[ SECRET POST #3411 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3411 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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11. [SPOILERS for Homestuck]




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12. [WARNING for rape]




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13. [WARNING for rape, torture, abuse]




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14. [WARNING for underage]




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15. [WARNING for rape]





















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #487.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

13. [WARNING for rape, torture, abuse]

http://i.imgur.com/qpS272X.png

Transcript by OP

[fscom]

I write a lot of non-con, torture, and dark fic. I mostly do it because I find it interesting to explore really fucked up things, with specific characters. I have fun with the psychology and the consequences of it. This is not the secret. The secret is that a number of people have come forward to tell me that my fic has helped them through past trauma or to understand the mentality of their abusers. I'm terrified witless. What if a dark ending screws someone up? I'm not a therapist! What if my portrayal of it screws someone up? I don't always have characters make healthy decisions (though I try to portray it's not really a good thing, even if it works out), what if someone takes it as a cue to do something unhealthy or unsafe? FUCK.

[(Anonymous)]

Tag it with a "dark fic" tag and then it is caveat lector as far as I'm concerned. People got to start taking responsibility for their own mental health. Plus, and no offence OP, it is unlikely you are good enough at writing to truly fuck someone up for real. Maybe you can give a sheltered tween a bit of a squick, but that is about it.

[blitzwing]

People read fic to feel good. If your fic starts disturbing someone, they'll probably just stop.

[(Anonymous)]

Sometimes it feels good to feel messed up though.

[blitzwing]

A correction then: they'll stop if they didn't *want* to feel disturbed.

[(Anonymous)]

What if they don't want to be disturbed but the OP's writing is to compelling for them to stop?

[(Anonymous)]

Hear the siren's song. (But get someone to tie you to the mast.)

[blitzwing]

If it's that compelling, I would think there's something good/rewarding about it that caused them to want to read it. I don't think there's any writing that has the power to literally force someone to read it.

[ketita]

I get that sense of "responsibility", but I think it's important for you to remember that you don't actually HAVE any responsibility. You're writing stories you want to write, and hopefully tagging them correctly. The responsibility for dealing with trauma isn't on you.
In a way, I get that it doesn't help - you don't want to think that something you wrote hurt somebody. But it's not on you, and I don't think dwelling on these what-ifs is productive.

[(Anonymous)]

Hear, hear!

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks. I warn and tag extensively, and add any that I miss (usually minor) on request. :)

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

You are worse than Satan. Stop overtagging. "Dark-fic" is all you need.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

Like having proper reactions. Relating your thoughts in a sane, rational way is all you need.

DA

[(Anonymous)]

"dark fic" is actually pretty damn vague. If the fic involves "torture" tag for that if it tags for abuse tag for that. If it bothers you so much that people want to tag for specific things then scroll on. A lot of people appreciate being warned for certain things they can't handle. Some people can read about all the dark non con torture they can find but something specific like "mind rape" or "psychological abuse" hits too close to home.

[philstar22]

I think people are responsible for themselves and what they read. Personally, I've always found that sort of fic really cathartic for me. They help me get out of dark spaces, they help me deal with my own issues, and they just generally work for me. But fiction is fiction and I've never felt the need to emulate characters.

[(Anonymous)]

Fiction may be cathartic, but it isn't a guidebook, and the vast majority of people know that. They're not going to take your fics as encouragement for risky behaviour. You have nothing to worry about.

[(Anonymous)]

It's good of you to be concerned but after a certain point, you can't control how other people react to your work. You might have some responsibility if you were inciting people to hurt themselves or someone else, but that's not what you're doing. What your readers take away from your work is on them, not you.

[kallanda_lee]

I worry about this, deeply.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Out of curiosity, as a concerned person in fandom, or as a writer?

Re: OP

[kallanda_lee]

As a writer. I only recently started writing non-con, and I think it's even more complex for me, because my first relationship was with an abuse survivor, but I do think the kink is hot, too. Adding to that, ironically, I think I might use sexual trauma in fic as catharsis for non-sexual trauma (which is sort of messed up, but I think it works cause it's different enough).

In any case, a lot of it is just random, but I do write it as a h/c dynamic mostly, and I think some parts are "real", so to speak, because it gets jumbled together with real experiences and emotions, and if it's this complex for me already - I do wonder what it's like to read for actual survivors, you know?

Of course the read it of their free will, but still.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

I've heard that some rape survivors read non-con for the h/c, healing aspect of it, or just as a cathartic thing (even when there's no real h/c involved).

For me, I don't have any experience with it, it's just what I tend to naturally find interesting to write.

I suppose the thing that worries me is the reasoning that people use for why Twilight is a problem. Yes, most people would know that Bella and Edward have an unhealthy relationship, but some people don't. Now, I don't portray rape as love (I go to some lengths to make sure it's shown how traumatic it is, even when it's partially kinky at the same time), but I still worry that there's *something* like that in there. I take my fiction as purely fiction and as a place to explore things that are a NO NO in the real world, but do all people?

So while I'm glad to hear that some people have gotten healing/understanding out of my fics, it makes me panic at the same time that anyone is taking it that seriously, even though I know I can get things out of fic that way.

But like you said ... they're reading it of their free will.

[(Anonymous)]

As long as your tagging warnings on your fic these people are reading it of their own free will. They know what they're exposing themselves to and if they can handle it.

[(Anonymous)]

I get you a bit, OP. Recently I finished a fic where a character went through some heavy torture and conditioning which was, admittedly, a metaphor for my own depression. But a few people then came forward and told me my story helped them realize things about *their* mental illnesses and... okay, I'm genuinely glad I helped, but that kinda... felt like a responsibility I wasn't really prepared for.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, that's exactly it! I'm glad I helped, but at the same time, it feels like a responsibility that I wasn't expecting.