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Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:02 pm
by tiedjay
Hey all. How do you prefer your damsel? The helpless traditional kind, tied down to the railway tracks, helpless and in need of a saviour.
Or
A badass in distress? A strong female kick ass heroine who is always in control but gets caught out.

I've always been a badass in distress fan, be it WonderWoman, a cop or Power Ranger, I've always found the idea of a tough girl in peril hot.

How about you?

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:38 pm
by scarfgagged
100% badass! A damsell that once a free her, she might keep the ropes and gag to use later with her saviour! 😁

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:41 pm
by GagFan96
I usually prefer the badass tough girl myself but I still enjoy the helpless damsel as well.

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 12:54 am
by Kyle
I usually prefer a more proactive type. I like to see them fight and struggle to escape, but not for it to be too easy. I want to see her have to work, to sweat and squirm around to find the sharp edge to cut her ropes off. Or, she can still get rescued, but be proactive in her own rescue, sliding over to bang on a door or window while trying to scream loud enough through her gag to get someone's attention to come untie her.

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 12:57 am
by GagFan96
Kyle wrote: 3 years ago I usually prefer a more proactive type. I like to see them fight and struggle to escape, but not for it to be too easy. I want to see her have to work, to sweat and squirm around to find the sharp edge to cut her ropes off. Or, she can still get rescued, but be proactive in her own rescue, sliding over to bang on a door or window while trying to scream loud enough through her gag to get someone's attention to come untie her.
I definitely agree with that.

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 2:48 am
by scarfgagged
Sure!!!! Good point!

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 11:42 am
by Reidy
Badass. Much prefer seeing someone in control cut down a peg or two. Makes for better struggling.

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 1:49 pm
by CarouselCowboy13
Badass makes for better RolePlay and more fun Stuggling and Fighting to subdue my captive

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 2:09 pm
by tiedjay
Reidy wrote: 3 years ago Badass. Much prefer seeing someone in control cut down a peg or two. Makes for better struggling.
Yep this definitely! I like the indignation & humiliation of the restrained badass being reduced to a damsel

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 1:43 am
by Evannnn
Badass all the way.
I love the idea of a powerful woman becoming a helpless damsel!

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 10:48 pm
by banshee
Both have their own appeal, but I generally prefer badass as I can come up with more interesting scenarios for one. A really interesting scenario for stories is to have a badass damsel along with a helpless one.
Also, this isn't a dichotomy, there's a whole spectrum between helpless and badass damsels.

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2020 4:49 pm
by Sociopath3
badass, helpless gets boring after a minute or two

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2020 10:58 pm
by Tieup1
Helpless damsel, every time for me. They are usually easily caught, and tied. I don't mind if they struggle a little, and perhaps moan through their gag, but they are generally very helpless, and relying on someone to rescue them. I also think with a helpless damsel, you can tease them a little bit more. :)

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2020 2:09 am
by BobaFettish1
My philosophy is... why not both?

Personally, strong women who can kick ass and take names all on their own are incredibly sexy. A badass damsel with a plan always makes for an interesting and thrilling story, but it becomes even more intriguing when said damsel is tied, gagged and made to be a helpless prisoner.

The fact is, a damsel that simply gets captured, tied up and is eventually rescued is just... boring.

I want her to put up a fight. I want her to wrestle with her captors and mouth off while she's being tied. I want her to struggle for a while and really have to work to get herself untied. And once she's free, maybe, just maybe, she gets captured again and has to repeat the same process all over again.

Or maybe she gets herself in a real pickle and can't find a way to escape? It's always fun to have a damsel who's confident she'll escape slowly realize there's no way out and she's completely helpless. A badass damsel who's forced to humble herself to patiently await a proper rescue can come through the experience a changed person, and for the better. She learned the hard way that, despite all her spunk and muscle, she can still end up hopelessly bound and vulnerable. It's also all the more satisfying to see a heroine lose all of her "power" when she's bound and gagged, and all the more thrilling when she finds an opportunity to escape and get the better of the bad guys.

Point is, just because you're helpless doesn't mean you can't be badass... and vice versa. ;)

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2020 11:40 am
by tiedjay
BobaFettish1 wrote: 3 years ago My philosophy is... why not both?

Personally, strong women who can kick ass and take names all on their own are incredibly sexy. A badass damsel with a plan always makes for an interesting and thrilling story, but it becomes even more intriguing when said damsel is tied, gagged and made to be a helpless prisoner.


