~~when it works, it works.

there's just something so ...weird about smut & humor. something so-- personal. intimate, really. it gets a gut reaction or it doesn't. it tells you a lot about yourself, and some things you may not want to know, or have known by others. writing in general is like that. i mean, i imagine meeting any of the writers that i've connected with and the thought is extremely disorienting. i mean, if i know them as people too, it's one thing. but just meeting the writer reminds me of seeing the Big Head behind the emerald castle in oz. you don't find out the Secret to everything just by seeing someone, but... it's still strange, disorienting.

the thing with what's sexy/funny is so often in the tiny details. one little thing off balance and the whole thing collapses, falls flat. you wake up, and look around, and wonder what the hell are you doing, and what's that pink bow doing around your unmentionables, and the mood is lost. the thing about it is, it's speaking to you directly. there's really very few objective things, pointers, that you could give to improve on something that you personally can't help but find hilarious or sexy. or don't.
    i mean, there's certainly word-choice involved and wit isn't a subjective thing entirely, but i guess i just feel if something -really- gets you, it's going to reach beyond just-- its component parts. i mean, there you are, you visualize it, and boom! you react. you cry, you laugh, you get turned on, you get disturbed. sometimes you don't even know why. it may be nothing about the plot, or about the characters, or about you really thinking that particular combination made brilliant sense, even.

with smut as with humor, i can easily identify the bad stuff. usually it involves flowery overwrought sentences, cliches, displays of meanness or stupidity, complete lack of believability, although that last one is tricky. if you have everything else, believability doesn't matter, and indeed you can get pretty absurd and only be appreciated more. i suppose the thing is, that it either works or it doesn't. you can stare at a piece forever, and if it doesn't hit you immediately, it won't hit you after 10 minutes or 3 hours or what have you.

these are all things usually specific to the fic, but it helps if you have some event-- in general, something you'd love to see happen. but in context, it's just all wrong. something about the reactions, or motivations, or interaction is just -off-, and the same plot-points can happen and the resulting effect upon the reader would be different. which is good. otherwise reusing plot would be a disaster ^^
    usually i'm all about the atmosphere & motivation rather than the end result, as being what makes things what they are, makes things work for me or not. that probably sounds vaguely nonsensical. i think this relates to my being unable to really get into the smut-bits in earthquake1906's fic, even though i don't think she really meant one to. i mean, the -reason- they were happening, the lack of true desire, the lack of good motivation-- it just deflated it for me. erm. yeah. i think i lost my train of thought. i took quizzes though! *giggles*
~~

muwahahah. i'm luw!draco.
apparently, harry's on to me. (ahahaha, he's a smart boy, i always thought so). yes. he is, or at least i hope he is. i tend to hope he is, anyway. ``do i want him, or do i want to BE him," heheehehe. you, know, that's a pretty good analysis of recent developments in luw. the only (good) h/d fic i can think of that you can say that about, besides possibly the Trilogy. yes, draco is all proud and defensive about it-- but is he -too- defensive? -does- he actually feel bad that he can't be like harry, or possibly give harry what he wants?

but penelope_z's quiz... oh, that's just priceless.
( um. you don't really wanna see me squee about it, on second thought )

announcement: penelope_z's!draco is adorable. *laughs and laughs*
~~

also, eeheheheeh. the idea of wendy pini drawing elves on bathroom walls has me lost in giggles. hee~! for some reason this is reminding me of the bathroom at uc @ santa cruz. mmm, santa cruz. cute bathroom decor, they have, ahahahah.
    and guh! shades of sandman!snape, in drawmeharry. why have i never thought of this before?? i so, so fits. it -does-..! well. kinda. looks. attitude. i could see it...!
and yeah, i was double-cross!draco. *giggles*
~~
why harry potter is a fraud. hee~! this article reads like it was written by draco. ahahah. brilliant.