themintycupcake:

There’s a good reason why I support a fan fiction writer’s right to depict abuse in their fics while also criticizing shit like “Twilight” and “50 Shades of Grey.”

The thing is, not only is fan fiction for a much more niche audience, but when fic writers portray abuse in their stories then chances are they’re gonna tag it as “abuse.” A reader will see the tag and know “OK, this isn’t going to be healthy relationship behavior. Gotcha.” But popular mainstream publications like Twilight and 50 Shades have no warnings or disclaimers saying “This is not healthy relationship behavior, it’s abuse.” As a matter of fact, they’re passed off as ideal portrayals of relationships and BDSM to a much wider audience than your average whump fic could ever hope to reach.

So when it comes to fiction, it’s not hypocritical to point out problems in mainstream fare while ignoring some properly-tagged fic on Ao3 that was likely written by someone who was working through some shit with a healthy outlet. Context matters with these things.