All art is at once surface and symbol

I've been following Gehayi and Ket's review of 50 Shades of Grey over at das_sporking and they got to Chapter 12, which was the part where the book officially disturbed me. (Not that it wasn't before, but this? Yeeeeeeeah) So I got around and wrote spitefic! While it doesn't feature Ana or Christian being maimed to death, it does have plenty of h/c.

In short, my novel characters read the book, become horrified, then cheer each other up.

So if you wanted to know who Raggedy Andy, Marius, Jelly Jane and the gang are like (*crickets chirp*), here's your chance! This takes place post-novel, but there's no spoilers to worry about. (No, Ann's death is not a spoiler. It's complicated) Bonejangles is a placeholder name for a Day of the Dead skeleton I haven't fully developed yet.

TW: Discussion of rape and past abuse. The excerpts from 50 Shades are all real. :( There's also mentions of toysex, though no sexytimes happen except in the stuff Jelly Jane reads. :P

( Now that we're done with warnings, onto the story! )

I've been wanting to type about this for some time... months even. But either I was shy or distracted and IRL's gotten in the way a lot too. More noveltalk, this time centering on one of our main characters.

The novel takes place in a fantasy world where toys come to life. Our two leads are a Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy doll, and well... their experiences aren't quite as syrupy and adorable as that of their predecessors. Namely our primary antagonist, a nutcracker surgeon named Dr. Medlock, wanted to kidnap both of them for experimentation and was only successful in capturing Ann, leaving Andy as a fugitive trying to rescue his sister and avoid getting caught. While Ann deals with the secrets and horrors of Dr. Medlock's lab, Andy is pursued by a mysterious illusionist and his abominable creatures and magic.

Now here's the thing... Raggedy Andy is gay.

Obviously, I'm not talking about Johnny Gruelle's original Raggedy Andy. Novel!Andy, on the other hand, eventually falls in love... with another boy. Nothing's offscreen either. Hugging, kissing, the whole gamut. I've been trying to think about what this means in a world of Living Toys.

"BUT PURI, TOYS CAN'T FEEL SEXUAL ATTRACTION!111!1 THIS IS WEIRD!!1!111"

Didn't stop Woody & Bo, Buzz & Jessie and the Potato Heads in the "Toy Story" trilogy from falling in love, did it? 'Sides, it's my book, my world, my universe. I make the rules around here. Comments like this will be torpedoed and I don't appreciate them. That said, if you're not too wigged out by this, let's go on.

( What do you do when one of your main protagonists is gay? Small paragraph of toysex, worldbuilding, and Puri disliking LGBTQ cliches. )

What do you guys think? How would toys view homosexuality?

Greenband Jiggly (10:16:51 PM): Is it sad I looked up the Pinkeye Halloween episode just so I can see Stan as Raggedy Andy?
Vorsatrix (10:17:31 PM): He is not Andy.
Greenband Jiggly (10:17:45 PM): I know. I still got a kick out of everyone mocking his costume.
Vorsatrix (10:18:24 PM): Nice.
Greenband Jiggly (10:18:39 PM): Shut up, Cartman. Stan is no girl's toy. /I am SO sorry
Vorsatrix (10:18:56 PM): That does it.
Vorsatrix (10:19:03 PM): I'm leaving to watch Mr. Popper's Penguins right now.

Okay, so I'm still feeling blue. Now I'm flipping through my new Raggedy Ann books and skimming a little when I come across a book with Raggedy Andy engaging in swordfights (FUCK YEAH) and um... traveling with a knight on "sword-back." I'm not kidding about this. There's pictures of him riding on a giant sword. :o

Then I read an early passage and... omgomgomg. Raggedy Andy is the cutest gay boy ever. ;;

( This snippet makes me five years old again, but the wrong kind of five years old. )

*brb reading out of order and going straight to Raggedy Ann's Lucky Pennies*

*Or be depressed again. Or go back to bed. Whichever comes first*

What is life and good taste? Baby don't hurt me...

James & I were trolling each other a couple days before V-Day. I wrote half of a trollfic and it broken my brain, so I vowed to go home and write a remedy. Just in time for the holidays! So here you have it, a ficlet of my novel. If any of you are curious about my original writing, my bizarro novel of doom with Raggedy Ann & Andy, or the canon BL ship of my novel (Raggedy Andy x Marius) (the latter used to be "Miles" as a placeholder, but now he's got a rename token. Yay! :D), here's something short and sweet without needing to open an encyclopedia about Puriville. XD Plus it's fluff so there's no sex. XD Yay!

Quick Background: The plot of the novel revolves around Raggedy Andy trying to rescue his sister from the Big Bad, Dr. Medlock. Marius is an illusionist marionette who originally worked with Medlock, who discovered him after he was violated and locked in a box by someone he loved. As a result, Marius is distrustful, and later realizing Dr. Medlock had selfish intentions for Ann & Andy did not help matters either. Marius finds himself close to Andy in spite of himself, though he frequently brushes it off at first as infatuation. While working together after Medlock made shit hit the fan, Andy develops his own feelings for Marius and tells him so. This... begins an interesting relationship. It's got its ups and downs, but since one half IS Raggedy Andy, it will make your teeth rot. If you're not wibbling first.

This ficlet has no fandom, so anyone can read it~ ♥

( And sweet surrender is all I have to give )