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

[zelda_queen]

I think the biggest issue is the Rape is a Special Kind of Evil trope. For a lot of people, it's hammered in their heads as the worst crime evil (or at least the worst crime readily available to a lot of people). And I don't say that to trivialize the action, really. But I remember a quote (Gail Simone said it, I believe), that you should give thought to whether or not you NEED to include rape. If not, don't. People just jump to rape as a quick way to hurt or break a character and show another character is evil, when the same result could be reached by beating someone with a baseball bat, shoving them off a cliff, psychologically screwing them up, etc

[ladyhadhafang]

Gail Simone really has a talent for nailing things, doesn't she?

And very well-said! Seriously, you said it better than I ever would. :)

[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

[etoiledunord]

Hmmm... I certainly agree that there are very few instances where rape is the only plot device that will fit the story, relative to how often it's used. However, I also think yelling at people for using rape "poorly" isn't the best approach. Lots of people like various aspects of fictionalized rape, from the kink to the shock value and a bunch of other bits. People are very much allowed not to like portrayals of rape for any reason they choose (and I quite agree with a lot of them), and they're allowed to express their dislike, but I don't think they have any grounds for demanding that people stop treating rape in ways they don't like. The exception, of course, is when laws are being broken, like if someone tries to get people to commit rape. And public pressure can certainly do a lot to influence ways in which people/companies/etc choose to portray rape, but it doesn't have to if the creators refuse to change what they do

[ladyhadhafang]

Very well-said. Seriously.

[elizabeth_hoot]

Ugh, I remember when that happened. It's really gross

[ladyhadhafang]

Oh sweet Jesus, that has to be terrifying. 0.0.

And seriously, this. So very much.