Leah

[potcsues]

I'm going to begin a week of offspring!Sues tommorow today next Sue. So be ready for some of Jack and Random!Wench/Anamaria's many sons, a few of Will and Elizabeth's innumerable daughters, one or two of Jack's obnoxious illegitimate hellions, and maybe even the spawn of some other unfortunate canon character who must have cavorted with Satan

Comments

[ganeris]

How does a female in these enlightened times get to typing-on-a-computer age without realizing that rape is not sex, but a violent crime akin to assault?
And that's only the beginning of the levels of no to which this fic descends.

Soooo tempted to flame.

Re:

[geeksicle]

I'm going to. I don't believe in flaming, but I DO believe in re-education. When I was 12 I got in trouble for throwing my hot chocolate over my cousin when they put a picture on the news of a girl who'd been raped and murdered and my cousin said "but she's not even pretty!" When you combine that quote, and the fact that the sue has "fallen from grace" because she was raped, I cannot in good conscience keep silent.

Re:

[mylla]

In all fairness, I don't think that's necessarily what she meant by the 'fallen from grace' quote. I think she just meant "maybe she's an angel and has fallen [i.e. to earth] from heaven".

Then again, judging by the quote in her bio, anything's possible and re-education is in order anyway. :D

Re:

[geeksicle]

True, and I thank you for pointing that out before I made a flamey fool of myself. I think I'm overreacting because I'm so damn sick of 'Sue authors using rape as a motive for Jack and their Mary Sue to get together. It's all Jack saved Sue from rape, Jack finds out Sue has been raped and avenges/comforts her, or the more disturbing Jack rapes Sue and falls in love. I will restrict myself to my usual "rape is a serious issue and should not be used as a romantic plot device" spiel, and tack on "especially not by someone who uses quotes like THAT" at the end.

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[salophile]

Erk... I'm rather ashamed to admit that I've used (attempted) rape as a plot device. It wasn't, however, to get sympathy for the victim, but more to define the enmity between her and the villain. You seem to have a strong opinion on how rape could or should be used in a story-- do you have any suggestions?

Off topic and probably rather inappropriate, but the man on your icon = teh hotnezz.

Re:

[geeksicle]

Yes, that's Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Gormenghast, and all my lust is on him right now. As for my opinions on rape, I just think it's something that needs to be dealt with with sensitivity. In your case, it sounds like it's reasonable. It's not an uncommon opinion that rape is sometimes used to take power away from women or "break" them. I think the best way to use it is to look into psychologial effects of such an attack and try and use those as a guide for your character's behaviour. And the reactions vary as widely as the victims, so there's always bound to be something that will work. I have a lot more to say on the topic that I don't feel like putting in a public journal, not least because it's take up so much space, so if you have any more questions or you want to respond to anything I've said you can email me at geeksicle(AT)hotmail(DOT)com <-- excuse the spam paranoia.

Re:

[genarti]

My attitude towards it is that rape is a seriously traumatic experience. Which means it can be very interesting to watch a character deal with it, but it has to be done very carefully and sensitively. A good author can do excellent things with trauma; a bad author makes me want to throw things at the book/screen and shout "No! Take it seriously, damn you!" And it certainly requires a huge emotional commitment from the author, especially if she plans to write a significant part of the healing time.

But it's certainly a valid plot device. Just one to be handled with great care, and never tossed in lightly.