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Anyone that participates in a fanfiction-y world, please share your thoughts on the subject with me. This is mostly just my own preferences and ideas, but partly it's just very half-formed and uncertain because I'm sure there are other perspectives and thoughts that I haven't realized yet. So I'd love to hear what other people think and like and look for.
Note: I'm aroused by a lot of material that many people find disturbing. This material is primarily not found in fanfic, and is only touched upon here. But it is mentioned and if you will get freaked out by that, please don't read this and maintain your mental image of me as normal and pure. XD Oh, hey, Corey! You said you were going to stop by to read about gynocologists - that's the entry below this one! Keep moving! I know, my normal and pure ship has sailed with you. Still. . .
My position towards fanfic is something that I've been trying to figure out lately, because it's recently become apparent that my approach is somewhat different than that of several people I know. I think I'm quite shallow about it, so i guess I thought I was typical. XD But I may not be. I care about writing ability but I don't get that concerned about plot or characterization - fanfic to me is primarily a sexual thing, I think. Even when it's a PG rated romance story, it's sexual, because for me penetration does not have to occur for something to be sexy, there just has to be a sort of power difference.
And that's because I am what I call a kinky person - but meaning I'm someone who is aroused by power difference in all types of media and to an extreme extent. So you could totally define kinky a different way, it's all very awkward. But just because that's how my sexuality works, shouldn't automatically imply that I would go to fanfiction primarily for sexual gratification. Like, I could be a person that's turned on by kinky sex, but doesn't read about kinky sex in my fanfic. But that's not the case.
I mean, I guess we turn to fanfic to get fulfillment that we can't get from the source material. Hence the emphasis on romantic stories, and especially slash. We don't get to see the characters (I'm going to say characters even though I recently started reading RPS, because that's still how I think of them, I don't know what that says) interacting the way we want them to, or might be interested in seeing. But even if it's just a domestic scene involving characters from an action show. Y'know? You want to see the characters have relationships that go deeper than what you get in the source material, or get to see them in another context. But more often than not, that's a romantic context - even if it's a canon pairing (which I don't think I've ever read extensively), you want to see more of the relationship or explore it beyond that which it gets on the show. I rarely read G-rated material, but I have. And I like it, if it's able to really show a side of the source material that I a) didn't get to see and b) wanted to see. And usually what falls in that material is relationships. Actually, I am someone that watches, say, Stargate SG-1 and wishes we could get an episode about Jack and Sam hanging out at the base and bugging General Hammond, but I think in terms of writing ability of the fanfic authors, I'm more likely to get a satisfying romance (not between Jack and Sam, I don't read het much, but that goes back to the sexual thing - which I do not see how it is linked to this second part of my analysis, I'll get back to it) than a satisfying episode, basically. So that's part of why G-rated stories don't interest me much, I guess.
Hmm. So on the one hand, I want my fanfic to turn me on. And it doesn't need to have actual sex to do that, it just needs to have characterizations in which my favorite character (normally one per fandom) is, in some loose way, in a position of decreased power. (this can be some sort of feminization, however subtle and not intended to imply power loss, also I like when the character is desired but that's sort of a whole different can of worms. also, hurt/comfort is always choice. And male-->female genderbending, for realz. so complicated!) On the other hand, I want my fandom to fulfill a desire to see the characters in a certain way that the source material is lacking.
OK, so I'm looking at my super-secret-but-not-really-so-please-don't-look-for-it journal where I just post all the fanfics I like in various fandoms so I have them wherever I go and I can do a little write up as well. And I'm trying to pull out the ones with ratings of PG-13 or below. Cos those are the ones where I guess it's more obvious what it is that I like, because in the higher rated ones, it's clearly the sex - even though I can pull out power different parts even in vanilla sex for the fics that I mark.
Koyato, G - Shige is afraid of thunger and Koyama comforts him, so it's sort of the hurt/comfort, plus Shige's all vulnerable and the other person (the fact that it's Koyama is, I think, a side thing) is strong and comforting.
Koyato, G - I like the second one, the way Shige allows Koyama to pick him up and carry him to bed.
Koyato, PG - Again, the second one - I love the description of Shige as being so sexy, and I love the way Koyama lusts after him. Good keywords: narrow waist and hips, off-shoulder shirt, choker, thin neck. I think it's suggestions of Shige having a feminine appearance.
Yoko/Ryo, PG - That's right, Ryo is my Kanjani8 uke of choice. XD I'll get into this one-character thing later, I guess. Anyway, Ryo is sweet and, although I hesitate to use this word, childlike. He pouts, and is cute and sweet and sleepy. I'm completely not interested in children or young teens or anything like that, I don't want them in my fanfic or my porn in any way - but I am very interested in adults behaving in a childlike manner. Or a petlike manner. This goes to extremes but more in my visual and non-fandom pornography. XD (On the subject of me NOT being a pedophile, I can't even really read stuff about ABC because even though they're all just about my age, since they haven't debuted and are still "juniors" I think of them as underage. O.o lol. Oops.)
