I think a problem some people have with villain/hero ships is that (if they don’t reject them automatically) is that their first exposure to it within the fandom is negative. Vanaqua is a good example, there are a lot of fanfics where the characters talk for two seconds and then are making out. If you keep coming across that instead of the good 300 page slow-burn + redemption arc fics or the one sided/ tragedy fics then you’ll have the idea that they are only being paired because they’re hot an

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and miss out on the interesting things that such pairings have to offer. Especially taking into account the series particulars. With KH it allows for the “what if” of a creature of pure darkness and someone who’s nearly pure light to interact in a dramatic fashion. You can completely disregard the novels and give Vanitas a sympathetic backstory, something to work off of, not to excuse his actions. At the end of the day this type of ship is either character study or just something fun, not sick.

That might be part of it, but you could say that of almost all fanfic. You’ve got the “but they barely know each other!”, “but they’re rivals!” and “but they’re both straight!” excuses too, and while fanfic is often painted with the same brush there’s something else going on here.

It’s only recently I’ve started seeing the massive vitriol towards “unhealthy” and “problematic” content on this hellsite; characters that Do A Bad Thing can be villified, god help you if your ship isn’t 100% healthy and if you like the bad thing, you’re a bad person! When or why this became the case I have no idea.

And on top of that, there seems to be this blatant disregard for the idea of trying to explore new content or angles – like you said – or to rewrite something that’s bad to be less bad… that’s bad too. Even trying to adapt the bad thing to be less bad is seen as… excusing the bad thing? I honestly have no idea where or when your interest in media became a 1=1 of your values as a person, but it’s ridiculous and I hate it. 

I’m not immersed in fandom politics enough to pinpoint exactly what’s going on here, but I will squint, stroke my chin thoughtfully and assume tumblr purity culture has struck yet again.