Bingeing on Fic...

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26 July 2008 @ 12:34 pm

Bingeing on Fic...

Urg. I quit writing last night around 11:30, thinking I'd get to bed early. Hah! Instead, I finished a story I'd intended to read all day and it had parts involving "claiming" that sent me off to read Sentinel fic again (until 3a.m.) about some of the 'extreme bonding.' That stuff is like a drug. A bad drug.

I know I've been over this before, but I still don't get it. WHAT is the appeal of writing stuff that is so close to slash but has none of the fun parts of slash? You've got men really going at it with each other in the throes of passion: marking with their scent, biting, licking and tasting, going "into heat," and rubbing up against each other (often naked), and yet... no sex, or even kissing. I mean, if men are sleeping curled-up together, snuggling, being all tender with each other, I want some kissing!

It's actually frustrating reading this stuff, like all of the buildup with no payoff.

I can't get over the feeling that it's a fear of genitalia, or a desire for everything LIKE slash but a fear of crossing the line (of actually being gay, though the only way it could get more gay would be kissing and sex?) I don't get it. I'd rather read about men sharing traditional love than biting and clawing each other, you know? :(

*

For writing, i's been a heavy birthday week (whoo!). I've got a couple of drabbles left (one with prompts), and some super-sekrit fics that are creeping along. I don't know if the Die Hard things will ever finish- some SPN stories have actual deadlines (got my Remix assignment!!). I'll be writing during my vacation, that's for sure.

The birthday fics have been The Good this week. The Bad was losing half a derailleur on Monday's ride (but I still had about 2-3 subgears on each gear, so I did the whole 30-mile ride), and The Ugly was smallish-- brushing my teeth before using the gym Tuesday, I inhaled a minor amount of Aquafresh Extreme Clean. Coughed for 3 hours-- I guess even a litle goes a long way. :0

Ever get phrases stuck in your head (like songs)? For days now, I've had Robot Fred Flinstone in my head saying "Yabba. Dabba. Doo!" Why that?

ETA: This Sentinel story is more a step in the right direction for me, though it was less... in character... during the sex, I thought. Comes from a recs page I plan to make my way through over time (god, it had better not be tonight). :0

Tags: cycling, me

16 comments | Say what you feel

16 comments —

( 16 comments — Say what you feel )

clair_de_lune on July 26th, 2008 08:40 pm (UTC)

WHAT is the appeal of writing stuff that is so close to slash but has none of the fun parts of slash?

I wrote a Michael/Lincoln fic not so long ago that could more or less fit this description. Just because it was fun/interesting/whatever to tip-toe around the line and resist the urge to actually dip past it ;) Now writing only that, I don't know... ^_^

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halfshellvenus on July 26th, 2008 08:44 pm (UTC)

wrote a Michael/Lincoln fic not so long ago that could more or less fit this description. Just because it was fun/interesting/whatever to tip-toe around the line and resist the urge to actually dip past it ;)

How close, though? I can understand the "getting close"- I like to play with that idea once in awhile too. ;)

It's having it be an entire genre, where the author uses repeated sexual tantalization and gets to so-close-to-slash-but-not-quite that gets me. In the "Sentinel" case, it almost reads like unhealthy sexual sublimation on the part of the characters. :0

"I want you" "I need to bond with you now" etc., etc.

For crying out loud, less biting and more kissing! :0

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clair_de_lune on July 26th, 2008 09:30 pm (UTC)

How close, though? I can understand the "getting close"- I like to play with that idea once in awhile too. ;)

Close enough for them to be aware of the situation and not want to know on which side of the line they stand, but I swear, no biting or clawing. Not a lot of descriptions actually because it was merely a short one shot.

It's having it be an entire genre, where the author uses repeated sexual tantalization and gets to so-close-to-slash-but-not-quite that gets me.

Yes, I guess that would be the definition of smarm ;) I can understand your 'addiction' because I read a few of them by curiosity years ago and I don't even like the show. Back then, as far as I remember, it was the unrealistic aspect that made me think Yeah, right ^^. Might be because I didn't really know the show, though.