Ohmiya, PG-13 - They all go to a haunted house and Nino gets scared and Ohno protects him. XD I'm seriously that easy. I count this sort of thing as power difference, my definition is very broad. Ohno has not power over Nino, but more power to control the situation than Nino, who is more the victim, the damsel in distress.
Nino/Sho, G - Nino sits in Sho's lap. More of that childlike thing, I guess. I think the relationship between a person who's sitting in someone's lap and the person having their lap sat on is a fairly defined one with particular implications.
Aiba/Nino, PG-13 - I hope this shows how I feel about the other half of the pairings. It's the same with NEWS and Kanjani8 but there were less hot PG-13 and under choices, so you don't see my pairing variety. Anyway, I'm so into this fic. I'm sure this is not what you were going for, Ames, but the sick, vulnerable, cute, childlike Nino being lusted after is basically just. . . I'm so, so there.
Makio/Sakurakouji (MBMH), PG - This pairing, from My Boss My Hero (think tough, violent yakuza Nagase and little chubby soft basically just like he is but less confident Tegoshi), is so prime for me being turned on without them having sex. Which is good cos I've only read maybe one NC-17 fic for them. ): But anyway, first Tegoshi/Sakurakouji is kidnapped and Makio/Nagase has to save him, then Sakurakouji makes Makio jealous and then has to appease him and then Sakurakouji gets compared to a woman, which happens a lot and I love it.
Makio/Sakurakouji, PG-13 - this author has a fic in which Sakurakouji is called Makio's wife, one in which the idea of him crossdressing is mentioned, and one in which he gets a "Property of Sakaki Makio" tattoo, and none of them have any sex so they basically all are examples. So awesome. XD This one is possibly my favorite, in which a bunch of host club employees, I guess, get jealous of Makio's attention to Sakurakouji and then compare themselves with him and realize he's prettier than them and everything.
I'm not even going to get into my position on genderbending here. Basically, I really, really love fiction in which boys are turned into women, and I'm happy when they're sort of characterized in feminine ways (not in camp ways, in that terms are applied to them that are usually applied to women, sort of thing). The latter is something that I struggle with a bit, because my whole theory about gender is basically that in the ways where the mind is in control of the body, women and men are the same. But also, of course, I think they should be equal and there's a clear element of the feminization creating a power-difference, and I wish it wasn't that way but it still turns me on. That's part of why for me, penetrative homosexual sex between men is hotter than other combinations, because there's an implicit feminization, basically. Anyway, nonetheless, this is something that I've long had to accept about myself. In real life, a more masculine woman (but not a biker-can't-tell-the-difference type) is a lot hotter than an effeminate man, but in fiction and porn, I love feminized men. Anyway.
So that's a sort of brief sampling of what I like. Even though those are my G fics, so it seems like they should be of the "I want fulfillment for unexplored aspects of the characters" school, they are actually of the "I want fulfillment. . . of a sexual nature" school. They all turn me on. But these are the fics that I marked to reread - they aren't all the fics I've read and enjoyed. But they are, one might say, my favorites. I don't know why I just said "one might say," by the way. I am not a person who says that. Anyway, basically my requirements for liking a fic are incredibly dependent on their having the above elements. Ahhh, except for in Harry Potter where i started out wanting all the sex because it's a very, very kinky and porny fandom, but at this point I just want to read long, satisfying Ron/Draco romantic epics in which nothing too horrible happens. So in that fandom, possibly because I really don't like the source material that much, I am just completely option two: satisfaction and fulfillment that can't be found in the original work. But apart from that - my other fanfic reading fandoms being Gundam Wing, Horatio Hornblower, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly (Joss Whedon is a king for providing Laura with fandoms), X-Men, Johnny's Entertainment (a different animal), the DC Universe (also a different animal), and to a lesser extent, Digimon and Stargate (I can't find enough material I like because in Digimon the fans are younger, so there's less good writing, plus I need stuff where the characters have been aged a little past the show, and Stargate because my character of choice is Jonas and very few people write about him). Also, in terms of the later fandoms - GW, Horatio Hornblower, Buffy, and Angel I all got into the fandom before the source material. It's hard for me to go the other way around. I know, it's totally odd.
OK, so with each of those fandoms except for JE, I have one character that I want to see be "uke." That is, if anyone is going to be hurt/vulnerable/desired/fucked/childlike/feminized, it's going to be that character. In GW, it's Duo; HH, Archie; for BtVS it's Xander; Angel it's Wesley; Firefly it's totally Simon; DCU it's Tim Drake; X-Men it's Bobby Drake (that bothers me. Do I just like people named Drake?); and Stargate it's Jonas. Like, totally, clearly, obviously. That person has to be in any pairing, they have to be the bottom, and I don't much care who they're paired with. Except that sometimes a particular pairing will be more or less likely to lend itself to the kind of fics I like to read. I don't know if anyone on my friend's list is even into X-Men fic, but Bobby is only occasionally characterized the way I want him to be, so I don't really get to read any of the Pyro/Iceman fics, and not too many of the comicverse ones. Also, often my Character is one of the most popular ones to write about and Bobby and Tim and Jonas aren't really.
