What do I want from femslash? I'm in it for the characterization.
When asking about things people would like to see me talk about, 
likeadeuce suggested femslash: Hmm, would you be interested in talking about femslash stories you'd like to see more of -- either particular pairings/fandoms or certain kinds of dynamics?
I think I should start out by talking about what I don't want to see, which isn't necessarily things that I think are bad. Just that I don't like them.
I'm not a huge fan of curtain fics. You know, the cheerfully domestic stories where a couple (or grouping) goes to pick out curtains or cooks or does something else prosaic together. That's not to say there isn't a place for those stories, or that they're bad stories. I think that everyday stories about queer women doing everyday things have a valuable place and a purpose. They're just not what I want to see in femslash.
What do I love to see? My favorite characters are often, if not always, in short supply.
I love the manipulators, the ones who see how you feel and watch how you act, and who know how to alter their behavior to change that. They're the ones who often end up keeping their emotions under wraps, partly to avoid being vulnerable, and partly because they know they need to, beause it's easier to manipulate when you're a blank surface. They're the ones who are self-aware, both of their flaws and their strengths, and the ones who use their emotions or supress them ruthlessley, whatever is needed to get the job done.
I go right for the Sophie Devereauxes and Elizabeth Weirs, anyone who is quiet and subtle when they need to be, but loud and strident when that will work best. Boomer wasn't so much that person in BSG, but Athena was, and so I loved her more. Caprica and Natalie, out of all the Sixes, were the ones I fixated on. I loved Roslin too, but the problem with Roslin is that she was the Moses of the story, and I don't fixate on characters destined to die. Too many of the women I love already die.
When it comes to BtVS/AtS, I loved the adult women, the ones who owned their power and that used it to the best of their ability. Most especially part of that were Lilah Morgan, Jenny Calendar, Darla, and Drusilla, though Cordelia, in the brief period after season one and before her ascension to PTB-ness, certainly ended up fitting into that category also.
Amanda, on Highlander, fit the bill quite nicely. (Methos slots into those same categories, except for the fact that he's not a woman.) Janette and Natalie both from Forever Knight, because for all Janette is overtly presented as a manipulator on the show, Natalie certainly knows how to push Nick and Schanke's buttons too. (Sometimes I wonder if I didn't head for the Ravens/Ravenettes because the whole emphasis on being a fashionista, which was probably more tongue in cheek than I realized at the time.) Kate Heightmeyer on SGA too, though I certainly love Teyla and Cadman and all the women - and on SG1, this is why Vala ran right onto the show and stole my attention from Sam, because she's sneaky and manipulative.
I'm sure you can all figure out how much love I have for Kahlan Amnell in Legend of the Seeker, right?
Lately, it's been Natasha Romanoff in Avengers fandom, because she's the master manipulator out of the group. I love all the women, Maria and Pepper and Jane, Sif and Darcy, Frigga, and it would be so nice to bring Betty Ross back into the forefront as well. (If Tony and Bruce get to be Science Bros, can we at least have Betty and Jane lob things at the two of them while figuring out intergalactic travel via wormhole?)
Fandom, though, fandom tends to love the kick-ass action girl. As a general rule, Parker gets more action in Leverage fandom than Sophie, and both Boomer and Athena were sidelined in fandom by Starbuck. Again, this isn't bad of fandom, this is just not what I want.
So. Let me say that "personality traits of my favorite ladies" is actually a lead-up to talking about one of the things I want in femslash.
One of my favorite dynamics is when the subtle, manipulative women fall for each other (so they have to force the other to open up, oh hello there Kate Heightmeyer/Elizabeth Weir shipping) or for someone who is more open and can draw them out (like Miranda Priestly and Andy Sachs from The Devil Wears Prada).
I think I had too many clauses and parentheticals in that sentence. Um. So. There are two basic dynamics I like. First of allo, subtle, manipulative women who fall for each other and force each other to be more emotionally open. Second, when the subtle, manipulative woman falls for a more emotionally open woman, and then they both have to learn to compromise about their emotional needs.
So. When it comes to curtain fic, and why I don't like it, it's because curtain fic is often about domesticity. It's focused on a domestic moment, and the process of doing something prosaic and shippy, but it often doesn't focus on the characterization. I like everything that gets under a character's skin, that digs up what makes her feel the way she does, and what makes act in a certain way. I wouldn't say that's what I write every time, but that's what I'm most drawn to.