The fact is, a damsel that simply gets captured, tied up and is eventually rescued is just... boring.

I want her to put up a fight. I want her to wrestle with her captors and mouth off while she's being tied. I want her to struggle for a while and really have to work to get herself untied. And once she's free, maybe, just maybe, she gets captured again and has to repeat the same process all over again.

Or maybe she gets herself in a real pickle and can't find a way to escape? It's always fun to have a damsel who's confident she'll escape slowly realize there's no way out and she's completely helpless. A badass damsel who's forced to humble herself to patiently await a proper rescue can come through the experience a changed person, and for the better. She learned the hard way that, despite all her spunk and muscle, she can still end up hopelessly bound and vulnerable. It's also all the more satisfying to see a heroine lose all of her "power" when she's bound and gagged, and all the more thrilling when she finds an opportunity to escape and get the better of the bad guys.

Point is, just because you're helpless doesn't mean you can't be badass... and vice versa. ;)
Great reply

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2020 1:52 pm
by Stiletto Amore
Speaking as someone who (at in storyline terms at least) is both a meddling snoop who gets tied up (alot) AND a wanabee escape artist who can pick almost any lock - I guess my answer would be why choose just one?

I realise this reply is the very definition of both having your damsel cake and eating it at the same time - for which I can only apologise.
I guess this is what happens when you're raised on a diet of Avengers re-runs ;)

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 7:36 pm
by WAMGuy
BobaFettish1 wrote: 3 years ago My philosophy is... why not both?

Personally, strong women who can kick ass and take names all on their own are incredibly sexy. A badass damsel with a plan always makes for an interesting and thrilling story, but it becomes even more intriguing when said damsel is tied, gagged and made to be a helpless prisoner.

The fact is, a damsel that simply gets captured, tied up and is eventually rescued is just... boring.

I want her to put up a fight. I want her to wrestle with her captors and mouth off while she's being tied. I want her to struggle for a while and really have to work to get herself untied. And once she's free, maybe, just maybe, she gets captured again and has to repeat the same process all over again.

Or maybe she gets herself in a real pickle and can't find a way to escape? It's always fun to have a damsel who's confident she'll escape slowly realize there's no way out and she's completely helpless. A badass damsel who's forced to humble herself to patiently await a proper rescue can come through the experience a changed person, and for the better. She learned the hard way that, despite all her spunk and muscle, she can still end up hopelessly bound and vulnerable. It's also all the more satisfying to see a heroine lose all of her "power" when she's bound and gagged, and all the more thrilling when she finds an opportunity to escape and get the better of the bad guys.

Point is, just because you're helpless doesn't mean you can't be badass... and vice versa. ;)
100% agreed! I was trying to figure out a way to explain my own thoughts on the matter, but you put it perfectly!

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 12:32 pm
by ILoveHandsUp
I think the best is both ladies together.
For instance, a rich woman comes to a PI for help. The rich woman is your typical helpless damsel while the PI is your typical badass. During the investigation they both get caught.
It would also be nice if the badass would guide the rich woman through the process of being captured, since she already has experience. She would calm her down, and say things like: "put your hands up, like this" or "don't worry, beautiful, they won't get away with this".

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:55 pm
by Skizzo
Gotta be the badass one.
Going from cocky and arrogant to peril is a nice switch of pace!

Cheers folks!

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 12:30 am
by Driverman
I see a ton of appeal in both. Depends on my mood.

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2020 2:51 pm
by Rtj65
As others have kind of said, I think both types have their own appeal - for me it depends on the scenario, though if I absolutely had to pick one as a preference I'd say badass, things are usually more interesting when a captive puts up a fight!

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2020 4:52 am
by Gagfan
I think my favorite is a badass whose toughness slowly gets broken down as an experienced kidnapper makes their bondage more and more inescapable and miserable. Damsel progression from confidence and cockiness to worry and fear is always fun to read or see

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2020 11:26 pm
by KaceyBoots
Badass girl power!

I'd definitely put up a struggle, but I always like the scenario where you have no choice, blackmail, gunpoint, overwhelming odds etc!

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 5:48 pm
by johnbell92
Badass damsel. Although, I like when they are taken down a peg and humiliated.

Re: Badass or Helpless damsel?

Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 5:50 pm
by FacelessMage
I think both can be fun in their own scenes, but I usually lean more towards the badass archetype, or the bratty sub. Something particularly fun about capturing and subjugating a tough girl :D