I don't think Robin Hobb is a sadist to her characters. They aren't put through their paces just for suffering porn. It's an exploration through painful life experiences, full of wisdom, consideration, and self-enlightenment. The writing transcends the plot.
Yeah, can't say you're wrong, but don't really want to engage with that particular theory. I can see how folks get to that view of Rachel, but I'm going to hold off a few updates.
If Ashe wanted to win, she'd have to fight dirty. A stun-gun and prepared restraints would be the base plan I'd expect. A striking or wrestling match isn't going in Ashe's direction without years more training.
That's entirely fine of course, I simply outlined the current theory after all to clarify things, what you do with the information is up to you.
Rachel to me, so far, is potential story. I wonder, 'what if.' But I don't really see myself in her corner, going to the mat for her.
Even though I have a more firm-set view on her, I do share your view on her being potential story. Even if I might dislike a character, I'm still interested in the further narrative and how it'll be shaped, and what her potential character growth looks like. After all, stories are the basis of civilization and we've been sharing them ever since we first learned how to communicate, so I usually stick around unless a character truly manages to offend my senses.
Even as much as I dislike Natasha, I'll check out her content on the Kitten path. (would be cool if we can kick her in the junk on the Siren path, but oh well.)
Yeah I'm doing the same, and I agree that it would be VERY cathartic if we could scramble her eggs so to speak with a well aimed kick.
Agreed. Someone upstream commented how Natasha is basically just a trope, and it's hard to disagree.
I am just playing the siren path then using unren to unlock the rpa files see all the images and read the .rpy files to understand the context of the other paths. I don't think I have the stomach for the other routes.
Oh she is the trope of Built Gym Bro Chad character who is always a rapist. Because those who go to gym always go to become something that would sexually harass women but not for self improvement of their own body or finding a better purpose in working out. No Big gym bros means 80% of time they are perverted and misogynistic garbage. Just like Black characters being the villainous guy cucking the White dude but they are never the protagonist.
I have my personal canon route, then will try out the other content. By the time I try out other routes there's a mental distance for me (might not work for other folk) to view those scenes more dispassionately.
I just wish Natasha was optional on the Kitten path even tho it does makes sense it isn't. After playing both paths and while Siren is my main path Kitten feels way better to me with the interactions of the characters. Vanessa's date / path so far feels so much better to me as a kitten than a Siren. Not only does the Kitten path suit her character better imo but I think Ashe gets to bold to quickly out of nowhere on the Siren path ( Lexi and Vanessa) without any real character growth for it to make sense to me.
I was thinking you know, if Natasha would have been a righteous cop. In their first meeting, she didn't need to sexually harass her, but she would have been strict, warning Ashe that doing drugs would put her in jail and sending her off with a warning without any creepiness. Then lets say, Ashe would have seen her doing Gym, impressed by her body. Accidentally they would be together changing clothes when Ashe eyes would drift as she is naked changing her clothes and Natasha would give a charismatic smile saying something like "See something you like" making Ashe blush.
Damn, this just makes me even more sad that she's only written as a trope, because that would be a much more intriguing way to go about things.
Frankly I am tired of tropes in erotica. Like there is this notion that only when you are a dominant rapist or something, you can have hardcore scenes. But somehow consensual scenes can't be hardcore or something. Natasha could have been a dom in a consensual relationship. But she is the big built Gym Bro Rapist Cop Trope. Nothing beyond that.
Which is kind of ironic given that the very notion of dom/sub works better with consent. A rapist simply takes what they want like a complete piece of shit, but a proper dom/sub relationship has the sub willingly give up complete control to the dom, which would enforce submissiveness far more effectively both in narrative and in an erotic scene compared to the rapey doms.