For crying out loud, less biting and more kissing! :0

I'm sorry, but... *lol* I feel for you ;)

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halfshellvenus on July 26th, 2008 09:36 pm (UTC)

Yes, I guess that would be the definition of smarm ;)
Well, I've met some lovely ladies who are very happy with smarm stopping at touching and hugging and some clinging. They're not looking for more at all-- this kind of thing seems slashy to them a lot of the time. :0

I'm sorry, but... *lol* I feel for you ;)
Hee! I'm not particularly big on the "rough sex" idea at all, but if you're going to pull me in then there'd better be a payoff! :0

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huntress69 on July 26th, 2008 08:55 pm (UTC)

It's actually frustrating reading this stuff, like all of the buildup with no payoff.

In the majority of fandoms I have read/do read, if I see a rating of NC17 I want the sex. Yeah, I hate it also with this major build up and then...nothing. If the guys (whoever they may be) are not "going all the way" (that phrase comes from my inner-teenager LOL), than rate the fic R or PG. That's what I do when I don't write the actual act, cause to me, heavy petting, making out, rubbing/frottage can be either. I am going to assume that the fics you were reading had an NC17 rating?

But in TS, I love it when Jim and Blair bond, do their Sentinel/Guide thing and that is all of it. Maybe because of the circumstances as to what they are to one another. And on the flip side, I so love it when Jim goes "total Sentinel" and claims his guide.

And on yet another note, "Yabba. Dabba. Do?" I feel for you on that one. I think it's time to switch channels and watch The Jetsons. Or take a vacation LOL.

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halfshellvenus on July 26th, 2008 09:05 pm (UTC)

If the guys (whoever they may be) are not "going all the way" (that phrase comes from my inner-teenager LOL), than rate the fic R or PG.
My inner teenager too. ;)

But it's not a question of the rating so much-- if you're getting to the point of that picture there, I want kissing at a minimum (I'm big on kissing, so even just the kissing would be okay with me). Not having watched the series, I have no idea how much touching there actually is in canon, but if you're "claiming" someone like that and pheremones are running hot and loose, then how are you NOT having sex? They're guys-- it's not like their anatomy won't start giving them away!

And on yet another note, "Yabba. Dabba. Do?" I feel for you on that one. I think it's time to switch channels and watch The Jetsons. Or take a vacation LOL.
I haven't watched or even glimpsed The Flintstones in probably 20 years. That's why this is so horrifying! And I always found the Jetsons funnier. Loved Rosie the Robot. ;)

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huntress69 on July 26th, 2008 09:14 pm (UTC)

Some shows you see the slash, and some you *SEE* the slash, if you get what I am saying. TS, they touched so much, and Blair did move in with Jim, even my daughter, who was much younger at the time, thought they were boyfriends. They were even touchier than S&H. I don't think I ever read a fic where they didn't at least kiss. It's also one of few fandoms where I enjoyed the G-rated stuff as much as the NC17. I haven't gotten the show on DVD yet (S1 came out about 6 months ago) but I have them all on VHS. It's amazing how many love the Jim/Blair pairing but haven't seen the show. I actually found it more prevalent there than in any other fandom. And I am babbling, so I will shut up now.

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halfshellvenus on July 26th, 2008 09:22 pm (UTC)

They were even touchier than S&H.
Oh.My.God. That's my kind of show. :0

I don't think I ever read a fic where they didn't at least kiss.
*groans* I've read tons, where there's all this other sexualized touching but not that. I have come across some slash, it's true, but it's more that I wish these particular stories were going there.

Because slash where suddenly one or both of the guys becomes a virtual teenaged girl, or "oh, secretly gay all this time" or what-have-you really is NOT my thing. It doesn't push my slash buttons at all.

And in Sentinel and even S&H, you get about 50% of the slash falling into one of those categories. Meh.

It's amazing how many love the Jim/Blair pairing but haven't seen the show. I actually found it more prevalent there than in any other fandom.
Clearly it hooked me, and I've never seen the show! It's the only show where I'm reading the pairing and haven't seen the show-- slash about random guys (even if I know what they look like) doesn't have much appeal to me.

For these two, it's the clear yin/yang, drawn-together-despite-surface-differences-and-irritations, and interdependency (whether they want it or not) that's so compelling.

I mean, that's a big part of why Michael/Lincoln (Prison Break) and Sam/Dean are so irresistible to me. The fact that they're brothers in both cases hasn't stopped me, though it should.