There's a lot of curtain fic that's just schmoopy and sappy, focused on happiness and comfort, and I only like that in fic in small doses. (In my real life, I'm all about the happiness and the comfort.) Again, and because I want to be absolutely clear on this, this is just me, and you may all feel free to like curtain fic as much as you want.
Now, there was one fic, I think by leavethesky? Maybe thelastgoodname? which had Quinn and Rachel from Glee attending couples counseling, and that was a brilliant exploration of characterization and left all the under the surface stuff right where it should be.
Aha! Here it is: Alien, by thelastgoodname, and it's a Quinn/Rachel fic. It's not the cozy domestic bliss of a curtain fic, but usually couples therapy fics, the ones I've seen at least, are all about finding out you're perfect with someone. This, well, it wasn't that.
I'm in it for the characterization, the development and the contrasts, the good changes and the bad ones. It's why I loved Farscape so much, even with the dearth of femslash in that fandom.
You can show me a fic with the most popular, headlined protagonist in the world, and if their characterization isn't complex in fanfic, I'll be bored with the story. Show me someone like an ogre (with layers, just like onions have layers), pry into those layers in fiction, and I'll hook onto anything you do with grabby little hands and never walk away. I'll even read in fandoms I've never watched/read, just to get characterization from that writer.
There's more that I want, AUs and cliches, fpreg (yes, please), vampires and witches and supernatural things (not just Supernatural things), time travel including timey-wimey outside of Doctor Who, reincarnation, plus I could discuss my entirely inappropriate love for AMTDI and aphrodisiac fic (dubcon to noncon, I know!), but honestly, I'd like to give all of those things the in-depth treatment they deserve.
I'm in fandom because most of the fans I know seem to love characterization as much as plot, if not more, and most of the stories end up focusing on characters. But what I like in femslash is a specific focus on women who are emotionally guarded and how they come to terms with the relationship that they're in.
This entry has been cross-posted to Dreamwidth (
comments). Comments are welcome on either post.
likeadeuce suggested femslash: Hmm, would you be interested in talking about femslash stories you'd like to see more of -- either particular pairings/fandoms or certain kinds of dynamics?
I think I should start out by talking about what I don't want to see, which isn't necessarily things that I think are bad. Just that I don't like them.
I'm not a huge fan of curtain fics. You know, the cheerfully domestic stories where a couple (or grouping) goes to pick out curtains or cooks or does something else prosaic together. That's not to say there isn't a place for those stories, or that they're bad stories. I think that everyday stories about queer women doing everyday things have a valuable place and a purpose. They're just not what I want to see in femslash.
What do I love to see? My favorite characters are often, if not always, in short supply.
I love the manipulators, the ones who see how you feel and watch how you act, and who know how to alter their behavior to change that. They're the ones who often end up keeping their emotions under wraps, partly to avoid being vulnerable, and partly because they know they need to, beause it's easier to manipulate when you're a blank surface. They're the ones who are self-aware, both of their flaws and their strengths, and the ones who use their emotions or supress them ruthlessley, whatever is needed to get the job done.
I go right for the Sophie Devereauxes and Elizabeth Weirs, anyone who is quiet and subtle when they need to be, but loud and strident when that will work best. Boomer wasn't so much that person in BSG, but Athena was, and so I loved her more. Caprica and Natalie, out of all the Sixes, were the ones I fixated on. I loved Roslin too, but the problem with Roslin is that she was the Moses of the story, and I don't fixate on characters destined to die. Too many of the women I love already die.
When it comes to BtVS/AtS, I loved the adult women, the ones who owned their power and that used it to the best of their ability. Most especially part of that were Lilah Morgan, Jenny Calendar, Darla, and Drusilla, though Cordelia, in the brief period after season one and before her ascension to PTB-ness, certainly ended up fitting into that category also.
