(no subject)

[nicevenn]

Why do people like rape fics? I'll admit, I'm always on the lookout for a good H/D hurt/comfort fic (thanks for recommending Schwarzer Spiegel, Claudia--it's awesome), though I don't write them often. As it is, I feel extremely guilty for actually enjoying reading about something that causes suffering in the real world. I'm sure most of the people who read write these kinds of stories wouldn't wish anyone harm.

... so why do we like it? It's often said that fiction helps people deal with their own RL problems. That's understandable. But there are those of us who haven't been touched by rape/violence, and yet for some disturbing reason we like to read about it. What is it about these angsty hurt/comfort fics that draws so many good people to them? (and I am talking about hurt/comfort here. I only read such stories provided that they end happily)

It's the same with incest, for me. In real life I think it's disgusting, but I enjoy it in fanfic. I guess it might be a subconscious fascination with the forbidden, in this case. Dunno.

What are your thoughts?

Comments

[piratesmile331.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that I know the answer to your question. I do think that one's sexual fantasies develop long before one even knows what a lot of those things are. I remember being fascinated by spanking when I was very young (unless I was the one being spanked). And I like rape fics, too. And watersports (see silentauror's Weakness). I have no idea where that came from. And I have no desire to act most of these fantasies out in real life. They are just my fantasies, and I enjoy them as such. I think there is no reason to feel guilty about them, as long as no one else is being hurt by them. So, I guess that's kind of a non-answer to your question. I just feel strongly that you have no control over what turns you on. But you don't need to act on it, especially if it involves non-con sex.

[nicevenn.livejournal.com]

I think this calls for a spank fic, lol. j/k You're right, you can't really control what turns you on. Although, personally, the rape in stories is not a turn on for me. I just like the whole comforting aspect that comes later...

[piratesmile331.livejournal.com]

I think this calls for a spank fic, lol.

I agree! Must go re-read amanuensis's For Your Own Good.

Thanks for answering!

[drowsyfirefly.livejournal.com]

In real life I don't think pregnant anything are attractive (I'd even go so far as to say it's a squick), but I love mpreg fics. No idea why.


And if you want a really good read for noncon/dubcon (it's really more of a dubcon) check out Indago (http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=8094). It's a really wonderful story and the sequel is equally awesome. It's one of those creature!someone!mate! fics, but I think it's probably my all-time favorite. It does end well but the first few chapters...oy.

[nicevenn.livejournal.com]

Don't make me write you some mpreg sex!

[drowsyfirefly.livejournal.com]

I've written two, but they were Snarry. Harry and/or Draco being pregnant...*giggle*

[nicevenn.livejournal.com]

Ewww, Snarry *blah*

You should write pregnant!slutty!Draco

[drowsyfirefly.livejournal.com]

Hahaha...Oh man. The possibilities for that.

[drowsyfirefly.livejournal.com]

I actually have no idea if my above comment really responded to what you were saying.

I think it's a lot like some of the scenes they have in the BDSM world--they might have the pretense of someone being raped, but there's a safe word and it's what it is--a scene. So you can't really be alone, I think.

[rule-number-7.livejournal.com]

I can't answer for other people, but the reason I like reading fics with those themes in it is because it does happen in RL, and I like reading about reality. I love fiction with things that are made up, but I also like a dose of reality even if it is the bad stuff (I also love angst but that another story).

I do think you are right about 'subconscious fascination with the forbidden'. Tell a kid he can't have something and he'll want it. Tell a kid he can't do something and he'll do it.

I must say it's nice to see I'm not the only one who had that question in mind. I've wondered that for a while but I never actually took the time to think on it until now...

[nicevenn.livejournal.com]

your view makes sense. Don't know if it applies to me presonally though. I'm not much of a realist. That's why I love fantasy, it's like an escape from reality.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

Well, I hate to see a rape sceanrio used to merely titilate the reader, rape is not about sex, it's about power - i've only read one fic in which a character was raped (Harry) that worked, in the sense it was an integral part of the story and it was explicit, so that you didn't feel turned on by it, but horrified. I was almost sorry that Harry was Obliviated at the end. I never 'enjoy' reading it, but I will read if the story has something to say about the consequences of rape for the abused or the abuser. I think anyone who had suffered rape would be outraged to see it used for the purposes of mere titilation.

[nicevenn.livejournal.com]

While I can' t speak for others, I wasn't referring to being turned on by the actual rape scene. I like the stories for the angst involved in having consentual sex again, after the character's been raped.

