This got long so itâs become its own post.
I explained this to my seven-year-old cousin once when she expressed distaste over anyone possibly enjoying horror movies, and she understood perfectly, so adults have no excuse:Â
People read dark fiction for the same reason they ride roller coasters.Â
Itâs a simulation of danger without anyone actually being under threat. It gets the brain worked up, releases a bunch of adrenaline into your system, you experience a whole rush of emotions and excitement and fear; but a safe kind of fear, where you know the danger isnât real and there are dozens of measures in place to protect you. And then itâs over and you can get off the ride.
That doesnât mean everyone is obligated to ride roller coasters. I, for example, am scared of heights, and most coasters are scary for me in a way that isnât fun. The fear isnât that Iâll die, the fear is of experiencing more of the ride and thus itâs not a safe fear, because itâs real and I have no control over it. As such, I donât ride large roller coasters. But the fact that large coasters are not mentally or emotionally safe for me to ride doesnât mean they should be illegal, or that thereâs âsomething wrongâ with anyone who enjoys them.
Similarly, sometimes accidents happen. Sometimes people have conditions they donât know about until a coaster aggravates them in the worst possible way because they didnât know to avoid itâŚand thatâs no oneâs fault. People have died or been injured in coaster accidents, and those accidents are pretty much always the result of human error, carelessness, laziness, or poor communication. Itâs the responsibility of the amusement park to make sure that basic safety features are built-in and maintainedâor at the very least (mangling the metaphor somewhat because this would obviously be illegal in real life) to make it clear that those features donât exist! I feel like most people would avoid a ride clearly labelled âHAS NEVER HAD A SAFETY INSPECTION! NO RESTRAINT BARS! RIDE STAFF HAVE NOT BEEN TRAINED AND THERE ARE NO EMERGENCY SERVICES ON-SITE! OPEN FLAMES!â but if you click on a fic clearly labelled âauthor chose not to use warningsâ you know the risks and theyâve met their obligation to warn you of them. And sometimes the people providing this content donât perform that basic due diligence, and people get hurt as a resultâbut thatâs on those specific bad actors, and doesnât mean we ban all roller coasters. It also doesnât mean every single ride operator on earth should be tarred with that brush, especially when theyâve openly spoken out against such practices! Furthermore, if you KNOW you have a heart condition and willingly get on a ride that says it is not safe for people with heart conditions, you cannot then blame the amusement park!
What makes roller coasters safe for me? Well, for one, the fact that Iâm an adult now so my family has finally stopped trying to force me onto them. Pressure was a constant part of interacting with coasters for me for YEARS, and THAT fucked me up. There was âmildâ teasing, frustration when I refused, anger if I changed my mind, and a lot of guilt-tripping about how it was my fault that they couldnât go on the rides they wanted to because of me. That shit was not okay, and anyone trying to force someone to engage with content they donât want to is obviously in the wrong.
The OTHER thing that helps me is content warnings the heroes who upload on-ride video of coasters Iâm interested in trying. Knowing exactly what to expectâbeing able to see for myself all the drops so I can judge if theyâll be too much for me, and know in advance where they are so I can brace myselfâcan turn a ride that otherwise would have been a miserable and stressful experience that I chose not to subject myself to into a really good time. These are especially valuable, because whatâs safe for ME is not automatically safe for everyone else. The only thing that makes a ride too much for meâmy only hard limitâis extremely tall drops. I love inversions, fast twists and turns, I donât mind rough coasters, itâs just drop height. But Iâve known people with medical conditions that made rough jolts dangerous, and plenty of people like tall drops but find tight turns and high speed overwhelming. Do I wish more coasters were designed to have the elements I enjoy without the ones I donât? Yes, and not being able to find many frustrates me. But that doesnât mean I expect everyone to have the same limits, or that I think people who design tall coasters with big drops and lots of airtime are malicious.
By this logic, actually, darkfic is much safer than roller coastersâonce youâve committed to a coaster you have to ride it out even if you change your mind. But the moment a dark fic or horror movie takes a turn you donât like or becomes suddenly too real, you can turn it off and walk away.
And if you think enjoying roller coasters means someone will conclude that itâs okay to fling people off cliffs without their consent, then, well, in that case youâre just ungodly fucking stupid. Sorry you had to find out this way.
Have fun on those hypercoasters, you crazy bastards. Keep uploading ride videos for me.
