Status and Support

[Kotik]

I think bravery is part of the equation. It takes a certain amount of Chuzpe to post a story to a TnT site in which T'Pol falls victim to rape. It is bound to offend people. Now, Distracted actually made it work for two reasons:

a) It wasn't included just for the shock value, i.e. it wasn't pointless
b) she had the skill and sensibility to get it right

The same goes for your castration ending. As a male I was grossed out and offended by it, because you hit, where it hurts a Gentleman the most. But as above it wasn't actually just pointless shock and awe. It was skilfully done and it worked, sort of.

Now I would say that the two of you are not the only ones who had (or thought to have) the guts to touch topics like that. The problem is that many other authors got it hopelessly wrong and ended up with a highly offending piece of writing. I remember a certain HoT story in which Soval rapes T'Pol. It didn't only come out of left field, it also was grossly OOC for all characters involved and completely nullified the rather good story up to that point. IIRC that is still the only story I ever saw that got genuine slating reviews from readers.

This is what makes it bravery in your case and overestimation of one's own capabilities for others. You've got the skill to get it right. A look at the number of reviews your stories have on ff.net pretty much proves my theory

[Alelou]

You know, that story in which Soval rapes T'Pol was written very early in the series, before we got to see Soval be anything but an arrogant prick. So while it seems grossly OOC for him now, I don't believe it was an out-of-bounds characterization at the time.

Personally I think Distracted's "Charlie" is the bravest fanfic I've seen from a science fiction and characterization point of view.

[WarpGirl]

I'm a woman! Personally I never saw Trip as a "doormat" on the show! I always gave him the compliment of considering him a grown man 30-34 who understood he was making choices, and living with the consequences good and bad!

I know I'm in the minority, but I like it that way. I say you're "authoritative" Alelou because whenever I read a story by you I get the sense you're saying, "This is what happened, this is how they are, deal with it! I love that, but it also makes it really difficult when I absolutely do not agree. Then again, a lot of authors have that trait, and if you don't believe in the work than you shouldn't bother at all.

Oops didn't see the last two posts. All fic writers are brave, you post a story on the I-net for potentially millions of strangers to read! That takes Moxie! When it comes to risks in story telling, we do have our kings and queens in this fandom. I miss Escriba!

[Alelou]

Oh, me too. I sure hope she's surviving the current Spanish economy.

[WarpGirl]

I almost want to cry. She's beyond awesome.

[Cogito]

You know, that story in which Soval rapes T'Pol was written very early in the series, before we got to see Soval be anything but an arrogant prick. So while it seems grossly OOC for him now, I don't believe it was an out-of-bounds characterization at the time.

Personally I think Distracted's "Charlie" is the bravest fanfic I've seen from a science fiction and characterization point of view.

Agreed. I thought the vision of T'Pol determinedly and desperately holding on to her ashayam's katra no matter the cost was very poignant, and their scenes together were beautifully done. The idea of creating a clone to revive him fitted in very neatly with Sim, and with what we saw previously in the future with Spock. And I can see how conflicted they both were at the thought of using a clone in this way, and I was relieved (in a forlorn sort of way) when they decided not to.

And yet at the same time I felt very uncomfortable at the thought of T'Pol being emotionally attached to and physically intimate with somebody who was clearly NOT Trip, even though he was so very similar, especially since she was still intimately involved with Trip and initially had a parental relationship with the clone. I thought it was very skillful, and very brave, to write a story that was heartwarming and traumatic and optimistic and terminally depressing, and combined deep commitment and loyalty with polygamy, with faint hints of incest, all at the same time. On the whole I enjoyed it, but there were some aspects of it that I was uncomfortable with. It certainly made me think.

[Silverbullet]

Why in Hell does T'Pol have to be Raped? It seems to be a cottage industry. She is a trarget. Let's get T'Pol. Write a story where she is brutaly Raped. Crap

Why not Hoshi? or lets bend Archer over and let him get it.

