Another yandere misconception.

Two of the most common questions I see about yanderes are "Why would anyone like them?" and "Won't you just wind up being murdered or something?" I can understand where this mentality comes from. In the minds of most people who are vaguely familiar with the term "yandere," the only trait of a yandere is that they're apparently bloodthirsty. This is no surprise, since one character murdering another has more shock value and, as a result, a longer lasting impression on anyone who views that scene. Another reason that people only think of violence and bloodshed when they read "yandere" is that it's easier to define someone based on their actions, which you can see with your own eyes, rather than their inner emotions and thought processes, which sometimes aren't explored at all.

It seems to be easy for most people to forget all about the "dere" part of the term, and in order to clear up the confusion surrounding the two questions above, I'm here to remind you of it. In real life, obsessive lovers can be reasoned with - this is reason number one why you shouldn't expect a yandere to murder their significant other, herein referred to as SO for convenience's sake. The yandere can almost certainly be talked out of it by their SO; if the yandere in question is willing to listen to anyone, it's the target of their affection.

In addition, there are only two situations (that aren't so rare that they're outliers) in which someone could have a yandere SO who wanted to kill them badly enough to act on those thoughts in the first place. The first is that the person in the relationship (for convenience's sake, let's call them P1) messed up on an astronomical scale. P1 went out with someone, knowing full well that they're a yandere, and yet P1 decided to do something unforgivable, such as cheat on their yandere partner (herein referred to as P2 for convenience's sake).

The second situation is that P2 simply wants to kill P1 by default, regardless of whether or not P1 does anything wrong. Despite what non-yanderes (or "nonderes") may think, this is actually very uncommon among yanderes, as explained in detail in this blog's first yandere misconception post. All of the reasons explained in that post do a satisfactory job of explaining why P2 - an average person who considers themself a yandere in real life - won't want to kill P1 - their SO - but there's even more to it than all the reasons explored in that post. Yet another reason is that we don't live in a fantasy world in which our actions have no consequences.

This is something that nearly everyone on Earth understands. Even the vast majority of people who are mentally ill are able to recognize that if you place your hand in a fire, you'll be burned. Murdering isn't all that different, in that regard. People recognize that they would most likely be imprisoned for life or be executed if they were to commit murder, so they don't murder anyone. And although some people who think of themself as a yandere like to boast about how they'd kill people under certain circumstances, at the end of the day, these are virtually always the words of teenagers on the internet who are acting out for attention - not something to be taken seriously. This is yet another reason to add to the pile which explains why it's unreasonable to expect P2 to murder P1.

If you need to see even more reasons why that "don't yanderes kill their SO?" line of thinking is incorrect, I encourage you to look back on the first yandere misconception post, linked here. Finally, to address the "Why would anyone like a yandere?" question, here's a list of reasons which don't even account for nondere reasons, such as "I think this specific person (who happens to be a yandere) is physically attractive."

1: To be with someone who's all but guaranteed not to cheat on you.
2: For some people, being on the receiving end of obsessive love feels wonderful. Knowing that someone loves you that intensely can feel fulfilling.
3: For other yanderes, one reason is to be with someone who can love them back just as much as they love their SO.
4: Some people just want someone to take care of or support, and who better than someone who needs to be loved as desperately as a yandere does?
5: Some people would like to have an SO who loves them unconditionally, or nearly unconditionally. A yandere is one of the only types of people who's capable of meeting that need.

Is there something I haven't considered about this topic? Would you like to offer a correction? Got an idea for another yandere subject you'd like to read about? Whatever the reason, feel free to leave a comment below!