22 réponses à ce sujet

[ACM1989]

This is mostly a cientific research of sorts. There's no judgement intended, just plain curiosity.

I started reading DA fics after finishing DA2 (I was obsessed to read about F!Hawke and Anders running away together), and I found a couple of good fandom communities worth my time. What's interesting in the world of DA fanfiction is the amount of possible pairings (canon and non-canon alike); but, what's got me curious is the amount of same-sex pairings depicted in fanfiction.

 Considering most fanfiction writers and readers I've come across are women, I'm curious to know what makes them write-for instance- slash fiction. It's impressive the amount of m/m fics around, and even more impressive how many prompts I've read in which the authors say they don't care if the pairing is straight or homosexual.

 As a woman myself I only like to read and write about heterosexual pairings (I have no problem with homosexuals, I just don't like reading about same-sex sexual encounters and such), so I wonder if my fellow writers and readers are just really open minded, or may be there's a whole bunch of gay-writers out there, or bisexual, etc.

 If you are straight, what makes you write about a homosexual pairing? (if you do)
 If you are a man, what kind of fanfiction do you write? 
 If you are homosexual, would you feel uncomfortable writing about a heterosexual pairing?
 
 It would be great if I could create a poll about this, so anyone who's shy about it can vote anonimously; but I don't see the option here.

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 I'm a girl, currently working on two DA2 post-game stories about Marian Hawke and Anders. There's just not enough of them.
I love so many DA pairings! Alistair/F!Cousland, SerGilmore/F!Cousland, Cullen/F!Amell, Zevran/F!Trabis or Zevran/F!Surana, or Zevran/F!Mahariel, Morrigan/M!Cousland, Leliana/M!Amell, Bethany/Nathaniel, F!Hawke/Anders, and F!Hawke/Sebastian.

I don't write fluffy fiction, I write angst, drama is my forte. There's always some romance involved for a good drama, and sometimes some fluff as well, but I believe there are no good plots without real drama. Thus. that's mostly all I read.

 What do you read and or write?
 
 

[mousestalker]

I'm mostly just curious. I like to take characters, dress them up and see how they move and interact. I'm worse at writing relationships that I had in game than relationships where I'm more detached.

I like to write tragedy, but people seem to prefer my crack.

As for reading, I like to read well written stories. The stories I find well written are at sharp variance with what most ff writers prefer. I like strong characterization with plot. If stuff doesn't happen, then characters really can't develop well.

[Corker]

Reading

I had never read slash before getting involved in the DAO fandom and didn't think I'd like it.  Turns out, for me a good story is a good story.  If it has a romance, and if the two romantic leads are the same gender, that's not a big deal.  I'm not a reader of romance in general; I enjoy some of the ones I've read in this fandom, but I don't need to identify with one of the characters that way.

I find that if I have a problem with a story, to the point of putting it down, it's either not about gender at all (e.g., violence is too graphic for me) or it's hitting my Angry Feminist button too hard.  (Assuming I started reading it and was hooked, I mean.  There are plenty which just aren't to my taste.)

Writing

Of my long stuff (which by standards hereabouts isn't all that long at all):

* One f!Mahariel who was supposed to romance Zevran but eventually told me she'd rather have Mithra.  I don't know why, but partway through her playthrough I got the sense that she preferred women.  She's my stern stoic hiding a lot of grief and guilt, currently having Teen-rated adventures with Finn and Ariane and making googly eyes at Ariane.  Unfortunately for Mahariel, I don't think the feeling's mutual. 

* Two AU romance novellas**, het per the prompt requests.  The love scenes in the plain vanilla romance in the first one was like pulling teeth for me.  "They do it!  What do you want from me?!"

