SCA Porn - You Know You Want It.

I was chatting with othelianna last week when she told me about her Cowboy porn. I observed that romance novels/porn aimed at women tend to have two goals:

1. Getting the reader hot and bothered.
2. Reinforceing traditional gender stereotypes.

I then suggested that she write an SCA themed romance novel.

It wouldn't be hard to write. Our protagonist would be a woman coming off of a string of bad relationships with rough, manipulative men. She meets her romantic-object when he rescues her from some dangerous situation (a mugging say) with his superior bravery and rattan-wielding skills. They'd date for awhile and plot tension would be created by having her join the society and not really understand it. Being plucky, she'd eventually win the hearts of all around her, applying all the women's liberation skills of the 70's to the task of improving the society. It could be very Mary Sue-ish.

Rosie balked at this, stating that if it ever got out that she'd wrote the novel, everyone and their dog (in the local group) would read it and speculate on who each of the characters was based off of. She'd get a lot of grief over it. She cited a few episodes of NCIS and Bones to back this up (each has characters in a similar situation). I could see the conversation now:

Sir Loin of Beef: "Hey, is this 'Sir Rhino' character based off me?"
The Author: "Now what possible reason could I have for writing a character who never takes hits off of you Sir Loin?"
Sir Loin of Beef: "..."
Sir Loin of Beef: "No reason."

And if you think people would be upset by the SCA stereotypes, imagine what fun they'd have with the sexual stereotypes!

Lady Roundheels: "Hey, is this 'Lady Belt Bunny' character based off me?"
The Author: "Now what possible reason could I have for writing a character who jumps every knight she can find in the hopes of becoming Queen off of you Lady Roundheels?"
Lady Roundheels: "..."
Lady Roundheels: "No reason."

I'd almost be willing to write this myself, except it would transform from "romance novel" to "Comedy/porn" in short order, which probably isn't the desired outcome. Plus it would be very hard to keep myself from inserting the character Lord Gary-Stu the misunderstood archer who sweeps the lead off her feet.