case: (Default)
Case ([personal profile] case) wrote in [community profile] fandomsecrets2009-03-18 04:40 pm

[ SECRET POST #803 ]


⌈ Secret Post #803 ⌋

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

101.


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102.


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103.
[Toby Beecher/Chris Keller - Oz]


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104.
[Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei]


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105.


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106.


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107.


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108.


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109.


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110.


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111.


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112.
[Life with Derek]


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113. [repeat]


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114.
[NieA Under Seven]


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115.


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116.


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117.


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118.


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119.


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120.


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121.
[xxxHOLiC]


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122. [repeat]


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123. [repeat]


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124.


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125.


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126.
[Mai Hime]


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127.
[The World Ends With You]


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128.
[Super Smash Brothers/Fire Emblem]


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129.


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130.


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131.


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132.
[X-Men]


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133.
[Merlin]


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134.
[Buffy, Degrassi, South of Nowhere, Skins]


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135.


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136.
[Patrick Bateman, American Psycho]


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137.
[Gossip Girl, Chuck/Dan]


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138.


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139.
[Sailor Moon]


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140.


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141.
[kings of leon]


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142.


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143.
[Garth Marenghi's Darkplace]


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144.


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145.


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146.


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147.
[Naruto, Avatar, Girl Genius, Harry Potter]


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148.


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149.


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150.
[iCarly]


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151. [not fandom]


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152.


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153.


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154.


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155.


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156.


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157.


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158.


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159.
[Luminous Arc 1]


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160.


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161.


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162.


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163.
[Douglas Adams]


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164.


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165.


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166.


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167.



Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 06 pages, 137 secrets from Secret Submission Post #115.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 1 2 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 3 4 - too big ], [ 1 2 3 4 - repeat ], [ 1 - personal attack ], [ 1 - unreadable ], [ 1 2 3 - doing it wrong ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

[identity profile] paperclipchains.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 08:59 pm (UTC)(link)
124. Rorsharch isn't the main character of watchmen.

You're the one being an asshole if you're trying to kick people out of your fandom because you're paranoid that people think you're something that you claim that you aren't.

133. A slash writer who claims to be pro-LGBT and actually writes porn that fetishizes homosexuality for women to get off on?! Alert the news media!

138. Nothing can fuck you up about sex quite as good as media, especially when it's shit you like!

152. You understand that "ridiculous slapstick humour" is a type of comic relief?

162. I like sexless-but-intimate-with-unspoken-romantic-undertones relationships too!

164. As opposed to guys who pretend to be girls online?

And... Sorry to say this, but they're allowed to do whatever they please and who are you to speculate on their reasons for doing so?

167. People bitch about this all the time but what exactly are people supposed to say?

[identity profile] neonstilettos.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)
164. As opposed to guys who pretend to be girls online?

Where did the OP say he condones that? I missed that part.

[identity profile] paperclipchains.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
The OP said absolutely nothing about that, which I found strange.

(Anonymous) 2009-03-18 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
It's not something I condone either, like the previous poster said. However, you get a lot less of guys pretending to be girls in the yaoi fandom, which is the one I was directly referring to.

(Anonymous) 2009-03-18 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
He didn't. But when you're talking about women pretending to be men for the attention, it's not a bad idea to talk about men pretending to be women for attention. If they are even pretending, and not exploring, and in such matters, as you don't know what they're thinking or their deep motivations, it's best not to speculate imo.

167

[identity profile] last-archangel.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 09:03 pm (UTC)(link)
It is possible to use he actual words for body parts without sounding overly clinical. I'd much rather see "penis" and "vagina" in a romantically-inclined fic than "dick" and "pussy." Maybe in a work where the characters hate each other or don't know each other well, but in a "oh my God, 3 years of UST finally coming to an end" kind of story? It just doesn't make sense.

Re: 167

[identity profile] paperclipchains.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
I agree with you that word choice should fit the mood, but I am genuinely, genuinely baffled at what is appropriate!

Re: 167

[identity profile] last-archangel.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Sometimes I am, too. When I write sex scenes, I tend to skirt the wording issue entirely, which can on occasion create more problems in itself. I don't think I've ever put a word more suggestive than "breast" in my sex scenes, but it always does boil down to personal taste.