* My kmeme sex farce series is f!Tabris/Zevran + hardened!Leliana, and depending on the fill, it's been m/f, m/f/f, or f/f(/f/f/f).  Why write f/f?  ...there's not a lot of it, for one thing.  I feel like I can do it, and it's neglected, so why not step up?  I've been very slow to use a male POV in my smut (worried about either getting it wrong or just cribbing from other authors), so having two women means a choice of POV for me.  Mostly, it seemed sort of a crime to let that "That's an interesting idea... I'll have think about it" line go to waste.   The trio have worked very well for me; they're just plain fun to write.

I've got a whole passel of short stuff, which spans the gamut from limericks to alliterative verse to lyric prose to metahumor to baldly manipulative tear-jerker.  I like to play with tone and style.



**Yep.  Despite not being a romance novel reader, I've turned out two pretty long things I can only describe as romances.  The requests were for alternate universes - a Thedas where Arlathan never fell, in this case - and I can't resist that kind of world building.  The romances were kind of the rent I paid to get to explore the world concept.

Modifié par Corker, 30 mai 2011 - 03:45 .

[Shadow of Light Dragon]

No orientation makes me feel uncomfortable from the perspective of romance/relationship (though writing smut makes me blush). So long as I feel I can do a pairing justice I'm game to write it.

My only m/m pairings or innuendos regarding slash have been due to Zevran, I think. I paired him with an M!Cousland once, wrote about him and Taliesen, but other than Zev making a few cracks at the expense of, say, Alistair, nothing seriously m/m.

Also done Zevran/F!Cousland, Zevran/F!Aeducan, Alistair/F!Brosca and my main 'The Hunt' *points at signature* is Alistair/F!Cousland only not, since Alistair left at the Landsmeet and Cousland goes after him post-Blight with Zevran and Dog tagging along. My current main 'The Kill' *points again at sig* is Zevran/Unknown, but F!Tabris is in it.

I don't read a great deal of fanfic and tend to steer clear of crack/non-canon pairings unless a story is well-written or I'm familiar with the author and like their stuff. But I've read m/m and f/f and het with equal enjoyment.

As for what I write...mix of humour, adventure, action, drama, fluff, comfort, angst, I guess? I find it hard to categorise my own writing. I prefer (ultimately) light-spirited stories to things that stay dark and depressing.

[Esbatty]

As a dude, I like to focus on pairings of my PC's and their LI's. So it'll be Cousland and Morrigan or Hawke and Merrill. If I do any kind of same sex pairings it'll be female PC and a female LI. Last one I wrote was Lady Hawke and Merrill.

What I like to read straight pairings like Cousland and Morrigan, Mahariel and Alistair, Tabris and Anders, Loghain and Cousland, and Cousland and Alistair. Although I do like to read the occassional same sex pairing but its like for purely purient interests Mahariel and Leliana, Bethany and Leliana, etc etc.

[Lenimph]

I'm a bi female and I mostly focus on lesbian pairings. I'm only uncomfortable about m/m pairings. I don't know why I tend to write mostly f/f pairings. I think it has something to do with the fact that hetero is the norm and .... is kinda boring.

I only read and write about the pairings I enjoy which is mostly things that involve Leliana or Isabela. I do read heterosexual fanfics about Morrigan. I guess some of the things I've written could be considered outside of the norm. Like my Amell/Morrigan/Leliana threesome fic and my Bethany/Leliana prequel fic....

Yep.

[Special_Agent_Goodwrench]

I'm a straight-ish guy and I enjoy f/f pairings the most, though I don't shy away from hetero or m/m. I don't know why exactly I like f/f. I just do. My preferred pairings are f!Cousland/Leliana, f!Hawke/Isabela, m!Amell/Morrigan, Nathaniel/Velanna (really), one-sided m!Mahariel/Merrill, and Varric/Bianca, not to mention a few PC/PC.

I tend to incorporate a bit of everything in my writing. A healthy dose of romance and drama, sprinkled with a bit of comedy, and seasoned with internal conflict. I uploaded only one story so far (f!Cousland/Leliana), but I have tons more unfinished on my HDD and still in my head.

