Confessions of the Multifannish
In which I ramble on about some personal observations and try and come to a coherent conclusion.
Recently, there have been a number of very interesting posts, polls and discussions linked through metafandom on the role, effects and use of *gasp* graphic sex (or non-graphic, as the case may be) in fanfiction:
Reading graphic sex scenes is cyclical in nature, at least for me. And it all has to do with all those posts up there - the why I read fanfiction, the mental, emotional and yes, physical effects it has, and whether or not I read it at all.
As the title of this essay stated, I'm multifannish. I've been active in a lot of fandoms, and lurked through a lot more. I read fanfiction for the characterization, for plot, for...pretty much everything but the porn.
But that's not entirely true. When I first get involved - ergo, when I first reading fic in a given fandom - I'll read the porn along with the actual story *.
Why is this?
I'm going to say it's because of something I'll go ahead and call a fandom language signature (small f for a particular corner, like SPN or SGA).
It all has to do with language. I read sex scenes in particular as an exploration of language. It's what makes a fandom a fandom, because the language changes. The tone changes. Hell, even the vocabulary changes. The euphemisms commonly found in SPN will be different from those found in bandom, in Babylon 5, etc. The combination of these things may not be unique, but they are different from fandom to fandom. I have yet to come across two fandoms that have the same fandom language signature.
I can't really give a concrete example - if you can, please do in comments. But it becomes obvious, especially because I tend to follow authors from one fandom to another, even if I'm not familiar with the source material, and the language changes from fandom to fandom, overall, not just from fic to fic.
I also can't say this lingual variation comes from canon, since so many fandoms are based on television shows, movies, and comic books.
Taking a step back, and looking at SGA as a body of work instead of a ton of wildly different pieces of fiction by a lot of different authors, I see it as a light-hearted, ridiculous comedy. SPN is depressing as hell and should be kept away from depressed teenagers. They're both very different flavors of crack. That's not to say that SGA can't be heartbreaking and angstastic, or that SPN can't be Three Stooges-style slapstic - they can be, but that's not what I get in the overall feel of the fanfiction as a whole.
Graphic sex makes it easier to get a handle on what the differences are from fandom to fandom. Once I'm comfortable with the 'local lingo', so to speak, it ceases to be interesting, and I go back to reading fic for the story and skip the sex.
(Unless the entire fandom (Babylon 5, for example) or a pairing I'm particularly fond of (Lorne/Ronan, Genesis/Zack) is very small, I generally only read PWPs when I first get involved in a given fandom.)
Recently, there have been a number of very interesting posts, polls and discussions linked through metafandom on the role, effects and use of *gasp* graphic sex (or non-graphic, as the case may be) in fanfiction:
- lunabee34's post on the purpose of sex scenes in fanfic
- damned-colonial's poll on physical vs. other types of arousal in response to sex scenes fanfic
- friendshipper's post and poll on physical arousal and the intent of the reader in seeking out graphic fanfiction
- 51stcenturyfox's post on what works for the reader and what doesn't in a sex scene
- several on whether readers gloss over or skip sex scenes entirely I'm still tracking down links for
Reading graphic sex scenes is cyclical in nature, at least for me. And it all has to do with all those posts up there - the why I read fanfiction, the mental, emotional and yes, physical effects it has, and whether or not I read it at all.
As the title of this essay stated, I'm multifannish. I've been active in a lot of fandoms, and lurked through a lot more. I read fanfiction for the characterization, for plot, for...pretty much everything but the porn.
But that's not entirely true. When I first get involved - ergo, when I first reading fic in a given fandom - I'll read the porn along with the actual story *.
Why is this?
I'm going to say it's because of something I'll go ahead and call a fandom language signature (small f for a particular corner, like SPN or SGA).
It all has to do with language. I read sex scenes in particular as an exploration of language. It's what makes a fandom a fandom, because the language changes. The tone changes. Hell, even the vocabulary changes. The euphemisms commonly found in SPN will be different from those found in bandom, in Babylon 5, etc. The combination of these things may not be unique, but they are different from fandom to fandom. I have yet to come across two fandoms that have the same fandom language signature.
I can't really give a concrete example - if you can, please do in comments. But it becomes obvious, especially because I tend to follow authors from one fandom to another, even if I'm not familiar with the source material, and the language changes from fandom to fandom, overall, not just from fic to fic.
I also can't say this lingual variation comes from canon, since so many fandoms are based on television shows, movies, and comic books.
Taking a step back, and looking at SGA as a body of work instead of a ton of wildly different pieces of fiction by a lot of different authors, I see it as a light-hearted, ridiculous comedy. SPN is depressing as hell and should be kept away from depressed teenagers. They're both very different flavors of crack. That's not to say that SGA can't be heartbreaking and angstastic, or that SPN can't be Three Stooges-style slapstic - they can be, but that's not what I get in the overall feel of the fanfiction as a whole.
Graphic sex makes it easier to get a handle on what the differences are from fandom to fandom. Once I'm comfortable with the 'local lingo', so to speak, it ceases to be interesting, and I go back to reading fic for the story and skip the sex.
(Unless the entire fandom (Babylon 5, for example) or a pairing I'm particularly fond of (Lorne/Ronan, Genesis/Zack) is very small, I generally only read PWPs when I first get involved in a given fandom.)