[ SECRET POST #2088 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2088 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 021 secrets from Secret Submission Post #298.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[sockpants]

Hmmm. I guess I can see that. I don't really understand it, but I can sort of see it. I'm female, and growing up, I always seemed to prefer stories with a lot of guys in them. That carries over into my own writing. I will occasionally write female characters, but a lot of the time, I just don't really want to, or I just don't have ideas for them to be a major part of the story, and if I try to force myself to do so it comes out as utter crap. Also, writing some types of female characters is kind of triggering for me- my entire childhood I was abused by various female relatives and bullied relentlessly through grade school and middle school by a group of girls. Even today, I can't hear a woman shouting without my fight-or-flight mechanism kicking in, and it doesn't really help even if that shouting is only in my head. I don't really expect people to understand so I don't talk about it much, and logically, I know it's kind of stupid, but there's really only so much I can do about it without ending up paranoid for the next week. *shrugs*

As for stories that would only work with male characters, though, you know you actually did get me thinking. I had a lot of examples, but then I realized that, yes, they were all setting-related as to the reason why that was. They were all war stories, or took place at a boy's school, or focused simply on one character who was male. So I guess you're right about that.

And, for your suggestion, that's actually a good idea. That's how some of my characters have ended up differently from their initial conception, but most of the time it doesn't work for gender. Again, that's probably related to my other issues, but eh.

I'm not talking about stories that happen to include a diverse character cast. What I'm talking about are some stories where it's like the author was literally running down a checklist about what sorts they need to include now. And yes, it does tend to read kind of like a tax form. :P Not saying that's how your work reads, just that that's how some people do it. And maybe they're not trying to use a checklist at all, but their writing comes off as stilted, like they're trying to follow a guide.

I have to say, though, I really respect you for working through and writing a character that could trigger you. I'm not really there yet, so it's why I usually stick to fanfiction for now. :3

[elialshadowpine]

TBH I know a lot of women who feel the same way. There are a lot of complex social issues at play, and I don't know if any of this is relevant to you (and certainly don't want to be all "all ur personal preferences r belong to the patriarchy") -- but I know a bunch of women my age (27) or older who have said that because of the lack of girl/women characters in media, they basically learned to identify with men. Cause, otherwise, they didn't have any cool stories to read.

I'm really sorry that you went through all that with the bullying. Oddly, the majority of my bad experiences have been with women but I am much more fearful of men, go figure. But as I have major panic attacks anytime a guy raises his voice, and difficulty reading stories where a male character is described as yelling, I can sorta sympathize there. At that point, you need to do what's best for your mental health. There's stuff I don't read because in order to get through it I'd need to have a bottle of lozarepam on hand. >_<

If it is something that you are ever able to work through with a therapist, I would encourage, but I know all too well how that is just not an option in many cases (we just got insurance again this year after being w/o for 5yrs).

The stilted characters... well... having been in crit groups and such, I've seen a lot of stilted, and a lot of "technically well written but totally blah" fiction. I think it's a stage of learning how to write, and I've definitely seen writers produce some awesome characters that are "like them", but not totally think things through for diverse characters. I think maybe what the issue is here is that some not very skilled writers confuse "this character is [x minority]" for characterization -- as if that alone is enough to build a character. I have seen that for things other than minorities, though. (Like the feisty tough chick in so many fantasy novels where the fact that she is spunky is treated as her defining characteristic and enough to carry the character. Sorry, no.)

I can't actually say I am so actively working on that project. It is more, poke at it every few months or so until I get triggered and have to stop. It's a premise I love, though. It is BDSM fantasy erotica; the hero is Death, leader of a group of people, the Deathriders, who deliver souls to the afterlife, and the heroine is the granddaughter of a Deathrider who begged mortality in order to be with the woman he loved. Death and this guy had a relationship, but, hey, people have enough issues with relationships lasting years, much less centuries. He granted his love's wish, and the Deathrider's granddaughter found stories passed down through generations. She is dying of terminal cancer and asks to become a Deathrider. Death is taken off guard, because the ethics of allowing somebody to escape death by joining their group is just problematic, but chooses to set terms that he thinks that she will never ever accept as a vocally feminist woman -- that she become his, in all things, for a year and a day. Except, she agrees, and the story is about her finding her own power in submission. (This may not make a lot of sense if you are not familiar with BDSM but the sub is the one with the power and a lot of people find it freeing.)

But, it's male dom, and... triggery. So as much as I love it, *pokity poke hide* :-\