Fifty Shades of Fail: Chapter Twenty
Sep. 4th, 2012 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
astra_auroraHey, everyone. Welcome back to Myriad Ways To Waste Your Time, aka How To Pack More Swearwords And Insults Into A Chapter Than Paul Keating, aka Why Modern Fiction Sucks Balls, aka Fifty Shades of Fail. Nice to know that you're all still reading. :)
Warning: this chapter contains rape and all kinds of bullshit. Careful now.
Grey pulls Ana into the boathouse and takes her up to the attic. He's pissed off and horny, and she begs him not to hit her. He's all 'WTF is this 'no' thing?' and she kisses him. Then they get all confused about what's happening, and then... gah.
"No one's ever said no to me before. And it's so- hot."
Yeah, what's not arousing about a girl telling you she doesn't want to have sex with you, right? Jesus Christ, Grey, could you be any more of a bastard?
And really, nobody has ever told him no? Bull. Shit. Everyone gets turned down. Hell, has Grey ever met a lesbian? Or an asexual?
Fuck this guy, seriously.
He admits that he's mad about Georgia and that she went drinking with Jose (to be fair, keep in mind that all Grey knows about Jose is that he's a friend of Ana's who sexually assaulted her once when she was drunk) and he's turned on and pissed off because she said no. And then he gives her a speech that tells her that he is going to fuck her. And she has no say in the matter.
*whacks book against head* FUCK. THIS. GUY. SO. FUCKING. MUCH. FUCK. THIS. GUY. SO. FUCKING. MUCH.
OK, you know what? I like the occasional good non-con fic (emphasis on good). I'm nearly always up for a decent non-con fic (emphasis on decent). But here's the thing: the non-con fics I read don't masquerade as romance, and they don't glorify rape culture, which this shit clearly does! I mean, in the words of Doctor Insano (and that really tells you everything you need to know), 'I may be evil, but at least I'm not full of crap!'
There's sex. Grey gets off, but he won't let her get off. He wants her frustrated for, quote, 'denying what's mine', unquote.
Hey, men? A woman's body is hers. END OF STORY.
He gives her the underwear back and Ana feels victorious because she got them back without having to ask for them. Um... he gave them back. Doesn't that negate the point a little?
He still wants to spank her. She says that she doesn't think she deserves it, especially after, quote, 'tolerating your unprovoked attack', unquote. And his response? 'Unprovoked? You kissed me.'
OH FUCK YOU. To hell and back. In the eye-socket.
(I'd just like to thank JesuOtaku for that last one. I can see it will come in handy quite often.)
Mia turns up. Naturally, she wants to know where the hell they were. Grey bullshits that he was showing Ana his rowing trophies. As Kate and Elliot leave, Ana tells Kate that they need to have a talk about Kate pissing Grey off. Kate says that she does it so she can show Ana what he's really like. Ana thinks that she knows what Grey is really like and Kate doesn't.
OK. I can kinda see both sides' point here: Ana's right in that she is regularly seeing Grey's inner self and not a fake one. But Kate is right in that Ana is completely failing to comprehend how much of a dick he is. I'm with Kate on this one.
The Greys bid them all farewell. You know what's depressing? So far, Mia and Carrick are the nicest characters in this book, and that's because they haven't done enough to piss anyone off. When your nice guys are only nice by virtue of not doing anything bad (instead of actually doing good) then you know you've fucked up.
In the car, Ana voices her theory that Grey only invited her because Elliot invited Kate- which, as it turns out, is wrong. Grey really did want her there, and he's upset that she's so negative about herself. Ana also admits that she lied about Georgia- she hasn't made up her mind yet, and she only said it because Kate was talking about Barbados. Um... since when? We're in Ana's head, why didn't we know?
Grey asks if he can go with her to Georgia. Ana says no, because she needs time to think. He asks her what the problem is, and she admits to all kinds of thoughts that she doesn't think she can say (like 'I think I'm just a toy to you but I'm in love with you' and 'I'm too scared to show any real affection for you because you beat me all the time'- paraphrased). Dude. SAY THEM. You can't have a real relationship without SAYING this shit. Ana finally decides to sign the contract, but Grey tells her to think about it in Georgia and then decide.
They get home and decide to go to bed, vanilla-style. There's some playful banter that just depresses me, and then Ana tells him that she wants him to make love to her- i.e., not fuck- and that she wants to touch him. That's a Big No for him (completely understood) and Ana wants to know why. He doesn't want to tell her. That I also understand.
People: being friends with/in a relationship with/related to someone doesn't give you the right to know all their secrets. You need mutual trust, and most of all, they should be the one telling you, you shouldn't be demanding it of them. OK?
Ana offers to let him spank her in exchange for knowing why. This makes me... uneasy. I mean, she's consenting, but I don't like the idea of it. He doesn't want to tell you- why make him? It really isn't that important.
There's sex involving vaginal beads and spanking. It's pretty boring.
Grey finally admits why in a way that lets him impart as little information as possible: His birth mother was a crack-addicted prostitute who died when he was four. He doesn't remember much, and Carrick has only given him certain details.
But here's the thing: That tells us nothing.
Was his birth mother really a prostitute or is 'whore' just a generic insult he throws at her? Did she actually have anything to do with why he doesn't like being touched? Who was his birth father, and was he involved? What happened to Grey? Could his birth mother have stopped it, or was she forced to stand by and watch?
Given that Grey is doing his best to not tell Ana anything, I doubt we'll get answers. But this pisses me off. His mother was an addict and a prostitute- so fucking what? She's still human. I'm not going to condemn her for that- hell, I've written a character who was in the same situation, and yeah, she didn't come to a good end either, but it wasn't her fault. If this was meant to be shocking, then you failed at that, James- and just to sum up, fuck you.
