(In my ongoing quest to make space in my brain for more important matters, I've decided to add a another chapter in what will hopefully be a long list of "need more love topics, and hopefully bore you with some more of my goofy opinions.
Enjoy)
The Heroine: The tough chick
The look: Varies from film to film, and show to show, but usually a woman who's not a shrieking violet, nor a lithe Kung-Fu cutie. She's beautiful but usually in a tough rugged way, and wears clothes that seem more "butch" than lady-like.
Perfect examples: The girls above. Namely Claudia Black in Farscape, Katee Sackhoff in Battlestar Galactica, and Gina Gershon in Bound along with Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, and Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2.
Why they rock: Let's be honest in most DID tales the main heroine isn't exactly somebody who's gonna win a badass reward. Sure she'll struggle, wiggle, and get outta peril, but she's not a trained fighter or somebody that deals with dangerous situations all the time. The tough girl on the other hand? Well you can bet that she's been involved in rough stuff before, been in a few bad situations before, and most likely won't totally loose it when things start falling apart. Sure she might get captured, bound and gagged, and put in peril..but you can believe she at least headbutted somebody, or at least is thinking about while tied up.
Cool use of them: Generally I've found that when I'm writing duos there's nothing better than teaming up a tough girl with a more conventional damsel. Say making one a toughie with a dark history, and the other some suburban girl who can't help but fall from her charms. It's an excellent(and cute!) paring that can make the stories even better.
Great imaginary scene: Our tough cookie is in a bad spot. Some nasty folks konked her on the head, stripped her down to only her bra and panties, and have left her gagged and taped to a chair in front of a ticking time bomb. Even worse? The baddies have told her that they know where her true love is, and they're heading to her place right now to kill her nice and slowly. Our heroine is now left with the knowlage that not only will she die, but that her beloved will suffer as well.
Of course this is where she starts gathering her strength, starts struggling harder, screams into her gag, wiggles in her seat, and desperatly battles the bondage and the clock to not only save her life, but to save her lover, and maybe in the process get to be the heroine.
The major difference between a tough chick and a nice girl damsel is in the matter of pain. Punch a nice girl in the stomach, show her any sort of physical violence and it is probably the first violence she has known in her life - and she will fold, the fight taken out of her. A touch chick knows about pain and beatings, both giving and taking. I like my tough chicks to be smart, mean and competent in matters of violence. Not they they have to martial arts experts but they know what to do with a gun and don't hesitate to use it if their life or the life of their damsel lover is in danger. A hero likes them around because they'll watch his back and provide witty one line put downs during the course of an adventure. Tough chicks - good people. Nicely described, Lauren.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing about a tough-chick being bound and gagged is that they tend to struggle harder and longer than your average damsel in distress. Maybe it's because they're frustrated about not being able to kick someone's butt, or that they are certain no restraints can hold them, or perhaps they're just embarrassed at being put in such a damsel-like situation. Whatever the reason, when tying up a tough-chick, make sure you use more ropes, tighter knots and thicker gags.
ReplyDelete