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Not the One: Susan's army
Pepper wrote: I've never really understood the characters who take joy in senseless, pure destruction, or the stories that seem to celebrate it.
Because it is so much fun, Pepper.
This is the best defense I can remember of celebrating violence as entertainment:
No one is obligated to like violent movies, or to like violent games, or violent stories. GTA is a senseless violent game, just as Tarantino movies are. It is just fantasy and if someone doesn't like it, it wasn't made for him.
It is odd this kind of discussion here, it is like being in a Bruce Lee forum questioning why his movies celebrate fighting.
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- lowerbase
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I want to be clear: this story is not Supergirl. It is not a superhero tale by any means. If I had to put it in any one category it would have to be horror.
Last time I got into this kind of discussion was over An Arion Ascends, and in that case I ended up pulling the punch and changing the ending. I regret that, and i'm not going to change course this time.
So fair warning: This story is violent and contains images and ideas some will find disturbing. Read at your own risk!
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- Dru1076
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I've seen a few Tarantino films, and even one Bruce Lee, and enjoyed them. But characters in those movies were always fighting for, or against, something. The violence was always in pursuit of some other goal; money, power, revenge, whatever. The idea of destroying a city for no other reason than "because I can" just doesn't make sense to me.lowerbase wrote: No one is obligated to like violent movies, or to like violent games, or violent stories. GTA is a senseless violent game, just as Tarantino movies are. It is just fantasy and if someone doesn't like it, it wasn't made for him.
It is odd this kind of discussion here, it is like being in a Bruce Lee forum questioning why his movies celebrate fighting.
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Pepper wrote: The idea of destroying a city for no other reason than "because I can" just doesn't make sense to me.
And this is okay.
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Pepper wrote:
I've seen a few Tarantino films, and even one Bruce Lee, and enjoyed them. But characters in those movies were always fighting for, or against, something. The violence was always in pursuit of some other goal; money, power, revenge, whatever. The idea of destroying a city for no other reason than "because I can" just doesn't make sense to me.lowerbase wrote: No one is obligated to like violent movies, or to like violent games, or violent stories. GTA is a senseless violent game, just as Tarantino movies are. It is just fantasy and if someone doesn't like it, it wasn't made for him.
It is odd this kind of discussion here, it is like being in a Bruce Lee forum questioning why his movies celebrate fighting.
I went to the doctor and said "Doc, it hurts real bad when I do this." And the doctor told me "So don't it.'
I appreciate how you feel about my story. Youre far from the only one who has let me know they despise the senseless violence. If you dont get it, that's fine. Theres more to Not the One than supervillian snuff, but I guess if it hurts you, stop reading it. My goal is not to offend, though I know some will always be offended by my work.
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- Dru1076
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I don't despise it, and it doesn't hurt me, and I'm not offended. I just don't get it.Dru1076 wrote: I appreciate how you feel about my story. Youre far from the only one who has let me know they despise the senseless violence. If you dont get it, that's fine. Theres more to Not the One than supervillian snuff, but I guess if it hurts you, stop reading it. My goal is not to offend, though I know some will always be offended by my work.
It's like the stories where a character says "all of humanity is meaningless to me; now build a mile-high statue of me." Well which is it? If a statue is going to feed your ego, then the process of creating it must carry some meaning. When I see a worm in the garden it doesn't occur to me to demand some kind of tribute from it. What tribute could I even expect from it? I just let it go on being a worm.
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Pepper wrote:
I don't despise it, and it doesn't hurt me, and I'm not offended. I just don't get it.Dru1076 wrote: I appreciate how you feel about my story. Youre far from the only one who has let me know they despise the senseless violence. If you dont get it, that's fine. Theres more to Not the One than supervillian snuff, but I guess if it hurts you, stop reading it. My goal is not to offend, though I know some will always be offended by my work.
It's like the stories where a character says "all of humanity is meaningless to me; now build a mile-high statue of me." Well which is it? If a statue is going to feed your ego, then the process of creating it must carry some meaning. When I see a worm in the garden it doesn't occur to me to demand some kind of tribute from it. What tribute could I even expect from it? I just let it go on being a worm.
Okay. Well...for starters Itsumi is killing because she blames the world for her miserable existence and is venting. So she is out for revenge. She wants to punish everyone even if they don't know her.
