Turn-offs
I hate, hate, hate, hate, HATE when infidelity is shrugged off in stories. Fanfic, novels, whatever - it pisses me off. Hell, I get pissed every time I hear Uncle Kracker's "Follow Me" lyrics.
So I've been reading this one particular story for awhile and enjoyed it very much. But in a fit of angst-for-angst's-sake (another major pet peeve of mine), the author decided that the male protagonist needed to have second thoughts about his recent, rushed marriage. He runs off to a hooker he used to frequent, but backs out of the arrangement at the last possible second. When the female protagonist confronts him about the signs that he'd been with another woman, the long, drawn-out fight (as in, several chapters of angst and tears and depression) is finally resolved when he gives her a highly edited version about seeing "an old friend" and that nothing ultimately happened, though he admits that he had been tempted.
So she doesn't realize it was far, far worse than he made it sound - that there was premeditation and terribly disgusting circumstances - and instead feels guilty for being so suspicious. They kiss and makeup, and he mentally vows never to stray again.
Gah!
I hate that sort of crap. I hate the idea that adultery is okay as a plot device, particularly in a case like this where the husband doesn't actually have sex. Somehow that's supposed to mean I still like the character? Screw that. Now I can't stand the male protagonist OR the author.
Seriously, are the people who write in adultery as an excusable sin completely inexperienced in serious relationships? Or do they simply have no concept of what decent people do and do not tolerate?
In summary - I wouldn't tolerate adultery in my marriage and I won't tolerate it in my fiction either. Blech. Now I have to go read something fluffy to cleanse this nastiness from my mind.
ETA: Woo-Hoo! And as if summoned,
Minisinoo has updated, as has Melindaleo!
So I've been reading this one particular story for awhile and enjoyed it very much. But in a fit of angst-for-angst's-sake (another major pet peeve of mine), the author decided that the male protagonist needed to have second thoughts about his recent, rushed marriage. He runs off to a hooker he used to frequent, but backs out of the arrangement at the last possible second. When the female protagonist confronts him about the signs that he'd been with another woman, the long, drawn-out fight (as in, several chapters of angst and tears and depression) is finally resolved when he gives her a highly edited version about seeing "an old friend" and that nothing ultimately happened, though he admits that he had been tempted.
So she doesn't realize it was far, far worse than he made it sound - that there was premeditation and terribly disgusting circumstances - and instead feels guilty for being so suspicious. They kiss and makeup, and he mentally vows never to stray again.
Gah!
I hate that sort of crap. I hate the idea that adultery is okay as a plot device, particularly in a case like this where the husband doesn't actually have sex. Somehow that's supposed to mean I still like the character? Screw that. Now I can't stand the male protagonist OR the author.
Seriously, are the people who write in adultery as an excusable sin completely inexperienced in serious relationships? Or do they simply have no concept of what decent people do and do not tolerate?
In summary - I wouldn't tolerate adultery in my marriage and I won't tolerate it in my fiction either. Blech. Now I have to go read something fluffy to cleanse this nastiness from my mind.
ETA: Woo-Hoo! And as if summoned,
Minisinoo has updated, as has Melindaleo!