#BUT HONESTLY IF YOU EVER WANT TO TALK AB SLASHER FOS!!! my dms are open!!

[dracwife]

Dex, I'm in love with a slasher character, what do I do? You're one of the few community members I know that loves slasher-esque/violent characters. It's... complicated though cause they're morally reprehensible but really pretty too?? I have never been in this position before cause the character is really complicated and my thoughts/feelings for them are complicated. So I'm just looking for advice if you can give any if that's okay.

Absolutely!!!!!

I do have quite a few slasher/violent f/os (read: Hannibal, Eddie, Nathan, Amanda, Anton, and Dandy who is probably the Worst™ offender) and honestly? My advice is to roll with it! It depends on how you read and choose to portray the character but don't feel bad about liking them!! You can always consume media critically and while you shouldn't simply excuse an f/o's negative traits, in cases of my f/os with rather violent tendencies, I try to work around it -- take for example Hannibal, he is violent, he is a murderer and a cannibal obviously, but it's also canon that he was in love with Clarice and I'm pretty sure Tony Hopkins himself even said he'd never actually hurt her; In short I take this quote and I just...project it onto my s/i, honestly! And there's nothing wrong with that. A LOT of people who have suffered abuse or trauma of some sort use selfshipping with characters that have similar trauma (as many slashers do, as per sad-backstory trope with a few exceptions) as a coping mechanism, and I'm one of them: It helps me process my feelings much better than it would had I tried to on my own without complicating things, in my mind it's something my f/o's and myself can sympathize with about each other and bond over, if that makes sense?

In another sense, there are the exceptions: I'll use Anton for this one. I felt almost exactly how you're describing when I first read the book. He's also one of cinema's most famous psychopaths, and according to psychologists, the most accurate. I've done a bit of looking into things on top of some psych classes I've taken (Another point I'd make is I'm attracted to slasher-like characters bc I find the psychology behind them and horror as a genre extremely fascinating, and I don't think there's any harm in that if I can make the distinction between fictional slashers and the glorifying of true crime...which is a whole other can of worms but just know it's disgusting and being able to draw the like between fiction and reality is crucial when referring to violent or slasher f/os in particular -- but I digress) and psychopathy as Anton is characterized is more-so exhibited by him through a lack of guilt and empathy. In that sense, he can't exactly 'love' someone in the typical way, but nonetheless I believe he wouldn't want to see me hurt as he knows how I feel about him and though he doesn't reciprocate it in the way I do he "cares" about me in his own way, and is particularly fond of my company.

tl;dr, The heart wants what it wants. There is nothing wrong with falling for a slasher or slasher-like character. While you shouldn't try to excuse their actions, we are all flawed human beings (some more than others, obviously) there is undoubtedly a strange attraction many feel towards villains in particular, and slashers are no exception -- so why not have fun with it? Just...be smart. Don't go f/oing My Friend Dahmer or Zac Efron Bundy but Michael Myers? The power in shipping with him. Thomas Hewitt? That bad boy can fit so much love in him. Candyman??? A SPECIAL LITTLE BEE BOY!!! SO so good,,

Besides, in my honest opinion, slasher-related f/os are far more interesting when you're their "I murder everyone" exceptionand that's just self care babey!!!!!! :^]