you better make her raspberry swirl

[lunabee34]

So I just finished The Ordeal of Richard Feverel by George Meredith (which I highly reccommend; it's a well told story) and I've caught up on fannish gossip with Sue and I'm thinking about reading some Snape fic, but before I do, I wanna talk to you guys. I miss y'all. I'm making myself crazy with this reading regimen. Like scary crazy. I'm a have the vapors eeeeeny second now.

So here is a talking point, gentle flist:

What keeps you reading a piece of fanfic despite a horrific abuse of the rules of punctuation and grammar or rampant OOC-ness or weepy!Ron who weeps and weeps all over the place? What sorts of things in fic keep you reading when you'd have backbuttoned out of another story? In other words, what are your bulletproof fanfic kinks (and I'm defining kink here as that which you can't resist, which satisfies you deeply, which you are drawn to, which gets you off in some way (not necessarily a sexual one))? What are your narrative kinks (ex. mpreg, epigraphs, lots of dialogue, aliens made them do it), your character kinks (ex. Inara has a secret, Giles is a closet fan of Blakes 7, Sam is jealous of Dean), your fanon kinks (ex. Buffy smells like vanilla, Xander's parents are abusive)?

Comments

[possibly-thrice.livejournal.com]

Hurt comfort, healing cock.

*SIGH OF SHAME*

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

OMG, yes. I will put up with a distinct lack of quality in a fic if John and Rodney are captured and beaten and made into sex slaves or if Dean is taken advantage of while John is off killing werewolves. It's like a sickness.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Ha! I'm reading this story right now and Snape is all depressed and he apparently hasn't bathed for weeks, but Harry shows up and just starts licking all over him. I think this may be one of my new trainwreck kinks: SO GROSS CANNOT LOOK AWAY!

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

Hee! I don't tend to backbutton at all. If it's really bad, I'll just try and skim to the end. Unless it's really long, in which case I will give up and click out, but it bugs me not to read to the end.

I don't have any bulletproof kinks, though. If a fic is bad, I will, as I said, keep going out of bloody-mindedness, but I won't enjoy it.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I really admire that about you. If I don't like it, I just can't finish it. I have no stick-to-it-iveness.

OMG, in the same story I mention upthread, Snape and Harry are all kissing each other with morning breath. Ewwwwwwwwwwwww. I have a huge problem with that. LOL Maybe some people wake up minty fresh, but I, for one, do not. Yeck.

[executrix.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks for the VGifts! I didn't know because, well, LJ notifications and all.

I don't think Giles would be *ashamed* of being a B7 fan, although if he had, like, Victor Herbert records he'd be ashamed.

For me, fanfic is all about characterization, so I'll keep reading if a) I agree with the characterization, or b) it's way out in Deep Left Field, but it hangs together.

Probably because I stutter slightly when I'm nervous, I like characters who are not inarticulate as such, but can take a while to get to the beginning of the sentence.

I'm convinced that, although both Avon and Simon are terrible dancers (this is, I think, a reasonable extrapolation from canon), they like to dance. This is one of my few MarySue points.

ETA: even though I have *read* The Ordeal of Richard Feverel and therefore know better, it sounds like there should be sex slaves in there somewhere.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I don't think Giles would be *ashamed* of being a B7 fan

Heeee. No. But I can see him not wanting to let Xander know they have this love in common.

I would love an Endearingly Bad Dancer!Simon story. I can see the expression on his face: a little sheepish, grinny. Oh man.

ETA: even though I have *read* The Ordeal of Richard Feverel and therefore know better, it sounds like there should be sex slaves in there somewhere.

Oh gods, yes. Adrian brought down a peg at young Master Richard's feet. *loves*

[executrix.livejournal.com]

You said: I would love an Endearingly Bad Dancer!Simon story. I can see the expression on his face: a little sheepish, grinny. Oh man.

Let the record reflect that I just started writing this one down. Also, since yesterday, it has Derring-Do.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Lorraine is pleased!!!!

*bounces*

Everything gets better with Derring-Do.

(Is that a new icon? I don't remember seeing it before. I really like it)

[executrix.livejournal.com]

Awww, I probably shouldn't even be using it, it was a present for prehistoric_sea, but I really like it too.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

More pretties is more pretties, I say.

:)

[ariadne83]

I looooove dialogue. I can't stop writing it, which does not a fic make.

One of my major character kinks is when a person really struggles hard (whether they succeed or fail) to connect with someone. I've never found that easy to do personally, or to maintain (before I got together with my husband none of my relationships had lasted longer than two weeks), so seeing characters have the same difficulties and having to consciously learn how to communicate really resonates with me

It was my favourite thing about Cam in tzzzz's mpreg series: he wanted so badly to settle down, there was nothing really *wrong* with him that was a reason he shouldn't have found someone, but still it was an uphill battle.

