#also the frankly quite literally gratuitous gore

[tunedtostatic]

Belated fic for @critter-genfic-events Gen Week Day 4 Prompt: Zone of Truth (or Dare)

Mechanically speaking, Paladins of the Oath of Devotion always have Zone of Truth prepared. Paladins of the Oath of Vengeance do not.

Characters: Percival "Percy" Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III, Kima (Critical Role)

Additional Tags: Background Kimallura, Paladin Oaths (Dungeons & Dragons), Chroma Conclave, Blood and Gore, Possession, Conversations

#fic #cr1 #percy de rolo #lady kima of vord #finished it two days late but i did finish it! #happy gen week to all who celebrate #i wanted to write something on the heavier side #also the frankly quite literally gratuitous gore #because i hate when people who don't like gen assume it's fluffy because only shipping could possibly contain heavy themes. i am probably #the only person on earth with a hill to die on about this.

[shirkers2018dirsanditan]

i think violence can play a very important role in film and television, and art in general, and has historically, but i think creators run into a wall in part because we are so inundated with images of violence due to smartphones, social media, and a traditional television media that pointedly refuses to value human life over shock value. i also think male creators rely on gratuitous violence for shock value and always have, in film, in television, even in music. and i do think creators have to adjust their artistic decisions and process for the fact that we are constantly seeing people die in real life on television and social media, literally almost everyday, and the use of violence as it used to be can be exhausting and less effective. and that fact is not fair for black creators who now specifically have an opportunity to produce art on a scale and with a visibility they have quite frankly never had before, and they’re constrained by the fact that reality is crueler than fiction. and without a doubt, films like antebellum and television shows like them are clearly and overtly trauma porn in a way that is genuinely sadistic (the slasher genre is not how you tell a story about racism.......obviously. unless you’re killing white people maybe). however, i do think there is a reaction to black creators exploring racism that is unfair. it’s specifically these narratives that get the accusation of “trauma porn,” which carries with it an accusation of tomming - the underlying sentiment is that this black creator is throwing us under the bus to make a buck or make waves. in the case of antebellum (which was only co-created by a black man) and them, i think that is the case. but in the case of others i don’t think it’s fair. like i said, male creators have a consistent problem with using gratuitous violence as a crutch - male creators of all races opt for gore over the tougher to land emotional beats. two films i, well enjoyed isn’t the right word, but feel are triumphant and masterful - two distant strangers dir. travon free and da 5 bloods dir. spike lee - definitely fit this description; they use gore at an unnecessary level and it actively detracts (da 5 bloods is worst than TDS, but because TDS is a short you feel this more) from the emotional core of the films. however there are works - queen&slim, watchmen, lovecraft country - that get the term “trauma porn” thrown at them that are genuinely not even that gratuitous, and in fact, you can see where the creators were deliberate about their use and portrayal of racist violence (granted i have not seen watchmen, but from what i’ve heard). and what bothers me, as i mentioned, is that it seems merely featuring or confronting racial violence in a work is enough to garner these accusations - which as i said, imply tomming. meanwhile, exploitations of trauma is rampant in all kinds of subject matter, especially women’s trauma, exploited by male directors, that does not draw nearly the same amount of ire (unless the movie is made by a woman and seeks to criticize male violence, of course). this is true of many beloved black films, many of which are made by white people too, but don’t seem to get this same backlash. i think black creators do have to adjust for the times, although i think there is some cathartic about being able to explore racial violence in an environment under their control, whereas out in the real world, we don’t have any control over the images and videos broadcast of us (even when we film them). and of course, it is important to mention, these creators may have their own personal racial traumas, their own experiences of racial violence, that inform their work, and that we as black people do not respond as a monolith to the world we have to live in. but above all, i don’t think these accusations are leveled fairly, or even in many instances, accurately. black people are also trying to tell stories and they are using the same tools all storytellers have used since the beginning of time.

#for every dragged out discourse about black media #there are at least a dozen white media counterparts that fridge their black (often female) characters and handle race wildly insensitively #but don’t get a fraction of the criticism #including white media ABOUT racism #that also goes with the large volume of black creation that is just flat out ignored #especially by women #where is the love for time and a love song for latasha? #or a concerto is conversation? #these are also oscar contenders even though theyre shorts #TDS is also a short