Amanda, on Highlander, fit the bill quite nicely. (Methos slots into those same categories, except for the fact that he's not a woman.) Janette and Natalie both from Forever Knight, because for all Janette is overtly presented as a manipulator on the show, Natalie certainly knows how to push Nick and Schanke's buttons too. (Sometimes I wonder if I didn't head for the Ravens/Ravenettes because the whole emphasis on being a fashionista, which was probably more tongue in cheek than I realized at the time.) Kate Heightmeyer on SGA too, though I certainly love Teyla and Cadman and all the women - and on SG1, this is why Vala ran right onto the show and stole my attention from Sam, because she's sneaky and manipulative.
I'm sure you can all figure out how much love I have for Kahlan Amnell in Legend of the Seeker, right?
Lately, it's been Natasha Romanoff in Avengers fandom, because she's the master manipulator out of the group. I love all the women, Maria and Pepper and Jane, Sif and Darcy, Frigga, and it would be so nice to bring Betty Ross back into the forefront as well. (If Tony and Bruce get to be Science Bros, can we at least have Betty and Jane lob things at the two of them while figuring out intergalactic travel via wormhole?)
Fandom, though, fandom tends to love the kick-ass action girl. As a general rule, Parker gets more action in Leverage fandom than Sophie, and both Boomer and Athena were sidelined in fandom by Starbuck. Again, this isn't bad of fandom, this is just not what I want.
So. Let me say that "personality traits of my favorite ladies" is actually a lead-up to talking about one of the things I want in femslash.
One of my favorite dynamics is when the subtle, manipulative women fall for each other (so they have to force the other to open up, oh hello there Kate Heightmeyer/Elizabeth Weir shipping) or for someone who is more open and can draw them out (like Miranda Priestly and Andy Sachs from The Devil Wears Prada).
I think I had too many clauses and parentheticals in that sentence. Um. So. There are two basic dynamics I like. First of allo, subtle, manipulative women who fall for each other and force each other to be more emotionally open. Second, when the subtle, manipulative woman falls for a more emotionally open woman, and then they both have to learn to compromise about their emotional needs.
So. When it comes to curtain fic, and why I don't like it, it's because curtain fic is often about domesticity. It's focused on a domestic moment, and the process of doing something prosaic and shippy, but it often doesn't focus on the characterization. I like everything that gets under a character's skin, that digs up what makes her feel the way she does, and what makes act in a certain way. I wouldn't say that's what I write every time, but that's what I'm most drawn to.
There's a lot of curtain fic that's just schmoopy and sappy, focused on happiness and comfort, and I only like that in fic in small doses. (In my real life, I'm all about the happiness and the comfort.) Again, and because I want to be absolutely clear on this, this is just me, and you may all feel free to like curtain fic as much as you want.
Now, there was one fic, I think by leavethesky? Maybe thelastgoodname? which had Quinn and Rachel from Glee attending couples counseling, and that was a brilliant exploration of characterization and left all the under the surface stuff right where it should be.
Aha! Here it is: Alien, by thelastgoodname, and it's a Quinn/Rachel fic. It's not the cozy domestic bliss of a curtain fic, but usually couples therapy fics, the ones I've seen at least, are all about finding out you're perfect with someone. This, well, it wasn't that.
I'm in it for the characterization, the development and the contrasts, the good changes and the bad ones. It's why I loved Farscape so much, even with the dearth of femslash in that fandom.
You can show me a fic with the most popular, headlined protagonist in the world, and if their characterization isn't complex in fanfic, I'll be bored with the story. Show me someone like an ogre (with layers, just like onions have layers), pry into those layers in fiction, and I'll hook onto anything you do with grabby little hands and never walk away. I'll even read in fandoms I've never watched/read, just to get characterization from that writer.
There's more that I want, AUs and cliches, fpreg (yes, please), vampires and witches and supernatural things (not just Supernatural things), time travel including timey-wimey outside of Doctor Who, reincarnation, plus I could discuss my entirely inappropriate love for AMTDI and aphrodisiac fic (dubcon to noncon, I know!), but honestly, I'd like to give all of those things the in-depth treatment they deserve.
I'm in fandom because most of the fans I know seem to love characterization as much as plot, if not more, and most of the stories end up focusing on characters. But what I like in femslash is a specific focus on women who are emotionally guarded and how they come to terms with the relationship that they're in.
This entry has been cross-posted to Dreamwidth (
comments). Comments are welcome on either post.