I wanna think of it like Shakespeare
It's not a masterpiece without the travesty
exactly
it adds drama and tension, solidifies the ml's morally grey characterization, draws in the smut readers without compromising the mc's characterization, and may also be tied to this purity culture idea of being "forced" to feel pleasure...
I think people has normalised rape as a part of revenge.
But revenge can be done without it and frustration can also burned out without rape.
I think they don't even know or realise what rape is and what it cause to the victim.
They just saw it like any other bad deed
Exactly
This is true. A story needs something morally wrong or questionable to be interesting so this is probably why most of the stories are with Heroes and Villains even in our fairytale. The bad guy is always there to keep it going and if it's gonna be such a hard story to digest, then honestly, it receives the effect intended even if uncomfortable.
agree with this 100%. in the hierarchy of the severity of crimes, i'm someone who personally thinks that rape is at the very bottom, the worst of all crimes. rape can never be justified or even explained in ANY sense of the word. murder, exploitation, stealing and theft can all be a requirement to survive, it can be revenge, it can stem out of SOME or the other basic needs of a human. rape is the only crime that can never be a fundamental requirement of any human being; obviously unless someone has a gun to your head and says "rape that person", there is no other explanation for why you'd choose to do it to someone. and this unnecessary nature of rape/assault is one of the reasons why it causes the deepest trauma to its victim, among other obvious reasons such as stealing all dignity and personal autonomy of a person with dreams and aspirations. i think rape is worse than just dying, because if you die at least you'll die with your respect and dignity intact.
so yeah, i don't think i'd ever like to see rape be used a literary "travesty". there are so so many other ways to get that sense of impending doom and gloominess across to the reader, and no ethical or moral author should ever feel the need to write about rape unless they're going to make the rapist character a full-fledged villain and antagonist, and have the intention to shape the plot to spread awareness about such serious real-life issues. this manhua clearly has made the male lead a rapist, so unless he dies in later chapters (because realistically there's no amount of redeeming you can do after committing such a grave act), i'm not going to like this :) sorry for the big yap
idk why every masterpiece with a great plot and atmosphere needs to have rape to ruin it. and i don't want to hear any "you were warned!!", i am not complaining about having read this against my will, i'm questioning the very thought process that comes up with the idea to include a rape scene in a great manhua that you're writing. but oh well, the art and horror elements in this are amazing.