I have to admit that when I realized how many writers out there are writing slash containing rape and violence, and the intensity of what they are writing, I was a little uneasy. I'm not exactly sure why. I read a lot of fiction for pleasure that contains unspeakable deeds like rape, murder and torture, but it has never bothered me. Don't ask me why it bothers me that it's in the fan fiction community.

Actually, I wouldn't say "bother" is the right word. I don't really have a problem with it. But it's something that I've turned over in my head a million times. What drives the writers to imagine such things, and what drives us to read it?

I don't have a degree in psychology. I'm definitely not an authority on the human mind and what drives it to create the things it does. But I have some ideas.

Slash is all about an alternate universe. The fun part about imagining characters together is that, in "reality" (or the closest variant of it), there is little chance that it will ever happen. If it does, there is little chance that we'll ever get to see it. So we twist the characters into the image that we create for them. Since it's an alternate universe, there's little repercussion for what the stories contain. Everyone knows it's make believe and no one is going to march into your office and show it to your boss.

I think angst fiction may be a way of examining the horrors of real life, in all their bloody and tear-stained glory, while keeping it at arm's length. We can examine our thoughts and fears through the characters, reaching into the darkest parts of our imagination to think about how horrible it would be if it really happened while knowing that it's all pretend. I think it's a venting mechanism, in a way.

So here we are, having our favorite characters tortured and raped at our hands, which means we can play around with these concepts and still not be touched by them. I know some of the authors who write these stories have been raped, so maybe it's therapy as well. I have noticed that most of this fic is from the perspective of the victim and not the abuser. Maybe that would be taking it too far. Maybe that would be going into the truly darkest parts of our minds and extracting inclinations we never like to even dream are there. Or maybe it's just harder. Besides, I've found slash to always examine the more feminine side of anything. The men often have feelings generally associated with females. They hurt. They cry. They make love. They feel. Speaking generically, women are more often the victims of such acts in real life, so maybe it's easier for the writers to relate. I don't know.

I think that if you're writing a story like this, you have more responsibility for its content than the average slash story. More than any fanfic, it requires reading it over carefully and judging its content by the rigid standards of not just you, but of a friend who will be brutally honest with you. Despite what the Jerry Falwells of the world will tell you, sex is not that disturbing. True, if you're 10 years old and come across a story with your favorite characters from Buffy The Vampire Slayer bumping uglies, it might confuse the hell out of you and have you asking your mother questions she never dreamed you would. But sex is natural and most of us have done it (and done it again, and done it again....). Rape, on the other hand, is a loose cannon. There could be survivors on your mailing list - people who have suffered the same acts that you're writing for thrills. The psyche of a survivor can be fragile, and the emotions he or she is feeling as easy to tip as a Weeble in the wind. You never know who these people are, and who is not disclosing the really huge shit that they're going through.

I would stay away from any rape story that shows the aggressor and the victim getting it on afterward. Even if it skips ahead several years, I find it a little contrived and a little unbalanced. I would also stay away from any rape story that shows the victim enjoying it the least little bit. In fact, I have zero tolerance for that, and I can't believe I'm the only one who feels that way. When it comes to enjoyment, or having an orgasm, or forming a relationship after some time has passed, those things may happen in real life, but there are heavy psychological connotations involved and unless you're familiar enough with them to navigate these waters convincingly, I wish you would stay the hell away from it.

I also think that our writing has the potential to be more powerful than we believe it to be. Certain words suggest certain things. Mentioning two things within a few paragraphs of each other will make the mind unconsciously connect them. I think putting anything overtly lusty and sexual in the same story as an explicit rape and/or torture scene should be done with the utmost care. Otherwise it could come across as tasteless in the best case scenario, and damaging in the worst.

- Jane