As for reading, I don't tend to read much fanfiction, but if I do, it's mostly something involving romance somewhere, provided I don't have huge disagreements with the pairings. Alistair/Leliana is such one. I don't even dislike Alistair, but no, just no.

[Morwen Eledhwen]

Shadow of Light Dragon wrote...

I don't read a great deal of fanfic and tend to steer clear of crack/non-canon pairings unless a story is well-written or I'm familiar with the author and like their stuff. But I've read m/m and f/f and het with equal enjoyment.

Hmm. . .I'm curious: Seeing as you started/own the FF listing thread, I'm a bit surprised to find that you don't read that much fanfiction. May I ask why?


To answer the OP's question, I am a hetero female and I've only ever written (am writing) one piece of fanfiction. It involves a hetero pairing --though a slowly-developing one; my protagonists are not really of a mind to jump in the sack with a Blight on-- but the pairing has to do with the fact that these were the characters whose story I felt compelled to write, not the fact that they're M/F. My PCs have been involved in M/F, F/F and M/M relationships, and if I weren't writing this current fic I might do something with the M/M one, as it was quite unexpected and poses an interesting problem: my M!Cousland was very much a straight-arrow noble son of the manor and was all set to become king-consort when he found himself strangely bonded to Zevran, and now he doesn't know what to do. Further complicating things is the fact that his future father in-law is stalking around camp within earshot of tent activities.

As far as what I write, I try to stay away from angst but do enjoy drama as well as humor. As a teenager I did do a bit of angsty navel-gazing in my writing but that seems to be behind me now, or at least I hope so. :happy: This current fic I'm writing is by far the funniest thing I've ever written, though the humor doesn't really get going until Chapter 3 (there's a bit of drama to be got through first). I like to think that my writing involves a lot of headspace, if that makes any sense. It does include a lot of getting inside the characters' heads, or having the characters and story universe take over the reader's headspace for a while. The plot and dialogue tend to facilitate the changing of headpsace rather than the other way around. "Immersive" was the way one reader has described it. Romance is a new territory for me in writing, and I'm a little nervous about it. There are so many pitfalls involved in doing love scenes and I kind of dread the day I take my current pairing there, in case I don't do them justice.

As far as reading, I'll read any pairing as long as I like/identify with the characters or at least find them interesting or compelling. I'll even read some crack involving certain characters I don't like, depending on the circumstances, subject matter, and writing style. If it's written badly or bores me I don't care who the pairing is --I'm gone. There are always plenty of alternatives.

Modifié par Morwen Eledhwen, 31 mai 2011 - 06:08 .

[Shadow of Light Dragon]

Morwen Eledhwen wrote...

Shadow of Light Dragon wrote...

I don't read a great deal of fanfic and tend to steer clear of crack/non-canon pairings unless a story is well-written or I'm familiar with the author and like their stuff. But I've read m/m and f/f and het with equal enjoyment.

Hmm. . .I'm curious: Seeing as you started/own the FF listing thread, I'm a bit surprised to find that you don't read that much fanfiction. May I ask why?

Sure  A couple of reasons:

1) Time. There is a HEAP of DA fanfic out there, some of it really good, and the more time I spend reading the less time I spend writing.
2) Plagiarism. Reading influences your writing. The problem with reading Dragon Age fanfics when you're writing Dragon Age fanfics is that ideas can overlay. I can end up unconsciously 'borrowing' someone else's ideas or, even worse, read an idea in another fic I had already thought of myself then have second thoughts about using said idea, both because 'it's been done' and because I wouldn't want the author to read MY stuff and think, "Hey, she stole my idea!" when I didn't, I just had a very similar one.

I know that point #2 is a little silly considering we're all writing FANFICTION, but I can't help it. XD I like trying to keep my story ideas as pure and original as possible, Thedas lore notwithstanding. Personal quirk.

