Oh the ways I despise FF.NET. My despite has no bounds. Yes I mean YOU. And YOU. AND YOU.

[timepiececlock]

Things Rashaka Hates To See Done To Female Heroes In Fanfiction, ft. Katara of Avatar:TLA

1. Katara being lured away by a man and almost raped only to be rescued by Zuko/Aang/Jet/Haru, seeing as she totally forgot she could kick their asses any OTHER day except the day some random man decided to rape/sexually assault her.



2. Katara kissing Zuko/Aang/Jet/Haru after he rescued her from almost being raped/sexually assaulted, because sexual contact is really what she wanted the whole time, right? And it's just Zuko/Aang/Jet/Haru talks prettier to her, so that makes it okay, the whore.



3. Katara whoring herself out for money to survive, because a woman in need of poverty will always whore herself out, because that's a woman's natural fallback way of life, right? Even though someone like Katara has the physical/magical power to maim or kill pretty much anyone she chooses, there's no way she'd be a thug and mug people for money. Why do that when she can whore herself out?



4. Katara whoring herself out for money to survive, and being rescued from her life of sin by Zuko/Aang/Jet/Haru, because it's always a man's job to rescue the little woman from her natural state of whorish behavior, and only through his benevolent love and protection can she find happiness and integrity in life, providing of course she falls in love with him next, since being his object of sexual desire is fine, just as long as she realizes she can't be anyone else's.



5. Katara forgetting the fact that she knows how to use waterbending to maim or kill people. Seriously, KATARA KNOWS HOW TO MAIM AND KILL PEOPLE. KATARA IS A WARRIOR, AND WARRIORS MAIM AND KILL PEOPLE. That is what she went to the North Pole to learn, and she got very good at it. Katara had the opportunity to be a healer, and she decided she'd rather learn how to maim and kill people. Please for all our sakes' remember that.

Okay, see that list? Now take the name of the character, Katara, and replace it with EVERY LEAD FEMALE CHARACTER IN ALL OF YOUR FAVORITE SHOWS. Television, anime, books, WHATEVER.

Chances are, you've read that fic multiple times, for every female lead character you can think of.

More than bad spelling, more than an inability to understand paragraph breaks, more than random OOC love stories, this is the shit I hate to see in fanfiction.

^---This is what badfic looks like.---^


p.s. If you want to write rapefic, read this story first. Then come back and tell me you want to fucking write some rapefic, and I'll say okay.


EDIT: muffytaj is love.

Comments

[mana-runigha.livejournal.com]

I can see why that seems dumb unless she attempted waterbending and that was an utter failure or she didn't have any water nearby. She was lucky in Ep. 9 until Zuko caught her off guard and bound her hands which has been proven in several episodes to be necessary in bending.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

In the case of pre-episode 10 fanfic, I can imagine situations where Katara might be physically overpowered. But having her then fall in love with her rescuer and kissing him within the next two days or even the next five minutes makes no sense either.

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

She was lucky in Ep. 9 until Zuko caught her off guard and bound her hands which has been proven in several episodes to be necessary in bending.

True. But that was episode 9, she's come a long way since then. Even if she doesn't have a lot of water nearby, she always has what's in her canteen. Enough to create the water-whip, and that's proven useful on countless occassions, before she became a bad-ass waterbending master.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

With only a dribble of water she could freeze somebody's eyeballs. That'd be pretty damn effective against an attacker.

[akavertigo.livejournal.com]

Ah, FF.Net, how you continue to delight us...

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Seriously. I mean, DUDE. I just read a new fic by the person who wrote "To Fight For Honor", which I liked, and its plot pretty much encompasses three of the four points above. I looked at this new fic and then back and the old one and I'm like, "Why, ficcer, WHY?"

[akavertigo.livejournal.com]

I vote for laziness as the leading culprit. Nobody wants to bother with the reality of characterization or plot that doesn't lead to kissies.

(Three minutes later>--- ::gets struck by lightning for hypocrisy:: )

[beckingham.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, people, sex that's used to comfort after a rape just fucks things up more. Really. It happens. Girl might start associating boy with rape - to soon after and it will just add salt to the wound. GAH.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

No kidding. It happens, though it's unusual, that sometimes people seek more sexual contact to counteract a violent or hurtful experience. But most of the time that's not healthy contact or healthy behavior, and it doesn't lead to true love, and it doesn't make things better.

Now, if I read a rapefic that actually addressed the fact that it makes things worse, well at least they'd get points for an attempt at realism.

[beckingham.livejournal.com]

A dear friend of mine that suffered from sexual abuse often acts much more sexualized than she really is. It's just her way of dealing, but it's obviously not helping her. It also gives people the wrong idea of what she's comfortable with. Forcing yourself to be involved that way before you're ready will eventually poison your attitude toward sex completely.

I can forgive people who write rape!fic, because rape and the repercussions of such isn't ever really discussed in any formal setting - not something that's brought up in sex ed. But it doesn't mean you shouldn't leave a review that reminds them to maybe visit a site that addresses the problems they're writing about; a little ignorance can be easily mended - if the author is willing, of course.