Anyway, JE is all wacky-sauce, partly cos there's so many different groups, so there's different groups of relationships - which actually means some people get to switch. Plus, it's RPS so clearly they're more complicated, even though when it comes to fanfic I'm more interested in a simplified version - in my outside fanfic fan-ing, I like the complicated, of course! But yeah, Ryo - in Kanjani8 he's totally uke, and I find it ridiculously hot, but in NEWS sometimes he tops. Although I still prefer him to uke. But he also gets to top Uchi sometimes, too. And I never, ever, ever had switches before. I guess if I fic was really, really kinky.
Cos I think for me, like. . . it's probably obvious I don't worry too much about realistic characterization. Especially if I'm starting reading the fanfic before I'm familiar with the source material (I allow the fanfic to suck me in - i get curious about events referenced so I look them up and then I get interested in the show or whatever. True story - I now own three seasons of Buffy, started with the fanfic. It was daddy!kink, I didn't care who the characters were!). But I did switch main ukes with Buffy once I discovered what the characters were like. I think for me the original characters are a reference point, but that's about it. I was discussing this with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kegom and she was saying that she thinks Nino is a switch. And I agree, he totally doesn't act like someone who'd actually act like he does in the fics I like. He's a really complicated person who has many facets and different ways of acting. But the fact that he does sometimes act like that - cute and childish and affectionate, that's enough of a reference point for me to have something in mind, so behaviors and appearance, when I read the fic. Cos otherwise I might as well be reading original fiction (which I do, it's totally different. This one site has a lot of institutionalized slavery, I find it a total turn-off, actually.), the fan-ness of fanfic does play a big role.
So yeah, I got to thinking about the role of actual characters in my fanfic preferences. I'm not at all looking at "geez, this person would never want to bottom all the time" or "hmm, I bet he'd like to pitch and catch." What their characters indicate about their preference has. . . not nothing to do with what I like in fic, but very little. Rather than watching the boys - or even, in a non-RPS fandom, watching the show or reading the comic books - and thinking "Oh, those two seem to like each other quite a lot," I think "Hmm, who would be hot together?" It's totally sexually motivated. Plus, because of my exaggerated power difference thing, there's always going to be out of character behavior, pretty much. Especially in the JE RPS world.
So there's also one character that I latch on to. And I latch on to them. . . I actually already had them all listed because I was trying to figure out common points. I know I've been saying vulnerable a lot, but I think some appearance of vulnerability is as close as I could come. And it can be physical weakness, or insecurity, or both. Duo and Matt I don't think actually fit this - but Duo is often made far more vulnerable in fanfic. Basically I guess the Gundam Wing characters are so loose that fanfic can take them anywhere. Maybe anime in general is more like that. Also, I think physical beauty - prettiness, that is, a feminine appearance, is another factor and Duo and Matt are very pretty. Xander, Wesley and Tim are all people who lack powers in a world where others have them, Nino is small and weak and Shige has the whole insecure thing going on. Archie has bad stuff happen to him all the time. Simon is just gorgeous and I think he and Archie sort of epitomize what I like in these guys that I fix on. But I don't know if I can quite explain why. I do think part of it is the way the actors play them. Also, Archie was basically canon sexually abused, poor lad. But yeah, Jamie Bamber and Sean Maher - I have really, really big crushes on both of them. But I don't read fanfic about them because I actually CANNOT do RPS. JE is just screwing with my head.
Anyway, these uke characters, except for JE's few switches (which do not include Nino and Shige - it's Ryo, and Pi, and Jin, and Hina, and maybe a few others), but let's pretend JE is normal and there's just Nino and Shige. In each fandom, all the fic has to involve that one character as the bottom half of the pairing. And, like I said, I don't much care who the top half is, except to the extent that it affects the dynamic. I'm not sure if this comes because I'm only attracted to the one character, and because of my sexual kinks, I'm only interested in the person bottoming. So I only want to read about the person I'm attracted to doing the thing I find interesting. But I might be attracted to the character because I start reading the fic and I identify with them, and that makes me like them and starts that cycle. Or, I could identify with them and then not want to read about them topping because I don't want to. I don't know. . .
So! Back to my original point. When I read fanfic, I'm not looking for the best writing, really, and definitely not the best characterization, or the most amazing plots. I'm looking for fic that I find hot, that turn me on. There's generally a lot of adult material in my fandoms so I sort of thought that's why everyone else was there, too. XD But now I'm starting to realize maybe not. Hmm. I wish I had a better point to bring this all too. I don't understand myself at all?
This also affects my commenting patterns, because I know I'm looking for such specific things, if I don't like a fic it really doesn't mean anything - and even if I like it, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a good fic. I mean, I can tell the difference, but the ones I get really jazzed about. . . the better written fics, the more emotional/sexual impact, but in order to affect me, having the above priorities is more important. So yeah, I never really feel I can judge.
Ah, I was going to talk about fanfic gender dynamics more but I think I won't.