[maxernst]

As a gay man, I wouldn't be reading a lot of fiction if I was averse to reading heterosexual pairings, though in all honesty, I don't read a lot of fanfiction. As far as writing, my primary pairing is a non-canon M/M (M!Cousland/Alistair), but I will be writing some M/F stuff in the current project. I guess the fanfic could be described as a post-blight relationship drama.

I might find it awkward to write if I were writing explicit scenes, but I'm not really confident in writing M/M smut either.

[errant_knight]

Female writer, here.
I can't comment on the first section as that's not what I read or write. Personal preference, is all.

As to the second part, I've only written one DA story, although it's a long one. The pairing is Alistair/Cousland, and the reason I chose it is that those are the characters I find most appealing to me personally, and if I'm going to spend the better part of a year (what it took to write part one of my story) in someone's head, I'd prefer to really like them and be able to identify with them. And they have to be characters who'll chatter away to me. Alistair talks, Zevran doesn't. What that probably means it the I 'get' Alistair, but not Zevran. Doesn't mean that I can't write characters I don't really identify with (ie my villains), but I'm not with them as often as my protagonists. And I had to do a lot of research to write my main female antagoinist, since her views, motivations, and actions are so very far away from anything that comes naturally to me.

I'm fairly driven to stick to canon, although I can tweak it to change an event, but will then stick to events and lore as they unfolded 'historically', as much as is possible. I write action/adventure with some drama, humor and non-explicit romance mixed in. I'm heavily plot oriented and like to have lots of action and banter.

As far as reading, I pretty much like to read what I try and write--fun adventure stories with some drama and romance involved. I need a strong plot that makes sense and character behavior that doesn't go against canon beliefs of those characters. That, and center of the universe PCs send me running for the hills, as do author revenge stories--'Character 'X' made me mad, and I will now PUNISH THEM! Mercilessly, and over and over and over!' Heh Those are always...yeah. Not good.

I'm not into heavy angst as it often means either wallowing or character torture, neither of which I particularly enjoy. Doesn't mean I don't like emotional drama, or sadness--those need to be there. Happy times don't mean much if there isn't something to contrast it with, which is why I don't tend to go for straight fluff, either. Balance--that's the ticket!

Modifié par errant_knight, 01 juin 2011 - 06:52 .

[Merilsell]

Shadow of Light Dragon wrote...

Sure  A couple of reasons:

1) Time. There is a HEAP of DA fanfic out there, some of it really good, and the more time I spend reading the less time I spend writing.
2) Plagiarism. Reading influences your writing. The problem with reading Dragon Age fanfics when you're writing Dragon Age fanfics is that ideas can overlay. I can end up unconsciously 'borrowing' someone else's ideas or, even worse, read an idea in another fic I had already thought of myself then have second thoughts about using said idea, both because 'it's been done' and because I wouldn't want the author to read MY stuff and think, "Hey, she stole my idea!" when I didn't, I just had a very similar one.

I know that point #2 is a little silly considering we're all writing FANFICTION, but I can't help it. XD I like trying to keep my story ideas as pure and original as possible, Thedas lore notwithstanding. Personal quirk.

Same here. I don't read much FF due to those reasons, but the time factor is the biggest one. I don't write when I read and with my epic-seized FF I can't afford much dalliance (if I ever want to finish it, that's it.) However, female writer here and I can't comment much on the slash- FF's, because it is not my cup of tea to read or write. Nothing personal, just preference.

My own FF is born from my personal favorite pairing, which is the rather unusual Alistair/Mahariel one. (There is not enough love for this pairing ) Characters and their development are the most important thing for me when writing a story. I like to create characters and send them on (figuratively) on their journey to grow and mature within the story. I love to get into a characters head, to figure out how a character ticks and what motivates the one, to take this knowledge to evolve a character in a sensible and most possible realistic way within in a story. There is nothing I hate more than bad developed, stale characters. Life is a constant learning and making new experiences that influences a person, so one character can't be the same at the end like in the beginning.