Speaking of rambling...

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huntress69 on July 26th, 2008 09:26 pm (UTC)

One last thing, and then I swear I will shut up. Garrett Maggart (Blair) said at a TS con that he did read the slash, but he thought Blair bottomed too much. Within a week there were a gazillion Blair tops fics LOL.

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halfshellvenus on July 26th, 2008 09:34 pm (UTC)

Garrett Maggart (Blair) said at a TS con that he did read the slash,
Whoo-hoo!

but he thought Blair bottomed too much.
Ha!

Um, big masculine guy not so much in touch with his feelings (read, semi-homophobic) and little guy with whiny voice who isn't traditionally masculine?

What did he THINK was going to happen there?

Jim seems like an anti-bottom to me, which leaves Blair as the bottom. Doesn't mean he has to be all girly and begging for it (which again does not have much appeal for me in slash), but I just don't see him successfully topping with Jim.

I mean, I've read some of those, and I get caught on "Who is this guy they're calling Jim? He doesn't seem like the actual Jim at all."

Maybe he doesn't get that sometimes the "bottom" is more defined by one character being the obvious "top."

I don't know. I'm not big on that terminology anyway.

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resounding_echo on July 26th, 2008 09:18 pm (UTC)

Re: The Sentinel

I totally get the appeal of that kind of fic. I love that kind of commitment where the relationship is completely erotic and not ever explicitly sexual. I think it's an interesting testiment to commitment and love. It's especially interesting to see in same-sex relationships where neither partner considers themselves homosexual.

But maybe that's just me. In the most erotic thing I've ever read, there is not even touching, let alone sexual touching. But it was so erotically charged. Damn.

On the flip side, I definitely think that what you call a fear of genitalia may be so for some of the fans, particularly of Sentinel fic (since this was an earlier fandom where slash was not accepted in fandom and homosexuality in real life).

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halfshellvenus on July 26th, 2008 09:25 pm (UTC)

In the most erotic thing I've ever read, there is not even touching, let alone sexual touching. But it was so erotically charged.
It probably wouldn't get me so much if the language wasn't so sexualized, and if you didn't have all of this biting/clawing/tasting and pheremone-laden behavior and "make me yours" and "mash me into the mattress" kind of talk.

Sometimes there's tenderness, but often it's animalistic rutting that really seems like it should be headed for an orgasm any second now! And then... not. That's the frustrating part.

(since this was an earlier fandom where slash was not accepted in fandom and homosexuality in real life).
There IS slash in the fandom, but it's this huge quantity of sexless-slash that puzzles me. I mean, even for Starsky and Hutch people just wrote either the cuddling or the actual slash. It wasn't so almost-there-almost-almost-nevermind. ;)

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destina on July 26th, 2008 09:38 pm (UTC)

Buuuuuut porn is not the central element of slash; subtext is. I don't really get Sentinel smarm, either, because by my definition most of it is slash, or what some call pre-slash. It used to drive me crazy. However, there are some gorgeous slash stories out there in the world that have not one bit of sex in them, because the emotional subtext is the point.

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halfshellvenus on July 26th, 2008 09:48 pm (UTC)

However, there are some gorgeous slash stories out there in the world that have not one bit of sex in them, because the emotional subtext is the point.
Oh, definitely-- and I like those very much.

The difference is that they don't get my expectations up with all this talk of ratcheting each other into a sexualized frenzy along the way.

I mean, these stories drag you into the territory of SO-CLOSE and then bail out on you. If the story goes into a different territory entirely and concludes in a complementary way, that totally works for me.

It used to drive me crazy.
Apparently it IS driving me crazy, and this is after already going through this once already. ;) You'd think I'd learn, wouldn't you? :D

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jasmasson on July 27th, 2008 12:14 pm (UTC)

Ummm. It's actually frustrating reading this stuff, like all of the buildup with no payoff. yep, I hear what you're saying, but.. hook me up? Yes, I am a mosochist ;-) I'm a sucker for a claiming fic, although, obviously prefer a follow through people!

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halfshellvenus on August 1st, 2008 08:24 am (UTC)

Glad you enjoyed what I emailed you-- and that the link finally returned. :0

Nothing like posting comments like the stuff above, and then having a whole website disappear. :0

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