NaNo updates (plus a bonus rant)

[ladyhadhafang]

Got 10,087 words today. Also on the duel with Dooku. Doing pretty well, I think, considering the circumstances. Pretty tired right now, but relatively satisfied.

Also, a bit of a ramble, based on one post that I read (thanks to a recommendation by fangirlblog). I don't know how qualified I am to really talk about this (and I doubt I can be as

Comments

[forcewatcher]

Had to peek in from Dreamwidth just to see what everyone's doing. Nice job on the word count

[ladyhadhafang]

Well, good to see you at any rate. :) *Hugs* And thanks!

And yeah, I know what you mean. Darker and Edgier can be done right, but there has to be a degree of thought put into it. If you're just doing it for the hell of it, it's probably going to backfire. If you actually put thought into it, e.g. exploring some of the more troublesome themes of the original work, etc., it may work. It has to be handled intelligently is the key. As is the same for pretty much every method of storytelling. I think that's my problem -- it's not handled intelligently. If it were...well, it would actually work. But it doesn't sound like IDENTITY CRISIS handled it intelligently, really.

[forcewatcher]

Identity Crisis was handled about as badly as it could have been on all fronts, and I could go on and on about some of the things they pulled. Ever see Wonder Woman's lasso as a noose? It's the cover of issue 3. Yeah... This book is a shining example of what not to do with established comic book heroes and how well it'll sell because of it. If they'd done like in Watchmen and used new characters, maybe it could have worked on some level, but they needed the history in order to break it. That was the entire point. And it didn't stop there. Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis kept moving that train forward into dumber and less-coherent territory

Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[ladyhadhafang]

Ugh, that sounds bad. Thanks for the warning; def. staying away from IDENTITY CRISIS, etc

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[forcewatcher]

Dumb question, but how does murder not destroy your world, not to mention the world of those around you? See what I'm saying? Every argument you list can be applied to rape, murder, and a host of other such problems. Which affects a person more is completely determined by the person and, for lack of a better word, the presentation of the story in question

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[ladyhadhafang]

I kind of meant in terms of the victim personally, but good point. I think rape is worse if only because it's a violation of someone else's well-being as well as their body. Not to mention it's so often used as a sort of punishment from the rapist, e.g. teaching someone a lesson. Which I think makes it worse. It's sort of a case of hatred of women (or men, for that matter), or claiming what they think they deserve. There's always a sort of hatred of a certain type in murder, but rape definitely takes it up the scale

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[forcewatcher]

Right, it comes down to power. Some use a weapon, some use humilitation, whatever. I still subscribe to the idea of where there's life there's hope, so I'm never going to say rape is worse than murder. You can live through it, and you can deal with the psychology. I'm not saying this applies to everyone, but to humanity as a whole, if we can somehow deal with holocaust and war, rape is almost minor league by comparison. Almost. But as I said, it's subjective. To one who's been through it, you'll never convince them either. Then again, if someone's been through both, rape and war, maybe they can say which is worse. Murder... nobody's talking. What makes anything worse than anything else is perception, nothing more, nothing less. Eye of the beholder stuff

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[ladyhadhafang]

I know. But at the same time, rape takes plenty of time to recover from. Not to mention, in between all the slut-shaming and everything else -- I say rape is definitely a very important subject. I mean, maybe it is subjective, but at the same time, the slutshaming and utter lack of compassion some people show towards rape victims (mostly ranting in general) is definitely something that needs to be stopped.

Not saying that war and the holocaust aren't equally horrible, but still...there's something about rape, and society's treatment of rape victims, that gets to me. And I want it to stop.

You're definitely right. But at the same time, the writer has to take a degree of responsibility as well for not running it past someone else first. I mean...feedback's a pretty important thing, and if someone expresses some degree of disapproval...most of the time it's a good clue that you didn't write it very well.

And very well-said regarding the quality of the writer.

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[forcewatcher]

It's much like a phobia. Which is worse: fire, heights, or spiders? To someone who's afraid of one, the others may not be that bad. Clearly rape bothers you for whatever reason, and that's going to affect you. Personally, amputation and being buried alive leave a nasty taste in my mouth, but whatcha gonna do? I can't stress this enough: humans are infinitely adapatable. We as a species can deal with anything. Read Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning, and you'll get what I mean. It'll change your perspective and your life

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[ladyhadhafang]

All right. But it's something that has to be stopped in fiction if only because...while I wouldn't say fiction affects all of reality , it plays it's part in it. It's a very small part, but if it can be affected in some way, perhaps a difference can be made.

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[forcewatcher]

You'll never make a difference in any of it by trying to attack the creative process on any level. You know how creative types are, being one yourself. If you tell an artist they can't have a yellow sky in their painting, they'll paint nothing but yellow skies from here to eternity just to spite you. Writers are no different, and the ones you're trying to "stop" simply could care less what you think. Your efforts towards making a change for the better would be better served by concentrating on the real world version rather than trying to control the creative process. My two Republic credits, but only you can learn that for yourself.

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[ladyhadhafang]

I don't mean forcing the writers to write what I want. I mostly mean doing it for myself. Finding a way to set the example. After all, most of the great literary movements involved people showing the way, in a sense. And after all -- this isn't a case of yellow skies vs. blue skies -- I doubt I would call it artistic vision. It's a pattern that needs to stop, that needs to end.

And even if I don't, someone will. It won't happen overnight, not by a longshot. But it will happen eventually. You'd be surprised.

Re: Warning: Not making sense ahead.

[forcewatcher]

I encourage everyone to lead by example. But even then, you won't stop the pattern. You may very well inspire others to do what you're doing, but there's an equal and opposite reaction to all things. That's law at all levels of life. The more successful you are, the more likely people will parody it. That's usually the first sign of success. And where there's parody, direct insult will follow, which will include more of what you fight against.

I'm not looking to discourage you. I'm just pointing out what I'm sure you already know because it does no good to fight the good fight with blinders on. No matter how well-intentioned you are, you're fighting an idea. Ideas are bulletproof, regardless of how wrong they appear to be. Anything you can name that disgusts you is happening out in the real world and in a thousand fictional ones whether you like it or not. If that inspires you to go forth and fight, then by all means, go for it.