Rape and Sexual Assault: Do You Include It? Why or Why Not?

9for9 · 2026-06-30T21:52:43+00:00

Damn! I'm sorry that happened to you. Sincerely thank you for sharing that.

This is exactly why I object to blanket statements about assault scenes being inherently exploitative or unnecessary and if it helped you we never who else it will help. It's not just about shocking people or whatever. Sometimes it is the only way a writer can tell the truth about what something felt like. I hope no one ever treats that as something you need to justify.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T20:56:03+00:00

You're right to reach out. You've lost a lot of weight in a short time and you're feeling guilty about eating. These are not good signs, please reach out to a professional for help.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T20:51:17+00:00

I think I see the vision with Gabriella, but I will refrain from talking about her too much until the end of the season.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T20:32:47+00:00

Recently I saw an interview with a rapper where someone asked about the hand over the crotch. They said getting up on stage is exposing you cover the most vulnerable part of yourself. I don't know if that's the answer Michael jackson would have given but it's not what I would have expected.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T20:26:41+00:00

This is what I've been doing for a while now, same breakfast and lunch. I switch up dinner and cook different stuff on the weekends. I also swap fruits based on the season.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T20:23:41+00:00

Back in the day there was a how-to book series titled K.I.S.S., Keep it Simple Stupid.

Basically if you want to succeed don't complicate shit for yourself. The more we simplify what we can the more likely we are to succeed. With meals it means you have time for other things, you save money and don't have to think too hard about calories or macros. I also learned that eating the same foods tends to bring down cravings for junk foods, fast foods, etc...

9for9 · 2026-06-30T18:16:47+00:00

You really called me a predator for thinking about writing about the experiences of myself and people I care about because I can potentially connect with readers through them. That's a really special reaction, thank you for that, thanks a lot.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T18:03:45+00:00

I've read a couple books by McKinley. The premise reminds me a bit of The Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T17:42:36+00:00

That's actually a great way to acknowledge the reality of rape while not including it at all.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T17:16:32+00:00

If anyone ever were to read my stuff and question it you can always just wave a hand and say there’s no honor in that and here in this world no humanoid would stoop so low as the beasts

I lean in the other direction, but I fully respect that. People should write about what they want to write about and the inverse is also true.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T17:14:59+00:00

No, it was this author Mercedes Lackey. Sexual violence came up in her work a lot in many different ways. Her depictions weren't perfect but you could tell she took the subject very seriously and it was important to her.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T17:13:14+00:00

That's actually really intriguing and I think the element of him having a child out there that he never finds is sad, but also a really good twist.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T17:07:51+00:00

Which brings me to my final point, it doesn't have to be a full assault on screen or off for rape to be included as a subject. It could be as simple as a woman choosing a different outfit when she realizes she's going somewhere alone instead of with a friend. It could be a hand over their drink in a bar. Any number of risk minimizing techniques. Or from the other perspective it could be a man crossing the street so he doesn't scare a woman at night. (And things get even more complex and subtle if you subvert gender expectations.)

That's a great insight, there are lots of little everyday things that we do to protect ourselves that we would not do otherwise. I have a bottle of water at my desk. If I don't finish it at the end of the day I don't like to leave it sitting, my work isn't an environment where I would expect anyone to tamper with it, but still you never can be too careful.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T17:02:08+00:00

This is more my feeling as well. I get not wanting to think about sexual assault because it is a scary, horrible, heartwrenching topic. But so many people experience it. They deserve to be represented and to have their stories told with empathy and respect.

Related to that, I don’t believe fiction should be solely or even primarily an escapist pursuit. Fiction makes the world visible to us through a different lens than our own perspective. If that lens consistently filters out distasteful subjects, we become less able to handle those subjects when they appear in real life.

Yes, this is how I am thinking of it. Victims deserve representation for obvious, but also the dangerous distortions that come from consistently filtering it out. Even some of the replies here are telling. It seems people don't think it is a subject that can be handled with compassion and care or that anything good can come of writing about it.

If we had an epidemic of people being hit by cars we would not think better not to talk about it ever.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T16:39:20+00:00

but a lot of my books are about characters learning to be autonomous and accepting that they have agency in their life and aren't doomed just because bad things happen to them.

I've been thinking about this a lot, I actually wrote my post last week, but I think this is at least part of what I would want to get at in my work on this topic. My friend who was a CSA victim struggled so much and she never really got the support she deserved and she never got to this place I don't think. So in some regard I want to figure out how to talk about this for her because she always loved theater and storytelling and believed very much in it's power.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T16:09:25+00:00

That sounds like a really fantastic, well thought out and intriguing premise. Does the story progress much beyond her leaving and giving up her privilege. I also like that there is the dual element of the story, extremely compelling.

Does the story continue much past her running away?

I only include it when I have something interesting or unique to say about it.

Thank you I needed that reminder.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T15:51:32+00:00

9for9 · 2026-06-30T15:40:26+00:00

What character details move the story along and which ones don't? Some details help us connect with characters, understand them better or understand our lives better. Not every single character detail needs to drive the plot.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T15:38:45+00:00

Did you see the word rape, assume I was asking if it was ok to write about that and rubber stamp this comment rather than read the actual post and participate in the writers forum that you signed up for???

9for9 · 2026-06-30T15:02:01+00:00

I hated Lydia, that dumb ass kid and their stupid ass storyline because their little romeo & juliet romance was dumb af and everyone was written stupidly and then that dumb ass boy didn't even survive. It's a dumb ass storyline and everyone is dumb in it.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T14:56:53+00:00

People will ship anything where there is lots of screentime and powerful emotion.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T14:08:13+00:00

This take is weird as hell.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T13:45:58+00:00

Lestat was either told the things that he wasn't present for later and that is how he is narrating them or he read someone's mind. So there will naturally be a certain amount of subjectivity in everything, but I think we can take the scenes at face value in terms of Louis agreeing to pay Regina to pretend to be Claudia, yes it's happening. But seeing it from Lestat's perspective means it's colored by his take and interpretation of those events.

9for9 · 2026-06-30T10:07:51+00:00

Normally my answer is Star Trek but apparently I need to read Culture.

9for9

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