Re: 167

(Anonymous) 2009-03-18 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
And I'd prefer 'pussy' and 'dick'. Or 'cock', which is better than 'dick' imo. 'Penis' and 'vagina' sound so clinical and medical.

Lesson: no one agrees on porn vocabulary. Though I do feel safe saying that 'towering pillar of man-sausage' is always bad.

Re: 167

[identity profile] paperclipchains.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
How come no one ever talks about cunt? As long as we are being dirty about it, I feel that we need more cunt.

...

okay being quiet now.

Re: 167

(Anonymous) 2009-03-18 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I like cunt. Better than pussy, which always sounds a bit like a cat. And quim may be a bit archaic, but I've always had a fondness for it.

Re: 167

[identity profile] paperclipchains.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I have not heard that one, but I like it. Go for the underused!

Pussy always seems like such an androcentric word, if you ask me. I guess context matters and stuff, but I can see why people are persnickity over the words that get used, since they do all carry connotations.

Re: 167

[identity profile] trinity-destler.livejournal.com 2009-03-19 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know about anyone else, but I find cunt to be the filthiest word in the English language (I don't know why) and therefore not something I'd like anywhere near a romantic scene.

Why the same doesn't go for cock is a mystery. I leave that question to the philosophers.
rydain: Vault Boy Winking (Naked Time)

167

[personal profile] rydain 2009-03-18 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
It depends on the style of the piece.

When writing implicitly, one can often avoid direct references to genitalia by phrasing the gymnastics in terms of sensations, feelings, and actions that are obvious in context. For instance: "He eased into her inviting warmth" instead of "He slid his cock into her pussy".

Direct references are sometimes the most succinct way to go. In those cases, pick words that fit best with the tone of the story. As others have said, one person's turn-on is another's squick, so a given word selection is never going to appeal to everyone. A more implicit style can often use terms like "hardness" and "arousal" that are more about the feel of the part than a name for it. On the flip side, "dick", "jizz", etc. would feel in-character to me in a fic from the perspective of someone who thought about sex in blunt terms.

Re: 167

[identity profile] paperclipchains.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 10:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh man, I can't believe I got a serious methodical answer.

Thank you though.

Re: 167

(Anonymous) 2009-03-18 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
"He eased into her inviting warmth" reads like purple prose badfic to me, sorry to say. I do agree with the general point that you can avoid explicit terms by being circumspect.
rydain: Vault Boy Winking (Rock and/or Roll)

Re: 167

[personal profile] rydain 2009-03-18 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"He eased into her inviting warmth" reads like purple prose badfic to me, sorry to say.

Why? You're free to dislike that quick and (perhaps not) dirty (enough) example or its general style. As we've all been saying, different strokes for different folks and all. However, the "badfic" comment implies that such a line constitutes poor writing regardless of the context, and I don't think that's fair. That sort of expression would come off as stilted, silly, and - yes, bad - within the head of a dick 'n balls guy having some rough sex. However, it could work in some other piece.

I won't dispute the purple prose remark because that all comes down to individual reaction to words. Everyone has their own concept of what flows and what calls unwanted attention to itself. Personally, I don't see a common euphemism like "warmth" in the same glittery realm as over the top clunkers like "love canal", but I can understand varying reactions. Just look at any involved discussion on other similar words like "length" and "member" - reasonable to some, dry or goofy-sounding to others. I've also been of both minds on the word "cock". It used to kick me out of the mood, but it grew on me (pun very much intended).

With this reasoning, I wouldn't call the cock and pussy example "badfic", either. As before, it's all about the appropriate overall effect. I was just writing two different ways to show the same sex act - one blunt, one not.

Re: 167

(Anonymous) 2009-03-19 12:13 am (UTC)(link)
(same anon)

That was a bit bitchy, sorry, and I shouldn't have called it badfic. I'm not fond of "inviting", however; it's one of those words like "quivering" imo (nor am I fond of "warmth", though it bugs me less. In my own porn I go for either 'cock' or 'him', maybe an 'erection' every once in a while, but that's my own stylistic preference, to be either vulgar or not mention the organs at all). I'd probably just say "he eased into her". Of course, the thing we're both agreeing on is that many different types of registers can work in porn, so I suppose I'm being hypocritical.