But yeah, every time I talk about fanfic with someone I feel like I'm so clearly moving from a completely different place, our starting assumptions are totally, totally different, and it's really hard to explain where I'm coming from. Now I guess I'll just link them here. XD
That was long. Anyway, I went to the Balloon and Music Festival out in Suffolk today. Craziness! Met a couple of Charles's friends, very exciting. Not really much balloons or music but got to hang out with Corey, and got nice new earrings, and 13 comic books!! Woo! A bunch of Impulse and Superboy and also some Guy Gardner: Warrior ones. And I got fried Oreos! Yaaaaaay! So it was fun. Also, whoa. Suffolk is quite different from Nassau.
Note: I'm aroused by a lot of material that many people find disturbing. This material is primarily not found in fanfic, and is only touched upon here. But it is mentioned and if you will get freaked out by that, please don't read this and maintain your mental image of me as normal and pure. XD Oh, hey, Corey! You said you were going to stop by to read about gynocologists - that's the entry below this one! Keep moving! I know, my normal and pure ship has sailed with you. Still. . .
My position towards fanfic is something that I've been trying to figure out lately, because it's recently become apparent that my approach is somewhat different than that of several people I know. I think I'm quite shallow about it, so i guess I thought I was typical. XD But I may not be. I care about writing ability but I don't get that concerned about plot or characterization - fanfic to me is primarily a sexual thing, I think. Even when it's a PG rated romance story, it's sexual, because for me penetration does not have to occur for something to be sexy, there just has to be a sort of power difference.
And that's because I am what I call a kinky person - but meaning I'm someone who is aroused by power difference in all types of media and to an extreme extent. So you could totally define kinky a different way, it's all very awkward. But just because that's how my sexuality works, shouldn't automatically imply that I would go to fanfiction primarily for sexual gratification. Like, I could be a person that's turned on by kinky sex, but doesn't read about kinky sex in my fanfic. But that's not the case.
I mean, I guess we turn to fanfic to get fulfillment that we can't get from the source material. Hence the emphasis on romantic stories, and especially slash. We don't get to see the characters (I'm going to say characters even though I recently started reading RPS, because that's still how I think of them, I don't know what that says) interacting the way we want them to, or might be interested in seeing. But even if it's just a domestic scene involving characters from an action show. Y'know? You want to see the characters have relationships that go deeper than what you get in the source material, or get to see them in another context. But more often than not, that's a romantic context - even if it's a canon pairing (which I don't think I've ever read extensively), you want to see more of the relationship or explore it beyond that which it gets on the show. I rarely read G-rated material, but I have. And I like it, if it's able to really show a side of the source material that I a) didn't get to see and b) wanted to see. And usually what falls in that material is relationships. Actually, I am someone that watches, say, Stargate SG-1 and wishes we could get an episode about Jack and Sam hanging out at the base and bugging General Hammond, but I think in terms of writing ability of the fanfic authors, I'm more likely to get a satisfying romance (not between Jack and Sam, I don't read het much, but that goes back to the sexual thing - which I do not see how it is linked to this second part of my analysis, I'll get back to it) than a satisfying episode, basically. So that's part of why G-rated stories don't interest me much, I guess.
Hmm. So on the one hand, I want my fanfic to turn me on. And it doesn't need to have actual sex to do that, it just needs to have characterizations in which my favorite character (normally one per fandom) is, in some loose way, in a position of decreased power. (this can be some sort of feminization, however subtle and not intended to imply power loss, also I like when the character is desired but that's sort of a whole different can of worms. also, hurt/comfort is always choice. And male-->female genderbending, for realz. so complicated!) On the other hand, I want my fandom to fulfill a desire to see the characters in a certain way that the source material is lacking.
OK, so I'm looking at my super-secret-but-not-really-so-please-don't-look-for-it journal where I just post all the fanfics I like in various fandoms so I have them wherever I go and I can do a little write up as well. And I'm trying to pull out the ones with ratings of PG-13 or below. Cos those are the ones where I guess it's more obvious what it is that I like, because in the higher rated ones, it's clearly the sex - even though I can pull out power different parts even in vanilla sex for the fics that I mark.
Koyato, G - Shige is afraid of thunger and Koyama comforts him, so it's sort of the hurt/comfort, plus Shige's all vulnerable and the other person (the fact that it's Koyama is, I think, a side thing) is strong and comforting.
Koyato, G - I like the second one, the way Shige allows Koyama to pick him up and carry him to bed.
Koyato, PG - Again, the second one - I love the description of Shige as being so sexy, and I love the way Koyama lusts after him. Good keywords: narrow waist and hips, off-shoulder shirt, choker, thin neck. I think it's suggestions of Shige having a feminine appearance.
Yoko/Ryo, PG - That's right, Ryo is my Kanjani8 uke of choice. XD I'll get into this one-character thing later, I guess. Anyway, Ryo is sweet and, although I hesitate to use this word, childlike. He pouts, and is cute and sweet and sleepy. I'm completely not interested in children or young teens or anything like that, I don't want them in my fanfic or my porn in any way - but I am very interested in adults behaving in a childlike manner. Or a petlike manner. This goes to extremes but more in my visual and non-fandom pornography. XD (On the subject of me NOT being a pedophile, I can't even really read stuff about ABC because even though they're all just about my age, since they haven't debuted and are still "juniors" I think of them as underage. O.o lol. Oops.)
