So I feel VERY out of place here adding myself to the discussion... but I want to haha. I read your post and the majority of the comments (okay all of them but I was skimming sort of
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You also mentioned the idea that it's harder to know the "goal" of a platonic relationship fic. I think to some degree that's true on TV shows too. Without a first kiss... or "getting back together"... or marriage... or babies as a goal, people aren't sure what the point of their story should be lol. Better writers realize that writing the same old thing gets boring anyway and even their romantic fics probably have more unique goals. But since for a platonic fic the goal is always gonna be more unique, it's more daunting for every single writer
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I was also thinking about mixed gendered friendships as well - like with The OC, for example, you get plenty of Summer and Marissa and Ryan and Seth, but rarely do you see Summer+Ryan or Marissa+Seth, and with this re-watch I'm doing at the moment, it's rather sad because boys and girls CAN be friends without any romantic connotation, but lol TV doesn't give us that.
I think the problem with having romance in the background is that writers aren't necessarily keeping them in the background, if that makes sense. So many of my Glee friendship fics include the fact that Blaine is in a relationship with Kurt and loves him because that's canon. But there's something more beyond the fact that Blaine is dating Kurt. It's about Blaine's relationship with this other person and it's about having something that doesn't involve his romantic relationship, which is really fucking hard to find when it comes to Blaine fics because of the way he was written into the show.
Yeah shows way too rarely give us platonic male/female friendships, especially where both are heterosexual, and there is no hint of romance. The O.C. was guilty of that and some shows are better than others but really Gilmore Girls was just as bad - Lane ended up very romantically involved with two of her 4 opposite sex band-mates as opposed to successfully just having a platonic bond with them and she didn't seem at all close to Brian or Gil... Rory and Lorelai were not close (platonic) friends with any guys except Rory/Marty and maybe Lorelai/Michel but Marty was completely in love with her and Michel... they weren't that close AND he was gay. None of the characters seemed to have close friendships like that with an opposite sex friend, from what I can remember. To some degree it is realistic, from an early age girls are socially conditioned into only hanging out with other girls and boys with boys and there is the complicated nature of when there is a potential for romance one or both people might fall for the other, but... it also
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I've read most of your gen fics, and I'm really disappointed there's not more of it. I don't write myself but I do participate in fandom discussions, and even then, it doesn't seem like most people enjoy discussing friendships
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That's so upsetting :C Luckily I've found a few friends who appreciate friendships as much as I do, which helps ease the pain of not having a lot of fic to read.
Oh, I never thought of Blaine and Unique discussing how they led their previous show choirs that's so interesting I'd read that!!
Yeah, the way fandom treats Kurt played a huge part in why I can't stand him and why I avoid writing him now because if you write him with canon flaws, you get crucified, which is a shame because his flaws make him at least somewhat interesting.
(sorry for being a few days late I had a huge paper due yesterday alskfdjs)
The only fic I wrote in my Buffy days was gen fic. While I was recognized for it in my little corner of the fandom - it was Riley fan fiction - we were a pretty small group! You're right I didn't get that many hits or reviews. But those I got were treasured because I knew they were heartfelt.
I've taken up writing again after all these years and while it's a Klaine based fic its more a character fic about Blaine - so more gen than slash or romance. I don't expect to receive much in the way of praise or reviews - but again, I'm writing for my own gratification. It's a story I want to tell. And that has to be enough to see me through. As you said, just keep swimming,
I don't expect to receive much in the way of praise or reviews - but again, I'm writing for my own gratification. It's a story I want to tell. And that has to be enough to see me through.
You are me and I am you - I think in particular for gen writers, you really need to have that desire for personal gratification and really want to tell the story you want to tell because you know you're not going to get as much outside encouragement.
For me - and this is just me - I feel a lot like I get most of my gen interactions out of RP. Whenever I think of a gen idea, I often throw it into RP because I feel like it would be more fun to write out that way. Kind of a cop out, I know, but it does allow me to have fun writing with friends.
I did try to make my AtLA/Glee fic as gen as possible, and I do think that is part of the reason it didn't do so well. Well, that and it being a crossover. I swear, first chapter in people were asking when Kurt and Blaine were going to get together, and that wasn't the main point of the story at all. Their relationship was a subplot
As you know I don't participate and follow in a lot of RPs (I FORGOT TO TELL YOU HOW MUCH I LOVE THE SEBLAINE ONE YOU SENT ME UGH SO GREAT), but that's true, especially in large RPs you would think you'd need some gen interactions. Although when I hear about "popular" RPs, they tend to be romantic-centric ones? But you're right, there's probably a lot more gen in RPs.
Noooo they did not :( Although I vaguely remember in my Rurouni Kenshin days people asking me the same thing and getting annoyed when it wasn't happening fast enough, which :{
Yeah, so I probably would write more gen if I didn't have the RP outlet. I get a lot more satisfaction out of RP. But that isn't to say some people don't go off and write ALL OF THE PORNZZ. And I glad you liked Seblaine!! :D
They did! We were trying to fit the tone of Avatar and Glee and all people wanted was the romantic payoff and it made me so sad.
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SO MANY FRIENDSHIPS TO WRITE ONE DAY I'M ACTUALLY GOING TO DO IT
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if either of you gave me a prompt for it i would give it a shot but i have no idea what to do for them off the top of my head :(
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I think the problem with having romance in the background is that writers aren't necessarily keeping them in the background, if that makes sense. So many of my Glee friendship fics include the fact that Blaine is in a relationship with Kurt and loves him because that's canon. But there's something more beyond the fact that Blaine is dating Kurt. It's about Blaine's relationship with this other person and it's about having something that doesn't involve his romantic relationship, which is really fucking hard to find when it comes to Blaine fics because of the way he was written into the show.
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Oh, I never thought of Blaine and Unique discussing how they led their previous show choirs that's so interesting I'd read that!!
Yeah, the way fandom treats Kurt played a huge part in why I can't stand him and why I avoid writing him now because if you write him with canon flaws, you get crucified, which is a shame because his flaws make him at least somewhat interesting.
(sorry for being a few days late I had a huge paper due yesterday alskfdjs)
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I've taken up writing again after all these years and while it's a Klaine based fic its more a character fic about Blaine - so more gen than slash or romance. I don't expect to receive much in the way of praise or reviews - but again, I'm writing for my own gratification. It's a story I want to tell. And that has to be enough to see me through. As you said, just keep swimming,
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You are me and I am you - I think in particular for gen writers, you really need to have that desire for personal gratification and really want to tell the story you want to tell because you know you're not going to get as much outside encouragement.
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For me - and this is just me - I feel a lot like I get most of my gen interactions out of RP. Whenever I think of a gen idea, I often throw it into RP because I feel like it would be more fun to write out that way. Kind of a cop out, I know, but it does allow me to have fun writing with friends.
I did try to make my AtLA/Glee fic as gen as possible, and I do think that is part of the reason it didn't do so well. Well, that and it being a crossover. I swear, first chapter in people were asking when Kurt and Blaine were going to get together, and that wasn't the main point of the story at all. Their relationship was a subplot
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Noooo they did not :( Although I vaguely remember in my Rurouni Kenshin days people asking me the same thing and getting annoyed when it wasn't happening fast enough, which :{
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They did! We were trying to fit the tone of Avatar and Glee and all people wanted was the romantic payoff and it made me so sad.
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