Heart Of The Sea: Chapter 24 - Blood In The Moonlight

[zelda_queen]

ZeldaQueen: Right, we've got Link here for one more chapter, so let's make the most of it!

Link: I'm all for it, if it means I can leave sooner

Comments

[lurkythespork]

I'm getting a little tired of the "woman as plot fuel" thing that's been going around lately. If the mother, wife, girlfriend, sister, or whatever isn't in need of rescue or getting killed or maimed just to manipulate the hero in the direction the author wants, she dies off-camera. It's less so in the other direction, but still annoys me that way, too.

It's like characters these days only have relationships that are convenient to the plot. In World-of-Warcraft roleplay (which is basically fanfic with multiple writers and multiple protagonists), for instance, most characters I encounter live in a vacuum. They're usually orphans, no siblings, no near relatives, no spouse, a convenient boyfriend or girlfriend on occasion, MAYBE a baby or two somewhere...

...And now I've wandered off on you. Back to the point: This chapter reminds me of how much I HATEHATEHATE it when a character is gambled just to get a rise out of the audience and/or other characters. Actions should have consequences, should make sense (unless it's the Joker, but then again, it's part of a bigger scheme anyway even with him)! Unless you're really writing a World of Chaos, the things that happen should be directly related to the plot and the LOGICAL OUTCOME OF EVENTS PRIOR.

[zelda_queen]

And the sad thing is, THIS IS THE AUTHOR'S FANTASY. For all her talk about how Kate is such a strong, awesome pirate (pffft), and for all her talk in a later chapter about how her life is boring and she just wants the carefree, exciting life of adventure that a pirate leads, this is what she dreams about! That her character is constantly getting kidnapped and, in a dream, murdered!

And I took count. She gets kidnapped three times in this thing. Each kidnapping takes about a paragraph of her struggling, she's hauled on board, locked up, is inexplicably not locked up a paragraph later, and just jumps over to the Black Pearl. I mean, I know everyone kept getting kidnapped and bartered in canon, but this is just stupid!

[parrinoyed]

It's actually a dream?

Oh well, it was a lovely dream while it lasted.

It is more than a little sad to write yourself/avatar as a damsel in distress. Squicky.

Oh, and I agree with Lurky about just being sick of characters used simply to manipulate the audience and as plot incentives--especially when they don't have context. I love character relationships! After reading so many sporks like this, I gave my NaNo character a stable family life with a close sibling and a strong group of friends for that reason! (Admittedly, it's making everything else harder, but then I can make the character flaw about pushing people away, etc, even when they don't want to be and she can grow up and it will be cool. When I rewrite it. Eventually.

Wow did I get off topic. :P

Aanywhoo...Dear G managed a beautiful image in the last bit of this chapter and I shall treasure it.

[zelda_queen]

"It is more than a little sad to write yourself/avatar as a damsel in distress. Squicky."

I guess if she had some sort of fetish or something...but we're supposed to believe that her characters are so powerful, needed, loved, etc. Why would Jack Sparrow want an idiot who keeps getting kidnapped?

[parrinoyed]

As I think was discussed before, if a woman did attach herself to him like this, he'd probably appreciate her being kidnapped, as that would mean he wouldn't have to take care of it. I don't think he'd appreciate that she kept coming back, though.

Now see, demonstrating your character's power by having her get out of dangerous situations that you, as the author, out of necessity have constructed. However, if the only way you can set up those situations is through your character, and she promptly jumps into new problem out that simply arises from her ineptitude as a character, then she isn't a strong character.