Creepypasta (the very odd fandom I find myself in)

What the hell IS this fandom? And why do I still associate myself with it after all five of these years of seeing it decline into fangirls that just want more Jeff fanart? Was it ever NOT just fangirls that want more Jeff fanart? I don't remember.

If you don't know (if you don't know then why are you on this wiki?), creepypastas are pretty much just the internet's campfire stories. They aren't anything special beyond that, at least not anymore, nor were they ever, pretty much. But...

I guess that's sort of the appeal to them now? They're all really campy. That's part of the appeal to a part of the community. Don't get me wrong, there are some good ones, but they are scarce and few and far between. I'm here to talk about the bad ones and the dilemma I find myself in on this behalf, so get ready for some personal history.

Looking back on how I did act way back when, I was less than savoury. In fact, perhaps, I was worse than the fangirls. I know. A bold, hard statement to make, but I do legitimately believe I was worse than them. I used to be a really horrible person, but I'm not turning this into a pity party. This is just my outlook on it all, with a lemon of humour squeezed into it. This is gonna be relatively serious, though -- considering that this is something I grew up with and still somewhat take seriously! Difficult to believe, I know, but still; they have sentimental value to me and I respect it in that regard, but in no other. It's like enjoying, say, some other generic fandom. Let's say RWBY. You still enjoy it even though you realize how stupid the good majority of its fanbase is. Of course, this applies to just about anything with any popularity in a Western setting, so it could be just about any "fandom".

But is it weird to say the good majority is actually... interesting? It's sort of like watching the behaviours of a specimen, like you're some mad scientist performing sickened experiments on another human being.

Then again, I may just be crazy, but I'll get more into that.

Call me a sucker for nostalgia, but I was once like them too. I used to be creepypasta OBSESSED. I was, as you would put it, a fanboy. Cringe, as that newfangled* term is, but this was before cringe was. Still, it was while 4chan was pulling their all-out assault against bronies on dA and what not. Which, I understand. Their reactions to 4channers' behaviour was quite hilarious (heh, "hug nail"). Doing the same for the creepypasta fandom now is just as hilarious, even if the circumstances are somewhat tweaked. It used to be better, though, while it was thriving.

However, that's where the whole thing stops. Associating yourself with creepypasta, you're associating yourself with those two 12 year old kids that almost killed their friend for Slender Man, a fictional character! Mind you, those children were impressionable and just like almost every other 12 year old kid out there that likes creepypasta! But, you know, it's funny; funny that even KIDS, KIDS! I tell you, kids! Kids would do that. Mind you once more, 12 year old kids are what make up the fandom's majority! And it was at this point that it finally clicked for me. THIS IS WHY EVERYTHING IN THE FANDOM IS SO BAD. THEY'RE ALL HORNY 12 YEAR OLD GIRLS WHO ARE GOING THROUGH PUBERTY THUS WHY THEY ARE SEXUALLY ATTRACTED TO CLICHE FICTIONAL SERIAL KILLERS WITH GLASGOW SMIRKS. I suppose that as a teenager I shouldn't have a right to say anything because this is quite hypocritical seeing as how reproduction is the meaning of life, but Jesus Christ! It all makes sense now.

And yeah, pretty much either they're THAT or they're an adult with a matured mind that realizes how stupid everything is and critiques it. And this is where we get back into what I was talking about earlier with specimens. I personally don't fit into either category, or at least, so I seem to think.

Yes, I lean more on the adult side, but still, even after having grown out of being a child with a dumbed-down worldview, I want to go back to being a child. Everything was so much more simple, I suppose? Eh, I can't really sufficiently put it into words. These characters, Jeff, Clockwork, LJ or whatever, you know, they are BAD. They are badly written, and all. But, there was one thing; I liked living in the blindness of not knowing they were bad. In fact, I actually still LIKE these characters! Of course, there is no other context they will ever fit into, they were written like that and there is no way to repurpose them, at least by normal standards. At least by normal standards.

And that is why I come back to the fandom, not the stories themselves. The mansion thing, or whatever. You know what? I like the idea of a bunch of dumb serial killers who are being... mind controlled? You know what, in the fandom interpretation, they aren't, but they should be because the definition of a proxy in the Slender Man Mythos is that they're just humans being controlled by our old tall dark and faceless buddy. BUT! In this interpretation, they aren't! Which makes it all the more fascinating that they don't just run of their own accord. Now, if anyone ends up actually reading this, I would love an explanation of the creepypasta fandom's "lore", because I don't understand it. At all. I've researched for hours, and hours, and I have no idea what the Hell any of it is supposed to be nor how the idea came to be or why anyone thought it would be a good idea, but hey! At least it's managed to entertain some people. Like myself. I would absolutely love a complete story for this, though. I know that our old boy Slendy is supposed to be the "good guy", but how is he good, exactly? He devours innocent children and grown men to keep himself content. I don't see anything morally correct about that. Is he the less evil evil? Is he like, neutral evil, and where he fights Zalgo or whatever, is Zalgo supposed to be the CHAOTIC EVIL? Why is the Observer siding with Zalgo when in normal canon the Observer is easily Slendy's most loyal puppet? Why are Masky and Hoody/Hoodie in the creepypasta "canon" when they're supposed to be THACverse characters? Why is there HABIT? Why does any of this even EXIST TO BEGIN WITH? WHY AM I PRAISING IT AND THEN IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS EXPOSING ALL OF ITS LORE LOOPHOLES?

I still don't know, but... those are just some thoughts of mine. Take what you will of it.

* I have the right to call the term cringe newfangled because I've been using the internet for twelve years. Mfw I'm old.

On a side note, I'm semi-ironically writing a story on someone else's creepypasta wiki. I'm writing it to test how people will react to stories with no context. Guy who runs the wiki, if you're reading this, please forgive me for what I may potentially unleash.