Another meme

[dreamflower]

Taken from several people on my flist:

Name five ‘non-sexual kinks’ you have as a reader/writer: that is, five writing techniques, themes, settings, or character types that really draw you into a story. (If they are different for you as a reader than as a writer, please name both!)

1. I will call this one "turnabout". In every fandom there seems to be a character who gets the lion's share of attention (especially in hurt/comfort). In hobbit-fic, this character is almost always Frodo. I'm a sucker for fics in which that's turned around, and Frodo gets the chance to take care of someone for a change. And in any fandom, I enjoy it when the designated "caregiver" character gets the chance to be the "care-receiver" for once.

2. "Fluff with a bite". Drabbles are really good for this, but I've seen it in longer stories as well: sweet, light, inconsequential domesticity, with a sentence or two dropped in near the end to remind the reader that this won't last--something's happened/will happen to break your heart and spoil it all.

3. Opposite of the above: "Angst plus fluff", in which a sad, seemingly desperate situation is ameliorated by happy moments that remind the reader "this too will pass, and hope will endure as long as love does."

4. One theme I love is the triumph of compassion, in which things like mercy and forgiveness win the day; or in which the lack of these qualities cause the downfall of the villain(s). I suppose that is why LotR remains forever at the top of my favorite stories.

5. Friendship. Deep and loyal friendships that motivate the characters to help and to care for one another. I really love to read (and write) about how these friendships were formed and cemented.

I like to write about all these things, and even more to read about them.

Comments

[shirebound]

*loves your list with great lovings*

[dreamflower]

*grin* And you have, at one time or another, satisfied them all. You are especially good at 1 and 5: you've written several fics in which the hobbits get to take care of Aragorn, for instance, and "Quarantined" is just one of them. "Keep Him Secret, Keep Him Safe" is another, and there are several more!

[shirebound]

*happy hugs*

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

I love this list! I am really enjoying reading people's takes on these!

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Very good points which I agree with.

[dreamflower]

It's been very interesting to me to see how many people prefer friendship to romance!

I love seeing what everyone has said as well. Some of them have surprised me.

[dreamflower]

This has been a fun meme. I really like seeing what all the answers are from other folks!

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

#1 is something I like, as well. I would add that for me, seeing someone unusual as the caregiver, even if the "h" person is the usual one (like Hobbits caring for Aragorn, which I can't get enough of because there's not much of it out there), makes a story more interesting.

#3 - I *love* angst mixed with fluff and vice versa. To me, either without the other is like eating a meal without any seasoning whatsoever.

[dreamflower]

Oh yes, I love seeing hobbits taking care of Aragorn! And someone different as the caregiver is always great, but I think seeing the usual victim as caregiver is a sort of vindication, a chance to see the character being strong, competent, and caring for a change. (Because even if they are strong, competent and caring in canon, fanon will often "woobify" them and turn them into complete wimps. Or make them ridiculously and childishly resistant to treatment, which is nearly as bad.)

"To me, either without the other is like eating a meal without any seasoning whatsoever."

Exactly!

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Because even if they are strong, competent and caring in canon, fanon will often "woobify" them and turn them into complete wimps. Or make them ridiculously and childishly resistant to treatment, which is nearly as bad.

WOOBIFY! I love that word and plan to steal it, just so you know. *g*
But you are so right. I've seen fics woobify Aragorn so much that he's no longer Aragorn. I think a certain amount of wimpiness/resistance to treatment can work--see the way I have him react to a mustard plaster in No Greater Name--but you have to be cautious and keep the essence of a character intact and take into consideration age and experience and wisdom, etc.

[dreamflower]

LOL! "Woobie" of course is from TV Tropes.

Someone who is injured or ill *is* going to be feeling a little wimpy. But not to the extent I've often seen it, when the character never gets a chance to be anything but frail.

And it's often a macho thing to resist treatment to a certain extent. But some people go so overboard with it. They'll have an injured character who's bleeding like a stuck pig saying, "Oh, I'm fine. I don't need any healing!" or acting like a two-year-old when confronted by medicine.

One of the worst flaws in some fanfic is when the writer doesn't seem to know how to temper such things--some don't ever learn when enough is enough. A little bit can go a long way--a big old tough warrior spluttering over a cup of bitter medicine is amusing; spending a page or two describing it and then repeating it every single time he's dosed is both tedious and annoying.

I don't think I've ever seen you guilty of going overboard--most of my favorite authors do seem to understand the concept of "a little bit goes a long way".

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

One of the worst flaws in some fanfic is when the writer doesn't seem to know how to temper such things--some don't ever learn when enough is enough.

This, exactly. Less is more!

I don't think I've ever seen you guilty of going overboard

I save that for the first drafts that no one sees but my betas, who promptly reel me back in. :D

[dawn_felagund]

#1 especially reminds me of something I love in Silmfic (possibly Tolkienfic more broadly, but I'm not widely read enough here to know!) where a character gets a certain treatment in fanon and someone inverts that, interpreting the facts in a new and interesting way.

I very much agree with #2-3. I am not a huge fan of pure fluff, tending toward darker themes in my reading and writing, but there are authors who do a fantastic job of working in fluffier or humorous elements into stories that are otherwise quite tragic. And I think this works very well (and feels very realistic, as there is rarely a time when everything is All Lovely or All Horrible! :)

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed reading these, particularly the turnaround one. I recently wrote a story where both Holmes and Watson were caring for each other in different ways, and the Holmes-patching-up-Watson bit was fun to write since it's regularly the other way around. It's a great way to upset expectations and really crawl into a new headspace.

[dreamflower]

It is neat to upset expectations and get into a new headspace.

I think part of the reason I like it so much (particularly with Frodo) is that it gives a chance to show him as strong and competent.

Whatever the fandoms, too often the favorite "designated victims" are shown as chronically weak in ways that have nothing to do with the illness/injury in the story, and incapable of caring for themselves much less anyone else, or they are shown as willfully stupid and stubborn in fighting or ignoring the treatment they need (another way of being actually weak while pretending to be strong).

I like it when the h/c is done realistically and in moderation, and nicely shared among the major characters, rather than confined to one person.

[dreamflower]

And sometimes the inverted treatment ends up becoming a fanon of its own! I can think of several in hobbit-fic!

The cool thing about fanfic is that it's easy to slip in these little bits of angst (or humor) without actually having to say much, because readers are already familiar with the story, so foreshadowing can be done with just a few words.

An example of 2 would be a fic about young Boromir, perhaps something all nice and funny and fluffy with wee Faramir--and end it with something like "We'll always be together."

Then that story will get all kinds of comments about how it made the reader all sad and weepy.

A person who knew nothing about LotR would certainly wonder what was wrong with all those commenters!