[romance = so predictable -.-]
May. 23rd, 2006 09:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reenkaI just saw a pairing meta post, and I actually think it's pretty sad to realize that I've thought about this subject -so- many times whereas it seems like the first time for most responders. I mean, is there any fannish question I've asked myself -more often- than 'what kind of pairing do I like?' and 'what do the pairings I like have in common?' No, I don't think so :D
In fact, I was actually thinking that one of the major reasons post-HBP and late-post-OoTP fics leave me coldish more than warmish is 'cause people see H/D as a different kind of pairing. Like, duh, it's not rivalslash now and it's not even very Romeo-and-Julietish. Sometimes it veers waaaay over into Big Tough Protector!Harry and Snippy Yet Vulnerable Bottom!Draco, which makes me pretty much reconsider even liking bottom!Draco in the first place. (Which is evidence of caring too much about meta if nothing else... because I can actually enjoy snippy-bottom!Draco a lot based solely on cuteness factor... it's big-tough-guy!Harry that makes me sick... God, I really miss Antenora sometimes, 'cause she wrote my favorite bitter-and-tough!Harry/bitterly-traumatized!Draco.)
Anyway, obviously, equality is pretty paramount to me, as well as emotional intensity and drama ('but no! the world is against us and the other person has sworn off love! plus he's a psycho! WHATEVER SHALL WE DO??!'). Anything that's in the service of making things difficult & tense makes me happy (and anything in the service of making things too stable and predictable-- which is what predefined relationship roles like Master/Servant smacks of-- makes me blanch).
I'm so painfully predictable, it's true.
More specifically, I was thinking about how I immediately got bored with Sydney/Vaughn after they got together 'cause-- y'know-- I only like fluff in pairings where at least one character is deeply fucked up or scarred/traumatized or whatever (secondary source of angst-- so the other character can then be loving and accepting, yaye). And Vaughn is pretty much painfully boring and not-fucked-up. Anyway, as soon as they were apart and yearning fruitlessly, I forgot how boring I thought Vaughn was (I do this with any character I theoretically don't enjoy) because-- yeay!-- pairing angst.
So basically I think I care more about the emotions than the characters in romance. If they can feel things a lot, I'm happy-- and being an antisocial psycho asshole is only in service of people feeling things (the person who loves them-- pain, forgiveness, fear, yearning-- and them with the constant turmoil and stuttery attempts at emotional growth). Well, I also like complementary pairings and ying/yangness & such, but that's also in service of feeling, because the more complementary people are, the more intensely they bond and match each other in the first place (I think).
Eh, I really hate being predictable. -.- Maybe I like angst in romance so much because I think most romance types are so predictable, so I just need a lot of emotion to be packed into it to keep my finicky attention(?).
In fact, I was actually thinking that one of the major reasons post-HBP and late-post-OoTP fics leave me coldish more than warmish is 'cause people see H/D as a different kind of pairing. Like, duh, it's not rivalslash now and it's not even very Romeo-and-Julietish. Sometimes it veers waaaay over into Big Tough Protector!Harry and Snippy Yet Vulnerable Bottom!Draco, which makes me pretty much reconsider even liking bottom!Draco in the first place. (Which is evidence of caring too much about meta if nothing else... because I can actually enjoy snippy-bottom!Draco a lot based solely on cuteness factor... it's big-tough-guy!Harry that makes me sick... God, I really miss Antenora sometimes, 'cause she wrote my favorite bitter-and-tough!Harry/bitterly-traumatized!Draco.)
Anyway, obviously, equality is pretty paramount to me, as well as emotional intensity and drama ('but no! the world is against us and the other person has sworn off love! plus he's a psycho! WHATEVER SHALL WE DO??!'). Anything that's in the service of making things difficult & tense makes me happy (and anything in the service of making things too stable and predictable-- which is what predefined relationship roles like Master/Servant smacks of-- makes me blanch).
I'm so painfully predictable, it's true.
More specifically, I was thinking about how I immediately got bored with Sydney/Vaughn after they got together 'cause-- y'know-- I only like fluff in pairings where at least one character is deeply fucked up or scarred/traumatized or whatever (secondary source of angst-- so the other character can then be loving and accepting, yaye). And Vaughn is pretty much painfully boring and not-fucked-up. Anyway, as soon as they were apart and yearning fruitlessly, I forgot how boring I thought Vaughn was (I do this with any character I theoretically don't enjoy) because-- yeay!-- pairing angst.
So basically I think I care more about the emotions than the characters in romance. If they can feel things a lot, I'm happy-- and being an antisocial psycho asshole is only in service of people feeling things (the person who loves them-- pain, forgiveness, fear, yearning-- and them with the constant turmoil and stuttery attempts at emotional growth). Well, I also like complementary pairings and ying/yangness & such, but that's also in service of feeling, because the more complementary people are, the more intensely they bond and match each other in the first place (I think).
Eh, I really hate being predictable. -.- Maybe I like angst in romance so much because I think most romance types are so predictable, so I just need a lot of emotion to be packed into it to keep my finicky attention(?).
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-25 05:11 am (UTC)You know, when I first got into the HP fandom, I came across Draco/Hermione and thought "Wow, that's interesting!" I thought it had, along with Draco/Ginny, a lot of potential for emotional intensity and angsty dramatic goodness, but it turned out... not so much. I still think they do have potential, but nobody wrote it half-decently enough for me to enjoy. Finding H/D was like uncovering buried treasure - despite the ever-popular mischaracterizations and such, it has a lot to offer in comparison to most het.
I see what you mean about H/D rarely being rivalslash nowadays, though. I hate that too. I read fics where they meet after HBP and are relatively civil and I'm like WTF?! Just because Harry felt an ounce of pity for Draco's situation, doesn't mean he's going to try to be all chummy with the prat.
And as far as Alias goes, I never understood why anybody liked Sydney/Vaughn. My friend and I were actually upset when he "came back from the dead". I've always dreaded the S/V interaction since they got together. It's not that I completely hate Vaughn, I just never understood why Sydney loved him so much! The perfection between them is boring, I guess. (Sark's the guy-to-love on that show. I was disappointed he didn't get some more romance with Rachel or something - but at least possibilities are still open for the imagination!)
Forgive me for rambling in your journal. ^.^