Where the Virus Reveals the Plague
This next author shall be called Shell. Once again, close to her real username but not quite there. Like Lady V, she is an author in the Naruto fandom and she writer Sakura-centric fics too. Once again, they were not well-written but they were entertaining. This is the grand flaw of many readers and writers of fan fiction: we are looking for entertainment, not good writing. If we were looking for good writing, you bet your ass there wouldn't be as many awful fan fiction stories as there are in the Internet world.
She has a oneshot and then a sequel to it going on with a bunch of male characters in pursuit of Sakura's affections. Shell was much closer to having some of them in-character than Lady V ever was, but some of them were still far out-of-character. (Hypersexual Itachi much?) It was fun and fluffy and a good way to waste my time on a lazy day or something fun to read when I was feeling blue.
Then Shell caught the virus that numerous other Naruto writers did (which warrants its own future entry).
In the sequel, she brought in one character that I love in canon and loathe in fanon: Madara. Once again, I will explain more of this complicated situation in another entry, but the introduction of the recently-made fanon Madara in this story was the beginning of the end. After that chapter, the flaws of the story started shining through like a mirror that was once dirty and then recently cleaned with the truth to reveal more truth. Just two chapters of fanon Madara's flamboyant entrance into the story, I came to the conclusion that Shell was far worse than Lady V could ever hope to be.
What makes Shell worse than Lady V when Shell manages to keep some of the characters in-character? The various males are committing some serious crimes in this story--such as sexual harassment/assault and breaking and entering--and never face punishment for it from either the law or Sakura herself, the target of their crimes. In-story, it is explained that they are so rich that they are above the law. That is bullshit in and of itself. Sakura? Other than an initial burst of anger, the men face no punishment from her. Let me make this clearer: these men break into her home while she is sleeping or at work and all she does is get angry for ten minutes!
I am an ardent feminist. I believe that women are equal to men and when I see a man treating a woman like they are not equal humans beings, it pisses me off. That is what happens here. By disregarding how she might feel about their unwanted presence in her home, these men treat Sakura as a lesser being whose feelings do not need to be considered. They do not care that she does not like any of them in the way they like her. After multiple rejections, they continue pursue her and kissing her when she does not want them to do this. There is your sexual harassment and assault right there.
As much as I believe blaming the victim is wrong, Sakura is just as much a part of the problem as the men. She tells them that she does not like what they are doing, but she does not enforce what she says. She does not stay angry at these men for what they do or treat them frostily. Nope, just that immediate anger and they are suddenly okay again. She needs to enforce what she says and teach these men through both words and actions that they cannot get away with how they are treating her. Instead of one quick burst of anger, she needs to stay mad at these men, not speak to them, and tell them exactly how they fucked up and why she will do much worse than not speak to them if they ever do such things to her again. It takes more than just words to get a message across.
Why am I willing to blame the victim here? She has the power of knowing the situation will not escalate into anything dangerous. She is fully aware that these men are in love with her, would never hurt her, and would do just about anything to please her. With the right combination of words and actions, she could get them to straighten up their act and treat her better. Sakura is free of the worry that by spurning the persistent men, she will cause them to become angry and violent towards her for rejecting them. Few victims in fiction or real life have this power and when she is lucky enough to have it, she does not use it. That pisses me off.
I really should have said something to the author about this, but someone else will do it for me sooner or later. There is no way I was the only person to ever notice what I just pointed out. And no matter how not funny Lady V gets, thank God she never sunk to this level.
Now Consumed in Feminist Rage,
Paige
She has a oneshot and then a sequel to it going on with a bunch of male characters in pursuit of Sakura's affections. Shell was much closer to having some of them in-character than Lady V ever was, but some of them were still far out-of-character. (Hypersexual Itachi much?) It was fun and fluffy and a good way to waste my time on a lazy day or something fun to read when I was feeling blue.
Then Shell caught the virus that numerous other Naruto writers did (which warrants its own future entry).
In the sequel, she brought in one character that I love in canon and loathe in fanon: Madara. Once again, I will explain more of this complicated situation in another entry, but the introduction of the recently-made fanon Madara in this story was the beginning of the end. After that chapter, the flaws of the story started shining through like a mirror that was once dirty and then recently cleaned with the truth to reveal more truth. Just two chapters of fanon Madara's flamboyant entrance into the story, I came to the conclusion that Shell was far worse than Lady V could ever hope to be.
What makes Shell worse than Lady V when Shell manages to keep some of the characters in-character? The various males are committing some serious crimes in this story--such as sexual harassment/assault and breaking and entering--and never face punishment for it from either the law or Sakura herself, the target of their crimes. In-story, it is explained that they are so rich that they are above the law. That is bullshit in and of itself. Sakura? Other than an initial burst of anger, the men face no punishment from her. Let me make this clearer: these men break into her home while she is sleeping or at work and all she does is get angry for ten minutes!
I am an ardent feminist. I believe that women are equal to men and when I see a man treating a woman like they are not equal humans beings, it pisses me off. That is what happens here. By disregarding how she might feel about their unwanted presence in her home, these men treat Sakura as a lesser being whose feelings do not need to be considered. They do not care that she does not like any of them in the way they like her. After multiple rejections, they continue pursue her and kissing her when she does not want them to do this. There is your sexual harassment and assault right there.
As much as I believe blaming the victim is wrong, Sakura is just as much a part of the problem as the men. She tells them that she does not like what they are doing, but she does not enforce what she says. She does not stay angry at these men for what they do or treat them frostily. Nope, just that immediate anger and they are suddenly okay again. She needs to enforce what she says and teach these men through both words and actions that they cannot get away with how they are treating her. Instead of one quick burst of anger, she needs to stay mad at these men, not speak to them, and tell them exactly how they fucked up and why she will do much worse than not speak to them if they ever do such things to her again. It takes more than just words to get a message across.
Why am I willing to blame the victim here? She has the power of knowing the situation will not escalate into anything dangerous. She is fully aware that these men are in love with her, would never hurt her, and would do just about anything to please her. With the right combination of words and actions, she could get them to straighten up their act and treat her better. Sakura is free of the worry that by spurning the persistent men, she will cause them to become angry and violent towards her for rejecting them. Few victims in fiction or real life have this power and when she is lucky enough to have it, she does not use it. That pisses me off.
I really should have said something to the author about this, but someone else will do it for me sooner or later. There is no way I was the only person to ever notice what I just pointed out. And no matter how not funny Lady V gets, thank God she never sunk to this level.
Now Consumed in Feminist Rage,
Paige