Is Angst and Use Of Rape As a Plot Device Bad In Fanfiction?

[Hive King 1,998]

@,

The problem was that this headcanon blog is also open to people who want to vent. These aren't tagged and since I like the headcanons, I follow it. This was what resulted in the me commenting on how angst isn't that bad, which resulted in the admin insulting me, which opened the floodgates for a two people to insult me. One of them was cool after I explained though.

 

On topic, the people who were complaining about said plot device seem remarkably open about it. One outright demanded that I tell them that face to face 

[Shanks 10,811]

As horrible as rape is things that are even worse are portrayed in fiction all the time like murder or even genocide and yet in many cases the author is not only not condoning these actions but in many cases is doing the exact opposite. It really depends on how rape is written there are some cases where it is written as fetish fuel but in most cases it is depicted as what it is a horrible act of violence that robs perverts sex into what is supposed to be a beautiful act between two people who at the very least like each other into a weapon to control or abuse someone. Angst is seriously overused and is often written poorly so an author should use some caution with that but it shouldn't be off limits either but should be written a bit better than it has been and shouldn't just be arbitrarily shoe horned in.

[Evilshy 5,089]

The problem with rape in writing is that it's one of the bigger "shit just got dark" plot devices. There are circumstances in which rape can be well written, where it makes sense in the story. More often than not, however, it's just thrown in because the writer needed some heavy conflict and couldn't think of anything better.

 

Rape is convenient because it's really, really terrible, still rare enough in the media to be shocking, and leaves the victim alive to deal with all the torment and inner demons and such that fanfiction writers love.

 

3edgy5me

[GenderIsAnIllusion 2,177]

Every fandom has the group that makes violent rape fics about it.... It not just us.... It's every fandom of everything.

[Sekhayet 253]

Use of rape in fanfiction is kinda boring. Too predictable I guess. And angst is there because the people who write fanfiction don't really know how to write anything else.

[Hive King 1,998]

@@Sekhayet,

Tell that to the raging psychos I was debating with. Apparently, having anything remotely "bad" (that is to say, death is fine, but domestic abuse isn't) is a sin worthy of the highest punishments and that you should leave that to professionals 

[Jammo 986]

Rape is one of those topics where I story teller must ask "Is there something else I can use as a device that would suit this story just fine?"

It has to be handled with tact or else you look like an ass.

I'm practicing to be a writer.  Rape is one of those topics I'll never touch.  No one can truly understand it unless it happened to them so I feel it's exploitative to use such a terrible thing just to motivate a character.

[Barbaloot 197]

Since it's an art, nothing is ever truly bad unless it's used bad. Anything can be perfectly ok as long as it's done right and well.

[Metemponychosis 1,238]

I think this is amusing... Rape seems to get it's own "do not touch" golden rule. Like the sanctity of the free will in regards to sexuality is something that is so sacred that can't be broken even in fiction.

 

Bullshit. Killing is just as bad and no one complains when a character kills the innocent. Torture. Enslaving. "Mind raping". Liking something is in the realm of personal choice, but there is nothing that should not be explored by the means of a narrative.

[Hive King 1,998]

@,

Yeah, I have that problem too. I guess that for writers, it's more evil because unless your character is a ghost, they can whine talk about it afterwards 

[PlunderSteed 1,251]

I think this is amusing... Rape seems to get it's own "do not touch" golden rule. Like the sanctity of the free will in regards to sexuality is something that is so sacred that can't be broken even in fiction.

 

Bullshit. Killing is just as bad and no one complains when a character kills the innocent. Torture. Enslaving. "Mind raping". Liking something is in the realm of personal choice, but there is nothing that should not be explored by the means of a narrative.

There certainly is a bizarre imaginary line regarding what is or isn't considered an acceptable hurdle for the protagonist. Having one's family brutally murdered in front of them (Batman and Spider-Man come to mind) is totally fine, but rape? OH NOES, unacceptable!

 

People are silly sometimes.