A little bit about me, for anyone wondering:

I'm 18 years old, female, and a latent geek. I wrote my first fanfic in my head when I was nine before I even knew that fanfiction existed, for Ocarina of Time. I'm often depressed, especially during the winter, and in my spare time I'm an internet community college student and an artist.

UPDATE February 19th

I have just purchased a new laptop and wireless router, so my online/word processing capability has been restored! Writing for I'll Keep a Candle Lit is now back in practice, and I should be able to return to my regularly scheduled updates soon. Huzzah!

Now...

A short rant about the use of non-con in stories:

I am a believer in Chekhov's Gun. I think that when writing, everything should be done with a purpose. Now, some of the small details don't have to, but all major points of interest should have some impact on characterization or plot.

This leads me to non-con or, in less euphemistic terms, rape.

TV Tropes is full of things like "Rape as Drama" or "Rape is the New Dead Parents." This is unfortunately true. Non-con is used for shock value, which is fine with me as long as it has some lasting impact on the characters. I've never been unfortunate enough to count myself in the percentage of women who've gone through that, but from all accounts, it's not something you just walk away from happy and whole. One of the major offenders, in my mind, is Patrick Rothfuss, who had is main character (who has totally become a Gary Stu) mention at least twice an incident in which his character was almost gang-raped by older boys. Other than passing mention, the character never seems to grow from the experience at all or have any reaction to it, though it was significant enough to mention twice years later when recounting his life story to a total stranger. Heck, I've been guilty of using rape just for its shock value, such as a Star Trek story I wrote in which Spock was abducted and nearly killed as a teenager. Did i need to go a step further in traumatizing him? No, I didn't. But I did anyway.

Spoiler! There will be mentions of non-consensual sexual activity in my main story, "I'll Keep a Candle Lit," specifically of a grown templar abusing his authority with at least two teenaged apprentices. I'm hoping to handle it tactfully and direct the focus more towards the emotional fallout surrounding the issue, and not use it as a "life in the Circle sucks. See? There's rape, too." The particular incident will also be mentioned several times in the sequel, "The Conspirator," as Anders and Cullen try to feel their way around this teamwork thing, and Cullen is kind of dense and unnaturally focused on one specific example of how bad things had gotten in the tower.

Really, I just want to be sure that everyone has the opportunity to know that I'm not just including non-con for its shock value, and that all things are revealed in time.

Exit rant.