Okay, so you know plot 4b?
You know those fic that are all about the OTP coming together, where the first three quarters or so are all about the unacknowledged sexual tension between them? Generally, one or both of the characters is either a) reluctant, or b) clueless. So they bumble on in this manner (sometimes with various deus ex machina being thrown at them to heighten sexual tension, ("I'm sorry, it's vital to the mission that you guys pretend to make out/wear a g-string/drizzle yourselves in cooking oil")) for about three quarters of the fic, and then there's some kind of sexual encounter, usually under bizarre circumstances so that they can have some kind of angst/misunderstanding the morning after. Then there's a good two or three scenes of angst, and then, yay! They are brought together, the barrier to their happiness (e.g. their stupidity) is done away with, and there is sometimes one last sex scene to tie things up.
Where x is a sex scene and ♥ is the reconciliation, the story usually looks like this:
-----------------------------------------------------x---X----♥(XXX)
I can't write these, but oh, boy, I eat them up like candy. (Well, actually, Aspire to touch the sky kind of looks like that? Sorta? Only more ------x----X----X----x-----x-----♥X) They can be, like most things, be well or poorly done, but unlike most things, I am much less critical about which it is. They guarantee copious amounts of emo-porn, and at least some smut.
And my problem is, it can be a pretty suck plot, ("Oh, noes, if he knows I am gay for him, he will shun me!" raised to the power of two) and I will be reading along happily, right up to ♥. I just loose all interest and have been known to quit the fic without waiting to see how it ends. I'm not sure if it's because I'm an angst whore and schmoopy isn't interesting to me, because the reconciliation is the hardest part to write and thus people are more likely to mishandle it, or because the ease of the reconciliation necessarily underlines the complete stupidity of the plot device keeping our heroes apart. ("You're gay for me? Waitaminit, I'm gay for you!")
Is my experience as a reader normal here? Is this last ♥(XXX) required for ritual reasons and no one actually reads it? If so, why is it written? (And yes, again, I do know it can be done well. But I just stop suspending my critical faculty when I get there, for some reason.)
DISCLAIMER: Not to say there aren't fabulous stories written along these lines! These stories are no more likely to suck than any other! I've just read far more of them.
Where x is a sex scene and ♥ is the reconciliation, the story usually looks like this:
-----------------------------------------------------x---X----♥(XXX)
I can't write these, but oh, boy, I eat them up like candy. (Well, actually, Aspire to touch the sky kind of looks like that? Sorta? Only more ------x----X----X----x-----x-----♥X) They can be, like most things, be well or poorly done, but unlike most things, I am much less critical about which it is. They guarantee copious amounts of emo-porn, and at least some smut.
And my problem is, it can be a pretty suck plot, ("Oh, noes, if he knows I am gay for him, he will shun me!" raised to the power of two) and I will be reading along happily, right up to ♥. I just loose all interest and have been known to quit the fic without waiting to see how it ends. I'm not sure if it's because I'm an angst whore and schmoopy isn't interesting to me, because the reconciliation is the hardest part to write and thus people are more likely to mishandle it, or because the ease of the reconciliation necessarily underlines the complete stupidity of the plot device keeping our heroes apart. ("You're gay for me? Waitaminit, I'm gay for you!")
Is my experience as a reader normal here? Is this last ♥(XXX) required for ritual reasons and no one actually reads it? If so, why is it written? (And yes, again, I do know it can be done well. But I just stop suspending my critical faculty when I get there, for some reason.)
DISCLAIMER: Not to say there aren't fabulous stories written along these lines! These stories are no more likely to suck than any other! I've just read far more of them.