Portraying a Disturbing Concept without Freaking People Out

I'm a bit nervous about something

Later on in my story there is a new aspect revealed about the Big Bad and The Hero 's relation with each other, namely that the Big Bad has a disturbing intention of having the protagonist as 'hers' (she does consent to waiting until he's at least seventeen but along the way she tries to do things intending on 'breaking' him so he will fall to her.)

It isn't glorified, it's treated as creepy as hell (especially creepy considering she was the ex wife of the protag's father (who was murdered for leaving her) She's essentially a sociopath who sees everyone as objects.

I'm still worried about the reception this will get. I don't get too sexual about it more her thinking of the protagonist as a piece of property owed to her (though it is revealed that a love potion is to blame for the conception of her son. ). Is this something I should avoid?

I already feel like a horrible human being for starting this...

edited 5th Jan '13 8:40:29 PM by JewelyJ

There are really three pitfalls here.

• You have to avoid coming off as writing one-handed.
• You have to avoid coming off as writing with ignorance of the real-life creepy-as-hell implications/associations involved.
• You have to avoid coming off as writing with exploitative intent, that is, writing with full knowledge of the real-life creepy-as-hell implications/associations, and using those implications/associations for pure shock value.

I'd say I'm being refined Into the web I descend Killing those I've left behind I have been Endarkened

I agree with the last two (I went through a period of writing shock value fanfic that I now wish I could erase.)

But what does it mean to be writing one handed?

IE, you're writing with one hand and fapping with the other. IE, you're getting off on your own story, and it's influencing your authorial decisions.

I'm not suggesting that this is what's going on, I'm just suggesting that you need to avoid creating that impression.

I'd say I'm being refined Into the web I descend Killing those I've left behind I have been Endarkened

That is why I make it so the villain is shown having focused on nonsexual aspects of her obsession . Her focus is on "oh wow he's got the same character traits as that guy I loved and lost long ago" not "wow nice abs, he's hot", for example. She sows interest in him having the role as her partner (or more accurate-servant/trophy husband) not the sex aspect.

She has an obsession with having everything she wants in life , family devoted and loyal, coveted position of authority over them , and status as an old money matriarch, and the perfect arm candy by her side.

edited 5th Jan '13 10:13:32 PM by JewelyJ

I think you'll be okay so long as you're able to communicate that your villain's behavior is meant to be creepy and monomaniacal, and not some form of acceptable Blue-and-Orange Morality. Avoid being an apologist for her.

Oh there's no likelihood I'll be an apologist. I despise the idea that abuse/rape is ever okay because of the genders of the abuser and victim. I'm actually worried that others will be apologists for her because she's a woman and her victims are male.

I mean I do develop a few things that show that she has vulnerabilities and reasons for her actions, ie making her human at times, only because I find "they are just a monster and that's that" (or 'Mwahahaha villainy') to be bad and lazy writing. But her actions are never presented as okay.

edited 6th Jan '13 6:22:10 PM by JewelyJ

I think that this would portray the villain as what she is: evil. And that's hardly a bad thing. In fact that's a good thing. What she is doing is horrible, but she is an evil sociopath so what she is doing is bound to be horrible, no? Freaking people out is not nessecarilly a bad thing when it comes to villains. Just portray her actions without too much sympathy, which you seem to be doing. I'd say you're on the right path.

edited 6th Jan '13 8:02:06 PM by Ficus

I agree. Is your concept going to freak people out? YES!! but that's the whole point. Disturbing concepts are meant to be just that: Disturbing.

The character's the Big Bad. Disturbing can easily go with the territory.

Done right - and I've seen no indication that you won't do it right - it'd make the villain someone the readers don't like and can also provide motivations for why the villain does what she does.

Doing things "because she's the villain" is lazy, doing things because she's got a warped mind and a bizarre plan in keeping with that warped mind is "characterisation".

Don't worry about freaking people out too much - it wouldn't hurt if the villain freaked people out. If they come away from the book thinking "God, I'd hate to meet her in a dark alley", you've probably got a winner.

If the protagonist freaked people out, OTOH, it'd be a different matter.

