***Long essay incoming (Trigger Warning for r*pe/non-con in fiction; SPOILERS for the Invincible comic)
It’s no secret that I write for Anissa as a central character. I basically discovered her through the show, then read the comics and was frankly devastated to discover her assault of Mark. Obviously because of the act itself, though mostly how it’s her defining trait - she doesn’t have any true arc aside from her time-skip “redemption” in which she doesn’t even get to apologize directly to Mark.
I have no problem believing the Viltrumites don’t even consider sexual violence as an issue and therefore don’t sanitize her actions or corresponding mindset in my writing. In my view, she is capable of rehabilitation only if she Does. The. Work. But besides canon’s poor handling of her “arc”, we arrive at the ridiculous and frankly gross Mark victim blaming discussion. So just to put it out there for all the Twitter and other social media trolls (I honestly wish most of them were bots but am unfortunately doubtful), and putting aside the fact that arousal never = consent - some facts:
-Erections can happen due to any kind of physical stimulation such as close combat or even emotional such as anxiety (e.g. stage fright b*ners). In this case, Anissa was pushing her pelvis into his when they smashed into the ground. Mark could have even experienced this with Conquest, given how much that creep was on top of him.
-Climax can happen from repetitive stimulation as soon as arousal is in place. This is true for both men and women in the real world, but add to that this chick who can move at superhuman speed and think about how quick she could move before he even registered what was happening (the show even emphasizes her being faster than Nolan).
Now onto some of the pull quotes from this “genius” argument:
-“He got her pregnant, so he clearly liked it” - (Coupled with the similarity to the argument that a woman who conceived from r*pe actually wanted it, this one is mostly for the broken-record use of Marky’s existence as “proof” that Mark finished) Women in real life can conceive from pre*, so it’s far from implausible that these aliens who can breed with multiple alien species and apparently impregnate more than once despite protection could have some crazy pre* game (nor would they likely struggle to conceive with one of their own to the point of definitively needing more than one try). While it’s not specified he didn’t finish (I don’t count the issue 110 fandom wikis which are editable by the public and currently read like a middle schooler writing hentai), a possible interpretation of the scene’s conclusion is that her climaxing while he stays locked in terrified/tears mode plus telling him to “man up” after he says “I didn’t-” (even though she might have misread him as saying he didn't finish), and that they’ll probably need to try again could suggest he was too distraught for her to get everything she wanted (and because Kirkman loves to torture his MC, it turns out pregnancy did occur). *TMI*: I might be looking way too hard into this as someone who doesn't even regularly read comics, but I'm pretty sure even if she did get what she wanted, it wasn't through "cowgirl snu snu". The way Ottley's sequence went, it suggests she climaxes (her "O" face panel), then realizes he's trapped in a state of panic (Mark's terror face as she looks at him with pity panel), followed by one of Anissa's hands on his chest (as if holding him down while the other hand goes elsewhere and he tries not to look at her) panel, to then the shot of her torso shifting to the side panel, to her scheming smile/Mark's terror panel - then cut to him crying. If this interpretation is correct, after essentially realizing "riding" wasn't working, she shifted her body and added her hand to get the job done. That isn't sexy (neither is any form of SA, but the point is these aren't the dominatrix aesthetics these people paint it as), this was quite literally forcing insemination as if it were a torturous medical procedure.
-“He admits to wanting it” -This is a wildly common survivor response to rationalize the loss of control. In this case, in light of the Eve breakup and Robot situations, Mark seemed to be mostly referring to deserving the torture of the attack, not the “sex” part. These people are confusing consensual non-consent with r*pe, and are threatened by the idea of a fictional male character actually violated by a fictional female character.
-“He didn’t fight back at all” - He made her bleed and continued to try to pull away from her after she got him on the ground. The dust from the crater hadn’t even settled when she realized he really wasn’t into it and let up. Also, let’s be honest, he didn’t kill Conquest by overpowering him. Conquest was toying with him during both fights, and in the show, we learn he had a death wish. Viltrumites get stronger as they age, and Anissa has centuries of life and combat experience on Mark. Oh, and sure, humans might find her attractive, but Mark is surrounded by hot superhumans daily, she wouldn’t register for him on the same level.
In a nutshell, male SA rep is crucial, as fiction can serve as a way to spread awareness of real-life issues. Kirkman himself even acknowledged a big part of including this scene at all was to improve upon previous male SA depiction in comics and to put Mark through another kind of trauma which makes me suspect even more that Anissa’s closing dialogue was originally meant to explain away why the assault might not result in a child, since the scene wasn’t mainly about that. That said, I really wouldn’t mind if the scene was changed in some way that maintained non/dubcon overtones without being gratuitous enough (ripping off most of her own clothes, focusing on her climax, her flying off naked, etc) to serve as p*rn fodder. I’m not suggesting they scrap Marky’s character, as it makes sense they could need an Earth guardian once Terra leaves with her parents, but just putting it out there.
I can say what ultimately tipped me over the edge to scream into the void about this was the reaction to Eve’s pregnancy termination. The internet has flooded with media illiterate, meme-based takes insisting Anissa wanted Mark’s baby more than Eve did when Anissa literally was only carrying out her (male) boss’s decree and previously states never wanting children, while Eve says she does want kids one day and does try to tell Mark about the pregnancy but dared to ultimately make a decision without the approval/order of these people’s (male) self-insert, Mark…so they then dictate how Mark himself should feel about it. Meanwhile, Anissa assaults Mark while Eve is heavily pregnant with their very wanted child, Terra.
Anyway, they might not include the incident at all, given her positive rep in the VS game. We shall see.
But yeah, I’m done for now. Probably the longest post I’ll ever make on here. Can’t think of a good TLDR. Whoops.
