Resisting the urge...

[graculus]

This time around, I'm exercising monumental self-control not to jump on the head of someone who's just posted on a mailing list I belong to asking for fic where one particular character is the submissive in a D/s relationship.

Not that I have anything in particular against fics of that nature, particularly as the well-written ones can be quite interesting, but not for this character. It's just not him, not in a million years, without major head trauma to utterly change his personality and make him something that I wouldn't find anything like as interesting as the character he is now. Damn it, it's his insecurities and desperate need to be in control of every situation that make him who he is and there's really no scenario in which I could imagine him taking that role that could be done in a way that wasn't wildly OOC.

Doubtless someone will write it, since this particular fandom is one that prizes enthusiasm over ability (and that includes the ability to manage consistent characterisation) but I really hope they label it well so I don't have to read it.

Comments

[temaris.livejournal.com]

Awww... but he'd be so *cute* in a collar and leash. And he's such a fragile ickle flower. Cuz his Mommy was *mean* to him. That's just the sort of thing that would result in him being a secret sub.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

Well, if you buy into fanon rather than canon you can make a character do almost anything, but this would *still* be OOC.

[temaris.livejournal.com]

ahhh... I *was* being sarcastic.

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

C'mon, spill. (I'm guessing Severus Snape for $200, Alex)

[graculus.livejournal.com]

Nope. Ezra Standish.

Can a period of history be OOC?

[mer1973.livejournal.com]

Cause, I'm thinking that that kink didn't really come into it's own until this century.

Re: Can a period of history be OOC?

[graculus.livejournal.com]

Why let a little thing like that get in the way? And don't get me started on my patented 'why do so many people who supposedly are into a western fandom want to read and write stuff from other times & places so much that there are more people writing AU than Old West' rant... ;)

Re: Can a period of history be OOC?

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

Is it the Western part of the fandom they're into, or is it the characters? I love the characters, and can see them fitting in all over the place, which is probably why there are so many AUs. Not that the AUs are all good, but...

And yeah, I guessed Ezra. I just can't see it. I can't see it for any of those characters - they're too independant and assertive for that.

Re: Can a period of history be OOC?

[graculus.livejournal.com]

If it's the characters they like (and not the ability to warp them into whatever they want to make them do), then what's the problem with writing them in an Old West setting?

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

Okay, I've never seen Mag7, despite Yuma and Cathy's best efforts.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

Alas, the fandom is the land of a thousand AUs, most of them bad, where people are more interested in writing sappy kid fic than actually exploring the characters as we see them on screen and where enthusiastic writers get more plaudits than people who can actually string out a grammatically correct sentence.

The show is interesting, the fandom is nuts.

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

Bad Label: OMG! He's a sub! Sexy! Yay!

Satisfactory Label: Head trauma leading to painfully out-of-character behaviour. If fic makes you want to spork your own eyes out you can't say you weren't warned.

It's almost Doctor Who. Turn the telly on!

[graculus.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately there always seems to be a correlation between whacked-out ideas and lack of ability to write well enough to do justice to those whacked-out ideas.

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

Which is a great shame, but at least the summary of the story can always be a warning to stay well away from the scary writing.