[ SECRET POST #3128 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3128 ⌋

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

01.


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02.
[X-Men]


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03.
[Hayley Atwell]


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04.
[Infamous]


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05.
[Tokyo Mew Mew]


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06.
[Peep Show]


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07.
[Rhett & Link/Good Mythical Morning]


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08.
[Brooklyn Nine Nine]


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09.
[Lava]


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10.
[Steven Universe]










Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 071 secrets from Secret Submission Post #447.
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

[fscom]

01. http://i.imgur.com/5BcafeP.jpg?2

[kallanda_lee]

I agree, actually.

I hate the vast majority of mainstream romance, but I love it for some pairing in fanfic.

[(Anonymous)]

I thought I hated romance stories before I discovered fanfic.

Actually, I'd just seen them done incredibly badly, hundreds of times ad nauseum. I can hardly be blamed for dismissing the whole genre after years of that.

[caerbannog]

Agreed. So much of the "romance" is just an emotionless preictabke guy-gets-girl type thing and I don't give a shit. Make me feel and believe it, media, don't just have them make eye contact loaded with "sexual tension" then make out after one nearly dies. Urgh.

[a_potato]

I'm inclined to agree. And with mainstream romance, it's not just underdeveloped; it also tends to come across as incredibly...immature, I guess is the word? Or perhaps too idealized and unrealistic (no, you can't actually love someone after a single day. It doesn't work that way)? Granted, fanfic can be all of those things, as well.

I do think, however, much of preference for romance in fanfic is due to already being invested in a pairing rather than it necessarily being of better quality. I go in already believing that there's a connection between the characters, so the author doesn't have to work as hard to get me to suspend possible disbelief.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah IAWTP

I am OK with shit in fanfic that I would find incredibly off-putting if I hadn't already bought in on the characters

[(Anonymous)]

This. Well, mostly this. The author still has a lot to do to get me to suspend my disbelief, but others have much much lower standards so will accept almost any old tosh.

[(Anonymous)]

Ha, I'm the exact same way. When it's not the focus of a story, romance is often done in the most boring, cliché way possible, so I'm never that into it. I've always love the hell of of fic, though.

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed on the former, disagree on the latter. Fanfic does it worse, and that is why the "romance" in fanfic gets the scare quotes. Same with H/C fic, they are just so awful. Tell the story, the story is often much better than the awkwardly worded slush and slash.

[fingalsanteater]

Where does romance in fanfic get scare quotes? Your comment?

[(Anonymous)]

Look where I care.

[(Anonymous)]

Pfft. I think you should read a few modern romance novels; fanfiction is high art in comparison to some of the Harlequins out there, and I say that as someone who legitimately enjoys original romance novels.

[(Anonymous)]

It's because most of romance in movies, shows and cartoons are being written by old dudes who recite tired formalistic tropes like their bible.

[(Anonymous)]

And don't get me started on romance subplots. They are there to tick a box off a checklist.

[(Anonymous)]

I just want to see something that doesn't end in woman + man = babies

[(Anonymous)]

man+man=babies?

[(Anonymous)]

Woman + man = lizard

[(Anonymous)]

I think it can be done well (Rick/Evie from the Mummy movies, Ivan/Victoria from RED, Ancelyn/Bambera from Classic Who, for my off-the-top-of-my-head picks), but yes, those are possibly exceptions that prove the rule. Even with canon pairs I ship, it's hard to find ones that are consistently well written across their canons.

Mind you, the same is often true of the fanfic. Some pairs are worse for dodgy characterisation and rush-to-the-porn than others, but a lot of them do suffer from those problems in fandom.

[(Anonymous)]

Rick/Evie was written so badly in the third Mummy movie. It was horrific. They went against every ounce of characterisation that the first movie set up so well, just for some unconvincing plot point that made no sense.

[(Anonymous)]

Got to agree.

A lot of the time I wince at onscreen romance. Always have. These days, I'd rather the originals just stick to gen (with a bucketload of shippy hints) because then the fanfic will pick it up and do it better anyway.

The advantage of fanfic is that there will be hundreds of writing styles and tropes to choose from, whereas the canon only has one chance to get it right, hugely increasing the likelihood that they'll hit one of my do-not-wants.

Fanfic writers are mostly women and professional writers are mostly men, again increasing the odds in favour of fanfic delivering what I want.

[(Anonymous)]

This is the same reason I pretty much never read genre + romance. If I want romance, I'll read ship fic or original romance novels. They need to stop cramming it in my sci-fi/fantasy/horror/action movies.

[(Anonymous)]

I dunno. I think this is because in fanfic, the romance is the plot, which is great if like you, you're reading it for the romance but kind of crappy if you want plot in addition to the romance. IME, fanfic isn't very good at that.

[(Anonymous)]

Agree completely.

[(Anonymous)]

I completely agree with you, OP, and for exactly the reasons you outlined.

It's kind of bizarre how bad most popular film writers, in particular, are at writing romance in a way that ever cuts very deep.

There are so many striking / poignant / angsty / joyous / sensual / erotic / painful/ bold / delicate ways to depict romantic feeling between two characters. Fanfic proves that. Meanwhile original fiction mostly just plods along, sticking to the same handful of basic, overused tropes.

There are exceptions of course. I think the first two seasons of The Office (US) were extremely good at exploring the bond between Jim and Pam in ways that fit all of the descriptors I listed above. And I loved the emergent relationship between John Connor and Cameron on T:SCC, specifically because it was so integral to the greater plot.

But for the most part I'll always turn to fanfic for my romantic fix, because it's the only place where I can reliably find the kind of in-depth exploration of an emotional bond that I crave.

[(Anonymous)]

I agree. I can count on one hand the mainstream media romances I've enjoyed. Buffy? Uh... I can think of a few books, female-authored more often than not. But on TV or in movies... it's all a big snore.