~~on sex-gods, external vs internal fics, snappy dialogue, and my worship ongoing of bouncy rhetoric

[reenka]

i can't help categorizing things, it seems, but at least i realize that if i believe in the divisions too much it almost automatically invalidates them. that said, i've read some delicious stories lately, which got me to thinking.
    at first, it was just maya's latest chapter of ``underwater light". i adore her writing-- but more precisely i adore her characters, her harry & draco. i am falling in love right along with them. i'm falling in love -with- them. i can so totally understand what they see in each other, because i can see it too. and thinking of that, i realized that i can say that about a number of my all-time-favorite stories-- the characters were so real, and so adorable, and so vital and brilliant, that i was completely convinced of the veracity of their bond, as it grew.
    then there's cassie claire's snippet of a new harry/draco story, which shares this quality (as does all her writing, as well as maya's). usually i just say that it's adorable, the dialogue is so witty, the body-language so expressive, the descriptions so spot-on. but maybe that's looking at the details too exclusively. i just realized that again-- the more i read, the more i fell in love with these characters. since i -still- haven't finished most of jkr's books, my love for the characters is rooted purely in fanfic, and it's dependent on being rejuvenated with yet another fresh, energetic characterization.

and then there is the utter wrongness, hahah. i mean, i loff penelope_z's writing any day of the week-- but-- but! what does it say about me that upon reading the first 2 sentences of her (should i even -say- delicious??! ha) squid!draco fic, my love sky-rocketed to a whole new, deliriously frantic level??! (and off i went to report it, immediately, without even thinking twice-- or finishing the fic-- have to share the squeeeee now, not later) hee~:)

reading durendal's snippets of several of her unfinished fics, i also got the same sense of being enchanted and delighted-- it's like i get a crush on the characters as i read about them. i would say that this falling in love with characters is essential, the feeling i'm looking for the most, the trademark of my favorite stories. but then i realized that there's another type of story that also tends to capture my heart, and that would be where instead of falling in love with the characters, you identify with the characters and their feelings-- you are in their head, and you feel what they feel, you share their innermost thoughts and conflicts, and when a resolution or a climax happens in their story, you share their relief and joy and fear and so on.



i also realized that the first type of story tends to be more humorous and witty and verbally effusive and sparkling-- all the examples of stories where i fell in love with the characters that i can think of off the top of my head right now, have been at least partly comedic. whereas, most of the examples i can think of where i identify and feel for the characters, but don't necessarily see them as ``Other", another entity i find `real' and feel affection & adoration for-- have been `angsty', or, to be overly greek, tragic. these would be amalin's stories, and rhysenn's ``irresistible poison", and ishuca's `plague of legends' and so on and so forth (as far as fanfic). whereas naturally i'm not saying that these are humorless and dry (they're not), the main thrust is internal (as in internal conflict, even if there's external conflict to initiate it).

i am also definitely not saying that the comedic, external-conflict oriented stories don't pull at my heart-strings and make me feel the things the characters feel. because they most definitely do. especially with epicyclical's work is impossible to place squarely in either "camp"-- and in fact that is why it delights me to such an extent. i am drawn into the story with the sparkling, adorable characterizations, and then drawn yet further into the characters themselves. it's usually a subtle thing-- and when the storm hits, it really hits, possibly even harder than with overtly angsty fics. this is also the case with mistful and ``underwater light"-- there have been several `serious', intense scenes so far, and they really pack a punch, carry a real emotional impact that is even more stark because it's set off by all this intricate footwork and effervescent verbal fencing that preceded them.

it seems also, that fics i would say tend more towards the "comedic" end of things rely more on dialogue-- and you have to realize how i worship and adore great witty dialogue, because it's so hard to do (for me), and because of the subtlety with which it can progress the story, and the ease with which it places you right in the middle of the action. in (well-written) angstier fics, the dialogue is usually also very good, but the emphasis is on description and exposition and language itself. my own writing is, sadly, like this. the thrust of the adoration i feel for this kind of fic is because of the metaness inherent in appreciating the language used to describe things, in just adoring the words themselves.

i usually prefer the lighter, "fluffier" work of many a writer (even though-- like with silviakundera and addictedkitten's fics, i really really enjoy their darker work-- just-- not as much). but i think i'm realizing that this may not be because i'm such a fluff-freak (though i suppose maybe i am). it's just that in these "lighter", more comedic pieces, most often you get the punchier dialogue, the more vivid portrayal of my favorite characters. i get to fall in love and squee and swoon. i've sort of discussed this with ethrosdemon, because she definitely writes two kinds of stories, more split than some other people-- or maybe it's just she's more talented, because some otherwise really good writers seem unable to do both types equally well. anyway, there's definitely a connection observable in her writing between comedic and externally-focused & angsty and internally-focused. apparently in her writing this is also tied with either hetness or slash--- and the alliances stick in each fandom. so in hp fics, you would get angsty inwardly-focused het and fluffy externally-focused slash, which i guess is amusing~:)

anyway, there's no conclusion to be had or anything-- it's just entertaining to think about this, and the weird paths and reasons my seemingly omnivorous tastes have. reading all sorts of well-written stories brings me great joy, but still-- still.
there is just something indescribably delightful about punchy, pithy, witty, sexy stories. yes, sexy. there is no other word, heh. i would call the "other" kind beautiful, gorgeous-- desireable. but not sexy, as much. shakespeare was a sex-god among gods, by this definition (and, of course, many many others-- ahh, shakespeare-- how my heart doth flutter at thy words, milord). wilde was uber sexy. john barth, definitely. mark twain was sexy. so was o'henry. and neil gaiman, oh man oh man. all these, aren't necessarily "comic" writers-- there are some i would say are great comic writers, but they don't deserve the sexxx-god label. peter beagle-- yum, sexay. anyway. yes. let us worship-- as in, read. all you poor people who haven't read said fics (durendal's and cassie's and maya's), what are you doing reading this??! run, run, run, read...! hahaahahhaha :D

Comments

[ethrosdemon.livejournal.com]

This is going to be slightly rambling because I took some medicine for my neck and now I am a little dazed.

I agree with you totally that most of the really good pieces of humorous writing tends to rely heavily on dialogue. I have a serious love on for some good dialogue. I think that's mainly because I think that I am strong in that area, and therefore I tend to be somewhat hard on other people's. When I *do* find excellent dialogue, I slobber all over the writer who made it. But I also think that funny, clever dialogue stands out more than serious, well-written dialogue.

Also, I haven't written enough in HP to have a real pattern here *wink* And I only started writing het fic at all this year. Or maybe it was last year, but I don't have that much of it. HP just brings it out in me (I think it's just Hermione).

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

Muah!
You *rock.*

[penelope-z.livejournal.com]

I can feel the love, oh yes, I can.

Big sloppy kiss, babeh.

P-Z