It actually sounds to me like you've come up with a workable villain with plausible goals and desires - unpleasant goals and desires but that's villains for you, they hardly ever have a goal of setting up a shop that gives free flowers to under-privileged people.

edited 6th Jan '13 11:29:52 PM by Wolf1066

Some people acutally like to read stuff that its disturbing as hell.

I know some very normal people who read the most WTF disturbing books ever.

I will always cherish the chance of a new beggining.

Well, Refuge in Audacity exists...Just present that disturbing concept in the most disturbingly disturbing concept humanly possible...

The readers'll just accept it like that.

...Nah, not really. Just follow what the first(technically the second) poster said and you'll be fine.

"And you must be Jonathan Joestar!" - Sue

Also, you just have to accept that no matter how careful you are, some readers ARE going to side with your villain. Draco in Leather Pants and all that. It's pretty much inevitable if your character has any spark of humanity and is not a drooling ogre.

Ah well. Unpleasant reality and all that.

And even then, there'll be those who think drooling ogres are cool and side with the villain.

The Daleks are cold, emotionless alien bastards in high-tech portable tanks with a desire to destroy all non-Dalek life - and they have a huge fan-base.

They were destroyed completely in the first ever Dalek story, back in the Hartnell days, but fan pressure brought them back.

Speaking as someone who has been in the same boat as you are now, you are not a horrible person for either coming up with the notion or starting this topic. The fact that you are worrying about whether or not you are horrible for doing so proves that you are not; the fact that you can recognise that the behaviour is horrible proves that you are not.

A horrible person is someone who thinks of horrible things and acts on them in some capacity without guilt. You are not one, and you should hope that you never meet one.

For point of reference, I wrote this. The speaker is, like your character, female; the subjects of the statement are children. There is more to it, but I am not sure that I need to explain.

When I first composed those lines in my head, I was disgusted with myself. But you come to terms with these things.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.

Because they make good villains, not because the Daleks are considered Draco in Leather Pants-y. Missing the point, there.

On the topic, you're asking the question of 'does this mean I am bad' and as long as you are continuing to wonder that it constitutes good evidence you're not.

edited 7th Jan '13 4:27:45 PM by Night

Nous restons ici.

Well, the problem with writing about disturbing concepts is the fact that they disturb people. Meaning their entire point is to freak people out.

However, you need to remind yourself that you are not your work. People will not think of you as some sort of disturbed individual simply because you write about a disturbing concept once or twice. They will think you are writing a story, not a biography.

Now, if the same concept comes up more than a few times, then you should worry. But I assume it hasn't. So relax.

I think Wolf was saying that even without Draco in Leather Pants, some people will still enjoy/root for the villain, even if they don't try to humanize the villain by downplaying his or her flaws.

Fear is a superpower.

Exackery. Daleks are one of the least "human" villains out there, yet they have a fanbase, so any villain that's even remotely human is bound to have those who empathise with some aspect of them or root for them to win.

Pretty much what JHM said: if you're worried about going wrong, you're already on the right track. With good research, not only will your details are accurate but you yourself will be so disturbed by the whole subject that it'll write itself as sharp and nasty and ugly as can be. People will be freaked out. They'll love it.

I once read a fanfic where the Big Bad enslaves and abuses the protagonist. Their canonical relationship was brimming with destructive UST (do I kill her? do I offer him co-ownership of the galaxy also sex?) and there was a plot, sort of, so I kept reading. Mistake. The torture had Author Appeal, and when the protagonist was rescued he want back for seconds (for a flimsy reason) and then thirds (because uh?). This is one-handed writing. Basically,
- Avoid gorn (emotional or otherwise), use brevity instead. Silence is more horrifying.
- Don't let a situation stagnate. Seen one round of emotional abuse, seen 'em all.
- No contrived excuses for abusee to return to abuser. Emotional dependence is real, but the people around the victim should not be going "oh, well, if you're sure you want to go back..."

Oh, and Trigger Warnings / TW are a good idea if you're publishing online. :)

edited 10th Jan '13 4:31:42 PM by LongLiveHumour