Ohmiya, PG-13 - They all go to a haunted house and Nino gets scared and Ohno protects him. XD I'm seriously that easy. I count this sort of thing as power difference, my definition is very broad. Ohno has not power over Nino, but more power to control the situation than Nino, who is more the victim, the damsel in distress.
Nino/Sho, G - Nino sits in Sho's lap. More of that childlike thing, I guess. I think the relationship between a person who's sitting in someone's lap and the person having their lap sat on is a fairly defined one with particular implications.
Aiba/Nino, PG-13 - I hope this shows how I feel about the other half of the pairings. It's the same with NEWS and Kanjani8 but there were less hot PG-13 and under choices, so you don't see my pairing variety. Anyway, I'm so into this fic. I'm sure this is not what you were going for, Ames, but the sick, vulnerable, cute, childlike Nino being lusted after is basically just. . . I'm so, so there.
Makio/Sakurakouji (MBMH), PG - This pairing, from My Boss My Hero (think tough, violent yakuza Nagase and little chubby soft basically just like he is but less confident Tegoshi), is so prime for me being turned on without them having sex. Which is good cos I've only read maybe one NC-17 fic for them. ): But anyway, first Tegoshi/Sakurakouji is kidnapped and Makio/Nagase has to save him, then Sakurakouji makes Makio jealous and then has to appease him and then Sakurakouji gets compared to a woman, which happens a lot and I love it.
Makio/Sakurakouji, PG-13 - this author has a fic in which Sakurakouji is called Makio's wife, one in which the idea of him crossdressing is mentioned, and one in which he gets a "Property of Sakaki Makio" tattoo, and none of them have any sex so they basically all are examples. So awesome. XD This one is possibly my favorite, in which a bunch of host club employees, I guess, get jealous of Makio's attention to Sakurakouji and then compare themselves with him and realize he's prettier than them and everything.
I'm not even going to get into my position on genderbending here. Basically, I really, really love fiction in which boys are turned into women, and I'm happy when they're sort of characterized in feminine ways (not in camp ways, in that terms are applied to them that are usually applied to women, sort of thing). The latter is something that I struggle with a bit, because my whole theory about gender is basically that in the ways where the mind is in control of the body, women and men are the same. But also, of course, I think they should be equal and there's a clear element of the feminization creating a power-difference, and I wish it wasn't that way but it still turns me on. That's part of why for me, penetrative homosexual sex between men is hotter than other combinations, because there's an implicit feminization, basically. Anyway, nonetheless, this is something that I've long had to accept about myself. In real life, a more masculine woman (but not a biker-can't-tell-the-difference type) is a lot hotter than an effeminate man, but in fiction and porn, I love feminized men. Anyway.
So that's a sort of brief sampling of what I like. Even though those are my G fics, so it seems like they should be of the "I want fulfillment for unexplored aspects of the characters" school, they are actually of the "I want fulfillment. . . of a sexual nature" school. They all turn me on. But these are the fics that I marked to reread - they aren't all the fics I've read and enjoyed. But they are, one might say, my favorites. I don't know why I just said "one might say," by the way. I am not a person who says that. Anyway, basically my requirements for liking a fic are incredibly dependent on their having the above elements. Ahhh, except for in Harry Potter where i started out wanting all the sex because it's a very, very kinky and porny fandom, but at this point I just want to read long, satisfying Ron/Draco romantic epics in which nothing too horrible happens. So in that fandom, possibly because I really don't like the source material that much, I am just completely option two: satisfaction and fulfillment that can't be found in the original work. But apart from that - my other fanfic reading fandoms being Gundam Wing, Horatio Hornblower, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly (Joss Whedon is a king for providing Laura with fandoms), X-Men, Johnny's Entertainment (a different animal), the DC Universe (also a different animal), and to a lesser extent, Digimon and Stargate (I can't find enough material I like because in Digimon the fans are younger, so there's less good writing, plus I need stuff where the characters have been aged a little past the show, and Stargate because my character of choice is Jonas and very few people write about him). Also, in terms of the later fandoms - GW, Horatio Hornblower, Buffy, and Angel I all got into the fandom before the source material. It's hard for me to go the other way around. I know, it's totally odd.
OK, so with each of those fandoms except for JE, I have one character that I want to see be "uke." That is, if anyone is going to be hurt/vulnerable/desired/fucked/childlike/feminized, it's going to be that character. In GW, it's Duo; HH, Archie; for BtVS it's Xander; Angel it's Wesley; Firefly it's totally Simon; DCU it's Tim Drake; X-Men it's Bobby Drake (that bothers me. Do I just like people named Drake?); and Stargate it's Jonas. Like, totally, clearly, obviously. That person has to be in any pairing, they have to be the bottom, and I don't much care who they're paired with. Except that sometimes a particular pairing will be more or less likely to lend itself to the kind of fics I like to read. I don't know if anyone on my friend's list is even into X-Men fic, but Bobby is only occasionally characterized the way I want him to be, so I don't really get to read any of the Pyro/Iceman fics, and not too many of the comicverse ones. Also, often my Character is one of the most popular ones to write about and Bobby and Tim and Jonas aren't really.
