#and like. aaaall of my friends who are Creative Types (most of them)

[blujayonthewing]

I never tell people 'wow, you're so creative!' because that feels like a patronizing twee compliment somehow I guess? but as an artist (more or less) who is NOT very creative at all I think it all the time with complete sincerity and admiration

[withered-rose-unbreakable-lotus]

Unpopular opinion and a hard pill to swallow for biased fans

Everyone and I mean everyone, in any fandom, is allowed to admire anyone they want. Just like all your tastes, you shouldn’t be ashamed for things you like. Why call sth you like a guilty pleasure just because most people find it cringy, you know? Does it make you happy? Does an artist make you smile? Then you have every right to admire them, even if they are the worst person in the world. Yes, even if they are horrible. I know this might trigger some people but hear me out for a moment.

Through their work, artists don’t only offer people entertaintment. For some people, some artists’ work or even themselves could pose some sort of shelter or maybe someone those people look up to, for a few reasons. Therefore, other people who have seen big flaws on that person shouldn’t try to make their fans feel guilty for that. Unless those fans are the “dangerous“ type (aka attacking others who dare speak low of their favorite artist), they don’t harm anyone by looking up to that person or liking the things they do. We are aaaall flawed people, we’ve all done sth really bad at one point in our life until we learnt that that was wrong. If we chose to learn from our mistakes or not is what shaped us to who we are today, whether we are good or bad people, but again this doesn’t really affect the people who like us unless we are close to those people and our actions affect them in some immediate way. In other words, fans of people who are generally thought as people who “shouldn’t” be having fans shouldn’t be targeted by fans of other artists who think that person’s favorite should be imprisoned, dead, out of the business etc.

I will give you 3 examples. One from an artist I personally hate (and many others do) but he still has fans, one that most people seem to not like (some hate him too), but I like him and one who has actually broken the law and was hated or laughed at and I was attacked for saying I don’t find what he did that wrong (and I am still a fan of). All these people belong to the fandom I am in the most, visual kei.

1) Kisaki. There are some heavy allegations against this person and while I admit his work in the music scene is actually admireable, I absolutely hate him and believe several of the scandals, spread around, about him. I do understand there are people who still like him though and I won’t go into detail about why I think that admiring such a person is wrong. Why? Cause that person I consider awful might have saved one of his fans through his music, maybe his music is an escape to many people which is why they maybe still support him. When I first started hearing bad stuff about him I was really spiteful and couldn’t believe he had fans, but after being attacked once for another artist on some other stuff and seeing lots of comments against a fandom I am in because the guy is generally not very much liked, I got it. I chose to not make someone else feel bad for their choice to like this person despite everything he’s done. The fact he is still followed doesn’t mean that all of his fans consent to his actions either. I don’t know if this has happened to you guys with friends or lovers or whatever but, when human beings meet someone for the first time, they don’t know them, right? And it might actually take them years to see their bad side. During all that time that you have noooo idea how dark that person can be, you develop feelings for them, right? So when you find out they are actually evil, what do you do? If you don’t believe in strong feelings about favorite artists, ask yourselves what you would do if that case applied to you with a friend or lover. Are you seriously capable of cutting ties with that person the moment you find out they are bad? Say that person was never evil to you, for some reason. Would u be able to cut him out of your life right away, even after years of developing feelings for them? Personally I can’t, which is why I never give wrong to such people (since I don’t know if by being fans of such person goes hand-in-hand with consenting to his actions, or choosing to ignore things because they are dealing with emotions building up for years) unless they come to me and yell about how their favorite is an angel and everyone is trying to make them look bad or sth. In that case I know it’s consent or straight up naivity and can’t hold myself back. But in general yes, I wouldn’t shame people for the things they like or the people they admire because people are complicated beings and even evil people have a couple of good traits, in Kisaki’s case being creativity and ability to make some good music.