And a really interesting story premise will keep me reading even if the punctuation is terrible. By interesting I mean something that takes canon and adds another layer to it that fits in seamlessly - something that could be going on just outside the camera frame. (Bad grammar in a complete AU will have me out of there like a shot, just so you know ;-)

I don't have much patience for OOC behaviour unless I get the sense that something is Not As It Should Be, either because of the plot or the world-building i.e. these are the canon characters but something's gone wrong (like that Neville/Draco fic), or this is an AU and things here are fucked up. Sam Carter in The Wealth Of Our Nations Fed On Angel Blood is a good example of the latter: the way she behaves and how she reacts to the rest of the team are deeply affected by the AU-world she's been brought up in.

P.S. Thank you for my puppy *hugs*

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I love dialogue too. I think I'm much better at reading it than writing it, but I adore the dialogue heavy piece.

One of my major character kinks is when a person really struggles hard (whether they succeed or fail) to connect with someone.

*nods*

YES!

I love this too. And especially when everybody else doesn't really realize the struggle that's going on and maybe just thinks Character A's a jerk or clueless or whatever.

See, I've determined that characters misunderstanding each other in a deeply, deeply angsty way is pretty much my number one all time of ever fic kink. Especially when it's a really long fic and the misunderstanding and the sadness are drawn waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out. Love that shit to pieces.

I haven't read that Carter AU, but it sounds nifty.

*hugs*

[ariadne83]

Oh wow, you haven't read it? You are in for a treat. It's an SG-1 spin off from an SGA story that I really love (If you want to kiss the sky) because it has such an intriguing, complicated set-up. You may need to read it first for the SG-1 to make sense but it's very worth it because John is just amazing - the story inspired the comment to the effect that whichever universe you put John in, no matter *what* the rules are he'll still be queer. They're both excellent, and I'm pretty sure the SGA story would hit your misunderstandings kink.

The SG-1 story is from Daniel's POV, so you get a bit of the outside-perspective narration as well (that's another kink of mine).

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Yay! *bookmarks*

I also am batty for outside POV. Love, love, love it. I'm all about the second string, the B-Team, the random observer.

[zillah975]

So, this only applies in a few of the fandoms I read. There's so much Supernatural fanfic that I can get my narrative kinks met by good stories, and will pretty much always back out of ones that are crappy, but there's not as much Ronon-centric or Teyla-centric SGA or Boromir-centric LoTR, so I'll take worse stories to get my fave character needs met.

* If the writer loves Teyla, Ronon, or Boromir as much as I do. Like, if you can tell they think s/he is 1,000,000 kinds of awesome, and will totally save the day. (This is predicated on No Character Bashing, which kills my squee. S/He can't be awesome at the expense of someone else.)

* Ronon- or Boromir-whump where he's still a totally bad-ass and awesome character.

* Teyla rescuing Ronon. Actually, Teyla/Ronon, though I can't be sure as I don't recall having read a bad one.

* Smart, savvy Ronon.

* Ruthless Teyla -- not evil. But ruthless, willing to do what needs to be done in order to accomplish an important goal, like saving Ronon her people. (Struckthrough because I haven't read one like that, but I TOTALLY WOULD.)

* Boromir Lives! And is not evil!

* Boromir Lives! AUs in which ruthless!Aragorn (but not evil! exactly) is paired with alpha!Boromir. *quivers*

(I'm looking for a pattern here. Maybe I'll be able to articulate it later, but I'm getting the sense there is one....)


Strangely, while I would think that all these narrative kinks would apply to Leverage/Eliot, they don't. I don't see them very often in Leverage and would love to, but I wouldn't read them if they were badly written. I wonder why.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I've heard a lot of people say that before, that there's just so very little of a certain character or pairing fic that they pretty much devour every bit of it they can get their hands on.

Like you, character bashing is pretty much my anti-kink. It just spoils the whole damn thing for me. Although there are exceptions, those exceptions are me gritting my teeth and liking something despite that glaring glaw.

I'm kinda like you in that I don't have patience for reading badly written fic in all my fandoms. I don't know why, but I just can't do it in Buffy anymore and I'm not sure why. I think maybe it's because I know that some of the finest writing in fandom period is in Buffy so why I am wasting my time with this dreck. But that can't be all of it because the same is true of the Gateverse. IDK. It is a mystery.

[executrix.livejournal.com]

I think it's because Buffy fics are just *longer* than similar fics in other fandoms, it's like the drabbles are 10,000 words or sumshit.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Hahahhahahah.