Anyway, JE is all wacky-sauce, partly cos there's so many different groups, so there's different groups of relationships - which actually means some people get to switch. Plus, it's RPS so clearly they're more complicated, even though when it comes to fanfic I'm more interested in a simplified version - in my outside fanfic fan-ing, I like the complicated, of course! But yeah, Ryo - in Kanjani8 he's totally uke, and I find it ridiculously hot, but in NEWS sometimes he tops. Although I still prefer him to uke. But he also gets to top Uchi sometimes, too. And I never, ever, ever had switches before. I guess if I fic was really, really kinky.
Cos I think for me, like. . . it's probably obvious I don't worry too much about realistic characterization. Especially if I'm starting reading the fanfic before I'm familiar with the source material (I allow the fanfic to suck me in - i get curious about events referenced so I look them up and then I get interested in the show or whatever. True story - I now own three seasons of Buffy, started with the fanfic. It was daddy!kink, I didn't care who the characters were!). But I did switch main ukes with Buffy once I discovered what the characters were like. I think for me the original characters are a reference point, but that's about it. I was discussing this with
kegom and she was saying that she thinks Nino is a switch. And I agree, he totally doesn't act like someone who'd actually act like he does in the fics I like. He's a really complicated person who has many facets and different ways of acting. But the fact that he does sometimes act like that - cute and childish and affectionate, that's enough of a reference point for me to have something in mind, so behaviors and appearance, when I read the fic. Cos otherwise I might as well be reading original fiction (which I do, it's totally different. This one site has a lot of institutionalized slavery, I find it a total turn-off, actually.), the fan-ness of fanfic does play a big role.So yeah, I got to thinking about the role of actual characters in my fanfic preferences. I'm not at all looking at "geez, this person would never want to bottom all the time" or "hmm, I bet he'd like to pitch and catch." What their characters indicate about their preference has. . . not nothing to do with what I like in fic, but very little. Rather than watching the boys - or even, in a non-RPS fandom, watching the show or reading the comic books - and thinking "Oh, those two seem to like each other quite a lot," I think "Hmm, who would be hot together?" It's totally sexually motivated. Plus, because of my exaggerated power difference thing, there's always going to be out of character behavior, pretty much. Especially in the JE RPS world.
So there's also one character that I latch on to. And I latch on to them. . . I actually already had them all listed because I was trying to figure out common points. I know I've been saying vulnerable a lot, but I think some appearance of vulnerability is as close as I could come. And it can be physical weakness, or insecurity, or both. Duo and Matt I don't think actually fit this - but Duo is often made far more vulnerable in fanfic. Basically I guess the Gundam Wing characters are so loose that fanfic can take them anywhere. Maybe anime in general is more like that. Also, I think physical beauty - prettiness, that is, a feminine appearance, is another factor and Duo and Matt are very pretty. Xander, Wesley and Tim are all people who lack powers in a world where others have them, Nino is small and weak and Shige has the whole insecure thing going on. Archie has bad stuff happen to him all the time. Simon is just gorgeous and I think he and Archie sort of epitomize what I like in these guys that I fix on. But I don't know if I can quite explain why. I do think part of it is the way the actors play them. Also, Archie was basically canon sexually abused, poor lad. But yeah, Jamie Bamber and Sean Maher - I have really, really big crushes on both of them. But I don't read fanfic about them because I actually CANNOT do RPS. JE is just screwing with my head.
Anyway, these uke characters, except for JE's few switches (which do not include Nino and Shige - it's Ryo, and Pi, and Jin, and Hina, and maybe a few others), but let's pretend JE is normal and there's just Nino and Shige. In each fandom, all the fic has to involve that one character as the bottom half of the pairing. And, like I said, I don't much care who the top half is, except to the extent that it affects the dynamic. I'm not sure if this comes because I'm only attracted to the one character, and because of my sexual kinks, I'm only interested in the person bottoming. So I only want to read about the person I'm attracted to doing the thing I find interesting. But I might be attracted to the character because I start reading the fic and I identify with them, and that makes me like them and starts that cycle. Or, I could identify with them and then not want to read about them topping because I don't want to. I don't know. . .
So! Back to my original point. When I read fanfic, I'm not looking for the best writing, really, and definitely not the best characterization, or the most amazing plots. I'm looking for fic that I find hot, that turn me on. There's generally a lot of adult material in my fandoms so I sort of thought that's why everyone else was there, too. XD But now I'm starting to realize maybe not. Hmm. I wish I had a better point to bring this all too. I don't understand myself at all?
This also affects my commenting patterns, because I know I'm looking for such specific things, if I don't like a fic it really doesn't mean anything - and even if I like it, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a good fic. I mean, I can tell the difference, but the ones I get really jazzed about. . . the better written fics, the more emotional/sexual impact, but in order to affect me, having the above priorities is more important. So yeah, I never really feel I can judge.
Ah, I was going to talk about fanfic gender dynamics more but I think I won't.
