Fictional stabbing, torture, cannibalism, stalking, and murder are all fine but you draw the line at rape, incest, and underage ships?
Why???
I don't want anyone to get stabbed irl just like I don't want anyone to get raped irl and reading about either one of them isn't going to change my mind on that.
All of the above topics are dark and taboo things that make people uncomfortable. They also all have a right to be explored in fiction in all different ways.
Why is violence so normalized that even the most staunch anti can have fun playing with the dark themes of murder but when it comes to rape, exploring it in fiction makes you a criminal?
They always go for the old excuse of "you can portray this but only in certain ways or else you're normalizing/glamorizing/romanticizing/fetishizing it which is bad" but ONLY when it comes to sexual things.
Horror movies? You can woobify the killers, ship them together, joke about them, and write killer x reader fanfic til your fingers fall off. That's all okay, everyone knows that watching a horror movie or crushing on a fictional killer won't turn you into an irl murderer. Duh!
So why can they understand that for violence but not other controversial topics? If you can understand that watching a slasher movie or writing Billy Loomis x reader fanfic doesn't turn you into a murderer, then why do you think someone who reads for Billdip or ships Katara x Sokka is a real life sex criminal?
I doubt we'll ever get a real answer because there isn't one. It just boils down to "taboo stuff I can handle is fine and can be explored freely, taboo stuff I can't handle is gross and has no place in fiction".
*cool youth pastor voice* now you kids may want to NAIL and even SCREW each other, but you know who got SCREWED over and NAILED to a cross? yeah. and it was agony. just a little something to think about 🧐
Sometimes I'm terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants. The way it stops and starts.
Edgar Allan Poe
thinking about how victor was so horrified and disgusted by his creation because when he animated it, it didn’t instantly heal itself. that’s why the creature was so repugnant to him—he was mismatched moving parts, lacerations sewn shut. when victor created something, the open wound of his mother’s death didn’t instantly heal itself.
art parallels Letters to Milena | Franz Kafka On The Seashore | Hanuš Knöchel Lovers | Pál Szinyei Merse Spending More Time, The Warmth of The Sun | Ron Hicks Homecoming | Hans Adolf Bühler Returning Home | Alex Venezia Vampire | Edvard Munch
The Warren of Watership Down, a gift for @youremysunshine8