Tammy has killed now, but she just lost her cool at the protest.
Susan is addicted to power and wants more. And will do anything to get it including conquer the planet.
So, i did actually give each character a reason for their behaviour. And not retroactively. You just missed it. If you look at all the violent characters in Not the One, you will discover I did give them motivations.
In all honestly though, you KNOW what to expect from a Dru story and it ain't happy endings and moral lessons. Take it for what it is and remember that I am not particularly deep and this is neither allegory or applicability at work. It is beer and pizza entertainment and isn't trying to be more.
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- Dru1076
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Pepper wrote: I just don't get it.
I don't think it is a fair discussion to have here.
I bet there are meaningful stories out there about good heroines fighting for the greater good for the whole good part of mankind. Dru stories are not those.
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- lowerbase
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Sometimes, the only thing some of us have in common on these forums is the label "super-powered female fantasy". We're all free and entitled to "get" or "not get" any aspect or aspects of that fantasy. For some of us, the notion of power is the big appeal. Power manifesting itself as an individual imposing her will/whimsy on others who hold a contrary will or desire. To me, the "worm" analogy shows just how far Pepper is from "getting" it. That's fine. Personally, I can't be bothered to comment on all the topics/threads/stories that I don't "get". I can see that loads of other people do "get" those topics. Seems easier to let them just get on with it...
I'm just glad that there are some folks on these boards whose tastes overlap with mine. People who do "get" it.
Like Dru, for example. He gets it. Gets it 100%. Gets how sexy the manifestation of ultimate power is. I loved part 2. I loved Itsumi's original and imaginative super-cooling trick. I loved Tammy's more conventional use of superbreath. I found both scenes a massive turn-on to read. There, I said it. My only criticism is that I'd have liked more... more details of the effects of the two girls' power... Thankfully, I have the next part to look forward to.
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Of course, for most of violent stories here are written for fun, these 'realistic morals' is pretty much a collateral outcome. Still, they serve to remember the truth about Power, and why it should be contained.
I have little faith in humanity, even less faith in powerful people to rule us. DC/Marvel comics have to recursively use personal traumas on their 'heroes' for their motivations to make sense to us, because we all know it, without those traumas they would be super assholes abusing the powerless (which is power is all about, make other people to do what you want). While, look around, people with personal traumas are mostly powerless and incapacitated. It is not by chance that big businesses prefer to appoint to power merciless assholes with little (or none) empathy, sociopaths even.
Also, the more power someone holds, less empathy he carries along with it. Last year, a study in UK showed that wealthy people ignores more easily someone suffering. It is a damning wishful thinking that someone gaining superpowers would fight for justice, as the imbalance of power is itself the root for injustice. The ideal world would be an egalitarian, Star Trek-wise, where everyone's acts are accountable and everyone is treated the same, even enemies. In a perfect world, power over the others should be a burden, bestowed to those who doesn't want them, to stop those who want them.
The world presently is going in the opposite direction, a dystopian one, anti-Star Trekish, where those who have power just want more privileges, and they are gaining them because they just can, just like Suzan and her friends are doing.
To wrap up, movies/stories glorifying 'good' superpowered people are terribly misleading for us all, especially kids. Power is seductive, just like the forbidden fruit, and it is itself the true enemy, taste it, and you become the enemy as you crave for more. The more power you have, more other people will feel vulnerable, and that's not a good thing. Absolute power is nothing but assured corruption and destruction of law and well being of society. Which is pretty much what Dru writes, knowingly or not.
Like I said once to circes, inequality is always disruptive, there is no such a thing as 'power for good'.
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ace191 wrote: I do not like some of the senseless violence, but I am willing to tolerate it as I think it will lead into a very interesting plot down the road. Much of the time I can figure out just where a story is going, but I
Really don't have a clue with this one and I always like that. Love the stories that have a turn that you never see coming.
Heh, maybe I'm in the minority, but I LOVE senseless violence and gore in my superwoman stories
I HATE senseless violence in real life of course, but in these stories I think they're fun and sexy!
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conceptfan wrote: It's OK, Pepper. SWM is a broad umbrella. It shelters people with different tastes, preferences and, for want of a better word, kinks.
