what the

This morning I witnessed some awful parenting on the bus. A woman was confusing the hell out of her kid. He was trying so hard to be sweet while mom kept snapping at him for no reason whatsoever. It was painful to watch.

I'm also quite upset about yet another request that showed up on my communityflist. Is it just me or are new/young people in fandom getting more and more obsessed with humiliation and torture? What is the attraction of reading stories in which your favorite characters are being abused? I don't get it. I do understand the hurt/comfort idea, but it seems there is a growing need to see people being hurt for kicks and that just makes me shiver.

Sometimes I despair. And then I notice an update of my favorite comfort zone and life gets a little better. A little.