So first things first this is a genuinely sensitive topic that some people have violent and visceral reactions to. The topic is essentially Rape. I'm writing this because I know that people who have been through this kind of Trauma can get genuinely triggered by it and i'd rather not take chances. So if this is an extremely uncomfortable subject for you for what ever reason feel free to skip over this thread. Have a good day everyone, let me know if i need to move this to a more specific area of the forum as i am new. So I'm writing a story that takes place in a fantasy world of knights and wizards, things of that nature. it's a rather adult story (in case the tags didn't give that away.) The plot basically revolves around a warrior priest hunting down an individual who wronged him. Now how they were wronged is the key here. this individual was a witch who essentially brainwashed the MC to be completely and totally in love with her. Problem is the MC is part of an order of knights that trains their minds against such attacks. something went wrong and he essentially was a passenger in his own body not being able to move how he wanted or say anything that he wanted to. he felt and heard everything that was said and done. He was essentially roofied for quite a while, eventually he was able to break the spell on him through will and rage. it has been a few years since then, and he has been able to cope with most of it, but he still has issues, tactile defensiveness, night terrors, intimacy issues, that sort of thing. The reason im writing this post is i want to ensure i do this topic justice, i don't want it to just be some trashy backstory, i want to show that it does have an affect on him to this very day. so i was looking for input on it. Thank you for your time
I think it can be very well done and tasteful if you put effort into it. What kind of input are you exactly looking for?
it's just basic stuff, making sure he's not getting over things unrealistically fast or slow, the types of issues that can stem from this kind of an experience, that sort of thing. For instance the changes that some of his compatriots from his order note; he used to be very lively and outgoing and while he is still friendly he also seems much more reserved, his combat style is much more ruthless as well, and he is prone to mood swings in certain situations. One scene i have planned out he goes into what he believes is a vampire den to clear it out (People often go to holy men for such things) but discovers it's actually a succubus hive and goes berserk when he sees what they do to their victims, hallucinating the face of the woman who raped him over the faces of the succubi. Would stuff like that make sense to happen given his experiences?
Having covered a similar topic in a fantasy novel. Mine has a female MC who was violently raped, and, like you, I wanted to do the topic justice and not just have it as a plot device. The first piece of advice I have is what you're already doing: recognizing that this is a topic that is sensitive. It isn't a fictional thing that happens. It is a reality. Your willingness to cover it with authenticity and honesty is a million times ahead of many other novels. As a male rights activist, I'm very happy to see someone cover this topic on a demographic that is often seen as the perpetrators and not as victims. It's a hard topic to engage people. You can't just walk up to a victim and say, "Hey I want to cover sexual assault in my fantasy novel. Will you be willing to share with me?" But you can Google and find people who have already shared their personal stories. Remember to do it with maturity and reverence. These are people sharing a very dark side of their life. If you're going to read these stories, remember the human who went through that experience. I will warn you, it is not easy reading. And finding males who have been assaulted, period, and by a woman none the less, is very difficult. Normally this is something that happens when they're teenagers. Be prepared to be surprised. One of the biggest surprises that I had when studying sexual assault is how many lies we're told about it. Sometimes it's from people who undermine the problem and pretend it doesn't exist. Sometimes there's people who exaggerate the problem. So be cautious of the bias of those who talk about the data. The one in four women are sexually assaulted statistic is highly questionable. I've read the study. Bottom line is, it's not true. But it also isn't a problem that's non existent. It happens more than you think, but less than political groups say. So how big? Let me put it this way, you probably know at least one person, if not two, who have been sexually assaulted. You may not know they have been, but I promise you probably know at least one person, if not more. This is also a topic that requires a lot of attention to detail. Many authors try to get around that by making the rape as violent, graphic, and over the top as possible. That's not what I found with my research. I don't think these authors were trying to be disrespectful. I think it's because with a topic like this, it's easier for an author to fall back on myths and assumptions about rape and how it happens, because the truth is often too horrible to imagine. With your story, you have two pieces that will require considerable attention. You have the man's experience. But I want to point out that you also do have to make sure you're getting the witch's reaction too. Many times the perps control their victims with fear. "No one will believe you." "Don't tell anyone or I'll kill your family." Sometimes the perpetrators pretend they did nothing wrong. When the victim confronts them, they go into complete denial and gaslighting. "No, that's not what happened." "You came onto me." "I'm sorry, I was really vulnerable." "I didn't think it was wrong." And somehow, I can kind of see that with this witch. I can kind of see her taking the stance that many of those teachers who are caught sleeping with their students take. They basically blame the student. We're talking women who are 21-40 and their victims sometimes being as young as 14 on average. If they do take any responsibility, it's often a "shared blame." "Well, yeah, I should have been more professional and resisted. But he came onto me. He promised this and that." And a normal person is looking at that like, "He's 16. What kind of promise do you think he has the capacity to keep?!" That's because it probably didn't happen like the teacher claims at all.
