if you don’t want your audience to be appalled by something
I wanted my audience mildly appalled. In order to make sense of Allirea’s motivations I had to introduce her as an imprisoned rape victim terrorized and controlled by the-guy-to-whom-she-is-mate, but she’s not a harmless fluffy bunny and I didn’t want anyone thinking of her like one.
(nods) If it helps, I’m appalled by many of the characters in this series.
It was extremely distracting at first, but by now I’ve more or less become accustomed to the “Well, yes, (s)he’s a serial killer, which is, you know, tacky, but what are you gonna do?” cultural norm. It’s amazing what you can get used to, really.
the-guy-to-whom-she-is-mate,
“Stalker” might be a good shorthand term for this.
Though, admittedly, a culture that assumes that of course you will live with your stalker and let them hug you and pet you and call you George has a… well, a different understanding of the concept than I do. (Ref “appalled,” above.)
I don’t care about spoilers, and I try not to think too much about the details of Allirea’s history with whatsisname. I’d be disgusted if I hadn’t (as above) more or less turned that filter off when reading this fic.
I cannot actually decide whether the matter-of-fact acceptance of serial murder is more or less disturbing to me than the matter-of-fact acceptance of forced prostitution. I suppose the fact that the latter is mostly restricted to the official Bad Guys (TM) helps a little.
I wanted my audience mildly appalled. In order to make sense of Allirea’s motivations I had to introduce her as an imprisoned rape victim terrorized and controlled by the-guy-to-whom-she-is-mate, but she’s not a harmless fluffy bunny and I didn’t want anyone thinking of her like one.
(nods) If it helps, I’m appalled by many of the characters in this series.
It was extremely distracting at first, but by now I’ve more or less become accustomed to the “Well, yes, (s)he’s a serial killer, which is, you know, tacky, but what are you gonna do?” cultural norm. It’s amazing what you can get used to, really.
“Stalker” might be a good shorthand term for this.
Though, admittedly, a culture that assumes that of course you will live with your stalker and let them hug you and pet you and call you George has a… well, a different understanding of the concept than I do. (Ref “appalled,” above.)
*giggle*
I hope it’s not too much of a spoiler to say that Allirea’s dislike of nicknames is… relevant.
I don’t care about spoilers, and I try not to think too much about the details of Allirea’s history with whatsisname. I’d be disgusted if I hadn’t (as above) more or less turned that filter off when reading this fic.
I cannot actually decide whether the matter-of-fact acceptance of serial murder is more or less disturbing to me than the matter-of-fact acceptance of forced prostitution. I suppose the fact that the latter is mostly restricted to the official Bad Guys (TM) helps a little.
These really are awful people.