Sometimes, the only thing some of us have in common on these forums is the label "super-powered female fantasy". We're all free and entitled to "get" or "not get" any aspect or aspects of that fantasy. For some of us, the notion of power is the big appeal. Power manifesting itself as an individual imposing her will/whimsy on others who hold a contrary will or desire. To me, the "worm" analogy shows just how far Pepper is from "getting" it. That's fine. Personally, I can't be bothered to comment on all the topics/threads/stories that I don't "get". I can see that loads of other people do "get" those topics. Seems easier to let them just get on with it...
I'm just glad that there are some folks on these boards whose tastes overlap with mine. People who do "get" it.
Like Dru, for example. He gets it. Gets it 100%. Gets how sexy the manifestation of ultimate power is. I loved part 2. I loved Itsumi's original and imaginative super-cooling trick. I loved Tammy's more conventional use of superbreath. I found both scenes a massive turn-on to read. There, I said it. My only criticism is that I'd have liked more... more details of the effects of the two girls' power... Thankfully, I have the next part to look forward to.
Every time i read your stuff I am always envious of the rich details you conjure, Conceptfan. Its an area my tales are often lacking in.
Not the One has a long way to go, and I hope I can keep everybody interested for the whole trip. It might be long wait for the grand finale, but the chapter 3 is very nearly ready...
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- Dru1076
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lowerbase wrote: I'm loving this. For a long time I entertained similar ideas of what would happen to the world if a bunch of women everywhere become awesomely superpowered overnight.
Your story fit this bill perfectly.
On the best girls, it would make them oppressively better to do whatever they think it is good for us. On the worst girls, it would be just damning frightening like being close of an exploding volcano, or a collapsing dam.
It seems that Suzan chose women who had no previous power in society.
Or she superpowered some CEOs, or politicians, celebrities too? Is she giving power to all kinds of women? Helicopter soccermoms, religious zealot women, are on the list?
Susan has indeed given power many different types of women. But by far most of them are downtrodden working class ladies, much like Susan was herself before the rings. I will be introducing some more girls, but mostly just as (hopefully) tasteful vignettes.
In the meantime...here is a bumper-sized Part III. I won't trouble Woodclaw with it until I have Part IV, but that likely won't be more than a week away given how quickly it is coming together.
fav.me/dbyrvv1
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Hot! I'm really enjoying this...Dru1076 wrote: In the meantime...here is a bumper-sized Part III.
The best trick is the way you make me feel like Susan, wanting more and more...
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I'm definitely enjoying the variety of this buffet. Great stuff Dru! As another random thought, it'd be neat to see this world's equivalent of Melisa Benoist: someone who's been playing a supergirl for a while on screen. She gets zapped and everyone's like "yay, a real supergirl, we're saved!" ...And then she does some brutal housecleaning of a production house and industry that's been harassing her for years... Maybe too topical, but it's a hard image for me to shake.
Regardless: More, more, more!
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AuGoose wrote: Just read part 3. HAWT. Dru, would you mind if I took a crack at rendering Itsumi? Yay fanart!
That would be incredibly awesome...
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- Dru1076
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conceptfan wrote:
Hot! I'm really enjoying this...Dru1076 wrote: In the meantime...here is a bumper-sized Part III.
Warning: Spoiler!Now Itsumi and Tammy are showing off their powers and getting off on it. What's not to love? Sure, Tammy shows some restraint but Itsumi really doesn't. Great bit of fight-stopping/peace-keeping by Liz, loved the "apple" trick and its portrayal.
The best trick is the way you make me feel like Susan, wanting more and more...
And more you shall have...
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- Dru1076
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Good stories frequently have something for most everyone.
I would think that to no one's suprise, Tammy is my favorite gal in this saga. I look forward to seeing where this all goes.
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Below are some women a little more mature in age but no less incredible ...
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((ah, Photoshop covereth a multitude of sins... like questionable default lighting in a pre-load environment .))
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AuGoose wrote: So, taking some cues from photos in this thread... (safe for work edition)
Both images capture Itsumi wonderfully! I cant tell how much appreciate this. A special treat indeed.
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- Dru1076
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dru1076.deviantart.com/art/Not-the-One-P...in-Part-IV-724814624
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