Stuff came up during yesterday's Denial chat about character/attractiveness preferences and such, and that kind of pushed my brain into thinking more about how different my own fic preferences often are from other fen (regardless of fandom.)
As I've mentioned before, I'm not much of an OTP-er and when it comes to large ensemble casts with lots of attractive/interesting characters, I have a tendency to throw just about everyone together in some configuration or other, up to and including all-out anything-goes orgy fic. Hot people doing naughty things is fun, yo.
However, that really only goes for PWP-ish stuff. When it comes to longer stuff, realistic scenarios and characterization are really important to me. When I'm going for the sex, realistic is definitely important, but when there's added character drama? It's got to be spot-on, too, or I'm thrown out of it and will stop reading.
The reason I read/write fic as opposed to going for generic porn or original fiction is because I like these characters and the world they exist in. Something that deviates wildly from that won't interest me. Most commonly, fic that doesn't work for me (on this count) comes in two flavors: Characters acting like dippy kids (most common in hetfic, especially with young characters and/or writers) or fic that ignores big chunks of a character's life/personality.
In slash, the most common version of the latter is ignoring opposite-sex canon relationships. Fair enough for PWP or as part of a series in which this has already been explained, but ennervating (to me, at least) in other scenarios. I keep finding myself wondering why this guy would be cheating on someone he has a serious canon relationship with. If said guy is a no-good bastard to begin with, sure. But if he's a good guy and/or cheating simply isn't part of who he is? It's jarring enough to take me right out of the fic.
Case in point: Lester. He's married. Has kids. Is a stickler for protocol and tradition. No way in hell is he going to cheat on his wife unless there's a damned good reason for it. Fic that gives that reason? Awesome. I'm there. But fic that doesn't even acknowledge that part of canon totally doesn't work for me. (This was a huge problem in LOTRPS fandom, fwiw. The number of people who simply ignored the actual fact that Sean is married with a passel o' kids just blew my mind.)
This is not from a Canon is God standpoint, FWIW. Just a characterization one. I don't mind handwavey stuff here and there on timelines, small details, etc., and even though I don't usually read it, I don't have a problem with deviations done in a deliberately AU fashion. But I like these people. I want to read/write about them to extend their worlds/lives beyond canon. And because their in-canon relationships/experiences have a great deal of influence on who these people are, fics that ignore these big parts of their lives may as well be starring OCs. And if that's the case, then I'm no longer interested in that fic.
Again, as far as PWP is concerned, anything goes. There's no sense in clogging the narrative with explanations and backstory if the only point of the fic is recognizable bodies doing various debauched things. When that's what I'm in the mood to read or write, I'm there. But if I'm looking for something deeper along with my porn, I want the people being written about to be people I recognize. Abby, for instance, is an enormous part of the Connor I know and love, and not acknowledging her in some way means that fic is about someone else, and therefore I'm not likely to read it. (That's especially true for s4+ fic, since their relationship is actually established, now.) It isn't so much that Abby/Connor is an OTP for me as much as Abby is a significant part of what makes Connor-the-character tick, and if a writer's going to pair him up with someone else, it's going to feel really, really weird to me if she's not at least mentioned.
In case it's not clear, this isn't a Don't Write This Or You're Evil proclamation. This is entirely about my own tastes and what I like and want from the fic I read. My free time is really short, so I don't read fics that aren't about people I like. Which means when I see a fic about a character I like and find out that no, it's really not that character at all, I kind of get annoyed and feel like I've been the victim of a bait-and-switch. And usually, I won't read anything from that author again.
Going by the amount of fic out there that goes out of character like this (or in the childish/twee direction), I'm probably in a minority, here. I'm probably considerably more picky about this than most ficcers. But, well, that's just how I am. I don't think this makes me any better or worse than anyone else. Just different, and enough so that I'm probably never going to fully fit in with most fic fandoms. But I can live with that, so long as I'm not expected to change my fic orientation (so to speak) in order to participate at all (as has been the case in the past, unfortunately.)
FWIW, there wasn't any specific fic, author, etc. that inspired this, and I haven't really felt any pressure like that in my current fandom (beyond just being sorta sad that there aren't more people with boats that float quite the same as mine.) It's more just a general feeling I've gotten over several years of poking around different fandoms and trying to figure out whether I belong there. Being a pornfic enthusiast is somewhat isolating as it is, and it's just that little extra bit of depressing when I find yet another fandom that does their pornfic differently enough that I know I wouldn't fit in there.