But yeah, every time I talk about fanfic with someone I feel like I'm so clearly moving from a completely different place, our starting assumptions are totally, totally different, and it's really hard to explain where I'm coming from. Now I guess I'll just link them here. XD
That was long. Anyway, I went to the Balloon and Music Festival out in Suffolk today. Craziness! Met a couple of Charles's friends, very exciting. Not really much balloons or music but got to hang out with Corey, and got nice new earrings, and 13 comic books!! Woo! A bunch of Impulse and Superboy and also some Guy Gardner: Warrior ones. And I got fried Oreos! Yaaaaaay! So it was fun. Also, whoa. Suffolk is quite different from Nassau.
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Date: 2007-08-19 04:41 pm (UTC)And as for your kinks, honestly though laura if it doesn’t include child porn, I’m sure whatever it is isn’t that bad ^_^. Really, seriously though I think that you are actually one of the more normal people on my flist. Like this fandom in general seems to attract it’s share of eccentrics, crackpots and nutcases (I include myself in this statement) but most of the people I run into are just lovably quirky, but some others…not so much. I honestly question some of these girl’s mental health…well I won’t name names and it’s not my place to go judging others but suffice to say, you are not that bad. Really though the world is a big place, if I learned anything from the internet it’s that. There will always be someone stranger than you, someone more unfortunate than you, prettier than you, uglier than you, wiser than you and also far less wise than you. Yeah reading some of girls on my flist’s journals I realize that my problems are really not that bad in comparison. Not necessarily because their lives are that bad but their perception of their lives is that bad. I realize that I actually have a good grip on myself…oh lookie here, I went off on a tangent AGAIN. My apologies, I will stop now. In a nutshell what I’m saying is here in the wide recesses of the internet you are PERFECTLY SANE. And you should feel right at home here in JE land, lord knows everybody here probably has some kind weird kink/fetish.
I really want to write eito fanfiction now. Like AU stuff. I already got this idea with yoko as a teenage gang boss…it’s more detailed than that but I don’t want to attack your comments with stuff you may or may not want to hear. Really I’m thinking of doing short stories with each member of K8 as the leading character. I already have outlines! :D
“so I've checked out ashkt's work, but I have mixed feelings about it.”
I feel kind of awkward now. Sorry I misunderstood. Not your cup of tea? Well it isn’t for everyone and I’d question why I would read it too… except that I already know the answer to that. *ahem* Anyway truth be told I can read that stuff dark violent movies I can't watch at all, who know why.
Also I see what you mean about imbalanced doesn not necessarily mean unequal, or rather I think unequal does not necessarily mean imbalanced. Well I guess a good example would be a relationship between a S person and a M person (I’m talking personality types here not…the other thing) Basically the S person will dominate the relationship because he/she wants to but the M person will be perfectly ok with that because he/she wants to be dominated. That M person does not feel comfortable in power nor desire it, therefore even though the power is unequally shared, the relationship will be perfectly balanced because the people are in agreement with each other’s roles in the relationship. In essence they compliment each other and in that sense unequal does not necessarily mean imbalanced.
There really is not enough uke ryo fic in the world, and I actually think that it's alot closer to the real ryo. And in regards to uchi… He definitly has a dark side. I mean people do not even KNOW. I've read in several places yoko saying he was surprised by how sharp tongued uchi could be. Even though uchi is usually a sweetheart I think that he actually has the capacity to be much more mean spirited than ryo does. I mean I think it’s pretty obvious by now ryo’s not as tough as he acts. There was this one shounen club ep where ryo had to say a weakness about himself and ryo said "I act strong." and uchi's response to this is? To get up in ryo's face and go "EHHHH!" loudly and with a mocking tone. He was totally smirking at him. Seriously uchi can be pretty vindictive sometimes. I could totally make a list. In fact one day I will make a list and post it up on my lj with screen caps and links and everything. It will be titled "All the times Uchi Hiroki was evil...that I know of" It will shake the core foundations of this fandom! All the fangirls will see once and for all that he is not the innocent little princess they make him out to be...and does it reflect poorly on me that this just makes me like him more? >_<
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Date: 2007-08-19 09:21 pm (UTC)You don't need to feel awkward about reccing it at all - I do read that sort of stuff, I used to read it all the time - just in other fandoms. In JE, I just don't read anything where the boys aren't in good mental health. It doesn't interest me. Normally I'd be all over psycho darkfic, just not in this fandom. No big, no need to worry.
Yeah, Japan uses M and S for personality types. . . but in the US I've seen them only used to describe pain giving or receiving preferences. In the kink world we'd say Dom/me and sub, I guess, to refer to the personality types. But I was actually just mostly talking about fanfic dynamics, not actual relationships. There's a big difference, for me.
Yeah, Ryo, especially in Kanjani8, is totally sweet and cute, even though he has the harsh-tongued reputation. His tongue is harsh, but inside he's just a big squishy cuddly pile of fluff!! ;) Not that I didn't just write seme Ryo. XD But squishy Ryo is pending :)
I really want you to make that list of evil Uchi moments!! Although for me, top Uchi is more based on times when they've talked about how much more mature Uchi is than Ryo, even though he's younger. Like, I don't know if you've seen it but there's some vid where Uchi is talking about a time where Ryo was jumping on the bed and Uchi was all "you're noisy!" and Ryo tried to do a flip and was like "Whoa! THat was scary!" And Uchi's like "how old are you again??" So my picture of Topping Uchi is sort of based on that. And he's better at holding onto his cool image with Kanjani8 than Ryo is, I think. Although there's a sad lack of Uchi material. . . stupid suspension. XD I guess, yeah, like you said, the uke image is based on his girly princess behavior - and I do read him as uke, but I can totally see him as seme!!
