Pairing preferences: slash, femslash, het?
I've been reading fanfiction again and have considered writing some after a long hiatus. Since I tend to focus on romance a lot and enjoy reading romance in fanfiction, I've noticed some trends in my pairing preferences that are apparently somewhat unusual.
I like pairings between a man and woman, two men, or two women equally much. It isn't that I only focus on the nonsexual side of pairings because I'll happily read erotica for all three. I'm not really bi, as I once thought. Though I do have to admit that my focus with relationships is always on the emotional connection between the characters. I like complex, well-developed relationships. If canon doesn't provide me with satisfactory relationships in a fandom, I'll come up with my own and develop a story around it.
Many of my favorite pairings are slash because male characters are often well developed and usually have complex, interesting relationships with other men in a platonic way. It doesn't take much effort to add a sexual spin to the relationship. That probably accounts for the reasoning for a significant number of slash fans. Yet I find something very beautiful about relationships between two women as well, even though that tends to involve even more of a stretch to the imagination.
However, nothing makes me happier than a well-done, realistic canon relationship between a man and a woman. With Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey as this generation's ideals of heterosexual relationships, I've found it difficult to find a relationship model that really works for me and seems healthy and well-developed.
Another note: I raise an eyebrow whenever people say they don't know any good female characters.
I like pairings between a man and woman, two men, or two women equally much. It isn't that I only focus on the nonsexual side of pairings because I'll happily read erotica for all three. I'm not really bi, as I once thought. Though I do have to admit that my focus with relationships is always on the emotional connection between the characters. I like complex, well-developed relationships. If canon doesn't provide me with satisfactory relationships in a fandom, I'll come up with my own and develop a story around it.
Many of my favorite pairings are slash because male characters are often well developed and usually have complex, interesting relationships with other men in a platonic way. It doesn't take much effort to add a sexual spin to the relationship. That probably accounts for the reasoning for a significant number of slash fans. Yet I find something very beautiful about relationships between two women as well, even though that tends to involve even more of a stretch to the imagination.
However, nothing makes me happier than a well-done, realistic canon relationship between a man and a woman. With Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey as this generation's ideals of heterosexual relationships, I've found it difficult to find a relationship model that really works for me and seems healthy and well-developed.
Another note: I raise an eyebrow whenever people say they don't know any good female characters.