Now, if I read a rapefic that actually addressed the fact that it makes things worse, well at least they'd get points for an attempt at realism.
These are the sort of rape fics I pine for, because they make an effort instead of carelessly throwing the issue around. Why is rape brought up so causally in fic and not in sex ed where you might actually gain some insight?

[muffytaj.livejournal.com]

I wish there were more fics where Katara decides to turn to a life of thuggery and thievery in order to gain money. That would be much more interesting.

Or, you know, bum off people's offerings to the Avatar. Whichever.

[mana-runigha.livejournal.com]

Thievery would be more interesting. Sokka can do the thuggery.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I think I might write a fic like that at some point. You should too. It's been too long since I had a nice good anti-rapefic rant in story form.

[crzysheelf.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU!!! Someone else noticed that basically every fic (well the sucky ones) have Katara being all weak and defenseless!! Seriously, you should post this to avatar fans and Katara_Zuko. I think it is rather needed!! Snaps for you for speaking up!!

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

It's happens a lot in Avatar fandom-- the number of Katara-is-defenseless fics are exceedingly high for such a physically dangerous character as Katara. It's higher than I've seen it in some other fandoms where the female character doesn't have superpowers.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to repost it in a comm. I've gotten a lot of good conversation here, and seeing as its a rant-y piece, I feel rants belong in my private journal. However, you can link to it if you like, if you think other people would really be interested. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_rednovember/]

Thanks for making such a popular post while I was in bed and unable to participate, Rashaka. This proves you DO NOT LOVE ME.

T__T but I do agree with everything that's already been said. Funny, I read muffytaj's tragic rapefic on FF.Net before I logged on to LJ, and that was only because it was added to Fic That Does Not Suck. XD

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

OF COURSE I LOVE YOU. NEVER DOUBT!

Besides, you can always comment on other people's posts.


I'm glad someone's getting fun out of the C2 comm! XD

[easytodistract.livejournal.com]

Okay... you and Retad have just convinced me that Rebuilding will be the only fic I will submit to ff.net

(cancels pending tour of ff.net/Avatarfics)

Retad informed me of the child rape fics on it and also incest fics. The former I am definitely -against-. Incest fics I can more or less tolerate but only if tastefully done please.

Katara being raped fics are NOT my cup of tea and it doesn't make logical sense either. She's a great fighter plus there are a LOT of canon characters who will protect her. The Avatar, for starters, and let's not forget her overprotective brother.

I dunno... maybe it's ep9 waterbending scroll that got some folks a thinking that Katara is a weak defenseless female. But hullo... at that time, there were both pirates and Zuko's men. What about all the other eps? She kicked Zuko's butt in Siege of the North. Yeah. Yeah. It was full moon and at the north pole, but the point is that she can kick butt if she has to.

Yeah... ranting here. I'm feeling very protective of Katara. I do think her waterbending would be put to much better used for healing (for various reasons) and also because I know she can sort of literally immobilize or even kill an opponent by doing something to the water in his body. This is like a limit break or a fatal attack, in my head by the way.

Yes, Zuko... something very bad would have happened to you if you had forced Katara to sleep with you. (just talking to Zuko in my fic; he is one persistent ?)

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

You'll find that in most of the fics Katara doesn't actually get raped or assaulted. Usually she is saved at the last moment by [insert male character here] and all she really suffered was a traumatic scare and a few bruises.

It's not even the concept of fanfictions that use rape as a plot/character device that bother me-- if done well, it can be a very emotionally affecting story (suffering usually is.) But what happens with these fics is that the threat of rape and "rescue" is used as an excuse for romantic thrills in writing. It makes me sad that so many young girls writing fanfiction think such a traumatic situation, even just the threat of it, actually inspires romantic thrills. That's such a fucked up way too look at it. And the other half of me is sad that they are so willing to break down a strong female, to strip her of her strength and make her depenedent, instead of looking up to her strength as an inspiration.

[jakia.livejournal.com]

Hmm...Here's a fic idea, tell me if it does too much of what you despise in fics: fic where Preggers!Azula, who is like twice as powerful than normal because her unborn child is also a bender and therefore Azula gets the paby's powers, kidnapps and tortures Katara to an inch of her life, then allows to men on her ship to 'have at her'. Mind you, Katara has been beaten and tortured to the point where she is having trouble breathing so when the men come after her she cannot defend herself, though tries.

Then a masked man OMGBLUESPIRIT!11! rescues her from the men who were going to rape her. He does not fully 'rescue' her, per say, she's still stuck on the ship with Azula only now rape!guys are afraid to go near her for fear masked man OMGBLUESPIRIT1!111!! will attack again. She does not fall in love with masked man YOUGETTHEFACTHATI'MTALKINGABOUTZUKOBYNOW,RIGHT? but she does develop an infatuation with him, especailly when he rescues her again, though not from the same thing as before.

Is this plot too much like what you're saying you hate in fics? ::winces:: I hope not--I hope I add enough originality in there to save it.

