User blog:ArmadillooftheAges/Useless thoughts and opinions from an old user here

Hey there, Creepies!

Just to get the formalities out of the way, I was an active around here since the middle of 2012 to around late 2014. I used to be a member of the staff (a chat moderator), so I guess you could say I've seen my fair share of changes over the years. I know a moderator may not have had the same responsibilites as say, an administrator would, but I had to get acquainted with the rules in order to enforce them, so you can imagine my surprise when I take a look at how vastly different the rules are from when I was active around here.

For one thing, pasta standards were way lower back then and there were boatloads of pastas written for the Lost Episode and Legend of Zelda genres (those genres were terminated years ago on account of they were often so bland and uninspired and just a mess of grammatical and/or spelling mistakes). And in my day, oh boy, there were just tons and tons of lousy pastas related to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Back then, you literally couldn't go anywhere on the internet without seeing a character from that show as someone's avatar at one point. Honestly, that's probably the only genre I didn't mind being axed (The LE and LOZ pastas I actually enjoyed despite being mediocre at best). I mean, really? My Little Pony being scary? The only reason why that genre even existed was because that series, from 2010 to I'd say around maybe 2014, was hugely popular so naturally it was going to worm its way into Creepy Pasta much like it did memes and other junk. Not only that, but I also think a lot of the staff were fans of the show too. That's definitely a nice little perk, right? lol

Looking back now that its popularity is pretty much dead, it's kind of cringey to know that that thing actually warranted a genre all on its own (No offense to people who still enjoy the series or who used to be fans. It just kind of blew my mind).

It's funny because one of my most popular pastas on here was actually a Zelda pasta and it's still around to this day (I guess it was written well?) and I look at it and I'm all, "Wow...this is bad, bad, baaaad."

But all of this is besides the point.

I mainly wanted to write this blog to address some of the changes. I feel like some of them are decent but others are kind of flaky or flat-out wrong in my opinion. Now, I just want to make it clear that this blog is strictly based on just that: opinion. You're free to disagree with them, but here's my thoughts on what I see are some pretty big changes that have occurred.

#1. Censoring Pastas
I feel like this one may be the worst of the changes. A few weeks ago, I was browsing this old Fandom looking for a trip down memory lane. And I decided to re-read some of the old pastas that really unnerved me back then because, well, why not.

I immediately went to one of the earliest that I remember I really enjoyed: Squidward's Suicide.

At the time, I recall the pasta so incredibly popular that readers of the pasta even tried to get in contact with the people who worked on SpongeBob. When I myself read it, I didn't believe it was real or anything like that, but I found it very disturbing and shocking. This, of course, didn't mean I didn't like it. I mean, as a horror literature piece, it did the job. It made me feel creeped out.

This may seem small, almost insignificant, but I noticed a line from the original pasta was changed. It went from "But most kids at the time would have shit themselves over it." to "But most kids at the time would go crazy over it."

I know, I know. It's a small change. But just hear me out.

Maybe I'm a purist, but I feel this is an insult to the original author's work. True, the original author was an anon who wrote the story on /x/ in October of 2006 and probably was unaware of the enduring popularity their writing would get and most likely wasn't an experienced writer, but I just feel like the censorship was silly. Why change it if the original author intended it to be something else? I mean, authors like H.P. Lovecraft, one of the most reowned horror writers of all time, hated it when editors changed his work.

Some might argue, "it adds nothing to the story". Well, okay, that's your critique and that's fine, but why does that give you a right to change the story? As you can see, I'm not a big fan of censorship, at least not unless the original author agrees with it. An example would be Stephen King's It where he agreed a lot of elements in the original novel were too vile and insensitive to today's society.

Another example would be in Normal Porn for Normal People when there was a sentence about a dog being "starved" and "abused". Now I understand this one was a little different, seeing as how it was Wikia's TOU that actually changed this one since it seemed to reflect animal cruelty. And I know following the rules is important. But, again, are we not dealing with fiction here? This is literature, a form of art and expression. It's obviously not condoning anything. So I think this bit of censorship/alteration was sort of...overkill.

I know, this may seem small and minute, but I just feel it's wrong to alter the works of someone else for some arbitrary reason, like "not adding the story" or because of some silly policy.

