You… do realise that people tag works as containing rape/paedophilia/incest when the stories are explicitly about those things being bad, and not just because they’re writing dark themes for reasons that you personally disapprove of, right? That tags merely state the presence of a thing without explaining how it’s dealt with in the narrative, and that stories do not have to be morally instructional and perfect and pure in order to be allowed to exist?
Like. You might as well walk into a bookshop and stamp BLOCKED FOR BADWRONG CONTENT on every book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, half of Shakespeare, every YA novel about rape recovery, every adult novel about rape recovery, every biography of someone who has suffered from rape, incest or paedophilia and been brave enough to write about it, every book of Greek, Egyptian and Norse myths, the fucking Bible – just a truly massive percentage of the entire global literary canon,because there is literally no way to remove each and every reference to these themes otherwise.
Do you know why schools and libraries are pressured to ban books like I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, To Kill a Mockingbird and Laurie Halse Andersen’s Speak? Because dumbass, scaremongering adults think that letting teens read about rape or racism or sexual violence or queerness or half a dozen other topics they think are Bad Things will lead to them down a path of Vice.
What happens to characters in stories, no matter how graphic or awful, is not the same as that act occurring to a real human person in real life, nor does reading or writing such works indicate endorsement of those acts. This is why a story which features paedophilia, regardless of whether it’s written as overtly sexual content or as a damning condemnation of the act, is not the same as child pornography by any legal definition: because no actual children are harmed. Are you personally still allowed to be angry and disgusted about the public availability of the former type of stories, even in instances where the writers are themselves victims of child abuse trying to process their trauma? Yes! You’re under no moral obligation to like any kind of content! But are you correct in asserting that the creation of such stories is illegal and hurting somebody in exactly the same way that a real abuser hurting a real child would be? No! Because fictional characters are not real people, and whatever our motives for creating or engaging with a particular thing, monkey see = monkey approve is not how it fucking works.
Have you ever watched an episode of CSI? Congratulations! By your own logic, you’re pro rape and murder. Ever watched an episode of Hannibal? Congratulations! By your own logic, you endorse cannibalism, Stockholm Syndrome and serial killing. Ever watched a historical drama where a young girl gets married to a much older man? Congratulations! By your own logic, you endorse child brides. And on, and on, and on.
I say again: you are allowed to be critical of particular works and/or the recurrence of certain themes across a particular medium. But arguing that an entire literary platform needs to end because some stories there contain Bad Things makes as much sense as banning the works of Octavia Butler or Sherman Alexie from school libraries because of their content. Which is – spoiler alert – a really bad idea.
UGH.
“What happens to characters in stories, no matter how graphic or awful, is not the same as that act occurring to a real human person in real life, nor does reading or writing such works indicate endorsement of those acts.”
I was tagged by @cinlat. Thank you, this was fun to do! I’m not going to tag anyone because I think most folks have done it. 🙂
What is your total word count on AO3?
*does math* Holy shit, I’ve got 599,236 words spread across 8 works and 3 fandoms. How is that even possible?!?
How often do you write?
I’m trying to make the effort to write every day, but in the interests of being honest I’ll say that on a good day I can write for upwards of five hours (taking breaks to fulfill various biological needs, of course) and on a bad day I won’t write anything at all.
Do you have a routine for writing?
After my partner leaves for work (around 5:30 AM) I sit down at my laptop in the kitchen and dick around for a good 30-60 minutes (email, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, lather, rinse, repeat) and then, made profoundly depressed and anxious by the current state of the world, I open up Word and try to write something to take my mind off things. Sometimes this is successful. Sometimes I go play video games or watch Netflix.
What are your favourite kinks/tropes/pairing?
Kinks:
Hmm. I think I’m mostly into the comfort aspect of hurt/comfort, so I like putting my characters through painful situations and then using sex or other kinds of physical intimacy to help them cope with and/or recover from it. I don’t know if that’s actually a kink, per se, but I’m not an especially kinky person. I don’t think. I mean, there’s stuff I’m intrigued by (breathplay, for example), but I’ve only dabbled in writing it a bit.
Threesomes. This is less of a kink for me, and more of a “hey, I’m polyam, let’s write about polyamorous characters!” Not kinky, just me trying to find a place for myself and my loved ones, trying to see us in the world.
Tropes:
Broken Bird. I love the idea of the healing power of love. Not that love fixes everything, but that it’s a start, a step in the right direction.
I don’t know if it’s a trope, but I like writing established relationships. I’m not big into the Will They/Won’t They trope, because honestly, you know they will, so … why don’t you just start there? Also, though, I’m not very good at writing the beginnings of romance. I want to write about what happens after that first blush wears off and the couple (or threesome, in my case, I guess) are in for the long haul.