Here's some resources. Again, it's not easy reading. But I checked along some of my same channels, focusing on female perpetrators. It's hard to find ones that are outright violent in the sense they'll force a victim at gun point. Women are more seducing types. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/he-was-abused-by-a-female-teacher-but-he-was-treated-like-the-criminal/2015/01/09/3f2e7980-96d5-11e4-aabd-d0b93ff613d5_story.html?utm_term=.7e197f772824 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-act-violence/201208/female-teachers-sexual-predators
Read up on them. it was heartbreaking. i think based on those at least i'm doing okay somewhat in writing it. I already have the behavior planned for the witch and she is irreverent. she doesn't really care as she doesn't think it was wrong. she puts on a bit of an act, but it's less because of being willing to reconsider her position and more trying to defuse the Mace wielding time bomb that just waltzed into her living room and has roughly .01 seconds remaining on the timer. As for the seduction, again, it's a love spell. she basically had control of his basic functions but nothing advanced like his desires, he didn't want it, he never wanted it, and he was forced to go through it without even having the ability to say 'No'. She doesn't even get the chance to threaten him as he bolts once the spell is broken. He doesn't talk about it much either because he knows how it will sound. i'm making her a person though, she's not a cartoonish villain, she has some interactions with characters who don't realize that she's who the knight is looking for until later and she's actually really nice. but she's also extremely manipulative. i was thinking of having it play like that.
The things that offends me in this topic is women who cry rape and it's false. That is another side of the theme of rape, that happens. We are unique and so our reactions are unique. I've seen rape victims who go totally inward; and become anti-men, anti-sex and uncomfortable in their own bodies. Some to the point they become agoraphobic. There has been some suicides due to rape. On the other scale I've seen victims who go the other way. They become overly sexual, and seem to switch to hunting down 'rough sex' partners. It's a horrible thing to go through and it's embarrassing for some. Especially men it seems. Do your research. Read real accounts and try to find something that fits with your character and how he would act. His may not have been a violent rape, more a rape of deception. That may bring other feelings than an attack. Guilt if he enjoyed it. Shame he allowed himself to be conned. It's okay to show him struggling with it, but try not to make it an obsession.
It's not really a rape of deception, no lying took place. he wasn't deceived (Other than the implicit statement that "I'm not going to mind control you" turned out to be a lie.) Again it was more akin to someone being slipped a mickey than anything. dont worry it wont be an obsession, over the course of the story it becomes pretty clear that it's just as much about punishing a heinous criminal as it is about personal revenge. thanks for the advice.
That actually looks like a scary metaphor. Because a lot of women who sexually abuse men, tend to abuse boys in their teen years, and they tend to groom them. And their motives is to "Take care of this boy." It's really creepy and quite disturbing. You'll probably find this article useful in your research. It's about Anna Stubblefield who sexually assaulted a severely handicapped man. This article gives a lot of the psychology behind these female attackers. And I like it because it gets into what's going on in Anna Stubblefield's head when she assaulted this man. What's creepy about it, is that she's doing what you're villianess is doing: Making this man a puppet. Makes me cringe. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/magazine/the-strange-case-of-anna-stubblefield.html
Yeah the whole thing seemed suspicious to me. not because i don't believe people with CP can't be intelligent, but it was mostly the way that it was spoken. anyways, yeah that was very helpful, the witch could feel totally justified because his controlled body gave her the okay, while his internal mind was trying its best to break free.
It's strange that while we pussyfoot around the issue of rape, that in fact rape is one of the most common sexual fantasies among both men and women. Of course fantasies are just that, and we usually have them with convenient caveats and conditions, and have no real desire to see them come true. But still, there is something intrinsically arousing about the act of rape.
You know, because you're wanting to be so authentic with your take on this, you're creating a far scarier witch then I think you would otherwise.