My version ot TnT are as two people from different species and what they go thruogh to get together that does NOT include T'Pol being raped.

That almost borders on a Soaper. Our girl suffering the ultimate humiliation.

Leave her alone. Let her and Trip carry he stories without the needless brutalizing of T'POl

SB

[WarpGirl]

Oh dear god not this again! We're not discussing that, we're discussing risk taking in story telling. Please I'm begging lets not open this pit of snakes again! Hello wonderful moderators I know you're out there!

I certainly thought it was a risk to make the Harbinger incident never happen. I was floored when some people liked it. But I'm not brave, just insane.

[putaro]

Leave her alone. Let her and Trip carry the stories without the needless brutalizing of T'Pol

I agree with yo. Much of ENT seemed to be "torture the Vulcan"

[WarpGirl]

Batten down the hatches and call me when the storm's over.

[Alelou]

A writer explores what he or she finds interesting. If you don't like it, don't read it. (Rape stories carry rape warnings.) It's not up to any one individual here to BAN something in other people's stories just because they find it offensive. (The site owner and his admins can get together and ban stuff -- and they have, in effect, since slash isn't welcome here.) Maybe someone wants to explore the damaging effects of rape. It's not like it doesn't happen in the real world, to a lot of women (and men ... and children...). So does child abuse. Shall we ban that from stories, too? So does domestic abuse and racism and sexism and poverty and oppression and war and murder and just plain bad sex and all sorts of unpleasant things. Shall we ban those from stories as well? Come on. Not all of us are interested in rewriting The Dick Van Dyke Show with Trip and T'Pol in the place of Rob and Laura.

[Distracted]

Actually, the slash exclusion was more of a group decision not to include stories in which major characters who are het in canon are presented as behaving out-of-character. I personally would have no problem with (and have written) stories in which OC's are in same gender relationships. And Mal, in my mind, has some potential in that direction as well judging from what we know about his fate in E2. Just not with Trip or Archer, since neither of them showed any trace of same gender attraction on screen in my view.

I agree with you, Alelou, for the most part. But some people find some things more offensive than I do. (Obviously. Judging from the initial reaction to Charlie at HoT. )

BTW, thank you very much for your thoughtful commentary, Cogito. I honestly didn't think I was being brave when I wrote the story. I was just tired of Sim being treated as if he were disposable. I guess the bravery part came when I kept writing after being slapped down, but I'm stubborn that way.

[WarpGirl]

I tend to question 99% of the people who "slapped you down" having any sort of intelligence but that's just me, Charlie is my absolute favorite thing of yours ever!

[Alelou]

Is it slash if it's just homosexuality? I always assumed that slash was what you defined it as. I always figured if I wrote a homosexual OC it wouldn't be a big deal here. And I agree about Malcolm, although based on canon that only really makes sense if he's bi or theirs is a world in which homosexuality is still something a person would have a real strong motivation to try to suppress, and I live in hope that it won't be such a big deal by then. Of course, Malcolm's dad could be the game changer on that one. I also think Hayes could easily be gay as written in canon.

I actually considered making another minor crew member homosexual in my current fic, but then I began to wonder if it would just end up being a big distraction from what I was really hoping to get done with that character. But sometimes I feel like I'm an enabler of homophobia by not having written any homosexual characters into my fics. I have had so many gay students in the last three years that I am pretty attuned to how difficult their lives can be. (I'm also kind of wondering if I'm on some quiet hey-she's-okay-with-you-being-gay list.)

[Distracted]

Heh. I think my daughter's the only one in her group of friends who doesn't think I'm on that list. Dealing with someone else's kid being gay is a whole lot different than the prospect of dealing with it at home. Or at least that's been my experience. I'm as loving and accepting as all get-out until it comes down to stuff like buying my daughter a three piece suit and tie for prom. That's when the freak out starts.

What can I say? I'm doing my best.