[karadin.livejournal.com]

I think that some younger writers do put rape in their stories for the excitement/entertainment value, and most times it's too glib, in the sense of say, Lucius having raped Draco when he was a child, I don't know how there's getting over that, not only rape but incest and throw in a Dark Lord, I can read a lot of content that would be squicky if the writer can do the topic justice.

[piratesmile331.livejournal.com]

I agree with Karadin that rape is about power and not sex. And I do (like you) like the angst involved in having consensual sex again after being raped. But if I'm being totally honest here, I am turned on by the actual rape scene. It makes me squirm a little bit to admit it, and I think rape in RL is egregious, but it is what it is....

[nicevenn.livejournal.com]

For me, it dependds on how the scene is played out. I read a German fic where Harry was captured by death eaters, and Draco was a spy for Dumbledore. They allowed Harry to choose who would rape him, and he chose Draco. It was told in Draco's point of view, and he'd been secretly in love with Harry since they first met. That one sorta turned me on... it was both erotic and horifying because of Draco's mixed emotions about what he was doing...

As for rape being about power, I believe that's usually a case. But I think sometimes it can also happen that someone is so obsessed with another person, that if they can't have their consent, they'll eventually use force. That's why people who believe in love potions always warn against them, because if you change your mind, that person might not be able to stop themselves. Makes for an interesting fic, wouldn't you say?

[piratesmile331.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! Shades of rhysenn's Irresistible Poison.

[piratesmile331.livejournal.com]

*spams you*
And the German fic sounds very interesting.

[nicevenn.livejournal.com]

The link doesn't work

[piratesmile331.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry; what link?

[draco-pet.livejournal.com]

Maybe we like deviant fic like rape fics or hurt/comfort fics, because of an innate curiosity that we have to try and understand something that's so reprehensible and yet a common occurrence in our society today. One likes to know what the person feels in such situations, so we can understand their pain better. Also, there's the eternal hope that things will be better in the end.
That said, I love reading H/D, though I live in a world where homophobia seems to be the norm. I'm straight myself, but I don't appreciate people judging and commenting on things that they have no idea about like 2 people of the same sex loving each other.
So, I love exploring fics in the H/D universe, I guess it's the love and the freedom that's something I'd like to see in our world today.

[nicevenn.livejournal.com]

That's intriguing. Obviously noone would ever want to experience that in RL, but you can't help the curiosity. I never thought of it that way.

I've grown up in a homophobic familiy, too, so I sorta know where you're coming from.

[accioboytoy.livejournal.com]

I can't read rape fics...just can't. I proof and code for restrictedsection.org, and if I find a rape story, I have to pass it on to someone else. Incest though...it doesn't bother me if its male/male, but anything else makes me squirm and I won't probably finish the story. I can read Draco/Lucius, I can definitely read Harry/Sirius (which is, of sorts)and give me Fred and George...lots of them!!!!!Now!!!!

Never enough twin action for me...never.

[nicevenn.livejournal.com]

Do you know any good Harry/Sirius? I've never read the pairing, but it sounds intriguing ;)

[accioboytoy.livejournal.com]

There are two fluffy ones by Aspen on restrictedsection.org

Into the Fire
You're Sixteen (You're beautiful and You're Mine)

Total fluff and sex...gives squeeze bottles new meaning.

I'll have to think about any serious ones; my mind automatically went to these two.

[accioboytoy.livejournal.com]

Oops, I blew it...You're 16 is correct, but the other one is Heaven's on Fire by Aspen. Into the Fire is Snape/Harry.

[misfitstar18.livejournal.com]

i think for most people who haven't had rape effect their lifes, we read it because it so farout for us. And to see a certain character you know and love act so mean and cruel, its different and intriging

as for the incest stuff, i can't read that...cuz i start to think about RL and...ga...ah...NO!

so yeah...idk lol

[nicevenn.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Although personally I prefer the rapist to be a character I don't and a character i do like to play the role of the comforter.

I see what you mean about the incest. I wouln't be able to read it if I started thinking of RL either. Thankfully, that doesn't happen because when I do read it it's m/m, and since I'm a girl and I don't have any brothers, I can't relate to it on a personal level.

[copperbeech.livejournal.com]

I've not read any studies on this or anything, but I think it is easy to project unspoken agreement into rapefic. Sometimes violence is the bond, and it's easy for some to be jaded into thinking that indicates consent.