And you can clearly chart the trajectory of Buffy fans moving into Harry Potter by their desire to outdo themselves in fic length. But as I'd take a 12 course meal over a snack anyday, I'm cool with it. Although one must feel comfortable wandering about in a tangled garden rather than a neatly pruned one, as it were, from time to time.

[ithiliana.livejournal.com]

I wandered over from the discussion about Mary Sues, skimmed your first 20 entries and am OMG meta! And cool stuff! And and and I shall friend you!

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Yay! Not only do you have the awesomest Disney slash icon of always, you are not put off by my ramblings. LOL

*friends back*

[thelastgoodname.livejournal.com]

Amnesia. Unrequited feelings (bonus points if both sides experience said unrequited feelings and do lots of pining). Arranged marriages/marriages of convenience. Long-term pairings that are going through severe angsty communication problems.

Miranda bottoming. Faith completely aware of the fact that she's in love with Buffy and all fatalistic yet nonchalant about it. Hermione being Hermione (she's rarely in character enough in fanfic for me: let's not forget that Hermione is annoying).

And then there are the bullet-proof pairings, the ones that are rare enough and that I love enough that I'll read anything featuring them, even when it's crap. Especially if it's crap featuring one of my bullet-proof kinks.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Amnesia. Unrequited feelings (bonus points if both sides experience said unrequited feelings and do lots of pining). Arranged marriages/marriages of convenience. Long-term pairings that are going through severe angsty communication problems.

OMG WE ARE LIKE THE SAME PERSON. LIKE REALLY. NO KIDDING.

And for me, angst. I want to be sad. I want fanfic to make me cry. I do I do I do.

I don't really have any bullet-proof pairings, though, now that I think about it.

[thelastgoodname.livejournal.com]

I love angst. It's so melodramatic, and I adore melodramas. We need more melodrama in our lives; otherwise, how are supposed to get our full share of full-body sobbing in every day? There's something to be said for fictional emotional trauma (as long as it's easily fixed, through some nice healing cock or whatever the yonic equivalent is [Come to think of it, I think that's the definition of woman: generative pussy. It really is all about the love of a good woman]).

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Ha!

But see, I'm in to it even when the fictional emotional trauma cannot be fixed, when it exists in perpetua.

Although, the healing cock and the generative pussy are also huge guilty favorites of mine. In more ways than one. LOL

[thelastgoodname.livejournal.com]

So I just read a bunch of George-post-Fred stories at some sort of celebratory George community (hpgeorgecentric) that were all about never-ending angst, trauma-in-perpetua, and lots and lots of grief. Which was interesting, because I can now definitely say, I like it when people move forward. Iterations of the same, but still: ever different. Especially in this case, grief never goes away, but people change and loss lessens, minutely, breath by breath.

And now I want to read some stories about people who've lost a child or something. Or a spouse: Ron and Snape falling in love after Harry dies, or Andromeda moving on after Ted and Tonks. Or better hurt/comfort stories (read: more realistic, but also totally melodramatic) about relationships surviving after a sexual assault. Like that Ron/Draco, in fact.

One of my favorite stories in this vein was the Rodney/John one where John dies and Rodney kills Atlantis, and the entire thing is about Rodney trying to piece his life back together. And it's more about Rodney coming to grips with having committed murder (citycide?) than with his loss of John. How come more of my fandoms don't involve potential genocides? That would be great for the angst-potential. If I were in Reboot, I'd write a Spock-prime story about the effects of losing his world three times (once with the time travel, again with the knowledge that Vulcan disappears, and a third time when it actually happens). And that's not even counting destroying someone else's world! (Why am I not in this fandom?)

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

OMG that sounds pretty much like my cup of tea. I will have to check out the George comm.

And now I want to read some stories about people who've lost a child or something. Or a spouse: Ron and Snape falling in love after Harry dies, or Andromeda moving on after Ted and Tonks. Or better hurt/comfort stories (read: more realistic, but also totally melodramatic) about relationships surviving after a sexual assault. Like that Ron/Draco, in fact.

Yes, yes, a million times yes. Yes!

I do not remember that SGA fic. How can I not remember it?

You should be in Reboot. It would love to have you. I should write more Reboot. It was like a bright flare of interest that rapidly faded for me. Once I get this round of HP out of my system, that would be a good one to go back to.

[lyr]

I miss you, too, hon. But I'm glad you're getting your reading done!

As for what keeps me reading a story despite horrific writing, well, I can't say as I have any bulletproof fic kinks. There are a number of things I'm drawn to, but they're all still vulnerable to bullets. Except! I will keep reading something awful if it's in a really rare fandom or pairing. If I simply can't do any better, I'll settle for whatever there is if I'm desperate enough.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

That seems to be a lot of people's bottom line: if it's just so rare, you can put up with a lot for a read.