I do agree with you, though. While I like Dasmel-in-distress!Katara, I like it better when she puts up a fight. Katara is too badass just to roll over like that!

Jak

Prepare for a long reply. Part 1

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Um.... yes, and no.

The good news: it certainly sounds like you're stripping Katara of her ability to phsyically defend herself, which makes it then reasonable that she would at the mercy of any torture (rape is torture) Azula feels like inflicting. And we know so little of Azula that it's within believability that she'd be evil enough to do that to another woman, since frankly she seems pretty evil all-around.

The good news here is that from a logistics standpoint, I have no complaint. Even the most powerful people have breaking points, and Katara is only 14.


The bad news: Yeah, I would probably dislike the fic. If I knew about it ahead of time, I'd skip it. If it came about in a fic I was already reading, I'd probably keep reading if I thought it was likely to be written with enough care and consideration that it felt realistic. That's where authorial trust comes in, and how much I trusted the intelligence of the writer would determine how much I was willing to read.

That aside, it still adds to a pattern of cliche plot ideas utilized for romantic thrills in storylines--- a cliche that I frankly despise. On two points:

1) I despise that it's the strong main female character who gets taken down. Where's the torture-Aang fics? The torture-Sokka fics? Why not have a romantic fic where Sokka gets tortured beyond despair and an R rating, and then Suki/Yue rescues him? Or Zuko, as you please. I don't have a problem with characters being tortured in darkfic, I just hate that it's always the woman who gets it humiliated and destroyed to make the man heroic. Instead of being saved, she should bit some guy's tongue off or poison them all a week later, then work her way out herself. Otherwise, the girl is still the object and the boy is still the pro-active character.

part 2.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

2) I despise that it's rape, always RAPE that gets used as the plot device. Honestly, rape? Why rape? If Katara is beaten to the point where she's having trouble breathing, what do you think rape can do to her at this point? As if being beaten to death isn't traumatic enough? A beating that bad can cripple her for life. She might never bend again if she can stand properly, or use her arms properly. If her spine or hip is injured she might never walk again. With one good boot kick Azula can shatter any dreams Katara had of bearing children. Two kicks more and Katara's heart can stop from stress. Her lungs can collapse if her ribcage is broken. If a rib bone pierces her lungs she's a dead child in minutes. She can bleed to death from internal bleeding, or she can have a stroke that leads to brain damage. Trauma can cause a blood clot that stops blood to the heart.

Humans are fragile, kids even more so. Hypothetically speaking, if Katara's beaten to the point of barely being able to breathe I wouldn't expect her to fight off atttempted rapists, even weakly. I'd imagine she'd be too busy trying to breathe, trying to survive another five seconds. If her body is that broken already, if she's that weak from torture and beatings, is she even going to feel what they do to her? Is she even fully aware of her situation anymore? Is the practical part of her mind saying "at least if they do this, they're not going to kick my skull in?"?

The plot idea you showed me demonstrates that you think of rape as the ultimate evil that can be done to a human. Personally, I think the ultimate evil that can be done to a human is murder. Rape is secondary to death (the idea that rape is as bad as death is a holdover of the chauvanist ideas that say a rape victim is a dirty woman who might as well be dead--- a sentiment I doubt she'd want to hear right then). If Katara's that close to dying then... it seems like they've already done pretty much the most horrible physical torture they can. At that point, rape is more of the same. Just. more. torture. It's not special girl-only torture-- when you're beaten to where you have trouble breathing, there's no extra special type of torture. There's just more pain and more pain, until finally the pain stops or you die.



Now, that's heavy stuff to think about. And if I overwhelmed you... well, you asked my honest opinion. And it is heavy because torture and rape are heavy, bloody subjects.

All that being said, I don't want you to stop writing fanfiction because of what I say here. But I do ask that you give the subject of torture your full consideration and respectful treatment (which, reading your other fics, I think you're smart enough to do convincingly). And if it pisses me off, I won't guarantee that I won't rant about it on my LJ later. ::shrug:: That's the risk you take with writing controversial topics. Don't be afraid of them, but expect strong reactions.

re: baby powers

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

fic where Preggers!Azula, who is like twice as powerful than normal because her unborn child is also a bender and therefore Azula gets the paby's powers,

That part sounds interesting. Far out, but interesting if you sell it right. However, if the baby is a bender and gives her power, the baby would have to be pretty far along, to the point where it's more than a ball of cells. And if it's that far along, it would weaken Azula physically. She might be able to light hotter fires and control more fire at once, but she wouldn't be able to drop-kick Zuko.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I know I'm super late to the party, but word. So much word.

Especially about rape as just another type of torture. And not even the most effective one, really. I am writing a fic right now that's basically everything bad that I can think of happening to Suki happening, and while she doesn't get raped (at this point, that might change) there's a place where she thinks that wouldn't have been better than other things that happened, where she feels she failed in her duty. Because I really think that for her, 'a fate worse than death' would be failing her country and her fellow warriors./end tangent.