Messed up, isn't it? There is just an inordinate amount of rape!fic in the HP fandom. I have not seen its like in any other fandom that I can remember. I seriously tend to avoid HP fic unless it's directly recommended by someone I trust because so much of it is just so cliche and unrealistic (and i mean that in the bad way, not the good "see that up there suspended from the rafters? that's my disbelief" way). But there is just sick shit in that fandom. Snape and Malfoy tend to be rapists more often than other characters but that's not hard and fast. My gf actually stumbled a week or two ago into a fic that, completely without warnings of any sort, has Snape being raped by a bloody unicorn within the first two pages and, apparently, it just got more offensive after that *shudders*
"But to throw it in there as a means of hooking up a couple? SERIOUSLY? Nuh-uh. "
A lot of the more lowbrow Greek comedies written 2,000-2,500 years ago use rape that way, but it hasn't been cool since. Just, NO...
Rape's different from whump because it's more than just violence, it's a betrayal, it's degrading, and it takes away your innocence and your ability to trust others. That's way beyond standard whump or even psycho!whump (which I happen to think is harder on characters than physical whump). And I may be doing something very similar to rape to Will in a WiP, but it's not about the "healing power of sex" or any crap like that. It's about totally robbing an individual of his faith in himself and his friends and then forcing them all to try to pick up the pieces. There's nothing happy about those scenarios and, my willingness to occasionally write dark!fic aside, I find it offensive when rape is treated like anything remotely positive.
You know, if he was forced to rape her to save her life, or something, that could actually be interesting and thought-provoking if it was handled right (his guilt, her anguish/confusion, the fact that their relationship is in tatters and probably not going to be salvagable but he still feels compelled to try to help her through) but, the minute a female that age is raped, the rules for interaction with her change if you're an adult responsible for her care/healing. The second sex becomes part of the picture, you've crossed the line. That would be like a teenage girl going to a shrink or a priest for help after being raped and he suddenly decided it would be acceptable to sleep with her.
no subject
"But to throw it in there as a means of hooking up a couple? SERIOUSLY? Nuh-uh. "
A lot of the more lowbrow Greek comedies written 2,000-2,500 years ago use rape that way, but it hasn't been cool since. Just, NO...
Rape's different from whump because it's more than just violence, it's a betrayal, it's degrading, and it takes away your innocence and your ability to trust others. That's way beyond standard whump or even psycho!whump (which I happen to think is harder on characters than physical whump). And I may be doing something very similar to rape to Will in a WiP, but it's not about the "healing power of sex" or any crap like that. It's about totally robbing an individual of his faith in himself and his friends and then forcing them all to try to pick up the pieces. There's nothing happy about those scenarios and, my willingness to occasionally write dark!fic aside, I find it offensive when rape is treated like anything remotely positive.
You know, if he was forced to rape her to save her life, or something, that could actually be interesting and thought-provoking if it was handled right (his guilt, her anguish/confusion, the fact that their relationship is in tatters and probably not going to be salvagable but he still feels compelled to try to help her through) but, the minute a female that age is raped, the rules for interaction with her change if you're an adult responsible for her care/healing. The second sex becomes part of the picture, you've crossed the line. That would be like a teenage girl going to a shrink or a priest for help after being raped and he suddenly decided it would be acceptable to sleep with her.
Not how it works!!!