Alright, I’ll answer in good faith here, because i really appreciate not picking a fight or an argument
First off, please, don’t say , “you like proships” proship doesn’t mean “problematic ships”, it means “pro” (as in favor of) shipping, that is to say, it’s an anti harassment stance on letting people do whatever they want, based off the old fandom saying “ship and let ship”
you dont need to like problematic ships to be proship, you just need to be against harassment of people who enjoy darker or more ‘edgy’ media, and that’s it
As for you question in itself, it’s complicated, some problematic ships i enjoy stem from my own trauma and family issues, particularly my abusive mother. Reading and making content with parental !ncest gives me comfort through the fact that its an inconditional , codependent love. In fiction it feels comforting, but i know reality is way different first hand.
For age gap ships, theres a whole aspect about having someone take care of you, and also again, love regardless of situation, plus there is self insertion as it makes me think of back when i was a teen and had crushes on older people. I couldn’t act on them, and I knew that any adult willing to date a child is no good. But within fiction,you can write about it and it would be harmless, generally speaking
For dead dove or more problematic stuff,such as abusive relationships, theres again the desire for love no matter what, and the situations those develop in, are usually trauma bonding for the involved characters
Now, these are not the ONLY reasons i enjoy such ships. There’s also the aspect that i just like some of them aesthetically, or i see their chemistry in a romantic light, Or i have a streak of sadism towards a certain character.
Another reason is the potential for interesting fan content, particularly fanfiction, wholesome ships are sweet and cute and can be hot even, but it’s all very by the book. The exploration of their emotions, thoughts and actions in messed up situations is more interesting to me
For sibling !ncest particularly, i just feel that they’re usually developed in such a way that it can easily be seen as romantic, since we spend so much time with them, and seeing them fight and bond and laugh and promise to be together, that it just clicks different
and, It’s understandable that you feel nauseated and grossed out by a lot of these, in fact, there are problematic ships and tropes i hate and despise, despite the fact that i love other messed up content for example
– I hate bully/victim ships
– I hate uncle/niece ships
– I hate cheating stories
– I hate forced feminization
– I dislike enemies to lovers
– I dislike anything involving characters I consider too young
– I dislike vomit and sick fic
a lot of people love these! but i dont! some of them make my skin crawl! but i dont go and yell at them, i dont comment on their things, I just block them and move on, and focus on the stuff i DO like ,which is what i generally suggest
Fictional exploration of darker stories is okay, and generally harmless. I know the argument that it can be used to gr00m people, but truly, that’s not the fault of the content or its creator, the blame is fully on the gr00mer.
Also, if we started banning or bashing things that can be used to gr00m others, we’d have to ban stuff like plushies, candy, adult collectionists of cartoon merch, comics, books,etc etc
ANYTHING can be used to gr00m a person, if there’s a gr00mer targeting them. nothing is safe if there’s an actual pro contact ped0phile with the intention to gr00m a child. The only way to prevent these things is to be taught about them, and to learn to not take life advice from fanfiction, which should be a given.
Like seriously, think about it. let’s see, a safe hobby, non fandom related….
okay, imagine theres a minor who’s very interested in learning about history and historical maps of the world.
This kid joins an unsupervised group online, and talks about wanting to make friends, and does make some nice, age appropriate friends
They feel generally safe online
Then,a gr00mer targets them, befriends them and brings up the fact that they collect maps, and they love history just like the kid.
then moves into talking about ‘old customs’ and starts planting the idea that old societies were in the right about child marriage and so on, until they actually gets what they want, and commits a crime.
The gr00mer didn’t need a fanfic to convince the kid
they just needed to manipulate the child into trusting them, using whatever the kid liked.
who do you think it’s at fault here?
the kid? the history book? the group? the internet? Nope.
It’s the gr00mer’s fault for targeting the child
and it’s the parent’s fault for not teaching online safety to their kid.
