The Happiness Engine wrote:It was over a year ago, I really had nothing useful to tell you about it, and after chapter 1 you're SO PLEASED with your TERRIBLE idea that you have the character re-tell the story in chapter 4 and then have THAT character re-tell the now third-hand story in chapter 7 or 11.
Spoilers for anyone who wants to keep their sanity: it involves Paul not understanding the psychology of rape in some very disturbing ways.
I do. And your comments indicate that either you did not read the story or you did not understand it.
Now perhaps I did not make this clear by the time 246 sees his new boss for the first time, but the Welcoming Department is the equivalent of what
Beetlejuice goes to in that movie: a whorehouse for the dead.
In that society, people volunteer to become Welcomers, where they meet the freshly dead, show them a video of the world they are in, then offer to make love with them. Now, they offer this to incoming men and women because they are the type of person who likes having fun sex with new people.
They already like doing this. They decide from the people who just died whom they pick. They have immunity from assault so there is no way the incoming can hurt them. You can't catch any venereal disease and if you're a woman you can't get pregnant. And sex is much more pleasurable than on earth.
The female Welcomer meeting an incoming from earth is on the order of a woman who is interested in one-night-stands or short-term liaisons who on earth would be at a bar, sees a guy who looks attractive, and decides to take him home with her.
Can she be raped? Yes, but it is not the same as earth. He has no capacity to injure or hurt her, and he won't get any pleasure out of her unless she lets him. As it was pointed out, the guy assaulted her from the moment he got in the room. Now, she was willing to go to bed with him anyway but he acted on her too fast. As I point out in the story, before she can even react, she feels funny and starts coming because of a protective system. Also, the man cannot orgasm - and she knows this - until she decides to allow him to do so.
Now, at that point, he hasn't hurt her at all other than startled her a little, she knows he isn't feeling any pleasure, and she's coming regularly. Now, she was there specifically with the intent of having sex with the guy which would have lead to her having orgasms, so rather than throw the alarm, since that was why she was there, she decides that it doesn't hurt and fells good, why not just let the stupid fool keep doing that since he's not going to get anything out of it. But she is.
This is not the same as an untrained, unprotected ordinary woman being attacked, this was a woman who is interested in casual encounters who knows she has strong protection against injury. This is a woman who is emotionally prepared that this might happen, and physically protected from injury.
The women who do this for the Welcoming Department know that the men they decide to take back to their room for sex cannot, in any fashion hurt them, cannot get pleasure without her permission, and thus the man has no power over her at all.
Consider this, some guy tries to hit you with a 2x4. You'll probably be scared he'll hurt you, may be angry. But what if it's a pool noodle, are you going to get mad? Probably not.
Now let's make it sexual. He wants to sodomize you, or use a strap on on you. You'd probably be scared and angry. Now, if it was a soft bar of butter you probably wouldn't let him but you probably would not be frightened because the threat is not serious.
Now, if some woman jumped him he might change his mind and not want her riding him, but I suspect his level of distaste would be less than the inverse, a woman who found a guy interesting but he decided to assault her before she was ready.
As it points out later in the book some ordinary women not so protected are traumatized by rape. Thus I do understand the difference and the psychology of rape. Apparently either you didn't read this or I did not make this clear although I thought I did.
[quote="The Happiness Engine"]It was over a year ago, I really had nothing useful to tell you about it, and after chapter 1 you're SO PLEASED with your TERRIBLE idea that you have the character re-tell the story in chapter 4 and then have THAT character re-tell the now third-hand story in chapter 7 or 11.
Spoilers for anyone who wants to keep their sanity: it involves Paul not understanding the psychology of rape in some very disturbing ways.[/quote]
I do. And your comments indicate that either you did not read the story or you did not understand it.
Now perhaps I did not make this clear by the time 246 sees his new boss for the first time, but the Welcoming Department is the equivalent of what [i]Beetlejuice[/i] goes to in that movie: a whorehouse for the dead.
In that society, people volunteer to become Welcomers, where they meet the freshly dead, show them a video of the world they are in, then offer to make love with them. Now, they offer this to incoming men and women because they are the type of person who likes having fun sex with new people.
They already like doing this. They decide from the people who just died whom they pick. They have immunity from assault so there is no way the incoming can hurt them. You can't catch any venereal disease and if you're a woman you can't get pregnant. And sex is much more pleasurable than on earth.
The female Welcomer meeting an incoming from earth is on the order of a woman who is interested in one-night-stands or short-term liaisons who on earth would be at a bar, sees a guy who looks attractive, and decides to take him home with her.
Can she be raped? Yes, but it is not the same as earth. He has no capacity to injure or hurt her, and he won't get any pleasure out of her unless she lets him. As it was pointed out, the guy assaulted her from the moment he got in the room. Now, she was willing to go to bed with him anyway but he acted on her too fast. As I point out in the story, before she can even react, she feels funny and starts coming because of a protective system. Also, the man cannot orgasm - and she knows this - until she decides to allow him to do so.
Now, at that point, he hasn't hurt her at all other than startled her a little, she knows he isn't feeling any pleasure, and she's coming regularly. Now, she was there specifically with the intent of having sex with the guy which would have lead to her having orgasms, so rather than throw the alarm, since that was why she was there, she decides that it doesn't hurt and fells good, why not just let the stupid fool keep doing that since he's not going to get anything out of it. But she is.
This is not the same as an untrained, unprotected ordinary woman being attacked, this was a woman who is interested in casual encounters who knows she has strong protection against injury. This is a woman who is emotionally prepared that this might happen, and physically protected from injury.
The women who do this for the Welcoming Department know that the men they decide to take back to their room for sex cannot, in any fashion hurt them, cannot get pleasure without her permission, and thus the man has no power over her at all.
Consider this, some guy tries to hit you with a 2x4. You'll probably be scared he'll hurt you, may be angry. But what if it's a pool noodle, are you going to get mad? Probably not.
Now let's make it sexual. He wants to sodomize you, or use a strap on on you. You'd probably be scared and angry. Now, if it was a soft bar of butter you probably wouldn't let him but you probably would not be frightened because the threat is not serious.
Now, if some woman jumped him he might change his mind and not want her riding him, but I suspect his level of distaste would be less than the inverse, a woman who found a guy interesting but he decided to assault her before she was ready.
As it points out later in the book some ordinary women not so protected are traumatized by rape. Thus I do understand the difference and the psychology of rape. Apparently either you didn't read this or I did not make this clear although I thought I did.