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Date: 2007-08-20 01:37 am (UTC)Also regarding your kinks I...have no idea what you just said. So I will just say OK! :D
Well I don't think any of the boy's are mentally imbalanced (well maybe subaru...XD) but the stories are far enough from reality that it doesn't matter. Really she could write fiction with her own characters if she wanted to.
Ryo = sharp tongued but soft hearted. Actually I think okura's intro for him in the Spirits DVD opening song 8'0 clock, sums him up rather well ^_^.
You are officially the 3rd person to ask for that list and...I think I'm gonna get started on it right now. Although it only has like 10 or 11 things on it for the mean time. As for Uchi being more mature. I ABSOLUTELY AGREE. Someone said on the MK forums that uchi was just as dokkun as ryo but uchi had better self control and did not blurt out things as much or was just generally better at hiding his bitchiness. But that just makes him more dangerous doesn't it? Yeah I saw that clip, KAWAII. Uchi is kinda like a cutesy version of matsujun actually. Cause he is all prissy and feminine but he is also very Do-S and bitchy. Uchi is more likely to act goofy than ryo is but in that sense it's of his own accord unlike ryo who is almost always unintentionally funny. Yeah despite ryo's ero otoko/otokomae image he is in fact quite childish at times. Just makes him cuter if you ask me. And Uchi can be very kakkoii but he also runs from dogs screeching his head off so well I'd say it's about even between those two as far as image is concerned XD. Really no one in K8 could maintain their dignity for long, I'm looking at you Tacchon. I don't care how hot you've gotten lately you are still a DORK AND A CLUTZ. But that's why i love you <3
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Date: 2007-08-20 08:32 pm (UTC)That is so true about Uchi and Matsujun! Except I have this theory that Jun's bitchy hides his insecurities whereas Uchi's gay bitchy is just gay bitchy. XD But yeah, he is way, way cuter! Aww, Uchi is so shiny. That's why Kanjani8 need him back. Also because of the way he runs from dogs screaming like a little girl. Hahahaha XD Oh man, no one fails like Kanjani8!!
Wait, what's "dokkun"? Man, I totally thought it was just from "NishikiDO-KUN" but clearly I am totally missing something!
I'm clealry working my way through this backwards, so I'll finish by saying that 10 or 11 items is a totally healthy-sized list - don't delay!
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Date: 2007-08-21 02:03 am (UTC)I could totally see how matsujun's bitchiness is just to hide his woobie side. And Uchi is the real bitch! Hee! It is like a talent, K8's ability to fail can rival all other groups in JE!
Dokkun is yoko's nickname for ryo and it means "poison tongue" it's a cute nickname ne? ^_^
I am also responding in whatever order I feel like! I swear I would work on that list right now but I have a stupid essay to write for college. I don't wanna! *throws book across room* I will do it but I'm not sure if it will be done anytime soon. And I have class tomorrow and should be working now...
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Date: 2007-08-21 01:40 pm (UTC)I am so with you on that! It's just great. It was the genius of Honjani. ::sigh:: Although actually i have no right to be sighing cos I haven't watched anywhere near all of the episodes of honjani, so if I really missed it I could go download them. XD
Haha, I'm happy for Tacchon that he got pretty. I actually find that cute, somehow, like "You made it!" Even though his lips are too thick for me. . . But yeah, a video like that would be amazing. We need to find someone who can make it.
Ahh, that is such a cute nickname. Actually, I'm not-so-secretly a huge Yoko/Ryo fan. XD It's all the teasing, I love it!
Agh, you have work for school already? I don't start until Sept. 5th. ::sigh:: Well, I'm looking forward to it, but since I just stopped work my vacation just started, sort of, and I'm really enjoying the idleness!
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Date: 2007-08-21 08:51 pm (UTC)Oh is that why I have been getting faster replies now? :D So you are officially free until sept 5th? Maybe I should take advantage of this and spam you with comments XD just kidding. But I am thinking of updating my journal soon. I have alot of fandom related posts I wanna do. (since my last lj post was about real life.) Let's see if I can manage it. Man fandom is hard work! XD
Yoko/ryo is very cute but I prefer yoko/uchi. They are very cute like an older brother and his younger...sister XD No really those two would get paired off alot during urajani and during the tights mania episode (btw weirdest hobby EVER.) they decide that yoko and uchi have to try on the full body tights and poor uchi looks freaked out and so he grabs yoko's wrist and it's just really cute. Big bro yokocho to the rescue! I seriously love how Hina and Yoko are the big brothers to the rest of the K8 members. You can dl the episode (and see screencaps)that I'm talking about on fatzoe666's lj. Also yoko/okura is also a very cute pair indeed. They go eating out together and worry about how chubby they're getting together! And get pissed at Hina when he says he can't gain any weight, together XD