Anyways, I'm sorry I was rude.

Re: 167

[identity profile] beandelphiki.livejournal.com 2009-03-19 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
Personally, "inviting warmth," would make me, "ick!" too. As the anon said though, "he eased into her," would be perfectly fine.

Here's why: "inviting," to me, evokes all sorts of nasty tropes about women's sexuality. The phrase "inviting warmth" is something which indicates the female character is just lying there passively accepting entry.

Also, the phrase is arguably personifying a vagina. Indicating the vagina itself has some opinion on the entry of the male character's penis? Er... Not something you'd want to do without thinking carefully about it. (And even then...)

This sort of phrase is very likely to be found in Harlequin Romance and other sorts of things like that - that is, not sources of written erotica which are known for bucking the status quo re: depictions of women's sexuality. There's a good reason the anon identified it with badfic, in my opinion.

The second example, though? Merely action.


Although I will differ from the anon in that I very much like, "quivering," so long as the quivering belongs to a male character. (Because I would generally read eagerness into it. If it were a female character, the word "quivering" is more likely to be used in such a way as to evoke the same tropes as "inviting" does - and a few more, like women being afraid of sex, the suggestion that sex is violence, etc.)

So yeah, personal preferences.
rydain: Vault Boy Winking (Frylock)

Re: 167

[personal profile] rydain 2009-03-19 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
Interesting. I have some awareness of tropes to avoid in het romance, and I can't stand stereotypical gender roles in such. Yet I had not thought of "inviting" in such a way when I took a few seconds to dash off the example. I meant it as a synonym for "pleasing" - a description of how good the vagina felt to the man, not of what the vagina was doing.

I appreciate your opinion on the problems with the word, especially because it provides an example of a troublesome implication that writers should watch out for. Still, I disagree with the idea that "inviting" is necessarily passive. It can be, especially within the context of a story with other red flags. To me, a mutual or woman-led scene is a different matter, especially considering the positions involved. If the woman sits astride the man, ensconces him, and ardently rides him, I don't see that as "passively accepting entry". In such a situation, "inviting" carries connotations of actively welcoming the man's penis, not of just lying back and letting him do his thing.

Re: 167

[identity profile] beandelphiki.livejournal.com 2009-03-19 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
In such a situation, "inviting" carries connotations of actively welcoming the man's penis, not of just lying back and letting him do his thing.

You're right, this is true.

And I can also see "inviting" being a description of how it felt to the man - if it were written more from the perspective of the man (rather than, say, a third-person omniscient POV), I might see it differently. (I thought of that example after I last posted, actually. I think then I would be more likely to see it as meaning something like, "pleasing.")

Third-person omniscient, in the hands of lesser writers, seems to become, "from no particular point of view at all, it's anyone's guess," and, well, that makes it harder to be authentic to what the characters are really thinking or feeling.


I'm sort of going on a "statistical probabilities," thing, I guess - devoid of context, I interpreted the phrase with an eye to the context I've most often seen it used in previously. (I read a lot of terrible romance as a teenager.)
ext_81845: penelope, my art/character (alone)

124

[identity profile] childings.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Who do you consider the main character? Rorschach seems like the main character in the novel to me. He's the driving force of the narrative and much of the novel (comic, whatever) is told from his perspective.

Re: 124

[identity profile] paperclipchains.livejournal.com 2009-03-18 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't consider there to be a main character.

138 OP

(Anonymous) 2009-03-19 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
WORD. People sometimes don't understand/remember humans are not really wired by nature to be able to tell the difference between a character and a real person. What difference, scientifically speaking, is there between a guy who lives in your town you never met, but is real, and a character who you've never met and is not. Not bloody much. Both are pictures, sounds or words that illicit emotions. The difference is one might illicit an emotion and the other is *created* only to do so. Rationally I know he's not real, rationally I know it shouldn't effect me, but my primal, reptile brain has been poked with a stick.