#2. Higher Standards
This one, I guess overall, is a plus on the changes. I mean, obviously you want quality work on a literature website. Not garbage like,

"OK GUIZ SO 1 DAI I WAS IN MY HOUSE ALON ND THRE WAS A EVL MAN TRYIN TO GET IN WT A KNIFE HE KILED ME ND ATE MUH BRAINS!!!1!!"

Yeah, I'm not good at these things.

Fun fact: I hated pastas that started off with "Okay, guys". Seriously? "Okay, guys"? So show me where a genuinely scary story starts off with "Okay, guys!" Did Poe or Lovecraft start off with "Okay, guys"? Did Miguel de Cervantes start Don Quixote off with "Okay, guys"? Does the Bible start off with "Okay, guys"!?

You will not get an impactful story in any genre if you start it off with "Okay, guys". I feel like this is definitely a plus regarding the improvement of the standards.

It's like how in that one episode of SpongeBob Squarepants where they were all pirates and Mr. Krabs scolds SpongeBob for saying "Okey-dokey, then!" when he's supposed to be going "Aaarrrghhh!" (that was the name of the episode too, I think) like a bloodthirsty maurauder.

Sorry, I'm ranting, but you get what I mean.

But my point is, yeah, there really was garbage like that floating around on this Fandom (or Wiki). I think these things are what led to the now-defunct "TrollPasta Wiki" that was popular for a time. This is just my two cents, but I honestly think that place was a waste of time. I understand that that place existed for laughs and entertainment, but I feel like when users tried to be funny, it just fell flat. Those lousy pastas were funny because you were supposed to take them seriously. But it's like that old saying goes: the funniest jokes are the ones you don't see coming.

Again, I know the argument is, "Well, something can be funny if it tries to be, it's not like every joke has to be like that etc. and we tried to preserve it because it made people laugh etc." But again, when I read pastas, I wanted to be afraid or unnerved. If I found an absurd pasta, it was just funny and honestly, afterwards, I would've just thrown it in the trash bin. I guess it all boils down to opinion, much like this blog. But, I'm talking about the standards here.

The higher standards aren't really a new thing. as I remember certain categories being blacklisted and what-not when I was a moderator on thechat due to how poorly they were often executed. However, I'm starting to realize a lot of things have begun to change. For example, now we have parental warnings on this Fandom?

Now, look, I'm not against telling people what they're gaining access to. But I do feel it's kind of wonky. I mean, now we have to edify parents on what a Creepy Pasta is? Aren't a lot of Creepy Pasta lovers parents themselves? I guess the reason a bunch of question marks are floating around in my head is because one of the charms of Creepy Pasta back then was how they were kind of sloven in the way they looked and they were kind of an online underground movement for aspiring artists, writers, and filmmakers to explore the darker and scarier side of human nature or people who enjoyed unorthodox literature.

I feel like putting a parental warning on it or whatever takes away a lot of the original stuff Creepy Pasta was made of: Excessive violence, unsettling situations, and dark themes.

Yes, I understand that throughout the years, stupid brainless kids have done a lot of idiotic things in the name of Slender Man and what have you, but I just feel like all that can be avoided with better parenting and not just blaming the pastas. Yeah, I know that if kids or whatever want to read this stuff, then they will in some way and the site is just playing CYA. But, I feel like some of the "magic" of Creepy Pasta was lost in eliminating those clunky, dark, sub-par standards and slapping on parental advisories.

#3. Categories based on users
Okay, don't bite my head off for this one.

I feel like this one is kind of clunky. I mean, basing an entire genre off the works of one user? Look, I know people around here are talented and all that, but to make an entire category based on their works alone, is, well, kind of weird. It seems flattering at first, but think of the implications of all of this.

Now, everything they write or make is going to be considered gold or worthy of being put on a pedestal. But we all know that even the most renowned artists and writers in history don't always crank out a masterpiece every time. Plus, I feel like there will be an inherent prejudice that will develop in time and judgement will no longer be impartial.

For example, lots of people will lose a lot of exposure and opportunity because this place will be promoting those particular writers instead of someone with a unique and brand new idea. And if not the site, then other people will do it on their own. Before the staff goes, "Well, that's them, not us", that's still a problem because you're indirectly responsible for it happening by promoting them in the first place.

I am just not in favor of this, plain and simple.

Conclusion
These are just a handful of thoughts from an old user like me. Again, it's okay to not agree with me on some things or even any of it. I just wanted to voice some opinions and concerns I apologize if I got some facts wrong, feel free to correct me if I did. Thank you very much.