I’m back from vacation, but I’m going to take a break from the Hero’s Journey trope posts to talk about something that I really feel passionate about. I hope you’ll forgive me if this turns into a rant, but I think this is an important issue that has some very dangerous implications that need to… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: A Man is Not a Virgin
Tag: sex
მოტაცება, or how to bag a wife–literally
მოტაცება (pronounced mot’atseba) is the Georgian word for bride kidnapping, as opposed to regular kidnapping, which takes a different word. It’s an ancient practice in the Caucasus region that doesn’t happen as much as it used to, but still happens, especially in the rural areas. Today, most Georgians condemn it, but there’s still a whole… Continue reading მოტაცება, or how to bag a wife–literally
Trope Tuesday: Abduction is Love
In real life, abduction is an awful, violent thing that we hope would never happen to us or anyone we know. But in fiction, the Rule of Romantic can make abduction the basis of a wonderful, heartwarming love story…at least for some of us. This is actually a more common trope than you might think.… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Abduction is Love
Trope Tuesday: Celibate Hero vs. The Fettered
I’m mashing up two tropes this week because I’m not satisfied with the one. There are a bazillion tropes about characters who are sexually active, but very few about sexually chaste characters that don’t portray them as weak, clueless, or socially inept. According to tvtropes, a celibate hero is a main character who “doesn’t do… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Celibate Hero vs. The Fettered
Trope Tuesday: The Bechdel Test
The Bechdel Test is a way to measure how prominently women figure in a story. It mostly comes up in discussions of TV and film, but can also be applied to works of literature. To pass the test, the story must have at least two named female characters who talk to each other about something… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: The Bechdel Test
Trope Tuesday: Scarpia Ultimatum
How far would you go to save the one you love? Would you sacrifice your life? Suffer an irreparable blow to your reputation? Or would you sleep with your lover’s would-be killer? Scarpia Ultimatum is when the villain threatens to kill the hero (or, alternately, a basket full of kittens) unless the romantic interest gives him some… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Scarpia Ultimatum
“Who would have thought…”
I would like to address this post to my fellow Mormon readers. A couple of days ago, I got a discouraging message from some old mission friends of mine. It said, more or less: “who would have thought that the missionary that taught us the gospel would write such a lurid book?” They were referring… Continue reading “Who would have thought…”
Wow, this is fun
I spent almost the whole day Saturday with family, but when I finally got around to working on Sholpan, I breezed through almost 10k words in only a couple hours. Granted, it was mostly light revision and the material was fairly well polished to begin with, but still…it was just fun. The best part of… Continue reading Wow, this is fun
A Fascinating Moral Dilemma
For FHE* tonight, we had an interesting discussion about ethical dilemmas and moral absolutes. It started with the following question: If you were a prisoner of war, would you consent to have sex with the prison warden if it would set you free? The overwhelming answer, predictably enough (at least from a bunch of Mormons),… Continue reading A Fascinating Moral Dilemma
Story Notebook #5 (part 1)
Alright, time to revisit my old story notebooks and run through some of the ideas there. This one starts in fall of 2009, my last semester at BYU, and ends shortly after my hasty exodus from a miserable internship in Washington DC. And now, without further ado, here goes: A super-celibate society that holds that… Continue reading Story Notebook #5 (part 1)