[bluemonkeyz8.livejournal.com]

I just kind of thought it was more canon. I mean, we're talking about a Death Eater wannabe who just suddenly goes mushy and falls for the big bad superhero... or the Little Miss Know-It-All Mudblood?

That's why I read most of them, because I could pretty much see Draco tying them up and taking advantage of them, rather than playing the mushy gushy lovesick boy.

I also get into the mpreg stuff, but that's cuz I would love to see a guy go through it and I think that since there is so much out there against gays adopting children, it would also be slightly realistic for them to just come up with some fertility potion and have one of their own.

Also because I'm into the rough and rowdy sex and I think mpregs are cute. Totally different sides of the extreme panel, but I squeezed into one comment because I can.

[jemalfoy.livejournal.com]

This is hard to explain personally, not for lack of words, but because it hits so close to home. I obviously can't answer for everyone, but I've had...experience...with the RL situation and I can only answer your question from my personal experience. I am currently in the middle of a WIP, Unspoken, and the most recent chapter was a rape scene. Now, this obviously isn't for everyone and I agree with previous comments that rape isn't about the sex. It's about power. It's about possession. At least that's been my experience and the aftermath, for the rapist, was a sense of ownership. For me, well, let's just say I still deal with that particular demon everytime I get intimate with someone. Rape isn't a pretty thing and it's not a sexy thing, but it's a REAL thing and in RL it makes me physically ill.

I am also a writer and I use my writing as an outlet. It's my therapy. Some people may find this odd or even deranged, as I have been called that before. Everyone deals with the situation differently. Me, for my character, who has long since gone off the deep end and is utterly obsessed with making the object of his desire "HIS", the rape scene is how my mind translates that particular possession. It's not so they can get off, though for some people it is stimulating and to each his own. I'm in no position to judge anyone about their particular fetishes.

My best friend came to me one day and made a confession. She told me that she ran across a fic one night and it had a rather descriptive rape scene in it and it turned her on. It disturbed her that reading about someone being violated in that way would arouse her and she felt as though something were wrong with her. She didn't want to confide in me at first because of my history, but in the end, there was no one else she felt comfortable going to. My response to her was this, "It doesn't make you a bad person to read something like that and enjoy it. It doesn't make you sick or depraved or awful. It simply makes you human. Your mind takes something awful and detestful and turns it into something that you can deal with and comprehend in its own way. Reading about it and having a reaction and actually going out and commiting the action are two different things. As long as you know the difference then you know where the line is."

I've been there, I've experienced it, I write about it, it doesn't make me a bad person and it doesn't make you any less of a person for reading about it and perhaps having some type of response to it other than disgust. Everyone else can believe what they want. I hope I've made some kind of sense here and that it answers your question in some way.

[filmatleven.livejournal.com]

was pointed here from a friend... also, not going to read what anyone else has to say, so sorry if you've heard all this before.

i can tell you why i like them. actually, i wouldn't even say i LIKE them, i'm facinated and wrapped up by them. maybe haunted is a good word. i was raped when i was fifteen, and it's haunted every part of my life in some large or small way ever since. i'm morbid, and twisted. i don't hate the world, i don't even hate him actually, but it's still affected everything from relationships to jobs to my own personal artistry. i'm obsessed with angst and hurt.

that's my excuse, if you wish to call it that. however, as for anyone else, psychologically speaking human beings have the need/obsession of morbid curiousity. just like watching an accident as you drive by, needing to know what happened, even though inside you hope everyone's okay. as humans, we are obsessed with it, just like we are obsessed with death on some level. we could have a psychological talk of you want, but that's pretty much it. shitty reason, but "human nature" pretty much covers it. especially for anyone who has any amount of respect for art, in any way. because only they can appreciate it in it's full context. even though most likely none of us wish harm on any other person. that's why we write it or read it in fiction. it's fiction.

okay, i'm done rambling...doubt i gave you much of an answer...but hey. just wanted to add to it :P hope you have a good day.

[cherrymonarch7.livejournal.com]

i guess in the world of fanfiction, nothing is taboo and that what draws good people to it because in every good person there is a subconscious and that subconscious drawn to everything the conscious mind repels, and when the conscious mind ventures into a place without boundries the subconscious takes over and it enjoys it, however perverse, sick, digusting, and wrong it may be. because in reality and what makes it more addictive is that particular situation only happended on paper, and the only victims where fictional characters. it just my thought. anyone else up to take a guess?