[ SECRET POST #2950 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2950 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 065 secrets from Secret Submission Post #422.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

There's actually a lot of m/m on the kink meme and within the fandom.

The sad shortage is f/f which, by this logic, should have tons of representation within fanworks but absolutely does not.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, I've noticed that there are more M/F fics right after a new game is released, then M/M starts catching up once people start getting over their unflavored oatmeal Cullen/Trevelyan feels. F/F always lags pretty far behind.

[(Anonymous)]

It's cute you think the biggest het pairing is Trevelyan/Cullen xD Not by a long shot.

[(Anonymous)]

Where did I say that, exactly? I hardly think that the pairing's popularity has anything to do with what I was stating in my comment, which was that, IME, M/F pairings are more popular right after a game is released, but that M/M pairings catch up in popularity as the game ages. I only mentioned Cullen/Trevelyan because it was the first het pairing from DA:I that came to mind. If you prefer, do feel free to mentally replace any and all mentions of "Cullen/Trevelyan" in my comment with "F!PC/M!LI pairing du jour."

[(Anonymous)]

DA

I haven't played the game yet, but is there an origin/pairing for DA:I that's the fandom's darling? Because I remember years ago Alistair/Cousland (with the Warden as the Queen, naturally :/) was EVERYWHERE. And when DA2 came out it seemed like every fic had a mage Hawke who always ran away with her fugitive boyfriend.

Before the game came out I saw that the Trevelyan Inquisitor was from a noble family and figured she would be the origin the fandom would latch on to. But from what I'm hearing Solas/Lavellan seems to be more popular? That's...unusual. Humans are generally the most popular origins, so I'm a bit surprised.

[(Anonymous)]

Human is still the most popular origin, but Solas can only be romanced by female elves and it hit a lot of people's buttons. It's by far the most popular pairing in fics. That's where you'll find the most people obsessed with the romance, most snowflake sues and people saying things like "this romance ruined me" and "it's THE romance in the game."

[(Anonymous)]

Solavellan is hugely popular because it's the most Special Snowflake romance in the game, and Solas is hugely important to the overarching lore. A huge portion of his fans are obsessed with making him even more important than he is, and a bunch of them seem convinced that Female Lavellans are on track to become immortal, for reasons.

[(Anonymous)]

Give people a chance to date a god and they'll take it...

[i_paint_the_sky]

I'd still say Cullen/f!Inquisitor (generally mage!Inquisitor, though not necessarily mage!Trevelyan) is a bit more popular, but it and Solas/Lavellan are definitely pretty close.

Looking at filled prompts, Cullen/f!Inquisitor has 132 fics and Solas/Lavellan has 120.

I pulled up numbers on A03 the other day ...

[(Anonymous)]

F Inq/Cullen 578
F Lavellan/Solas 405
Fenris/ F Hawke 387
Anders/ F Hawke 361
Anders/ M Hawke 360
Fenris/ M Hawke 340
Alistar/ F Cousland 325
Cullen / F Trevelyan 320
F Inq / Solas 233
Anders/Fenris 176

Re: I pulled up numbers on A03 the other day ...

[(Anonymous)]

Some of your numbers seem a bit off. Anders/Fenris has 509 fics (http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Anders*s*Fenris/works)

Fenris/M!Hawke has 529 (http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Fenris*s*Male%20Hawke/works)

Anders/M!Hawke has 686 (http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Anders*s*Male%20Hawke/works)

I didn't check the rest, but I went ahead and did these three because I thought the numbers looked pretty low. Were there other filters applied or something?

[(Anonymous)]

M/M is no more inherently interesting than M/F, F/F, or unicorn/jackalope.

[(Anonymous)]

who said anything about M/M being inherently more interesting?

[(Anonymous)]

What else do you think calling any other kind of pairing "unflavored oatmeal" means, anon?

[(Anonymous)]

I think they meant Cullen. He is often derided as bland.

[(Anonymous)]

Huh? Receipts plz.

[(Anonymous)]

cullen was refreshingly NORMAL

not like

boring ass Jacob from ME2 normal, but, you know, a dude with actual, legit issues that he worked out

it made him quite endearing to me :(

[(Anonymous)]

what exactly are you replying to?

and yes, M/M IS inherently more interesting when... you are inherently more interested in M/M. I have zero interest in het and won't read it, unless it's some odd rare pairing that I actually do care about, and even then, I'll skip over the sex scenes.

Interesting is 100% a matter of preference.

[(Anonymous)]

Interesting is 100% a matter of preference.

Yes, which makes it not an inherent property by definition. M/M is more interesting to you, it isn't more interesting objectively. Het pairings or fic aren't boring on some universal scale just because they're het.

Which is what I was replying to - the implication that het pairing preferences are a dull, bland phase people need to get over so they can get to writing M/M.

[(Anonymous)]

AY(were originally)RT

It appears that my comment was unclear. I will clarify.

When a Dragon Age game is new, people get wrapped up in (what is to me) the most boring interpretation of the main het pairings possible. They write the woman as being as a submissive fragile flower, and the man as being an uber suave and dominant Prince Charming, even when neither character fits that description at all. See: the way people used to write Alistair/Warden, and the way people are currently writing Solavellan.

It doesn't mean that I think that het is inherently dull and bland. It just means that people in this fandom get a bit excited and write a lot of het idfic that is, to people who aren't into that kind of thing, the literary equivalent of unflavored oatmeal. As the game ages and their excitement wears off, their production rate slows down significantly, and the fic climate becomes more balanced. This means that M/M begins to catch up in popularity, but also means that what M/F fic is still being produced tends to be of higher quality.

There are many M/F ships in this fandom that I am a fan of, and few M/M ships that hit my buttons. Making an observation on trends in fandom =/= hating het and thinking M/M is inherently more interesting.

[(Anonymous)]

I think F/F is lagging especially behind on the DA:I meme because of the fandom's general poor response to Sera. :(