That was Chapter Twenty. Jesus Christ.
Warning: this chapter contains rape and all kinds of bullshit. Careful now.
Grey pulls Ana into the boathouse and takes her up to the attic. He's pissed off and horny, and she begs him not to hit her. He's all 'WTF is this 'no' thing?' and she kisses him. Then they get all confused about what's happening, and then... gah.
"No one's ever said no to me before. And it's so- hot."
Yeah, what's not arousing about a girl telling you she doesn't want to have sex with you, right? Jesus Christ, Grey, could you be any more of a bastard?
And really, nobody has ever told him no? Bull. Shit. Everyone gets turned down. Hell, has Grey ever met a lesbian? Or an asexual?
Fuck this guy, seriously.
He admits that he's mad about Georgia and that she went drinking with Jose (to be fair, keep in mind that all Grey knows about Jose is that he's a friend of Ana's who sexually assaulted her once when she was drunk) and he's turned on and pissed off because she said no. And then he gives her a speech that tells her that he is going to fuck her. And she has no say in the matter.
*whacks book against head* FUCK. THIS. GUY. SO. FUCKING. MUCH. FUCK. THIS. GUY. SO. FUCKING. MUCH.
OK, you know what? I like the occasional good non-con fic (emphasis on good). I'm nearly always up for a decent non-con fic (emphasis on decent). But here's the thing: the non-con fics I read don't masquerade as romance, and they don't glorify rape culture, which this shit clearly does! I mean, in the words of Doctor Insano (and that really tells you everything you need to know), 'I may be evil, but at least I'm not full of crap!'
There's sex. Grey gets off, but he won't let her get off. He wants her frustrated for, quote, 'denying what's mine', unquote.
Hey, men? A woman's body is hers. END OF STORY.
He gives her the underwear back and Ana feels victorious because she got them back without having to ask for them. Um... he gave them back. Doesn't that negate the point a little?
He still wants to spank her. She says that she doesn't think she deserves it, especially after, quote, 'tolerating your unprovoked attack', unquote. And his response? 'Unprovoked? You kissed me.'
OH FUCK YOU. To hell and back. In the eye-socket.
(I'd just like to thank JesuOtaku for that last one. I can see it will come in handy quite often.)
Mia turns up. Naturally, she wants to know where the hell they were. Grey bullshits that he was showing Ana his rowing trophies. As Kate and Elliot leave, Ana tells Kate that they need to have a talk about Kate pissing Grey off. Kate says that she does it so she can show Ana what he's really like. Ana thinks that she knows what Grey is really like and Kate doesn't.
OK. I can kinda see both sides' point here: Ana's right in that she is regularly seeing Grey's inner self and not a fake one. But Kate is right in that Ana is completely failing to comprehend how much of a dick he is. I'm with Kate on this one.
The Greys bid them all farewell. You know what's depressing? So far, Mia and Carrick are the nicest characters in this book, and that's because they haven't done enough to piss anyone off. When your nice guys are only nice by virtue of not doing anything bad (instead of actually doing good) then you know you've fucked up.
In the car, Ana voices her theory that Grey only invited her because Elliot invited Kate- which, as it turns out, is wrong. Grey really did want her there, and he's upset that she's so negative about herself. Ana also admits that she lied about Georgia- she hasn't made up her mind yet, and she only said it because Kate was talking about Barbados. Um... since when? We're in Ana's head, why didn't we know?
Grey asks if he can go with her to Georgia. Ana says no, because she needs time to think. He asks her what the problem is, and she admits to all kinds of thoughts that she doesn't think she can say (like 'I think I'm just a toy to you but I'm in love with you' and 'I'm too scared to show any real affection for you because you beat me all the time'- paraphrased). Dude. SAY THEM. You can't have a real relationship without SAYING this shit. Ana finally decides to sign the contract, but Grey tells her to think about it in Georgia and then decide.
They get home and decide to go to bed, vanilla-style. There's some playful banter that just depresses me, and then Ana tells him that she wants him to make love to her- i.e., not fuck- and that she wants to touch him. That's a Big No for him (completely understood) and Ana wants to know why. He doesn't want to tell her. That I also understand.
People: being friends with/in a relationship with/related to someone doesn't give you the right to know all their secrets. You need mutual trust, and most of all, they should be the one telling you, you shouldn't be demanding it of them. OK?
Ana offers to let him spank her in exchange for knowing why. This makes me... uneasy. I mean, she's consenting, but I don't like the idea of it. He doesn't want to tell you- why make him? It really isn't that important.
There's sex involving vaginal beads and spanking. It's pretty boring.
Grey finally admits why in a way that lets him impart as little information as possible: His birth mother was a crack-addicted prostitute who died when he was four. He doesn't remember much, and Carrick has only given him certain details.
But here's the thing: That tells us nothing.
Was his birth mother really a prostitute or is 'whore' just a generic insult he throws at her? Did she actually have anything to do with why he doesn't like being touched? Who was his birth father, and was he involved? What happened to Grey? Could his birth mother have stopped it, or was she forced to stand by and watch?
Given that Grey is doing his best to not tell Ana anything, I doubt we'll get answers. But this pisses me off. His mother was an addict and a prostitute- so fucking what? She's still human. I'm not going to condemn her for that- hell, I've written a character who was in the same situation, and yeah, she didn't come to a good end either, but it wasn't her fault. If this was meant to be shocking, then you failed at that, James- and just to sum up, fuck you.
That was Chapter Twenty. Jesus Christ.
