Hey gang! Still on hiatus, but I do want to talk about the treatment and handling of dark content in yandere fiction and my stance on it.
Fiction (and horror fiction in particular) has always been a way for society to discuss and process dark subject matter. From the taboo to the torturous. I don't think writing or reading it is in any way, shape or form something to condemn. To me, that reads far too close to censorship.
Yandere in particular is a horror trope. Yeah, we have fun with the romance aspect and we all love a broody, twisted yan but at its core it IS still horror. That means it's going to be a vehicle to discuss things that are inherently horrific. Noncon, violence, abuse. Writing it obviously does not mean applauding or celebrating those things, any more than reading it is encouraging that sort of behaviour in reality.
I assumed this was a pretty obvious facet of the genre, but I think sometimes we all need a little reminder. Horror writing is going to deal with the worst of humanity. That is the very basis of the genre.
The way that subject matter is handled will vary wildly, but it's still horror. And trying to censor horror serves as nothing more than a perpetuation of the Satanic panic that has plagued us for decades.
