In lieu of actual content

[stillsostrange]

matociquala suggests 13 things to do when you run out of plot.

My personal subset of 'man with a gun' is 'blow something up'. Then you will have to figure out why the explosion happened, and that may lead to plot. This is especially helpful if it happens in the middle of awkward dialogue.

And what the heck--since I'm bored at work, I'll type up a little rant that's been stewing for the past couple of days.


This is a long-standing peeve of mine, which has been triggered recently by talk of the new Dresden Files show. I've encountered it in many books, but Butcher's Storm Front was the last one I read, so it gets picked on.

There's a scene where Harry is describing a woman he knows, and--vastly paraphrased, as I don't have the book handy--says "She had no idea how beautiful she was, and that made her even more attractive."

Uhm. No.

I've seen this many times in fiction--the idea that if a woman knows she's attractive, she must be stuck up. Nice girls never understand their hotness. This affliction often seems to strike a certain subset of Sues.

Have you ever known a person with low self esteem? A person who can't take a complement? A person who refuses to believe they're pretty or attractive or worthwhile? Did you really find this behavior appealing?

I've also know some wretched stuck-up bitches, who went out of their way to be cruel to people because they knew they were hot. Yeah, that's despicable behavior, but there's a huge gulf between "eat your heart out, subcreature" and "Pretty, me? No, my X is too big, and my Y is too small, and anyway guys always prefer Z-type girls."

What about people who are self-aware and comfortable with themselves? Whether they're glamorous or tomboyish, people who know their strengths and weaknesses and know how to play them up or down are usually a lot sexier than people who either think they have no flaws or think they're nothing but flaws.


And rant adjourned for lunch, but I was mostly running out of steam anyway.

Comments

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

you rock. that is all.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

I do think there's a middle ground of people who are perfectly comfortable and content without being particularly concerned with or aware of themselves as beautiful creatures. That is, you don't have to think you're ugly to not think of yourself as head-turning.

Which, granted, is not entirely what's implied by 'she had no idea.'

(And I think that there can maybe be a certain amount of leeway for POV and a narrator who (for whatever reason, including plain ol' familiarity) thinks someone is better-looking all out of proportion.)

But argumentative me aside, the bulk of this post? Yah.

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

What you said. That phrase always grated on me, too.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I think Harry Dresden is massively clueless, especially at the beginning of this series, and I think Jim Butcher is not. There are lots of times when Harry's reactions are pretty dumb about gender -- and a lot of the time that happens, it bites him in the butt later.

But that aside, I have gotten this kind of comment to my face. "You're not stuck up like most pretty girls." Umm. The emphasis makes it clear that the person is not saying that I, a non-pretty girl, am preferable to pretty girls due to my lack of stuck-up-ness. It's that I, a pretty girl, am unusual for this lack. And I am to take it as a compliment. What joy! What bliss! Someone has assumed something negative about me based on my appearance, only to have that assumption corrected, and shouldn't I be thrilled that they were able to look past it? Pin a medal on them. Sheesh.

[stillsostrange.livejournal.com]

I think Harry Dresden is massively clueless, especially at the beginning of this series, and I think Jim Butcher is not.

That would be good. And since there was a big difference between the way I was reading Susan and the way Harry was describing her, I have hope of that. I get nervous when MCs are being clueless and/or offensive (and I'm not familiar with the author), because it might be clever characterization, or it might be a case of rampant mouth-squid.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Oh yah. I'm pretty sure we have enough evidence before the end of the seventh book (which is as far as I've gotten) to know that Jim Butcher does not think that Harry is right about gender.

The funny thing is that I know some guys from my misspent youth who are pretty much like Harry, and they're reading these books as though Harry is right, and then the books are kind of twisting their heads up: wait! You mean chivalry doesn't apply in all circumstances? Wait! You mean there might be a reason women might not find them the Catch of the Day? Wait! Etc. It's hilarious.

[hominysnark.livejournal.com]

There's really nothing sexier than self-confidence.

(This is not to be confused with arrogance or an ego the size of Montana.)

[sksperry.livejournal.com]

I have met attractive people who really didn't think they were attractive. They'd come to believe they were because everyone told them so.

And sometimes people might only be attractive to you. Others might disagree.

Besides, what makes these types even more attractive may not neccessarily be that they don't know that they're attractive, but that they don't care that they're attractive.

Conversly, I've met really unattractive people who are convinced that they are the be all and end all, and let me tell you, no amount of confidence in the world could make that come true. They just seem delusional.

[ginny-t.livejournal.com]

hear hear!