(For the record: If canon does go in the direction of specifically hooking up Becker and Jess, and I'm still writing ABC stuff then, I'll find a way to work around or explain it. Or just stop time and continue to write stuff set before that happens. ;) )
As I've mentioned before, I'm not much of an OTP-er and when it comes to large ensemble casts with lots of attractive/interesting characters, I have a tendency to throw just about everyone together in some configuration or other, up to and including all-out anything-goes orgy fic. Hot people doing naughty things is fun, yo.
However, that really only goes for PWP-ish stuff. When it comes to longer stuff, realistic scenarios and characterization are really important to me. When I'm going for the sex, realistic is definitely important, but when there's added character drama? It's got to be spot-on, too, or I'm thrown out of it and will stop reading.
The reason I read/write fic as opposed to going for generic porn or original fiction is because I like these characters and the world they exist in. Something that deviates wildly from that won't interest me. Most commonly, fic that doesn't work for me (on this count) comes in two flavors: Characters acting like dippy kids (most common in hetfic, especially with young characters and/or writers) or fic that ignores big chunks of a character's life/personality.
In slash, the most common version of the latter is ignoring opposite-sex canon relationships. Fair enough for PWP or as part of a series in which this has already been explained, but ennervating (to me, at least) in other scenarios. I keep finding myself wondering why this guy would be cheating on someone he has a serious canon relationship with. If said guy is a no-good bastard to begin with, sure. But if he's a good guy and/or cheating simply isn't part of who he is? It's jarring enough to take me right out of the fic.
Case in point: Lester. He's married. Has kids. Is a stickler for protocol and tradition. No way in hell is he going to cheat on his wife unless there's a damned good reason for it. Fic that gives that reason? Awesome. I'm there. But fic that doesn't even acknowledge that part of canon totally doesn't work for me. (This was a huge problem in LOTRPS fandom, fwiw. The number of people who simply ignored the actual fact that Sean is married with a passel o' kids just blew my mind.)
This is not from a Canon is God standpoint, FWIW. Just a characterization one. I don't mind handwavey stuff here and there on timelines, small details, etc., and even though I don't usually read it, I don't have a problem with deviations done in a deliberately AU fashion. But I like these people. I want to read/write about them to extend their worlds/lives beyond canon. And because their in-canon relationships/experiences have a great deal of influence on who these people are, fics that ignore these big parts of their lives may as well be starring OCs. And if that's the case, then I'm no longer interested in that fic.
Again, as far as PWP is concerned, anything goes. There's no sense in clogging the narrative with explanations and backstory if the only point of the fic is recognizable bodies doing various debauched things. When that's what I'm in the mood to read or write, I'm there. But if I'm looking for something deeper along with my porn, I want the people being written about to be people I recognize. Abby, for instance, is an enormous part of the Connor I know and love, and not acknowledging her in some way means that fic is about someone else, and therefore I'm not likely to read it. (That's especially true for s4+ fic, since their relationship is actually established, now.) It isn't so much that Abby/Connor is an OTP for me as much as Abby is a significant part of what makes Connor-the-character tick, and if a writer's going to pair him up with someone else, it's going to feel really, really weird to me if she's not at least mentioned.
In case it's not clear, this isn't a Don't Write This Or You're Evil proclamation. This is entirely about my own tastes and what I like and want from the fic I read. My free time is really short, so I don't read fics that aren't about people I like. Which means when I see a fic about a character I like and find out that no, it's really not that character at all, I kind of get annoyed and feel like I've been the victim of a bait-and-switch. And usually, I won't read anything from that author again.
Going by the amount of fic out there that goes out of character like this (or in the childish/twee direction), I'm probably in a minority, here. I'm probably considerably more picky about this than most ficcers. But, well, that's just how I am. I don't think this makes me any better or worse than anyone else. Just different, and enough so that I'm probably never going to fully fit in with most fic fandoms. But I can live with that, so long as I'm not expected to change my fic orientation (so to speak) in order to participate at all (as has been the case in the past, unfortunately.)
FWIW, there wasn't any specific fic, author, etc. that inspired this, and I haven't really felt any pressure like that in my current fandom (beyond just being sorta sad that there aren't more people with boats that float quite the same as mine.) It's more just a general feeling I've gotten over several years of poking around different fandoms and trying to figure out whether I belong there. Being a pornfic enthusiast is somewhat isolating as it is, and it's just that little extra bit of depressing when I find yet another fandom that does their pornfic differently enough that I know I wouldn't fit in there.
(For the record: If canon does go in the direction of specifically hooking up Becker and Jess, and I'm still writing ABC stuff then, I'll find a way to work around or explain it. Or just stop time and continue to write stuff set before that happens. ;) )