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Author Topic: Profanity in writing  (Read 5966 times)

Skar

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #15 on: November 19, 2004, 04:37:23 PM »
Personally, I don't find swearing jarring when I run across it in fiction unless it doesn't fit the character, the world or the situation.  Of course, you can say that about anything jarring.

When I'm reading gritty realism, whether it be fantasy, modern or sci-fi settings, I expect people to swear.  In fantasy I kind of like the made up swear word as long as they are used like our swear words and have, if not similar, at least meaningful roots.
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Skar

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #16 on: November 19, 2004, 04:39:51 PM »
A nice long swear, creative, non-repetitious, and graphic, as I imagine ARchon's(?) paragraph is very satisfying.

It doesn't offend me but then I've just spent two years in the military, where such words are part of everyday vocabulary and have entirely different meanings than when used in a civilian setting.
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"Skar is the kind of bird who, when you try to kill him with a stone, uses it, and the other bird, to take vengeance on you in a swirling melee of death."

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Archon

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #17 on: November 19, 2004, 05:12:11 PM »
“You have always known that death would come. I am here to see it done right! Your pitiful screams for mercy will be ignored as you ignored those years ago at Minavian Castle. D*** you all! I feel pain like none you can ever imagine! Pain that your nerves, your emotions aren't sensitive enough to feel! I hate you all with an intensity that makes this punishment seem to lenient to me. You should be grateful for what you are receiving now! You should beg me for more of this, kneel to me, pray to me that I will give you more pain! You who took away all that my life could have been, deserve so much more than this, an eternity of it!"
He smiled grimly.
"Unfortunately I can't follow you into the life after this one! I can't ensure that you will feel this kind of pain after your death! I will forever be unsatisfied with your punishment! I will look back at your screaming faces and want more! More! More! You should hurt, you should bleed, you should scream the way I did, the way I still do! You should cry for a lifetime and more because your only comfort is the sound of your own sobs! You should lie awake every night for the eternity of your next life, regretting that you could not save the one thing that you had that I ever cared about! You b******s! Consider my actions now actions of compassion,as the killing of a horse that can no longer walk! You can no longer bear the burden of the world! It overwhelms, ensnares you, seizing your every waking moment! I cast you now from this world to quench my own thirst for vengeance and you shall love me for it! Run! Flee! Your death is me! Your screams mean nothing and shall soon no longer tarnish my ears! And YOU!"

To put it in context a little, the guy is addressing an army that razed his home, and killed the woman he loved. He spent the rest of his life hunting them, and now he found them, and is very terrifyingly killing them all.
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The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #18 on: November 19, 2004, 05:18:18 PM »
so like, they sit and listen to him through this diatribe?

comparatively speaking the two words that you found censorable were pretty mild.
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Skar

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #19 on: November 19, 2004, 05:22:20 PM »
Cool.
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House of Mustard

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #20 on: November 19, 2004, 05:23:16 PM »
Quote
Minavian Castle
 The first two times I read that I thought it said Minivan.  That doesn't relate to this discussion, of course.  I just thought you should know.
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Archon

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #21 on: November 19, 2004, 05:25:38 PM »
Well SE, the better explanation is that they don't really have a choice. First of all most of them are busy moistening their pants. Second of all, he is surrounded by fireballs that are protecting him. Fourth of all, he is deafeningly loud. That is pretty loud, I was pretty sparing with actual swearing, because I wasnt sure if I should put it in there or not.
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Archon

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #22 on: November 19, 2004, 05:27:04 PM »
Yes HoM, their screams were because the army bought them a minivan instead of a beamer like it promised.
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stacer

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #23 on: November 19, 2004, 05:28:08 PM »
Ah, he's monologuing.
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Skar

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #24 on: November 19, 2004, 05:28:23 PM »
That's a rant not a longwinded curse.  With those putting in swearing is purely a personal/professional decision concerning who in your audience you do or don't want to offend.  You can leave it out and it will sound great, put it in and it will sound just as great and offend some people, while satisfying others because it's that closer to "gritty realism"  Which is a holy grail for some folks.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2004, 05:59:31 PM by Skar »
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Archon

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #25 on: November 19, 2004, 05:30:59 PM »
Yeah I suppose it is more of a rant than a curse. It would still be a suitable place for swearing though. And he is basically telling them that he wishes that they would die painfully for an eternity, which I dont think that they are any happier to hear.
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MsFish

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #26 on: November 19, 2004, 07:51:36 PM »
Okay, so maybe it's not a first person problem.  (I'm trying to justify this to myself here.)  Maybe it's something else.  Maybe I'll figure out what I meant some day when I have a free brain cell.  
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JP Dogberry

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #27 on: November 19, 2004, 08:22:01 PM »
See, the words you censored are words I put in without even thinking about it. I don't consider them swwear words. Then again, it might be a cultural thing -  a B****** is something you call your best friend, not really an insult, and I think that's an Australian thing.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2004, 08:22:55 PM by JamPaladin »
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Archon

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #28 on: November 20, 2004, 12:09:54 AM »
But see JP, there isnt really an insult that I dont call my friends, so I dont think that makes it any less a swear word.
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In the depth of winter, I finally discovered that within me there lay an invincible summer. -Albert Camus

JP Dogberry

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Re: Profanity in writing
« Reply #29 on: November 20, 2004, 12:30:29 AM »
There isn't an insult I don't call my friends either, but this is one I'm more than happy to say against my mother, and my mother is extremely offended by swearing in general.
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