marysuewhipple:

ameliarating:

allofthefeelings:

I think it’s really important to talk about how different people have different power fantasies.

For example:

• For some people, the idea of someone redeeming a villain is a power fantasy.
• For other people, the idea of a villain being defeated is a power fantasy.
• And for other people, the idea of a character owning their villainy is a power fantasy.

I would argue a lot of fandom conflicts re: villains come from people being unable to see that their fantasies, which put them in control of a narrative (and all three of these are designed to give the author or reader control of the narrative in different ways) are someone else’s horror stories.

I think this is a really interesting look at power fantasies and I personally have experienced all three, regarding different characters.

I would argue, however, that most of these fandom conflicts actually come from the reverse situation. That is, it’s not people looking at their own fantasies and being unable to see that these fantasies are horrifying for others (though that does, of course, happen).

I see, more often, people looking at other people’s fantasies and declaring them to be horrifying. That they are objectively bad and harmful and representative of whatever it is people find to be dangerous. And that, in fact, their fantasies or empowering at all, but rather symptoms of societal sickness.

So rather than saying a lot of fandom conflicts re: villains come from people being unable to see that their fantasies are someone else’s horror stories, I would say that a lot of fandom conflicts re: villains come from people being unable to see that different people have different fantasies in the first place. That it’s not that they’re thinking of their own fantasies at all. But that they’re seeing only their own horrors in the fantasies of others. 

Good meta, but I wanna add: 

For some people, the power fantasy is not necessarily “someone redeeming a villain” but “a villain being redeemed”; that is, they identify more with the villain going through the redemption, rather than the hero offering redemption, or the villain who owns their villainy. 

Idk if you could really call it a power fantasy exactly, but it serves a similar purpose. It can be really cathartic to see a character who is in the dark and alone be reached out to, to see a hero extend a hand and good faith and help them back into the light. To see someone believe in them, to see them better themselves and heal. 

It’s okay to identify with vulnerability instead of (or in addition to) power, is what I’m saying.