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Madison Scott-Clary
2024-05-01 11:03:10 -07:00
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content/thoughts-on-motes.md
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@ -113,10 +113,10 @@ If I sound at all bitter, then, it is because I have made something that I am pr
I resent that I need to be rightfully anxious. I resent that, by creating something in this idea-space, I run the very real risk of, at worst, having my personhood negated when I am declared problematic, a groomer, a pedophile, *persona non grata.* I resent that I do not need to consider whether I will be labeled these things; I am all but sure I will. I mentioned above that I have already had a conversation that touched on this. It led to someone reducing their engagement with the Post-Self community.[^4] I resent that I risk losing readers, friends, loved ones. I resent that the oft-misused "death of the author" is only applied to the works one enjoys and derided otherwise, and so in this case, I will be reduced to my roughest edges and discarded by those who do not enjoy works such as these. The work that I put into it will be ignored in the face of this one fact regardless of my feelings on what I have accomplished.
I resent that one way I could avoid such readings are to make Motes miserable, to deny her happiness in her identity, to take from her her pride in herself and her growth. I resent that I might well be lauded for changing the ending of the book to have Motes give up, have her follow Hammered Silver's suggestion to put away childish things[^5] and become other than she had been. I resent that a 'solution' in my straw-reader's mind would be to replace joy with shame.
I resent that, if I claim that [Motes is nearly 300 years old](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReallySevenHundredYearsOld) at the time of this story, I will be accused of trying to weasel my way out of grooming accusations, regardless of the fact that dealing with grooming is part of her character and the plot. I resent that if I claim that the headmate upon which Motes is based is actually 38 at time of writing, just like this wretched body,[^6] and has simply leaned into feelings of kidcore, a portion of my identity will be declared wicked and manipulative. I resent that, no matter how loudly I say that I am aware of the broader context of CSA in the wider world, how abhorrent I think that is, none of that will matter in the face of that same imagined wicked and manipulative aspect. I resent that, no matter how nuanced my arguments on consent are[^7] --- even within this very work! --- the work itself will be declared, yes, wicked and manipulative.
I resent that one way I could avoid such readings are to make Motes miserable, to deny her happiness in her identity, to take from her her pride in herself and her growth. I resent that I might well be lauded for changing the ending of the book to have Motes give up, have her follow Hammered Silver's suggestion to put away childish things[^5] and become other than she had been. I resent that a 'solution' in my straw-reader's mind would be to replace joy with shame.
It is, as Motes puts it, annihilation. It is the opposite of reclamation. Rather than taking the bad and finding a way to reclaim the good in it, it is taking a thing that is good and making it not just bad, but reprehensible. It is taking things that one enjoys and not making them less enjoyable, but making them shameful.
I resent that.
@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ I have come to love Motes, and I hope you do too.
[^1]: Okay, but having sciatica for two months probably helped.
[^2]: I find 'the purity of childhood' personally unnerving. It strikes me as an aspect of the oft-maligned purity culture. Kids can be mean. They can be *cruel.* They are creatures who act upon their base desires, for better or worse. I think this, in combination with its laws-for-thee-none-for-me attitude, has led to the "corruption" of children becoming a talking point of the right, those bastions of that very same purity culture.
[^2]: I find 'the purity of childhood' personally unnerving. It strikes me as an aspect of the oft-maligned purity culture. Kids can be mean. They can be *cruel.* They are creatures who act upon their base desires, for better or worse. I think this, in combination with its laws-for-thee-none-for-me attitude, has led to the "corruption of children" becoming a talking point of the right, those bastions of that very same purity culture.
[^3]: I am contractually obligated to make fun of her. It is part of being an author.