Pairing:
Theron Shan/Vector Hyllus/Imperial Agent (Miranza Gerrick, in my case) (Star Wars: The Old Republic): I mean, duh, it’s my longest-running series. I love these idiots.
F!Sith Warrior/Malavai Quinn (Star Wars: The Old Republic): Yup, I know it’s unhealthy. I can enjoy reading/writing about the pairing without wanting to emulate it in my own life, thank you very much.
Cullen Rutherford/F!Inquisitor (Dragon Age: Inquisition): Back to my whole “healing power of love” thing, I’m also quite into the idea of someone striving for redemption, and Cullen’s story plays into that nicely, especially if you romance him with a mage. I’m also aware that it can be seen as icky. I like what I like; you do you.
Dorian Pavus/Iron Bull (Dragon Age: Inquisition): I’ve read blog essays about how it’s an unhealthy relationship and essays about how it’s healthy, and the writers put forth very eloquent and convincing arguments either way. My personal take on it is that it’s a healthy relationship, and I’m not really interested in arguing the matter. I like them together. I, like Bull, think they “could be good for each other.”
Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla (Star Wars: Rebels): (I haven’t finished the final season, but it’s been spoiled for me.) Speaking of established relationships … these two. *sighs dramatically* They mess up, they support each other through the mess-up, they move on. They’re there for each other.
Dr. Julian Bashir/Elim Garak (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine): Revisiting a childhood crush (DS9 started when I was 15), I’m rewatching the series on Netflix and holy crap, I know these two never canonically became a couple but they were totally a couple. (Sweet summer child that I was, I never saw it back then, but man, the moment Garak introduces himself to Bashir he’s flirting with him.) Thank goodness for AO3 and approximately 2000+ stories where this is a thing.
Do you have a favourite fic of yours?
My first fic on AO3, The Voices of Thieves and Robbers, is probably my favourite (published on AO3) fic. There are issues with it, yeah, but it’s one of the few of my own pieces that I can go back and read and genuinely think “Well, shit, maybe I am a good writer.” Which, if you know me at all, you would know is something I don’t really think all that often.
Your fic with the most kudos?
This Ain’t a Love Song, my Fallout: New Vegas fic, is standing at 118 kudos, with Scars Beyond Counting (my Dragon Age: Inquisition fic) closing in at 115 as of this morning. In fairness to my SWTOR works, DA and FO have much bigger fandoms, so the higher kudos count isn’t really a surprise.
Anything you don’t like about your writing?
Oh, tons of things. I suck at action sequences (I choreograph them beautifully in my head and they fall apart on paper). I struggle with tenses, which often results in me switching tense and not even noticing, or leaves things bland and unexciting. I can be very dialogue-heavy and I spend a lot of time inside my characters’ heads, which can be off-putting to some readers. I have a tendency to tell, rather than show. I don’t ever really feel like I’m doing anything original, and I frequently worry that, because I read so much, I’m inadvertently stealing from other authors. I’m impatient, so things end up being rushed and weak. I second- (and third- and fourth- and …) guess myself, struggling to make the most people happy rather than focusing on what best benefits the story (you can’t please everyone, Crumpet, you should know that by now).
Now something you do like?
Um. I think I’m good at writing hurt/comfort. I don’t shy away from the consequences of what happens to my characters: Bad Things™ have lasting impact. I think I’ve got a good grasp on the voices of my characters, and it’s distinctive when I shift from one third-person POV to another (for example, I think my version of Iron Bull sounds very distinctly different from Cullen Rutherford, and neither of them sound like Miranza Gerrick or Malavai Quinn or Courier Six). I think I’m good at shifting tone depending on the genre (another example, This Ain’t a Love Song “sounds” very different from Bad Medicine, because the genres and voices are different).
TL;DR: Help organize a charity raffle to raise money to organizations fighting against Trump’s policy of separating children from their parents
I’m sure by now, most of you are aware of Trump Administration’s policy of separating children from their parents. I’m sure most of you have seen the pictures of children in cages.
I know that most of us want to help somehow.
So I’m asking all of y’all if you would be willing to help me organize a charity raffle to help benefit the organizations working to stop this almost unimaginably cruel policy.
My contact information is at tinybuggyart@gmail(.)com
If enough people are interested, I’ll set up a discord server for us to discuss and organize this event.
Reblogs are immensely appreciated.
An Update:
Trump signed an Executive Order about separating children from their families in an attempt to do some damage control.
However!
The new policy is now to IMPRISON entire families at the border indefinitely.
This also would not address the children who have already been separated from their parents.
Crumpet's Bookshelf 