I mean really, Why?
I know this is a little ironic right on the heels of my little "stop ragging on Twilight" thing, but that's because I don't think I should have to explain to you, abusive relationships aren't romantic.
If a boy routinely beats the crap out of you, that's usually a sign that he doesn't like you very much.
In fact, all bullying in Wattpad is used incredibly clumsily.
Luckily, I've always attended schools where instances of bullying are few and far between, and have never personally been the victim or perpetrator of bullying, so I don't have any first-hand experience of it. However, I'm pretty sure it's not possible for an entire school to one-sidedly hate someone who did nothing wrong (and, since these are fanfics we're talking about, is also physically flawless).
Popular people aren't universally loved. The popular kids all love all the popular people, sure, but most of us weakly nerds and goths and junkies don't really give a (filthyword). If a popular kid decided to start assaulting someone on a whim, he might MAYBE get the support of the other popular kids, but those of us with working cognitive functions would not go along with that for one minute.
Plus, popular kids tend not to be violent sociopaths. They're more obnoxious prettyboys who couldn't hurt a fly if their life depended on it.
I mean, even if somebody was super popular, that doesn't mean the entire student body and faculty is going to be totally okay with him beating someone within an inch of their life on a daily basis.
And do these schools even have a faculty? Why does NO ONE ever notice this (cuss)? The thing I ALWAYS wait to here in these books is the protagonist contacting the authorities, but she NEVER DOES.
I mean, call me crazy, but if some (expletive)ing (curse)head beat me up 'til I couldn't stand up straight, you can bet your life that I'm calling his parents. It's not snitching at that point, it's common sense.
So Why?
The hypocrisy of this is not lost on me, but let us once again examine Twilight. I can't fathom why, but some women seem to just like abusive bad boys as opposed to stable, normal men.
I mean, I don't really like ANY men, so maybe I just don't get it, but Christian Grey and Edward Cullen just baffle me in every way.
According to film academic and noted c-list internet celebrity Lindsay Ellis, some women just like men that they can change, because many women tend to appreciate things not for what they are, but what they can make them. I know this much first hand, having watched the entirety of my parents' divorce. Look at sites like Dolldivine. Look at the popularity of women painting my little ponies. Look at fanfic!
Some people just like the idea that you can take a violent psychopath, and through your love and understanding, fix him.
I still don't get it though.
And I'm not saying that a little animosity at the beginning of a romance is a terrible thing in a story. Look at Carmilla (seriously, it's on YouTube, check it out. It's amazing). But there is a big difference between having clashing personalities and actual severe physical abuse and trauma.
Bullying in fanfic in a non-romantic way usually boils down to trying to make us sympathize with the protagonist.
Consider Cinderella (the old one). She has little to no personality, nor does she do. . .anything, really, in the way of pursuing her goals or furthering the plot, in the first part anyway. But we all want to see her succeed simply because we pity her. We want to see her get out of her terrible circumstances, because no one should be in those circumstances.
Thus, when we see a character being routinely beaten within an inch of their life, we want that to stop happening, even if their personality is little more than a cardboard cutout of perfection.
Please don't do this.
If you want your character and her love interest to hate each other at first, fine, but maybe tone it down to glares or chilly indifference.
And if you insist on the protagonist fixing their love interest, then maybe just make him one of those Godawful "bad boys". They may be cliche and painful, but at least they don't usually end with me wanting to call the cops.
This is a link to a list of how to tell if you're in an abusive relationship. If your romantic pair in your fanfic match some of these, time to rewrite.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/10/13/21-warning-signs-of-an-emotionally-abusive-relationship/&ved=0ahUKEwjgiK-PiqXVAhVM04MKHZZKDX8QFggrMAA&usg=AFQjCNHqdYTxTDSXqvbniuSOuXyskwtAhA
And if you want us to like your character, instead of heaping abuse on her maybe just put in the effort of writing a protagonist with an endearing personality or complex motives.
Although many of these books have thousands of votes, so, what do I know?
