Taboos and Delving into the Dark.

Dark can have many meanings to different people, and trust us, we could rage on forever about how dark doesn't have to mean rape, abuse and torture. However, we wanted to delve into and aspect of dark that most people won't:

TABOO'S.

There's a contest running at the moment all about the subject, so thought now was the perfect time.



BEYOND THE PALE CONTEST.

It's being run by the awesome yellowglue, who always likes to push the envelope when writing.


When asked the question “What’s taboo, to you?” – Answers tend to be pretty much the same, and easy to guess at, across the board.

To be expected: murder, rape, incest, pedophilia, bestiality, necrophilia, etc.

But that’s too black and white, too easy, too boring (yeah, I said it) for me.

For me, taboo exists in the grey, the difficult, and the definitely anti-boring. It’s the completely and utterly UNexpected. It’s the epitome of everything outside of carefully constructed comfort zones and social norms. It’s the things that when you read/see/hear them, you have an outloud response because what you’ve just read/seen/heard has fucking floored you. For better, or for worse.

There’s really not a simple or succinct answer, because depending on whom you ask, and when/where you are, that answer will change because what’s comfortable and acceptable from one time and place to another, changes. Just because we see threesomes, anal, dom/sub play, and bloodbloodblood, all across this fandom doesn’t mean those things aren’t still taboo in lots of places, for lots of people. It’s timing and placement that makes all the difference. And it’s scrupulousness and style that keeps decides the difference between taboo and just plain shocking, perfidious, and grotesque.

How many years ago would it have been not just taboo, but basically unacceptable for a woman to show her ankles? For a man and a woman to just sit on the same bed, side by side on television? Lucy and Ricky slept in separate ones, and CBS wouldn’t even allow the show to use the word “pregnant”, even though at one point she and her character were. Just decades later though, Will and Grace were allowed to talk open and honestly about the pros and cons to a threesome she’s having reservations about.

Because time and place is (almost) everything.

With the Beyond the Pale contest, I wanted authors not just to include taboo habits/happenings/hankerings in their stories, but to explore the different causes and/or effects of them as well. I feel like anyone can write a story where Carlisle is a racist psychokiller, or where Alice is a nymphomaniacal cutter – because stuff like this isn’t half as shocking or taboo as it used to be. It’s in our books/music/movies, as well as our headlines. What’s more interesting, and often more controversial is to look at WHY Carlisle is like that, or what happens to Alice’s relationships with her friends and family as her habits begin take their toll. Blood/sex/violence isn’t necessarily taboo – but exploring it, thinking too much about it, sometimes is.

What I think is one of the most interesting options, and am surprised (and wanting!) that no one has tackled yet, is a story not set in the here and now. Writing something that’s set in a more conservative era opens up so many interesting options. Sex isn’t taboo anymore, but sex between two secretaries in a 1930’s office is. Addiction of almost any kind is far from taboo at this point, but that wasn’t the case just 50-60 years ago. Adultery, while still somewhat taboo, doesn’t typically end in with the loss of a nose, testicles, or life, but depending on when and where you are, the consequences vary into what some might consider extreme.

Old Scandinavian laws would have permitted Edward to castrate Jacob and kill Bella, had she broken her vows once they were married. The code of Moses would have had the two trespassers stoned to death. And in ancient Greece, the guilty pair might have been dragged behind horses or starved. Punishments like these are what have become taboo to us now, but then and there it was the crime that was so profane, not the ramifications that followed.

There’s a lot of the “same-old, same-old”, not just in this fandom, but all around us. Imagination and a little bit of thoughtful pushing is what I appreciate most. Shocking just to shock is just as prosaic as something that’s not shocking at all. But a tactfully written twist, a meticulous maleficence is (I think) more rewarding to read as well as write, and what’s most memorable.

We're also asked two of the entrants to comment on WHY they would such a contest.

22Blue has entered Red.

What drew me to the contest??? Well, originally, I had an idea about Bella as a high-class call girl, and Edward as her, ahem, client, and went searching for a contest that it might go with. Literally, two days later, I saw a tweet about Beyond the Pale and checked out the picture prompts. The ninth picture was perfect – it’s the black and white photo showing part of the back of a nude woman and a man holding her wrists behind her back. That photo gave me all kinds of ideas, and to be totally honest, I really wanted to try something different. To answer the original question of what drew me to the contest – it was the challenge of not going past the very thin line of taboo. I think everyone has their own definition of what crosses that line and what doesn’t - there are certain ‘taboo’ subjects I won’t touch with a ten foot pole.

What I like best about this contest is there are SO many different directions an author could go by choosing one or more of the twenty pictures prompts given. There are specific limits, yes, but this contest really does let your imagination run wild. If I had written my one shot the way I’d originally intended, it would have come out entirely different. I’m much happier with the end result thanks to the challenge Beyond the Pale provided.


nitareality has entered This Woman's Work.

The moment I heard about the Beyond the Pale contest, I knew I wanted to write for it. I love to explore taboos, in my personal life, in what I read, and in what I write. To be given the green light to go ahead and push that envelope was very freeing, and my mind ran in a million different directions. I was writing before I saw the prompts. Then I saw the prompts and dropped everything.

I share Yellowglue’s love of pictures, and using them as inspiration for writing. What was picked for this contest was such a rainbow of temptations and taboos. Within days, I had drabbles for each picture, and it was just a matter of picking. Each picture is inspiring in it’s own right, but one picture in particular spoke to me. Being free to explore topics that are edgy but important to me, like mental illness, led to a cathartic writing experience and I’m so glad I took part. I’m pleased as punch that there isn’t an entry limit, because now that I’ve started I don’t want to stop!

I encourage you to take a look; get involved in this contest. Show us the deep depths of your depravity, your secrets.

The closing date isn't until 11th September, so why not give it a go?