enjoyable thing in the story right? but just generic murder is NOT most people's line in the sand

which is why like. there's a difference to me between b1lly stans and henry creel stans. like I just find henry stans annoying because of their lack of commitment mostly. they're all like "actually I theorize that he DIDN'T murder those people" BORING. say he did and you find it hot and sexy idc. also I don't find henry that interesting so by extension I'm not interested in the fanclub. but there’s nothing that actually grosses me out about him having a fanclub, because the murder is fictional and telekinetic and inseparable from the supernatural plot like I'm never going to run into a man who's actually murdered people with his mind and I'm DEFINITELY never going to run into people who hear about real not fictional telekinetic child murder and decide he's cool and sexy and also didn't do it or whatever

but b1lly. well. b1lly is a very real type of violence. there's lots of racist abusers and there’s lots of people who defend them so I just. can't get behind it at all. you DO have a point though that it would maybe be marginally better if they'd at least ADMIT that he'd done this shit lol

so yeah this isn't to say that like. someone's favorite character and how they talk about them is NEVER a red flag, but "this is my favorite character Child Murderer Jones, he murders children and gleefully boasts about all the child murder on screen, and I love him very much and have edited him with cat ears" is fairly standard fandom behavior and not worth moralizing, imo. and sometimes this fandom gets a little puritan about fairly standard fandom behavior

#like. do you know how many fandoms I've been in where “the murder was hot” is the normal take? imagine if we all acted crazy about that lmao #another thing I think contributing to how weird I find a character fanclub is will be something like #what other parts of the story you have to ignore for it #like b1lly stans kind of have to entirely ignore lucas and max's storylines for that shit lmao #and having no sympathy or interest in the story of a black kid dealing with antagonistic white men #or the girl dealing with horrible abuse is pretty gross #but like. henry stans don't really have the same problem bc again. it's a bunch of fake supernatural child murder #also disclaimer fandom isn't activism and hating b1lly isn't the end all be all of activism #but there ARE certain characters in media where I do actively think worse of you for liking them #and I do think it's a sign you need to examine some internal bias #also I apologize for bringing up b1lly that may come across like I read your ask as also referring to him #I didn't really I just also mentioned him in the tags that this is about. so like #especially bc you say “villain” and I feel like that's too fun of a word for him #like “villain” makes me think of fun larger than life fantastical criminals #b1lly is just a very real asshole dickwad #ask #anon #this got a little rambly I didn't mean for that to happen