2) Gackt. *sighs* If I had a euro for every time I found someone calling Gackt’s fans names, I would have had enough to be in Japan right now xD. And I am not talking only about the crazy fans that comment all kinds of weird stuff and are fanatically thinking of Gackt as their lord and savior or sth (all fandoms have such fans don’t even try to deny it). I am talking about fans like me, who know the stuff most people don’t like about him (I too have things I don’t like about him, shocking I know :p) but choose to stay for the good things. By generalizing that all Gackt fans are bad or stupid or I dunno what else is like...bitch you don’t even know me or the artists we admire, how can you tell me I am stupid and that your favorites are better people (also I get sooo mad at those people who are like “you know the kind of fans i am talking about therefore it’s your fault you got offended“. Bitch if you want to get a message across, word it better, don’t try to guilt-trip me for not “getting“ what you meant. I don’t know you so how the hell would I know what you meant. When you say “fans“ it means all fans and “some fans“ mean some fans). How do you know your favorites aren’t worse than him and simply aren’t as open, about it, as he is about things that generally annoy people? You can’t know that. Because you don’t know them personally, we all know only what we see. And most visual kei artists are very stubborn people in their own way and their personalities can be as eccentric as their looks so you never know. Again, just like you do with people in your everyday life, you choose a bunch of people (all of whom have flaws too. you included), compare their good and bad sides and choose whether the good ones are worth ignoring or accepting the bad ones, or not (based on your opinion, of course). You choose what you are ok with and build your relationships and tastes. That’s how it is. You don’t like an artist, fine, talk about them if you want, as no one can stop you from saying your opinion, but don’t trash every person that follows him too cause newsflash, each of those people is different and follows him for different reasons. I won’t go into detail about why I am his fan, but I find several of the things he says smart, things that have helped me keep trying to achieve things in my life in dark times. His jokes vary from stuff that have made me laugh to stuff that have made me feel insulted but it’s not like this would cut me off. There was a scandal that shattered me as a fan, but since it was proved wrong, people can say what they want. They can say he paid for it to be proven wrong, or whatever, but I’d like to believe he didn’t. Why? for the emotions thingy I mentioned in my previous example. Until I found articles about what happened after the scandal and also, what he had to say about it, I felt horrible, I questioned my morals and what kind of person I would be if I chose to continue being his fan after that. It’s not like we all casually accept things. Being a fan (i dunno if casual fans experience that but those of us who become more “invested“ in the people behind the music we listen to, do experience this) can be as emotionally draining as being in any relationship with someone, in my opinion. Because when someone you care about does sth wrong, you have to decide where you stand. You can’t just say it’s not your problem cause people will confront you about it. If it’s a lover we are talking about, they might confront you themselves, but with artists anyone can come to you and complain about how the hell you could be admiring such a person. I overthink pretty much everything so such stuff could affect me a lot, as if a friend of mine had done sth really bad. (unnecessary emotional trouble, but this is how i am, sue me).

3) Manew. Ok this one might not be someone many of you rememember but Manew is one of those visual kei artists that has actually gone to prison for something he did. To summarize, he and a bunch of his buddies started a rock club which was actually a host club that they hadn’t reported as one, when they made its papers. You have to have a permit if I remember well and they didn’t get it or try to get it, I don’t know, and advertised the place as a visual kei bar, instead. I remember stating that, to me, he is not a criminal and some random vkei fan who wasn’t even following me tried to put some “sense“ into me and explain to me why no matter how I take it, he is still a criminal and deserved jail time. In my country, opening bars without papers happens pretty often so no, I don’t consider that prison-worthy. Paying a fine and closing the bar I get it, but the rest is unnecessary. And that’s my opinion. The end. Trying to convince me that’s wrong won’t work, I am sorry. The conversation stopped when I told that person to just accept I am stupid and move on with her life which she did, thankfully. I don’t remember much from her arguments but she was telling me that I can’t close my eyes to breaking the law because he’s my favorite or sth. Bitch, no, it’s not just him I wouldn’t consider a criminal about this law breaking, it’s anyone! It’s not that heavy of a felony to deserve jail time in my eyes. And generally, there are maaany people who don’t always agree with laws around the world, it’s not just me. Of course each person has different laws they don’t care about and this one happens to be mine. I am not in any case saying it doesn’t deserve punishment because, if we let everyone open any kind of store or business without knowing what happens behind the scenes, the business world would be chaotic. Anyway, laws are made for people to live in some sort of order that doesn’t harm the society as a whole. But yeah, a fine, closing the bar, or sth else other than jailtime. Why? Because his career was destroyed after that as if he was some sort of murderer or sth and that’s a pity. He loved being a bandman and he was very ambitious. He tried making another band after he was released, but it ended before it was even officially announced with a first look and stuff, he tried to pretend nth had changed and worked hard for a comeback but he cut ties with the vocalist he was with out of nowhere and changed as a whole. He was pretty popular in the small bands he was and very sociable but after that last try to make a band after prison, it seems like he has a hard time starting a new band. He still plays music when friends call him, he still calls himself a bassist, but he no longer seem to try session bands, he doesn’t posts many pics, (he used to post a lot before that) he took off his piercings, doesn’t color his hair and seems like he is trying to keep things low. I mean if he wanted to quit completely he would. The fact he is still around, makes music and plays the bass when asked...it shows he might indeed still be trying to decide what to do and how would people take his coming back and if anyone would want a band with him or sth (most of his friends have retired by the way, otherwise I am sure he would have the chance for a new band). Anyway yeah, even for him, I love the guy, I am still his fan and if he ever wishes to join a band again he will have my full support. If that makes me a bad person so be it. *shrugs*

Generally, guys, just enjoy the music of those you like and if you don’t like someone, stop shaming others who do like them. Stick to your business and keep your opinions to your own blogs. Thank you.