fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2512 ]

[ SECRET POST #2512 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2512 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 062 secrets from Secret Submission Post #359.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In an original work I'm planning, there are two antagonistic "Creeper characters" one is male, one is female.

The male is a jerk / bully who's usually really racist but has a thing for a girl with a Jewish girl with a mixed background. He's really a deconstruction of the whole "you're the exception" type thing that I saw a lot in Draco /Hermione shippers (as well with Snape / Lily) I was kinda shocked that people thought this was at ALL romantic. So yeah, basically he views the girl as his "exception" and thinks he's entitled to her because he's decent to her. This is treated as icky and nasty and creepy. he also follows her home multiple times and leaves her things in her locker to win her away from her best friend. When people find out what her best friend is and that she's with him, the creeper tries one more time to intimidate her...and she stands her ground.

The female is a girl (who's slightly more sympathetic in her story) who's sort of attracted/ interested in this guy's rather notable family. She's a childhood friend to him initially, but after a tragedy that results in their third friends' death, things get complicated. She has a thing (also) for the guy who her friend believes caused the death of the other friend (who's in his family). She's sort of torn between the two. The friend is a somewhat decent kid stuck in a dysfunctional family , and the other is a criminally insane psychopath who is lukewarm on her but puts up with her. There are subtle hints at a sort of "trying to change him" thing for her (that is going completely wrong and ends with the psycho being a bad influence on her.)

She has a fight with the childhood friend, but then comes back to amend things. The childhood friend isn't interested and is still hurt by things she said when they broke it off. She continues to pursue, and when the ex friend continues to refuse things get nasty. She starts her decent by slipping him a magical date rape drug and getting him to meet her on valentines day. She thinks that after that night he'll change his mind. He doesn't , and is now somewhat terrified of her, traumatized by what happened. She becomes even more obsessive and harasses him by phone. The family of the boy pretty much brushes off his claims (though he is vague about it) and still continues to regard the girl as a 'family friend'.

Will readers find any of this offensive or bad? Will people be bothered by the fact that both of them for the most part are treated as equally messed up and wrong? (even though some of the girl's circumstances are sympathetic her actions are viewed as wrong and highly damaging.)

That's the key. Who the fuck cares?

Don't ever change your writing based on somebody getting OFFENDED. That's guaranteed to make your writing neutered and shit.

Isn't the point to find them offensive and bad?

I mean like...the way I portrayed it, I guess.

Seriously. To Self Censor is far worse then others censure.

Seriously, stop flinching before your hit. And don't flinch then either cause fuck those guys.

Well I was just explaining what I meant... but sure..okay

AYRT

I don't think there's any problem with the way you've portrayed them, as described here, no. I think if people are offended or get upset, they're the type of people who are going to get upset at anything, you know? They're not the people you should worry about.

I actually think it's really cool that you're showing the same type of actions and having the same type of negativity towards those actions. And it sounds like you've put a lot of work into the story and the characters, so go forth and write!

descent

Oops.

I hate these questions because second guessing your writing on whether or not you'll offend someone with your intentionally offensive, realistic characters is ridiculous. Their actions SHOULD unsettle and offend people. That's the point you are trying to make, I hope? These people are supposed to be complex and human, which means doing and saying things that some people would find distasteful. If you clean up your characters flaws to avoid offending some future someone who may not exist, then you aren't writing a story that's yours.

Well I want people to be disturbed by it. But I guess I usually think of offended as a negative thing like referring to possible unfortunate implications and such. I guess I spend too much time on Tumblr where something is declared "problematic". if someone can tilt their head and find something objectionable.

But you're right I don't think I shouldn't worry so much.

This all sounds pretty great to me. But of course some people will be offended. Look, the fact of the matter is that if your story in any way deviates from this formula:

A is the undeniable hero and stands for everything that you like and hits a million PC check-boxes, and everything they do is looked at sympathetically (even violence). A is opposed by a unsympathetic villain who is the opposite of A in every way. A fights their way through obstacles with the power of special and after the story clearly articulates the no-shit moral (Racism/Abuse/Sexism/etc. is BAD and anyone who is like that is BAD) then Villain gets a heavy-handed punishment and A triumphs. The end.

People will be offended. Make the villain even a little three-dimensional? You're excusing their deeds! Make the hero white? Why do we need another white hero huh?! Have the villain get away because sometimes in life villains don't get cartoony punishments? You're saying what they did was totally okay! The list goes on.

Do you want to write this piece of shit Saturday Morning Cartoon Special Episode story over and over again? You don't? Good, it means you are not a simpleton. You accept that real life is messy and has unfortunate implications in and of itself. To portray that in fiction, you need to own it and stand by your decisions.

*nods*...thank you

People will always take a writer's intent wrongly. Just look at Fandom! Fans will go do things totally in the opposite direction of the apparent meaning.

You example of the "you're the exception" idea that people took as "OMG romantic!" is the exact thing Fandom can do.

In the end, the only thing that really counts (IMO) is that you did try to show that these things are creepy, and that the way your creeper characters are acting is wrong, then objective readers will see that and understand.

If people get offended, then they are a different side of the coin to fangirls - they are still not reading what you were trying to convey, but instead of going "OMG romantic!" they are going "OMG you terrible person!".

Thanks.

My main thing was that I wanted to make a statement that these actions are not exclusive to one gender. Bad behavior is wrong and it doesn't 'belong' to one gender, it is not exclusive to one gender, and it's bad behavior no matter who does it,nobody is an exception.

The SJWs will freak out, but they will freak out about anything and everything. To me, as a voracious reader, this looks like an interesting study of multiple flawed characters, what makes them tick, how their flaws interact, why they do what they do.
Please write it and publish it because the world can always use some more good fiction. If we can't write about flawed people doing realistic things, and bad things happening to good people, and good things happening to bad people, and if we have to completely erase ever problem with society, then what is left to write about? Narrative stories thrive on conflict, and conflict almost always means that someone will be bad or something bad will happen.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #2512 ]

Will this make people angry (TW: mentions of assault and stalking)

Probably. WHo cares?

Re: Will this make people angry (TW: mentions of assault and stalking)

Re: Will this make people angry (TW: mentions of assault and stalking)

STOP CARING

Re: STOP CARING

Re: Will this make people angry (TW: mentions of assault and stalking)

SA

Re: Will this make people angry (TW: mentions of assault and stalking)

Re: Will this make people angry (TW: mentions of assault and stalking)

Re: Will this make people angry (TW: mentions of assault and stalking)

Re: Will this make people angry (TW: mentions of assault and stalking)

Re: Will this make people angry (TW: mentions of assault and stalking)

Re: Will this make people angry (TW: mentions of assault and stalking)

Re: Will this make people angry (TW: mentions of assault and stalking)