And another one!

[coalcube]

I see my nemesis getting a fic that I love
And I'm like, "Fuck you" 
I guess my 10k letter wasn't enough
I'm like, "Fuck you and fuck morbane, too"
Said, "If I was a long commenter, they woulda gamed for me"
Ha, now ain't that some shit?
(Ain't that some shit?)
And although there's pain in my chest
I still comment it's the best
And runs to coal to shout "Fuck you" 

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Assignments Out: Monday 23 October (may be earlier)
Default Deadline: Monday 11 December
Assignment Deadline: Monday 18 December
Main Collection Opens: Monday 25 December
Madness Opens: Tuesday 26 December
Author Reveals: Monday 1 January


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Comments

Re: DNWs that make you want to write for a person

[(Anonymous)]

I think it depends on what you mean by “torture”, because formal interrogation of people highpy motivated to conceal information is definitely not the only scenario where things that count as torture show up in fiction.

In a standard noir scene, the anti-hero detective grabs the busboy of the building by the collar and demands to know what room the suspect is in and then, when the hapless busboy tries to say he’s not allowed to give out that information, punches him in the face and asks again; the terrified kid gives him the room number. That’s torture, and it’s plausible when it “works” because it’s being used against someone who hasn’t steeeled themselves to lie, and is just reacting to violence by obeying in order to make the violence stop. (It’s also probably not the only way for the anti-hero to get this information—but the torturer isn’t acting perfectly rationally either; it’s a way of showing a violent world where violence is used to get compliance).

Re: DNWs that make you want to write for a person

[(Anonymous)]

It's mildly plausible that it might work, but even in that scenario, it's not particularly likely, because once the beating starts, the hapless busboy is going to be motivated to give you a location whether he knows the right answer or not, assuming he even understands the question when he's just been punched in the face, and in real life you as the puncher have no way of knowing for sure whether it's right or whether he knows the answer; adding the punches actually increases the odds of getting a false answer, because you've increased the motivation to lie if they don't know. So you're likely to end up running to the wine cellar only to find nobody there, and now you've got zero chance of ever getting correct info from the busboy, because he's also hiding. Or you're stuck dragging the busboy along with you so you can keep punching him whenever you're upset. Violence gets compliance; compliance isn't truth.

So sure, you're in charge of the story, so you get to decide that the busboy does in fact know the answer and did tell your antihero the correct one. Or you can show that your hero did the groundwork to know for a fact that the busboy does have the correct info and isn't prepared or motivated to lie - but at that point it's hard to sell them as the sort of person who'd punch first.

And if you want to show that your hero is violent and not very good at his job, it's plausible to make them punch-happy. But if you want to establish that, it's just as realistic that he will punch the busboy, and the terrified busboy will make something up to make him stop the beating, and he ends up on a wild goose chase, and that makes a better scene and character note anyway. Unless you also have a goal of establishing that torture works to get information, or you're being lazy about your plot, there's no reason to have it work.

(torture doesn't work to get information.)