Romance is a natural part of it for me and intertwined in my story, albeit developed in a deliberately slow and sensible pace. I don't like "In your face" romances at all, they make a story a lot more superficial, imo. Which is the reason I'm quickly turned off when a whole story I read is about romance and there is nothing more to it than this. As well when the pairing is already making out briefly after the first hello is simply...let's say...puzzling to me. There is more to a story than just romance and I like to see it as one of various elements of a story but not the only one. "A healthy dose of romance and drama, sprinkled with a bit of comedy, and seasoned with internal conflict" like Drunk Deadman so fitting said. Also staying true to canon and character with my own interpretation of the game's events.

As for reading, like said I read not much atm...but when I do I also have a thing for unusual pairings here. Alistair/elven Warden are my personal favorite here too but I also like Zevran/Cousland, Brosca/Alistair and Morrigan/M!Warden, especially M!Mahariel. Anyway a good plot and character development are needed to keep me reading, though there are also days where I like mindless fluff/smut :innocent:

[Kindliche]

22 Year Old, Straight Female
Preferred pairing? Homosexual
Mostly because the female characters (when paired with males) that are so popular make me gag with how unbelievably horrible they are in the majority of the fanfiction I have read. Personally I haven't come across one that struck me as having an interesting enough story that I can ignore how incredibly flat and one dimensional the characters are nor have I found one that balances both story and characters well. I've completely given up on F!Cousland/Alistair. I just see the pairing now and roll my eyes. Sure, there probably are decent stories out there but I certainly haven't found them. I don't mind them being written of course, but I personally don't read them and skim over them, no mean reviews or hateful 'why u rite teh nogay 4' comments that I've seen a lot of the m/m and f/f get.

I haven't written in forever and I'm in no way an expert in anything but I read quite a bit still and have decided where my preferences lie. Right now I think I have around 10 stories I'm following and each time I see they've been update I get all excited. None of them are Heterosexual. I don't enjoy reading about oh-so-perfect female characters with ridiculously long hair and eyes that shine like diamonds in the sunlight or about how her curves fill out her armor so well or how she tears up when she gets angry. Personal preference. There are plenty of series where I enjoy the/a female protagonist but not in this game's fandom. Not my cup of tea. Things I do like in fanfiction are AUs, There are only so many times I can read through someones step by step, word for word, version of the game before I click away.

Years and years ago I only read Heterosexual stuff but I think I've either gotten bored of the typical m/f love story, or I'm just incredibly picky when dealing with them. I think its the latter.

[Morwen Eledhwen]

Hmm. . .While I definitely sympathize with your "oh look, another petite, slender-yet-curvaceous, doe-eyed maiden/nymph/warrior princess" gag reflex, I'd have to say that if I'm reading for character/story/good writing, the type of pairing really doesn't enter into it. I only care about who's doing what to whom if I'm reading smut for the pleasure of reading smut. Then I'll look at the pairings and go "does it for me, doesn't do it for me, hmm. . .Wouldn't have thought of it, but let's check it out. . ." etc.

[Addai]

@ Kindliche: It's sad that a woman would critique female protagonists so harshly, especially in DA fandom where it's actually realistic to have a strong, independent female character. I sometimes get the feeling that women don't like female protagonists because, in a game world, that's the spot where their PCs usually are (and sometimes where they self-insert). They like their own characters better and no one else's really matches up. Also, a game PC is almost by definition a Mary Sue, so you almost have to write AU in order to make a character realistic. Not saying that this is the case for you, but such thoughts have crossed my mind before when reading critical views of female protags.

Then again, I have no interest in s/s pairings and don't relate to them, and the yaoi phenomenon is a mystery to me, too. So I probably wouldn't read a romance-heavy s/s story. Of course, a good character is a good character, so if I had other reasons to read it- like if I trust the author and if it's a story that has actual meat to it (pun sort of intended) besides genitalia- that's what matters. I find smut for the sake of smut boring even if it's m/f.

Modifié par Addai67, 15 juin 2011 - 05:43 .

[Shadow of Light Dragon]

I find it interesting that apparently "oh-so-perfect female characters with ridiculously long hair and eyes that shine like diamonds in the sunlight" or oh-so-perfect male characters with heroic proportions and manly charisma don't exist in s/s?

[Merilsell]

Addai67 wrote...

@ Kindliche: Then again, I have no interest in s/s pairings and don't relate to them, and the yaoi phenomenon is a mystery to me, too. So I probably wouldn't read a romance-heavy s/s story. Of course, a good character is a good character, so if I had other reasons to read it- like if I trust the author and if it's a story that has actual meat to it (pun sort of intended) besides genitalia- that's what matters.

This.

Also as an author of a slow developed M/F! Warden story, where I take greatest care and attention to the characters within, I find your opinion....I don't know...a bit insulting, perhaps?

[Shadow of Light Dragon]

Kindliche *did* close her post by admitting she might just be a picky reader.

[Merilsell]

Well, yes, I am picky too and sort this sparkling Warden stories out at first glance. They are not worth my sparse reading time. Period. Still that doesn't mean I judge the whole M/F of Dragon Age Fanfiction as utter Mary Sue crap because of that, or something.

I would never say s/s is always only PWP either, for example. There are good and well written stories for that too and also oh-so perfect, manly charming characters to find. So I beg to differ.

Then again, maybe I'm just nit-picking today, that I react to her post like that. I don't know.

[Maria13]

Idealized characters exist in all sorts of stories. They are pretty much a staple. In many ways Alistair is an idealized character as is Zevran or Leliana, for example but some writers are interested in bringing out their more normal or even darker facets, some are not, this is independent of the genre or the sexual characteristics of the primary pairing.

Modifié par Maria13, 15 juin 2011 - 04:45 .

[TanithAeyrs]

Interesting discussion. I was unaware fanfic even existed until I read some on the old forums (pre DAO release). It revived my interest in writing and I do read a moderate amount of fanfic as well as write a small amount. For the record I'm female, straight and married with kids. I read most pairings as long as they are well written, without preference for m/f, m/m, or f/f. I don't really care for the explicit stuff although if the story is well written I don't find that it puts me off of a piece. I love humorous fics, but I read drama and angst as well. I like a good original plot, but I will occasionally read an OC if the writing is exceptional.

I really enjoy authors that delve into a character without making them step out of character. Things that keep my interest in a fic include good dialog, good use of vocabulary, and a strong plot. Without those I usually lose interest quickly.

[Sialater]

Straight female, married, older than I want to admit.

I have a hetero threesome going on. Well... sorta. More because I got an interesting in-game bug than out of some need for Moira Surana to be the most extraspecialist snowflake ever. Mainly, she ended the game with both Zevran and Alistair in love with her. And then got the ending card where Alistair was called away to Weisshaupt.

Since Alistair and Zevran seem to be friends in game... it added wrinkles to Moira's after story. It's my first fic ever, and currently the longest thing I've ever written. Not including my novels that I've abandoned.

Like Shadow, I don't read much fic any more. I find myself inadvertently lifting if I do. I still stick with the authors I used to read, but I haven't picked up any new.

As far as slash goes... it's not my fave, but I'll read m/m over f/f.  I doubt my ability to write it, though, since I don't know anything about it, personally.

Modifié par Sialater, 15 juin 2011 - 10:05 .

[Lakhi]

Straight male writer here (god that feels so *weird* to say it that way) my fic features a lot of pairings for the time being but they're petty much all straight m/f relationships for now. As for whens read fanfics, I tend to stick to straight pairings and usually gloss over m/m or f/f but if there's a limited amount of lemon i'll go for it providing the characters and stories are well-written and the characters have a canonical penchant towards those feelings (loghain/m!warden is a particular peeve of mine). Anyhow, yeah, fanfics are fun